Chapter 25: The Leader’s Proposition

Having sufficiently teased the nun, the young woman took care to dress herself appropriately, ensuring her demeanor would not appear overly casual during their impending conversation.

“Very well,” the young woman declared, a hint of amusement in her voice. “It’s the first time a human has willingly sought an audience with me. Now, you foolish woman, what is it you wish to say?”

The nun located a chair, hastily brushed away a layer of dust with her hand, and then, with palpable tension, settled onto it. Her hands, resting on her knees, clenched tightly, and she swallowed audibly. Several deep breaths allowed the nun to compose herself. Her face now calm, she finally spoke:

“Didn’t Big Sister inform you of my intentions?”

“Big Sister? Ah, you mean Little Eagle? She didn’t elaborate much at the time, only mentioning that a young woman wished to meet with me.”

There was, however, one additional detail:

Little Eagle had, in fact, suggested that the young woman, as the Leader, should persuade the nun to stay. This particular detail needed to remain hidden, and the young woman was prepared to fabricate a story if the situation demanded it.

The nun had initially believed that upon meeting the demonic leader, she could dive straight into her plea. Now, however, she realized she would have to begin from the very beginning. To ensure her listener’s patience, she distilled her crucial points into the most succinct words possible. Her request to the Leader could be encapsulated in a single, desperate sentence:

“Please, spare the neighboring village! In return for your mercy, I am willing to do anything for you!”

Whether the villagers lived or died was, in a way, secondary; what truly mattered was that the village had been the nun’s home for many years, a sanctuary holding her earliest memories with her family. Driven by a profound sense of nostalgia and attachment, she desperately wished to prevent it from being ravaged by demons, from becoming a desolate wasteland.

Upon hearing the crucial words ‘the village,’ the young woman immediately grasped the situation. She knew there was only one small village in the nearby region. Unsurprisingly, the girl before her must have hailed from that very place, now pleading for the safety of her home.

How utterly amusing!

Neither the young woman nor her subordinates had ever harbored ill intentions towards the village. If that weren’t the truth, would they still be passively awaiting a reaction? They would have launched a swift assault and razed it to the ground by force long ago!

To be frank:

This particular faction of demons, under the young woman’s leadership, was simply passing through this desolate region as part of their migration. They harbored no ill will whatsoever. Yet, the villagers, consumed by paranoia, had panicked on their own accord, as if a blade were already pressed against their throats.

Moreover, reflecting on the nun’s earlier words:

‘The villagers actually pushed her forward as a sacrifice… They truly are all villains.’

A single honest word from the young woman would instantly dispel the misunderstanding, allowing the nun’s anxieties to dissipate. But that was precisely what she refused to do!

‘Was she foolish? A simple-minded girl, so genuinely innocent in her reactions, still oblivious to the truth – how could she possibly resist the urge to tease her, to let those dark, mischievous thoughts within her go to waste?’

“This foolish woman is willing to do anything… Is that truly what you mean?”

She leaned closer to the nun, her hand reaching out to cup the head before her. Her fingers traced from the nun’s forehead down to her cheek, her short nails lightly tickling her skin.

“You claim you’ll do anything. So, if I were to lay my hands on you right now, would you simply submit without resistance?”

“Please, don’t! Don’t do that! I am merely a country girl, unworthy of a hero such as yourself wasting precious time on my behalf!”

In this world, beyond the familiar ‘good person card,’ ‘brother card,’ and ‘friend card,’ this nun had ingeniously devised an entirely new variety of dismissal:

—the ‘hero card’!

It was a scenario many a chivalrous hero often encountered: For instance, a renowned hero, encountering injustice during an incidental journey, would offer aid to a distressed household. The hero, perhaps noticing the family’s comely daughter, would be about to speak when he’d be met with the inevitable reply:

“A hero of your stature will undoubtedly find someone far more suitable one day…”

This, then, was a subtle form of tactical evasion! The nun’s recent praise carried much the same underlying sentiment. The young woman, however, saw right through her subtle maneuver:

“To put it rather bluntly, you’re simply rejecting me, aren’t you?”

