"The Minotaur Warriors and the Minotaur Chief are not marked in gray, which means the Minotaur Chief and the Minotaur Warriors have not been wiped out by the Hero."

"This implies that if I find a Minotaur Chief and make it my ally, then the Minotaur Tribe led by it would also become my allies. I could kill two birds with one stone by completing two illustrated book tasks."

Shami gradually sorted out the situation.

The only thing left was how to find the Minotaur Chief.

[Resurrection Method 1: Find a surviving Minotaur Chief. Regardless of what faction it belongs to, just bring it into your own faction.]

"Great, this fits my impression of the Minotaurs perfectly."

Shami crossed his arms and nodded, continuing to read.

[Resurrection Method 2: Convert the Demon King's magic power into the Minotaur's Strength, then find a suitable cattle to inject the Minotaur's Strength.]

"Isn't this method simpler?"

Shami was slightly puzzled. He lacked nothing, least of all magic power.

[Hint: The probability of turning ordinary cattle into a Minotaur Chief is only 1%. The failure rate is extremely high. If it fails, you must wait a month to reform the Minotaur's Strength.]

[Hint: If you successfully resurrect a Minotaur Chief, the size, strength, and quality of the Minotaur's Strength injected will directly affect the Minotaur Chief's future abilities.]

"It seems neither resurrection method is simple."

Shami summed up the information from the illustrations, then looked at the Wisteria Tree Spirit.

"Tree Spirit, do you have any information about the Minotaurs?"

[The Minotaur Tribe... it seems they haven't gone extinct... I heard of them somewhere before... it seems they defected with that Demon Envoy... let me think about it, cough cough...]

"Alright."

Shami didn't press the Tree Spirit for an immediate answer, given the Tree Spirit's considerable age.

After a while.

The Wisteria Tree Spirit's vines trembled slightly.

[Found it... in the southeast of Aoja Kingdom... birds flying from there rested on my branches for a while... they saw traces of Minotaurs, cough cough...]

Aoja Kingdom, a kingdom of similar scale bordering with the Fess Kingdom, separated by a massive mountain range, with one-fifth of its territory being deep mountains and marshlands.

Shami listened to the Tree Spirit's words, lost in thought.

"Did you just mention something about defection? Could you elaborate?"

[Oh... that... it's the infamous 'Bichu'er Insurrection Incident'... in the fifth year after Luwaka was targeted by the Hero and the adventuring party, his top Demon Envoy Bichu'er defected with a team of demons, disappearing from the front line and causing the demon race to lose their most critical frontline base, cough cough...]

"Wait, can a Demon Envoy really betray the Demon King?"

Shami sat up straight, looking seriously at the Tree Spirit.

From what he knew about the Demon Envoy Contract, Demon Envoys should not be able to betray the Demon King.

[Of course not... Luwaka immediately used the power of the contract... trying to recall Bichu'er... but the contract showed Bichu'er was already dead, cough cough...]

Shami's eyes widened.

"But with the Demon Envoy's death, Luwaka should have been affected too, right?"

[The strange thing is... Luwaka suffered no negative consequences... it's just that he later spent much less time at the Succubus Tea House, cough cough...]

"Clearly, he's taken a severe hit in that regard!"

[However... no one knows whether Bichu'er is truly dead... nor what his situation is, cough cough... though I reckon he's probably still alive... remember the time the Rolling Stone Spirit came looking for me, cough cough...]

Shami remembered it vividly.

When seeking the Tree Spirit, not only did he encounter the swordsman Shute and his mercenary group at the forest edge, but also a group of unidentified Rolling Stone Spirits.

Shami frowned in contemplation.

"I remember. Those Rolling Stone Spirits referred to someone as the Demon King."

[The Rolling Stone Spirits were among the ordinary magical creatures that defected with Bichu'er... they sought out the Tree Spirit to recruit him... it seems there's a large group behind them, cough cough...]

"Why is such an important matter only being brought up now!"

[I meant to mention it back then... but seeing you flirt with the lady Demon Envoys... I choked... thought I'd say it later... then I forgot, cough cough...]

"It wasn't flirting, just a usual work discussion."

Shami blinked and coughed softly.

He wanted to learn more, but unfortunately, the information abruptly ended there.

However, it's clear now that he is not the only demonic force around.

He checked the time.

It was already morning.

To avoid suspicion, Shami would have to return to the village.

"Let's talk more about this later, I need to head back to the village first."

[Goodbye... Shami, cough cough...]

"Goodbye."

[Without those three ladies around... it's suddenly so quiet, cough cough... I'm not used to it, cough cough...]

Shami's hand paused as he opened the Teleportation Gate, then he stepped into it.

"It's fine."

...

Village.

Today it was Shami's turn to take the village's flock of domesticated poultry and livestock to graze on the grassland.

Besides sheep, Yili Village also raised a cow. This cow was born when Shami first arrived in the village, by the village's old cow, and is now two and a half years old.

This age marks the onset of adulthood for a cow.

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