Crimson Dungeon (Part 2: The Daughter of Evil)

In the dead of the night sat a lone figure. Meditation had been something her father had taught her to be a better leader. To one day take over his armies. But now it was being used to hide her mana from the world. To hide from him. The humans intended to use her false **** as a method to find her father, and then kill him in ambush.

Though she had agreed to it, there was no part of her that believed the strong Demon King to actually fall by such frail human hands.

It was not her fault their plans were so ridiculous. They were silly little things after all.

The longer Musume meditated, the more she thought about the humans. About all the things she was taught to know about them.

“This way. Come now.”

She even continued to stew in her thoughts as the prison door was opened and she was led out by a bevy of armed guards.

She could think about the way that Hans used to talk about them. Food for the slaughter. Amusing for a quick trick, but the more cocky they got by growing their numbers the more they should be culled. He would have hated the Harem Knights.

“Up the stairs.”

Sylvia was once a human herself. She felt jilted by them; apathetic to their plights compared to her own, but never truly wanting their extinction. Wolbach was similar as well. Though she held much more apathy towards the masses, she also found herself reminiscing about specific humans that caught her fancy. The man who lived in the mountain, the exiled prince who still cared for his people, or the little girl who was not afraid of her monstrous form. Wolbach talked a lot about these people in moments of calm in the castle.

There was Daniel, the Troll Lord, who insisted humans need not be wiped out, at least not the idols that he spent so much of the day obsessing over. A fool for sure, but his thought process focusing on the arts and culture of the humans did stick with Musume.

“Use this hood to cover your face.”

Serena was one of Musume’s oldest friends, yet even being a human she did not wish their legacy to live another day. **** seeped through every pore of that vile woman’s soul. On more than one occasion she’d expressed intent to be gladly sacrificed upon the completion of humanity’s extinction. Yet she still bothered to play with a young Musume out of her own volition, and would even smuggle candy and treats from the human world for. It was these interactions that initially sparked confusion in the woman.

“The teleport ritual is just outside. Do not attempt to flee. There are multiple catapults and longbows at the ready if you do.”

This confusion only grew with her small chats with Wiz, another former human general. Wiz never seemed comfortable amongst the demons, and when asked why she was fighting on the side of those that sought their destruction, Wiz only ever managed a pained smile before excusing herself. She was only the keeper of the barrier after all. Or was, before the barrier became completely unbreakable…

As for the rest, there had been minimal advancement in her opinion. Beldia was only ever interested in hiding his head in places Musume would sit, rather than talking about anything substantial. Though after father found out, he daren’t even approach her lest he suffer another thousand punishments. Vanir never stood still long enough to chat with, though he did say that the demons would sorely regret the day that their “true” food source was gone. And Angel was gone before Musume had talked with him.

“Right this way. Stand still, please.”

Only her father had any more insight. She’d asked him why they fought the humans, and he’d joked that if they didn’t then the insane Crimson Demons and Axis Cultists would wipe them all out one day. She never did get a real answer from him. Perhaps his cowardice kept him from speaking the truth, or he just didn’t want to reveal anything to his beloved daughter.

But one thing he said always stuck with her. He fought so that, “tomorrow could be a little bit brighter”. A simple concept, one far too vague for a leader of war, yet she knew him well enough that it was probably the closest to the truth she was going to get. She had asked if that meant they could finally go on holiday, but he had laughed and said maybe next year.

Her father had queried why the sudden interest in humans. But just like her father, Musume did not reveal the answer.

How could she have told him about a little girl’s letter to her, begging her to stop the war so her father could come home? The idea of her father in peril sparked such deep empathy in… well, the rest is history now.

Musume had kept her eyes closed during the entire walk up from the castle, but looked upon Iris as the light of the teleport overtook her. The young princess’s pen pal nature with the daughter had been revealed to the world.

But after all that had happened, only her father faced ****.

Such was the unfair nature of war.

