“So, no one escaped from this place?” you ask Pythia.

“None,” she smiles wickedly.

Perhaps I could make use of her yet.

You spend some time considering whether to tell Pythia who you are or not.

Would the fact that I am a Demon Lord work for me or against me? I mean, I am the Demon LORD, after all! Which should mean that I am The Lord of all demons and monsters, right? The title is pretty self-explanatory!

Then again, would I be using the title as a crutch? Shouldn’t my deeds speak for me? What if she just tries to eat me? Perhaps I should just burn her alive along with the rest of her pack—No, she’s too useful. Does she see me as someone useful? She wouldn’t call for this meeting otherwise. But being treated as equal or not even that by this creature is insulting!

Wait! What if she’s actually incredibly weak and all of this is a sham! She is the theatric type! And even at her strongest, she can’t be much stronger than Xi, since she wasn’t willing to fight him, despite having a whole flock of those damn troglodytes!

Am I stronger than Xi? I nearly lost to one of his underlings, but that was only because I effectively used my strongest spells and minions to deal with the majority of his crew. I’m effectively turning myself into a glass-cannon extremely reliant on my summons. If I fight one on one with all of my spells available.

Should I use her as a measuring stick? If she is stronger than me I need to either grow stronger myself and fast or kill her as soon as possible. The fact that I even have to consider this, flies in the very face of—

“Um, I’m sorry, are you alright?” Pythia speaks up with a worried look and interrupts your inner monologue. Apparently, you’ve been standing there silently longer than is considered appropriately cool and/or intimidating.

So. you just open your mouth and say, “I am Graf Wilhelm’s son, the new Demon Lord! Join me and you will taste every creature imaginable—big or small, rare or common!”

Were you delusional from exhaustion when you said that? Was it simply because you got startled? Somehow you thought it was a great idea to tell her who you are. Still. She did make sure to kill anyone else who knew. If only Xi didn’t escape! That is one failure you’ll have to erase from existence.

“Ah, you are!?” Pythia smiles and flies up in excitement.

Anticipating an attack from above, you’re ready to shower her with [Shadow Bolts]. However, after doing some fancy pirouettes or whatever (you’re not an expert on flying maneuvers so how would you know?), she lands next to you and grabs your hand with her surprisingly soft feathered wings.

She grins excitedly with her eyes shining brightly, like a schoolgirl who just met her idol, and says, “I knew there was something special about you!”

You might have even bought her convincing act if you haven’t been slowly getting used to her shifting personas. The fact that she is covered in fresh blood, does not help. You take your arm from her feathered appendages and say, “Don’t do that again unless you have a death wish!”

“You can’t talk—” Twinkle attempts to start another of his reproaches.

“Shut up!” you glare at the bird interrupting him mid-sentence.

“Ooh, a tough guy?” Pythia’s expression changes entirely and she returns to her more conniving smirk. It honestly suits her better.

“Do we have a deal?” you ask firmly.

“A deal?” Pythia tilts her head. “Oh, right! I help you fight your enemies in your place and sacrifice my precious little friends for your cause and in exchange you let me eat whatever I want! Sure, it’s a deal!”

Pythia extends her wing for a handshake, with a smile of a snake. You hesitate and take a look at her wing, but, reluctantly, extend your hand in return, contemplating whether to use [Drain Life] on her or not. Her grasp is gentle but firm.

“Alright, then we’re leaving immediately!” You say after the firm handshake is done. “And you’re coming with us!”

“You’re abandoning your hard-fought prize?” Pythia asks you.

“No, your troglodytes will stay here,” you say and turn around, walking back to the outpost together with Alpha. You almost forgot the emotionless, silent, dead-eyed bunny girl was even with you. “This will be a good second base, but right now I have more important matters to attend to. And we still have much to discuss once we get there."

“Oh! Oh!” Pythia raises her wing and skips beside you, like a student asking for permission to answer a question. Only no question has been asked. And she doesn’t wait for permission. “Do you want me to fly ahead and scout the road ahead for you?”

“No, it’s too bright now and, if there are enemies, you’ll just be a target in addition to revealing our position,” you say to Pythia without looking at her and continue walking forward. Once you exit the forest on the other side some scouting would be preferable, but you can’t risk her flying off without a warning. ”You will stay with us on the ground.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Demon Lord, sir!” Pythia salutes you and grins as you walk past her.

What have I done? You ask yourself and imagine Pythia cooking in an oven, stuffed with apples.

Once in the outpost, you look at your weary subordinates and give a short speech. “I hope you had your rest. You have thirty minutes to take some provisions and supplies to last you a couple of days. Then we move out. We have a day’s march ahead of us, and we need a good head-start. Oh, and make sure you bring lots of torches!”