episode_0123

Mirabel’s condition, after receiving the blood of the demon from Aruru, noticeably stabilized.

The flow of blood in her body stopped, and her breathing became much calmer.

However, she still hadn’t opened her eyes.

We couldn’t afford to delay any longer, so we immediately got on the carriage heading towards Kube.

The carriage was quite spacious, allowing us to lay Mirabel inside and monitor her condition.

Aruru was gently stroking Mirabel’s head, with a knee pillow under her head.

She placed Mirabel’s head on her lap, supporting it with her fluffy tail.

The carriage passed through four checkpoints and was scheduled to arrive at Kube.

There was no option to stop at other cities.

Especially for adventurers or wizards who could sense magic, even if they disguised themselves well, they would still be recognized as demons.

My acquaintances, including Algot, had reduced animosity towards demons due to various experiences and had fewer prejudices.

But for people from other kingdoms, encountering a demon still meant sheer terror.

If exposed, things wouldn’t just pass by as normal.

That’s why Algot had planned the carriage route to avoid meeting anyone who could recognize demons.

However, it was still too early to feel at ease.

Even if the chance of meeting someone who could sense magic was minimal, it wasn’t zero.

Even if the odds were low, if the stakes were too high, people wouldn’t easily take risks.

Taking demons out in the open was such a risk.

The carriage was designed to prevent anyone from seeing outside.

From the outside, it looked more like a cargo carriage than one carrying people.

The man driving the carriage was an older gentleman named Ed, whom Algot had known since his adventurer days.

“Ugh… Ugh….”

Mirabel was groaning as if she were having a nightmare.

Aruru lovingly stroked her face in response.

Although demons recovered faster than humans when they became demons, Mirabel’s injuries were severe, so she wasn’t waking up easily.

“There’s something worrying me.”

Aruru, while taking care of Mirabel, suddenly spoke to me.

“What is it?”

“How Mirabel will react when she wakes up and realizes she’s become a demon.”

“Hmm.”

“When we all first realized we had become demons, accepting it was extremely difficult.”

Aruru’s face wrinkled slightly as if recalling painful memories from the past.

Indeed, none of the demons here had willingly chosen to become demons.

Moreover, Aruru had also suffered severe injuries like Mirabel.

Someone had shared their demon blood with Aruru back then, helping her recover and become a demon.

Aruru probably had the memory of being willing to share her blood with Mirabel because of that incident.

“When you first become a demon, it feels like your body isn’t entirely yours. It’s like you’re inside someone else’s body. And since you become a public enemy that can’t reveal your true form in the kingdom, you have no choice but to live as a fugitive.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“To be honest, I was ready to give up. If I couldn’t live normally anyway, I thought I might as well hide in the deep mountains like a real monster, surviving by robbing whoever I needed. If the extermination squad came and killed me, there was nothing I could do about it.”

I recalled the first time I met Aruru.

Her full of distrust and wariness towards humans made her seem like a wild animal.

“Then you came and sent me to the demon protection shelter. That’s where I met Mirabel. Mirabel gave me new clothes, cooked for me, introduced me to other demon friends who were similar to me, and reassured me that even if I became a demon, my nature wouldn’t change.”

“Mirabel must have been very kind to you.”

“Yeah, thanks to her, I even met my younger sibling. The people at the shelter, including me, gained the strength to live on. Being a demon is not a sin. Demons are not monsters. Honestly, I don’t understand why people want to kill demons so badly.”

As someone who mostly knew the truth of this world through the goddess Stellania, I empathized with Aruru’s words.

The reason this kingdom showed fanatical hostility towards demons was one.

The existence of the Demon King.

If demons were not a race connected to the Demon King, their perception would not be like this.

Even demon races with grotesque appearances like lizardmen lived ordinary lives, taking on quests at the adventurer’s guild. The reason why demons with normal appearances and human-like personalities were hated was something that could not be understood without the presence of the Demon King.

If they truly wanted to obtain freedom, they needed to resolve the issue of the Demon King as soon as possible.

Clunk-!

“W-what was that?”

At that moment, the carriage suddenly made a clunking sound and shook violently.

It seemed like the carriage had stopped due to something blocking its path.

And the sound of footsteps approaching the carriage.

There seemed to be about six people in total.

