Chapter 35: Cliché Heroine...or almost
"Okay, human, are you ready to go in?" The Demon King speaks to me as I bow outside.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I am ready to meet your children," I respond, following proper etiquette, not wanting to do anything stupid and accidentally disrupt the peace.
"Only 5 of my children will be in the room, as one of my daughters managed to earn the right to not have to participate, so you may encounter her in the halls at some point," he says as I think about the names of each one.
’I wonder which of the 3 won’t be there, Marie, Esther or Evelyn...’ I already know all their names since I had to study them, but I don’t know their appearances or strengths in fact, I hardly know anything beyond their names, as trying to investigate their lives could cause me problems.
"Will Your Majesty be participating?" I ask the Demon King.
"No, I’ve made it clear that you will be introduced to them, but I myself will not be present, as I have more important things to do," he says as he starts to walk away.
So I am left alone in front of the door. I prepare to enter; this will be the first time they see me, so I must make a good impression.
I open the door and quickly see the 5 of them sitting at the table. They are all undoubtedly very beautiful, which warms my heart maybe I can find romance with one of them.
"Hello, everyone, I am Grace D’Aragon," I say to them, and they look at me without much interest. I try not to mind, quickly going to the table and sitting in one of the chairs.
"So... what would you like to talk about? I’m open to questions. Also, I know your names, but I don’t know who you are, so why don’t you introduce yourselves as well?" I say enthusiastically to everyone.
"..." An uncomfortable silence falls in the room, with a sigh audibly spreading.
"I am Esther Ashcroft," one of them introduces herself briefly. Her voice is quite lovely, and she is undoubtedly a beautiful belle, although her red eyes with black sclera are a bit unsettling.
"Marie Ashcroft, and know that you are an inconvenience, so don’t get involved in the competition for the throne if you don’t want to die," a short girl with a blindfold speaks, and with that, I know the missing girl is Evelyn.
"I... am Augustus..." A short boy speaks only that, eyeing me with a strange distrust, as if I would suddenly attack him, which makes me sigh as I look at the other two.
"I am Lucien, and I don’t think this conversation is worthwhile, after all, what could a human have to offer that is interesting?" The strong man with white hair and purple eyes speaks with an arrogant smile on his face.
"And I am Laplace Ashcroft, and I believe you are still a virgin, right? Humans are so promiscuous that I didn’t think the heroine would still be saving herself," the androgynous boy who reminds me of a succubus says, embarrassing me.
"W-Well, since everyone has introduced themselves, I think we could try talking about the culture of each of you? Among us humans, we have a lot of the custom of giving gifts on important dates, and do you demons have something like that?" I ask, which seems to weigh on the mood.
’Did I say something wrong?’ The atmosphere doesn’t seem good at all with the topic, I thought starting with something like gifts would cheer everyone up, I even had thought of giving gifts.
"I see that... the topic was not good, so how about you tell me what you like?" I say, trying to keep the enthusiasm, but the cold stares are unpleasant.
"..."
"..." Laplace then gets up from his chair, coming over to me, he grabs my hand, forcibly pulling me up from the chair.
"Listen, girl, I don’t know if you realize, but... none of us are interested in this, we’re only here because our Father ordered us to stay, otherwise we wouldn’t waste our time with a human."
"..." Laplace stares at my breasts with a look I can only describe as disgusting and somewhat enchanting as well.
"Ouch" Laplace lets out a sound of pain when I grab his hand, making a turn and going to his back, pushing him against the table while holding him restrained with skill.
"...For a human, you’re quite skilled, but... attacking a demon of the nobility who is competing for the throne is not exactly the opposite of what should be done?" He speaks as I look at the looks.
’They’re like a pack of wild monsters... just waiting for an opening... this is so exciting!!!’ It’s the same look you’d see in nature, monsters that would attack without mercy at the slightest opening.
"..." I release Laplace, knowing this was a warning he could not have been pinned against the table, but he let himself be just to show that they are the ones in control here.
"Hmm, I’ve already understood, but I think the Demon King didn’t explain everything, did he?" I say, drawing attention.
