With more force than strictly necessary, I cleared my throat. “Evyna,” I said, “what was that about Philia?”

This was an extremely crude way to change the subject, of course. In addition, before I had noticed, Lady Entropy had placed herself behind my back, prompting the Kobold to run off somewhere.

“Ah, uh, she came over to, to visit, but, uh, you weren’t here, so, so I tried to, uh, keep her, uh, busy, together with the maids, but she, uhm, said you had come back, so-”

She seemed to realise she was rambling, and shook her head.

“Wait, no, not that! Uh, why are you, uhm, here, miss, uh, Goddess of Darkness…?”

“My servant was, injured. So, I came, to check on him. This much is, natural.” Given she was still hiding, she was not particularly convincing.

“But-”

“It’s only natural, isn’t it?”

“But-” Evyna began again.

“This much is logical, indeed,” I said, nodding to myself.

“I… If you say so, I guess…”

With a quick glance around, it became clear most everyone was down on their knees, unsurprisingly. The few exceptions, then, were me, Lady Entropy herself, Evyna, the Kobold—its new hiding place was ‘behind a stone pillar’—and, somewhat to my surprise, my Demon Generals.

Not letting that surprise show on my face, I spoke up. “Then, Evy- no. You.” Out of consideration for Evyna’s lack of familiarity with the castle, I pointed to the nearest Ghost Maid. “To Philia, at once.”

Of course, my Demon Generals, Evyna, the Kobold and even Lady Entropy came with me as I let the maid guide me through the castle’s halls.

“I didn’t know y’were this close t’ the goddess, Master,” Lilith said, without a hint of delicacy in her tone—she appeared to be stubbornly refusing to read the mood. “Still, though, ya’ve got good taste. She’s real pretty. Izzat make-up?”

In lieu of facial evidence of happiness, Lady Entropy’s ears wiggled faintly, but she tilted her head at Lilith’s question.”Make-up? I don’t need, such a thing. I’m, a goddess, after all.”

“Even the lines on yer face?”

“Lilith, thou must speak with def’rence in the face o’ a deity,” Charlotte said, much to Lilith’s disappointment. “Lady Entropy, I do sinc’rely apologise f’r Lilith’s-”

“I don’t, particularly, mind.”

“I am et’rnally grateful for your m’rcy.”

You live forever, so don’t say you’re eternally grateful.

“Uh… Lady Entropy, could I ask a question?” For once, Davna seemed to be displaying manners.

“Sure?”

“Why’d you wanna hide your friendship with Master? Anyone who’s close with him should wanna boast about that, right?”

… As expected of a seven-year-old dragon, she had the social experience of a seven-year-old.

“That, is…”

“Uhm…”

“- You see, Davna…”

At basically the same moment, Lady Entropy’s, Evyna’s and my voices rang through the castle’s halls.

Davna tilted her head. I could practically see a question mark pop up above her.

Eventually, I cleared my throat. “Davna,” I said, “as Charlotte earlier attempted to imply, even a goddess will have a secret or two. It is impolite to pry. Understood?”

‘Given my general conduct, I would not say I had the right to lecture people about this’—though I certainly had this thought, I did not voice it.

“Alright, Master! If you say so!”

How simple, I thought, a few worries for her future passing through my head. I cast those thoughts off as I kept walking.

The next question, since we were apparently turning this into a question corner, came from Evyna. “So, uh, miss, uhm, Goddess of Darkness?”

“What?” Her complete lack of intonation did not serve to make the blunt response sound any more friendly.

“Why did you d, decide to come out? Is this the, uh, first time you’ve, ah, shown yourself like, like this?”

She turned her head away, but answered anyway. “Astaroth was hurt, so, I came to check. This was the, first time, he looked like it, hurt.”

“So it is as I had surmised, then.” I nodded to myself, a sly smirk on my face.

She tilted her head as she turned to look at me.

“You were watching us—watching me.”

She let out a weird sound as she turned her head away once more. Had she been a normal girl, she would surely have been red up to her ears—in place of that, those ears wiggled with an impressive speed.

My new abilities granted me the knowledge that that meant embarrassment. I probably would have realised regardless.

Although I felt tempted to continue, I could tell Charlotte was looking at me with a peculiar gaze, so I borrowed a [Telepathy] skill.

«If there is something you would like to say, you can go ahead and say it, Charlotte.»

«If thou art going to court Lady Entropy, I would r’quest thee to do such in private.»

Faced with that line, I had no choice but to stop. I casually placed a hand on Lady Entropy’s head and continued walking in silence.

Soon, we arrived at the door to one of the castle’s many guest rooms.

With a dramatic gesture and a pinch of magic, I found myself with an open door and a face full of cold air.

“Ah, my liege. You’ve finally arrived.” Philia’s voice, cold and unfeeling, echoed through the room.

Through my improved senses, I could tell why. She was using magic to make her voice echo in a room with perfectly fine acoustics.

It seemed that even I had much to learn when it came to being dramatic.

“You’ve kept us waiting, Demon Lord.” Richard appeared to have been entirely converted into her lackey, to the point of getting angry in her place.

“The likes of a statue hath no place in a confab’lation b’tween its masters.” Charlotte did not even bother to look at Richard as she addressed him.

I shook my head. “To add to that, calling me Demon Lord is no longer accurate.” Casually, I presented the back of my hand to Philia.

