Chapter 9
Vepar blinked for a few seconds. He didn’t think those words were meant for him.
But Ariella’s face was calm and peaceful. In contrast, Vepar’s face looked like it was about to explode.
“How dare you speak so carelessly—!”
“Don’t interrupt. I’m not done talking.”
Ariella looked at him with sharp eyes.
“Do you always cut people off? Is that a habit? You interrupted the King earlier too. Do you actually think you’re someone important?”
Vepar turned to Ludwig, hoping for support.
“My lord! Did you hear this disrespectful girl? She’s mocking your authority!”
“You’re the one being disrespectful. I didn’t just walk into this meeting on my own. The King invited me. The King told me to sit. So I did. Because it’s an order. But what about you? Who do you think you are, talking over and ignoring the King? Do you even know your place?”
“You little human—!”
“Since you mentioned ‘human,’ let me teach you something. In the human world, we call people who disrespect the king…”
She made a slicing motion under her chin.
“…traitors. Rebels.”
“Enough!”
Ludwig’s voice finally cut in.
He had let Ariella go on and on, tearing into Vepar. Only now did he step in.
‘This girl… she’s unusual.’
This was the Demon King’s castle. His advisors included a vampire, a werewolf, a lich, and Ludwig himself. Any normal human would’ve passed out just stepping into the room.
But not her.
She walked in proudly, sat down, and argued without fear—even taking control.
‘Unusual, but… useful.’
Ludwig spoke with authority.
“Vepar. I’ve made my decision. I won’t take it back.”
The order was clear. Vepar and the others had no choice but to stop arguing.
And so, the territory meeting officially began—with Ariella now seated as the fifth member.
**
The first issue on the agenda: orc raids were becoming more frequent.
“We don’t have enough soldiers!”
Ulken growled angrily.
“We need to recruit more troops! And more weapons too!”
“We don’t even have enough people to farm. Where are we going to find soldiers?”
Vepar shook his head.
“What if we hire people from outside?”
“We don’t have the money.”
Then Richmond chimed in.
“What about the idea I mentioned last time?”
“You mean… using zombies as border guards?”
Richmond nodded calmly.
Vepar wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“Then the whole land will stink like rotting flesh. They’ll leave bits of organs and meat everywhere they go.”
Even Ulken objected.
“Grr… Zombies are too weak. Against trained orcs, they won’t last long.”
“We don’t have money for new troops, and you hate zombies. So… we’ll need to repair the walls instead.”
“With what money?”
“Raise taxes on the people.”
“What? They can’t even afford food!”
The meeting went in circles, with no real solution.
Ariella had seen enough to understand what was going on.
‘This is a mess.’
Every time Ulken or Richmond suggested something, Vepar would shoot it down. The problem was simple.
‘It’s all about money.’
But if they didn’t invest in something—anything—then the people’s lives would only get worse.
Orcs attacking all the time would make the kobold farmers lose hope and eventually leave for better lands.
Then Ludwig turned to her.
“Ariella.”
His voice made all three vassals fall silent.
“What do you think?”
His eyes locked onto hers.
‘I knew it. This is what he wanted from the start.’
When they first met, he’d asked her if she had experience running a kingdom.
Now she understood. The land was a wreck—no money, no safety, and his advisors couldn’t agree on anything.
As a rookie Demon King, Ludwig must’ve been overwhelmed.
‘He laid out the stage. Now he wants to see if I can play the part. Was that his plan all along?’
Ariella didn’t look away. Their gazes met in the air.
‘Well… at least it’s interesting. I have no choice but to do this if I want to survive anyway. Even if I feel a little tricked…’
She gave a small, sly smile.
‘If this is what you want, I’ll deliver. But I’ll collect my reward later. That’s how contracts work.’
Then, she straightened her face and spoke clearly:
“First, I need to see the books.”
The room went quiet.
“…!”
“The books? What books?”
“Oho… interesting.”
The three vassals had very different reactions.
Ariella continued, watching their faces.
“So basically, there’s a lot of money going out, but none coming in. And all we’ve done so far is sit around this table talking in circles.”
She muttered to herself:
‘The problem isn’t that there’s no money. It’s that there are probably too many thieves.’
Vepar pointed to the paper in front of him.
“We already have the data! The current budget is all written down—”
“No, not this vague summary.”
Ariella raised her voice slightly.
“I want a breakdown. Real, detailed numbers.”
“What?”
“This paper says 100,000 Sel is spent each month on territory maintenance. But what does that mean? Which facilities? Which people? What methods are being used?”
She remembered what she saw yesterday—and the prices and currency Gruev told her about.
If they were really spending that much, there was no way the territory would look like this.
“Th-That’s—!”
Vepar couldn’t answer right away.
“This meeting goes nowhere because we’re dealing in big, vague numbers. We need to dissect the budget—like surgery.”
She leaned forward.
“We need to see if there really is no extra income. We need to know if the current budget is being used properly. Let’s examine every coin before we decide what to do next.”
Richmond asked:
“You want to inspect the financial records yourself?”
“Of course.”
“Ridiculous!”
Vepar jumped up from his seat.
“The castle’s financial records are top secret! We can’t show them to some outsider—!”
Richmond raised a bony finger and waved it side to side.
“Technically, she’s not an outsider. She’s the Demon King’s contractor.”
“But she’s not even from the demon realm! She just got here! What does she know about our documents?”
Ariella responded calmly, but sharply:
“That’s exactly why I can look at them without bias. I have no private interests here. Think of it as… an external audit.”
“And why should I be audited by someone like you?!”
Ah, now his true colors were showing.
Ariella had a strong feeling.
‘This leech… He’s hiding something.’
She stood up too.
“If you’re thinking clearly, you should want help! This kingdom is falling apart! Don’t you want to fix it?”
She pointed directly at Vepar.
“You said there’s no food to help starving citizens. And now that I want to see the records to understand why—you refuse? If that’s not negligence or obstruction, what is it?”
“N-Negligence? Obstruction?”
“In my homeland, government officials who failed their duties were punished for embezzlement. Whipped, exiled, or thrown in jail. Doesn’t the demon realm have similar laws?”
At that moment—
“…!”
Ariella felt the air change.
‘This guy…’
Her eyes sharpened.
Wooooong—!
A dark energy began swirling around Vepar.
He was trying to crush her with magic.
