The girl looked back to the pair, who were staring down at her. “You dare stand while I sit?”

Adam looked to Jurot, exchanging a quick glance, before looking back at the girl.

“Yeah,” Adam said.

“Yes,” Jurot said, at the same time.

“How dare you.”

“Is that how you should speak to your saviours?” Adam asked.

“Oh? You two sure are cocky! To think you would dare to say I needed saving!” She huffed.

“You did,” Adam said.

“The spider would have consumed you if we had not arrived,” Jurot added.

“I was merely napping! You think some measly spider could defeat the great me?” She tried to hop onto her feet, but found that she didn’t have as much strength as she expected, and so, as regally as she could manage, scrambled to her feet.

‘She must be some rich kid,’ Adam thought. He wondered how the demon’s society was. ‘Do they even have rich kids? What if she’s the Demon Lord’s kid?’ He stared down at her, his gaze now curious.

“You two should kneel before me at once!”

“No thanks,” Adam replied.

“You! You dare to refute the Demon Lord?”

Adam coughed. “Excuse me?”

“Hmph! If it wasn’t for the fact I had to spend all my energy against that bastard, I would have spanked you at once!” She grit her teeth. “That bastard Hero and his companions…” She clenched her fists together and shook them above her head. “Just you bastards wait! Once I find a way back to my world, I’ll beat your asses!””

“So you lost against the hero?” Adam asked.

“If they weren’t cowards and had outnumbered me four to one, I would have beaten them! They speak about justice, but they still didn’t fight me one on one!” She clicked her teeth with her tongue.

‘This girl is utterly delusional,’ Adam thought. ‘Thinking she was transmigrated to another…’

“Are you okay, little girl?” Jurot asked, reaching down to rub her head. “You must have hurt your head.”

“Get your stinkin’ paws off me you dirty ape! I’m not a little girl, I’m the Demon Lord!” She slapped his hands off of her.

“I think she hurt her head,” Jurot said, glancing to Adam, whose eyes were narrowed at the girl.

“No,” Adam said, eyeing her up. “She might really be the Demon Lord.”

Jurot turned to Adam, blinking at him. “Did you hurt your head?”

“What’s your name?” Adam asked.

“You may refer to me as Empress Lucy!” She placed her hands on her sides, confidently. “If you think I’ll fall for that trick, you underestimate me.”

“What trick?”

“The trick where I tell you my real name.”

“What’s wrong with your real name?”

“It’s…” Her face scrunched up like she bit into a lemon. “I won’t tell you.”

Adam squinted his eyes. ‘A demon named Lucy?’ “I feel like I could take a guess, though you aren’t quite the same race.”

“Hah! You wish you knew my name!” She smirked smugly.

Adam raised his brows. “Do you want to try me, kid?”

“Call me kid one more time, I dare you.”

“You need to chill, Lucifer, otherwise-“ Adam stopped, only to see Lucy cringe visibly at hearing the name.

“That… d-definitely is not it! Not it! Definitely not!” She scrunched up her face at him, trying to not die from the cringe of hearing her full name. ‘How does he know? Only my parents knew what my name was.’

‘That’s atrocious,’ Adam thought, shaking his head. ‘It’s the name of the devil, not a demon. Why is the mythology in these worlds all mixed up? What kind of terrible lore is this? Someone fucked up in world building.’

“Anyway!” Lucy quickly cut the air in front of her, trying to forget she had heard her real name. “You aren’t allowed to say it! Though, it, definitely, no, not my real name!”

“Sure,” Adam replied, staring at her, seconds away from stabbing herself. “It would be awkward if everyone knew your name. Let me guess, it holds power over your actions?”

“No,” Lucy replied, closing her eyes shut, trying to deny the world. “It’s embarrassing.”

Adam blinked. “What?”

“It has an embarrassing meaning.”

Adam blinked again. “Which is?”

She hid her face into her hands. “Please don’t ask.” Her tone was finally wavering.

Seeing how genuinely distraught she was, Adam sighed. “Alright, I won’t tell anyone.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.” Adam shook his head. “Looks like I have another secret to keep.”

Jurot stood there, like a statue, forgotten by the pair of them. ‘Does it really have to be kept a secret?’

Lucy noticed him once again. “You’ll keep it too, won’t you?”

“Okay,” Jurot replied.

“Since you’re keeping my secret, you can both be my Generals.”

“No thanks,” Adam replied back, quickly.

“Of course there’s no need to th-“ Lucy stopped, blinking. “What?”

“That sounds like work,” Adam grumbled. “I don’t want to do that. I want to live a peaceful life of adventure.”

She blinked at him, shocked that he would refuse. “I’m giving you such a great job! Think of the benefits! You will be my General! The great me!”

"No, it sounds like I need to go around leading armies, and also managing so many territories on your behalf.” Adam shook his head. “And I'll have to fight against other Generals who won't like me. I'll pass."

"I guess when you say it like that..." She couldn’t refute his points, since that was pretty much what had happened in her previous life.

"Let me take a guess. You were vanquished by the hero and were reborn.” Adam wondered if they appeared at the same time. “Around six weeks ago?”

“You elves are so…” She squinted her eyes. “Yes, that’s right.”

Adam nodded his head slowly. ‘So we both arrived at the same time?’

“How did you know that?”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Adam said, shaking his head. “What was your world like, oh Demon Lord?”

“Hmph,” Lucy said, smirking slightly. “It was great. Well, the demon side wasn’t so great. It used to be, but then we were driven away by the humans, not me, obviously, I mean hundreds of years ago. We tried to take it back several times, but they continued to push us back, those bastard humans!” Lucy glanced at Jurot. “No offence.”

