The demons bid their farewells, and the meeting ended. 

The door clicked shut as they exited, and Kotori was left alone with the Demon Lord again.

The room was suddenly silent as Mephistos shifted again in bed. He exhaled heavily, and Kotori could tell that the short encounter had been taxing for him. She hadn't realized that the Demon Lord was so weak. It made sense that it would take time for him to recover, especially since he had been beheaded and killed once already. However, like his other subordinates, she had assumed that the Demon Lord was some kind of overpowered monster entity.

It was slightly disorienting to see such an iconic man at the nadir of his strength.

This worried Kotori quite extensively.

She had seen the Hero's capabilities with her own eyes, and in many ways that pervert was a walking cheat. His scary-sounding Solar Armageddon aside (was it basically like a nuclear bomb?), he could easily move faster than sound and teleport away despite having his heart skewered. Kotori wasn't sure how strong Bascilla the "gardener" was, but somehow she doubted that there were many demons who were capable of matching the Hero's strength.

If the humans attacked again...

...would what happen then?

The outcome seemed to be extraordinarily bad.

+ + +

"You look like you have a lot on your mind," Demon Lord Mephistos remarked informally on the side.

Kotori blinked a few times as the Demon Lord's voice suddenly brought her back to the present.

She hadn't expected him to say anything to her. If anything, she had gotten extremely used to being a fly on the wall. Nine months of living in a bottle had made her quite a patient observer, and she was satisfied just listening as a background character. 

"So, what's your opinion?" The Demon Lord asked. "What did you think of that meeting?"

His voice was calm and sincere, as if he were genuinely interested in her thoughts.

Kotori's mind was empty. She hadn't prepared any thoughts or opinions, and frankly she had been caught off guard.

(I... I'm not sure, actually. It's a lot to absorb.)

"Tell me anything."

(Why does it matter to you what I think?)

"I think it's good for us to get to know each other."

Kotori's narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure if she believed him.

(Aren't you just using me as a pillow?)

"Even so, you might have something important to contribute. It can be helpful having a fresh pair of eyes look at a problem."

Kotori paused for a moment, deep in thought.

She felt conflicted about this. The Demon Lord was holding her captive, but he was simply too nice. Her skeptical mind told her that perhaps it was all an act — that he was treating her well merely to get her cooperation. But she was hesitant to give in so easily. The Demon Lord literally had her tied up and collared. She wasn't stupid or naive enough to think that he was actually a kind man.

(I was surprised to see that you only have three subordinates... left...) She verbalized cautiously in her head.

Mephistos nodded, an incomprehensible look on his face.

"They are my inner circle of friends, and many of them were killed in the invasion. The humans go through great effort to assassinate the leaders at the top of the pyramid, because they know it sends our armies into disarray. I have many other strong subordinates, but I do not include them in my circle unless I personally trust them."

His explanation was patient and concise, and he took every effort to explain things clearly. It reminded Kotori of her high school teachers, who never reacted negatively to any "stupid" questions. In fact, they welcomed questions and were enthusiastic when their students participated in the discussion. The Demon Lord was very similar, eager to engage with small talk with her.

Kotori went quiet again.

Meanwhile, Mephistos shifted out of the bed. He swung his legs off the side and stood up slowly. At first, his legs were wobbly and he held onto the bed post for support, but he gradually straightened himself out. Afterwards, he walked over comfortably to the dresser, atop which was a glass of water.

The Demon Lord was fully nude, and the sheep girl looked away.

She could hear him gulping down water.

It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't eaten or drank anything all day, however she didn't feel particularly hungry. Kotori wasn't sure if this was an odd feature of her homunculus body, or if she purely didn't have an appetite.

"You should probably move around a little. Your muscles will decay if you lay in bed all day," Mephistos spoke in between sips.

Kotori frowned. That seemed like such a disingenuous thing to say. The reason why she couldn't move around was because the Demon Lord had literally tied her to the bed. She was about to protest mentally, when she looked down and realized that the rope-like cords that were bound to her wrists and ankles were gone.

