Only then did Sheia raise her head.
Paul bit his lip once, seeing empty eyes that seemed to be looking at him but not seeing him, and a distorted smile appeared on his face. A bright voice came out with much effort.
"Come with me."
Be friendly, but don't become attached. Was that it?
Paul sneered as he remembered the unspoken rules that circulated in the slums.
'It's already too late.'
A kid younger than him who he first found in the slums.
At first it was curiosity and interest, but soon it turned into a specific emotion that stuck to a corner of his heart.
Was this what it would feel like to have a younger sibling?
Dangerous. Even before he could define what he was feeling, Paul could instinctively feel it. That's why he kept his distance. Remembering the rule of not giving affection to others, he hovered around her and only occasionally helped her when it seemed dangerous.
Even if that were the case, what use would it be?
Now he know. What was this feeling?
He had already become attached to this child even before they distanced themselves, but now there was no reason to ignore this child.
He extended my hand to Sheia.
"Let's go together, Sheia."
"..."
"Please..."
"..."
There was no answer. Paul met Sheia's eyes and slowly withdrew his hand with a stiff expression.
He lowered his head as if trying to hide his expression. His lips, which he had bitten hard to control his emotions, slowly softened after a few seconds.
"...Okay."
"..."
"You can keep living like that. If you don't go, you'll only lose out."
The voice could not be raised in the end and came out as muttering. After finishing speaking, Paul turns around. He didn't walk as if he was angry like he once did.
Unlike back then, Sheia didn't chase after him and he never came back to help her.
Paul, who was walking slowly until the end, stopped in front of a man. As he was staring at the tip of my shoe with his mouth shut, a friendly voice fell over his head.
"You came alone? Didn't you say you were bringing your younger sister?"
Not being immune to affection, he eventually raised his head.
When he met eyes that were as kind as the voice, tears poured out like a faucet.
"Eeuung..."
"...Oh my."
Clear liquid dripped at his feet. Daniel, startled, quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped Paul's face.
He felt so bad that the child, who was still so young, had already experienced so much in this world and was quietly shedding tears without making a sound, so he couldn't say anything and just wiped away the child's tears before gently hugging the child.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I said something wrong. I made a mistake. I should have asked the question wisely, right?"
"Sob!"
"It's okay, it's okay..."
He slowly patted the back of the child who was shivering as if he was unfamiliar with someone's warmth. The tremors were gradually subsiding, as if it was ineffective.
"Yeah, yeah, it'll be okay."
"...Ugh."
"What if your younger sister doesn't follow you? You can become stronger and protect her, right?"
"...Yes..."
Daniel, who checked Paul's face to see if he had still not calmed down, smiled and took a step back.
It seemed like shame is coming to him later. After checking his bright red face again, he held back his laughter and opened his mouth.
"Then shall we go?"
***
As always, under the dark sky with three moons, Lirinel, Commander of the 11th Corps of the Demon King's Army, was sitting on the castle wall, swinging her legs with a sullen expression.
Unfortunately for the adjutant, her frustration was now at its peak.
That's because no one who she wanted to come was coming, and only other people were coming in droves!
In the first place, entrance to the Demon King's Castle was rare. Unscheduled entry meant that the person was either an intruder or a high-ranking official who was allowed to freely enter the Demon King's Castle.
A representative example of a 'high-ranking position' would be 'Corps Commander', so she rushed out whenever there was a reaction to the barrier erected around the Demon Castle...
'9th Corps Commander Trover and 5th Corps Commander Oel. And Oel's adjutant Dernivan...'
She was still disappointed, but she was even more upset when Trover broke the castle wall with his body and entered without even opening the door, saying he would use magic to get through.
Damn you, that's not magic! He just broke it in with force! She definitely said that if he could break through her barrier with 'magic', give it a try!
'Oel brought something strange from somewhere and tried to talk to me, so I ran away first...'
The conversation with her never ends unless you do so.
'Dernivan doesn't know how to accept that personality.'
Ah, I miss you, Demon... She was just looking up at the night sky while drawing a picture of Demon like that. At some point, Lirinel widened her eyes and jumped up.
There was a reaction to the barrier. The direction was the north gate!
The place where she was now was the western wall, so it was not that far away.
No matter how many times she tried in vain, she couldn't help but feel the glimmer of hope that had come back to life. Lirinel immediately grabbed the broom next to her and jumped down the castle wall.
A strong wind greeted her, and her small body approached the ground at an alarming speed.
Just before colliding with the floor, she got on the broom, quickly turned around and flew up.
'That's right, I was scolded by the Demon King for using magic carelessly.'
Even when greeting Oel and Trover, she flew away with magic and got scolded.
Because the reaction of the barrier was not only known to the caster, but also to the guards. If she waited a little bit, the other person's identity will be reported anyway, so it was a waste.
Magic was breaking the rules of the world. A world that could not tolerate blatant violations of rules sent a hero.
In the end, the more magic you use, the closer you get to the time when a hero is born, but only the Demon King knew how much was left.
The Demon King probably felt that time had shortened a little with this magic.
Lirinel, remembering the cold expression of the Demon King, shrugged her shoulders and then straightened them as if she had never done that before.
'So this time I used a broom as a medium!'
If the person this time was Demon, wouldn't the Demon King to get over it?
While she was thinking about this and that, she arrived at the north gate.
A little further out of the Demon King's Castle from the north gate, Lirinel busily looked around to find the person to whom the barrier had responded.
