I was only seeing darkness. Everywhere I looked, darkness. Is this what death looks like—a sight of darkness as far as the eye can see? I thought it would be brighter and, well, more beautiful. Wait, I feel shaking. And I hear wooden wheels. I can't move either. What's going on? The shaking suddenly stopped.

A bright light came in, blinding my eyes, and a demon entered. A demon with cat ears and a tail, and it had a human face. A half-demon, huh? So that clearly means I’m somehow alive. Then why can't I move?

I moved my head and saw no chains, nothing. It's just that I can't move my body. WHY?

I don't feel my arms. My legs work fine, but my arms won’t move. What happened? How did this happen? Oh right, that rhino beast. That should have killed me. Then I glared at the demon in front of me and asked, “WHY—or to be more specific, HOW AM I ALIVE?”

He replied with silence. You know, to crack one of these types, you just need to keep on talking and talking. I started with how my sister got into a fight a long time ago, then the fight with the hero, and then how my brothers spoil me. I kept going on and on. “Looks like you can talk. Well, this could be the last time you’ll be talking anyway, you scum.”

He finally spoke.

“So… why AM I alive?” I asked.

“Well, you were alive when the army made it there…”

"So… why AM I alive?" I asked.

"Well, you were alive when the army made it there. But the commander said to take you prisoner, so we can use you to lure the hero in again. But this time, with a trap that he can't even try to escape." He smirked after saying that, and there was anger. No, more than anger—hatred.

"Well, I see no one tried to use me or anything," I said.

He literally spat when he heard that. "You mean to say that to you, a human scum? It would be better for you to die, drowned in lava." He resented humans. Sure, I understood why he’d be furious. We’d been at war for 10 years now. I hadn’t lost anyone from my family, though. And demons should have families too, right? They’re somewhat similar to humans, I think.

I don’t know; I’ve only been behind the front lines, never fought. The first time I wanted to leave the castle, it backfired. Can’t blame me—I’d always been confined in that castle, never allowed to leave. But I saw how one of my sisters died at the hands of the demons, and I didn’t hate them for it. Someone else might be furious and want revenge, but my sister and mother just cried. My family and I just watched.

My father was furious, and that’s what started the whole war. We were at peace—demons and humans. But every time a demon king emerges, some demons try to take out the humans because they think they have an advantage. The thing is, when a demon lord is born, a hero is always born too—sometimes with the demon lord, sometimes before or after. But always, a hero emerges. This time, the hero came after. The demon king was 20 when the war started, and the hero was just 12 years old when the war began. The hero’s identity was even kept from us—the royal family—until he was ready. Well, of course, the Church of the Gods knew all about it and Handled it.

But this is a war to see which race comes out on top. Sometimes the humans win, sometimes the demons do. It’s always like this: 10-15 years of war, then peace for about 85 years. That’s a maybe. It’s like a cycle that keeps repeating over and over again.

The year is 759 AD. And that means AFTER DRAGONS. The last dragon died 759 years ago. Well, that’s what the records say. But most people believe dragons are a myth.

In the end, it’s all about killing—killing and more killing. And it really is about power—power and more power, in reality. The demon king is just a reason for the demons to wage war, while the hero is a reason for the humans to do the same. Every time, whichever side gets their so-called trump card strikes first. If they don’t see their so-called enemy’s trump card, the fight drags on.

While I was thinking about that, I was dragged outside and taken toward an execution block. WHY?

Didn’t they say I was supposed to be used as a hostage again? Why?

Then they turned around and went into a tent. There were lots of tents, of course. It was an army of thousands of demons. Some were half demons, who looked like humans but had animal features, and then there were full demons that looked like real animals, uh... creatures that walked on 2 legs.

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The second we were near the entrance to the biggest tent, I was thrown inside. There was a full demon sitting in a chair, speaking.

"Well, human, you're going to be good bait again. But this time, we’re going to use you for discussing peace."

