Something was wrong.

  Very wrong.

  I could feel it the moment I walked through Zone 3.

  The demons weren’t panicking.

  They weren’t crying.

  They weren’t hiding.

  They were whispering.

  That alone was terrifying.

  I stepped into the marketpce... yes, marketpce, because apparently potatoes had single-handedly upgraded Zone 3’s status and every demon I passed suddenly looked away.

  Too fast.

  Too synchronized.

  “Why are they avoiding eye contact...?” I muttered.

  Mira walked beside me, still handcuffed, guards trailing behind. She noticed it too.

  A small demon child waved at Mira. “Miss Human!” the child shouted.

  Mira froze.

  The child ran up and bowed. “Thank you for teaching the potato god!”

  “…Potato god?” Mira echoed.

  I groaned.

  [Announcement: The Demon Lord acquired a New Title, Potato God.]

  “Stop. Please stop,” I whispered.

  The child continued happily, “Mama says humans aren’t scary now! They make food machines!”

  Air fryer.

  It was the air fryer...

  Ever since that incident, where I turned one on, Mira expined how it worked, and demons watched frozen in awe as potatoes became crispy, everything had changed.

  Demons didn’t look at Mira like an enemy anymore. They looked at her like…

  “…A saint,” I muttered.

  Mira shifted awkwardly. “They’re… thanking me.”

  “That’s illegal,” I said. “You’re supposed to be feared.”

  “I don’t want to be feared.”

  “That’s also illegal here.”

  A pair of older demons bowed deeply to her. “Miss Human,” one demon asked nervously, “why do you help us?”

  The market went dead silent.

  I slowed my steps.

  Mira hesitated. “I was forced by your Demon Lord,” she admitted, pointing straight at me.

  I gulped. “W-well… I need to make humans useful for us.”

  She immediately gred at me. “Don’t you lie to me to released me!”

  “Don’t worry,” I said, smiling far too calmly for my own good. “I never lie.”

  That answer somehow made the demons rex.

  “She doesn’t lie,” one whispered.

  Another nodded. “She argues honestly.”

  “Sometimes insults the lord,” a third added.

  “HEY,” I snapped.

  Mira gnced at me. “You deserve it.”

  “That hurts because it’s accurate.” I sighed.

  The demons murmured among themselves.

  “She teaches our Lord.”

  “She eats our food.”

  “She even scolded the Demon Lord.”

  That st one spread very fast.

  [Announcement: Demon Lord Authority, Slightly Undermined.]

  I clenched my fist. “SYSTEM.”

  ---

  We continued walking, and I noticed something worse. Demons were staring at us and murmuring.

  “Why are they looking at us like that?” Mira asked.

  I scanned the area, then I heard it.

  “Is that the human consort?”

  “She taught the lord forbidden human farming techniques!”

  “They argue like bonded mates!”

  Suddenly Mira tripped. Physically tripped.

  I caught her arm instinctively and every demons stared.

  [Announcement: The Demon Lord and Human Physical Contact Detected.]

  “WHY WOULD YOU ANNOUNCE THAT,” I shouted.

  Mira stared at me. “Does it announce everything?”

  “Yes,” I snapped. “Especially my humiliation.”

  The market exploded.

  “PHYSICAL...?!”

  “WITH A HUMAN?!”

  “THE DEMON LORD TOUCHED A HUMAN!”

  “That’s not even romantic,” I said. “That’s clumsy!”

  Then I looked down. Our wrists were still linked. Her handcuffs, my hand apparently still holding onto them because at some point I’d grabbed her to stop her from tripping over a potato crate.

  Mira’s face went completely red. “LET GO!” she snapped, yanking her hand back.

  Too te... The damage was already done. The rumor had already evolved.

  “IS THIS PART OF THE PROPHECY?!”

  “SHE KISSED THE DEMON LORD.”

  “That was ACCIDENT!” I hissed.

  Mira muttered, “You’re the one who leaned in.”

  “That was an interrogation!”

  “That’s not how interrogations work!” She snapped.

  [Announcement: Demon Lord attempting to justify suspicious behavior.]

  “WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!” I shouted at the sky.

  Mira crossed her arms, trying very hard not to look embarrassed. “Your system is broken.”

  “I KNOW,” I snapped. “It only exists to ruin my reputation.”

  Charmie leaned in, whispering far too cheerfully, “So… does this count as hand-holding?”

  “CHARMIE... Please stop fueling the rumors.”

  Sparky marched over, armor cnking. “MY LORD! There are… rumors.”

  “Yes, I KNOW!”

  “They believe the human is your future bride...”

  Mira’s brain visibly shut down. “Bride...?”

  I screamed internally.

  [Announcement: The Demon Lord has emotional breakdown.]

  I pointed at Sparky. “Fix this.”

  Sparky looked conflicted. “But... The demons are… happy.”

  “What?”

  “They trust humans more now,” Sparky admitted. “Because the human stayed. Helped. Didn’t attack.”

  I looked around... It was true.

  Demons worked the soil together with Mira’s instructions. They ughed when potatoes rolled away. They asked questions. They shared food.

  Zone 3 didn’t feel like a wastend anymore.

  It felt… alive.

  Mira watched them quietly. “They’re not monsters,” she whispered.

  I gnced at her.

  “They never were,” I said.

  She clenched her fists. “Then why was I told…”

  She stopped, the words dying in her throat. Biting her lip, she hesitated for a long moment before finally asking in a small, uncertain voice, “Why do you trust me?”

  I said lightly, “I'm not, you’re still handcuffed.”

  She gred. “You promised not to treat me like a prisoner.”

  “I promised not to kill you,” I corrected. “This is trust with safety rails.”

  She almost ughed.

  Then I said slowly, “if someone who hates demons can still help them…”

  I looked at her.

  “Then peace might not be a joke.”

  Her face softened, just a little.

  [Announcement: Romantic Tension Detected between The Demon Lord and Human.]

  “STOP!” I groaned.

  ---

  That night, as I returned to the castle, Shiny cornered me.

  “The vault is buzzing,” she whispered. “They’re betting on when you’ll confess.”

  “Confess WHAT.”

  She smiled. “Everything.”

  I buried my face in my hands.

  Rumors growing faster than potatoes ever could.