The Punishment of A Demon General

When I finally manage to wake up, I'm met with something soft yet hard. Glancing up, I can see a sleeping Fluffy whose lap my head is in. I guess that identifies both soft and hard parts, yep!

There's a hustle and bustle outside of the vehicle from the sound of it, causing me to lean up and take a peek. I find that everyone seems to be unloading gear from the back, well everyone besides us. Perks of being prisoner, I get to be lazy!

"Hey, Ilvia, come help us, you're the muscle here." ... I spoke too soon apparently, I shouldn't have let them notice me. I decide to just bury my head back into Fluffy's lap, trying to ignore them.

I can hear the door above my head open before I feel my hair get awkwardly stroked by someone. I look up and find the Heroine being weird again.

"Please?" What the hell is this 'good guard, bad guard' attitude? Why has she been treating me so nicely now after all that?! Is this some kind of trick?

+'Good guard, bad guard', pfff... Where did you even read that in?+

(... Blame the other heroes for writing dumb stuff.)

+Will do. Thank you, my predecessors, for making Ilvia so darn cute.+

Ugh, whatever. It's not like it's hard to help, just annoying. This lap is boring anyway.

Well, I do have a couple ways to make it not boring, but, yenno.

I climb out of the truck listlessly, making sure the Heroine knows I'm grumpy for being used as a porter.

I take a deep breath, relaxing slightly with that. The demon territories have a distinct scent, and it's really nice to be able to smell it again.

+How does it smell to you anyway?+

(... Uh, it's kind of hard to describe, there's really nothing else like it.)

+C'mooon, gimme your best shot!+

(It smells like home.)

+Mm?+

(You know, that unique smell you can't really get anywhere else except for where you live. It's kind of like that.)

+I think I kind of get it...? Maybe? Doesn't really describe it though.+

(I gave it my best shot.)

I head over to the back of the truck, haphazardly picking everything up like I'm doing a one-trip grocery run. I set everything on the ground in one smooth motion, it's not particularly fully 'unpacking' it but at least they won't have to try and faff about on the truck.

"Ilviaaaa... Can you also carry most of the stuff too?" I can't help but stare at the Heroine in annoyance, what am I, your pack mule?

"You're the strongest one of us physically, so it'd be easier if you at least carried all the heavy stuff." Heroine, I really don't care if it'd be easier for you, there's no rea-

"We'd also get there faster, so." Julia chimes in, causing me to furrow my brow in frustration. Ugh, fine. Since I'm going to be carrying a bunch of junk anyway, I may as well.

"Fine, give me Fluffy's stuff too, she needs more time to recover." I'm not letting the fragile Fluffy go down because these people made her carry stuff.

"I mean, we were gonna all share the load on her stuff because of that anyway, but thanks for offering! Better for us at least," Julia says. Why do I even bother with these people? I grumble in frustration, kicking the dirt as I do.

"Fine, but I'm not helping do any of your dumb packing anymore if I'm gonna be carrying so much." They'll probably do their 'but help us we're so helpless' shtick again, but whatever, I have to at least put up a token effort for my pride!

"Okay, we'll pack up all your stuff for you, too." ...Huh? I glance at the Heroine with a suspicious look, wondering what she's up to, but she's already gone back to work with the other two.

What is going on with these three? Did I accidentally charm them in my sleep? I don't think so, but that would be impressive.

I choose not to think about it, I'm just gonna wander around and stretch my legs because I've not really been given the chance to do so in a while.

I kick off my shoes and walk around in the plains we parked in barefooted. Normally it'd be a terrible idea to do all this work unpacking in such a vulnerable area, but I guess for the Heroine it'd be pretty smart.

The moment she sees an enemy they're fucked, so if enemies can be seen before they attack, we have the advantage.

... Hm. "Make sure to pack things so it doesn't make my wings uncomfortable!" I shout back towards the three with crossed arms, the Heroine just shoots me a thumbs up in return.

I stretch out my wings and tail comfortably, doing some leg stretches as well to top it all off, the stretching and scent of home making me incredibly relaxed.

I decide to just flop into the grass and chill for now, enjoying the breeze and sunlight on my icy skin.

Maybe I'll go back to that plan where I just imprison the Heroine instead, that way Julia can enjoy time with her. Killa, I dunno, I guess I'll keep her and train her to be a good girl.

My ears perk up slightly as I hear faint movements in the grass nearby, leading me to peek over with one eye open, spotting the Heroine having a seat close by. What? Are you taking a break already?

"What d'you want?" I squint my eyes at her in suspicion as she fiddles around in the grass.

"Well, since you're already cozy here, I figured I'd start setting up camp here." Setting up camp? We just got here, though, why are you setting up camp? Wait, right, humans have trouble seeing in the dark, and it's almost dusk. Ughhh.

"Can't we just get moving already? I'll just keep an eye out for you." My words make the Heroine stare at me for several moments.

