Now that Ryan had defeated the Principality-rank demons.
he decided to heal the demon girl.
Although he used Recovery, he wasn't sure if the skill would work on a demon.
The demon girl slowly opened her eyes.
As she brought her face close, looking with curiosity at the person in front of her.
"Human?"
Her eyes widened in surprise.
She dashed to the side, putting up her guard in front of Ryan.
"I'm not going to hurt you, don't you realize I saved you?"
The blue-haired mage girl hid behind Ryan.
"Be careful..."
"Save me? Why would a human help a demon?"
She took a step forward.
She looked at him with defiant eyes, as if warning him that she was ready to fight.
'Just as I thought, she's not going to listen to me.'
Ryan extended his hand toward her.
"Don't try to fight us, it would be useless. We only want to talk."
"Talk? Right..."
Turning her back to them, she leaped, ready to escape.
'You're not getting away.'
"I order you to stop, come to me, bow down, and revere me as your master..."
The demon girl who had leaped to escape fell flat on her butt on the ground.
"What... what is this I'm feeling, I can't move..."
The girl began to crawl on her knees across the ground.
In Ryan's direction.
"What are you doing to me, you miserable human...?" she said warily.
"Wow, how sadistic, she's actually obeying him!"
'What do you mean sadistic?!'
The demon girl was already under Ryan's control,
looking at him with a mixture of uncertainty and fear.
"What kind of control skill is this? Who are you, really?"
"I told you I only wanted to talk, and you tried to escape."
The demon girl was now on her knees in front of Ryan; she grabbed him by the leg and began to kiss him over the fabric of his pants.
'What is she trying to do? I didn't specify anything sexual.'
Ryan placed his hand on the demon girl's forehead and pushed her away.
She took Ryan's hand; she looked at him with an expression of confusion, her face red from the humiliation.
She tightly gripped Ryan's hand and began to kiss the back of it, then the palm.
Then she ran her tongue over Ryan's fingers and began to lick them intensely.
The mage girl drew closer.
"No, I can't believe you're forcing her to do that... it's no longer clear to me who the demon is here."
"You'd better shut up!"
Ryan turned his gaze back to the demon at the new sensation; she had now taken two of his fingers into her mouth and started sucking on them.
'It's already been a day since I separated from Helen and Mirian. I'll use this demon girl as a compass to get back. I wonder if they're looking for me.'
"Stop... please... leave me alone. I promise I won't try to run away and I'll listen to you."
The demon was on her knees; the debt payment hadn't finished yet, so as she spoke, her voice sounded strange since she still had Ryan's fingers in her mouth.
"Hmm... it's good that you understood quickly. I can do this whenever I want, so you'd better not try anything."
She nodded her head.
[Debt collection applied]
[Debt bonus: +50 Points]
[Debt bonus: +45,000 XP]
'Just in time.'
The girl let go of Ryan's hand. She had already regained her mobility, but she remained motionless, perhaps out of shame. So, Ryan pulled his fingers out of the demon girl's mouth.
He wiped them on his pants.
The girl, still on her knees, directed her gaze toward Ryan.
Then she sat on the ground, with her gaze lowered and her ears red.
"...I know that if you are here, it must be to rescue the kidnapped child, isn't it?"
"Hmm? A child?" Ryan asked.
"It's not that? Then why are you in the Demon King's territory?"
The little mage stepped closer, intervening.
"Tell me what you mean. Did those giant demons kidnap a human? For what purpose?"
"I thought you came for that. Seeing you, just a tiny little girl, I thought this man had saved you. So, are you a party?"
"Haha, right, right, we're a party!"
"A party with this brat? I don't even know her name."
"Hey!"
The demon girl stood up; even so, it was true—despite being together a whole day, Ryan didn't even know the name of that little blue-haired mage.
In fact, right now, the three of them present were complete strangers.
So after speaking, the demon girl asked them to follow her; it would be faster if they saw with their own eyes what she had been talking about before.
As they moved forward, the demon girl introduced herself and told them her name.
Beatrice. A Principality-rank demon who was searching for her missing little brother.
Ryan and the mage girl also introduced themselves.
"Then you're Karol and Ryan... I should have thanked you for saving me, but this is completely unusual. I didn't know how to react, I've never dealt with a human before..."
She paused briefly.
"But you must be quite strong if you're protecting this girl, and you don't look hurt at all."
"I am not a child!"
"Eh? Of course you are," Beatrice replied.
"No, she isn't," Ryan replied, raising his hands in annoyance.
"I don't understand what you mean..."
Karol approached the demon and took her hand.
Almost immediately, her body regained its normal size by absorbing some of the demon girl's mana.
"See?"
"What is this... You are a very unusual party..."
After walking a bit further, they entered a mostly destroyed house, but one that had a basement.
Upon entering, there was a little demon boy and a little human boy.
Both of them at least about 10 years old.
"Sister!" the little demon cried with tears in his eyes and leaped to hug her.
"Don't cry, I told you I would come back."
"Who are these people, Sister?"
Karol stepped forward and went straight to where the human boy was; after checking him over, she noticed he didn't have any injuries.
"Now, will you tell us what's going on?"
"That is my intention, that's why I brought you here. A few days ago... my little brother was kidnapped. I followed the trail I had and ran into a demon from the giant clan... This area is very far from the demon cities, which is why it's practically a ghost town."
Ryan interjected.
"I see, it's easy to hide around here. So they kidnapped this child too?"
"Hold on!"
Karol approached them.
"Those demons are from Demon King Rigal's territory. Why would they be here?"
"That's true. Demon King Rigal and His Majesty, Demon King Rohan, are both in conflict. But this place has a secret tunnel that connects it to Ehres Valley. That passage links it to where the sealed dungeon was."
"Underground?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, that's why back then the demons entered so easily, since they didn't have a barrier like they do now."
"How strange... I've been to that place many times and I haven't seen that tunnel."
"It's only natural, it's underground, it's not that easy to spot. But don't get distracted. The thing is, after interrogating those demons, one of them said that Demon King Rigal had an agreement with a human noble. Unfortunately, he didn't know the name, so I don't know anything more than that."
The demon girl approached the little human.
"I don't know the reason, but that noble wanted to hand this little boy over to Demon King Rigal. Ever since I saved him, he hasn't uttered a single word."
"A noble...? What scum!" Ryan grumbled.
