Romei, now left alone in the room, stared quietly at the place where Barmas had departed.

Just when one problem seemed solved, she encountered another. This might be what people meant by “mountains beyond mountains.”

Still, her efforts weren’t entirely fruitless. She had successfully understood what the devil wanted from her and why he had brought her here.

Barmas found it fascinating that she remained sane despite falling into his trap. That must be why he brought her to the demon realm.

He had planned to kill her through excessive pleasure and then devour her soul, but he became interested in her unexpected resilience to pleasure.

This triggered a kind of competitive spirit in him, making him curious about how much pleasure it would take to break her mind. His statement about “raising” her here meant he intended to torment her until the connection between her soul and body broke.

He wouldn’t kill her immediately, and his comment about gradually eating her soul likely meant the same thing.

‘As long as I don’t succumb to pleasure, I’ll stay alive. Though I’m not sure how long I can endure his torment.’

Still, this was much better than constantly fearing when she might die by his hand. With careful behavior, she might even find an opportunity to escape.

‘At the very least, I should be able to request some help.’

However, the most pressing issue now was her lack of clothing. She hadn’t expected him to give her clothes easily, but she hadn’t anticipated needing to pay a price for them.

The bigger problem was that she had absolutely nothing to offer him in return.

Currently, Romei had nothing but her bare body. Without even a thread to cover herself, she couldn’t pay any price even if she wanted to.

“Maybe he’s actually saying he won’t give me clothes, and I’m just overthinking this…”

But she couldn’t just sit idle and do nothing.

Romei always tried to do whatever she could in any situation, no matter how trivial it might seem.

‘I need to get clothes somehow. Only then can I move around outside, gather information about this place, and figure out a way to escape.’

Romei lay on the bed, wrapped tightly in the blanket, and pondered ways to obtain clothes from him.

* * *

Barmas, sitting at his desk in his office, summoned three familiars. He began handling matters he had temporarily forgotten because of the woman.

“Go to Picardin and destroy all the traps we’ve hidden.”

“Yes, understood, Lord Barmas.”

“I previously ordered the traps to be concealed discreetly. They weren’t discovered, were they?”

“Of course not. Even holy knights couldn’t detect magic circles spread deep underground.”

“That’s fortunate. I absolutely hate troublesome matters.”

Barmas expressed his brief sentiment in a tone that lacked sincerity. However, his statement about hating troublesome matters was genuine.

Whether fighting holy knights rushing to kill him or getting entangled in factional conflicts among devils, he found it all bothersome.

Not that he particularly feared losing. Whoever might fight him, the one to be defeated would clearly be his opponent.

What Barmas found annoying was the very act of getting up to go fight. That was also why he had experimented with new methods of soul extraction.

It reduced the effort of engaging in battle while naturally strengthening himself by consuming souls.

This method couldn’t have been more suitable for Barmas.

One of the familiars who had received his orders carefully asked:

“Where should we set the next traps?”

“Next traps?”

He had only questioned to understand what the familiar meant, but the familiar apologized profusely and begged for forgiveness.

“I apologize, Lord Barmas. Whenever you ordered us to dismantle traps, you always designated the next location, so I thought you would do the same this time. I was disrespectful…”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Barmas cut off the familiar’s words and responded indifferently. Whether the familiar bowed its head and trembled or not didn’t register in his eyes at all. He was simply lost in thought.

Whenever he felt he had consumed enough souls, he would always scout the next location. However, this time he had forgotten to decide on the next place because he was preoccupied with bringing the woman here.

But he didn’t feel any urgency to choose the next location now. Currently, the only soul he wanted to eat was the woman’s. He had no interest in other ordinary souls.

Barmas commanded:

“Just destroy the traps and return. Right now, I want to focus solely on consuming the soul of the human I brought to the castle.”

“Yes, understood, Lord Barmas. As you ordered, we will only destroy the traps.”

After they bowed their heads, Barmas called the familiars again as they were about to depart for Picardin. The familiars, who had started to disappear, reappeared and bowed.

