Bringing the girl named Kiyara Belnina back to the mansion and ordering Solution to use a high-grade healing scroll on her had, at first, not been well received.
Solution harbored an intense hatred for humans. And while Sebas was technically her superior, she couldn't help but feel that what he was asking her to do now was completely unreasonable.
A scroll capable of restoring the body to a prior state was a precious item—something Momonga-sama had entrusted to them for emergencies.
And yet now, Sebas intended to use it on an unrelated human girl.
"This is the will of a Supreme Being. This human girl is useful to their plans, so it is imperative that she be restored to the state she was in before that incident."
This time, Sebas spoke with unwavering confidence.
Because unlike before, this was no longer an unauthorized action—he had received Ren Kuroda's approval.
Solution might despise humans, but her reverence for the Supreme Beings was absolute. With no room to object, she reluctantly set about treating Kiyara.
Not long after the healing was complete, Ren and Yuri arrived at the mansion.
"Good work, Solution," Ren said casually. "I'll replenish your scroll expenses and operational funds later."
"You're probably wondering why I approved Sebas saving that girl. But the truth is… she's useful to me."
"As an adamantite-ranked adventurer—War Demon—Yuri and I came to the royal capital for a reason."
"We accepted a request from the kingdom's 'Golden Princess' to cooperate with another adamantite team, Blue Rose, in investigating and eliminating the underground organization known as the Eight Fingers."
"The Eight Fingers are the kingdom's largest criminal syndicate. From what I've gathered, the girl who was just abused was likely captured by the faction responsible for slave trading."
"So saving her wasn't an act of charity—it was to extract valuable information from her."
That was the truth.
After operating in E-Rantel for some time, Ren had suddenly received contact from Blue Rose just two days ago. Their leader, Lakyus, had relayed Princess Renner's request—she hoped to enlist the aid of War Demon in purging the kingdom's corruption.
However, the Eight Fingers were deeply entrenched, with ties to numerous nobles. The "Golden Princess" wanted the operation carried out covertly.
Through his investigation, Ren had quickly zeroed in on the slave-trading branch of the Eight Fingers—
And that was when he ran into Sebas rescuing the girl.
"…Even so," a voice cut in, "if it's merely to complete an adventurer's request, the cost seems rather excessive, doesn't it?"
"And before receiving your approval, Sebas had already acted on his own. That fact remains indisputable."
A portal opened within the room.
Momonga stepped through, his skeletal frame imposing, accompanied by Demiurge and Cocytus.
The words just now had come from him.
He had received a message from Solution and temporarily abandoned his own adventurer duties to rush here.
Because Sebas had claimed that healing the girl was "the will of a Supreme Being," Solution had assumed it referred to Momonga and sent a confirmation message.
Only after Ren arrived did she realize her mistake.
After all, while both were Supreme Beings, Ren rarely involved himself in direct management. It was always Momonga who issued orders and coordinated plans.
So naturally, Solution had assumed the "Supreme Being" in question was him.
Meanwhile, upon hearing that Sebas had acted independently, Momonga had panicked—fearing he might have been controlled like Shalltear.
Without hesitation, he brought Demiurge and Cocytus straight to the capital.
After all, Sebas had been traveling with Shalltear. It wasn't impossible he could have been targeted next.
And upon arriving, what they heard… was Ren's explanation.
Momonga didn't object to Ren saving a human—Ren was one of his most important companions.
But from his perspective…
That explanation felt a bit forced.
And Sebas's unauthorized actions were a serious issue. After Shalltear's betrayal, Momonga couldn't help but question whether Sebas's loyalty had also been compromised.
"Still too naive, Momonga," Ren said with a faint smirk. "If it were an ordinary request, sure. But this comes from the Golden Princess."
"Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself—the most interesting and capable figure in this kingdom."
"As a royal, gaining her trust is more than worth the price."
"And as for the Eight Fingers… to the kingdom, they're scum. But to us? They could be quite useful tools."
As Momonga struggled to process Ren's words—
A glint flashed across Demiurge's glasses.
"I see… As expected of Ren-sama. You've already planned that far ahead."
Seeing Demiurge's sudden realization, Momonga once again felt the crushing gap in intellect.
He glanced around—Cocytus and the others wore the same confused expressions as him.
Letting out a dry cough, Momonga put on a composed air.
"As expected of Demiurge. It seems Cocytus and the others haven't quite grasped it yet."
"Why don't you explain Ren's intentions to them?"
Demiurge bowed respectfully.
"Of course."
"If I'm not mistaken, Ren-sama has already begun laying the groundwork to seize control of the Re-Estize Kingdom."
"The Golden Princess is both the most capable member of the royal family and the most beloved among the people. If we intend to rule this kingdom, she would make the ideal puppet ruler."
"As for the Eight Fingers—they are the kingdom's largest criminal organization. At the right moment, they can serve as a convenient 'villain.' By controlling them, we effectively control the kingdom's entire underworld."
"Without resorting to brute force, we can use the princess to influence the nobles and commoners alike… while using the Eight Fingers to dominate the shadows."
"In doing so, both the light and darkness of the Re-Estize Kingdom would fall entirely under the control of the Great Tomb of Nazarick."
"This… is the most refined method of domination."
"And if I'm correct—Ren-sama intends to use this foundation in preparation for dealing with the Slane Theocracy."