There was no need to wander around for that long.
In the distance, from the direction of the forest, someone strode towards the castle gate in a straight line.
It was not a black robe, which was someone's symbol, but a common travel robe, but it was not difficult to identify them still.
It was the same for the gatekeepers.
"No way...!"
"Don't panic, just relax! If you make a mistake, we will die today."
There were more than a few people who died because offended a Corps Commander.
Of course, since he was wearing a robe, it was still only an estimate to his identity, but their one and only life was too precious to leave everything to such a flimsy hope.
If the person is really Commander of the 0th Corps, they had no idea how to deal with him, so in the end, there was only one thing they could do.
Let's act wisely!
First of all, follow the rules so that no flaws were found, and if that person showed even the slightest sign of discomfort during the inspection, just let them go.
'But please, if it weren't for the 0th Commander...'
In the meantime, he reached in front of the gatekeepers and pulled back the hood of his robe.
As a result, their simple wishes were cruelly trampled.
White hair was revealed under the moonlight, and blood-red eyes looked directly at them.
They'd never seen it before, but it was familiar
Even in the Demon King's Castle, he only stayed in the inner city, so they had never seen his face in person, but they had heard of his appearance so they could not help but know him.
"Demon Arut."
"Identity confirmed."
0th Corps Commander Demon Arut.
For the demons, the object of respect and fear had returned.
And there was someone screaming in the sky.
"Deeemooooon!!"
***
There was a bit of trouble with the crazy dogs when I left, but I arrived at the Demon King's Castle safely.
As expected, as it was a demon world, the Corps Commanders were constantly hunting monsters, so I hadn't had to encounter numerous monsters... With my fingertips, I gently touched the brand on the side of my neck above my collarbone.
A location tracking spell engraved by the Demon King himself.
In a way, it was natural that the demons avoided it thanks to this magic imbued with the Demon King's energy, so I think it could be seen as a kind of extreme pass.
'Anyway, I think I felt eyes on me before I entered the demon realm...'
It seemed like there was a bit of noise in the back...
'Is it because of my mood?'
I arrived at the Demon King's Castle safely without any major incidents, so it was probably just my mood. It had been a while since I've been to the demon realm, so I guess I was just really nervous.
Now that I thought about it, I was so nervous that I spoke informally to the gatekeepers a little while ago. Fortunately, I moved on without them complaining... but honestly, I was nervous.
However, speaking without shaking my voice was the limit.
The demon realm, which I had barely gotten used to before returning to the Empire, became awkward again. No, I got scared!
'It will probably take some time to get used to it, so don't encounter the Corps Commanders for the time being...'
"Demon!!"
Hey! It's an ambush!
A little girl fell from the sky with a broom.
I was secretly frustrated by the appearance of a familiar face. Why? The only faces I was familiar with in the demon realm were dangerous people.
'No, there's no way there are people in the demon realm who aren't dangerous in the first place.'
11th Corps Commander Lirinel.
Feeling fortunate that she was the least fearful of all the Corps Commanders, I opened my mouth to her as if nothing had happened.
"Long time no see."
"Yes! It's been a while! It's late, but I heard that when you were dispatched to defend the city, you not only did it perfectly, but even completely wiped out the monsters! You're Demon, after all!"
"Ah, yes."
I heard that.
I'll tell you, my memory was gone at that time. I lost my memory after drinking, and when I came to, I found myself vomiting blood.
According to what Ed, the adjutant, and Ben, the doctor, said, I was attacked while trying to fight my way through the monsters and was blown two meters away.
"Oh, that's right! Are you any more injured than that?"
"...?"
"Well... I was worried when I received a signal that the necklace I gave you was broken. I'm glad you're safe."
"Oh, I see... Yes?"
Necklace?
"Ah, ah! Of course, I didn't doubt Demon's skills... I just..."
"No, that's not it..."
Now that I thought about it, the necklace that Lirinel gave me disappeared at some point, right? If you look roughly at the time, it seems to have been before we even went to the Empire... it was probably at the border with the human world, where we went because a new hero had appeared. It looks like it was lost in the chaos there.
But it was broken. Didn't she say that it would definitely save my life at least once? There's no way it could break that easily.
...Anyway, it's better than saying I lost it.
"...It was very useful. Thank you."
"Yes... ahhh, no! I! Hehehe! I'll make it again! If you need anything, please tell me as much as you want!"
What are you scared of? I guess I took a step back without realizing it. Lirinel, who had an expression of "Oops," quickly gathered her emotions, cleared her throat, and changed the topic.
"How was the mission? Oh, this is just asking for your thoughts. Trying to find out what mission you were given..."
"I'm tired."
"Huh?"
I was tired. In particular, the eradication of the Salvation Church was truly terrible.
"They created a fake religion and tried to do something. I met people who blindly believed in that and put it out there."
"...?"
Ah, the demon realm didn't have the concept of religion.
Actually, demons only believe in and follow their father, the Demon King...
It wasn't really a secret that I went to the human realm. It didn't really matter as long as they don't know that I'm on a mission, but it's a hassle to explain.
However, looking at this child's questioning eyes, it's not easy to explain it. In the end, I couldn't help but explain it in an easy to understand way, and she nodded.
"Ah... that's stupid. Rather than trusting in such meaningless things, it would be better to trust in Demon..."
"Yes... yes?!"
"Huh...? Now that I think about it, I guess this is good? Demonism... Demonism..."
"Hey...?"
I think she was muttering something very ominous just now.