The morning main street was crowded with demons and enslaved humans at the morning market. The roadside stalls were piled high with vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish.
A group of the Demon King’s soldiers pushed through the crowd and marched down the street. I followed them with my eyes. The stalls ahead were destroyed, fruit strewn on the ground. There were people everywhere. The soldiers brandished long spears, warning the onlookers not to approach.
The soldiers were trying to disperse the crowd. In the center were three cloths lying on the ground. Arms and legs were sticking out from under the cloths, blood pooling. People had been struck down and killed. Judging by the size of the cloths and the protruding limbs, there was an adult man, a woman, and a child.
I held my breath and almost dropped the bucket in my hands.
Though their faces were covered, the slain man’s equipment was the prince’s emerald armor and sword.
“What? What’s going on? Is that mine?” The confused prince broke the silence with a small voice.
“It’s Thomas. He took our place as bait,” I squeezed out in a remorseful voice.
Until the infiltrators were found, the tight security would not be lifted and the magic ship would not sail. In other words, once the infiltrators were found and killed, the alert would be lifted.
Many of the Demon King’s soldiers had seen the prince’s flashy armor. So Thomas had worn the prince’s armor as a substitute.
The Demon King’s soldiers, summoned by the whistle, had commandeered a nearby cart and tossed Thomas’ body onto it like luggage.
Just then, the cloth on the cart suddenly fluttered open for a moment, revealing a woman’s face and a little girl’s hand.
The woman had beautiful black hair. The girl was clutching a straw doll.
It was Michelle and Sela.
I bit my lip to stop myself. I might have screamed.
“That fool, getting a child involved in this, too?” The prince muttered in disbelief.
I felt the same way. But that was all Thomas could do. He became the scapegoat for the Demon King’s assassins. Even if he claimed that his family had nothing to do with it, the Demon King’s army wouldn’t listen. His family would be tortured together and then executed. The family decided to act together and face death together.
Regret and helplessness tormented my entire body.
Why didn’t I think of it then? Looking at Thomas’ face, which hid his determination, I blamed myself for not noticing yesterday.
But no matter how much I blamed myself, the three wouldn’t come back.
My ears, trembling with regret, suddenly heard a scream. When I looked in the direction of the sound, many Demon King soldiers came down the street. They brandished long spears and seized slaves one by one.
“What? Hey, Romelia, what are they doing?”
When the prince saw the demons capturing slaves who had done nothing wrong, he asked me.
“Because the slaves killed the demon king, they’re being arrested as dangerous elements.”
It was only natural. I knew it would be like this. This was how it should have been.
“What will happen to them if they get caught, Romelia?”
“At worst, they’ll be executed.”
I squeezed out an answer to the prince’s question.
Since many slaves were already integrated into society as laborers, not all would be killed. But as a warning, some might be executed. Moreover, their treatment would be harsher in the future, and a cruel fate awaited them.
“What did you say? Then we must save them.
Seeing the abuse and killing of women and children, the prince became indignant. But I stopped him.
“No, we can’t!”
If it were just a few soldiers, we might be able to defeat them. But there were tens of thousands of the Demon King’s soldiers gathered here. We couldn’t defeat them all. Besides, Thomas’ sacrifice would be meaningless.
“Since Thomas was used as a scapegoat, there’s no reason to maintain the tight security. That means the magic ship should also sail now. Let’s board it.”
Thomas had promised that the magic ship would leave last night. That was the reason. If we missed this chance, there might not be a next time.
“But if we don’t save them, they’ll be killed.”
The prince wanted to save the people who were being slaughtered. But the priority was different.
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“I know. But bringing home the news of the Demon King’s death takes precedence over everything else.”
I replied firmly.
Just killing the Demon King wasn’t enough. We had to bring the news of the Demon King’s subjugation back home, and let the Demon King’s army that was invading our land know about it, so as to crush their morale. Only then would it be worthwhile.
This information was more valuable than hundreds of lives. The Demon King’s army would stop its invasion and become a smokescreen for a counterattack. It would save more lives than hundreds. We had to send it back no matter what.
Besides, I knew it would happen eventually.
