Lilith almost vomited blood. For a moment, she stared at the screen, unable to believe what she was seeing. One of her most promising business partners, the owner of an elixir factory, had just admitted to being bankrupt.
Lilith felt the vein in her temple pulse dangerously. She stared at the chat screen in disbelief, ready to simply block the woman.
Morana: "I just fought a fierce battle with a group of Heroes. Although I ultimately won, my losses were significant. I spent all my gold reserves on immediate troop replenishment so as not to be left with an empty nest!"
Is she really trying to negotiate a wholesale purchase without a single penny to her name?
Lilith thought with irritation.
What a waste of time. Do I look like a charitable institution?
Lilith: "I'm sorry, but I don't accept card payments, and I only grant credit to those who are already dead!"
Morana: "Wait! No, I'm not asking for credit! I just want to exchange it for other goods of equal value!"
Lilith held her finger over the "Close Chat" button. Other goods? We're talking about herbs worth nearly twelve thousand gold coins. What could such a broke witch offer in exchange? Skill stones? Rare crystals? Or maybe unique building blueprints?
Morana: "I still have four Level 1 Hero Souls that I haven't had a chance to use yet. I want to exchange those souls for the herbs. Is that alright?"
Lilith froze.
Oh?
In her head, analytical gears immediately began to grind. Can souls be traded?
It had never occurred to her, but it made sense. Souls were items that dropped from defeated enemies - technical artifacts of the system. Since one could trade swords or raw materials, souls should be no exception. It was simply that no one had thought to create a market for them yet, because most Demon Kings greedily consumed them immediately after acquisition.
Lilith quickly recalculated the value. A hero's soul was a rare resource, essential for advanced evolutions and powerful rituals.
Lilith: "Agreed, we can trade souls. I'll give you a maximum of 1,500 gold for a first-level soul. Four souls make 6,000 gold total. That means you're still short 5,900 pieces for the full amount of herbs. Do you have four more souls for the remainder?"
Morana: "Oh, come on, My Lady! I really squeezed everything I could out of this dungeon. I have neither souls nor gold left. Empty in the vault, empty in the morgue!"
Lilith leaned back comfortably, looking at her mountains of potatoes. Morana seemed talented, and having "her own" alchemist who owed her a favor was far more valuable than a one-time cash injection.
Lilith: "Fine, so be it. Let's treat the missing 5,900 gold as a prepayment for your future potions. I'll send you the full batch of herbs now, and once you brew the elixirs, you'll pay off the debt with the finished products."
Morana: "Really?! That's wonderful! Thanks, Lilith! You're the best! I promise these will be the best potions you've ever drunk!"
The transaction was finalized through the system exchange window. Lilith watched as four glowing ethereal orbs - Hero Souls - entered her inventory, and 400 herbs vanished from before her.
Lilith walked toward the castle, her thoughts still revolving around Morana. This Demon King, much like her, hid her true race from the world.
Either she's so weak she's afraid of every shadow, or quite the opposite - she's powerful enough that she doesn't want to attract unnecessary attention, Lilith analyzed, drumming her fingers against her thigh. Looking at how confidently Morana spoke of mass-producing elixirs, Lilith bet on the latter. In this world, high-level craftsmanship rarely went hand-in-hand with low stats.
As soon as she crossed the threshold of the throne room, her gaze rested on the Demon King's Altar. It was still surrounded by a thick layer of ice.
Lilith smiled crookedly. She raised her hand, in which the newly acquired strength from her level advancement pulsed, and struck the barrier. The ice exploded, disintegrating into millions of shimmering particles that evaporated before touching the floor.
"My strength has grown quite nicely," she whispered with satisfaction, standing before the altar.
She took out the four ethereal soul orbs she had received from Morana. Each trembled with a delicate blue light. Lilith unhesitatingly placed them on the altar, making an offering to the system.
[You have sacrificed a level 1 hero soul. Skill points +3!]
[You have sacrificed a level 1 hero soul. Skill points +2!]
[You have sacrificed a level 1 hero soul. Skill points +3!]
[You have sacrificed a level 1 hero soul. Skill points +3!]
In total, she gained 11 skill points. For an ordinary Level 1 Demon King, this would be a fortune allowing for the immediate unlocking of a powerful ability. Lilith, however, was at Level 2, and the system's requirements were merciless. Activating her unique Level 2 skills cost a staggering 100 points.
Nevertheless, she felt no disappointment. Those 11 points wouldn't disappear - they would wait in her pool, slowly bringing her closer to the next leap in power.
She took a deep breath and checked her account balance. The first batch of herbs had vanished from the market instantly. The Monarch's wallet swelled with gold: the sale brought her nearly 19,000 gold pieces.
Lilith swept her hand through the air, summoning the golden treasury interface that illuminated the dimness of the throne room. The digits on the screen began to spin, updating her holdings in real-time as the system processed the latest transactions from the trade menu.
Just a moment ago, her reserves had oscillated around fifty-six thousand gold coins - an amount that was an unattainable dream for most players, but for her, it was a solid foundation. However, the sight that appeared before her now caused a wide, nearly predatory smile to bloom on her lips.
The lightning sale of the first herb batch added an extra nineteen thousand gold pieces to her coffers. The column of numbers summarized the profit, and the final result glowed with intense brilliance.
Seventy-five thousand gold coins.
Lilith leaned against the altar, letting the number fully sink in. Seventy-five thousand... In this harsh, merciless world, where Demon Kings died of hunger or in battles over a scrap of land, she possessed a quite substantial fortune for a novice Demon King.
***
Lilith returned to the balcony, where the evening air of the Valley of Darkness was becoming pleasantly brisk. She hadn't even properly sat down in the armchair she had brought out from one of the rooms when the rabbit maids appeared by her side with almost silent grace.
A fresh pot of aromatic tea and a plate full of juicy, purple fruit landed on the marble table.
"Thank you," Lilith remarked with a slight smile, accepting the cup.
She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. She had to admit, this treatment was addictive. For an hour, she savored absolute peace, letting her thoughts drift freely between plans for building a forge and the memory of food from her previous life. Yet beneath this mask of relaxation, her fingers rhythmically tapped the armrest - a sign that her mind was still trading.
When the clock in her system menu struck the right time, Lilith opened the market with one fluid motion. She listed another massive batch of goods:
Two thousand batches of potatoes
Five hundred Life Herbs
Two hundred units of Lunar Ginseng
The market's reaction was like the strike of a tsunami. The demand for her products was so insatiable that transaction notifications merged into one continuous sound of gold chimes. The total profit from this single trading session amounted to a staggering forty-three thousand gold pieces.
When she looked at the final state of her treasury, she felt something welling up in her chest that she could no longer control. The digits on the screen did not lie:
118,400 gold coins.
"Hahaha... Hahahahaha!" Lilith burst into sudden, thunderous laughter that echoed off the stone castle walls and startled the night birds in the forest.
She laughed with all her might, feeling the almost physical weight of this fortune. The rabbit maids, who were currently washing dirty shutters in the corridor, froze motionless upon hearing the sweet female laughter.
In the very middle of this joyful madness, the balcony door burst open. One of the girls ran inside and immediately fell to her knees, breathing heavily.
"My Lady!" she called out, interrupting the Monarch's laughter. "Lady Lysandra, Mina, and Kala have returned!"
Lilith instantly grew serious, though the glint of gold still flickered in her eyes. She wiped the corner of her eye and stood up, straightening her proud silhouette.
"So, the execution has come to an end," she murmured, her voice becoming low and velvety. "Let's see what that little bunny has brought me."