“Stay well, Musume.”

“Goodbye, Iris.”

And with that, a new sight was to greet her.

“Kazuma! I wanted to hold the sign! I made it!”

“You already said you were going to hit her with it, so no fucking way!”

“I already said I would use my explosion to end her if it came to it, Aqua!”

“Ahh! Megumin! D-Darkness said we shouldn’t antagonise her by bringing up your victory!”

“But you just did, Yunyun! Not me!”

“Noo! You’re right! M-Megumin, protect me!”

“W-Welcome to the Crimson Demon Village…!”

Small, insignificant, and the reason she was in this predicament in the first place. She could have easily wiped these five humans out with a single attack and few would remiss their departure.

And yet…

They were also the reason she had this chance of peace.

So many had died, on both sides, because of the Demon King, the lineage that pumped through Musume’s veins. Yet here she was, free from her shackles, on the chance that tomorrow’s day would be just a little bit brighter.

Humans were a silly lot indeed.

“Hello,” said Musume with a bow, prompting them all to shut up. “Thank you for having me. For now, I’ll be in your care.”

“This is where I’ll be staying…?” As soon as we approached Megumin’s home, Musume asked, “Will it survive the night?”

“It’ll survive whatever you throw at it, Demon.” The eldest daughter of the house growled.

“You say that, but how is she going to get in the front door?” Asked Kazuma.

Yeah… that was going to be a bit of a problem. Musume was nearly the height of the entire house, she’d more likely need to use the house as her pillow rather than enter inside of it. She didn’t seem to agree though. With a click of her tongue that made a puff of fire escape her lips, Musume began… shrinking! The multi-story woman's entire form minimised smoothly downwards, still crossing her arms in her annoyed huffy attitude, but quickly reaching the point where she was only an inch or two taller than me, horns included.

“There, that should suffice.” She said, running a hand through her long silver hair to punctuate her point. “My father gave me many spells and cheat items that can let me do a number of things. Changing my size is of no concern.”

“You mean the same magic that we’re supposed to be hiding?” Kazuma pointed out.

“Erk!” She choked, seemingly forgetting about that part, “I-I will refrain from using magic any further.”

Aqua smugly shook her head, “Using magic to show off is such a demon attitude to have~”

I could feel the irony physically hurt Kazuma before resigning himself to roll his eyes at his show-off goddess girlfriend. Though Megumin was the one that verbally reacted, yelling loudly as she entered her house, “Of course it is! Us Crimson Demons only use the most ground breakingly extravagant magic around! And that is why I, wielder of Explosion Magic, am the greatest Crimson Demon of all!”

“Hm, this little one shows promise,” Musume mused, stroking her chin at Megumin’s loud antics. “I can see why you wish her to become your chief.”

“N-No, that w-would be me…” gulped Yunyun, waving her hand timidly at the daughter.

There was a pause as Musume considered her, only to turn back towards the dwelling. “I truly do not understand humans.”

I made sure to rub the tearful Yunyun’s back as we followed her inside the building.

“Ah~! Kazuma! You caught me from falling down the stairs! I can see why you and those strong muscles are a Harem Knight~!”

Only to find Yuiyui in Musume’s arms.

“I-I am not **** anyone! She leapt into me, I swear!” The daughter quickly defended, dropping the scantily clad mother into Kazuma’s arms who fell into a pile at the weight of an average human mother. “I don’t even know this woman!”

“Mom! What are you doing to Kazuma on the floor?!” Megumin yelled.

She was making her position on the matter rather clear from where I was standing.

“Oh dear, did I hurt you, Mr. Kazuma? Anywhere Yuiyui can… kiss it better?” She mewled, wrapping her arms around his head while edging her lips to his screaming mouth.

“HELP! HELP KAZUMA!” He barked, trying to move his hands away from the lingerie MILF that was literally all over him. Knowing to always follow his commands, I scooped her up and off of him, then helped him off the floor.

