The two demons look at us, but don’t suddenly attack.
Maybe they’re bewildered, because they’re holding spears pointed at us, and keep a good deal of distance while observing us.
Their skin is dark, and their faces look similar. Are they twins? Actually, it’s easy to distinguish them because one has a horn closer to the right side of the forehead, and the other to the left.
“…Master!”
Hikari’s flustered voice brings me back. At the same time, I see a reaction approaching incredibly faster, much faster than the other two.
Not to mention that the size of the reaction is on a whole other level too.
I look up, and see the owner of said reaction floating in the air, looking down at us.
“I heard there were invaders in the secret passage, but… I remember that pendant. Where did you get that!?”
The bloodlust coming from him almost makes me step back.
Mia and Chris can’t handle it, and crouch.
This is similar to my Intimidate skill, but taken to a whole other level in terms of power.
“We received this from the dragon king. We are traveling to look for someone! And when we told him we walked through every country and haven’t found her, he told us there is a town here!”
I raise my voice, as if fighting against the bloodlust smacking against me.
The man listens… And comes down while his bloodlust subsides.
He looks relaxed, but I feel like there isn’t a single gap in his stance.
This feeling… Is pretty close to how I felt about Ignis.
“I understand. I can’t imagine you could’ve stolen it from him, so it has to be true. So you came to our town to look for someone?”
“Y-yes. My big sister.”
Says Chris as she staggers to her feet.
“There are barely any humans here, you know? Maybe black-headed…”
The demon says while peeking at me and Hikari.
Black-headed humans? Descendants of summoned people?
“…I’m an elf. I’m looking for my missing sister Eris.”
Chris takes off her hood and shows her face, and the man looks surprised. So do the other two standing behind him.
“…I see. I understand now. I’ll take you to our town.”
“Eh, hum…”
“Hn? You want to go there, don’t you?”
The sudden change in attitude is leaving Chris confused.
I didn’t think it’d be that easy either, but maybe he knows of an elf that looks like Chris.
“Does Eris look like Chris?”
“…She does, actually.”
Says Rurika, adding that at least she did at the time.
“But don’t think of doing anything weird. If you do, we won’t show mercy.”
And so, we walk with the two demons that came first in front of us, and the two-horned demon behind.
And for some reason, the two-horned demon is talking to me.
His name is Ghido, and he talks to me like a good-natured, slightly older guy while telling me all sorts of things.
First of all, apparently he heard about me from Ignis.
He says he wasn’t too interested in a rejected otherworlder, but he changed his mind now. He came here just to check, but he’s actually busy, and says he’d like us to face each other later when he has the time.
I can really tell by the way he talks that he likes fighting.
And then he starts complaining about Ignis. About how he’s sly, and he works people too hard, and so on.
“Ah, and I feel kind of bad, but we couldn’t save the people from your hometown.”
He says that they attacked once they left their nest (meaning inside the magic barrier in Elesya), but they were stronger than expected, and it ended in failure.
“Well, part of me knew it wouldn’t work.”
“How come?”
“Too much time had passed since they were summoned. That’s no good. One in particular was totally under their control. Brainwashing. I managed to secure one brat, and he’s fine.”
So it’s not just people like Hikari, they also brainwash people they summoned, to do their bidding?
I can’t really remember the faces of the king and the others anymore, but it sounds like they really are no good.
I guess I’m actually pretty lucky that they let me free like that, even if they were observing me. But on the other hand, I shudder to think of what would have happened to me if Hikari managed to capture me back then.
“That kid is in our town, so you can meet her if you want.”
He’s blunt, but I feel like he might actually be a pretty good guy.
“So what have you been doing all this time?”
He asks, and weirdly enough, I tell him.
Of course, I omit things I can’t say, but I get the feeling that he has a pretty good grasp on my circumstances already.
“Anyway, there will be a big war soon. You and the others need to decide what to do.”
“Are you talking about people attacking?”
“Yes, it’s already started. That’s why we’re busy. But once I heard of a group using the secret passage, I had to see what it was about. If you use this, it takes a lot less time. For people that can’t fly like us, at least.”
We’re walking through a different space, created by another demon. We can get to the town faster this way, compared to just walking normally.
We rest along the way, and it takes us half a day to get there.
“Welcome to the faraway town, visitors!”
Says Ghido with a smile on his face.
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Thanks for the treat.
The demons are certainly different from what in had expected. I hope mc can get to meet up with ignis