Yang Qiu soon returned with her prospective candidate in tow. The demon in question was a young woman whose demonic transformation wasn’t quite as all-encompassing as most of the ones Yoshika had met. She had long black hair, worn loose and disheveled, pupiless black eyes, pale skin, and a gaunt frame. A core of swirling black Darkness seated in her collarbone was the only outwardly demonic feature—aside from her eyes.

Beyond that, however, her appearance left a lot to be desired. She stood with her shoulders hunched and walked with an awkward slouch. Her eyelids drooped which—along with the dark circles beneath her eyes, made her look tired, bored, and sad all at once. Lastly, her clothes were as disheveled as her hair—a set of poorly fitting robes that dragged on the ground behind her and sleeves that fell over her hands, hiding her long, untrimmed fingernails.

Kaede didn’t want to judge too hastily, but she was already beginning to have doubts about this woman.

Yang Qiu made no move to introduce her, but the woman stepped forward and bowed politely.

“Greetings. This unworthy one is called Beishang, and I thank you for agreeing to meet with me. Forgive me, but I don’t know the customs of this place—how should I address you?”

Her voice was soft, but rough. As though she wasn’t accustomed to using it.

“Hello Beishang, it’s good to meet you. You may call me Miss Hayakawa, or Lady Hayakawa if you prefer. Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”

Beishang shuffled up to the table in the center of the pavilion and slumped into the seat across from Kaede, while Yang Qiu simply leaned against a pillar near the edge. Neither of them seemed inclined to initiate, so it fell to Kaede to lead the conversation.

“Forgive me for saying so, but ‘Beishang’ is a rather unusual name—I assume it’s not the one you were born with?”

Beishang shook her head.

“No. It was given to me by Xiao Chong.”

Kaede gave Yang Qiu a disapproving look.

“You just called her ‘sad’? Really?”

She shrugged.

“I call them as I see them. Better than ‘little worm’ at least.”

“I still don’t know why you have people calling you that.”

Beishang looked between them, frowning.

“Does Xiao Chong have another name? I always thought it was a little rude...”

Yang Qiu waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it. That’s between me and the mistress over there.”

Kaede sighed.

“Her real name is Yang Qiu. And yours?”

Beishang shook her head.

“Oh, uh, I actually kind of like ‘Beishang.’ It...fits. It’s who I am.”

Kaede frowned, but chose not to press the issue.

“Very well, Beishang. I have a few questions, but first I’d like you to tell me about yourself. You don’t have to get too personal, but I’d like to understand how you came to be involved in the demonic enclave.”

She nodded slowly.

“I wasn’t like Xiao—I mean, Yang Qiu, if that’s what you’re asking. Out of the people that Mistress Yu Meiren captured and tried to forcibly transform, only Yang Qiu is left, I think. The others...weren’t smart. They tended to get themselves killed pretty quickly.”

That matched what Yoshika had heard from Yang Qiu. Meiren’s vile experiments had very low success rates, and usually resulted in unthinking demons enslaved to their own hunger.

“So what about you and the other prisoners?”

“I don’t talk to the others much, but I think they’ll all tell the same story. I felt Mistress Yu Meiren’s call like a barb in my soul. It pulled me here, threatening to tear me apart if I didn’t comply. Once I was here, I just did what I always do—keep my head down and pretend I don’t exist.”

“What did you do before that? It couldn’t have been easy to survive as a demon alone in the wilderness.”

Beishang slowly cocked her head.

“I wasn’t in the wilderness. I lived at home, where I’ve always lived. I can’t go back now, though—they found out about me when I left.”

“Where was that?”

“A little town near the frontier. I never knew what it was called.”

How strangely sheltered. Kaede couldn’t help but grow more curious about the woman the more she pried.

“How did you survive there?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Then I’ll be more clear—I know that you aren’t a mere nascent demon. You have consumed human souls before, and your hunger drives you to do so again. Living in a small village on the edge of the empire, how did you manage your hunger?”