Not missing a beat to ignore what had happened, Yuiyui had already turned to Musume. “Thank you for catching me, dear. From what I gather, you are the daughter of the Demon King? And I am to be hosting you for the next few nights?”

“I’ll try not to be a bother,” the strangely polite Musume replied, bowing her head to the mother of the house. “My name is Musume, Daughter of the Demon King. You have a lovely home here. Miss Yuiyui I presume?”

Megumin clicked her tongue quietly, “‘Lovely’? After what she said outside…”

Her mother’s smile never faltered, “Indeed. Now, the rent prices for one of our rooms start at-”

“The King!” I interjected quickly, “The King can be sent a bill for that! I’m sure he can’t complain too much since we are taking care of his most valuable prisoner right now. Er, I mean…”

“No, no, good to know where we stand,” She huffed at me, continuing through the hallway and entering the main lounge without another word. Why’d I say prisoner? That isn’t going to win me any good girl points at all…

We had brought a meal for us all to enjoy on the way back to Megumin’s house. Kazuma had wanted to cook up a classic Japanese meal of yakisoba to show off how humans ate, but Musume told him that was her father’s favourite meal and they ate it all the time. Bizarre as that discovery was, it meant his plan was out of the window, so instead we bought the ingredients for a crab meat hot pot, as more of a “we are one with you” vibe to eat with Musume. The budget would once more be coming out of the King’s wallet, our debt with him just rising and rising after our newest Harem Member had destroyed most of the castle.

Kazuma and Yuiyui set about cooking us our meal in the kitchen, while Aqua, Yunyun, Megumin, and I all sat down around the table with Musume. It was a bit squished, but that was mostly Aqua snuggling up to me and insisting I wrap my arms around her as she used my chest as a pillow, seemingly beginning a nap almost immediately.

But after we sat down, the silence loomed over us. Only the clanging sounds of cooking to accompany the awkward atmosphere.

For all intents and purposes, this could classify as “girl time”.

“S-So, Musume!” I began, trying hard to strike up a conversation. “Um… what do you usually do for fun?”

The white-haired beauty frowned her fanged teeth at me, perhaps having been content with the silence. “If you must know, my father and I used to read a lot together. Though that was many years ago, before he completely disappeared. My last family member, my one guiding light, struck down in the prime of his eternal li- ”

Megumin just rolled her eyes at Musume, “Alright! We get it! Your dad might be dead, change the damn song already!”

“Megumin!”

I was appalled by her manners, but the daughter just chuckled at the brazen verbal attack. “I like you, little one. Very well, I shall refrain from the topic of my father for now. What else would you like to know?”

“Ooh! What’s the coolest magic spell you have?!”

“Hmm, coolest? I believe my father once gave me a cheat spell strong enough to freeze a fire dragon…”

“No-no-no! I mean coolest as in the best! The most dramatic and stylish spell from the Daughter of the Demon King!” The fact these two were bonding this easily disturbed me on multiple levels.

“Ah, well, if that is the case… then I must say my personal favourite spell to cast on my enemies was Demonic Hell Meteor.” Everyone but Megumin gulped at the sadistic thrill that seemed to be flowing through her now as she spoke. “Gathering so many tiny targets in one location, thinking they can overwhelm our castle with numbers. Only to find that the heavens themselves have forsaken them and opened to literally crush their hopes! Then they run as fast as they can but it is often not fast enough…”

Even my masochism can only run so deep. That was a truly horrifying scene she painted, even with a nice look on her face.

But Megumin was unfazed. The little wizard just haughtily sighed at one of the most dangerous women in the world, “Eh. Whatever. That still doesn’t hold a candle to Explosion Magic, but good try.”

How in the world did Kazuma manage all three of us for so long? This was exhausting.

“I’d say you were crazy, but I felt that explosion first hand,” Musume continued to smile more than she ever did at the castle.

“Damn right you did! That spell took down a bunch of your generals too!”

