Chapter 91: Traffic Control 4
Saya Guild reception room.
When Alice completed her mission and returned to the Saya Guild, she requested a humanity incorporation examination for Sabrina.
This test is usually conducted for Returnees, non-human species, or demons to determine if they are legitimate humans under Ark’s jurisdiction and whether they harbor hostility toward Ark.
Passing this test not only integrates the demon territory into Ark’s domain but also guarantees protection under Ark’s laws in exchange for paying taxes proportionate to their income levels.
As per Sabrina’s wishes, the process proceeded swiftly.
“Then, as of now, I hereby declare that all demons of the demon territory Trittana are incorporated as new humans of Ark.”
“Saya Guild, the Barrier Agency, the Outer Wall Exploration Agency, and First-Class Overseer Oriana Haleson vouch for this.”
Sabrina trembled as she reflected on how she had been deceived by the Overseer collaborating with Earnest Rail and his cronies, enduring years of experiments akin to torture, only to see her new path resolved with a few sheets of paper.
“…Is it really… over now?”
Sabrina’s body shook as she realized her and the demons’ fate had been neatly settled with just a few pieces of paper.
Was it anger or sadness?
Either way, Sabrina had every right to pour out those emotions fully.
“Thank you for your hard work, Sabrina. Ark sincerely welcomes your incorporation as a human.”
Oriana, who oversaw the incorporation examination for Sabrina and the demons at Alice’s request, patted her shoulder with a gentle smile.
Being a First-Class Overseer, Oriana had the authority to conduct the incorporation test alone, and thanks to Alice’s request, Sabrina was able to stabilize the demon territory swiftly, as if compensating for her years of suffering.
“I heard taxes need to be paid.”
“For initial incorporators, there is a 10-year grace period, and the amount of tax is assigned proportionally to income levels. Since the request for your incorporation was made by Alice, the final decisions on the demon territory’s tax matters will be handled by Alice and me.”
“That’s a relief. The only remotely amicable human I know is that Alice over there…”
Sabrina let out a deep sigh and glanced at Alice beside her.
Alice smiled as if to say, “See, I told you everything would work out,” making eye contact with Sabrina.
“Would you like to have a meal? The Saya Guild has permitted your stay, and if you wish, you can spend as much time as you like in the satellite city Zain to acquire information about Ark.”
“No, I’ll return to the demon territory for now. There are still many internal matters to resolve. My body has recovered, too…”
“Understood. We’ve also set up a dedicated communication line for you, so please contact Alice or me anytime you need assistance.”
With those parting words, Sabrina left decisively and without hesitation.
Before departing, she did give Alice a long, curious, or perhaps questioning gaze, but with pressing issues waiting in the demon territory, Sabrina hurried on her way.
‘There are still unresolved matters, so I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.’
Their meeting had been sudden, and so was their farewell.
However, they were bound to meet again, as Alice was curious about what had happened to the demons after her former self, the Demon King, disappeared.
“Phew, one problem settled for now.”
After completely subjugating the humanoid calamity Gaia and bringing the northern front to a close, Alice’s first priority had been to bring Sabrina to the Saya Guild.
This was partly to heal her wounds and allow her to recuperate, but also to report the events on the northern front to Oriana, who was essentially Alice’s direct superior.
‘I honestly thought Mega Corp would try to obstruct us, so I deliberately slowed my return…’
Contrary to Alice’s expectations, their journey back with Sabrina, the puppets, and the undead girls was completely unimpeded.
It was a rare moment of unity and adaptation, and if Mega Corp had attacked during this time, even Alice might not have been able to return easily.
‘But the fact that not a single Mega Corp operative appeared is rather strange.’
Reviewing her accomplishments on the northern front, Alice noted that she had caused significant losses, including the destruction of Earnest Rail’s supply depot, stealing fifty of his prized puppets, and seizing the key strategic asset known as ‘Baroness Sabrina.’
