Upon entering Solitär's home, Fíliya instantly understood why she carried such a strong stench of death.
Because what greeted her eyes were all sorts of bones and remains.
There were bones from animals, from monsters, and of course, from humans.
These bones were all very well-managed, without a single crack or sign of damage, and they had all been assembled into complete forms.
Fíliya's gaze shifted to the other side. Accompanying the piles of stark white bones were, naturally, various taxidermied specimens. They had all been completely hollowed out from the inside, then filled with some unknown material to stretch their hides back to their original shapes.
This endless display of corpses and skeletal specimens was arranged like a collection of medals on the first floor of this abandoned shipyard.
Yes, looking at this scene, Fíliya felt nothing but excitement. That's right, she felt no fear.
She just felt that this demon named Solitär was becoming more and more like her.
If she could, she too would want to build such a structure, and neatly arrange specimens of the Demon Race within it, so that she could properly study their anatomy.
Unfortunately, the Demon Race doesn't leave behind corpses, so she had never been able to realize her wish.
"It must take a lot of time to make these, right? As far as I know, there shouldn't be any magic that can create such things."
Fíliya asked Solitär with an admiring expression.
"Yes, I didn't use magic. I completed all of these slowly. Fíliya said it herself, time is the one thing we of the Demon Race have in abundance."
Solitär chuckled softly, then pointed a finger at the two largest skeletal specimens hanging from the ceiling.
"Look, Fíliya, that's the animal we just encountered by the sea, and next to it is another type of fish."
Solitär proudly introduced her creations.
Fíliya, on the other hand, carefully observed the skeletons of the two behemoths and then spoke calmly.
"They are an Orca and a Great White Shark."
Fíliya's words were like a bomb, turning Solitär's already excited mood into a fervent frenzy.
She was seen dashing back to Fíliya's side.
"Eh?? Fíliya, you actually know what these animals are?"
"It's nothing. This world is vast. If there are humans who love the Demon Race and demons who love humans, then naturally there will be humans who love animals. In fact, humans have always had disciplines for studying animals. No matter how the world changes, humanity's endless curiosity will always drive them toward the unknown."
Fíliya spoke with a straight face, but upon hearing her words, Solitär let out a melodious laugh.
"Hm? Fíliya, your choice of words seems a bit strange. 'Humans,' 'them'... It's as if you're saying you aren't human yourself."
Huh?
Prompted by Solitär, Fíliya herself realized that her choice of words just now had indeed been strange.
Why, when talking about humans, would she subconsciously use a pronoun like "them"?
Puzzled by this question, Fíliya's expression became somewhat dazed for a moment.
Fortunately, Solitär didn't press further on the topic, instead turning back to look at the two skeletons.
"I never thought that besides the Demon King, humans also conduct such deep research into living creatures. Thank you for telling me this, Fíliya."
Solitär always wore a smile that felt like a gentle spring breeze, making Fíliya marvel at the mysteries of demon evolution.
Even knowing full well that a monster stood before her, she would still subconsciously evaluate Solitär with the word 'beautiful'.
At the same time, Solitär's words also piqued Fíliya's curiosity.
The Demon King? Researches living creatures?
This was an incredibly interesting and novel topic.
"Fíliya, do you think these two big fellows are of the same kind?"
Solitär posed the question to Fíliya.
Several hundred years ago, Solitär had a brief encounter with Macht, the leader of the Demon King's Seven Sages of Destruction.
The current situation was almost identical to that time.
That strongest of the Seven Sages of Destruction, Macht, was completely unable to perceive any difference between the two creatures before him, and naturally called the orca a 'big fish'. What kind of answer would Fíliya give?
Solitär clasped her hands behind her back. She had now walked up the steps and was looking at Fíliya with an expectant gaze.
"Of course not. Although both the Orca and the Great White Shark live in the sea, and have certain similarities in both appearance and internal structure, they are not of the same kind."
Fíliya's answer clearly made Solitär very happy.
She was seen leaping down from the three-to-four-meter-high platform in an instant, and upon landing, she didn't kick up even a speck of dust, as if a feather had fallen to the ground.
"You're right, Fíliya... The Demon King told me that orcas are mammals, while great white sharks are fish. The Demon King also taught me a term called 'convergent evolution,' which refers to this exact situation... Completely different species evolving many similar structures. It's just so fascinating... Fíliya, don't you think it's just like humans and the Demon Race?"
Oh? So the Demon King understands convergent evolution... Does that mean the Demon King is a biologist?
Fíliya's interest was also piqued. As a researcher, how could she not be invested in this topic?
So she said.
"Yes, humans and the Demon Race certainly have many similarities, but beneath this similar exterior, they possess completely different cores."
"First, language. For humans, the purpose of language is for communication and cooperation, emotional exchange, and passing down wisdom. For the Demon Race, language is merely a tool for predation."
"Next, social structure. For humans, forming an organization requires four elements: intellect, authority, wealth, and force. A human who can achieve success in any one of these is capable of attracting followers. But the Demon Race is different. An organization of the Demon Race is formed purely based on the strength of their mana. The weaker party unconditionally obeys the stronger. In other words, there is only one element: force."
"Looking at it from these aspects, the only thing that has truly converged between the Demon Race and humans is likely just their appearance."
As Fíliya spoke, she kept a constant watch on Solitär's movements.
Solitär was seen falling into a brief moment of thought, then she gave Fíliya an apologetic look and suddenly vanished from the hall.
Fíliya was instantly on alert, but fortunately, in the next moment, Solitär reappeared before her, this time holding a pen and paper.
"Fíliya, could you say that again? I want to write your words down."
Solitär said with an innocent look.
This behavior immediately drew a resigned smile from Miss Fíliya.
This one... really is something else.
The other me in this world.
______
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