“Hm, you are from the party that caused us all that grief? Well, I’m sure your precious town of Axel would struggle to grow legs and run from my meteors.”

“I’d just blast them from the sky!”

“Now that I’d like to see~”

The pair were grinning evilly at each other. Was this a rival relationship forming, or a strange demonic friendship? Either way, the way dark energy was flowing around both of them was enough for me to put a stop to this now.

“C-Can we please get off this topic!?” I interjected, “I’m worried you’ll want to try this Megumin, but Musume still needs to hide her magic.”

They noticed their dark energy and settled down, Musume apologising but Megumin just flippantly shrugged while sitting back down on the floor.

“I suppose that’s another topic to avoid… for now.” She side eyed her new wizard friend, who smirked back at her. “Was there anything else you’d like to ask me?”

“Cr-Crimson Demons often talk about their deepest desires!” said Yunyun with too much enthusiasm. “What are some of your fetishes, Miss Musume?”

Dear Eris, I forgot I added that to the book of Crimson Demon rules.

“...excuse me?”

“Someone mention fetishes?” Aqua suddenly awoke in my lap, “Darkness has some really funny fetishes! Like how she moans super loudly whenever Kazuma hits her big bottom - !”

“P-Please don’t discuss that in front of the Demon King’s Daughter!”

“Why not? I’m proud of your moans and big bottom!”

Megumin growled at my pouting girl, “If we can’t talk about magic, you can’t talk about sex at the dinner table!”

The Goddess pondered it for a moment, then turned to the Demon, “How about boyfriends or girlfriends then? Ever have someone you love more than anything in the whole wide world?” She punctuated by hugging me tightly, which did make my heart melt a bit.

“Don’t take it too much to heart. She probably just wants money from you again, Darkness,” Megumin warned with a yawn, “How much do you owe to the guild this time anyway?”

Strangely, the defence came not from me or Aqua, but from Musume. “No, the blue-haired fool’s feelings are horrifyingly genuine.” The daughter frowned, a blush painting a streak across her pale nose, “...I felt it far too strongly last night…”

“Ew! Did you steal my feelings, Demon?”

Opening her jagged teeth wide in shock, Musume yelled, “YOU thrust them upon ME! I threw one little insignificant ****-fueled **** attempt against your King, and you cruelly made my privates feel… weird! Repeatedly!”

“Oh yeah, that did happen.”

“Hang on, ‘weird’? Didn’t you have a mind blowing orgasm beyond all recognition?”

“No,” She crossed her arms, claws thrumming with irritation against her arm. “Whatever an ‘orgasm’ may be, I have far too many defences and tr-”

“WAIT, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT AN ORGASM IS?!”

…

“...and on that note, dinner is served,” Kazuma said with no emotion as he and Yuiyui walked in with many bowls of food for us.

-

The rest of the meal went fairly uneventfully. I kept quiet after yelling in disbelief, feeling quite embarrassed and not wanting to humiliate myself further.

As usual, Kazuma’s cooking was truly tasty. His chef skill always manages to make good food with anything we throw at him, but the delicate crab meat paired deliciously with the vegetables that Aqua picked out. Musume enjoyed the human food more than she thought she would, though after having a strangely similar diet I don’t see why she wouldn’t. As a half-demon, she still consumes the negative emotions around her, but also needs to consume food as well.

We also filled in Musume about the contest tomorrow. She seemed intrigued but mostly happy that she wouldn’t be confined to Megumin’s house the entirety of the next few days. There was a wonder if she could have entered the contest herself but Yunyun informed us that non-Crimson Demons could only join as representatives of a Crimson Demon. So if I entered and won, I’d be doing it under the name of Yunyun who would still win. Most Crimson Demons didn’t have nor want outside help, but it was good to know for the future.