These achievements alone would have justified Earnest Rail dispatching assassins and combat units to pursue Alice relentlessly, yet Zain and the northern front remained eerily quiet.
Even granting that Dawn had never crossed paths with Alice and thus might not act, the silence from her primary target, Earnest Rail, was more than puzzling—it was downright inexplicable.
And now that Alice had returned to the Saya Guild and completed her physical adaptation process, the lack of any incidents only heightened her unease.
Considering Mega Corp’s resources and power, it wouldn’t have been surprising for them to cause trouble or apply pressure on the Saya Guild by now…
‘Could it be that Earnest Rail doesn’t realize the misfortune or incidents that have befallen them were caused by me?’
That doesn’t make sense.
Could Mega Corp’s intelligence network and capabilities really be this lacking?
“Alice!”
“Oh, Oriana.”
At that moment, Oriana approached Alice, who was lost in thought.
Her eyes sparkled with honey, resembling the gaze of someone looking at a younger sister or daughter who had just received a prestigious award.
“Really, great job! You caught a big one this time!”
“No, it wasn’t anything that great.”
“What are you saying? You single-handedly subdued a Humanoid Calamity, eliminated Earnest Rail’s forbidden creation, eradicated a corrupt Overseer who conspired with Mega Corp, and even succeeded in persuading demons who wished to join humanity! That’s absolutely not a small feat!”
Oriana couldn’t help but be thrilled because the achievements Alice had made this time were truly remarkable.
Alice had secured evidence and witnesses of Earnest Rail’s betrayal, who broke Ark’s taboo by manufacturing dolls.
Since Ark considered “betrayal” the worst sin above all other taboos or rules, Alice’s contribution was something even a seasoned First-Class Overseer would find hard to accomplish.
Not even a formal Overseer, Alice, who had been casually working as a Hunter to see more of the world, achieved such monumental success while caught between two Mega Corps.
Oriana slid her hands under Alice’s arms and lifted her high into the air.
“Hohoho, my judgment wasn’t wrong. I thought you were special, but I didn’t expect you to achieve such a massive accomplishment in such a short time! Even Fira was full of praise for you.”
“F-Fira came here?”
“She personally took part in Earnest Rail’s execution. Even though she’s on vacation, she stepped in just because she found you impressive. So if you happen to meet her later, at least give her a greeting.”
“Alright, alright. So can you put me down now?”
With so many people around, being lifted like a child and rocked back and forth wasn’t exactly her taste.
It genuinely felt like being turned into a real child.
I felt like crying “waaah” any moment now.
【Then by all means, cry ‘waaah.’】
[“Alice would be truly adorable doing that!”]
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. Shut up.’
And the most significant change was that Gaia had imbued herself within Alice.
During the merging process with the Scrap Dragon, the Scrap Dragon was entirely devoured, dismantled, and shattered by Alice, but Gaia retained her unique identity as the twisted Mother of Life.
Even in her natural state, Gaia was constantly decomposing, splitting apart, and regenerating.
Though reduced to a mere component of Alice’s body, Gaia hadn’t lost her will or intellect.
And despite the agonizing process of being shredded into pieces, Gaia willingly endured that torment and cooperated to become a part of Alice, simply because they would become one.
At first, Alice didn’t realize it amidst the urgency and adrenaline of battle.
But later, upon hearing the details from Theresa, she was dumbfounded.
The Mother of Earth turned out to be a damn masochist?
Oh, how absurd.
Still, thanks to this, many things had turned out to be helpful.
Firstly, Alice’s body had evolved.
Not just a simple upgrade—her existence itself had merged with Gaia, a colossal calamity and a monster.
Alice was no longer merely an android.
From being a tin can machine, her form had evolved to mimic the texture, skin, and flesh of a human.
Now, even a First-Class Overseer of Ark wouldn’t be able to distinguish Alice from an ordinary person with the naked eye.
