Chapter 414: Shut Up and Don

“Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“...Heh.”

Herbert lowered his head and gently patted the Centaur girl’s head, signaling her to let go and stand up.

“Get up, stop being so clingy.”

Under Sophie’s persistent and devout request to learn, Herbert reluctantly agreed—to teach her how to serve, and to demonstrate it himself.

Yes, Herbert personally took the role, showing her what a knee pillow was, letting her rest her head on his thighs.

“...Oh.”

After being reminded, Sophie slowly opened her eyes, dazed.

She didn’t rise immediately, but kept her previous posture, lazily resting her head on Herbert’s thigh, nearly asleep.

“Ah, ha...”

Though her spiritual form didn’t need sleep, she couldn’t help letting out a huge yawn.

She was a little tired.

This was extremely unusual.

That slight drowsiness meant nothing to a legendary spirit—they were warriors who could fight without rest until their final moment.

But this faint fatigue quickly vanished, her spirit becoming unusually full.

Like someone had poured... rooster blood into her!

After recovering for a while, Sophie rose reluctantly from Herbert’s thighs, yet didn’t fully stand.

Instead, she knelt again before Herbert, bowing her head and speaking devoutly:

“I now know how to serve!”

“Thank you for your teaching! Let me do it next time!”

She could faintly sense subtle changes in her spirit after being soothed by her lord!

Though she didn’t yet understand what these changes meant, it was undoubtedly Herbert’s generous gift to her.

“Heh, are you satisfied?”

“Mm!”

Herbert opened his eyes, smiling and nodding at her.

“Good, that’s enough.”

While giving Sophie a knee pillow, he had clearly been soothing her—but he himself had unexpectedly slipped into a daze.

In comforting others, he was also comforting himself.

Especially the unique texture of her spiritual form differed from the skin of other demon girls—a rare and novel experience.

Herbert reached up and stroked the Centaur girl’s ponytail, smiling as he encouraged, “This was just a trial—try harder next time.”

Though they had only just taken the first step, he already looked forward to what came next.

From every perspective, she was a promising talent—he awaited her future development.

“Yes! I will work hard from now on!”

After being praised, Sophie grew even happier, feeling her efforts had been recognized.

Keep going, Sophie!

You can definitely make Lord Herbert satisfied!

Since she didn’t understand the true meaning of “serving,” Sophie felt no awkwardness or shyness in the current atmosphere, and quickly regained her composure to return to the topic.

“My Lord, how do you plan to summon other spirits?”

She had fully accepted the plan to increase the number of spirits and now diligently offered strategies for Herbert.

“Are you planning to directly recruit those fellows?”

Joanna and Miser didn’t know the origin of spirits and still wondered how Herbert would acquire more.

But Sophie knew—deep within the mist of Mist Mountain, there were many, many spirits like herself.

Not far off, along the path deeper into Mist Mountain, there was a group of wandering spirits still active.

They were lost lambs, needing their lord’s guidance.

Their strength wasn’t great; even the strongest among them was no stronger than she, perhaps even weaker.

“My Lord! Let me go convey your will and have them follow you!”

Sophie volunteered, but Herbert waved her off.

“Don’t rush—I know you’re eager, but hold on.”

Herbert smiled, patting Sophie’s head as he said calmly: “The ones I’m summoning this time aren’t those fellows—they can be recruited directly, but they require too much effort to control.”

If Herbert wanted to recruit those wandering spirits, he could’ve done so from the start—he didn’t need to wait until now.

Those fellows could be used immediately, but their wills remain intact, posing some risk of backlash—unsuitable for control.

What Herbert needs now are pure, blank slates—like Sophie—ready for him to paint however he wishes.

More than ready-made combat power, he now needed loyalty to himself.

Loyalty!

To get by, you’ve got to have loyalty—even if you’re just clowning around.

【“So you’re just leaving those fellows alone?”】

The Jester girl suddenly interrupted: “You’re so heartless! That’s really cruel!”

Herbert: ?

Me? Heartless?

Herbert couldn’t help rolling his eyes, mentally retorting: “Hmm? Adults are speaking—children, don’t butt in.”

Nenesha: ?

【“...Huh?”】

The Jester girl was stunned.

She never expected such a reply.

A child?

Me?

“Yes, I’m talking to you—stop butting in.”

【“...Fine, you win.”】

Nenesha gave up.

She bowed to Herbert’s audacity.

I at least twist the truth a little.

But you? You’re not even touching the truth at all!

You’re really something! (Thumbs up)

“Hmph, if someone must butt in, only I get to.”

Herbert boasted: “I interrupt others—no one interrupts me.”

Better I betray the world than let the world betray me!

“No one interrupts—only I interrupt!”

Nenesha: ?

The Jester girl suddenly felt something was off and asked suspiciously, “Wait, you repeated that so many times—aren’t you hinting at something?”

“Heh, how could that be?”

Herbert gave a surface reply to her question, but smiled inwardly without speaking.

Obviously.

I made these dumplings just for this little bit of jealousy.

Otherwise, you really think you’re a child?

After successfully dismissing the Jester girl with a few words about “butting in,” Herbert continued explaining to Sophie: “They’re not urgent—we’ll deal with them later.”

Though Herbert didn’t plan to recruit those fellows now, everyone knew it was only a matter of time.

Given his greed, he’d eventually bring them all under his command.

Herbert released Sophie and stood up to tidy himself.

He glanced sideways at the Centaur girl, who sat motionless watching him, and shook his head slightly.

Indeed, she still didn’t understand.

