Volume 3, Chapter 14-1 – Imperial Expressway

Blood Demon Manor, main hall.

This was the first area the members of the Lionheart Society had cleaned up.

A massive chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling. Faded tapestries covered the surrounding walls, their patterns long since blurred beyond recognition.

Firewood crackled in the fireplace, providing just enough warmth to drive away the damp chill left behind by a century of abandonment.

At the very center of the main hall stood a long, dark solid-wood table, large enough to seat dozens of people.

It was perfect for use as a temporary meeting room.

Stella sat at the center of the long table, idly watching the bright-eyed succubi around her gradually take their seats.

Just a few Watches ago, she had still been killing people and setting fires in the dark forest, surrounded by Chastisement spirits and nearly leaving her life behind there for good.

And now, here she was, sitting in a manor and listening to a bunch of students who had not even graduated yet discuss the first step toward conquering the Abyss.

It was too strange.

‘What kind of ridiculous things kept happening to me every single day?’

Although Remedios had never officially registered as a member in the school’s system, she brazenly dragged over a chair and sat down on Stella’s right, firmly claiming the position of chief strategist.

Cheryl sat on Stella’s left.

As the second daughter of the Valentine family and a textbook example of someone benefiting from connections, she naturally received a front-row seat.

After all, even in the Abyss, the rules of social connections still applied.

Though every now and then, she would cast a resentful glance at her elder sister.

After all, she had just been chased around the entire courtyard and whipped. It would be pretty embarrassing if word got out.

The other members took their seats one after another. Vice President Patolize, Propaganda Officer Dorothy, Logistics Officer Ophelia, Beatrice…

A brand-new notebook had been placed in front of each person. Although most of them were covered in dust and grime from cleaning Blood Demon Manor, every single one wore an extremely serious expression.

“Alright, everyone’s here,” Remedios said as she stood up. “Let’s begin.”

Dorothy cooperatively wheeled over a whiteboard.

A whiteboard?

Stella blinked.

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Where the hell had a whiteboard come from in this godforsaken place?

“Where did you dig that up?” She couldn’t help asking.

“I just happened to find it around a corner in the hallway,” Dorothy said, blinking. “What a coincidence. I’d just finished clearing away some junk and casually complained that it would be nice if we had a whiteboard for meetings. Then I immediately found one tucked against the wall.”

Stella shut her mouth.

The wish-granting ghost.

It again.

Not only did it help steal eggs, pack things up, and add bows, now it was even helping them find office supplies.

Just what kind of divine being was this ghost?

“Choosing our overall direction is very important.”

Remedios swept her gaze across the members seated on both sides of the long table and tapped the whiteboard with the shaft of her pen.

“Since we’re going to use Blood Demon Manor as our base, if we want to carve out a place for ourselves on Nightmare Street, then at the very least, we need to decide what direction we’re going to work toward.”

She pulled the cap off a marker, turned around, and wrote a line of large words on the whiteboard.

【The Lionheart Society’s Strategic Plan: Our Future Direction.】

“Everyone can discuss what Blood Demon Manor should do from now on. What should our core business be? After all, the first step toward conquering the Abyss is making money, then expanding our influence.”

Making money and expanding their influence.

Listening to the waves of discussion rising and falling on both sides of the long table, Stella silently rolled her eyes.

That economic war she had casually made up back then was now being treated by Remedios like a sacred decree.

“If anyone has an idea, feel free to suggest it,” Remedios said. “What should our core business be? What will we rely on to make money? How do we establish ourselves on Nightmare Street. Say whatever comes to mind.”

The moment she finished speaking, Patolize raised her hand.

“I think we could open an herb shop,” she said confidently. “As a prefect of the House of Domination, Potions is one of my specialties. Rare potions, healing medicines, enhancement potions, I can make all kinds of them. Nightmare Street gets so much foot traffic that we’d definitely never have to worry about sales.”

Remedios nodded, then asked, “Patolize, did you look around Nightmare Street when you came here?”

“Uh… no.” Patolize froze.

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“Then you can go outside and take a look right now,” Remedios said expressionlessly. “There are at least twenty or thirty herb shops of all sizes on Nightmare Street. The Mammon family’s chain pharmacies have monopolized the low-end market. Asmodeus’ premium custom potions are supplied exclusively to the powerful and wealthy. And Faust’s intellectual property taxes have a chokehold on every new formula.”