After dinner, the plan was to sleep. Yunyun headed home and Musume was to take the living room futon to herself, with everyone else taking shifts to make sure she didn’t try to run away in the middle of the night. Musume said she had to spend some time at full size or else the indigestion would be painful. She promised to just sit outside the sliding door by the living room and meditate, and trying to prove the “prisoner” comment wrong, I allowed it.

Now, Aqua and Kazuma were cleaning up the bowls and taking them to the kitchen while the last of us sat around the table to let our own food digest.

“By the way, did either of you notice how hot some of those Crimson Demon ladies were?” asked my girlfriend.

My boyfriend agreed with no shame, “Fuck yeah. I forgot how huge Arue’s chest was.”

“Oh my god, yesss~ I’d love to suck on those titties while your massive cock fucked them… oh! Do you think we can get a few of them for the harem?!”

“I love the way you think, but we should probably check in with Darkness first…” He took a quick gaze over to me, panting away with my usual thick blush. “Yeah, she’s into it.”

Megumin frowned at all of us. “I’m somewhat used to this from Kazuma, but seeing you two being perverted is so weird. Actually…maybe it’s just Aqua,” She said, looking over at me panting. “What’s so great about being in a harem anyway?”

This was it. This was my chance to seduce Megumin. I shouldn’t waste it.

“A-ARE YOU INTERESTED IN S-S-S-SEX?!”

My hands slamming on the table as I leapt forwards in excitement was, in retrospect, a bad idea. She lurched away from me in fear, possibly worried that I was trying to attack her.

“GUH! Definitely not with that attitude. So uncool,” She frowned at me. That was the problem? “Besides, Kazuma and I… well… ugh, whatever. Doesn’t matter,” A sigh escaped her lips as she placed her chin on her palm and scowled at the nearby wall like it owed her money.

So it was just Kazuma holding her back then? Well in that case, time for Plan N. “Uh, Megumin? It’s normal for the host of a Crimson Demon household to be attentive to their guest’s needs, even going so far as to sleep with a guest!”

“...you trying to get into my old bed, Darkness? No way. You want a nice bed? Then go over to Yunyun’s house tonight.” She frowned, getting up and walking out the living room towards her room.

That didn’t work? She’s shown to be at least a little susceptible to the normalities that have to do with my tits. Must be another “abnormality” anomaly. Oh well, may as well go find out if Aqua is getting ready for bed. I’m getting used to her snoring surprisingly quickly. Plus, snuggling was becoming my new preferred way to sleep. I think Kazuma was supposed to take the first watch of Musume…

-

Kazuma frowned at his cock. Pissing was never easy with a boner.

“Damanit. Guess all that talk of a new Crimson Demon harem member got me horny,” He sighed, having to truly put effort into aiming his massive idol of millions. “There we go… Phew. Still hard, but maybe a quickie with Darkness will solve that particular problem.”

He exited the bathroom only to be grabbed forcefully and dragged into the opposite room. Thrown onto a futon before even realising what was happening.

“Fucking hell! Who’s attacking me?! This better not be another weird fetish, Darkness…”

But it wasn’t Darkness. It wasn’t Aqua, nor Megumin, nor Yunyun. It wasn’t even Musume.

Option F, the scariest one, was the reality Kazuma now faced.

“U-u-uhhm, M-Miss M-Megumin’s M-Mom?!”

“Call me Yuiyui, Kazuma.”

Stepping out from the blanket of shadows was a married woman and a mother to his ex-girlfriend. And she was completely naked, not even wearing loose fitting lingerie anymore. The taller and slightly bustier version of Megumin, looking similar to a version of Tifa with less curves, yet still beautiful in her body. Long raven hair to dance against her shoulder blades, breasts with no sag to renounce any ideas of age, with nicely medium areola to curve around the estate of fullness, and a small tuft of well kept hair below a flat tummy and above a moistened pair of lips.

Yuiyui had only been in about two of his succubus induced dreams over the years. Here she looked even better than what they had provided, but it had often made Kazuma feel gross in the morning.

And yet here he was now.

