Chapter 83: The Demon Family
Ruls District, St. Ruls Cathedral.
Under the full moonlight, Sylvia returned here holding her own head and walked to the door of Adela’s workshop.
Supporting her head with one hand, she used the other to twist the doorknob open. Maintaining this strange posture, she walked inside.
She placed her head on the table and, staring at the utterly bewildered Adela, spoke in an odd tone:
"Modify this part so it can rotate freely in three hundred and sixty degrees."
"Ah? All right."
Adela, who had been polishing the framework of her puppet, set aside her work and began fulfilling her duty for the first time.
During this period, Sylvia’s body sat there, allowing Adela to proceed with the improvements.
As for her head, it was placed on a cleared area of a side table. In front of her head rested a popular book she had “borrowed” from Isabella’s home.
At this moment, the long, pale gray hair of this puppet lady floated in the air, occasionally gathering into shapes resembling hands to flip through the pages of the book.
"Your Highness, what are you reading?"
Adela, who seemed somewhat fatigued, stood up to stretch her body. She looked curiously at this scene that could only be described as horrifying.
"The Great Adventure of the Slime."
Engrossed in her reading, Sylvia absentmindedly replied.
"Slime? Those gelatinous monsters the Church of Machinery talks about?"
Adela asked with notable interest, while the puppet merely gave a vague "Mhm."
"And what is this book about?"
Adela sat back down, combining spirituality with extraordinary abilities to continue the modifications. Sylvia let out a sigh and used her hair to close the book.
Then, her head propped itself up on strands of hair like a spider, making the body spin around in place to face Adela. In a voice tinged with displeasure, she said:
"It’s the story of an inventor who reincarnated as a slime-form border demon and managed his own territory on the legendary Old Continent."
In this world, the Old Continent was no secret, even among commoners.
However, it was usually passed down in the form of legends.
"The Old Continent, huh?"
A trace of yearning appeared in Adela’s voice:
"It’s said there are many extraordinary races there that have already gone extinct. If I could hunt some, it might be possible to create puppets of entirely different styles."
"The parts taken from extraordinary races are far more useful than those from border demons."
"Your Highness, do you think the Old Continent truly exists?"
At this, Sylvia looked at her with an exceedingly peculiar gaze before replying in a faint voice:
"Why would I know whether the history and myths of your world are real?"
"Don’t forget, I only arrived here a month ago."
"Ahem."
Adela let out an awkward cough and then continued her work.
After all, modifying a puppet that already stood at the third level and had been baptized by the power of an Apostle was extremely difficult.
Just then, as if Sylvia remembered something, she spoke:
"By the way, have you encountered that demon lately?"
"No."
Adela shook her head:
"I escorted Miss Isabella back to Serborn Manor in the morning, and that demon basically never appears during the day."
"Later, when I assisted Lord Loruze in his operations, it was also in daylight, and there were members of the Orthodox Church present. It was even less likely to show itself."
"Besides, ever since the day I met you, I haven’t stepped outside at night, so I haven’t encountered that demon."
"But I believe it’s still in the City of Alova."
Hearing this, Sylvia nodded thoughtfully... only to realize she couldn’t nod in her current state.
Once again, she twisted her head back around like a spider and reopened her popular novel, reading each line with keen interest.
This situation continued until ten o’clock at night.
At last, Adela finished modifying the joints. She slumped against the back of the chair like a salted fish, her eyes brimming with exhaustion.
Seeing that her spirituality was nearly depleted, Sylvia’s body rose from the seat and reached out to pick up her head to reattach it. But Adela immediately called out:
"Wait, Your Highness—it's not finished yet!"
"The connection point of your head also needs to be modified!"
At this moment, her voice was filled with despair.
"All right."
Sylvia’s body, which had already reached the edge of the table, retracted its outstretched hands. After making a contemplative gesture, she turned around and left the room.
Meanwhile, her head transformed once more into a spider shape and walked itself to Adela’s side.
"……"
Staring at this scene that was both horrifying and comical, Adela couldn’t control the corners of her mouth from twitching.
But the instant a cold gaze swept across her face, this puppeteer immediately wiped the smile away.
Not bothering to stay in Adela’s workshop while her head was being modified, Sylvia walked toward her own office, her torso bearing an empty cavity where her head should have been.
The moment she pushed the door open, Lakdevo, who was crouching on the back of a chair, suddenly looked utterly bewildered.
He tilted his head to look at his mistress and asked in a voice full of confusion:
"Is this... the latest style from beyond the stars?"
Sylvia ignored his question and walked over to her seat to sit down. Using spirituality to rub against the air, she produced a voice:
"About demons—how much do you know?"
"Demons?"
Lakdevo was momentarily stunned, then fell into thought.
After over ten seconds, he began to speak in that grating voice:
"Demons were once among the overlords of ancient times."
"And when the ancient era came to an end and the Koinsprache Empire was founded, they did not integrate into the Empire like other races or gradually perish. Instead, they all suddenly vanished at a certain point in time."
"However, throughout recorded history, there have also been instances of demons returning to walk upon the surface."
"According to their own accounts, all demons were guided to migrate into the Abyss."
"As for what exactly the Abyss is, even they can’t clearly explain it—nor do they know how they traveled there."
"A demon that leaves the Abyss will never be able to return."
Hearing this, Sylvia reflexively nodded—only to remember she currently had no head.
Meanwhile, in Adela’s workshop.
Adela was cradling a gray-haired head in her hands, her brows gradually furrowing.
"Your Highness, what are you nodding about?"
"It’s nothing."
The head she was holding replied succinctly.
At the same time, Lakdevo’s voice continued to echo:
"Demons who remained in reality gradually formed several families over time, depending on which Abyssal Demon Archduke they believed in."
"These demon families have survived in the shadows of the world and, despite repeated purges by the Orthodox Church, remain tenaciously in existence."
Spirituality brushed against the air again, and Sylvia’s voice sounded:
"Mm, go on."
Lakdevo coughed twice and continued:
"Among demons, there are actually different races. For example, the Astuya demons—commonly called Ram-Horn Demons—are treacherous and cunning. Then there are the Lust demons—commonly called Succubi—who indulge in wanton debauchery."
Succubi?
Hearing this, a thought stirred in Sylvia’s mind.
She then discarded some miscellaneous notions that were of no use at the moment and continued to ask:
"Which type of demon prefers to make deals and enter into contracts with humans?"
Right now, she was rather curious about exactly which species Adela’s creditor belonged to.