She wasn’t as considerate as Freime—she didn’t even come over to help.

If Freime were here, he wouldn’t need to dress himself.

After tidying his clothes and confirming everything was fine, he asked: “Sophie, do you remember the spirit pool fragments we were searching for?”

“Of course—those three were occupied, and you said to ignore them for now... Oh! I get it! You mean that Chimera!”

The belatedly realizing Sophie exclaimed excitedly: “Has the fragment it occupied been reclaimed by you and Lady Valentina?”

“Mm, correct.”

Herbert smiled and nodded: “Valentina has left the pool outside Elda.”

“I’ve confirmed in advance—it still functions normally; just a little adjustment and it’ll be ready.”

As for Herbert’s investigation... naturally, that meant bathing with Valentina to verify its self-cleaning ability.

“But is just one fragment enough?” Sophie hesitated.

Although she forgot many “memories,” some basic knowledge remained.

She didn’t believe a single fragment alone could restore the Heroic Pool’s summoning ability.

Strictly speaking, she was right to think so.

A single broken fragment of the Heroic Pool could not possibly perform the operation of summoning new heroes.

Otherwise, anyone who obtained a fragment could summon heroes endlessly.

This is a high-level operation involving the domain of the gods.

Of course, whether it can be done still depends on who performs it.

If it were any other outsider, they could never summon any hero using this fragment—only collect the pool water produced by the Heroic Pool.

But Nena Sha is no outsider.

This is His own Heroic Pool!

“Of course it can be done…”

【“Hehe! It’s still a tiny bit short~ but it’s enough now.”】 Nena Sha interrupted Herbert before he could speak.

Herbert paused, silently sighing in his mind:

“Tch, you’re butting in again.”

【“Hehe! Who cares? I’m butting in! I’m butting in!”】 Nena Sha chattered noisily inside Herbert’s head.

Having lost the last round through carelessness, she was now reclaiming her advantage.

“Childish!”

【“I’m a child! I’m childish! La la la~”】

“...”

After a moment of silence, Herbert finally surrendered in resignation.

“Fine, you win this round.”

【“Haha!”】

Two rounds, one win, one loss—they ended in a tie.

Sophieya, as an outsider, naturally knew nothing of the little drama unfolding in Herbert and Nena Sha’s minds.

To her, Herbert had merely paused in thought for a while, then returned to normal—nothing strange at all.

“The fragment is sufficient for now.”

Herbert offered no further explanation; as he had said before, it was his own matter to handle—Sophieya need not worry.

Sophieya only needed to serve him well; what he had to consider was far more.

“By the way, how many soul cores have you collected from around here?”

The soul core is the most vital part of every hero; as long as it isn’t utterly destroyed, revival remains possible.

Even if the revived hero differs entirely from the past, they are not truly dead.

To summon heroes, the Heroic Pool is an indispensable foundation, while soul cores are the required materials.

Before leaving Ellda, Herbert had instructed Sophieya to collect any soul cores she encountered during patrols.

Regardless of condition, gather them all.

Damaged soul cores were useless to others, but Nena Sha could recombine them.

Sophieya nodded and reported respectfully: “My Lord, I have collected them all as you commanded.”

“Total: over three hundred. Roughly two hundred are completely ruined; about one hundred still retain faint souls.”

“Oh? Three hundred?”

Herbert blinked at the unexpected number: “That’s quite a lot! You’ve done well.”

He had originally estimated Sophieya might gather around a hundred, perhaps only fifty or sixty.

He hadn’t expected her to exceed his expectations by several times over.

It seemed she had ventured into dangerous areas on her own.

She deserves reward!

He must reward her properly.

“My Lord, this is not solely my achievement.”

Sophieya did not claim all the credit, bowing her head to explain:

“It was Ait’s Mist Wolf Pack that helped greatly—they collected the soul cores during their patrols.”

“Three-quarters of these soul cores were recovered by them.”

Oh!

It was them.

Had she not mentioned the Mist Wolves, Herbert might have forgotten he kept such a pack of guard animals.

“Hmm, good. You’ve all done well.”

Herbert praised them briefly, smiling contentedly: “With these soul cores, the summoning can proceed normally.”

He asked inwardly: “Nena Sha, how many can we summon?”

【“So impatient!”】

Nena Sha thought a moment: 【“It depends on the quality of the soul cores, but roughly, one-tenth of the ruined ones?”】

She would fuse ten damaged soul cores into one group to form a new hero.

【“The ones with lingering souls? About half can be awakened—though I mean the first awakening. The failed ones, if kept warm in the Heroic Pool, might awaken more later.”】

Twenty, fifty… perhaps seventy in total?

Though under a hundred, this number already surpassed his original expectations.

Remember, heroes are tireless, need no food or pay, and work endlessly on nothing but passion and faith—living nuclear beasts!

Very good.

“Sophieya, if all goes well, by this time tomorrow, you won’t be alone anymore.”

Upon hearing this remark, the usually loyal centaur hero surprisingly contradicted Herbert: “My Lord, you are wrong.”

“Hm? Where am I wrong?”

Herbert turned with a smile, intending to ask what he had missed—but fell silent upon seeing Sophieya’s serious expression.

The answer no longer needed asking.

This clumsy centaur hero had written every thought plainly on her face, hidden in her eyes.

Then Sophieya spoke: “Since meeting you, I have never felt alone.”

Herbert raised an eyebrow: “Even when I left you here? You never felt alone?”

The centaur offered a faint smile, bowed deeply before him, lowering her head, and whispered:

“Never.”

(End of Chapter)