Lily Golt, the girl of the black mountain goat tribe with silvery white hair, light brown skin, beautiful crimson eyes, and small mountain goat horns, quietly observed her surroundings. There were many high-class demons at the round table with her, each of whom were trying to assert themselves over the others.
"So, there is no problem, right?"
"Of course there is! Just where is that Karakul?! The one that vouched for the Golt clan!"
The other demons averted their gazes. The person that raised Karakul's name faked a cough as he sat down. Nothing good could come from provoking the leader of the orc tribe, who had the power to move most of the soldiers of the Demon Kingdom. He continued on to cover up his slip of the tongue.
"Ung… In any case, despite it being something from the Orc Commander, this is something we cannot accept. Just what were you thinking? The Golt Clan? It's not even funny as a joke! To raise the fallen Golt Clan as the 'Demon Lord'? Are you telling me to raise that black mountain goat-thing to the prestigious position of Demon Lord!?"
"Ahem. You're being too harsh. The Mountain Goat tribe is considered one of the noble tribes among the demons."
"Well, you're not wrong. The Golt Clan is definitely one of the stronger tribes. High dexterity and strength, their horns also represent authority and majesty, but… aren't they a tribe that was unable to overcome the humans and suffered greatly by them as a result? What good is it to raise a survivor of that tribe to the position of Demon Lord? The position could lose its prestige."
"You're wrong. This is better! Think about it. The survivor of the tribe that was exterminated by humans rising to the position of Demon Lord for the sake of revenge! How is it? Isn't it a good story? It'll be perfect to raise the morale of Demon Kingdom as well! There's a good pretext for it as well!"
"Regardless, this is not how we should go about it."
"Since the Demon Lord died, don't you think we should at the very least place a puppet in his place? Someone of the Golt clan is good enough for this. She has resilient vitality, majestic horns, and graceful elegance. Her appearance suits the position of royalty. Isn't she top quality material as a figurehead?"
Lily gripped her own clothes. She clenched her mouth shut and endured; swallowing all of her frustrations.
"Regardless, most of the demons will suffer under the Hero. So how about instead of emphasizing strength, we put forth a Demon Lord in preparation for the next line?"
"You're saying…?"
"Before a new, powerful Demon Lord comes forth, we'll put her up as a puppet to strengthen and reinforce the army of the Demon Lord! Karakul probably put this idea forth with this thought in mind. He's someone with deep insights unlike the other orcs, so this is a possibility."
"Oh! I see! Now I understand why he personally stepped up to vouch for the Golt clan! The Hero's party is going to take her down anyway. If it can't be stopped, we can just let them do it!"
All of the demons focused their gazes on Lily.
"We must use everything we can. She'll be killed anyways, so we should buy as much time as we can in preparation for the next rightful Demon Lord. The Demon Lord's name is critical for bringing together the Demonic Army in the end!"
"I see. In that case… For the sake of the great Demon Lord that won't fall to the next line of Heroes!"
The demons rose from their seats.
"Then…"
"It's settled."
They tossed wicked gazes toward Lily as they knelt down and bowed their heads.
"I swear my allegiance to your majesty, the Demon Lord."
They made their formal gestures toward the girl. Their eyes were filled with ridicule, contempt, and scorn. Their gazes did not look up toward her, but rather looked down on her. It was as though they thought the Demon Lord before them was no more than a feeble goat that they could prey upon. They humiliated her in all sorts of ways, bowing merely in formality. Lily looked at the apostles, muttering in a low voice, "disgusting."
***
Sparrows could be heard chirping from the treetops. They turned their gazes here and there in search of food. However, there was another creature in the area looking for their next meal as well. A massive claw swiped down onto one of the sparrows. A gargoyle had captured the sparrow and devoured it in a bloody display. The gargoyle licked off the blood around its lips with its long tongue and let out a roar.
"Kyaaaaah!"
With this gargoyle's morning cry, Lily Golt, the new Demon Lord, awoke from her sleep. Unable to rid herself of the lingering drowsiness, she stayed as she was for some time. Her body felt heavy.
She had slept in pajamas made of white silk. Her copper-toned skin gleaned in the morning sunlight. When she finally lifted her head, her hair unraveled like a glittery spool.
"Sleepy."
She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
Two demi-human servants, a maid and a butler, were waiting for her. Their rabbit ears flickered as they offered her a hand towel and a bowl of water on top of a metal tray.
"Are you awake, Your Highness?"
"… It's a good morning, Lulu, Luri."
She greeted them lightly before letting out a long yawn.
The servants approached her and dressed her—today was a white and red dress—then washed her face with a wet towel. They cleaned her nails and softly polished her horn.
She watched the wholly devoted servants work away with a twitch in her eye.
'…It's so awkward,' she thought.
It had been several years since she had risen to the position of Demon Lord, but she still didn't feel comfortable in it. What made it worse was that she still didn't understand why she had been placed in the position or why she had gone along with it.
"Your Highness?"
"Pard-?" She replied before coughing once into her hand and attempting to correct herself. "Ah… yes?" She tried again in a far authoritative tone.
She still couldn't quite get over her nerves. It was uncomfortable whenever she tried to speak in a manner befitting of her position, so every now and then she slipped up.
The male servant, a member of a special tribe known as the Moon Rabbit tribe, spoke up.
"There is a conference. You must attend it immediately."
"A conference?"
"It is regarding the Hero's Allied Forces that have recently invaded our lands. It started some time ago but you must still attend."
Lily frowned at his response. Truthfully, she had an obligation to attend, but she had no right to speak in any of these meetings. To someone like her who is only a figurehead, no one would listen to what she had to say even if she did attend. This could only be expected seeing as the meeting had gone ahead and started while she had still been sleeping.
"Got it."
"I mean," she immediately corrected, "I understand. I shall attend. But for now… where's Ellin?"
Seeing as the Demon Lord brought up Ellin's name, the servant Lulu and maid Luri bowed deeply as they answered together.
"She has yet to return."
"We are unsure."
"I-is that right? I understand. Then…"
Lily got up to leave.
***
"They are looking down on us! The humans are thinking of us as complete fools!"
The apostle with a dog's head and a beast's ears was speaking.
"Karakul is fighting as well… I want to help… I am deeply indebted to him… He is the savior of my tribe… I cannot leave him to fight alone…"
An ogre with a massive body spoke with many pauses.
"But you must think about this more seriously. Going in without a plan is only going to lead to defeat."
Treo, whose height reached the ceiling, crossed his bark-covered arms over his trunk-like chest with a solemn look.
"Hah? Think? What are we going to do if we let this momentum go!"
"We need to immediately invade the Holy Kingdom!"
"Yes! Lend me some soldiers. I shall step up!"
"No, wait! Don't even think about stealing my men! Are you trying to kill off my tribe?"
"Don't you trust me?"
'… Blah blah,' Lily thought. 'They're happily talking amongst themselves.'
Lily who sat at the center of the round table put on a forced smile. The apostles hadn't even noticed her enter the room and continued to shout about who was right. She was sensitive to noise and was startled every time they raised their voices. The sound resonated loudly, and her hearing was far more sensitive than that of an average human's.
'I wish they'd just end this…'
She knew how it was going to end, anyway, because meetings like this always ended the same way. With a 'Let's decide at the next meeting.' No actual progress was going to be made here.