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“Is she truly a demon?” One of the demons asked in apparent disbelief.
“Who knows?” I shrugged as I took my seat once again. “It’s not my place to say. However, here’s the point that needs to be made. Unless demons find a way to make offspring, the entire demon race is destroyed. This… demon Sal… may think he knows everything there is to know about humans, but I can guarantee that his knowledge is extremely limited.”
Sal’s expression narrowed. “You wish to challenge me?”
“It isn’t a challenge. It’s an observation. Five minutes ago, you would have thought it impossible for this young girl to defeat a demon in a fight, yet her strength cannot be denied anymore.” I gestured to Alleya, who was walking back to my side.
“Make your point!”
“My point is that the Demon King went to so much effort to go to war with the humans. We put our lives on the line because we wanted what they had. We saw them and admired their things. Some of us admired the food they could make, the fertile land they lived on, the cities they built, their culture, or even their women.”
This caused the crowds to cry out in anger. It looked like I had stepped on a few toes here. I only had a passing understanding regarding the war, so I was taking a bit of risk talking about things in this manner, but I still felt it was necessary to put it out there.
“We went to war to protect ourselves. The humans would have oppressed us if they had the chance!”
“They wanted to destroy us.”
“You act like we were the aggressors.”
It seemed like many demons didn’t accept the more duplicitous side of this war. Every side always believed they were the good guys, and the ones who were right were always the ones who won in the end. Since the demons won this war, the narrative was that they had moved to protect themselves. I was a realist though, and I didn’t need to take more than a look at people like Sal to know exactly why this war happened.
It was a war for resources. As far as I had looked into it, I knew that the demon realm was harsh and difficult. If they didn’t fight humans, they would have likely been right where they were at now, killing each other. The war had only delayed such a thing. If the demons, or the world, wanted to continue on any longer, changes were going to need to be made. God understood this, but I was far too lazy of a guy to make these demons understand it.
“Apologies.” I raised my hands casually in defeat. “Whatever reason we began this war, that reason no longer exists. The humans are not a threat, and the resources are plentiful. If we wish to continue, we need to find a new way of living. The humans hold the key to living a new way. If we enslave them, then that way of life will be lost to us. We must learn from the humans, integrate with them. Only through unity can we find a future for our people.”
I closed my mouth. I had already said far more than I intended to. I didn’t even really believe most of it. It was just crap that I figured it’d be expected I said. I was mostly distracting them from the question of whether she was a demon or not. Fortunately, demons were pretty easy to distract. Hey, I never claimed to be some great speaker or politician. I felt a hand pat me on the shoulder.
“My friend here has made an excellent point.” Lord Dire had stood up.
I’d rather he not touch me, but I kept my mouth closed at that moment. Alleya had returned to the table, and as I reached out to grab her arm, she flinched. My eyes turned sharp while she looked away. A very quick examination and I realized her previous attack hadn’t been as gentle as I had previously thought. She had been moving slowly while returning to my table, and now I could see that her arms had been broken from that hit.
They were healing quickly, but that didn’t stop it from being painful. Lord Dire had gone into a speech now, apparently building off of what I had been saying before. I decided it was a good time to leave, so I excused myself quietly. With one hand on the dog girl’s wrist, I led Alleya away to the receiving area. Once we were out of earshot from the crowd, I spun to her.
“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself so hard.” I gave her a rough look, causing her to wince.
“I’m sorry…” She responded, cradling her damaged arms.
I didn’t know much about healing. Just because she could heal fast didn’t mean they’d heal right. What if her arms healed incorrectly? Would she be crippled for life? The thought of it made me angry. I had a mind to find the demon who had gone out and make him pay. He had stormed off angrily after being defeated and embarrassed and I didn’t see where he went. I supposed I’d have to get his name from Dire. That was truly troublesome.
My eyes turned back to her. “Your body isn’t just yours anymore. If it’s between harming yourself or failing a task I ask, fail. I won’t accept you being hurt again.”
Alleya looked up at me, and then a small smile formed on her lips. “Yes, Master.”
I frowned. “Don’t misunderstand me. It’s not like I care about you. It’s my business. If your body is mangled, then I’d make less money.”
“Really?” Alleya gave an unconvinced look that irritated me.
“You’re just an employee. That is all.”
“H-he jumped up when he thought you were hurt. He was really scared.” The dog girl suddenly spoke up.
A beautiful smile formed on Alleya’s face, but that only irritated me more. “I understand.”
{Your Minion, Alleya, has increased to level 5.}
It looked like she didn’t understand at all. I supposed that it was nice that Alleya had jumped up a level, but considering it was the cost of leading her to believe some things about us. Well, I suppose it wasn’t her fault. Rather, the dog girl had suddenly spoken up.
I gave the dog girl a scathing look. “I thought you were a dog. Where is your loyalty?”
She lowered her head and looked down, letting out a low yelp. Alleya chuckled softly.
“It’s okay. Master may seem rough, but he’s actually super nice.”
“What are you saying? Do I need to train you like I trained Daphne?” I growled under my breath, before looking down at the dog girl. “What’s your name, anyway?”
“M-my name?” The dog girl looked up, slightly confused.
“Yes, what do people call you?”
“Ah… r-right… they did call me a name, back on the streets. They called me Bitch.”
Alleya’s eyes widened. “B-bitch?”
“Mm! That’s what everyone calls me.”
“Yeeeaaah… I’m not calling you that.” I rubbed my face. “Can I give you another name?”
“M-master can call me whatever he desires.” She responded quietly.
“Very well. I’ll call you Luna.”
“Luna?” Alleya blinks.
She had a marking on her ear that sort of looked like a crescent moon. That was all the thought I gave into naming her. Furthermore, it sounded like a name you might call a dog.
“Yes, Master!” Luna nodded, her floppy ears bouncing as she did.
I also noticed that her dog tail which had been hanging low this whole time was now wagging just a bit. It seemed like everyone had the wrong impression of me today. Dire thought I cared about his cause. Sal thought I was against his cause. These two girls thought they were more than just a convenience for me. I raised my hands. Alleya looked at me curiously, while Luna flinched slightly.
I dropped my hand one on each head, and then I started patting the girls. Alleya smiled that beautiful smile again and then winked at Luna. Luna’s tail was now wagging fully. I suppose it was fine if they misunderstood things, as long as it was convenient.