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On the road back to the capital, I tried out my flying once more, squeezing out every bit of practise whenever I could. This time around, I managed to pull off a full range of wing movements. Borrowing the seven meters of height a golem possessed, plus my own jumping ability, I managed to open up my wings mid-air, before landing safely on the ground.

Compared to the previous time where I simply nosedived to the ground, I had to say that massive improvement had been made. At the very least, I wasn’t like a penguin taking flight anymore…

My original plan of touring the safe zone was cancelled, thanks to my spoiled mood. That No.6 was definitely scheming something to protect his own position, like how a subject would try to be an Emperor’s right hand man by eliminating everyone else. However, I wasn’t in a position to allow such excess yet. If he was allowed to continue unchecked like that, the consequences would be dire. Thus, I made sure to nip this problem in the bud right away, though I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed anyway. Hopefully, he learnt his lesson, or else I would have to kill him.

With our uneventful return to the capital, Big 4 was back on patrol duty once more, while I brought the two scamps treasure hunting around the palace.

In truth, we had already gone through most of the structures in the palace, but this was mostly a leisurely stroll. There was no actual searching to be had. Perhaps there might still be some secret room or trapdoor somewhere, but at the very least I wasn’t aware of any.

Speaking of which, shouldn’t the capital’s treasure vault be located in the palace as well? But I just can’t seem to find it. Even when I asked Ferti’nier, all I got was disappointment.

“Do you honestly think that a Devil King won’t have a storage ring of his own? Anything of value would be kept in the ring’s dimensional space. Any so-called treasure vault would probably just be for decoration, and even if it contained something, it would most likely be a pile of trash.”

Having gotten that answer, I still wasn’t about to give up on locating the fabled treasure vault and having a look see for myself. In the end, I actually found it, and it was just like what Ferti’nier said: the so-called vault was just for decoration. With a storage ring of their own, anything valuable would undoubtedly be safer on their own person. And if they were dead, well, then those treasures would be useless anyway. Rather than letting them rot in some vault, it was simply smarter to carry them around and perhaps use them in some battle.

With that plan a failure, the manufacturing of golems had hit a snag once more. I basically had nothing to do now except practise flying. Which I did. Mo Na and Cinderel in tow, we practised in the palace’s garden. As for why bring Mo Na along, that was because I learnt faster with her guidance, although she often pranked me while doing so… sometimes I feel I am letting her mischievousness down by not giving a good whacking on the butt.

Unfortunately, the spanking never got to start before Big 4 suddenly ran into the garden to report that Sasani and Sinmosa were back. Both of them were currently waiting for me in the main hall, along with ten low level Devils.

Their return was something worth noting, thus I promptly led my two babies to the main hall.

The moment I stepped into the main hall, Cinderel immediately jumped out of my arms and right at her mother, her happy little Hellhound tail wagging furiously while she barked in a lethally adorable manner. Sasani happily went up to his daughter for a kiss, but all he got was the cold shoulder from Cinderel who simply hid her face in her mother’s embrace… Sasani had taken a lethal blow, his eyes clearly showing the despair in him…

Seeing that familiar scene again, I barely held back a chortle as I walked up to Sasani. Yet just as I was about to pat him on the shoulder, he gave me a decidedly unhappy glare. Even though he still couldn’t speak the language of the Devils, I could surprisingly tell what he wanted to say.

‘Exactly why does my daughter like you so much?! I’m her father, not you! Go kill yourself! A curse upon you!’

‘Alright, alright. Since you’re in grief right now, I won’t hold this against you.’

While daughter and mother were busy snuggling, the Devils behind them all exchanged a glance with each other. In what almost looked like a coordinated effort, they neatly lined up before me and bowed.

“Master…”

I eyed the group. Their average level wasn’t high, the strongest amongst them was just a Two-star, and the weakest was even a Small Imp. Yet for a Small Imp to appear here was a miracle in of itself. After all, whether it was the Blood Sea or the Prison of the Dead, neither were environments conducive to a Small Imp -unless that Small Imp possessed some kind of unique talent, or he was just the illegitimate child of lady luck.