They had disappeared at some point when she wasn't paying attention.

The sheep girl furrowed her eyebrows. She remembered that they were still there when the Demon Lord's subordinates were in the room for their meeting, but Mephistos must have removed the restraints sometime afterwards. However, he hadn't said anything about it.

Kotori looked up to meet the Demon Lord's eyes, but he wasn't facing her. The horned man was preoccupied pouring more water into his glass from a transparent pitcher.

Her eyes immediately snapped towards the bedroom door.

Should she make a run for it?

However, she immediately dismissed the stray thought. Attempting to escape through such an obvious way was probably impossible. The Demon Lord likely prepared for it, and he probably even expected her to try something. Even if she did succeed in dashing out the door, she had no idea where she'd run next. Kotori knew nothing about the layout of the palace.

It was better to play along for now.

Kotori gingerly put her feet on the floor and stood up.

She looked around the room and took a few steps towards the bookshelf at first. However, she paused midway and looked at the window again. Kotori wanted to get a better view of the outside. Nine months since arriving in this universe, she hadn't really gotten a chance to go outdoors. In fact, she had no idea what the Demon Lord's capital looked like.

There was another door beside the window that led out to a balcony.

She wanted to see the view.

She glanced back at the Demon Lord.

(Can I go on the balcony?) She asked hesitantly, unsure how he would respond.

"Sure. But don't get any weird ideas." His voice was relaxed.

The response was favorable enough, so Kotori made her way to the glass door. She pushed it open and was immediately confronted with a massive panorama of...

Destruction.

Rubble.

There were smoking remains of buildings and distant sounds of crying that faintly carried on the air. It was clearly the aftermath of a war zone. The ground was cracked with deep chasms at regular intervals, as if an earthquake had split apart the earth. However, Kotori doubted it was anything natural. Instead, there were hundreds of little monsters that crawled around the wreckage like ants. Some were huddled together and others were arranged in disorganized camps, made out of debris and splintered wood.

It was raining and the weather was dreary.

Kotori's throat went dry.

She hadn't ever seen anything like this before.

However, she deadened her feelings. Kotori was a practical person, and she immediately scanned her surroundings for anything noteworthy that she should remember. Kotori did not know when was the next opportunity she would be allowed outside, so she made the best use of her time.

If she were to escape through the balcony in the future, was there any route down? The sheep girl peered over the railing. The Demon Lord's palace was similar to a castle made out of black stone. It was damaged and crumbling in multiple areas, and the Demon Lord's bedroom was around 9-10 stories off the ground. The distance was fairly dramatic, but there were clearly small ledges on the side of the wall that a skilled rock-climber could probably figure something out with.

That said, Kotori was not a skilled rock climber.

She briefly wondered if that counted as a security risk. Even if she could not climb down, surely someone else could climb up. For that matter, there also seemed to be flying monsters, so she wondered if there were any precautions against those.

"You seem awfully preoccupied with coming up with plans to run away," a voice suddenly said behind her ear.

Kotori jumped.

The Demon Lord was standing behind her. He was quite sneaky, and she hadn't noticed him approaching from behind.

The sheep girl furrowed her brow.

(You can't blame me for thinking that way), Kotori rebutted. (You would do the same if you were in my position).

The horned man laughed and patted her on the head.

"The walls are enchanted. It is not so easy to climb up here, or fly up here for that matter." He said.

There was a brief pause in his explanation.

"Personally, I think you should just give in. There is no point in resisting. Submit to me, and we won't need silly things like chains and leashes. Don't you agree that it makes sense?"

However, Kotori was unfazed, and the expression on her eyes was unmoved.

She stared out into the dreary distance, where little ants struggled to move boulders.

∎

ohko

Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. I've been really stressed the past few days, and I've been arranging a lot of work and things. My quarantine ended yesterday so now I'm back at work with the late shift. Honestly, I'm exhausted! In the next chapter, there may be some steamy stuff again. >.<