The lord calmly returned to his chair, where he had been seated earlier. The man holding a sword fidgeted uncertainly, unsure of what to do, while the bespectacled man moved behind the lord, seemingly steeling his resolve.

"To think the Demon Lord himself would come here in person. The blue-skinned one behind you must be a demon as well. There are guards in this city, yet no commotion has been raised. Should I assume you entered peacefully?"

Lugaro had already dispelled his disguise as a human. Of course, the method by which we infiltrated—entering the city in disguise and teleporting to this mansion—would remain a secret.

"I cannot disclose how, but yes, we avoided detection. I’ll also reimburse the cost of the roof repair later."

"...…"

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No, my apologies. As a Demon Lord, I expected you to regard humans as nothing more than insects. It seems I was mistaken."

Well, I’m human myself, so it’s only natural that I don’t see humans as insignificant.

"In the world I was summoned from, humans and demons coexisted peacefully. I hope to achieve the same here, to the extent possible."

"Fascinating. Coexistence between humans and demons? At any rate, I appreciate you refraining from harming the citizens of this city. I am Sandor, the lord of this town."

This lord seemed rather unconventional. A typical human wouldn’t express gratitude over such matters.

"It seems you are also an unusual human,Lord Sandor. Now, the reason we’ve come here is to negotiate an exchange: the demons held in this city for the human prisoners we’ve taken."

"An exchange of prisoners?"

"Yes. I’ve confirmed the presence of seven demons in this city. I propose an even trade for seven humans."

"...…"

Sandor fell silent, contemplating my words.

"While the numbers are equal, the combat strength of humans and demons differs. What if I demanded double—fourteen humans in exchange for the seven demons?"

"...Interesting."

He wasn’t wrong. During wartime, it wasn’t just about individual lives but their value in terms of military strength. From that perspective, it wasn’t unreasonable.

In fact, doubling the number might work better. According to the information I gathered yesterday, the demon side has a considerable number of human prisoners—so many that the temporary accommodations were overflowing, and the rest had to remain in their original settlements.

Even if the numbers doubled, it wouldn’t be an issue. But Lugaro, please stop radiating bloodlust toward the lord—it’s unnecessary.

"Very well. But I will add one condition of my own."

"And that is?"

"You’ll cover the cost of repairing the roof of this mansion."

"...…"

Did that fall flat? I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit…

"Ha-ha-ha! My apologies for laughing! Honestly, I wasn’t sure if the Demon Lord truly intended to negotiate. But it seems you’re serious about sitting at the table instead of using your power to threaten us."

Sandor burst out laughing. For the record, I was entirely serious from the start. Is it really so strange for demons to negotiate?

"I said from the beginning that I came to negotiate. Of course, if the demands were excessively unreasonable, I would’ve used my full power to protect my people."

"I see. I think I’m beginning to understand you, Demon Lord. Very well, I accept your terms with pleasure."

"Then the negotiation is concluded. Meet me at the city gates in one hour. This paper contains the locations of the demons in this city. If any are missing, I will retrieve them by force—be prepared for that."

"How you managed to gather such detailed information on this city is beyond me… but with such a warning, we’ll prepare as best we can."

"I look forward to it. Let’s go, Lugaro."

"Yes, sir!"

Using wind magic, we ascended through the hole in the ceiling, and then I teleported us away.

"To think that the new Demon Lord we were just reporting on has appeared in this city…"

"Unbelievable. The same Demon Lord who rampaged across the battlefield yesterday… but it seems he genuinely intends to stop the war between humans and demons. It’s hard to believe the reports that he hasn’t killed anyone during his efforts to end the conflict."

"What should we do, Lord Sandor? Should we assemble the knights and request aid from the kingdom?"

"No, unnecessary actions will only make things worse. Instead, gather the demons listed on this paper immediately. Buy back those enslaved at triple the market price, no questions asked. If they’re being held illegally, seize them by force. Work quickly."

"Understood!"

"Still… this Demon Lord might be even more dangerous than the last. At the very least, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my people."