Furthermore, her internal performance had skyrocketed, and stats displayed in her status window, such as inventory, plunder, and assimilation abilities, had nearly tripled.
‘The biggest change is that I can now convert Gaia’s twisted vitality directly into bodily energy.’
Without needing filters, Gaia’s twisted life force could instantly be used as bodily energy and battery power.
In emergencies, she could even draw power directly from Gaia’s main body.
Of course, connecting to the main body wasn’t the best choice for me, but just having that as a fallback option is reassuring.
“Well, I have to process the paperwork for the demons joining humanity. Take a break for now. Soon, you’ll receive a new directive, Alice.”
“A directive for me?”
“With all this, you’ve earned the right to don the blue. Congratulations in advance, my successor.”
With those words, Oriana disappeared with light steps.
For reference, the mansion was currently filled with 50 dolls and 20 undead girls who had returned with Alice, playing joyfully.
【I thought the dolls would be sentenced for breaking Ark’s taboo, but recognizing them as human property was unexpected.】
‘I didn’t expect that either.’
【It seems even the central administration acknowledged your merits.】
The dolls, who had fought alongside me through thick and thin, had been a great help.
Having them under my ownership was far better than losing them.
Perhaps, just like Sohi owning undead girls, I came to own the dolls.
“By the way, what happened to the Mantis Blades?”
Speaking of which, I was curious about the whereabouts of the Mantis Blades, the dream weapon of any cyberpunk android.
Alice discreetly raised her arm and tried to draw out the Mantis Blades.
-Clack!
And her flesh tore apart as the Mantis Blades extended outward.
“Arghhh!!!”
【Oh dear. I forgot to reassemble it.】
“How does an auxiliary personality ‘forget’ anything?! Kaahhhh!!!”
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“Any objections?”
“Damn that Sabrina…!”
-Slash!
When Sabrina returned to her barony, she initiated a large-scale purge.
There were many who had trusted Sabrina until the end, but just as many demons opposed her.
Some could not let go of the faded glory and memories of the past, resenting Sabrina’s decision to join humanity and affiliate with Ark.
As a result, they betrayed Sabrina.
The baroness who was supposed to be unconditionally obeyed and who vowed to protect the demon territory until the end was stabbed in the back.
Notably, when Hamar, Sabrina’s closest steward, began inciting rebellion, the dissenters rallied around him.
Because of them, Sabrina was captured by Earnest Rail for over two years and forced to provide the key components for puppet production.
“For the reasons stated, I hereby execute 492 foolish individuals who betrayed me, sided with the human Mega Corp, and endangered the demon territory.”
“Sabrina!! Are you offering our ancestral land to the humans?!”
“You are no noble!”
“No, nobility is born with the duty to protect the demons and their land. I have chosen the wisest and most effective way to save this land and our people.”
“We honor the demons’ pride and the ancestors who dwell in this land—”
“Your crimes lie in clinging to the past, wasting lives and land for empty pride, and squandering the lives of other demons through your actions. Stop your pointless rebuttals. You’re hurting my ears.”
Although fortune played a role, Sabrina’s decisions ensured that the demon territory would no longer be taken by Mega Corp.
Passing the humanity incorporation exam meant that there would be no further losses of precious lives and land due to conflict with humans.
“Carry out the execution.”
Upon her return, Sabrina invoked her authority as baroness to execute Hamar and all the demons who had betrayed her.
The justification was sufficient, and even without it, no one in the demon territory dared resist a “noble.”
Keeping them alive would only cause endless strife even after integration with Ark.
Cutting them off at the root was the wisest decision.
“Haah…”
As Sabrina returned, the shattered demon territory began to slowly reassemble.
Her body and the power of restoration began to heal all the damage sustained.
With the baroness back, the demons would soon regain their original strength.
Sabrina returned to her empty room.
She had lost too many people and executed far too many.
