Because You're Not the Enemy
Since she wasn’t the enemy, the words slipped out almost automatically.
“Kuh… Kill me!”
Cassandra stood before me, her cheeks faintly flushed as she delivered a line that sounded far too familiar. Watching her, I couldn’t help but feel an incredibly strange mix of emotions. She clearly thought she was hiding it well, but from where I stood, the subtle sensuality—or perhaps it was more like a damp, humid lewdness—was impossible to ignore. In any case, it was obvious she was entertaining some very dirty thoughts. I could only click my tongue inwardly.
Good grief… This isn’t some erotic doujinshi. Is this what happens when you live inside an NTR game? Is everyone’s default mindset just like this?
Of course, if I thought about it a little more coldly, her reaction couldn’t simply be chalked up to being steeped in perversion. In this world, stories of demons violating humans were incredibly common, and that had fostered a deep-seated hostility toward the demon race among humans and other species. Yet after living alongside demons for the past several weeks, and through all the hints scattered throughout the original story, I knew very well that such things didn’t actually happen.
The Demon King and her subordinates valued honor and pride above all else. The discipline within the Demon King’s army was also extremely strict, so war crimes of that nature rarely—if ever—occurred. Besides, the aesthetic preferences of low-ranking demons like goblins and orcs tended toward their own kind: burly, muscular females who resembled them. A human beauty like Cassandra would have looked like an ugly hag in their eyes.
Even so, these baseless rumors had spread far and wide. Personally, I suspected they were most likely the handiwork of the so-called “nobles” who wanted to stoke hatred toward the demons and use it as a pretext for war.
After all, they’ve been pulling this same crap for years just to divert internal discontent. From their perspective, it only makes sense to paint the demons as vicious monsters.
As I observed Cassandra in front of me—face flushed, muttering things like “Kuh, kill me”—I was once again reminded of just how thoroughly ruined the demons’ public image had become. My thoughts soon shifted to the more immediate question: what should I do with the woman standing before me?
I held no particular grudge against her, unlike the Hero Party or Glenn. In fact, because she had briefly helped the Hero Party in the original story, I actually felt a slight fondness for her. But from a strategic standpoint, eliminating one of the human empire’s greatest assets—or at the very least dragging her back as a prisoner—might be the correct choice.
Yet…
Wait. When I really think about it, maybe that’s not quite right either.
A single idea suddenly flashed through my mind. Before I knew it, a faint smile had begun to form on my lips.
Cassandra had begged the Demon King to grant her an honorable death.
She had no certainty it would be accepted. Depending on the situation, she might only end up arousing the Demon King’s filthy desires.
Even so, in this moment Cassandra believed—wanted to believe—that the Demon King was a being of noble warrior spirit, just as the stories claimed.
With one final, desperate plea, she begged for the mercy known as death.
“…”
“…?”
No matter how long she waited with her head bowed, the Demon King showed no reaction. A heavy sense of doubt began to fill Cassandra. Then came an even deeper fear, and an unbearable curiosity that surpassed them both. Slowly, she lifted her head.
“Huh?”
A short exclamation escaped her lips. What she saw was the Demon King, Terra the beastkin warrior slung over one shoulder, calmly turning away and walking off. It was as if Cassandra didn’t exist at all in the Demon King’s eyes.
Unable to comprehend the situation, Cassandra felt a surge of intense confusion and shouted at the departing figure.
“W… why? Why are you taking that one and leaving me alive like this?”
“…”
The Demon King slowly turned back. Then, in a voice so soft only Cassandra could hear it, she spoke a single sentence.
“Wh… what?”
For a moment, Cassandra couldn’t process what she had just heard. Before she could ask anything more, the Demon King vanished from sight in an instant, the beastkin warrior still draped over her shoulder.
“W-wait, what do you—kuh…”
She called out desperately toward the place where the Demon King had disappeared, but only silence answered her. The Demon King who had raided Rob left behind a deeply confused Cassandra and vanished as suddenly as she had come. The soldiers who had witnessed everything could only stare in stunned silence, overwhelmed by their own powerlessness and profound shock.
The Demon King had left in mere seconds, having instilled shock, despair, resignation, and finally a thick veil of doubt.
Cassandra was so confused by that fact that she even forgot to feel relief at having survived.
‘Not… the enemy? Does that mean I’m not even worth recognizing as an enemy? No… that can’t be it. If that were true, there’s no way the Demon King would have taken the Hero Party’s slave—who possesses power equal to my own…’
At some point the Demon King had taken the ring from her finger. Cassandra easily guessed that the Demon King had captured the beastkin slave either to strengthen her forces or for some other purpose. But if that was the case, why hadn’t she taken Cassandra as well?
She began to wonder if it was because of her own combat ability, or perhaps because the Demon King simply preferred beastkin women and had no interest in a human warrior like her.
While she was drowning in chaotic thoughts and unable to reach any clear conclusion, one particular realization suddenly flashed through her mind.
‘…Wait. Could it be…?’
She pushed all her previous thoughts aside and began to arrive at what seemed like the most plausible answer.
‘Yes… that must be it. No matter what, the other party is the Demon King. A monarch who rules an entire nation and possesses an excellent intelligence network. If that’s the case, then she might already know about my family…’
The moment that thought crossed her mind, a slight shiver ran down Cassandra’s spine. Soon after, the anxiety and doubt that had lingered on her face were replaced by a smile that writhed like the shadow of dark desire.
🏛 Scene: A hellscape of charred ruins
⚔ Loss: Over 80% of military supplies destroyed
💀 Casualties: Zero (intentionally spared)
📍 Result: Total strategic collapse
The scene was utterly miserable, as if a fire demon had swept through and left nothing but devastation. The soldiers and officers tasked with defending Rob could only collapse to the ground in utter despair. What filled their eyes was the sight of military supplies reduced to clean piles of ash.
Everyone had been completely distracted by the sudden assault of the Demon King and her officers. As a result, they had failed to protect the most critical asset of all—the supplies. The consequence was catastrophic: more than eighty percent of Rob’s military stockpiles had been wiped out.
Though the soldiers were frantically hauling water to extinguish the remaining embers, the situation regarding the supplies had already reached a point of no return. The food that countless soldiers attacking the Demon Kingdom needed to eat, and the weapons they needed to wield, had all vanished into black smoke.
The officers and soldiers here were consumed by profound despair. Even Cassandra, who was receiving the report, wore a dark expression.
“…The damage is that severe?”
“Yes… We only have enough food left for our own immediate consumption, and the military supplies have reached a state where nothing can be salvaged.”
“What are we supposed to do? If the homeland learns of this…”
“…Haa. I will handle this matter somehow. All of you, focus entirely on recovery efforts.”
With a heavy sigh, Cassandra answered with a sense of responsibility. Her subordinates nodded with difficulty and left the room.
And as she watched them go, a slow smile began to bloom on Cassandra’s lips.
‘The dead don’t talk… Thanks to the Demon King, that bastard Glenn is dead. If I just make good use of this…’
“Ugh…”
A splitting, heavy headache. Within it, Terra the beastkin warrior felt her muddled consciousness slowly returning.
‘What… is this? Just what… the hell…’
In the shallow darkness, Terra struggled to understand her current situation.
Then—
“You’re finally awake.”
“!”
The next moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out. Terra’s face instantly filled with shock. And then, that person’s figure entered her vision.
“H… Hero…?”