The overlord of the gods is interrogating the alien female spy.

　"..."

　a thousand years?

　Having lived for only twenty years and already feeling that her life was incredibly long, Theresa couldn't even begin to comprehend how vast that period of time was when she heard the Pardoner's words.

　"Ten thousand years... Damn it."

　Even though Chen Lingxu had prepared himself for time travel, he still couldn't have imagined that he would traverse such a long period of time.

　Ten thousand years... the beast kingdom will probably be reduced to ashes. Now he'll be all alone.

　"Who is the longest-living Tikkaz right now?"

　"...Cough...There are no more Tikkaz...After the destruction of the first Kazdel...Only the Sarkaz, who lost their homeland. The oldest known Sarkaz...is a dead soul..."

　"Dead souls? What are those?"

　“Those are remnants from the time of the Outcasts… the War of the Beasts and Demons… the souls of the Sarkaz…”

　Chen Lingxu understands this; a group of wandering ghosts. They might be a byproduct of the Originium nuclear explosion, but since the Tikkaz can form undead spirits, their beastmen should also produce corresponding wild ghosts.

　"Where can I find dead souls?"

　"I don't know... cough cough... Dead souls are scattered across the land, nowhere to be found. Only dead souls can find dead souls..."

　Perhaps there is a way, but he doesn't know it.

　"Besides dead souls, what else is old enough... Sarkaz?"

　The oldest among the gods only lived for a little over a thousand years, and the maximum might be two thousand years, but even those who lived for one or two thousand years could not survive the long years of ten thousand years.

　And his... Kal'tsit, is probably already dead.

　"And... shapeshifters... liches... other Sarkaz, there's no record of an individual living longer than ten thousand years..."

　Where can they be found?

　“The Shapeshifter…like the Undead…only it reveals itself willingly…the Lich, currently in Letania…”

　"Leytania? What place? Where is it?"

　"Leytania is a kingdom founded a thousand years ago by a group of early inhabitants, located to the west of Kazdel..."

　How did Sarkaz end up in the land of our ancestors...?

　Chen Lingxu looked at the dying Pardoner in front of him and asked one last question.

　Have you ever heard of the name Kal'tsit?

　"Kal'tsit...there are too many...I can't tell them apart..."

　There must be at least hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people on this land who simply have this name, and it's impossible for a pardoner to know every one of them.

　"……waste."

　The Qilin Overlord ripped out his heart, blood splattering everywhere. Then, Chen Lingxu discarded the mangled heart and crushed his head, mask and all, with his other claw.

　Turning to look at Theresa, who was vomiting uncontrollably from being terrified by the sight of the Pardoner, the Qilin Overlord released his energy, washed the blood off his hands, and kicked her in the butt with disgust.

　"Get up, we'll go to Letania tomorrow."

　"……Yes."

　Theresa wiped her mouth; she planned to rinse it when she got back, otherwise her mouth would taste like stomach acid… Sigh, she shouldn't have eaten so much today.

　Eat more rice.

　But... if we kill that pardoner here...

　Theresa turned around, but did not see the corpse of the pardoner; only the remains of a headless rat remained under the tree.

　Chapter Twelve: Master and Servant's Night Talk

　"Owner……"

　Back in the room they had stayed in, the old woman took the child to her room to sleep, leaving them an empty room.

　The bed was small, so Theresa had to curl up against the wall to make it look like it could fit two people.

　Once Chen Lingxu lay down, he had to hold the little slave in his arms to be able to lie flat and sleep.

　"explain."

　Chen Lingxu had gathered a lot of information today, so he had no interest in doing anything to the slave Xiao Taozi for the time being.

　"Tomorrow...if we leave tomorrow...those children..."

　There must be someone above the Absolution Master. He died here, so he's gone, but the Sarkaz above him haven't seen him and will definitely send people to investigate. What will happen to these children then? They'll definitely be taken to Kazdel and 'eaten' by the other Absolution Masters.

　"Why do you care so much? If you're so eager to meddle, why don't you become the Demon King?"

