Ayla felt a hint of blissful annoyance.
“Saintess Leah is the Saintess of Light, so her interests are the interests of the Church, and vice versa. If there’s missionary value attached, she should agree.”
Celes was deep in thought.
“As for Zero… I don’t know what she wants. Maybe it’s better to ask her directly. As for Vina… I have no idea what she wants.”
How should she tell the girl that she had already thought about these questions and had the answers?
If she said it outright, she was afraid of dampening the girl’s enthusiasm.
But if she didn’t, who knew how long she’d keep fretting.
In the end, Ayla softly spoke:
“It’s fine. Tomorrow, let’s tell them together and ask. For now, let’s get a good night’s sleep.”
Celes was slightly stunned, but she agreed.
She reluctantly let go of Ayla’s hand and climbed off the pink-haired girl’s bed.
“Then, good night?”
“Good night~”
Clang.
The girl left, gently closing the door behind her.
She had to close it—what if someone slipped in otherwise?
After Celes left, Ayla couldn’t suppress her excitement any longer.
She grabbed her little blanket with both hands and rolled around on the bed for a while.
Haha, it worked!
Thinking back to half a year ago, trapped on the top floor of the castle, closing her eyes and drinking the secret potion in agony, she’d always imagined this very scene.
Infiltrate! Gain trust!
Become the core!
Use them for my purpose!
You all kicked me off the Demon King’s throne back then, so now it’s time for you to push me back up.
Push! Push hard!
The excitement lasted until the second half of the night before Ayla finally drifted into a deep sleep.
Zzzz
The next day, it was almost noon when Ayla finally woke up and leisurely walked down to the second floor.
She found the girls all sitting on the sofas in the hall, watching her.
“Little Ai, you’re finally up.”
Vina waved at her.
“Come here quickly. Celes called us all together early this morning, saying there was something important to discuss. But…”
But she didn’t expect you to get up so late.
“I was thinking about some things last night and went to bed late.”
Ayla gave Celes an apologetic look and sat properly at the dining table.
“Let’s talk now.”
“Yeah, what is it? Why did you call us all here?”
Facing her companions’ curious gazes, Celes took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
“Ayla and I, as well as several Demon Race generals from Harbor City, discussed this. They hope Ayla can lead them to retake the Demon Territory and establish a peace alliance.”
At those words, the girls… froze for a moment.
Leah thought she had misheard. She picked up her tea and took a sip.
“What did you just say? I didn’t catch it.”
“No need. You heard it right.”
Vina tapped her fingers on the table.
“She wants Ayla to lead Harbor City’s army to retake the Demon Territory and establish an alliance.”
Celes’s words were already a highly condensed summary, but Vina went straight to the point.
Leah looked at her, then at Ayla, her pretty face filled with disbelief.
“Seriously? Take back the Demon Territory?”
Next, Celes explained what she’d heard yesterday and her thoughts throughout the day.
She didn’t use phrases like, “If it weren’t for us, the people of Lilburg wouldn’t have died,” but instead said that if the plan succeeded, the two races could coexist peacefully.
Actually, without her saying it, the girls could feel it too.
Before the Hero Squad formed and set out, there were small conflicts between the Demon Race and Human Race, but no large-scale wars.
But after the Hero Squad drove away the Demon King, first came the Lilburg crisis, then the Northern Forest crisis.
Although the latter had little to do with the Human Race, these were not the situations the girls wanted.
“Besides, this benefits us—not just peace, but also…”
Celes was about to say more when Vina quickly raised her hand.
“I agree!”
Intervening in the Demon Race’s internal affairs was too fun to refuse.
Zero also raised her hand.
“I think it’s possible.”
She was probably the only one among the four original Hero Squad members who truly understood the essence of this matter, but she had no reason to refuse either.
Anyway, it was for Ayla.
Celes hadn’t expected the persuasion to go so smoothly, and for a moment, her emotions were stirred.
She hadn’t expected the Hero Squad to be so united!
Is this what Teacher Rolls meant by team spirit?
Now, four out of five had voted in favor. Only Leah was left.
Everyone looked at the blonde girl, a strange sense of déjà vu filling their hearts.
Back when Ayla was joining the team, everyone had voted in favor—only the Saintess remained.
“I—I personally support it, of course, and I’ll give it my all, but as a representative of the Church of Light…”
“How about we make it a religious war while we’re at it?”
Ayla had already prepared her answer and smiled.
“I think, deep inside, they all have Light within them.”
The Demon Lord had always been pragmatic—if praying worked, what did it matter whom you believed in?
“Alright, I have no objections either.”
Within the Hero Squad, the vote passed unanimously.
Ayla used this as an excuse to inform the generals and hurriedly left the Inn.
Half an hour later, cheers erupted from a teahouse in the city.
“It worked! It worked!”
“Congratulations, Lady Ayla!”
“North Expedition! Grand Unification of the North is within reach!”
“Kill!”
“Stop!”
Ayla pressed her small hand down.
“Everyone, calm down. We only have a reason to start a war, not a guarantee of victory. Also, don’t go around shouting ‘kill, kill.’ Don’t act so excited about war.”
We’re fighting for peace, so let’s at least look the part!
After pouring cold water on the four generals, she explained the details, especially about the religious war—a powerful and practical banner to rally behind.
“Our disadvantage is the lack of troops, and even fewer hands to manage them. If casualties are too high, we’ll end up capturing cities we can’t control. That’s why the power of the Church of Light is so important!”
That made sense, but after hearing this, the One-Eyed General raised a question.
“Lady Ayla, you once proposed the ‘Dark Family’ theory, urging the clan to embrace their dark identity. Now you want them to turn to the Light—I’m afraid that’s a hard sell.”
The others also seemed thoughtful.
Ayla shook her head.
“That’s not it. Our name is the Demon Race, not the Dark Race. We’re not doomed to live only in darkness.”
As long as the Light is useful, what’s wrong with being a Light Demon?
“Besides, Light and Darkness aren’t entirely opposed. Most of our people aren’t nocturnal—if we live under the sun, how can you say we lack the Bright Gene?”
Ayla opened her cherry lips, and words spilled out—tilling in darkness but serving the Light, shadows beneath the sun, we are the shadow under the sun, and shadows are actually part of the sunlight.