A tired old man sat upon his throne, speaking to his trusted Advisor and brother-in-law, the General.

"It looks like the Lord of Esthervale is moving," the Advisor said.

"The Pope must have put him up to it," the General replied.

"Sigh, I wish we could have kept this farce up longer. Those hot springs were amazing."

"Your Majesty, that is because almost everything in Rotenburg affects magic. After taking a soak, I myself found that my control had increased."

"That is good to hear from my Royal Advisor. You are our strongest mage, the Church aside. If we had to fight the Demon Lord, what would it take?"

"If we muster all of our forces, we would win with the least amount of casualties. If we attack as we are now, we would no doubt lose. If not by the Demon, then by the adjacent countries."

"It's as I feared. That idiot doesn't think, does he?"

"We have also discovered that his Orcs and Lizardmen evolved once again."

"What?! What are they now?"

"Ogres and Dragonoids."

"Damn."

"What should we do, Your Majesty?"

"Be ready to act. We have to make sure we end up alive in the end. I'm tired of the Church's mad power trip in this war. Nearly all of the Kingdom's truly loyal soldiers are on the front lines. If we try and pull them back, not only will moral lower, but the other countries might think we are exiting from the war."

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"If that happens…"

"Yes. We would be facing a larger problem than just the Demon Lord."

The three were silent until a portly lady came in.

"Your Highness!"

"Dear!"

"Sister!"

The Queen had made her entrance. In her hands was a plate of cookies. The men happily ate and temporarily let go of their problems.

***

Back in Rotenburg, an obnoxious person was causing trouble.

"So monsters are indeed in control! Guards, kill them!"

Instead of fighting, the monsters all fled to the castle. The citizens were scared, shacked up in their homes and away from the fight.

When the Lord of Esthervale approached the castle, the air changed.

"Ah! It's the Lord's Divine Sense! Did something happen?"

Villager C was watching over the Sister of the Thief.

The Thief suddenly appeared in the doorway with a grimace. This facial expression had become normal for her whenever she dealt with Lord Beltos. It took a little to convince him that she could gather intelligence instead of physically working.

All it took was for the three head honchos to say, "We could gather knowledge of trade and prepare for our sales."

Remembering his childlike expression still pissed her off.

"We're not working. Of course that guy is going to be angry."

Indeed, after the young lady said so, a loud voice could be heard all throughout the city.

"Why are you interfering with my moneymakers?!"

The shock knocked several of the knights down and even more started to quake in their armor when Lord Beltos walked out.

The Lord of Esthervale turned to the golden armored knight beside him.

"Well?"

"He's not a combat Demon. He seems to only be good at making money. This should be easy."

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Lord Beltos is a leader. His quick decision making and viciousness led to all of the knights being stripped of their equipment and sent to the mines. The Lord was beheaded and the old knight was displayed like a trophy before also being sent to work.

No vacation, the bare necessities, and unending toil. The life of a slave, most would say.

Cheap labor.