She smiled, stepping further towards him lying on her marital bed, “I heard your complaint in the bathroom. What kind of host would I be if I didn’t take care of that big, throbbing, painful erection of yours?”

Before he could jump up from the futon, his arms and legs were immediately bound to the floor by the woman’s earth spell. Pinned like a starfish on a surgery table, and freaking the fuck out because of it. “Th-That was a joke! It’s funny, right?!” He whined, trying to pull against the restraints but to no avail. The tent in his pants was not helping his case much. “Ignore what’s happening down there!”

“You are my guest, Mr. Kazuma. As the host, I must attend to your needs, no?” With an elegant lean, she slipped to the floor easily and placed her face against his open thighs. Easily opening his fly to let his cock fly open, a feature that was enjoyed immensely by Aqua but was detrimental to the longevity of his heart at this moment. “Ooh~ You might just be bigger than my husband~ How impressive~”

“W-We don’t have to do this! I have two girlfriends and like a hundred harem members! We can call it quits!”

“Girlfriends you have yet to call out for. Are you perhaps more interested in this older woman than you’re letting on?”

“Urk!”

It was sealed with a kiss. Kazuma’s will and self control had been eroded away by an endless sea of pussy from the last week of his life. He knew he shouldn’t, but a sexy older woman had just prepositioned him… and Crimson Demon hosts did have to take care of their guest’s needs… so this was fine, right?

Besides, the way she was sucking his cock made anything but moans escaping his throat impossible.

The woman was clearly experienced. Yuiyui had already slathered Kazuma’s pole in her spit and used her hand to spread it down from where she was licking. Pumping him while licking his glans in strange new ways he hadn’t experienced before.

Even while pinned to the floor, Kazuma couldn’t deny the erotic feelings coursing through his massive cock. If anything, the hard restriction was making the softness of the MILF that much more pronounced against his frustrated pole.

He really hoped this wouldn’t awaken anything in him.

After several minutes of quiet licking on her marital bed, with only soft glucks of her deepthroat technique to accompany the musical of “Kazuma’s Moans: Volume Regret”, the tempo began to speed up. Yuiyui massaged his pulsing egg sacks deeply, practically pulling his nut from his cock as her throat was destroyed by his member. Soon to be wrecked by yet another byproduct of a blowjob.

“M-Miss MeguMom! I’m about to-!”

Then it all stopped. Stuck right on the precipice of an orgasm, Kazuma felt very unsatisfied even with his cock still lodged in his friend’s mom’s throat. With a strained expression, he looked down to see her eyebrow raised at him. “Gah! F-Fine! Yuiyui! P-Please continue!”

With a smug smile, she did just that, “Hmhmhm~ galk gllp SCHLRP!”

“Grraaahhhhh!!!!” He roared into her, thrusting his hips to get those last few inches past her slurping oesophagus to begin pumping his youthful seed right into her stomach.

The tidal wave wasn’t something Yuiyui was expecting. Though her husband had meat, he had long since delivered such virile and substantial loads. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like to become full off a man’s cream alone. The pulsing and burning meat stuck inside her mouth and provided such an impressive load that she needed to bring it out her mouth just to survive. Letting his cock splurt its salty surprise right over her face. The mother of two blindly aimed his throbbing cockhead at her mouth to get the last few spurts, but it began to dribble into her cleavage as it did.

“Whew~” Kazuma exclaimed, “That… that did feel really good. S-Sorry it was so much, I’m trying to figure out how my cock keeps reloading so quickly lately. I’ve narrowed it down to either a spell Aqua cast while I was sleeping, a spell Xara cast, science experiments by Sylvia, an item from Wiz’s shop, or something Vanir did to sell more fake cocks of mine.”

Kazuma had to admit that it was hot that she was licking his cream from her finger after scooping the dripping mess from her face. “That’s alright dear, seems you’ve had a busy time because of it.”