"Did you know the Demon King has given me favoritism that I can share? In other words, my friends will have many advantages if I want to, but I only accept true friends, so how about we try to make our coexistence something peaceful?" I know well which of them will approach me for friendship and out of interest.
I have an ability that helps a lot in this regard, as well as my blessing that has made me quite strong.
Blessing = Heroic Blessing of the Sixth Layer (Description = You are favored by magic, thus acquiring great talent for magic, physical abilities, immunity to curses, and immunity to dark magic) Skill Rank = SSS+
Special Ability = Blessing of Favoritism (Description = Allows the user to gain favorability based on numbers that are visible to the user)
With this ability to see favoritism, I know who my friend is, and who is only with me out of interest, so I can really give them advantages if they are true friends.
And of course, what I said catches the attention of some it’s not exactly the best start I was hoping for, but oh well, they’re demons, it’s obvious they’ll be hostile to an "intruder" of another race.
"I will leave, as the ’guest’ has shown aggression, I reserve the right to retire to my quarters," Esther says, getting up and starting to leave, which makes most of them follow her, leaving only Laplace and Augustus with me.
’Augustus seemed interested when I said friendship... as for Laplace...’ He seems more focused on my body than on me, but that’s fine, someday I’ll make them all true friends somehow if this peace depends on me, it will work out.
"I advise you to be more respectful to a lady," I say to Laplace with a smile as he sits back down in his place.
"Lady? All I see is a little pig who doesn’t know her place," he says with a seductive smile, tilting his head on his hand.
"Think what you want of me, in the future you’ll see that humans aren’t so bad," I say, sitting down in my place as well.
"Augustus, can I call you Augustus, right? So Augustus, what do you like? Are you interested in gifts or parties?" I enthusiastically start a conversation with Augustus, ignoring Laplace.
"I... I think I like gifts... not so much parties," he speaks while I smile at him, trying to be understanding.
"I understand you, receiving gifts is the best, but parties can sometimes be noisy, and nobles always try to make them something political, ugh, seriously, it’s a party, why not just have fun, right?" I say as he hesitantly agrees.
"Well, I’m glad you decided to stay and talk, since I’ll be living here, I believe goodwill, respect and understanding will make us all great friends, and maybe even something more," I wink at Augustus, who is quite cute.
"So ’Heroine,’ why did the humans choose you?" Laplace asks with malice.
"Because I am the heroine," I say, leaving him looking shocked.
"Is that all?"
"Exactly, that’s all, it didn’t matter knowledge, power, ethics, morals or magic, all that mattered was the title, so even if it was a complete idiot, if they had the title they would be chosen," I say honestly.
"Pfff hahahaha" Laplace laughs as if it’s something funny.
"Humans are really quite strange," he says as the system quickly appears to me.
[+2 Favorability.]
The system alerts, but I ignore it two favorability has never helped me much, I think it only starts to help if I accumulate around 30 or 40, then it’s a good friendship that can progress.
"So, Heroine, what do you think of this special arrangement between humans and demons? Do you think it can work?" Laplace asks as Augustus seems curious.
"I think it can," I say without hesitation and with conviction. It’s not like I don’t know what demons are, I’ve heard disgusting and bizarre stories of what this race does and has done, especially in how they do dirty and cowardly things on the battlefield.
But it happens that... humans are no different, we just hide it behind labels, names, and blame others, so I believe that yes, we can unite and achieve peace someday.
"W-Why do you think that?" Augustus asks, now hesitant.
"Because I believe that all races, regardless of what they are, where they come from, or who they will become, can one day change, and change for the better. Having hope and giving hope is the duty of a hero."
"And in the end, I can say with absolute certainty, as a heroine, I will never give up on anything I believe in!" I say as Laplace gets up.
"I’m leaving, as I was morally assaulted, I think I can leave, but I wish you luck, Heroine, you have great dreams, just don’t forget, the higher you climb, the more painful the fall," Laplace speaks with honesty, but also irony, as he leaves the room.
"Augustus, do you want to talk?" I quickly give my attention to Augustus. He seems to ponder for a moment and nods, affirming that he does.