If you were to ask Emily which member of the Demon Race she admires most, she would say Leticia's name without a second thought.
That is the Demon King, the most powerful mage of the Demon Race, and an existence most revered by ordinary demons like Emily.
Emily is twenty years old, which is just barely considered an adult among the Demon Race. Immediately after coming of age, she joined the demon army and became a proud demon warrior.
Well, the pride was there, but her performance was less than ideal.
Her duties consisted of being an ordinary grunt—training, standing guard, and the like. It was very dull and left Emily feeling perplexed.
She had joined the army to respond to Her Majesty's call and to restore the glory of the Demon Race. Why was she doing these things now?
Furthermore, no one in the army had the vigor seen in the propaganda; it was as if everyone had just come to the military for a vacation.
When Emily voiced her doubts to her captain, the captain took a deep drag of a cigarette, his face full of melancholy.
"Little Em, that's all in the past." The captain exhaled a smoke ring and tossed the remaining cigarette butt into a nearby trash can. "By my count, it's been nearly seven or eight years since we've fought a war."
Indeed, it had been seven or eight years. Ever since that one defeat, the Demon King had lost her former edge and become listless.
After that day, the Demon Race never engaged in any major warfare again.
"Little Em, if you really want to do something, you can try your luck with the Princess. Her side has been recruiting new soldiers lately; it's quite suitable for a greenhorn like you." In the end, the captain pointed Emily toward a path.
Emily went, and subsequently, she was dispatched to the Human World as an intelligence officer.
On normal days, she would disguise herself as an ordinary person to gather intel. Life was relaxed and cozy, yet it gave Emily the feeling that she was actually accomplishing something.
At least it was better than staying back with the Demon Race doing nothing all day; here, she was truly contributing her strength to the Demon King.
You say she's working for the Princess?
Please, the Princess and Her Majesty are biological sisters. Isn't helping the Princess the same as helping Her Majesty?
However, just today, Emily messed up.
Today was her first actual field mission. The instructions given by the Princess were to search this place thoroughly to see if there was a book called "Research on Ancient Magic."
The family wouldn't be home tonight. Emily originally thought this would be an easy task, but she never expected to encounter a major crisis shortly after the mission began.
A black-haired girl came downstairs and nearly collided head-on with Emily.
If it hadn't been for Emily's quick reflexes and timely dodge to the side, she might have failed her mission before it even truly began.
Ah, no, she wouldn't have died; at worst, she would have just knocked the girl unconscious and been done with it.
But Emily had a constant feeling that if she really did make a move, the one falling might not have been the girl, but herself.
Fortunately, the girl didn't notice Emily. She just muttered something and brushed past her.
The girl's perception was truly quite sharp, which really made Emily break out in a cold sweat.
Then, Emily encountered the biggest crisis of her career.
"We ask, you answer. Do you understand?" A small person dressed in white stood with arms crossed in front of Emily, who was tied securely to a chair.
Emily only remembered that she had just finished searching the family's kitchen when she sensed a strange presence suddenly appear behind her. Just as she was about to react, a sharp pain shot through the back of her head, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she was already tied to the chair. Not only was her body restrained, but her mana was also sealed.
"Mmph mmph!" Emily whimpered angrily. It wasn't that she couldn't speak, but rather that her mouth was stuffed with a white towel.
"Um, her mouth is blocked." A person in black, who was slightly taller than the one in white, noticed something was wrong. She nudged the person in white with her elbow and whispered a reminder.
The person in white paused. "I know that, but looking at her, she clearly doesn't want to cooperate."
At least let me speak! Emily was about to go crazy. Is this how people are interrogated?
The Princess had said that if captured, she must prioritize protecting her own life, and it wouldn't matter if she revealed her mission.
"Mmph!"
"She seems like she has something to say," the person in black reminded again.
"Then you go and take the towel out for her." The person in white waved a hand, signaling the person in black to remove the item from Emily's mouth.
The person in black quickly stepped forward and pulled the towel out of Emily's mouth.
"You two despicable cowards! I won't let you off even as a ghost!" As soon as the towel was removed, Emily began to curse loudly.
Hmph, even though the Princess said that, how could Emily possibly betray her?
"Heh, someone won't shed a tear until they see the coffin." The person in white immediately began rolling up their sleeves, seemingly a bit angry.