“Yeah… you can, uh, you let me go now.” He chuckled, still fighting against the spell, “Yuiyui-san? The contract has been fulfilled, I am relieved, right? Right?!”

There was a brief moment where she looked at him, then at his softened member, then with almost no hesitation the woman began jerking Kazuma off right then and there. He groaned at the motion, but could feel himself getting hard by her expert technique. Not helped by a finger that was attempting to enter him from his other end, “WOAH! DARKNESS! HE-MPH!”

“Oh dear, you seem to be hard again, Ka~zu~mah~” She whispered into his panicked and panty stuffed face, “It’s reassuring that a Harem Knight like you is loaded with such large amounts of seed, I’m sure you manage to impregnate almost all the women you get inside. Hm?” Her words freaked him out even more, even while her pussy began rubbing up and down his erection, “Komekko always wanted her own little sister. Think you and your Harem Knight stipend could support us with that?”

Kazuma couldn’t exactly say no in this position. Looking around the room to see a picture of her husband and Yuiyui together. “MM! MMM!!!”

“Hyoizaburo? Oh, he doesn’t mind, dear. We already made the agreement that we’d dedicate our lives to a Harem Knight baby given the chance. That kind of money can easily change a lot of hearts~” She chuckled, making Kazuma’s heart sink. “Our deal means he gets to visit a succubus cafe if I get pregnant with your baby. Besides, Megumin can’t have all the fun with you.”

Welp. There goes any argument he could make to stop this. Kazuma mentally rolled his eyes that once more a woman was using his cock for money rather than actually wanting him… though once more he could sway her heart with sex that blows her mind…

Suddenly, the magic that sealed his hands and feet crumbled to dust. He sat up quickly, still wildly erect but rubbing at his wrists while spitting out the panties. “Pleh! Freedom!”

Of course, that didn’t stop the huge peachy rear waving back and forth in front of him.

“I've been so lonely since my husband left, Kazuma~” She moaned, despite the fact he’d only been gone a day. “Won’t you come over here and show me the ways of a Harem Knight~?”

He glanced at the door. Knowing this woman, she already magically sealed them in the room anyway. But there was still a chance he could escape with the right amount of willpower…

To the naked eye, the stars splattering the night had been perfectly still for hours. Yet Musume still felt a pang of irritation at how fast they were moving. When you stare at anything long enough, even the heavens themselves tend to speed along.

Hours passed by while she was lost in thoughts all alone, silently judging the time the lights above her moved about, the moon especially had a tendency to use that time to glide its bulbous form along the speckled skyline like it owned the damned place.

“Oh, you’re still up.”

Her head turned to see who had greeted her so late into the night, finding the smallest human she’d met since Iris to be yawning at her.

“Indeed, little one. Sleep seems to elude us both?”

“Yeah, Kazuma’s having sex with one of his girls. I heard the moans. He should be done any moment but I can’t have that in my ear one second longer.” Megumin yawned, plopping herself down onto the lip of the landing, right next to the pillar where Musume leaned. “I like your wings, by the way.”

With the brown tattered poncho discarded, Musume was indeed in her full Demon Queen outfit. It felt good to be free of the stifling prison cloth, and really stretch out the pure black crescent wings her father had gifted her. “Thank you, I like your pyjamas.”

“Watch it, I’ve beaten you once and I’ll do it again.” The small fry threatened with a pout and blushing face. Musume noted the similarities to Serena, she couldn’t take a compliment well either.

“I have been meaning to ask: why is it that you do not seem as obsessed with matters of copulation like your compatriots?”

“Hey, I won’t be treated as the weird one here!” growled Megumin defensively, “It used to be just Kazuma who was perverted! Okay, Darkness too, but Aqua was like me! I think? I…” Finding her point getting lost in the constant contradictions, and Musume’s tiny smile irritating as hell, she refocused with a breath and restarted, “Look, it’s not like I’m really against that stuff. I’m not even against my friends all being together. As weird as it is for me, seeing them all happy like that does get me a little curious…” Her huddled stance and blush began up again, “...they didn’t even ask me if I wanted to join their stupid harem… gah! Feel like taking another explosion? Letting one loose should get us both get to sleep!”

