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Stelle had a problem.
It all started when she took a course on alchemy with the intention to learn how to create gold from nothing. After all, every one of her problems could easily be solved if she had money – and what better way than to forge some using gold?
("It's called counterfeiting, and it's a crime," Dan Heng said, and Stelle resolutely ignored him.)
Unfortunately, despite achieving an impressive mastery over alchemy in an incredibly short period of time, Stelle was still unable to create gold out of common table salt.
Which led to her current predicament.
Stelle was not only broke, with a whole two silver coins in her bank account, she was also in debt after taking out a loan to pay for the materials she used in her experiments. The Astral Express guild that she and her brother joined had managed to pay off the debtors, but the debt had merely changed hands.
The guild leader, Himeko, told her to take her time in paying everything back and not to stress about the debt. However, it was not in Stelle's style to pay things back in increments.
As such, if one needed to obtain a large amount of money within a short period of time without resorting to human trafficking, there was only one possible solution.
("Stelle, you're not really going to sell me off, right?" Caelus asked after hearing what his sister's plans were. "Stelle, why are you pretending to sleep? Come on, you're joking, right?")
The answer to all her self-created problems was to invade the demon king's castle.
Since time immemorial, there existed a castle atop a towering cliff that belonged to a demon king. Residents of nearby villages still tell tales of their tyranny from centuries past to their children, warning them against venturing close. Many prospecting heroes rode to the demon king's castle in search of fame and glory, only to return empty-handed.
However, Stelle was different from those heroes.
Firstly, Stelle did not know the meaning of 'giving up'. The word 'defeat' did not exist in her dictionary.
("Stelle, just because you tore out the word 'defeat' from your dictionary doesn't mean it stopped existing," March said but Stelle covered her ears and ignored her.)
Secondly, she had an army by her side. An army that consisted of one floating lance that she asked Himeko to teach her how to make, as well as a large pile of incendiary bombs that she had personally crafted over the span of a week. With this much firepower, she could easily defeat the demon king before they could even use their ultimate move.
"So why am I here?" Sunday asked while he watched Stelle laughed maniacally at the demon king's castle looming a distance away from where he stood behind her.
"Because you looked bored," Stelle answered without hesitation.
"…"
"March forth my army! To battle! Down with the demon king!"
"Stelle, an army generally consists of more than just an alchemist, a priest, one flying lance, and a pile of bombs," Sunday pointed out, but Stelle had already run off, gunning towards the intimidating castle in the distance.
He sighed, completely used to it, and slowly followed her.
Upon arriving before the demon king's castle, Stelle was very upset to find a large sign hung on the rusted metal gates with the words "For sale!" written on it.
"What do you mean 'For sale'!? Why is the demon king selling their castle? What about my gold, my treasures, my loot!? Where is the demon king? I want to file a complaint!"
How would one go about complaining to the very person she was trying to rob? Sunday was tempted to voice his curiosity, but he kept silent. The last time he asked the grey-haired twins a question out of mere curiosity, he was treated to an hour-long lecture on the benefits of dumpster diving. Admittedly, it was an enlightening lecture, and Sunday did learn a lot from it. However, he would prefer not to go through such a thing again.
"Unfortunately, milord has closed their mailbox and is only receiving mail from their inner circle of arch-demons as well as their close friends," an imp declared as they appeared in a shower of sparks in front of the 'For sale' sign.
"Who are you?" Stelle asked. Her hand was on the controller, ready to unleash her army of one whole flying lance at the sign of any hostility.
"I am one of the demon king's most loyal servants. I am here to assist milord in selling their house. Are you interested?"
"No, wait, why are they selling this castle? Didn't they stay here for many centuries? Why are they only putting it on the market now?"
"Oh, it was quite terrible, really. It all started three centuries ago when milord and their human friend got drunk and sparred, resulting in catastrophic damage in the surrounding areas. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and milord, out of guilt, sent gold to their best friend, who was helping restore the damage. Many greedy warriors showed up after that, hoping to obtain a fraction of that money, but milord saw them on their way with the force of their overwhelming might. However, after two centuries of this behaviour, milord got too annoyed and tired so they decided to move out. And as milord's most loyal servant, I was entrusted with the task of selling their beloved ex-residence. So, are you interested in purchasing this castle?"
Stelle stared at the grinning imp, disappointed. "Not really," she answered. After all the trouble she went to in preparing to fight the demon king, they were not even here. And worse, they had taken all their treasures with them!
"Really? Not even a little? It only costs nine hundred billion gold coins and it even comes with a whole dungeon stored in a dimensional space beneath the castle!"
"I'm really not interested," Stelle said, brushing off the imp as she turned around, rolling her map out and peering at it. "Sunday, there's a bandit camp nearby. Want to raid it with me?"
Sunday shrugged. "Lead the way."
"The price is negotiable!" the imp called out to Stelle and Sunday who were walking quickly away from the demon king's castle. "You can also obtain a lava fountain with your purchase for a limited time only. Do come back if you're interested in buying!"
"I knew I shouldn't have trusted Sampo," Stelle grumbled to herself, swearing that she would never believe anything that black market merchant told her ever again.
"Didn't you obtain that map from him too?" Sunday asked, pointing to the map containing the location of the bandit's camp in Stelle's hands.
"…"