Chapter 6

“Then why’d you bring up some nonsense like a spiral hammer monster if you don’t know either!”

That outburst left Sheffy thoroughly exhausted!

But still! Xiarette truly had nothing to say in the face of this situation!

Eight pitch-black wings extended, brushing against the ceiling of the spacious carriage.

Where the wings joined Sheffy’s back, the space seemed to distort like a phantom illusion, as though the wings extended directly from the back of her dress.

The wings, shaped by magical power, weren’t hindered by the fabric—convenient indeed~

The invisible vortex of magic swirling around the wings seemed as deep and boundless as the starry sea, impossible to fathom.

And because Xiarette was a Hero… she could fully perceive the overwhelming pressure brought by the Eight Wings. For a moment, she even forgot the most efficient way to breathe.

If it were an ordinary person facing this up close… they’d probably pass out from instinct alone.

Though Xiarette did feel a touch of suffocation, she quickly recovered without any further adverse effects.

Besides her own strength—

There was another reason, one that Xiarette was very aware of.

“Sheffy… you’re deliberately suppressing your presence, aren’t you.”

“Mhm, well of course. That barrier on your carriage doesn’t seem all that reliable… if this causes a stir, people outside will think I’m making trouble again! Wouldn’t that mean I have to put on another act? Such a hassle. It’s not like I’m a real actress, and nobody’s paying me to perform.”

“Well, you’ve got a point… but you actually said the isolation barrier’s not reliable… Ah, whatever. I guess I’m starting to get used to this.”

“Hah?”

Sheffy, you probably don’t even realize.

The barrier around this carriage that blocks out presences is made with one of the Human Race’s Three Sacred Treasures—the Divine Thread Chain. Even if a dragon unleashed its full breath on the carriage, it wouldn’t shake it in the slightest.

It can block a dragon’s breath—but that doesn’t mean it can completely block the aura of the Eight Wings.

Xiarette nervously swallowed, then closed her eyes and cast all her sensory detection magic, extending it toward the human army behind the carriage.

Thankfully… it seemed Sheffy had suppressed her aura to a very low level, as there was no unusual reaction from the army.

Xiarette stopped sensing, opened her sapphire-blue eyes, placed a hand on her ample chest, and let out a long breath.

“Phew… good, the army’s still marching normally. No signs of unrest. Thanks to you keeping your wits about you, Sheffy… otherwise, this could’ve been a real mess.”

“Of course! I’m super cautious!”

“Cautious people don’t suddenly unfurl their wings! Sheffy, you idiot!”

“Ugh, ow!”

Sheffy inexplicably took a chop to the head, looking pitiful, though it didn’t actually hurt.

After that chop, Sheffy curled her eight black wings around herself, nestling down across the entire row of seats.

Only her silver-haired head peeked out from the seams where her wings connected, eyes sparkling mischievously as she looked at Xiarette across from her.

“Hey, that’s not fair. How can you blame me for spreading my wings? You’re the one who told me to prove my strength, and didn’t I just prove it?”

“Ugh… fine, I apologize. But still, eight wings…? I’ve read the complete history of this world, and there’s no mention of anything like that. Even the first Demon King only had six wings. Wait… hold on. Sheffy, your Demon Clan worships the legendary creator Demon God—Tiel, right? Wasn’t the description of Tiel said to include eight wings?”

“Creator… Demon God? What’s that?”

“That’s your Demon Clan’s deity, duh! Ugh, Sheffy, seriously… haven’t you learned any common sense after all these years in the Demon Clan?”

“Pfft… I was just joking, of course I know that… that, um, Tico-nut!”

“It’s not Tico-nut, it’s Tiel…”

“Same thing! Hahaha!”

“Ah… this is absolutely ridiculous.”

Sheffy started whistling and glanced off to the side, saying no more.

Of course she knew at least a little—just that those childhood lessons back at the castle were so dull… there was no way she could’ve paid full attention!

Xiarette looked up and down at the beautiful eight wings in front of her and tentatively reached out to touch the magical patterns rippling across their surface.

“But the Demon God is just a myth, after all… it’s hard to grasp.”

“Yah…?!”

“Sheffy?”

To tell the truth, that cute little whimper Sheffy let out—like a kitten—sent a tingle down Xiarette’s spine.

She quickly pulled back the left hand that had touched the wing.

Sheffy was now gripping her black wings tightly, curling up even more than before. Her entire face was red as she glared out from between her wings, a tiny hand sticking out with a finger pointed in protest, flashing her small fang as she accused:

“How could you just touch them like that…! You—you—you studied common sense, didn’t you! Don’t you know how sensitive Demon Clan wings are?!”

“Wait… Sheffy, I’ve never heard of that being common knowledge… Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“Nonsense! They’re my wings—how could I not know?!”

Sheffy, stubborn as ever, insisted with increasing passion as she tried to prove she was right.

“Every time I spread them out, whenever they touch walls or doors, they get all tingly and numb!”

“That just doesn’t sound right…”

“How could it not be! That’s why I’m always super careful! But if I accidentally bump them too many times… it gets really uncomfortable.”

“And what kind of ‘uncomfortable’ do you mean? Like…?”

