-Bang, bang! What is that..? I think I hear a loud noise coming from somewhere.
-Bang, bang!
What was I doing…? Am I still half-asleep? I can’t quite remember.
-Bang, bang!
But anyway, where is that loud noise coming from?
At that moment, everything that had happened flashed through my mind like a panorama.
Ah, I remember now, I was definitely…
“Wake up, human!”
“What the hell!”
Suddenly, a loud voice startled me, and I opened my eyes.
‘Where am I?’
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling, so I first looked around.
Is this a place with no light?
The surroundings were extremely dark.
But there was a bit of light coming from the torches someone had set on the walls, making the dim surroundings barely visible.
I could feel the rough, stone-like texture of the walls, and since the voices echoed slightly, was this a cave?
I should look around more. First, I need to get up…
As I had various thoughts, I tried to raise my body immediately, but…
“Huh… What?”
For some reason, I couldn’t lift myself up.
It felt as though my hands and feet were stuck together and wouldn’t move.
‘What… what’s going on?’
I glanced at my hands in panic.
Then I realized my hands and feet were tied.
‘Is it metal…?’
I struggled to free myself, but it didn’t budge. The cold touch told me it was probably made of metal.
Damn it, this is bad.
“Hey, time to eat. It’s dinner time!”
As I kept looking around to assess the situation, a voice came from the front.
I lifted my head towards the sound and finally saw the faces of those who had set the trap.
Green skin, short stature, a voice like they were gargling, and horribly ugly faces.
They were goblins.
So the ones who set the trap were goblins?
Wait, does that mean we fell into a trap set by goblins?
Wow, damn it.
I used to see strong female knights and wizards get caught by goblins after letting their guard down, and I thought, ‘Who the hell does something so stupid?’
But now that’s me? Damn it?
And of all things, goblins! This is bad!
Why? Because my body is currently female.
And the ones who caught me are goblins!
I don’t even need to say what could happen, right?
I’m screwed!
“Tonight’s dinner is spider and caterpillar!”
The goblin is bringing something!
Okay, stay calm.
Even when a tiger enters a den, they say if you stay composed, you’ll survive.
Although this is a goblin’s den, damn it.
Still, goblins are different from tigers, right?
Maybe I can communicate with them? If I can, at least I can buy some time.
As the goblin approached, spewing out loud words, I carefully spoke.
“Excuse me.”
“Huh? Did I hear wrong? It sounded like someone was talking?”
This dumb bastard. He looked around, not realizing I had spoken.
“Excuse me!”
“Who is it! Who keeps calling me!”
Here, you idiot!
“Excuse me!”
“A human…?”
When I shouted as loudly as I could, the goblin who had been looking around finally turned to me.
I should try to talk to the goblin. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Maybe I can get out of this through conversation.
If talking doesn’t work… I don’t even want to imagine that.
“Who are you?”
“What? Do you know our language? How can you speak it?”
When I asked in fluent demon language, the goblin looked at me in surprise.
Thank goodness. Judging by the goblin’s expression, it seems like we can communicate.
Phew. At least we can talk, so I feel a bit more at ease. If I keep this conversation going, the situation might improve.
I was about to continue with hope, but…
“Gabia! This woman can speak our language!”
The goblin looked startled and shouted before suddenly running off somewhere.
Damn it. Where are you going, you bastard!
You need to untie me first!
Luckily, the goblin returned shortly after. But there was a difference this time.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Gobi. How could a human speak our language?”
Now there were two goblins instead of one.
“It’s true! She spoke our language just now!”
“Stop spouting nonsense and go to sleep, Gobi.”
“Excuse me.”
Just like before, I called out to the new goblin, and the second one also looked at me with surprise.
“What? You know how to speak our language?”
“Yes.”
“Haha! Amazing! A human speaks our language!”
Then he burst into laughter as if he had seen something amusing.
I’m a demon too, you idiots!
Sigh… It’s absurd that demons speaking their own language is something to laugh at, but that’s not the important issue right now.
…
The real issue is how to get my tied-up hands and feet free…
There are two ways.
First, I can remove the ring and escape using magic.
Second, I can try to talk my way out of this without removing the ring.
Out of these two options, I want to hide my identity as much as possible and resolve this peacefully, so I’m going to go with the second option.
How am I going to talk my way out of this?
Wouldn’t it work if I just ask the goblins to untie me?
It’s not just an empty hope; I have a reason.
Remember how my fluent demon language was confirmed earlier? So they must have realized by now that I’m not human, but a demon. Most humans don’t know demon language.
Once they confirm that I’m a demon, there’s no reason for them to keep me tied up, right? I’m one of them after all.
The more I think about it, the more logical it seems.
Let’s go with this.
Having made my decision, I immediately spoke to them.
“Excuse me. I have a request.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
The goblin responded in a much kinder tone than before, speaking in demon language. Judging by his expression, he must have realized that I’m a demon!
