“...So hungry.”
Lin Ling lay sprawled across the oversized, soft bed, her face buried in a pillow. Only her messy, white-gold hair remained visible, spread out like a cat melting in the sun.
She raised a hand, weakly grasping at the air.
“Is anyone there... I’d even take a scrap of food...”
Her stomach, showing absolutely no mercy, let out a loud—
“Gurgle—”
“Ugh.”
Lin Ling immediately clutched her stomach and curled into a ball, rolling halfway across the bed in agony.
“This is too miserable...”
“Am I going to become the first Hero in history to die of starvation...?”
She rolled onto her back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The crystal chandelier emitted a soft glow.
The room’s decor was absurdly exquisite; even the bedside cabinet was carved with intricate patterns, clearly costing a fortune.
But the problem was—
There was no food here.
“Is there something wrong with you demons...?”
Lin Ling sat up abruptly, clutching a pillow with a look of grief and indignation.
“Since you’ve already kidnapped me, why aren't room and board included?!”
“This is illegal detention and prisoner abuse!”
She hopped off the bed aggressively, her slippers pitter-pattering as she rushed to the door.
Then, she pounded on it with all her might.
“Open up!”
“I want to file a complaint!”
“If you don't open this door right now, I’ll curse you to always have instant noodles without the seasoning packets!”
Outside the door, it was so quiet she couldn't even hear the wind.
“Dammit...”
Lin Ling leaned her forehead against the door and slowly slid down, eventually crouching by the frame with her knees pulled to her chest.
“They're completely ignoring me...”
Just as she was feeling sorry for herself, her nose twitched slightly.
“Huh?”
There seemed to be a strange scent wafting through the air.
It smelled like damp earth mixed with something scorched.
Lin Ling wrinkled her nose, slowly stood up, and followed the scent to the window.
She reached out and pushed the window open.
“Creeeak—”
A cold wind rushed in instantly.
In the distance lay a vast expanse of pitch-black land.
Quite a few horned demons were busy in the fields; some were bent over tilling the soil, while others carried wooden buckets to water the plants.
But the strange thing was—
Almost all of those crops looked sickly.
The leaves were turning black.
The stems were withered and dry.
Some had even shriveled up just as they were beginning to sprout.
Lin Ling leaned on the windowsill, blinking.
“Is this a farming disaster zone...?”
She could clearly feel that the magic concentration in the air was absurdly high.
Even just breathing felt like inhaling some kind of heavy energy.
If she were an ordinary person, she would probably feel dizzy after staying here for long.
But she was different.
Her MP pool was bottomless; if anything, this environment felt more like being submerged in a mana pool from a game.
Moreover, her perception of magic was exceptionally clear.
“The magic in the air... isn't it a bit too thick?”
She extended her hand.
Faint blue particles of light slowly emerged at her fingertips.
The magic was so dense it was almost visible to the naked eye.
Just then—
“Click.”
The door was finally opened.
Lin Ling immediately turned her head like a small animal spotting prey.
“Food?!”
The horned girl entering the room was startled, taking a half-step back.
“Eek?!”
The wooden basin in her arms nearly fell to the floor.
The girl had small black horns on her head, a slender build, and slightly flushed ear tips. She looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.
She stared blankly at Lin Ling.
And Lin Ling stared intently at her.
To be precise—
She was staring at the wooden basin in her hands.
“Is there anything to eat?”
“N-No!”
The girl instinctively hugged the wooden basin tighter.
The light in Lin Ling's eyes vanished instantly.
Her entire being turned gray and lifeless once more.
“My life is over...”
She swayed, leaning against the wall for support as if she might drop dead at any moment.
The horned girl panicked immediately.
“W-Wait! It’s not that there’s absolutely nothing!”
“It’s just... there wasn't much food left in the kitchen today. Only this one piece of black bread is left.”
Lin Ling paused.
“No food left?”
She blinked.
“Aren't you guys the Demon King's Army?”
“According to the tropes, shouldn't there be a roast meat feast every day?”
The girl lowered her head awkwardly.
“Before... it was okay.”
“But lately, food has been getting scarcer and scarcer.”
She gently set down the wooden basin, her voice growing smaller.
“The nearby land can hardly grow anything anymore.”
Lin Ling was slightly stunned.
She instinctively looked out the window at those blackened fields.
“Why?”
“The magic concentration in the places where demons live is too high.”
“It’s hard for ordinary plants to survive.”
“My teacher used to say this is a curse left behind by the Demon God.”
At this point, her fingers lightly gripped the hem of her skirt.
“Demons who can adapt to high magic concentrations possess bodies stronger than humans.”
“But many children also die when they are young.”
“Many can't handle it...”
The girl's voice grew lower and lower.
“And they never wake up again.”