　"...The Demon King...How could the tailor be the Demon King..."

　Theresa curled her fingertips slightly and secretly scratched the soft scales on the Qilin's chest to vent her dissatisfaction.

　"You know about the Far Seekers... oh, you don't. Let me put it another way, do you know who the first Demon King of you trash was?"

　"……do not know."

　Even if you change the name, she still won't know! This monster is probably just looking for an excuse to insult the Sarkaz.

　As Theresa thought about it, she scratched even harder with her fingertips.

　But her little peach-shaped bottom immediately suffered, as it was mercilessly slapped twice by the Qilin Overlord's sharp claws, and then as if it wanted to squeeze out the peach juice, making her wince in pain.

　"I was truly blind to have chosen such an ignorant slave as you."

　Wow, it's not like anyone would willingly become a slave... It was this bastard who forcibly turned her into a slave and kept her by his side... Theresa hoped this was just a nightmare, and that she would wake up tomorrow to find herself still at home waiting for her sister to come back.

　"Master... wait..."

　"what?"

　Under the scrutiny of the Qilin Overlord, Theresa shrank back and made up an excuse.

　"Could you tell your little slave about the Demon King's Exile?"

　She really didn't want to suffer like that again, so she would try to delay as much as possible. As for what to call him... she would just say whatever would make the monster 'happy,' since it wouldn't cost her any flesh anyway.

　"It's alright, we can talk while we sit down."

　"Ugh... Can't we wait... Master..."

　"Hmm? What was the second rule I mentioned?"

　"Ugh... I can't disobey my master's orders... I... I understand..."

　In that case, her act of begging for mercy just now was really unfair.

　Theresa listened to the sound of her clothes tearing and felt the Qilin's sharp claws hooking around her legs. The moment the sharp claws touched her skin, they could tear her flesh open.

　"It's not convenient for me to move around here. I'll tell you, you can do it yourself."

　"Ah? Oh..."

　"Wait, what about the words?"

　The heavy peaches bent the branches as they ripened, and the wind carried their sweet fragrance, which Qilin inhaled.

　His little slave trembled, then lowered her head, blushed, and stammered out words that made her feel incredibly ashamed.

　"Please, Master...?...My...?...?"

　Theresa lowered her head, refusing to look into the eyes of the Qilin Overlord. Not only did she have to do such an humiliating thing, but she also had to take the initiative to serve her 'enemy'... This villain must really enjoy being able to bully and humiliate her like this.

　Therefore, she was even more determined not to let him see her disheveled state, lest he become even more smug.

　"According to my friend, the Exile was a hunter who was expelled from the Tikkaz tribe. He was considered to be poisoned, sick, and mentally disabled simply because he was the first to refuse to eat his own kind."

　"Isn't this better...?"

　Before Theresa could finish her question, she was slapped again.

　"You may speak only when I grant you permission."

　Chen Lingxu took a fresh peach from the fruit plate beside him, grabbed the juicy fruit fiercely, put it in his mouth, and bit into it, releasing the sweet peach juice.

　"Yes, yes... I know I was wrong... Master... please... forgive me..."

　Although he was under many restrictions at the moment, Chen Lingxu had plenty of strength and means to deal with a disobedient little slave.

　"Back to our previous topic, use your brain, you foolish slave Theresa. I live in a time ten thousand years ago. Look at your living conditions now, can you imagine how terrible life was ten thousand years ago?"

　Not very likely...

　Although Theresa went hungry when she was young and she was surviving in Kazdel with her sister, she was able to earn enough to feed the two sisters after she learned sewing skills. Later, her sister also found a job as a handyman. With the money they earned and their frugal living, their life wasn't good, but they no longer went hungry.

　And if we go back 10,000 years according to their living standards... Rumo

　Blood-drinking?

　"At that time, the Tikkaz weren't called Tikkaz yet; they were just a bunch of random species, and predation was the normal food chain."

　"The exiled one was driven from his people and walked alone into the night. Much later..."