Strictly speaking, it didn’t matter whether it was the former or the latter, the fact he even made it this far showed how unique his case was.

“Did No.6 send you all here?”

“Yes, it was Sir No.6 who sent us to service you, Master.”

‘Service?’ Hearing that, I couldn’t help but feel something was off with that word, but I just couldn’t figure out why. It was only until my daughter, still riding on my shoulders as always, suddenly spoke up in an odd voice. “Mama, all these Devils seem quite good looking, but Mo Na doesn’t like handsome Devils, Mo Na prefers Devils like Mama! Heheheh…”

‘Good looking?’ Because of her mentioning that word, I immediately felt that something was up. I gave their souls all a quick scan and found that every one of them, without any exception, were all male. Not only that, whether it was their soul scent or their appearance, they all looked like Korean pop idols who had undergone plastic surgery, at least it was so to a Devil…

Up till now, I had never gotten used to the habit of looking at someone through their soul. Decades of being human made this difficult to accomplish; I was still too used to looking at someone through my physical eyes. Yet a low level Devil possessed no outward gender defining feature, which meant my method of looking made it difficult to distinguish their gender…

Either way, low level Devils were more like animals to me -not really worth all that hassle of distinguishing them, like how one wouldn’t pay much attention to the minor differences between a pet’s fur and another’s. Since they were all the same, why even bother differentiating a male from a female.

‘So these ten can all be counted as good looking in the eyes of Devils? Blast it, what’s going on here? Exactly what was No.6 thinking? Is he trying to find a partner for me?’

In an instant, my face turned red with fury. With one withering gaze, the Devils were all left petrified in fear.

‘What’s the idea here? I’m a guy. That blasted No.6 must have a death wish or something, sending a bunch of guys here for matchmaking.’ The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. Sensing my growing anger, the mana within me took on the form of flames.

“Mama, you scared all those cowards half to death. Hahaha, how amusing…” Just as I was about to convert to the Original Sin of Wrath, I was awakened by my clapping daughter. The little scamp flew off my shoulders and onto the ground. With a wave of her hands, she summoned a bone club, which she immediately sent thwacking down on the kneeling devils. Whether it was their face or their head, the little scamp would happily laugh while she continued beating them. “That will teach you to try and steal Mo Na’s Mama. That will teach you…that will teach you…I’ll beat you all to death! Hahahaha!”

“Woof woof woof~.” Ever the loyal follower of Mo Na, Cinderel wanted to help her beat the Devils as well, but she was stopped by Sinmosa biting down on her nape. The little Hellhound flailed wildly in the air as she barked her discontent.

Unfortunately, Sinmosa wasn’t about to let go anytime soon, no matter how adorably she begged.

Having transformed into a violent loli, the kind that went straight for the face no less, the good looking Devils were in for a world of hurt. Yet no matter how much she pummelled them, none of them dared to dodge. They were all afraid that any movement would be seen by me as a transgression. Neither did they dare to act against Mo Na. In fact, that thought never even crossed their mind.

After all, she was clearly of a different status than them. Putting aside her obviously superior level, the fact that she could ride on my shoulders showed how much I favored her. If they were to injure her by accident, the consequences would be dire. That was why none of them moved.

While I was standing there in a daze for two minutes, the poor Devils all went through a round robin of beatings. Their faces were all green with bruises and one Large Imp even had his nose beaten crooked…truly pitiful…

“Baby, stop for now.”

In truth, these Devils were rather pitiful. Neither of them ever knew what was going on, but they ended up being sent here by No.6 to get beaten up. Speaking of which, Mo Na’s clubbing has improved by quite a fair bit. Even after all that savage clubbing, none of them are dead, not even unconscious. That vicious little loli…as expected of my Devil daughter…

Shameless Self-promotion

If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.