Luo Ning stared at Lilulu’s face. Her tone was very flat as she crouched there, quietly picking up the scattered remains of her kin.

“The eye of a one-eyed toad, 10 gold coins.

The fangs of a hellfire wolf, 30 gold coins.

The claws of a White Feather Dragon, 100 gold coins…”

Lilulu whispered the numbers.

Her voice was so soft it sounded like she was reciting them just for herself.

“Do you know how much this is worth?”

Lilulu raised her blood-stained hand and touched her own horn.

Her demon horns were round, not very long, the tips curling up just a little.

“The demon lord’s horn can buy an entire city from the Empire.”

She smiled, but her face was full of helplessness and self-mockery.

“Just because I’m too strong. Even with my mana weakening, they still can’t beat me. Otherwise, their goal wouldn’t just be to wipe out my forest.”

Lilulu finished talking to herself. She packed up the remains and stacked them back together.

She wasn’t someone with a good temper. Right now she really wanted to explode and demand why Luo Ning had let those humans go.

But what would that change? It was only because she wasn’t strong enough. If you weren’t strong enough, you got beaten. Even if she killed those humans just to vent, it wouldn’t solve anything. Humans would still come back. More hunters would come to hunt her kin.

Between races, everyone trampled each other for profit. She couldn’t invade the human continent, couldn’t bring them any real disaster. All she could do was curl up inside her Demon territory, and that was that. That was on her.

Besides, she didn’t have the energy to throw a tantrum right now.

Lilulu found a clean spot and lay down.

Luo Ning sat by the campfire and skewered the horned rabbit meat on a stick.

The damp wood crackled as it burned. He roasted the meat in silence, then, feeling it was about done, brought it to his mouth, blew on it twice, and took a bite.

His cooking probably got worse. Luo Ning felt today’s roast wasn’t as good as the one from the last two days.

It tasted like chewing wax. His throat tightened, and his stomach seemed to resist swallowing it.

“Do you wanna eat?” He glanced at Lilulu, who was lying on the ground as if asleep.

Lilulu ignored him.

“…Today’s actually pretty good. Crispy on the outside, tender inside. First bite’s nice and crunchy, and the juice just comes out.”

Lilulu still ignored him.

Luo Ning set the roast rabbit down and walked over.

He crouched next to Lilulu.

Her eyes were gently closed. Her broad, flat bat wings were wrapped around her shoulders. Her pale face had a bit of dried mud on it, and her long, curled lashes trembled slightly.

As if she sensed Luo Ning getting closer, Lilulu lifted her wings to block her face.

Wouldn’t let him see.

Luo Ning reached out and poked her.

Through the thin bat wing, he could feel her soft cheek.

“Now I get it.”

“I was wrong. I won’t stick my nose into this kind of thing next time.” Luo Ning let out a quiet sigh.

“I knew they were probably here to hunt beasts, but I didn’t know they’d slaughter like that… And I’m the same race as them. Humans are sentimental idiots. I’m an idiot. It’s my first time running into something like this. I can’t stand watching my own kind die miserably right in front of me.”

“Maybe the grudges between humans and Demons on this continent have been a mess for ages. Hundreds of years of history, god knows what happened between you two. To just pick a side without knowing anything, to call black white…”

“I know I acted like some bleeding-heart saint. Just think of it as me not being used to life over here yet.”

Luo Ning crouched beside her, Lilulu’s back turned to him.

Even though he said so much, Lilulu still didn’t respond. She just silently lifted her little wings and covered her ears.

A whole “I don’t wanna listen to this crap” aura.

“Lilulu, Lulu… you really don’t want any rabbit?”

Using food to coax her was secondary. What Luo Ning really wanted was for her not to stay this crushed. Even if she jumped up and beat him up, that would be better.

“Ugh…”

“Wife, I know I was wrong. Just sit up for a bit.”

“When you’re lying on the ground all curled up like that, not moving at all, I start feeling really guilty.”

“Wife, I—”

“…!!”

The moment Luo Ning called her “wife” again, Lilulu finally snapped.

She sprang up from the ground, her little legs straightening, then lifting—

And stomped on Luo Ning’s foot.

Luo Ning frowned, confused, not really reacting.

…Wait.

How much did Lilulu even weigh? Her stomp looked furious, but because she was so light, it landed on his foot like a feather.

He honestly thought a kitten had stepped on him.

“Who said you could call me ‘wife’!” Lilulu snarled.

With her nose scrunched up in anger, she really did look like a tiny kitten trying to act fierce.

“But you are,” Luo Ning said. “I’m more confused about why you don’t call me ‘husband’.” He blinked, looking completely innocent.

Lilulu’s face flushed red. She stomped on his foot again, harder this time.

“I don’t allow you to call me that!”

“It’s fine. I allow it.”

“You… shameless!”

“Yeah, totally shameless.” Luo Ning shrugged with a grin.

“When you’ve got such a cute wife, who needs shame? I can throw that out.”

“…” Faced with Luo Ning’s thick skin, Lilulu was lost for words.

“Don’t be mad. I really didn’t think it through this time. Here, eat some meat.”

Luo Ning pulled the roast rabbit from where it was stuck beside the fire and held it out to her.

“You eat it.” Lilulu hugged her knees and sat by the fire.

There was only one rabbit today. And the one who needed food to keep going was Luo Ning, so she wasn’t going to eat.

Luo Ning didn’t have much appetite either. After Lilulu turned him down, he just stuck the skewer back into the dirt.

“So, what’s it like now between your race and humans?”

“Sworn enemies.” Lilulu’s arms tightened slightly around her knees.

Her eyes were filled with firelight. Flames leapt in the reflection, and her gaze flickered with them.

“In the past, when the Demons were strong, we invaded human lands to seize better resources.

“Now the Demons are weak. Humans invade Demon territory instead, to harvest beast organs and forge magic tools. Add in all the old grudges from history, and they’ve got even less restraint.”

“In this world where the weak are prey, the weak get bullied. It’s simple. The Demons are on the losing side now, so we’re the ones getting pushed around. That’s normal. The only thing I can do is kill a few more of them to vent.”

“There’s no helping it, ’cause I’m the worst demon lord in this world. Isn’t that right, Creator God?”

Lilulu lifted her head, glancing sideways at Luo Ning.

The firelight fell across her tender white face. The soft mud on it had already dried from the heat of the flames.

“You can’t stand seeing your own kind get killed. I can’t stand seeing mine get killed either. That part makes sense… but…”

The fact that Lilulu was willing to talk to him was a good sign.

Luo Ning stayed quiet and listened. He wanted to at least be a decent audience, let her vent a little.

Lilulu paused, then went on.

“But you’re so biased, Creator God.”

She sounded like she’d been holding that line in for a long time. When she finally let it out, it came tangled with a wave of raw, suffocating grievance.