　Chen Lingxu saw Theresa biting her pink lips, looking at him with her big eyes that were both curious and timid, and then added some details to the explanation.

　"After about three years, he returned to his people with the crown and knowledge. Then, with the magical devices he obtained from the more ancient sages and knowledge far beyond what primitive people could comprehend, he unified all the Tikkaz settlements and founded the first true Tikkaz Empire."

　Seeing the 'amazing' expression in Theresa's eyes, the Qilin Overlord narrowed his eyes slightly, put his arm around Little Peach Slave's slender waist, and made her sit completely on his lap.

　"Gurgle... Master..."

　Theresa's body began to tremble with pain. She tried to lift herself up, but the wretched unicorn was holding her so tightly... and her stomach hurt terribly from his claws.

　"But the Far Exile, just like when his race expelled him, was a mentally disabled cripple. Despite acquiring advanced knowledge and technology and possessing absolute power, he remained stagnant, prohibiting anyone from accessing those ancient relics. For hundreds of years, he single-handedly delayed the progress of the entire Tikkaz civilization."

　"what……"

　Is there really such a thing?

　"Then, Master... what happened next?"

　Why did Ticarks become Sarkaz? What was the Beast Wars that the Exorcist mentioned? The Kirin before us claims to be the King of the Beast Kingdom. Why is he so hostile to the Sarkaz?

　Too many questions flooded Theresa's mind. She was curious, curious about this secret, but she knew that if she didn't do something, this wretched monster would never tell her.

　“Please, please tell me more about your slave… ha… ah…”

　Watching Theresa awkwardly arch her back like a cat to please him, Chen Lingxu flicked his tail with a hint of satisfaction and continued to recount the so-called 'Beast-Demon War', and how he had, in less than a hundred years, unified the Beast Kingdom from a group of wild animals into a 'civilization' and shattered those aliens who did not accept his goodwill.

　"So...so amazing...Master..."

　Although Theresa hated this monster, if what he said was true, then... he was indeed a formidable fellow.

　Chapter Thirteen: Now that things have come to this, let's plant trees first.

　"Hmph. I don't need you to tell me how powerful I am. Slave, do your job well."

　Chen Lingxu looked at the little slave who had been rubbing against him for almost an hour while he was telling stories, and pinched off a peach tip.

　"Ugh... I... I understand..."

　Being watched and working even harder for another half hour, Theresa collapsed miserably into the arms of the Qilin Overlord, listening to his somewhat satisfied humming, and timidly bit the soft scale that was pressing against her lips.

　"So, you know now?"

　Chen Lingxu felt the wetness of the rain on the scale. He added a few more shovelfuls of soil to the tree roots before putting his arm around the little slave's slender waist and asking the question he had asked at the beginning.

　"What... Waaah... I, I really... forgot... Master... It's all, it's all because Master is too amazing..."

　When Theresa noticed the movement of the Qilin's claws, she immediately reached out her two small hands behind her back and pressed down on his claws, saying some insincere sweet words to beg for mercy.

　"I've said it before: if a piece of trash and an idiot like the Far Exile can become a Demon King, is there anyone worse or more rotten than him?"

　But looking at the living conditions of these Sarkaz aliens now, Chen Lingxu thought it might actually be true. But then he thought of the oddballs in his own Beast Kingdom, and Chen Lingxu suddenly felt a bit of a headache at the antics of the gods and beast kings after the kingdom split apart.

　The fact that Kazdel could still exist after ten thousand years, and that even the Demon King could still be alive, shows what foolish things those Beast Kings were doing during that time.

　Chen Lingxu admires the wise and despises the fools, regardless of whether they are friends or foes.

　"Me? Can I?"

　Demon King... Theresa never even considered that. Her biggest ambition was simply to one day save enough money to buy a house in Kazdel. Or perhaps to one day save enough money to move to a better place with her sister.

　Kazdel may be the home of the Sarkaz... but... it's incredibly difficult for an ordinary Sarkaz like her to survive here...

　"Why not?"