When word got out that humans had killed the demon king, the slaves would naturally be considered dangerous and punished. Everyone who helped us, including Thomas’ family, understood this. Nevertheless, they helped us.
When I decided to abandon the captives, the lord and others looked at me as if to say, “How heartless,” and seemed to look down on me. But no matter what others thought, my decision wouldn’t change.
“That was a bit loud. Let’s leave right now.”
The colorless magic didn’t erase the sound. We might not have been noticed because of the commotion in the street, but we should leave for safety’s sake.
I looked back and walked out of the alley towards the harbor. The screams of the captured slaves echoed behind me, but I didn’t look back.
We made our way through the narrow streets, sometimes transparently passing the Demon King’s soldiers as they ran toward us, and finally sneaked onto the magic ship.
As I expected, the magic ship made a long, horn-like sound and set sail.
In the hold, I looked out through a small crack in the wall. Through it, I could see the harbor and the demon-ruled Demon Continent gradually receding.
I watched until the Demon Continent was out of sight, no, even when it was out of sight.
I clenched my fists. I could still hear the screams of the captured slaves in my ears.
On this continent, countless others were still enslaved and whipped.
I would definitely return.
My nails dug into my clenched fists, drawing blood, but I felt no pain.
More steadfast than those fists, I vowed to save them.
Our stowaway voyage home on the magic ship lasted thirty days.
Between the demon-inhabited continent of Goldia and our continent of Axis lies a vast ocean. Even the magic ships created by the demon king Zelgius using arcane magic took a very long time to cross. Ordinary sailing ships would probably take even longer.
We stayed hidden in the hold of the ship the whole time.
Ekaterina’s colorless magic came in handy here as well. Since the Demon King’s soldiers patrolled at fixed times, the danger of being discovered was low as long as we weren’t careless.
But more dangerous than the Demon King’s soldiers were the demon migrants.
To consolidate its rule over the lands it had conquered, the Demon King’s army recruited migrant volunteers and began colonizing them. As migrants, they lacked the discipline of soldiers and often came to steal food. Running into them posed a greater danger than the Demon King’s patrolling soldiers.
After hiding in the hold for a long time, the magical ship finally reached our homeland, the continent of Axis.
We set foot on the long-lost soil of our homeland, but this place was now enemy territory as well.
Where the magic ship had docked was where the demons had first set foot. Now renamed Raban, it was inhabited by demons who had migrated here and had become an important foothold for the demons.
Many humans were also enslaved here, whipped as they carried stones to build the long walls.
Although it was under demon rule, this was still our home. As long as we had Ekaterina’s colorless magic to disappear, we could slip away without anyone noticing. We had done the same when we came to the Demon Continent. However, I suggested to the Prince that we contact the enslaved and abused people here.
“Prince, tell the enslaved and abused people here that the demon king has been defeated.
“Why? Someone might inform on us.”
Prince Henry still didn’t seem to trust the enslaved people.
“There is certainly a risk of that, but the Demon King’s death and the Prince’s heroic deed of defeating him should still be spread.”
“I see, you’re right. A hero’s great deed should be widely known.”
When I appealed to his sense of glory, the prince immediately changed his mind.
The prince’s opinion was also reasonable. Once a hero appeared, he would become a spiritual pillar for the people. Especially for those who lived as slaves, the news of the Demon King’s death and the hero who killed him was very important. Carefully avoiding the eyes and ears of the demons, I contacted the slaves.
At first, they didn’t believe that we had defeated the Demon King either. But when I showed them the Demon King’s severed head and crown, they were surprised, but still believed. So I asked the enslaved people to spread the news of the Demon King’s death.
I didn’t expect much, but their actions exceeded my imagination.
Those who learned of the Demon King’s death planned to escape from Raban, while those who stayed in Raban wrote the Demon King’s death on paper in the language of the demons and posted it everywhere.
Of course, these were dangerous acts. If the posters announcing the Demon King’s death were discovered, those responsible would be arrested and tortured to death as dangerous elements.
In fact, many were caught and killed. However, many of them managed to escape, and the posters announcing the Demon King’s death caused the demons living in Raban to feel slightly uneasy.
At that time, I also left Raban to return to our homeland, the Kingdom of Lionel.
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