## Chapter 107: The Demon Lord's Castle, A New Adventure
The next day, the carriage set off at a leisurely pace toward the Demon Lord's Castle.
Shiro had initially assumed it would take another six months to a year of traveling to reach their destination. To her surprise, it took only a single week before the carriage came to a halt right outside the gates of a colossal city.
The city walls rose high into the sky, the security was incredibly tight, and a massive contingent of soldiers was stationed right at the gates. According to Ariel, a Demon Lord was supposed to be out fighting on the front lines, which was why the castle wasn't tucked away safely in the deep rear of the demon territory.
Shiro thought to herself, *You're supposed to be the ultimate final boss, so why are you running off to the front lines? Just to bully little kids? Unbelievable.*
As the carriage slowly rolled into the town, the sheer level of prosperity and bustle proved to be even livelier than the capital of the Sariella Kingdom where Sophia used to live. Shiro couldn't help but marvel—Grandma was loaded!
The moment everyone caught sight of the actual Demon Lord's Castle, they were once again thoroughly awed by the spectacular view. Magnificent, towering palaces spanned across the peaks of the mountains rising behind the town, looking exactly like a realm straight out of mythology from a distance.
The black castle sitting dead center was particularly striking. It pierced straight into the clouds, looking incredibly imposing and powerful while radiating a solemn, majestic authority. If this place were back on Earth, those so-called world-class architectural treasures wouldn't even be worthy of comparison.
"Wow, so this is the Demon Lord's Castle. It really is something else," Shirazawa remarked, clicking his tongue.
The place truly lived up to its reputation as the holy city of the demon race. Just based on its sheer size, it would probably take them several days just to walk across it.
"Hehe, spectacular, isn't it?" Ariel gloated, looking exceptionally pleased with her fortress.
Even though it was technically an inheritance left behind by the previous Demon Lord, she had still poured a tremendous amount of hard work into it. For instance, whenever she accidentally pulverized a palace during a training session or a fight, she had to cough up a massive fortune to have it fully restored. Fortunately, her personal treasury was deep; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to maintain a city of this staggering scale.
"Too bad this isn't where you guys will be staying."
"Huh? Don't be so stingy, Ariel."
Sophia acted like a little brat, standing on her tiptoes to sling an arm around Ariel's shoulder like a total street punk. "A castle this massive isn't going to notice a few extra people. Staying here for a few years won't cost you that many gold coins."
Ariel rolled her eyes at her. The political factions within the demon race were incredibly complex and messy; there was absolutely nothing fun about living right at the intersection of all that power. Especially for a dummy like Sophia—if she moved in, she would definitely cause a disaster.
*WHACK!*
"Ow~!"
Shirazawa delivered a sharp, annoyed chop to Sophia's head. "Stop misbehaving."
Sophia rubbed her throbbing forehead, muttering under her breath, "I wasn't even wrong, why are you hitting me..."
Ultimately, the carriage drove into a luxurious, European-style manor situated right on the outskirts of the Demon Lord's Castle. The interior decoration was incredibly lavish, and a large, ancient tree stood tall inside the spacious courtyard, blocking out the sunlight and lending the entire estate a quiet, elegant atmosphere.
"You guys will be staying here for the time being."
The moment the words left her mouth, an elderly butler with an incredibly gentlemanly demeanor walked over to greet them respectfully.
"Welcome back, Lord Ariel."
"Mm-hmm." Ariel gave a dignified nod, putting on a cold and aloof persona. "I'm temporarily taking over this estate. Go ahead and let your master know."
"Understood." The old butler bowed deeply, his attitude thoroughly humble.
The actual owner of this manor was Balto Phialo—the Duke who managed all administrative affairs in the capital, the Commander of the Fourth Army, and the acting representative of the Demon Lord.
Under the butler's smooth arrangements, everyone was assigned their own private rooms. As for Shirazawa, he naturally and completely shamelessly loitered right inside Shiro's room.
After wrapping up a few brief instructions, Ariel took the most reliable sister, Sael, along with Merazophis—whom she had grown quite used to ordering around—and headed straight for the castle. Having been away for so long, she had a mountain of official matters to sort out.
She had originally intended to drag the "brilliant" Shirazawa along with her, but he had flatly and fiercely rejected the offer. *Working a regular job? No way. Not in this lifetime.* He had patiently endured all those travels just to finally enjoy a lazy, comfortable life of luxury fully funded by Grandma, so there was no way he was giving that up.
Unable to win against his shameless, stubborn refusal, Ariel could only temporarily give up on him. Even Shiro had been completely corrupted by him, claiming her strength hadn't fully recovered yet and that she had zero interest in researching anything else. This left Ariel thoroughly exasperated.
However, she wasn't about to just spoil them completely.