I showed them my bound hands and said,
“Can you untie this?”
“Why should I?”
“I’m not a human, I’m a demon! We’re all demons here, so there’s no reason to keep me tied up, right?”
Come on! We’re on the same side! We’re all demons!
It’s such a reasonable explanation, but for some reason, the goblin looked at me with a perplexed expression.
“Has the human lost her mind? Even if you speak our language, you have no demonic energy. Anyone can see you’re human. Why should I trust you and untie this?”
His words left me feeling confused.
No demonic energy? I, who ranked among the highest in the Demon Lord’s army in terms of demonic energy?
What? Why?
Then, a memory flashed through my mind.
Oh, right! I had sealed my demonic energy with the ring! That’s why they mistook me for a human!
Damn it! Because of this stupid ring, I can’t use my powers, and now I’m being mistaken for a human by goblins. What a mess.
Sigh… does that mean the second option has failed? Now, my only choice is the first option?
I guess there’s no other way but to go with the first method. I need to take off the ring and think it over. Sealing my demonic energy and acting like this has reached its limit.
Even if my demonic energy gets exposed to the hero’s party, it’s better than staying tied up and facing whatever horrors these goblins might inflict on me.
Alright, time to take off the ring… Wait, what?
As I tried to remove the ring and release my demonic energy, I realized something else that made me panic again.
Because of the restraints, my left hand couldn’t reach the fingers of my right hand.
No matter how hard I tried, all I accomplished was making my wrist hurt.
This is so frustrating. Does this mean I have to take off the ring with one hand?
With a sigh in this ridiculous situation, I began attempting to remove the ring with one hand.
I wriggled my thumb around, trying to grip the ring and push it down.
It should just slide off… but…
‘Why is it so tight?’
I tried my best to use force and pull the ring off, but since I had worn it for so long, it wouldn’t come off easily.
Even though I was momentarily flustered by the ring’s resistance, I quickly calmed my racing heart.
Stay calm. It looks like removing the ring will take some time.
If I panic, I’ll only mess things up. As long as I keep my cool, I can do this.
I take a deep breath and think about what to do. One thing’s for sure—if I keep at it, eventually, I’ll be able to get this ring off.
What I need right now is the patience to hold on until that happens.
Just as I settled down and tried to proceed calmly with the important task of removing the ring, the goblin’s next move made me panic again.
“Stop talking nonsense and eat your dinner, human.”
The goblin placed a bowl in front of me.
When I looked into the bowl, I was horrified.
The bowl was filled with bugs, like something a kid would gather in a jar after catching insects in the woods with a net.
The most noticeable thing was a huge, squirming caterpillar, and next to it was the corpse of an enormous spider.
Wait.
What did the goblin say earlier…? He said it was dinner time, right?
Does that mean… this is dinner…?
I asked them,
“You want me to eat… this?”
“Yes.”
Oh my god, this is really supposed to be my dinner.
Of course, these bastards who look like trash would serve trash to eat.
“N-No, I don’t want it.”
I unintentionally voiced my resistance with a trembling voice, but the dumb goblin seemed to completely misunderstand my reaction.
“Huh? Oh, right, your hands are tied. I need to feed you, don’t I? Wait a moment.”
He picked up the giant caterpillar and started coming toward me.
Damn it, damn it, damn it, I need to get this ring off now!
“Stop! Please stop!”
I shouted at the goblin, but he didn’t stop approaching.
I began frantically pressing the ring with all my might.
But…
This is bad! The ring won’t come off.
Making eye contact with the squirming caterpillar made my heart pound like a fish freshly caught from water. But despite my panic, the ring still showed no signs of budging.
I’m seriously about to lose it.
Damn, damn, damn, damn! Time! I need to buy time to take off the ring!
How on earth can I buy time?
A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind in mere seconds, but none of them seemed usable in this situation.
Except for one.
There’s no other choice! I’ll have to reveal my true identity!
I gathered all the strength I could muster and shouted at the top of my lungs.
“W-Wait! I am the Sixth Duke, Hella Ebonia! If you release me and beg for forgiveness now, I’ll generously pardon your wrongdoing!”
As I shouted my identity, the goblin froze in his tracks.
D-Did it work? Y-Yeah! There’s no way they’d…
“Hahaha! Givia, did you hear what this woman just said? She claims she’s a duke!”
Contrary to my expectations, the goblins burst into laughter.
Damn it, of course it didn’t work! I wouldn’t believe it either!
“A duke! A duke, she says! Why would a duke be caught here? If a duke were caught by us, they’d be the dumbest duke ever! Hahaha!”
“Human, if you’re a duke, then I’m the Demon King!”
The goblins laughed loudly and mocked me.
It’s incredibly shameful and humiliating for a duke of the Demon King’s army to be ridiculed by goblins like this, but at least I’ve bought some time to take off the ring. That’s not bad.