The nun offered no verbal rebuttal, but her arms, wrapped tightly around her body in a protective embrace, became noticeably more resolute than before. She then added:

“I assure you, I am not palatable in the slightest, and I haven’t bathed in an entire day…”

“Hold on,” the young woman interjected, a smirk playing on her lips. “I wasn’t planning on devouring you.”

“Then what, precisely, were you doing just now?”

The nun’s confusion was palpable. Had the Leader been a man, she might have been able to decipher their intentions. But given they were both young women, that earlier gesture… This entirely transcended her understanding!

“You ask what I wish to do?”

The Leader chuckled as she regarded the nun, thinking, ‘This is truly an innocent girl, utterly devoid of peculiar notions.’ Considering it a complimentary lesson, she decided to enlighten this little innocent: it wasn’t only men who could pose a threat to young women.

“I want this foolish woman to attend to me in my chambers!”

“…”

After blinking several times, the nun’s cheeks flushed a vivid crimson, and she cried out in alarm:

“Attend—attend—attend to your chambers! Do you mean *that* kind of attending to your chambers?!”

“Does that term possess any other connotations?”

If it did, the Leader was genuinely curious to hear them.

“But I am a girl! How could I possibly attend to your chambers?”

“Tsk, tsk, how utterly naive! Some matters merely require intent; gender is hardly an impediment.”

“But, but I am a holy person! I must preserve my purity for the heavens. I cannot marry, and I certainly cannot allow *that* sort of thing to be done to me by another!”

Bound by the strictures of the era, holy persons of this time were forbidden from marriage. Yet, such regulations held little significance for the Leader.

“A holy person? How convenient! I am your heaven! Are you not preserving your body precisely for me?”

Even at this juncture, the Leader continued her jest. The nun, however, remained blissfully unaware that she was merely being toyed with. At this very moment, the nun earnestly clutched her iris pendant.

‘What benefits did the pendant offer?’ Beyond providing a measure of psychological security, the nun could wield it as a blunted dagger, a meager tool for self-defense. Of course, against anyone truly unreasonable, this small trinket would prove utterly useless; she might as well bare her teeth and resort to biting.

Upon witnessing the nun’s ‘death before dishonor’ stance, the Leader pressed a hand to her stomach and let out several hearty laughs, each peal of mirth only deepening the nun’s bewilderment.

“It seems I was perhaps too eager,” the Leader finally said, wiping a tear from her eye. “How about we both compromise? You, my foolish woman, should seriously consider my proposition.”

“Please, do continue.”

Engaging in dialogue was not the issue. However, the nun’s wariness remained strikingly apparent. Having learned from her recent experience, she now maintained constant vigilance, ever on guard against any potential sudden assault. Her defensive posture intensified notably after the Leader uttered her next words.

“Foolish woman, would you care to reside here with me for a few days? Your meals, accommodation, and general treatment will be entirely at your discretion.”

“I am here to negotiate,” the nun replied, her voice firm. “I have no desire to impose on your home for an extended period.”

“Hmph hmph hmph,” the Leader chuckled. “You believe negotiation and accommodation are two distinct matters? I assure you: they are one and the same!”

According to the Leader’s proposition:

Starting from this very day, for a duration of five days, the nun must reside on the mountain until the period concludes. After these five days, she would cease to trouble the village, and the nun would be free to depart for any destination she pleased, without impediment.

“This foolish woman will suffer absolutely no disadvantage. All you are required to do is, for these five days, heed my commands and act in accordance with my will.”

At this juncture, the young woman facing the nun let out a sly chuckle:

“Well? Don’t you find my proposition quite equitable?”

“It is not fair in the slightest!” the nun exclaimed. “If you intend to do something inappropriate to me, and then use this agreement as coercion, will I not simply be at your mercy, helpless against your whims?”