“Ah, one moment.”

“Yes, Lord Barmas.”

“When dismantling the traps in Picardin, also report on the holy knights’ movements. If you judge that tracking is necessary, follow them immediately. Then report back to me. Understood?”

“Understood, Lord Barmas.”

With their response, they vanished completely. They had departed for Picardin.

Next, Barmas summoned two familiars created from his own shadow. They appeared before Barmas in forms resembling humans.

“…”

Since they had no mouths and couldn’t speak, he skipped the greetings and went straight to the point.

“Where did you put the clothes and possessions the woman was wearing when she fell into the trap?”

“…”

When Barmas asked, the familiars’ bodies writhed, then promptly spat out shabby clothes, a leather-wrapped scabbard, and a holy sword onto the floor.

The clothes and hair ornaments were neatly folded, with the undergarments hidden discreetly between them. Beside them lay the holy sword, placed straight.

As the shadows carefully picked these up and presented them to him, Barmas briefly praised them as he received the items.

“You’ve organized them well.”

“…”

The shadow responded with a nod that conveyed slight happiness. It was pleased to receive the praise.

Barmas asked, “Was there nothing else she had besides these?”

“…”

At his question, the shadow started to nod but suddenly began explaining something through gestures. The two divided roles and performed before Barmas.

One suddenly curled its body into a round shape and quietly stuck to the wall. The other pointed at it once, then wiggled its finger toward the air as if shooting something.

They seemed to be mimicking the magical decoy they had created and the woman who discovered it.

Barmas watched their performance, lost in thought for a moment, then realized what they were trying to say.

“A gun? She shot a gun…”

“…”

“She had a gun but you couldn’t bring it, I see.”

“…”

The two shadows nodded at Barmas’s correct deduction.

It was unfortunate they couldn’t collect all the woman’s belongings, but it couldn’t be helped. The familiars created from shadows had simple thought processes.

Thinking he should order the familiars headed to Picardin to retrieve the gun if they found it while dismantling the traps, Barmas spoke, gesturing with his chin toward the clothes and holy sword:

“Hide these in my secret space.”

“…”

“Especially the holy sword—conceal it thoroughly so that no one but me can find it. Understood?”

At Barmas’s command, the shadows nodded, gathered the clothes and holy sword they had spat out, and quietly disappeared into his shadow.

Finally, Barmas summoned Rajie, who had been guarding the bedroom, to his office. Rajie respectfully clasped his hands together and bowed his head toward Barmas.

“You called for me, Lord Barmas.”

“Procure more food for the woman. That soup we initially gave her, what was it called?”

“Cream soup, it was called.”

Rajie mentioned the menu name he had overheard while stealing food from a restaurant kitchen. Barmas then said:

“I don’t know who made it, but never bring food made by that person again. She looked like she was chewing vomit with every bite.”

“Yes, understood. I will procure food from elsewhere, excluding that place.”

“Good. Get something that looks delicious. If you bring garbage food that she can’t even eat like last time, I won’t be so forgiving.”

“I will keep that in mind, Lord Barmas.”

Rajie bowed his head to acknowledge the order.

The wound on his forehead, injured when he was trampled by Barmas, began to hurt again, but he felt no resentment. Rather, he was simply grateful to be alive.

Just as Rajie was about to leave to gather food for the woman, someone knocked politely on the door.

“What business do you have?”

“…The human you brought requests an audience with you, Lord Barmas.”

“Hmm…”

Barmas pretended to consider for a moment upon hearing the servant’s voice from beyond the door. He wanted to keep the woman standing outside the door a little longer.

The woman was ashamed of not wearing clothes. He could easily imagine how much shame and humiliation she must have felt walking n*ked to his office.

Barmas wanted to torment her further by making her feel more embarrassed, even during the brief moment he pretended to consider. It would surely feel like an eternity to her.

After a moment, Barmas spoke, “Let her in.”

“…”

As soon as his permission was granted, the door opened smoothly and the woman entered. Flushed red from head to toe, she looked at him with resentful eyes.