The room suddenly fell silent.
The wind from the window blew in gently.
It ruffled the fine bangs on the girl's forehead.
Lin Ling remained silent for a while.
Then, she slowly sat down by the window.
“...Then why do you still have conflicts with the humans?”
The girl pursed her lips.
After a few seconds, she spoke softly:
“Because we’ll starve to death.”
“...”
“Initially, everyone just went to the border to exchange some magic ores for food with the residents.”
She looked up toward the distance.
“But then the humans started targeting the magic ores.”
Lin Ling was taken aback.
“After that—”
“I don't know where it started, but claims began to spread that demons are ominous beings.”
“That as long as a demon is discovered, they must be eliminated.”
“Was it because of the magic ores?”
“Yes.”
The girl nodded.
“High concentrations of magic attach to underground ore veins, forming precious magic ores.”
“Human mages themselves have relatively little magic.”
“If they want to cast large-scale spells, they must rely on magic ores. Since there are large amounts of magic ores where demons live, human merchants wanted to trade food for them. But the amount of food they offered was very, very small, so the Demon King and the others refused.”
“Especially now with the First Prince of Camillaya—I heard their old Emperor is about to die.”
At this point, the girl clearly showed an uneasy expression.
“He wants to build an army of high-level mages as a means to seize power. When the Demon King refused to sell them magic ores, they decided to try and snatch them from us. A prince who defeats the demons would also gain the support of the Holy See.”
“Moreover, for some reason, this dense magic only becomes concentrated within our demon territories. Even though the magic on the human side is very thin.”
“That’s why the First Prince has been attacking demon territory.”
Lin Ling rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
She had originally thought this was a classic trope: “The Demon King destroys the world, then humans summon a righteous Hero to punish the Demon King and live happily ever after.”
But now it seemed—
That wasn't quite the case.
The demons were struggling just to survive.
And the humans weren't united either.
Nobles, the Church, royalty, merchants...
All sorts of interests were tangled together.
“Isekai worlds really are a pain...”
Lin Ling clutched her head.
“I hate human political schemes the most...”
The girl couldn't help but let out a small giggle.
“You’re a very strange Hero.”
“What kind of Hero talks like that?”
“Because this kind of thing is the biggest hassle.”
As Lin Ling said this, she gave the girl a faint, knowing smile.
And at that moment, her stomach let out another “Gurgle—”.
The air went silent instantly.
Lin Ling froze.
The girl was also stunned.
A second later.
“Pfft—hahahaha!”
The horned girl doubled over, clutching her stomach as she laughed.
Lin Ling's face flushed bright red.
“What are you laughing at?!”
“This was supposed to be a serious scene!”
“But you were acting so cool just now!”
The girl's shoulders shook with laughter.
“And then your stomach growls the very next second!”
“Shut up!!!”
Overcome with shame, Lin Ling lunged forward to cover the girl's mouth.
But because she had no strength, she ended up nearly tripping herself.
The girl quickly caught her.
The two of them tumbled into a heap.
“Eek!”
“Whoa!”
The wooden basin hit the floor with a “clatter” and rolled away.
The room instantly became a mess.
“Ah, my bread!”
But after that brief commotion—
Lin Ling suddenly froze, staring at the wooden basin on the floor.
She looked down at the blue magic flowing slowly in her palm.
An idea gradually began to take shape.
“Wait...”
“If the plants are dying because they can't handle the high magic concentration...”
She slowly raised her head.
Her eyes lit up bit by bit.
“Then wouldn't it be fine if I just drained a large amount of the magic?”
The girl stared at her blankly.
“Eh?”
“Exactly! We just need to extract the magic from an area!”
“If we think of magic as a large volume of water, we just need to find a container that can hold it to transfer the water, right?”
Lin Ling grew more excited as she spoke.
She scrambled up from the floor and began pacing back and forth in the room.
Her white-gold hair was messy and sticking up from the scuffle, making her look a bit like a ruffled little animal.
The girl watched her.
She suddenly realized—
This Saintess who had been kidnapped.
Seemed completely different from the legends.
She didn't have the lofty sense of justice other Heroes had.
Nor did she have any hatred for demons.
Instead, she was like a strange, warm light.
Lin Ling looked at the girl and tilted her chin up with a proud expression.
“Don't worry.”
“Give me a little time.”
“I might actually be able to solve your food problem. After all, only if everyone in the Demon Realm eats well can I eat well too!”
The girl gazed at her in a daze.
The wind from the window blew through the white-gold hair.
Faint blue light swirled at the girl's fingertips.
If one could ignore the black bread dangling from her mouth.
In that moment—
She suddenly felt.
That this seemingly dim-witted Saintess.
Might actually be able to achieve something.
Rate on N.U.