“Then let us add a supplementary clause,” the Leader countered. “This foolish woman must obey all my commands, with the sole exception of matters pertaining to *that* particular nature.”

Delving into her true motivations, it wouldn’t be difficult to discern that the young woman merely sought a roommate and companion to alleviate her recent emptiness and solitude, while also subtly improving the living conditions of the person before her. She observed that the nun was alarmingly thin; aside from her chest, no other part of her body seemed to possess any discernible flesh, a clear indicator of prolonged malnutrition. If she were to reside on the mountain, and be provided with nourishing, substantial food, the girl’s physical condition ought to improve significantly.

Why, then, was the young woman extending such warmth and friendliness to a girl she had only just met? This was due to an innate sense of kinship; after all:

“I rarely encounter one of my own kind. It wouldn’t sit right with me if I didn’t look after you with special care.”

The young woman leaned back in her chair, maintaining a delicate balance on its hind legs while still supporting her weight. In this posture, she crossed one leg over the other and uttered words tinged with genuine warmth.

“One of your own kind? Are you… human?”

The nun’s eyes widened in astonishment, her pupils reflecting utter disbelief. The young woman found her utterly artless, so she raised her arm and gave the nun’s head a light tap with her closed hand.

*Thump!*

“Did you genuinely believe I wasn’t human this entire time?”

“Yes, well, you live with demons, and Big Sister and the others revere you as their Leader, so I mistakenly assumed you were also a demon, merely one who resembled a human…”

“Hmph, must the leader of demons necessarily be a demon? Who established such a ridiculous rule?”

The young woman pointed a finger at herself, emphasizing her humanity and simultaneously revealing her origins:

“Little Eagle once told me that my homeland was struck by famine years ago. My parents, unable to raise a child, chose to abandon me. She found me and brought me back; since then, I haven’t returned to human society.”

Naturally, the nun was taken aback by this revelation:

“Demons willing to adopt human children? This is the first I’ve ever heard of such a thing.”

“It’s not so strange. It’s much like how many people occasionally show kindness by taking in stray cats and dogs from the street. I was initially like one of those adopted animals. Now, having become the Leader, I simply guide them.”

“To be human yet command demons—how did you achieve such a feat?”

“It wasn’t particularly difficult. My body grew quite robust several years ago. It just so happened that the time came to choose a new leader for the group. As I had defeated all my opponents in a series of arm-wrestling contests, I was put forward as the Leader.”

Some demon communities valued unity, understanding that even when selecting a leader, they shouldn’t resort to deadly combat. Instead, a peaceful method of selection was employed. Arm-wrestling—an ancient sport—primarily tested strength, intellect (requiring mastery of clever techniques), and luck (involving moments of extraordinary performance). Considering these three aspects, the young woman ultimately emerged victorious, earning the right to lead the multitude of demons for years to come.

After she became Leader, the group underwent a significant overhaul. Firstly, the group could no longer subsist by robbing passersby for food; they had to become self-sufficient. If they desired creatures that ran on the ground, they would set traps to hunt wild rabbits and deer. If they craved creatures that flew in the sky, they would fashion slingshots to hunt birds or climb trees to raid nests. If they wished for creatures that swam in the water, they would weave fishing nets for hunting.

From time to time, the young woman would even instruct her subordinates in agriculture, planting crops such as rice and millet alongside them. Where did she acquire such knowledge? Did the nun not notice the animal hides on the wall? The young woman had learned many survival skills by visiting human markets and exchanging animal furs for various books. She had also read numerous books unrelated to survival, though she had never particularly enjoyed reading.

Under the young woman’s rule, this group of thousands of demons underwent immense transformation. Although they migrated every few months in search of food, they never caused trouble for the people they encountered along the way. Terms like ‘benevolent demons’ and ‘the conscience of the demon race’ aptly described them.

Currently, the young woman looked directly at the nun and said:

“I’ve told you my entire story. Now, are you willing to stay by my side, to live on this mountain for a few days?”