Fini the Demon Sword, in the end, you still side with the demons.
Qingshamu thought this to herself, but couldn’t say more; the less she said, the fewer mistakes she’d make—say too much and she’d give herself away.
They only needed to disguise themselves as humans, while she had to disguise herself as a demon for the demons, and as a human for the humans.
So as an undercover, she could only comply and carry out the first plan of the Lost Beast Squad.
The Faceless Witch had already appeared earlier, which proved the importance of this mission.
As long as she could complete the task, she’d be rewarded with a piece of [God-Demon Meat Chunk] when she got back.
When she chose to become an undercover agent, she should have expected such dilemmas to arise—her conscience was the greatest obstacle to completing her mission.
Sacrifice the self to serve the greater good. To achieve something great, she had to give up personal interests.
It seemed that Qingshamu was finally beginning to show a hint of a Hero’s resolve.
“……”
However, every shift in the Hero’s mood was caught by Fini.
That was a good thing—she hated sycophants the most.
Sycophants never achieve anything. Seeing Qingshamu begin to show resistance actually made Fini respect her a little more.
She had always been watching Qingshamu in secret, and not a single change in her emotions could escape Fatty Fini’s gaze.
Because she knew there was no way this nobody Hero could defeat the true protagonist, the Northern Demon King.
Her strength was insufficient, her resolve lacking—she was far from qualified.
No matter how powerful her abilities, her true form was just a frail person.
And the Northern Demon King’s true form was the Red Dragon, whose base stats were the most powerful of all.
Once awakened with Dragon Breath Magic, his skill list was second to none among all strange beings.
What could a little Hero possibly use to fight such an immortal monster?
A one-on-one fight? The Northern Demon King could easily kill her in a single Dragon Breath, even with hands and feet bound. A Hero without teammates was just an empty boast.
Yet, the unlucky part was that for now, she herself had temporarily joined the Hero’s team.
At least on the surface, the three of them were now a temporary family.
There was nothing more miserable than following a leader doomed to fail.
She could forget about strong allies; the Hero’s former comrades were probably still making a fortune inside the kingdom, and would never risk their lives in a place like this.
The undercover Hero wasn’t improving her abilities either, so the only thing to strengthen now was her mentality.
She would have to use some extreme methods to push Qingshamu’s potential to its limits—otherwise, there was no hope of defeating the Northern Demon King.
And once she fell, the next ones to be dealt with would be the two of them, mother and daughter.
It seemed her mission wasn’t just to raise her daughter, but also to polish up Ex-Husband No.2, so she’d have enough skill to face Ex-Husband No.1.
She had to properly toughen up Qingshamu’s mindset.
After all, if the Hero wanted to defeat the Demon King, she’d have to shout about friendship and courage, charge forward without fear, and maybe—just maybe—stand a chance.
Fini was finally starting to act like a transmigrator, scheming against others.
No helping it—she had no strength, so all she could do was rack her brains and come up with little tricks.
—————
But as for executing the plan……
In reality, the Lost Beast Squad was happily camping on top of a little hill.
Everyone just had to hide on high ground and observe the Kingdom Defense Army—there was no need for so many rules.
They simply lit the campfire and got the barbecue going.
It was even more relaxing than the previous extracurricular hunt—this time, it really was a proper camping trip.
The Chaos Mountains were nowhere near as dangerous as the Devil Tree Sea.
This time, it was all about using their brains—they were the strategists, no need for reckless fighting.
A battle of wits—this was Fini’s domain.
She cooked meals and stews for her teammates while pacing back and forth atop the little hill, watching the Kingdom Army in the distance as they set up camp on the plains.
“This is a regular army. There must be a supply camp in the rear, with constant reinforcements and grain carts coming in,” Fini mused, rubbing her chin.
There were strong people among the Kingdom Army, but their main strength was in numbers and coordination.
Their usual targets were those brainless giant magic beasts. Trying to fight the clever, nimble magical beast girls behind her would just be sending their soldiers to their deaths.
So Fini was sure—they weren’t here for her group.
Of course, this was all just stating the obvious; everyone could see the “moving mountain” in the distance.
But what exactly was that moving mountain?
At this distance, it was impossible to make out, but based on Fini’s knowledge of this fantasy game-like world, that thing was definitely a turtle—a super giant magic beast with maxed-out defense.
Fini could even guess the Kingdom Army’s mission objective.
There was surely a human city in the path of the super giant beast, so the army was here to stop it and force it back.
If it broke through the city, the consequences would be unimaginable—devastation would follow.
But with these third-rate soldiers, there was no way they could stop the boss.
In the end, it would be up to the main characters to show up, descend like heavenly soldiers, stun everyone with their skills, and make a grand display.
This was the oldest, most cliché opening to any otherworld story.
Out of ten dime-a-dozen isekai novels, eleven would use this setup—it was practically a standard template now.
Looked like they couldn’t escape that fate. Even if the Creator God came to this world, he’d have to follow the script.
“Fini, do you think we’ll really win their trust?” Shijietang came over with her hands behind her back, putting on an air of forced elegance.
“I have years of experience ambushing and tailing Adventurers. The average human warrior’s eyesight is practically zero. Our disguise is flawless—as long as those Tooth Beast Sisters keep quiet, no one will see through us,” Fini analyzed, unusually serious.
“I’ll make sure to keep them in line,” Shijietang replied with satisfaction. “It’s a good thing we have a teammate with experience dealing with Adventurers, or we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.”
Qingshamu sat by the campfire, watching the two of them chat so happily, and felt uneasy.
To make it worse, she was secretly listening to them discuss how to deal with the humans, making her feelings even more complicated.
Meanwhile, Xueyuedai sat quietly by the fire, obediently eating the meal Fini had prepared.
Her eyes kept glancing at Fini’s back, staying silent and calm—who knew what she was thinking?
She used to be the team’s strategist, but now Fini had taken her position. Yet she wasn’t angry at all—what was happening to her?
As for the cheerful Golden Fang Beast Sisters, they had no such worries.
“Spar with me.”
“Bring it on.”
“Transfer student! I’ve been dying to beat you up!”
They were already sparring with the melancholic White Feather Dove nearby.
Swords flashed, fists and feet flew—there was no time for romance. They seized every moment to train and grow stronger.
Soon enough, White Feather Dove and the Golden Fang Beast Sisters were brawling together, their pure friendship growing with every blow.