"Those who do not work shall not eat," she announced, flashing a thoroughly wicked, mischievous grin as she playfully licked her lips. "If you don't want to do any administrative work, you can always pay me back with your bodies instead."
This completely threw Shiro off her game. Countless wild ideas began spinning frantically through her mind. *Wait... is she trying to force us into some kind of sketchy entertainment industry?! Oh no, oh no, this place is officially unsafe. We need to run.*
Fortunately, Shirazawa quietly reassured her, letting her know that his personal spatial storage was packed with a massive reserve of gold coins—all casually plundered from bandits they had encountered along the road. It was more than enough to fund their lazy lifestyle for a very long time.
Thanks to Shirazawa's foresight, Shiro felt her heart settle completely. *Working is out of the question; I have a husband to take care of me anyway.*
Faced with this dynamic duo, Ariel could only start plotting some underhanded ways to squeeze some use out of them later. Keeping two incredibly powerful assets just lounging around the house was a total waste of resources.
At the same time, she was also carefully pondering how to manage the inherently bratty Sophia going forward. The absolute best approach would be to ship her off to a proper academy to receive some intensive character development and straighten out her personality. Especially now that her
When it came to Sophia's ongoing education, Shirazawa and Shiro had completely checked out, tossing the entire headache straight into Ariel's lap. If Ariel hadn't personally kept a strict eye on the girl every single night during their journey, there was no guarantee the brat wouldn't have tried to sneak right into Shiro's room. Now that she was heading away to the castle, the consequences could be disastrous. She needed to put a concrete plan into motion as soon as possible.
With Ariel leaving the estate deeply burdened by her thoughts, the manor was left with just a red-robed boy, a white-robed girl, a tiny monster girl, three unsupervised spider girls, and a thoroughly sulking Sophia.
"Aze, what are we supposed to do next?" Shiro asked, suddenly feeling a bit lost now that she had absolutely nothing on her schedule.
"Sleep, obviously," Shirazawa replied without a single shred of hesitation. Since they were completely free anyway, nothing beat the comfort of lounging in a soft bed.
"S-Sleep?" Shiro blinked. *Is it the kind of sleeping I'm thinking of?*
She had actually harbored a deep, quiet question for a while now: *Why hasn't Aze tried to make any tiny baby spiders with me yet? Could it be that he's actually... dysfunctional in that department? Or is it because I've been a spider monster for far too long, and my body hasn't fully adapted yet?* Yeah, that was a distinct possibility.
If Shirazawa could actively read her mind right now, he would have literally coughed up three buckets of blood in pure exasperation! The core issue stemmed entirely from his current physical stats; he was genuinely terrified that she would completely overpower him in bed. As a man, ending up pinned underneath her would be a total blow to his pride. He figured they had plenty of time ahead of them and the right opportunity would present itself eventually, which was why he had been behaving himself so flawlessly.
"Though, just sleeping all day is going to get a bit boring after a while," Shirazawa murmured to himself, before shifting his gaze onto the adorable little Leest. "This little sprout desperately needs to grind some levels. Otherwise, just staying here in the capital, she might literally get scared to death by the passive pressure leaking from the local powerhouses."
Hearing those words, Shiro suddenly realized it too. Leest, whom they had basically been raising like a cute household pet, would indeed find it exceptionally difficult to survive inside the capital.
Clutching tightly to Shiro's leg, the poor little sprout felt tears instantly pool in her large eyes. *You guys finally remembered me?! Sob sob sob~* She felt incredibly wronged. Ever since they had crossed the border into this town, her tiny legs had been trembling uncontrollably without a single second of relief. The ambient auras in this territory were simply too terrifying. *Leest wants to go home, waaaah...*
Shirazawa thought about it for a moment. It just so happened that he was planning to make a quick trip back to the Great Elroe Labyrinth to harvest the remaining remnants of the Vestiges of the Nightmare, preparing a specialized vanguard force for the upcoming Great War. He might as well take the little creature along to grind some easy experience points.
When he shared the plan with Shiro, she nodded and mentioned that she had a specific destination she needed to visit as well, casually leaving the little sprout's leveling process entirely to him. Having finally arrived at the Demon Lord's capital, it was officially time for her to have a serious heart-to-heart chat with D.
With their respective plans set, the two immediately mobilized, leaving the three spider sisters behind at the manor under Sophia's supervision.
Sophia thought, *Are you guys out of your minds?! Those are literally three Myth-tier ancient monsters you're leaving with me!!!*
Led by the hyperactive Fiel, the three spider sisters immediately initiated a total home-demolition protocol. Operating under the absolute logic of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Sophia promptly threw herself right into the destruction squad as well.
The unfolding chaos left the poor old butler entirely miserable.
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