Aristocrats are very face-saving.

If the fact that he was transgender was known, he would definitely be ridiculed, which was an unacceptable thing for many nobles. But if everyone is transgender, then naturally no one will laugh at themselves, right?

There may be some "saints" in the world who would rather suffer themselves than have others suffer the same as themselves. But it is obviously impossible for this group of nobles who have taken refuge in the demon clan to have such a "saint".

However, after some interviews and inquiries by Alice, in the end, only a few people who really took refuge in the demons were released back into human territory - such people seem to be surprisingly rare.

Celtic Rochiel is one of the few human nobles who has truly taken root in the Demon Race.

This is not difficult to understand, after all, Celtic Rochier is only a small nobleman at the level of a "country landlord" among human beings, and those big nobles may still have the idea of "preferring to be a chicken head rather than a phoenix tail", but a small nobleman like Rochier does not mind changing to a "new king" who can bring more benefits to the family.

After spending a few days in the Demon King's City, Rochier was finally sent back to the territory with the mission delivered by the Demon King, along with some other people who had passed the Demon Clan's "loyalty test".

Lurking, controlling the territory, regularly transmitting information to the demons, waiting for the "Wang Shi" to come ashore, officially raise the anti-flag accordingly.

After two days on a sailing ship, Rochiel finally returned to his territory from Demon King City.

Although the invading demon army has retreated, because the demons have "liberated" the seals of many monster nests, there are many places in the south that have become "fallen areas" where monsters are rampant - trade routes are cut off, materials are in short supply, and the high-level of the kingdom is caught in the whirlpool of power struggles, and the nobles everywhere can only find ways to tide over the difficulties by themselves.

Rochier's territory, Maple Collar, is one such territory in deep crisis.

The Maple Collar is a county with a town and plenty of rich farms. Although the grain production in the north is not high, relying on large-scale sowing, some of the grain production of maple collar can be sold after meeting local demand. However, since the outbreak of the war, monsters are rampant outside the city, farms are destroyed, and trade routes are cut off, and Maple Collar has directly fallen into a state of food shortage, and the city's security has also declined rapidly.

But now that an agreement has been reached with the demons, it should be better in the future, right? At least before the autumn harvest this year, there should be no demon attack troops.

Putting on his cloak, Rochiel arrives at a ruined manor outside the city.

Inside the manor, a group of knights were guarding a carriage and parked in the manor. The knights looked around nervously, for fear that a large group of monsters would suddenly pop up around them.

Seeing Rochier shrouded in cloaks, the nervous knights pulled out their long swords at their waists one after another: "Who!?" ”

"Don't be nervous, it's me." Rochiel lowered his voice, "I'm back. ”

Hearing Rochier's voice, the knights looked dazed, and the knight captain led by him slowly spoke: "Who are you?" Remove the cloak. ”

"Captain Ronko, is everything okay in the city during my absence?" Rochier said as he slowly removed the cloak from his head, "My two unsuccessful sons shouldn't have made a fuss in my absence, right?" ”

Looking at the young face under the cloak and the familiar tone, the knight captain led by him was directly stunned.

"Who are you?"

"It's me. Earl of Maplewood, Celtic Rochier. A smile appeared on Rochier's face, "The rewards of this trip are even greater than I imagined." I didn't expect the demons to be able to make people younger. Seeing my young appearance, from time to time I was shocked? ”

"You...... Is it really the Earl? The Captain of the Knight looked skeptical.

"It's like a fake!" The corners of Rochier's mouth turned up slightly, "I still remember the scene when you were in the martial arts arena, you obviously won the victory, but your feet trembled. ”

"Is it really the Earl!?" The Captain of the Knight looked surprised, "You...... You're getting younger. ”

"Yes." Rochiel nodded, "Let's go back to the city." I've successfully reached a deal with the demons, and although I will encounter some wild monsters in the future, at least I don't have to worry about the regular army of the demons coming to destroy the farm. ”

Hearing the earl's words, the knight captain finally breathed a sigh of relief: "My lord, thank you for your hard work. ”

"Hmm...... Let's go back. Rochiel boarded the carriage prepared by the knights.

