"Ah, as long as I can take a hot bath, there's still hope in life."
After sinking her entire body into the hot water, Miss Fíliya immediately showed a look of bliss, completely unaware that she was dancing with the wolf.
"'Hope'?"
Miss Solitär seemed to have taken an interest in that word from Fíliya's sentence.
"Fíliya, what is hope?"
Her tone was still filled with that same curiosity.
Fíliya was a bit unsure how to explain this to Solitär.
After all, how was she supposed to make an inhuman monster understand hope?
But hope itself is just such an existence.
Fíliya had already discovered that a demon like Solitär, who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years, clearly possessed a sliver of emotion compared to lower-class demons.
Even if it was just a disguise at first, just an act, after pretending for so long, these false emotions had finally become a part of them, embedding themselves bit by bit into their bodies over those long ages.
For her, wasn't this hope itself?
So she said.
"Hope is something that neither exists nor doesn't exist. It's a tiny thought, and to humans, it represents a minuscule possibility."
"But its most wonderful aspect is that while it is minuscule, it is not entirely absent. That is why it is called 'hope'."
...Fíliya's words only deepened Solitär's confusion.
So Fíliya continued.
"To put it more bluntly, Solitär, your curiosity about me, your desire to know more about me, to unearth more interesting things from me... your desire to understand me completely—that is a form of hope."
"And for me, remodeling the Demon Race, pushing them to continue evolving, and exploring the possibility of coexistence between humans and demons—that, too, is a form of hope."
Fíliya spoke slowly. As she reached this point, she herself found it both exasperating and amusing.
To think she was actually discussing such a topic with a demon.
Solitär's feelings were even more complex, as Fíliya's mouth was a constant stream of words that greatly intrigued her.
She even had the feeling that her past several hundred years had been lived in vain. She subconsciously thought, why couldn't I have met Fíliya sooner... Oh, no, if it were any sooner, Fíliya wouldn't have been born yet. So, is this time actually 'just right'?
"Humans and the Demon Race coexisting... Fíliya, you sound like the Demon King."
Solitär chuckled lightly.
Huh?
Fíliya immediately gave her a puzzled look.
"What do you mean?"
"Well... because the Demon King thought the same way. For that ideal, he did not hesitate to start a war, exterminating two-thirds of humanity and their nations."
...Fíliya's eyes widened slightly.
Now this was new.
The reason the Demon King started the war was to 'coexist with humanity'? This was new information she had never seen in any records.
So, why would that Demon King think this way? Fíliya tried to think from the perspective of the Demon Race.
And then she realized something terrifying.
This Demon King... don't tell me he has the same train of thought as me.
Did he want to force humanity to evolve by pushing them to the brink? To make them evolve into a new form of life similar to demons?
Combined with the fact that the Demon King was also a biologist... Fíliya felt her guess had become all the more plausible.
She wanted to make the Demon Race evolve in the direction of humanity, while the Demon King wanted to force humanity to evolve in the direction of demons?
Could this be considered 'different paths to the same destination'?
"I see. I think I understand the Demon King's thinking a little."
Fíliya nodded and then looked into Solitär's eyes.
"It's just a pity that his ideal is impossible to achieve."
Fíliya offered her assessment with a light laugh.
"Hm? You're so calm, Fíliya."
Solitär met Fíliya's gaze. She hadn't expected that even the Demon King's ideal could only surprise Fíliya for a brief moment.
"Why do you think the Demon King was wrong, Fíliya?"
Solitär continued to ask.
"The answer is simple."
Fíliya's smile suddenly seemed unfamiliar and strange in Solitär's eyes, and her gaze carried a hint of mockery.
"Because your Demon Race... is simply too 'weak'."
Fíliya slowly voiced her answer.
Solitär stared at Fíliya, somewhat dumbfounded.
In her long life, she had heard countless human assessments of the Demon Race.
Powerful, cruel, terrifying, inhuman... but only Fíliya had given the assessment of 'weak'.
Seeing Solitär's silence, Fíliya immediately understood what she was thinking and added.
"Isn't it an obvious fact? Your Demon King used his terrifying power to force the Demon Race to unite and wage war on humanity. The final result was the Demon King's death and the Demon Race's collapse. In your most glorious and powerful period, you only managed to kill two-thirds of the population."
"That number might seem large, but it's far from the goal of making humanity 'endangered'. After suffering such losses, it took less than a hundred years for the human population to recover to its original level. And it was humans once again who occupied most of the land in this world... What Demon King? That's hilarious. Your Demon Race simply doesn't have the power to wipe out humanity to the point of being endangered."
Fíliya laughed wantonly, as if she had truly found something ridiculous.
"..."
Solitär fell silent. She had to admit, she had never thought about it from this angle before.
"But I've heard the remnants of the Demon King's army are gathering again, you know? Even without the Demon King, the Demon Race can still seize human territory. This Northern Plateau is a good example. Aren't you worried, Fíliya?"
"Worried about what? I'm not worried at all... The reason the Northern Plateau fell is simple. After the Demon King's demise, humanity's greatest existential crisis was over, so they grew complacent. Not only did they lower their guard against the Demon Race, but they also wasted their military strength on pointless internal strife... These brain-dead nations, as soon as an external crisis is resolved, they immediately resort to the foolishness of infighting."
"Solitär, you're the expert on humans among the Demon Race, right? You tell me."
"In this world, throughout the long river of history, who has killed more humans? Your Demon Race, or... humans themselves?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Solitär answered the question.
"Humans."
"Correct."
Fíliya nodded.
"To humans today, the Demon Race isn't even the greatest threat anymore. Therefore, once humanity unites again and launches a counterattack against the Demon Race, the Northern Plateau can be retaken with ease. And it's your Demon Race that will be the one facing extinction."
"You've gotten one thing completely wrong, Solitär. This so-called 'coexistence between humans and demons'—it's not for the benefit of humans at all. It's for the benefit of your Demon Race."
"That's why I want to find a path for coexistence. Only then will the Demon Race have a chance to continue existing. This is all for your own good, you know. Didn't I say that from the beginning?"
"After all, I am a Demon Race enthusiast."
______
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