“Ugh, how can you not get what I’m saying?! The kind of uncomfortable that makes me… shut myself in my room back at the Demon King’s Castle and, um, use my hands to… a bit of relief and—wait?! Are you trying to lead me into saying something?!”

“……”

I didn’t mean to lead you…

But just now, Xiarette seemed to have stumbled upon some explosively scandalous information?

She showed a thoughtful smile, and her eyes seemed to say—Sometimes Sheffy’s kind of lewd, huh.

That look completely overwhelmed Sheffy. She snapped herself deep into her wings, muttering under her breath that Xiarette was the absolute worst.

What’s wrong with that… being reborn as a girl, of course she was curious about such things… and if her wings betrayed her like that, what was wrong with helping herself out a little!

We’ve done nothing wrong! We’re free!

Xiarette didn’t plan on embarrassing Sheffy further. She’d already heard more than enough to satisfy her curiosity, but still decided to correct Sheffy’s misunderstanding.

“But… I still have to ask—maybe this is something only you experience, Sheffy?”

“Hah, how could that be possible.”

“Think about it—if that were really the case, life in the Demon Clan would be way too miserable. And if it were true, there would definitely be records about it in books. Since there’s nothing, that means you’re a special case.”

“For real…?” The light in Sheffy’s eyes gradually dimmed. “Only me…? Then does that mean I’m sick…? I’m doomed. This is it, I’m finished!”

“I don’t think it’s that serious…”

Xiarette let out a long sigh. Deep down, a mischievous impulse nudged her to try touching those beautiful wings again.

But in the end, rationality won out, and she managed to hold back.

“Anyway, let’s set that aside for now. Sheffy, besides me, does anyone else know you have Eight Wings?”

“Besides you… oh, and my father and mother. Aside from them, no one else knows.”

“The Demon King and Queen, huh… When they saw the Eight Wings, did they say anything? Do they know something we don’t? Or… how did they react?”

“They threw up.”

“…?”

Sheffy’s gaze turned a little vacant.

As if she was remembering a black history too painful to revisit.

Xiarette froze for a second, initially not understanding what Sheffy meant.

But after a moment, she got it.

Understood.

Sheffy had been suppressing her magical power just now, which was why Xiarette hadn’t been too affected.

And if Sheffy knew to suppress her power…

That meant she had experienced the consequences of not suppressing it before!

Most likely, the Demon King and Queen had been caught head-on in an immense vortex of magical power.

With no warning or defenses, they were overwhelmed and ended up fainting and vomiting.

Xiarette silently offered her gratitude to the unfortunate but unseen royal couple… for teaching Sheffy restraint, and sparing her from disaster.

You have suffered much.

Sheffy, however, only felt sadness about it.

Wuwu, her own parents—after their daughter cheerfully showed off her wings—just vomited right then and there!

That moment had left a deeply traumatic psychological scar on her young heart!

Did no one understand the emotional weight of parents vomiting at their own daughter?!

“But… since the Demon King and Queen know you’re Eight-Winged, can they really believe you’ve been captured?”

“That’s out of my hands. We’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“Fair enough…”

After a brief silence between them, Xiarette finally asked the question that had been on her mind.

“But back on the battlefield earlier, I clearly saw you with six wings. Was I… seeing things?”

“Oh, that? Nope, you saw right.”

Sheffy poked one index finger out from her cocoon of wings and twirled it in front of her.

Her fingertip, pale as a scallion stalk, shimmered with a faint glow like ripples on water.

With it came a change—the wings wrapping around her, in a hazy blur, gradually lost two of them.

And as the glow on her fingertip faded…

The six wings reverted seamlessly back into the full set of eight.

Sheffy let out a worried sigh.

But with her adorable face, even that sigh didn’t feel the least bit weary—it was almost… cute.

“Eh~ Actually, whenever I need to spread my wings, I usually use a visual-type spell to hide two of them. In all my years in the Demon Clan, I’ve never seen another Eight-Wing… I wasn’t born with eight either. It only happened after I learned magic. That’s a long story. But you know how the loudest bird gets shot first, right? I even made Father and Mother swear to keep it a secret. If I didn’t do that, I’d be working overtime for the Demon Clan until I dropped! I was already swamped enough before!”

“You wouldn’t find another Eight-Wing no matter where you looked… Mmh… But I get how you feel, Sheffy. As a Hero, I’m also busy to death every single day.”

“Right?!”

Xiarette could completely understand Sheffy’s reluctance to show too much strength.

After all…

The Demon Clan had grown far too dependent on their princess over the years.

Ever since Sheffy was ten, she’d constantly appeared on the frontlines of battle.

Wherever she was, Demon Clan morale surged, and their forces became unstoppable.

Speaking of which—

Sheffy’s curled-up eight wings slowly spread open again.

Revealing the silver-haired girl seated among them, hugging her knees.

In her amethyst eyes swirled years of confusion and unresolved emotion.

“Xiarette… do you think, in this war between humans and demons, which side is actually right?”

“There’s no righteous side in war.” Xiarette seemed to have anticipated this question. “This conflict started long before we were born. The humans coveted the wealth the demons had stored up. The demons eyed the humans’ vast lands. As for who made the first move… that’s already impossible to trace. And even if we could, it wouldn’t change anything.”

“I see…”

Yes, the answer was clear.

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