“What exactly are you expecting from me, my liege?” The blue flames in her eyesockets flared up in what could only be ridicule.

A quick use of a borrowed [Mind Reading] told me all I needed to know. I retracted my hand.

“Kneel.”

Richard practically leapt forward in fury at my command, so I used [Overlord’s Authority] on him, as well. “Not a word from you. Kneel.”

Philia rose from the sofa she was situated on, and the two of them got on their knees before me.

I sat down on the other sofa and accepted a thoughtful cup of tea from one of the Ghost Maids. “You may rise now.”

The Ice Queen sat back down, across from me, and Richard remained where he was, behind her. It seemed he was acting as an escort.

That said, his glare was anything but polite. If he could talk, he would surely have been spouting profanities in my direction.

My Demon Generals and Evyna did the same, placing themselves behind me, though I had my suspicions that it was imitative behaviour when it came to Davna and Navillus. The Kobold sat down on the ground, at my feet.

Lady Entropy sat next to me, probably closer than strictly necessary. I decided not to mention it.

Philia looked between me and Lady Entropy a few times before the flames in her hollow eyes flared with light and her jaws chattered with ‘laughter’. “So you’ve finally decided to show yourself to the masses, Lady Entropy?”

“Not on purpose.”

Lady Entropy shot a quick glance in Evyna’s direction. Evyna took an equally quick step backwards.

“It was a series of coincidences,” I said, shaking my head. “But more importantly, surely you have an important matter to discuss. After all, you would not dare waste my time with idle chatter, would you?”

It was not like I was a particularly busy person.

Even for Philia, the mana I emitted, coupled with [Aura of the Overlord], was rather overwhelming. She soon spoke up. “Of course not, my liege. I have come here to confirm a few things, and to check on your new pawn. It appears she has already acclimated to her new form.”

From the direction she was looking, she was likely not talking about the Kobold. “Ah, Evyna, is it,” I said, nodding to myself.

A thought shot through my head.

“Incidentally, Evyna, what happened to that grimoire of yours?”

“... Huh?”

“You couldn’t possibly have lost it, could you…?”

“Now that you mention it, I, uh, probably, uhm, dropped it in, uh, the ritual room…”

Although barely, I somehow managed to resist the urge to bury my face in the palm of my hand.

“Then go fetch it,” I said in as calm a tone as I could manage, “and do not lose it again. Have a maid guide you if you cannot find it.”

Given the castle’s halls had a tendency to change without anyone’s input, I found this outcome rather likely.

Evyna quickly ran off.

I shook my head. “Then, Philia. These things you came to confirm. What are they?”

“Well, I could sense the power balance had… changed,” she said, “so I came to confirm this, but… Aren’t you somewhat similar to her now, my liege? Could it be she’s been rubbing off on you?” Once more, the room was filled with her chattering laughter.

I gave a low chuckle, overflowing with bad intent. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lady Entropy, staring straight at me, her ears fluttering in excitement.

“My new power… is it.”

I spread my mana into the room and channelled it into my cape and crown as I laid back, making sure to create as oppressive an atmosphere as I could. A crooked grin spread across my face as I saw what appeared to be cold sweat on Richard’s face—even the flames in the Ice Queen’s face flickered and died down, as if they sensed I was not to be opposed.

I closed an eye. “I sincerely hope you have learned your lesson. I would watch my mouth, if I were you. Play with fire, and you might get burned… though, I suppose ‘molten’ would be more appropriate, in your case.”

I retracted my mana and chuckled once more.

“Well, I can see your power has grown greatly, my liege,” Philia said. Although her tone was cold and haughty as always, there was a subtle difference, almost as though she were forcing her voice to take on this tone.

“Empty flattery will get you nowhere. I have no use for praise from someone like you, who will likely never even reach the ninth grade.”

Given there was essentially no way up for a Grand Lich other than perhaps direct divine intervention, her current grade—eighth-grade, was likely her limit.

“From that phrasing, my liege, could I assume…”

“Indeed, I am a ninth-grade monster. So you have some level of intelligence, after all.”

The flames in her skull died down further—I could almost swear one went out entirely. “I… If you would excuse me, I will be going now, my liege.”

Before I had the chance to answer, she was gone. She was soon pursued by Richard and a Ghost Maid.

In a sense, it was regrettable that she was 8th-grade, because it exempted her from the more powerful effect of [Overlord’s Authority].

“Master, did you say ninth-grade?” Tempest asked, inching closer.

“I did.”

“To think you would reach the unexplored pinnacle, the ninth grade, said to be on terms with the divine…”

“No, no, it certainly is called ‘divine’, but to say I am on par with Lady Entropy would be…”

In a direct confrontation, I would probably not last a second. She was a goddess, after all.

The Kobold rubbed its head on my leg, almost as if consoling me. I looked at it a moment and then decided to let it be.

“Astaroth,” Lady Entropy said after a few moments of silence, “those theatrics, were great. But, we need to negotiate, with Gnome.”

I nodded. “Indeed. In that case, might it be alright for me to propose we move to the shrine?”

I heard Lilith murmur something about a “change in frickin’ attitude”, but I paid it no mind.

Lady Entropy nodded without a word.

I turned to my Demon Generals. “For you lot, this mission is over. Good work.”

They dispersed throughout the castle as I left the room together with Lady Entropy.