"And you won't get distracted or lead us in the wrong direction?" Of course I wouldn't! I can already see it would be fruitless to try and convince her though, so I just give up.

I sit up and examine what she's doing out of curiosity, finding out that she seems to be slowly cutting down some of the knee-height grass with a sickle.

I don't know why, but I feel a bit annoyed at her casual pace, it's just so slow. How are we gonna get anything done if you take so long to do something so simple?!

I brush myself off as I stand, snatching the sickle suddenly from her hand with my tail, eliciting a startled gasp from her as she's caught off guard.

"You're slow, shoo." I say as my tail adjusts a bit better around the handle, waiting for her to get out of my way.

"Uhm, okay?" She seems a bit confused, but just shrugs it off and steps back after standing up. You were doing it wrong in the first place! I can't believe a hero wouldn't know how to do a spin attack.

I begin spinning around rapidly, cutting grass in a whirling dervish, and thanks to my physical expertise, I actually manage to do so instead of failing in an embarrassing mess like the Heroine!

After a bunch of quick spins and a lot of movement of my tail, I turn to the heroine with a smug look and she just stares at me briefly before clapping. "Wow, nice!" ... Why do I feel like she's not complimenting me, but the fact she got out of having to cut the grass...?

Hmph, whatever. I toss the sickle to her with my tail, not really minding the sharp nature of it. The Heroine definitely seems to mind though, having to stop it with her magic while yelping.

"Hey! That was dangerous!" I ignore the complaint and flop back into the cut grass, the scent masking the previously cozy demonic air from beyond the border.

Heroine, you ruined my peace! I can't help but whine in annoyance as she briefly leaves, only to come back with a couple tents in hand.

Trying to ignore her, I just close my eyes, rolling over onto my side to keep the sun from beaming through my eyelids.

"Hey, Ilvia." What now?! I roll over to look at her, making it evident I'm not happy with her interruption.

"Our sex tonight will be in tents." I stare at her blankly for several moments while she snickers to herself, laughing at her own joke. ... Is she hitting on me? Are we seriously gonna be having sex in one of these dingy tents?!

+I forgot about that joke, it's still great. As usual though, Ilvia gets the wrong idea...+

(As usual for you maybe!)

+Uh... You tried to make a comeback, at least.+

(Hmph.)

How am I supposed to fuck her silly if she just uses gravity magic to stop me whenever she's approaching her limit?

"Boo, not even a pity laugh?" I'm the one who should be pitied here, I'm stuck with a bunch of weird humans!

I spend the next couple hours pouting in the corner of the clearing I made while everything is set up, dusk passes and falls into night swiftly, leaving a slight cozy haze of miasma floating in from the demon lands.

The scent of miasma mixes with the scent of fire and food from the fire pit made in the center of the circle, causing me to roll closer to it in temptation for food. I really should have been a gluttony demon, that would be delightful...

I boredly poke at the coals in the fire while ignoring the others surrounding the campfire, Fluffy having woken up in the meantime.

"Will you be alright, Lisle?" The Heroine finally seems to realize I'm ignoring her and moves onto chatting.

"Yeah, if the air just stays at 'stuffy' and not 'suffocating', I should be fine." Fluffy replies, drawing a curious glance from me. What's wrong with her that the air feels stuffy?

"Are you weak to air, too? Just how many things are you weak to?" I tilt my head slightly while asking, wondering how she's managed to survive up to this point.

"She's not weak to the air, idiot, she's weak to your gross demon air. People with weakened immune systems, either naturally or through injury, will be weak to it." Killa retorts, causing me to furrow my brow. I'm not annoyed at Killa, no, I'm just wondering how the hell humans have managed to last this long if they're weak to this stuff.

Also, it's comfy, why the heck are they like 'oh stuffy', all of you are just dumb demon haters! "You all just have bad taste, the miasma is cozy." I grumble while continuing to poke at the coals, drawing a couple of strange looks from everyone around the fire.

"So you're fine in this stuff?" Fluffy asks. I guess I'll respond to you cus you're cute, but the other demon haters can just go to hell!

"... Duh, why wouldn't I be? It's far more relaxing than not having it around like in your stinky house." My last words shot pointed barbs at the Heroine, though I'm not really sure if you can call insulting someones house much of an insult.

"Well, I have another job for you, then!" Heroine says enthusiastically, oh God not again, why do you keep making up more jobs for me?!

"If we encounter any enemies, do you mind taking the fore and protect us? I'm mostly fine, but if the others get injured the odds of it getting infected increases, and it's just... Generally a mess." So you're asking me to be your meat shield. You really think I'd agree to that?!

"We'll get there faster if we're not having to constantly be cautious about every little possible injury." Julia chimes in again, baiting me once more.

I can't help but glare at the four of them, why did I get stuck with a bunch of weaklings who need me to do everything?

Author's Note:

Thank you for 300 readers/200 reading!