She sighed.

“Patolize, you’re just one person. You have no supply channels and no established brand. What are you going to use to compete with them? You’d go bankrupt in minutes.”

Patolize wilted.

“Then… What about a restaurant?” Logistics Officer Ophelia tentatively raised her hand. “I’m actually pretty good at cooking…”

“The restaurant industry is monopolized by Asmodeus.” Cheryl said indifferently. “Every decent restaurant on Nightmare Street has their investment behind it.”

“You want to open one? Sure. Location, renovations, supplies, hiring staff. Your initial franchise investment alone would start at no less than a hundred thousand demon crystals. If you don’t join their franchise network and pay protection money, then the very next day, Asmodeus can open an identical restaurant right across from you and wage a price war until you’re bankrupt.”

Ophelia wilted too.

“Then… What about selling intelligence?” Beatrice said quietly. “We could sell information…”

“An intelligence network needs people. Where are we supposed to find that kind of talent?” Remedios shook her head. “Besides, there are only twelve of us in total. Who exactly are you planning to send out as an undercover agent? And the intelligence business runs far too deep. The Bathory family has been operating in it for thousands of years. The entire Abyss’ information network is in their hands. You want to steal food from their plate?”

“Then…” Another member raised her hand. “What about opening a mercenary agency? We could take commissions too…”

“Samael family,” Cheryl said succinctly.

That member immediately shut her mouth.

After that, all kinds of proposals came one after another, only to be rejected one by one.

Open a bookstore? Faust’s knowledge tax was waiting for you.

Open an inn? Belphegor was right across the street.

Open a casino? Asmodeus would definitely come smash the place up.

Do trade? Mammon’s caravans could devour your goods without leaving so much as a bone behind.

How beautiful, the Abyss.

Stella rested her cheek in one hand, idly watching the group rack their brains for ideas, only to be beaten down one after another by Remedios and Cheryl.

How miserable.

But she couldn’t be bothered to get involved.

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‘I am just a mascot anyway—’

“None of these really work.”

Remedios sighed, set down the marker in her hand, and turned her gaze toward Stella.

“Why don’t we hear Stella’s opinion?”

Stella: “…”

In an instant, the gazes of more than a dozen succubi shifted at once and landed squarely on Stella.

Stella had been idly picking at her fingers out of boredom. Noticing the sudden silence around her, she froze.

“Huh?”

‘Why are you all looking at me?,

‘Keep discussing your stuff. Why are you dragging me into this?’

“Everyone really wants to hear what ideas President has.” Patolize said, expectation gleaming in her eyes. “After all, you were also the one who overruled all objections back then and had everyone make Blood Demon Manor our core base. You must have had some kind of plan for breaking this deadlock in mind all along, right?”

“Exactly, exactly!” Dorothy nodded furiously. “Mama is the best!”

Stella: “…”

Back then, she really had only wanted to send the whole group away so they wouldn’t cause trouble at school.

An idea?

What idea?

She had absolutely no ideas whatsoever.

But with everyone staring at her, it would be awkward to say nothing at all.

Stella slowly stood up.

Ahem, she’d just make up something at random and let them interpret it however they wanted.

Stella planted both hands on the tabletop and slowly rose to her feet.

She coughed once and cleared her throat.

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“It’s still early, so no one needs to panic. Since we’re already here, we may as well settle in.”

“I’ll only say two things.”

“The key to the problem…” Stella began at an unhurried pace, “lies in the key problem.”

Everyone nodded with solemn expressions.

“I believe that the key problem is a problem every one of us inevitably has to face. So when we face this kind of problem, the question is how exactly the key problem should become the key to the problem.”

“I myself have also given this matter deep consideration, thinking about this problem day and night.”

“While everyone was discussing things, none of you made proper use of the resources already at hand. You were all thinking about starting from nothing,” Stella continued. “Making use of the advantages we already have is very important.”

“That concludes my remarks.”

Then Stella pulled out her chair and sat straight back down.

She was finished.

That was it.

‘You people figure out what it means yourselves.’

‘You always do that anyway.’

More than a dozen people looked at one another.

There was no concrete plan, no clear objective, just an extraordinarily abstract piece of nonsense.

Translator Note

That’s not really abstract, Stella. smh.

Somehow her words made me instantly thought of food delivery business lol