Well, it makes sense. Now that they’ve lost their trump card, the demon lord, they just need to use something else to get a better deal in the peace talks. Well, that isn’t going to work if I die. And the funny thing is, I’m already dead in the hero’s and my sister's eyes. No one—not even the hero—could survive one of those charges from a rhino beast. If I’m alive, that means they were trying to capture the hero’s party, negotiate peace, and get a better deal.

Well, I could use this to my advantage somehow.

"We Captured a human girl just to show hospitality, and we can just keep her in a cage or something, right?" She was glaring daggers at me while saying that.

Of course, keeping me in a cage was a good idea. It had its own risks, though. I could escape, or a guard could just kill me for some petty revenge against humans or something. Let’s see what this so-called commander does.

"We could, but it’s a bad idea. It’s better to keep her like a guest rather than a prisoner. That way, we can minimize her escape chances and keep an eye on her too."

Well, he was thinking like that. I don’t like this anyway. They’re thinking of using me as a political pawn.

Well, this works for me. I might get thousands of death glares, but at least I don’t have to get tortured or anything like that.

"Well, can you untie these? Oh, and who used magic on my legs? Can they use healing on my arms too?"

Well, it could be a fair shot.

"Girl, you really are pushing your luck, aren’t you? Like, this is enemy territory, you know. And asking your enemy to heal you—"

"Can you, though?" I cut in the middle.

"You really got some balls there. Fine. We need to keep her alive, and she won’t do anything funny after we fix your arms, will you?" he asked, looking at the dryad.

"Well, I can promise that," I replied.

The commander looked at the dryad, and she nodded to him.

"Bring on the healer."

He wasn’t all that enthusiastic about this at all.

The healer came, and he used healing magic. It looked like dark magic, but it was healing magic. I did get the sensation back in my arms, but I couldn’t move them fully. I could raise them a little, but then they collapsed.

I can’t move my arms, and I need them fixed. Maybe a high-level healing spell. Well, they aren’t torn off, so they could be fixed. Negotiations could be good.

"Well, I’m going to be your biggest card to play. So, how about you guys at least treat me a little better? You know, either way, I’m going home, right? And I don’t care about all this political crap. Untie me, and I’ll cooperate."

This is the better choice anyway. I just need to be a good little princess, and they’ll give me what I want. It would take some time to get home, but it’s better than dying at the hands of thousands of demons. Well, if he even has a single brain cell, he’ll agree.

"So, did she tell us the truth? Will she cooperate with us?" asked the orc lady behind a curtain. She came out, and she was a dryad. Not a surprise—they can determine a lie from the truth.

Well, why is he using a dryad here? A dryad can at least give him an idea of whether to trust me or not, and if he was interrogating me, it could be a good idea to keep someone who can determine lies so easily close by.

"Yes, she spoke the truth. But not many of the soldiers are going to like this. We just captured a human girl to show hospitality, and we can just keep her in a cage or something."

I left a sigh and I think I’ll be stuck like this at least until I get home. I need someone who can use high-level healing magic anyway.

"Looks like we have to send her to the old man, Guyroh," the commander said, as if it were more of a bother.

"You know, commander, the peace negotiations could take place right now, and we need her, right?" the dryad replied.

"Well, it’s going to take at least a month to get the fighting to stop, a month to send a messenger to the human capital, another month to prepare for the peace negotiations, and another month for the peace talks themselves. She’ll just need three months at most. We can get her from there and to the human capital in a month anyway." He smiled at the dryad.

"Wait, wait. Why go this far for a human? Don’t tell me something like, 'We’re good demons' or something," I said aloud.

"Of course we are. As far as we’re concerned, you’re the bad guys. Well, think about it this way: the princess returns home without two arms. What do you think your father would do?"

Oh right. I hadn’t thought of that. It would be a good decision for them to keep me healthy, I guess. Well, it can’t hurt to visit this old Guyroh guy anyway. Whatever I do, it’s going to be a boring room for three months, and this way at least I could see a little bit of the demon territory, I guess.

"Sure," I replied.