As an "old man", Rochiel made a lot of preparations before leaving, so even if his appearance changed somewhat, he was still able to successfully control his territory after returning - and this is the reason why Rochiel was able to pass the final review of the demons and return to the territory. As for the second son of the family, the marginal characters who were sent to the demons for temptation or something, all those who couldn't bring enough benefits to the demons after returning were basically all stuffed into the fleet by the demons.

While hooking up with the aristocracy, the demons are also deliberately wooing ordinary humans, attracting ordinary humans, mainly women and children who have not yet developed gender recognition, to join the demons, so as to supplement the population base of the demons. As for human males...... Considering that male sex change will become a great instability factor within the demon race, Alice basically gave up the attraction of adult human men, focusing on the absorption of women and children and human smuggling.

The war destroyed the kingdom's agriculture, and the demon's scorched earth policy caused famine of varying degrees in many parts of the kingdom. In this case, the demons only need to use very little food to exchange a large number of women and children from certain humans. And the high-ranking members of the kingdom in the infighting were like a rotten old man, and they didn't react to this.

In the palace of the Kingdom of Northbod, a grand banquet is taking place.

The nobles were well-dressed and mingling, as if the war of the short past was merely an illusion.

In the corner of the banquet, a group of uniformed officers seemed a little out of place in the environment.

“…… Don't these nobles know what the current situation is? An officer had an angry look on his face.

"I heard that the above is going to make peace with the demons."

"What a joke! So what was our previous sacrifice!? "The young officer found this difficult to accept.

"Victims of the stupidity of the king." A middle-aged officer sneered, "Those nobles have no honor and loyalty at all in their hearts, only their own interests!" They are now just trying to protect their interests. I heard that many people have already reached a private agreement with the demons. ”

"Colonel, are you willing?" The young officer looked at his colleagues.

"What if you are unwilling? The king is dead, Master Fursky is dead, and now I don't even know who I should listen to. ”

"Why don't you choose to be loyal to the new king?" At that moment, a voice suddenly appeared behind the officers.

Everyone looked in the direction from which the voice came, and saw a gorgeously dressed halfling man standing there with a wine glass on his face.

"Lord Interjes, you still have the face to appear in front of us?" The young officer looked angrily at the halfling in front of him.

"Oh~ generals, I don't remember what I did that deserves your hatred." The halfling said with a smile, "I completed my mission perfectly, but it was the staff who misjudged the intentions of the demons, which ultimately led to the current result. Now everyone is paying for the incompetence of the staff. ”

The middle-aged officer on the side raised his eyebrows: "Your Excellency Interjes." Let's talk less about shirking responsibility, let's talk about some practical points. Kingdom...... Do you really want to surrender to the demons? ”

"Oh~ surrender or something, it's so ugly. All this is just to restore peace. The war has reached this point that there is no point in continuing. ”

"Avenge the king, in your eyes, is it a meaningless thing?"

The expression on the halfling's face became serious: "General Oster, your loyalty and glory are admirable, but in my opinion, the most important thing is to feed everyone. If the war continues, it will only destroy more people's lives. ”

"This is just an excuse for your cowardice!" The middle-aged man stood up with a "whew" and looked at the halfling condescendingly, "Your Excellency Interjes, I've had enough of your weakness!" ”

The middle-aged man glared at the halfling viciously for a moment, then turned around and walked out of the hall. Behind the middle-aged man, the officers glared at the halfling, followed behind the general, and left.

Seeing the group of officers leave, a trace of worry appeared on the faces of the halflings.

At this moment, a chubby human nobleman walked over: "Oh, Lord Interjes, those barbaric officers didn't say anything rude to you, did they?" ”

The halfling put away the worries in his heart, and a bright aristocratic smile appeared on his face: "Oh~ Lord Barquimis, this is no way, after all, they don't seem to have accepted the situation in front of them. ”

"Soldiers are like that, there are often guys who are full of violence and can't see the situation at all." The fat nobleman raised his glass with a smile on his face, "That's why we need to put shackles on the army." The army should serve the state and politics, and should not become the selfish thing of someone, even if that person is the king. ”

"I think so too." The halfling had a smile on his face, "The kingdom has already fallen twice on the same mistake, so we have to do it."