“Shh- be quiet…”

I whispered to the demons inside the carriage, placing a finger on my lips.

“I’ll go out and check. Pretend you’re not here.”

With that, I cautiously stepped out of the carriage alone.

The first thing I saw was a masked man holding a spear to Ed, the one pulling the carriage, and his accomplices.

Highway robbers, perhaps.

Well, a carriage loaded with so much luggage traveling on a secluded road would definitely be a target.

Ed looked at me with a troubled expression, silently asking for help.

“Hehehe! What’s this? Is this carriage headed to the capital taking the wrong path? A big carriage like this being ambushed!”

“Hey, quickly unload the carriage! And you! Get off the horse!”

“What are you looking at? You, too, get down on the ground!”

The robbers were all six in number.

They didn’t seem particularly impressive, all looking like a ragtag group.

If it were these guys, Aruru would easily come out and fight, turning them into a sea of blood in no time.

But I didn’t want to involve the demons inside the carriage in a fight if possible.

Already being treated as monsters in the kingdom, there was no need to involve them in killing people.

These robbers, who seemed to have mistaken our carriage for a merchant’s carriage and attacked, continued to threaten Ed and me with their weapons.

Before they could touch the luggage compartment of the carriage and see the demons inside, I needed to resolve this quickly and get back on the road.

Taking a deep breath, I used the magic stored in my body to slam the ground without drawing my sword.

Then, I grabbed the spear of the man threatening Ed with my bare hands, broke it, and at the same time, turned around and kicked him in the jaw.

The robber holding the broken spear fell back, unconscious.

“What the! You bastard!”

Then, I dodged the attacks of the two men coming at me, and with a strong kick to each of their abdomens, they sank to their knees.

Approaching the one who was making a bewildered expression, I grabbed the blade of his sword and exerted force.

Crack!

The blade of the old sword he was holding shattered like glass.

A sword with almost no magic stored in it, like that of a commoner, could easily be broken with bare hands.

“He… Hieek!”

“E… Excuse me, aaah!”

Seeing that, the remaining bandits scattered into the forest in disarray.

Bandits should have some skills, but they look like a truly struggling bunch to make a living.

After sorting out the situation, the unconscious bandits were roughly thrown under a nearby tree.

After pulling out the carriage wheel stuck in the pit, I heard a brief thank you from Mr. Ed and returned to the carriage.

“They were bandits?”

“Yeah, it was nothing special.”

As soon as I came back, Aruru looked at me with a strange expression and asked, to which I casually replied.

“Um… do you have a thing for hitting stomachs?”

“Huh?!”

What kind of question is that all of a sudden.

『Aruru secretly peeked her head out of the carriage, watching the situation unfold.』

At that moment, the narrator told me.

She was watching me drive away the bandits.

She must have thought, what if someone sees… and told me to stay quietly inside the carriage.

No, it’s just easier to subdue without hurting by hitting the stomach with a fist.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I see.”

Aruru laid Mirabel back on her lap.

It felt like she was covering her stomach with Mirabel’s head and fluffy tail.

As the carriage started moving again, Aruru looked at me for a while and asked again.

“But hitting stomachs makes you feel good?”

Ah, no, that’s not it.

* * *

When the carriage carrying the residents of the demon shelter arrived safely in Kubel, a considerable amount of time had passed.

During that time, they encountered bandits eyeing the luggage cart three times, encountered a group of monsters twice, and the wheel got stuck in the ditch about four times.

Although the presence of demons inside was not revealed to others, the comfortable travel score was a complete failure.

As soon as they arrived in Kubel, all the demons were sent to Mariel’s mansion.

Mirabel, the director of the shelter who had been demonized after receiving Aruru’s blood, was naturally with them.

Mirabel had regained consciousness, but she still needed care as she couldn’t properly grasp the situation yet.

Aruru volunteered to take care of Mirabel.

It seemed that the demons would need some time to adapt to their new home.

The rebellion that occurred in the capital city of Pifnel.

The demonization carried out to save Mirabel.

Upon hearing all this news, Algot made a complicated expression.

“I never thought things would come to this…”

And a few days later, even more shocking news came from the capital city.

It was reported that the royal palace had been occupied by rebels from the underground waterway and the capital had fallen.

Even though the Demon King had not yet invaded, the fate of the kingdom was crumbling on its own.