The maid squad is too strong, what use is there for me, the Demon King?

Realizing that these magic crystals could be purified, the three members of the hero team got busy again.

Harvest the magic crystals from the monster corpses, then purify them by infusing them with light-attribute magic.

This is undoubtedly a huge workload. The ground is littered with monster corpses. Apart from the corpses that have been extensively damaged and whose internal magic crystals are also lost, we don't need to worry about them. We have to extract the magic crystals from each of the monster corpses one by one and then purify them...

Sofia was stunned.

Sophia strongly protested that she had to repeat the tedious work of retrieving and purifying magic crystals hundreds or thousands of times. It was both boring and tiring.

“I, Sofia, am…”

"If you don't purify it, it's the same as killing monsters for nothing. You've done so much in Emerald Valley but haven't gained anything?"

The casting was interrupted, and Philippa's words silenced Sofia.

Yes, we've come all this way, and after all that effort to defeat the monsters, if we don't bring back any spoils...

Sofia doesn't want to work for free!

Perhaps knowing that Sophia didn't want to work for free, Philippa easily got Sophia to willingly become her slave... (not really) doing the mechanized assembly line work of retrieving and purifying magic crystals.

Philippa and Taric did find harvesting and purifying so many magic crystals troublesome, but unlike Sophia, they didn't need to be coaxed into doing the work.

Philippa is saving money and won't let any piece of property slip by.

She had always longed for such an adventurous life and did not want to rely too much on royal power for adventure expenses.

She didn't want to go back to that luxurious "birdcage," where she felt restricted every day and was constantly pressured by her husband to get married.

Philippa had already made plans for the future.

After successfully defeating the Demon King, I will definitely leave the royal family and hide somewhere that Old Deng can't find me.

She is now able to support herself and live freely, and saving money is also a way of planning for the future.

Then, there will be other things to worry about.

Regarding Grey Brandt, he was the person I admired.

After defeating the Demon King, she could remain in the royal family and even ask Old Deng for a marriage proposal. Given her achievements as a hero in defeating the Demon King, Old Deng would certainly not refuse. The price would be returning to the palace to continue being a decorative figure.

Leaving the royal family would grant her freedom, but not complete freedom. She would have to constantly evade searches by Old Deng's men, and she would have little chance with Grey.

How can someone who doesn't like to show their face in public pursue an adopted son of a noble family who already has a fiancée?

Or should we wait until the marriage is officially granted before leaving the royal family and then find an opportunity to escape?

This is something that Philippa in the future should worry about; what Philippa in the present needs to consider is how to get to that future.

If you fail to defeat the Demon King and lose your life, you'll have nothing left.

We can only focus on the present moment...

Tariq, being a nobleman's son from the border region, was not so privileged and did not have much to complain about.

The three of them chatted casually as they repeated the task of collecting and purifying magic crystals.

The first one to be mentioned is naturally the departed chief magician of the palace.

"Should we wait for His Majesty Phoenix to return?" Sophia asked while purifying the magic crystal.

"Grandpa Phoenix must have gone to Emerald Valley to deal with the source of the monster horde. We'll have to wait until he returns and tells us the details..."

As he spoke, his hands were not idle either, dissecting the monster's corpse and taking out the magic crystal.

Having something to do—purifying magic crystals—instead of just waiting around, is a blessing in disguise...

That's not quite right. Repeating the tedious purification process for valuable magic crystals would cost a fortune, so it can hardly be considered a "disaster."

"How long will it take?"

Sofia muttered to herself how long it would take for Phoenix to return.

In contrast, Taric stated:

"Before we completely purify the magic crystals, the real concern should be how many magic crystals we'll still need to purify when His Majesty Phoenix returns..."

After realizing that his purification efficiency was ridiculously low compared to the two women, Taric decided not to continue purifying at such a snail's pace and instead focused on dissecting the magic crystals to give to Sophia for purification.

This saves Sophia the trouble of retrieving the magic crystal, which is something she's not good at.

One was not good at obtaining magic crystals, and the other had low purification efficiency, but their cooperation improved efficiency considerably.

But isn't Philippa the most efficient at purifying magic crystals? Why didn't Taric give the extracted magic crystals to Philippa for purification instead of Sophia? Shouldn't Philippa focus on purifying magic crystals?

This is because Philippa's purification of magic crystals is so efficient that it's so fast that Taric hasn't even extracted the crystals before Philippa has finished purifying them. During this time gap, it's impossible to let Philippa just wait around, otherwise it would be a waste of time.

The time it takes Taric to retrieve a magic crystal and Sophia to purify a magic crystal is about the same, so there won't be a situation where one party has to wait too long for the other.

Therefore, the most efficient approach is for Philippa to be self-sufficient (collecting and purifying the magic crystals herself), while Taric and Sophia work together.

As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work...

But this statement doesn't seem to apply to the Holy Maiden.

Having to constantly endure the Saintess's disgusted gaze and clicking tongues was incredibly torturous for Taric, who wasn't a masochist with such a taste.

But for the sake of work efficiency, Taric had no choice but to endure all of this.

Incidentally, Sofia has already toned down her behavior somewhat.

Androphobia, how terrifying...

Phoenix returned around the time the three of them had purified half of the magic crystals.

Looking at the old man who had suddenly appeared before him, Taric thought to himself: Just as I expected...

And it was even faster than I expected...

Phoenix immediately realized that the three of them were purifying magic crystals. With a wave of his hand, magic crystals fell in front of the three of them, piling up into a small hill, under the flash of silver light.

The main advantage of spatial magic is its convenience; teleporting small, inanimate objects doesn't require much effort.

This was a huge help; Taric's job was taken over, and he could only continue purifying the magic crystals with his low efficiency.

Philippa and Sofia didn't care about any of that, since the two women were the biggest beneficiaries.

Philippa gave Phoenix a sweet smile to express her gratitude, and Phoenix responded with a slight nod.

"The source of the monster horde has been identified and resolved; the culprit is a cult."

Phoenix said slowly.

Sure enough...

Monsters are all corrupted by demonic energy, and it is clear that this incident is inextricably linked to cultists of the Demon Cult.

"How outrageous..."

Philippa clenched her fists; this wasn't the first or second time the Demon Cult had bullied her.

Phoenix nodded.

But he also knew that these scoundrels were difficult to deal with, as the religious groups were too large and well-hidden.

It's too much to manage...