Saga of Slime and Devil (Remake)

Vol 3 | Chapter 3 | Greed

Sunlight flooded the insides of the luxurious carriage, shining off of the blood-red seats that made up much of the insides. Sitting alone in the carriage was a young girl with blonde hair and pink eyes, casually staring out the window uncaring of the sights going by.

The ride was boring, and in truth, she had taken countless trips similar and had seen much better sights before. Though this was the case, she took a slight satisfaction in knowing that it would all be hers one day. Her greed had gotten her this far already; if she played her cards right, it would take her all the way.

It was because of this greed that Mariabell had gotten the skill of the same name, 'Greed'. It was this skill that facilitated her growth in power across the world. There were plenty of regions where her influence was limited if not outright non-existent, but that was soon to change, she simply needed more time.

But now a new opportunity had presented itself; a new target had appeared for her to take advantage of. At first, it seemed to be just some ambitious and intelligent merchant growing an economic empire. That alone was enough to catch her attention, but it was what came after that truly caught her eye.

This 'Tanya Degurechaff' had continued to expand their business and influence, creating an ideology consisting of ideas completely foreign to this world and with a business model that mimicked what Mariabell had seen before. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that this Tanya was an otherworlder.

Otherworlders were brilliant assets for her skill to control. Not only did they often have grand ambitions that made them easy for her skill to control, but they also came with power or knowledge that surpassed most in this world.

Mariabell knew firsthand the world that otherworlders came from, after all, she was an otherworlder herself. Getting yet another otherworlder as a puppet would do her ambitions well, and with the sphere this otherworlder had so quickly built, there was no doubt that Tanya would be among the most important assets she would ever obtain.

That is where the tricky part came in. For her Greed skill to take control over Degurechaff, Mariabell needed to be present herself. It was an unfortunate restriction, but not one she truly cared much about.

She rode without guards, believing that there was nobody that could hurt her, and fewer that would even dare to try. She would be going in alone. Someone of her influence would no doubt have little issue getting a meeting with Degurechaff, and from there all it would take was a simple conversation and the economic empire this newcomer was building up would be under her control.

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Mia stepped inside Tanya's office as she noticed the demon sitting at her desk in silence, fidgeting with some spherical contraption on her desk. The object gave off a faint purplish-blue glow and radiated a light magical aura. The thing was no doubt mechanical in nature, but Mia could hardly tell just what Tanya was messing with.

Seeing Tanya tinker with some object was a fairly common sight already, but only more so in the days following Tanya making a second body. Mia had learned from Gabiru that Tanya originally was unfamiliar with such engineering, learning it alongside her subordinates in order to create new contraptions.

Having received the 'Sage' skill from Tanya, Mia knew full well Sage's capabilities, understanding clearly how Tanya may have picked up such a hobby so easily. Still, that didn't mean Mia herself had any grasp on what Tanya was doing with the contraption in her hands.

Walking up next to her, she tilted her head, asking, "What are you working on, Miss Tanya?"

Tanya, still focused on her contraption, muttered without moving her gaze, "It's a mechanical core I'm working on. I'm using Charybdis' core as inspiration. I'm hoping to create a vessel for souls, specifically demons to inhabit while granting them control over a mechanical body."