“I’ll need to appoint new people. Right, Hamar?”
“Indeed, my lady.”
At that moment, the very Hamar who had been executed appeared beside Sabrina, kneeling on one knee.
“You did well, Hamar. It was terribly difficult to find out who the dissenters were and where they were hiding through ordinary means.”
Hamar.
The steward and chief secretary who had served Sabrina for a long time.
He was her hands and feet, carrying out her will in her absence.
From the beginning, Hamar had never betrayed Sabrina’s orders and had remained a faithful servant.
“The moment you were captured, my lady, the dissenters began rallying around me. They were easy to manipulate. A few whispers about ancestral pride or resistance to humans, and they all revealed themselves without hiding. Still, it took you longer than expected to return. Are you well?”
“Ugh, I’m alive, but barely. I didn’t think it would take two years either…”
Originally, Sabrina had planned to pretend to be a ‘prisoner of war’ to identify dissenters.
As long as dissent existed within the demons, even passing the humanity incorporation exam would be meaningless due to potential troublemakers in Ark.
If such individuals caused disruptions, Ark’s trust in demons would deteriorate, leading to their perception as monsters or non-human entities rather than humanity.
“This is the first time demons and a demon territory have applied for group integration. Mixing dissenters in would only complicate things.”
“Even so, two years of captivity seems excessive, my lady.”
“Oh, Earnest Rail tortured me endlessly, claiming they was trying to understand my power and make puppets or whatever. Which bastard leaked the details of my powers?”
“There’s an old demon among the dissenters named Gregorio.”
“Ah, wasn’t he the mansion’s chief guard? Why is it that you’re the only one I can trust?”
“The depravity of old demons defies description.”
Hamar bowed his head slightly as he spoke.
Sabrina’s original plan was as follows.
Deliberately get captured by humans to identify the “dissenters” opposing the demons’ incorporation into Ark.
Escape on her own, eliminate the dissenters, and formally submit a request for incorporation into Ark.
However, during this process, someone leaked Sabrina’s power of “fusion” to Earnest Rail.
Earnest Rail then used Sabrina to manufacture “puppets” to counter Ark’s central forces.
As a result, Sabrina endured significant pain, torture, and experiments over the past two years.
Without Alice, she might have eventually succumbed to the torture and experiments and died.
Leaving Hamar behind was part of her contingency plan.
If Sabrina were to die in an accident, Hamar was to become the next “Baron.”
“Ah, now that you’ve been executed, you can’t use the name Hamar anymore. Do you have anything in mind?”
“Not yet. If the baroness commands, I can live without a name.”
“There’s no one left in the demon territory to interfere with us, and Mega Corp, which coveted the land, is gone. Now we can live peacefully as part of Ark. You don’t need any grand determination—just come up with a nice name.”
Hamar—or rather, the one who used to be Hamar—tore off their face’s skin.
Beneath the skin was a new face.
It was the appearance of a young demon girl who bore a striking resemblance to Sabrina.
“How about the setting of being the baroness Sabrina’s half-cousin this time?”
“I don’t treat younger sisters particularly well, you know.”
“I’ll still be doing the same work as a secretary or steward anyway. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Alright, let’s go with that… Oh.”
Sabrina seemed to have remembered something and smirked slightly.
“Do you know anything about the Demon King?”
“If you mean… the last Demon King?”
“Yeah, and…”
Sabrina looked out the window and then closed her eyes.
The moment the commands, will, and inevitable submission of that person settled into her mind, Sabrina once again recalled her rightful duties as a demon and a noble.
The duty of a baroness to protect and purify the demon territory.
And the soul-bound obligation to obey and uphold the Demon King’s orders.
However, being bound by such obligations was not necessarily a bad thing.
Rather, it evoked a nostalgic feeling, as though she had returned to her beloved homeland.
It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation but one that felt surprisingly comforting.
“When things are settled… I need to go to Ark.”