( The Throne Room of the Demon King )
As Eren approached the throne alongside Count Vaugn, he felt his legs beginning to tremble. The overwhelming pressure exuded by the Demon King triggered his body's natural fight-or-flight reflex. However, being unable to either fight or flee, Eren's body could do nothing but tremble from head to toe in the presence of the Demon King.
*Thud*
After they reached a certain distance from the throne, Count Vaugn suddenly dropped to one knee, pulling Eren down with him as he extended his greetings to the Demon King with his head bowed.
"Demon Count Vaugn extends his greetings to His Majesty, Demon King Anos," Vaugn said, as the Demon King smiled at his greeting.
"I accept your greetings, Vaugn," Anos replied as only after his acceptance did the Demon Count rise back to his feet.
"I have come today alongside the talking human, Eren, just as my king willed me to," Count Vaugn said, pushing Eren forward as he presented the trembling human to the Demon King.
"Ah, yes, the talking human... how interesting," Anos remarked, shifting his gaze toward Eren, who flinched under the intensity of the Demon King's stare.
"Greetings, Your Majesty. It is an honor to be in your presence today," Eren spoke in the demon tongue, prompting an audible gasp to permeate throughout the throne room.
Many of the Great Demon Generals present within the room had dismissed the legend of the talking human. However, witnessing it firsthand, they were both shocked and intrigued at this unique phenomenon.
"Hoo—, you speak our tongue better than I anticipated.
Tell me, Eren, how is it that you, a mere mortal who was not born in our lands, can speak the Demon Tongue so fluently?" The Demon King asked, his voice a low growl, as he seemed slightly disgusted by the fact that a human could speak Demon Tongue that the demon's believed sacred.
Trembling, Eren replied "I was granted this ability by a higher power, your majesty….. I do not know why, and I do not know how, however, I just woke up one day knowing how to speak Demon Tongue"
Eren gave Anos the same reply he had given Count Vaugn before him, which was a very vague answer on how he learnt the Demon Tongue.
"Hmm… interesting" the Demon King mused as he rubbed his chin and contemplated the deeper meaning behind Eren's words.
"Nonetheless, human, you have made great contributions to the Demon Society by translating the human maps for us.
Because of your contributions, we have been able to open a new war-front against the humans through the treacherous desert that was once believed impossible to traverse.
And for your contributions, I have decided to promote you to the post of a Honorary Demon Squad Leader…" Anos said, as the rest of the Demon Generals present in the room nodded and extended murmurs of agreement at this decision.
"It has been an honor for me to serve the Great Demon King" Eren replied as he bowed humbly at the complement.
"I want you, human, to continue serving us to the best of your abilities.
And since us Demons are a fair race, I am willing to give you rewards proportional to your contributions," Anos said, as his words caused many within the room to feel surprised by his generosity.
The Demon King was usually known to be extremely cold and ruthless, hence him being gracious for once caused many to raise an eyebrow.
"Sorry to interject here, My King, however, this human is a slave.
It's his job to contribute to our cause, and there is no need for compensation.
Him not being forced into manual labor and not being forced to starve is already the greatest mercy we can offer him and there is no need for more" Count Vaugn said, as his words caused the rest of the Demon Generals in the room to cheer in support.
For the barbaric demons, 'respect' was a concept only reserved for fighters, while every non-combatant was automatically considered to be a second rate citizen.
However, for Eren who was not even a citizen, the discrimination was much worse, as the entire batch of demons present within the throne room except the Demon King seemed to strongly agree with the words of Count Vaugn, which made Eren frown big-time.
If there was one thing he hated about the demons, it was their attitude towards him, and this was precisely an instance of them showing their worst side.
"Silence–" Demon King Anos instructed, as almost immediately the entire hall fell silent.
"What reward do you seek for your services human?
Can you help us obtain the technology of the humans of how they make their massive siege weapons and durable walls?
Because if you can, I'm ready to give you any reward that you seek–" Demon King Anos said, as his words came off as oddly smart to Eren, who respected the Demon King's forward thinking.
"If I can get my hands on the blueprints, I can indeed translate them for the demons to understand.
I'm not a blacksmith myself, so I do not know the secrets of how to make those weapons.
However, should the demons take in a master blacksmith as a prisoner from the human camp, I can work with them to create the siege weapons of the human kind.
And not only that, if the Demon King deploys me to the Front Lines, I can recognise key hostages from the enemy side, help foil enemy strategies and help the demons win many battles.
I seek vengeance on the Empire myself, so I am fully dedicated to the cause, however, I do have a small request in return" Eren said, as his bold promises made the entire room hold their tongue for the moment.
"What is it?" The demon king encouraged, as he granted Eren the permission to speak his request.
"I want freedom, My Lord, I don't want the tag of a 'Slave' " Eren requested, as almost immediately the entire room burst into laughter at his foolish demand.