Musume just laughed at the small angry human, “Haha! This is my first time having my life threatened as a sleeping aid!”

Calming down at the laughter, Megumin sat back down again, “Fine, maybe tomorrow. But what’s keeping you up?”

After the laugh, her face slowly turned to melancholy again as a long exhale escaped Musume’s jagged teeth, “Well, human, I am trying to figure out how my life got here.”

“...to my house?”

The huge form of pure evil incarnate sighed, shifting around uncomfortably in the grass she sat in, “Basically? Yes. Two weeks ago I was surrounded by my family, my friends, and my demonic people. Now, I am here. Alone with strange humans, with only the stars that shine down on me as familiar company. Yet now I see the dots up there, sensing their happiness at being among their kind, like they are mocking me… bastard stars.” She spat up at the silent lights.

Megumin lowered her eyebrow at the worrying sanity of ultimate power, but tried to stay reasonable, “…well, ignoring that, I can understand being angry when change happens out of your control. Things got really weird back at my home… lots of new people, dynamics, and rooms. I can’t help but feel like I got left behind somewhere along the way.”

“Yes, being left behind is a good way to put it.” The horned head nodded, plucking a few blades of grass from the lawn and letting them float away on the breeze, “At least you still have a home, count yourself lucky there, little wizard.”

Frowning at Musume’s melancholy, and at being called ‘little’ yet again (she finally had her growth spurt recently), Megumin asked, “Come on, you must have somewhere to go, yeah? Besides, I thought we were waiting for the King to confirm if your dad was de-”

“My **** was publicised this morning, yet all day I sat in that prison.” Her voice was firm in its beliefs, yet still shaky with emotion, “As egoistic as it may sound, I cannot see a world where he does not unleash the full fury of his armies upon the humans. There was not a single other monster or demon that even attempted to infiltrate the castle. No final surge, no demonic onslaught, I don't even know if anyone even mourned me…” Her arms hugged herself gently as she hunched over with melancholy, “Tomorrow, the news will come from Jeronim that my father never came. Whatever happened to him was either permanent, or not worth including me in.”

A silence overtook them, as Megumin realised this was a deeper issue than she thought she was stepping into. The daughter of the Demon King had become upset about the fate out of her control, and Megumin had no idea how to comfort her.

So all she did was place a hand on her oversized wing and say, “Sooo… what now?”

There was a beat where Musume considered it, an answer unable to be plucked from the air like she so dearly wished, but like she’d been struggling with all night it never appeared, “I do not know. I always felt like I had more time before I would become a ruler, and now I must make harder decisions than my father ever made without his guidance to help me. Peace with humans, negotiating the lands of the world we’ve pillaged, ceasing the wars waged and the bloodshed. And, selfishly, I somehow am most remiss that I do not even have the reward of a peaceful life with my father afterwards to motivate me…”

“Life isn’t something you plan for that rigidly. If you always focus on what’s going to happen, you miss out on the journey to get there, and are way more easily thrown off from your path.”

“How wise, for someone so young…” Musume blinked in surprise.

“Hey! I’m eighteen, y’know! That’s an adult in human years, ya dumb sheltered princess.”

“Oh? Big talk from an ‘adult’ clearly unable to follow her own advice. What was that about feeling ‘left out’ by changes in your own house?”

She clicked her tongue at the demon pointing at her, “Tch… I hate that you have a point…”

“Two birds of a feather I suppose… and perhaps, if I am to rebuild my kingdom properly, I need to do what my father did and surround myself with like-minded souls for my generals.”

The way Musume was looking at Megumin made her pause. The winds shifted their attack patterns to make her feel a push against her back. “...what are you implying?”

“How would you like a job?”