Adam nodded his head at her, having made the assumption that was going to be the case. ‘That’s pretty much all of history, isn’t it?’

“The elves and the dwarves were also just a bunch of assholes! Though, not all of them…” She smiled, thinking of the few confidants she had in her previous life. “The dark elves and dark dwarves were nice. They were like us, pushed away, their lands stolen. They made great weapons for our army.”

"That sucks,” Adam said, simply.

"Right? Tch." She crossed her arms and grumbled quietly.

"I'm not sure how good this world is in comparison. The kingdom we're in currently hates elves."

"It must be difficult for you, considering, you know,” she said, nodding her head up at him, “you’re a half elf.”

"Yeah, but the Iyrmen don't seem to mind me so much." Adam smiled.

Jurot nodded. "We do not care for what you appear as. We judge you on your deeds.”

"What?” Lucy stared up at him. “No way! Do you think I’m that gullible!” In her previous life, the humans had done this a number of times against the demons. They would invite the demons in, trying to create peace, only to use the demons in a conspiracy to war against her empire.

"It's true,” Adam said. “The Iyrmen are filled with humans, devilkin, and orcs."

“We are Iyrmen,” Jurot declared. “The orcs within the Iyr are half blooded orcs. The orcs, which joined the Iyr originally, left the Iyr with the elves, to keep their oaths. The descendants of those orcs remain.”

“See, they do judge on race!” Lucy pointed an accusatory finger.

“No," Jurot said. "They are Iyrmen, like I, Jurot, son of Surot. The Rot family has Iyrmen descended from the orcs as well, and even devilkin.”

"They do?' Adam asked, having not seen or heard of orcs or devilkin in the Rot family.

Jurot simply nodded. “They are cousins of mine, the same as Nirot and Turot.”

"Hmph." The tiny Demon Lord turned away from him, not willing to be let herself be coerced by such words.

"I can guarantee that the Iyr is great,” Adam said.

She ignored him, done with the matter.

“Anyway,” Adam said, clearing his throat. “What are your plans?"

Lucy glanced back his way. “I will find my demons and take my role as the Demon Lord, of course!”

“The demons in this world will be different than those you know,” Adam said. ‘Or, perhaps not? Jurot pretty much spotted she was a demon right away…’

“Yes? So?” Lucy tilted her head.

“So instead of being a Demon Lord and constantly fighting for a bunch of people you don’t know, why don’t you first learn about the world and… relax?”

"Huh?" Lucy raised her brow. ‘A Demon Lord, relaxing? Is that allowed?’

"I mean, you no longer have an army at your disposal, or any Generals, and there’s no real point, is there?” Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"Well…” The tiny Demon Lord rubbed her chin, squinting her eyes as she fell deep into thought. ‘He does make a good point…’

"Plus, you must be really weak right now." Adam had started off barely being able to survive against a boar, though at his level, he was sure he’d be able to handle one with ease.

"Did you just call me weak?” Lucy gasped. “I'm strong! I can take the pair of you right now!"

"Don't kid yourself,” Adam said, staring at her with a raised brow.

“It will only get you killed,” Jurot said. “You are in no position to fight.”

"Tch,” Lucy grumbled. “Well, it’s not like you’re completely wrong…” Lucy understood she wasn’t in a position to fight, she wouldn’t even beat the pair of these brats, nevermind anyone meaning to kill her. She sighed. ‘If only you were here…’

Adam stared at her. She must have been so lonely by herself. ‘How she managed to survive so long without help is beyond me, but I really can’t leave her be.’ He tapped his arm gently as he thought.

Lucy’s lower lip trembled as she lost herself in thought.

“How about you come with us?” Adam offered. “The Iyr should probably hear about your story.”

“Hmm…” Lucy stared at the half elf, and then to Jurot. “Wait! Are you both enamoured by my good looks? You fiends!” She covered herself up with her arms, even though she had nothing to hide.

Adam’s brow pulsed and he flicked her forehead. “You look like you’re a ten year old, kid! If you make another joke like that, I’ll spank you!”

“What? I knew it! You just wanted an excuse to touch my butt!” She pointed an accusatory finger at Adam.

His brow pulsed a little harder and he rolled up a sleeve. “Jurot, grab her.”

Spell: Guidance

1D3 = 2 (2)

Intimidation

10 + 4 + 2 = 16

“Get your stinkin’ paws off me you dirty ape!” Lucy cried aloud as Jurot grabbed her. "Wait! Stop! S-stop!"

Adam clenched his fist, and glared down at her. “Are you done messing around?" He wasn’t feeling particularly glad he was threatening a young girl, but she was a Demon Lord, so she’d be able to handle some threat.

Lucy felt Jurot’s strong grip around her. ‘How is this guy so damn strong?’ “Y-yeah…”

"Good."

Lucy glared at the pair of them, with Jurot eventually letting her go, seeing as they weren’t fighting any longer.

Silence filled the air, and the tension between them rose. Lucy was glancing between the pair, wondering if she could dart away when they weren’t paying attention.

“You’re lucky I’m-“ Her stomach growled, causing her to flush. “That wasn’t what you think it was.”

“So it was a fart?” Adam asked.

Lucy drop kicked him, or at least, she tried to drop kick him. As she leapt up, she stumbled backwards, and landed on her bottom, letting out another noise from another orifice.

She turned completely red. ‘Kill me now!’