Beishang squirmed awkwardly, her bottom lip quivering.

“I-I never—well, I mean, except for my—I only did that once. After I changed, I would go out at night and find animals. Livestock at first, but then the farmers started getting mad, so I looked for wild ones—sometimes magical beasts, but I’m not very strong.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow and gave Yang Qiu a pointed look.

“That works?”

She scoffed.

“Not really. Going out to kill random shit might have helped take the edge off, though, and the beast cores would keep her from just starving. I doubt she could have kept it up forever.”

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Beishang stared down at her lap, pouting.

“I just wanted to be left alone...”

Something clicked for Kaede. She realized why she’d found Beishang so unusual. Demons were selfish, by nature. They couldn’t help it—much like Lady Tennin was compelled to give as much as she could for the sake of others, demons would greedily feed their desires at almost any cost.

Yet Beishang didn’t fit that mold—she was quiet, reserved, and kept to herself. She stopped killing cattle because it upset local farmers—that wasn’t demonic behavior, as she understood it.

But desire came in many forms. Most demons were former cultivators, so they often sought power, or had lofty ambitions. Yang Qiu was driven mostly by a desire to prove her superiority over others, looking down on people and inventing her own criteria that let her place herself on top of the hierarchy.

Beishang was a demon, undoubtedly, but her desire wasn’t greater ambition or more power. She wanted peace, quiet, and solitude. It wasn’t out of consideration for the farmers that she left the livestock alone—it was so that they wouldn’t bother her about it.

With that understanding, Kaede felt more comfortable finishing the interview.

“Very well. I only have a few more questions, then. First, in your estimation, how are the conditions within the prison—are you and the others being treated well?”

Beishang blinked, not expecting that line of questioning.

“The fact that you’ve allowed us to live at all is more than I could have hoped for. Yang Qiu takes surprisingly good care of us, considering how much of a bully she was before.”

“I see. And if you could somehow be rehabilitated—if your transformation could be undone, would you do it?”

“I’m not sure—I haven’t really thought about it much. I don’t think so, though. It’s...comforting, to know exactly who and what I am.”

An unusual answer, but pretty consistent with most of the demons Yoshika had interacted with.

“Then lastly, what made you want to work as an administrator here?”

“I know that I can do it. I was always good with numbers and organization. Some people might think it’s boring, but I like the simplicity of it—the routine. And Yang Qiu says that you take good care of the people who work for you.”

Yang Qiu sputtered indignantly.

“Wh—I did not say that!”

“No, but you made it clear in the way you talk about her?”

Kaede looked askance at Yang Qiu, but she just turned away and clicked her tongue irritably.

“Alright, then. Well, I can’t make any promises, but I will give you a chance. It will be up to you to prove yourself.”

Beishang stood and bowed.

“Thank you so much, Lady Hayakawa.”

“Good luck. Perhaps, if this goes well, others might be able to follow your example. It would be nice if demons could be peacefully integrated into society.”

Yang Qiu grimaced as she approached to lead Beishang back to her confinement.

“I wouldn’t count on it. Beishang here is an exception. As soft as she is, she only survived the enclave because being on the very bottom means nobody wants to take you out only to end up in your place. Most of the other prisoners would just as happily tear out your throat, if they thought they’d manage it.”

Kaede frowned.

“Perhaps. You said that Lady Tennin has been by?”

“Yeah, she came around a couple times with that priest guy that follows her everywhere. Why?”

“Nothing, I was just curious. I’ll have to ask her about it later.”

Lady Tennin had been an essential guide for Jia and Eui, back when they’d been trying to balance each other out to prevent either from transforming entirely into a Tennin or Demon. Now, their cores had fused into a single unified entity that they still didn’t understand entirely.

Perhaps she had some helpful insight on the situation with the demons.

----------------------------------------

Lady Tennin was usually quite easy to find. She spent most of her time in the new shrine that her village had constructed for her. Rather than the top of a mountain, they’d elected to build it next to the lake.

