Becoming the Demon Lord: Taming the Demon Queen Begins

"Even though it sounds hard to believe, I'm not joking."

The shopkeeper lowered his voice, clearly not wanting to draw attention. "I heard that the human girl landed outside the city by accident and was discovered.

And now, she's hiding in the Lord's mansion. It's already been decided that she'll be offered as a sacrifice for Lady Elara Nightshade's wedding ceremony."

"A living being actually made it to the Netherworld?"

The customer, hearing the shopkeeper's serious tone, looked visibly shocked. At the same time, a hint of fear crept into his voice. "But if the Lord caught her, doesn't that mean she's..."

"The Lord's already planning to give the girl to Lady Elara. Even if she doesn't get eaten, she'll definitely be sacrificed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Either way, her fate's going to be pretty grim. After all, in the Netherworld, the value of a living being is beyond imagination.

But this... it's not something we can do anything about."

The shopkeeper's voice was barely above a whisper, cautious, clearly afraid of being overheard by other spirits.

But every word reached Timothy's ears.

"A living girl? Could they be talking about Sylvia?" Timothy's eyes narrowed slightly. Find more to read at empire

After all, getting to the Netherworld was incredibly difficult. As far as he knew, only he and Sylvia had made it here from the continent of Elant.

The only thing that didn't add up was...

Why were they calling Sylvia a little girl?

From any angle, Sylvia had nothing in common with a child.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

Timothy sipped his beer, quietly listening to the conversation between the shopkeeper and the customer.

From their exchange, he learned quite a bit about the Netherworld.

The Netherworld was ruled by the vast and powerful Umbral Dynasty.

In addition to overseeing the spirits that entered the Netherworld, the dynasty also fulfilled its duty of helping those with lingering wishes move on to the afterlife.

But because the process was so slow, many spirits, like the ones here in Ereboth, were stuck waiting for a long time.

During this waiting period, a society had formed that was almost identical to the one they had in life.

The ruler of this city, Lord Magnus Nightshade, had once been a Holy Emperor-level powerhouse in life, and he used that strength to maintain control here.

After becoming a spirit, Magnus Nightshade's personality seemed to have changed. He'd done plenty of bad things, often exploiting the people of the city.

His eldest daughter, in particular, had become a source of public outrage...

"So that's how it is."

Timothy nodded slightly, piecing together the current state of the Netherworld.

At that moment, the regular customer who had been chatting with the shopkeeper finished his beer, placed some paper money on the table, and left.

"Boss, I'll settle up too."

Timothy downed the rest of his beer and called out.

"Alright, one beer, 20 Soul Coins."

The shopkeeper quickly approached, eager to collect the payment.

"20? Soul Coins? Wait, what?"

Timothy suddenly realized something was off.

Looking at the paper money the shopkeeper had just taken, a serious problem dawned on him.

He had plenty of paper currency and even some Mana Crystals on him.

But he didn't have any of the Netherworld's currency!

Clearly, the Netherworld didn't use the same money as the living world. If he handed over the wrong currency, he'd blow his cover immediately.

"Uh, boss, hold on a second. My money's... uh, buried a bit deep," Timothy coughed awkwardly, turning away to buy himself some time.

"Just 20 Soul Coins, no need for change, right?" The shopkeeper looked at him with a hint of confusion.

After all, Soul Coins were the cheapest currency in the Netherworld. Most people here weren't exactly poor.

But then again...

'A ghost who can't even pull out Soul Coins... probably died unexpectedly far from home,' the shopkeeper thought, feeling a sudden wave of sympathy. He sighed deeply, pitying the young ghost in front of him, who seemed to have died so early.

'Soul Coins, Soul Coins...' Timothy's mind raced as he turned away, and suddenly, an idea struck him.

He didn't have any Soul Coins, but... he could make some, right?

It's not like they had any anti-counterfeiting measures here.

Why not just make his own?

Without hesitation, Timothy pulled out a handful of paper bills and, using intense heat, burned them to ash.

Instantly, he felt the energy from the burning paper shift. As the bills disintegrated, a dark, ghostly aura gathered in his hands.

The blueish energy reformed into the shape of the original bills, but now they were semi-transparent and emitted a faint, eerie chill.

At first glance, they seemed to have transformed into something that belonged in the Netherworld.

"Here you go, boss. Keep the change," Timothy said, stuffing a handful of these newly spirit-formed bills into the shopkeeper's hands.

His priority was finding Sylvia, and he didn't have time to worry about the value of the currency.

"Keep the change? But... this is fake money!" The shopkeeper froze for a moment after taking the bills, then quickly spoke up.

"Fake? Nonsense! I just made these myself..." Timothy started to argue, but then he realized something was off.

Sure, the bills were now ghostly and semi-transparent, but they still looked like the currency from the living world.

"Ah, I see. You must've died not too long ago," the shopkeeper sighed again, stepping closer. "Your family probably meant well, but seriously, putting real-world money in your coffin? What a mistake.

Next time you get a chance, send them a dream and tell them to bury you with gold or silver coins, not paper money.

In the Netherworld, paper bills from the living world are considered counterfeit. Not only are they useless, but using too many could even get you in trouble with the law."

Timothy: "Oh..."

Listening to the shopkeeper's heartfelt advice, Timothy was left speechless.

He had to admit, the rules of the Netherworld were pretty bizarre...

Who would've thought that all those kings and emperors burying themselves with gold and silver actually had the right idea?

"Make way! Clear the road! Today, Lady Nightshade will choose her groom and celebrate her wedding night!"

Suddenly, the sound of ghost soldiers echoed from the street outside the tavern.

By now, the sky had grown completely dark.

Under the glow of the streetlights, Timothy could see clearly.

Behind a grand carriage, dozens of male ghosts were being marched forward, bound and escorted.

They were the candidates for Lady Nightshade's husband.

But the expressions on their faces were filled with fear and dread.

It was clear they were terrified of what was about to happen.

"Wait... a groom selection?" Timothy muttered, a bit puzzled.

But his attention quickly shifted to the carriage.

Elara, the Lord's daughter.

From what he'd overheard earlier, it seemed likely that on her wedding night, the Lord would gift her the human girl they had just captured.