Now I just need to remove the ring and give these punks a proper lesson.
But, of course, life never goes as planned.
“By the way, doesn’t this woman’s body look as good as any succubus’? Or maybe even better? I want to ask the chief if I can have a taste of her.”
“She does have a really lewd-looking body. It’s enough to get anyone excited! Maybe when she said duke, she meant she’s a duke in *that* sense?”
Just as I thought I’d bought some time to remove the ring, it seems like I’m facing an even bigger crisis.
The goblins, who had just been mocking me, were now looking at me with lustful eyes. Specifically, they were scanning my body from top to bottom.
Damn it, this can’t be what I think it is, can it?
Chills ran down my spine.
“Givia, let’s go ask the chief together.”
“Cut it out, Gob. I already asked before. We’re not supposed to mess with the clergy. Plus, you got scolded by Gabia last time.”
“You bastards! Untie me! Just try and come closer!”
Stop looking at me like that!
“Givia, this woman is so loud, it’s annoying. For a tied-up female, she sure is acting cocky towards males. She’s irritating. Should we just do it? We can get scolded by the chief later.”
“That’s actually not a bad point. Maybe just once…”
I tried to threaten the goblins with my voice, but they didn’t care. They just licked their lips and kept staring at me.
“You fools! Just wait until I get out of here!”
“Shut up, female human!”
Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it! Even loud threats aren’t working.
With every step they took towards me, I felt like I was seeing flashes of every goblin-related horror story I’d ever heard—mostly about female knights getting caught.
Was this how they felt in those moments?
And their fates… Damn it!
I can’t end up like that!
Imagining the horrific fate of becoming the goblins’ plaything, I pressed down on the ring with all my might.
“It’s… it’s off, damn it!”
At last, I managed to pull the ring off my finger.
As soon as the ring came off, the demonic energy that had been sealed inside me rushed back into my powerless body.
The mana circuits that had been dormant due to the seal reactivated, and demonic energy began flowing through every part of my body once again.
The overflowing power spreading through me, this overwhelming feeling that I can do anything!
Yeah, this is my power.
Ah, this cold yet heavy sensation—it’s been a while.
The long period of humiliation and oppression…
It’s time to return as Hella, the Sixth Duke of the Demon King’s army.
First things first, I need to break these restraints. In haste, I shouted,
“[Sever]!”
As soon as I recited the activation word, the thick iron shackles snapped in half and fell away.
With that, I regained my freedom and stood up on my own two legs.
Ah, this is what freedom feels like!
“What the hell, human! How did you escape?! Get back in your restraints!”
Looking down, I saw two goblins staring at me with confused expressions.
Their short, stubby bodies barely reached my waist. When I had been tied up and looking up at them, they had seemed so tall. But now that I was standing, I had to look down at them.
These tiny bastards actually thought they could do *that* to me?
“Anyway, that doesn’t matter.”
I released a wave of demonic energy from my body.
The energy I released began to press down on the space around us.
“What’s happening! Givia, my body feels strange! I’m trembling all over!”
“Me too!”
“Who the hell are you?!”
The goblins, unable to move under the pressure of my demonic energy, trembled and shouted at me. Their fearful eyes and voices made it clear just how startled they were.
I only released a small amount of energy as a warm-up, but they were already this pitiful. How pathetic.
At the same time, it infuriated me. These worthless creatures had dared to try and use me.
You don’t even deserve to stand.
“Kneel.”
“P-Please forgive us… S-Save us, human.”
Feeling my demonic energy, the goblins finally seemed to grasp the situation and began begging with trembling voices.
“No, that’s something we’ll deal with later. For now, kneel. And if you speak informally again, I’ll rip out your tongues.”
I shot them a sharp look.
“What are you waiting for? Kneel.”
“W-We’re kneeling!”
At my command, the goblins hurriedly dropped to their knees.
Ah, how nice this looks.
Sigh… As much as I’d like to kill them all right now, I need to find Reyna, so I can’t just slaughter them. Damn it.
I spoke to one of the goblins.
“You there.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Lead me to your chief. Right now.”
“T-The chief… You mean the village chief…? Um, the chief…”
The goblin stammered nervously, so I furrowed my brow and snapped at him.
“What are you mumbling about? Do you want a taste of magic?”
“N-No, not at all!”
I summoned flames into my hand, and whether it scared him or not, he quickly scrambled to his feet. He turned to face me, his face pale with fear, his shoulders trembling slightly.
“P-Please follow me!”
I began to follow the trembling goblin as he walked ahead of me.
First, I need to see the chief and check on Reina’s situation. Since Reyna was with me, they must have brought her here as well.
I’m worried. If something like this happened to me, then what if something worse has happened to that young girl…
Please, Reina, let nothing have happened to you.
If Reina has even a scratch on her…
I’ll wipe these bastards off the face of the earth.
I swear it.