Kaede admired the dedication the people of Urayama had for their idol and guardian. While much of the village was still under construction, the shrine was immaculate.

Lady Tennin’s personal aide and head priest, Shinji, led Kaede to the inner sanctum. The Tennin awaited within, beaming joyfully as Kaede entered.

“Lady Hayakawa! Or are you visiting today as Yoshika? Either way, it’s so good to see you! It’s rare for you to visit me unprompted.”

Kaede bowed before taking the seat offered to her by the surrounding shrine maidens.

“My apologies. It’s been hectic, getting everything ready for the academy’s grand opening and preparing to receive an influx of new immigrants. In a strange way, your people did us a favor by building their own village.”

Lady Tennin giggled.

“And yours, too, from what I hear!”

“Yes, thank you. You and your people have been invaluable. I’m here as both Kaede and Yoshika, actually. As much as I’d like to pretend otherwise, it’s not an entirely social call.”

“Alas, such are the burdens we must bear as leaders of our people. How can I help you, Kaede?”

“I heard you visited the prison and spoke with Yang Qiu.”

She nodded.

“I did—though Shinji insisted that it was too dangerous, he never quite brought himself to veto it entirely. I spoke with some of the other oni there as well, though I can’t say it was always a pleasant experience.”

“Oh?”

“Well, Yang Qiu kept trying to exploit me, and while I got the impression it was just a joke to her, it still required Shinji’s intervention, and even now I find myself trying to think of ways that I could meet some of her demands—it’s quite vexing.”

Kaede frowned. Was she going to have to punish Yang Qiu or something? That girl was always finding ways to act out that toed the line between innocuous and downright dangerous.

“My apologies. I would consider it a personal favor if you could leave those requests to me.”

“Hah! Oh, that’s very clever—Shinji should learn that trick. But it’s alright, I’m not a fool. I’ve lived with my compulsions for centuries now, and as protective as my people are, I’m not completely helpless to them.”

“That actually hits on the core of what I wanted to talk to you about. One of the demons has expressed an interest in working under Ja Yun as an administrator, Miss Beishang.”

Lady Tennin clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.

“Oh! How delightful! I think it would do her good to get out a bit. I’m no expert, but I think she’d be a good fit—quite harmless.”

“Yang Qiu said something similar, but I’m more concerned about the others. Would it be possible to integrate less...passive demons as well?”

“Hmm...I’m not sure. One thing that Yang Qiu, Beishang, and I all have in common is that we’ve learned to at least partially resist our compulsions.”

Kaede frowned.

“And you don’t think the other prisoners can do it?”

“I didn’t say that, but it’s a skill they will need to learn if they are ever going to participate in society, and one with dangerous consequences if they fail.”

“I was worried about that—actually, what about you? Weren’t you worried that some demon might just slay Shinji before he could veto their demands?”

Lady Tennin laughed.

“Of course not, silly! I trust you would never let that happen, and even if it did, Shinji is under my protection—if any of them so much as laid a finger on him, I’d crush them.”

Kaede blinked. Her smile hadn’t so much as faltered. Maybe Yang Qiu was right—it could be just a little creepy.

“What we need is a way to teach the demons that kind of control. In a safe environment, where failure doesn’t carry such dire consequences.”

Lady Tennin put a finger to her chin and cocked her head.

“Hmm...what about the academy? It’s already a place for learning. I could teach a special class there for demons and anyone else struggling with unwanted compulsions.”

That got Yoshika’s full attention. She could only imagine how much something like that would have helped Eui during her time at the academy, or how helpful it might have been for Meili to work through her struggles with identity.

“We think that’s a great idea. We’ll have to work out the details to make sure it’s safe for everyone involved, and we’ll discuss the matter of compensation with Shinji.”

Lady Tennin giggled.

“You know me too well! I would have offered to do it for free.”