Daris sat quietly in a dimly lit room.
From outside, the faint sound of children playing drifted in, filling the silence.
He waited patiently.
After some time, the door opened, and Varner stepped inside.
Varner immediately bowed his head. "Welcome, Master."
Daris looked at him and gave a slight nod. "Good to see you, Varner."
Varner straightened. "I heard things have been getting worse in the demon kingdom… our new king has already destroyed four human villages."
Daris raised his hand, stopping him. "Enough, Varner. I'm not here to talk about the king."
Varner fell silent.
Daris continued, his tone turning serious. "I came to warn you about someone else. A man who has gotten too close to the king."
Varner frowned slightly. "Who?"
"His name is Calt," Daris said. "And he's dangerous."
Varner's expression hardened.
"Just one week after he arrived… he used the king to throw me into prison."
Varner's eyes widened in anger. "He imprisoned you? How dare he…"
He stepped forward slightly. "Do you want me to deal with him, Master?"
Daris shook his head immediately. "No. Don't cross paths with him."
There was a brief silence.
"Just be careful," Daris said. "And protect this village… like you always do."
Varner placed a hand on his chest. "You don't have to tell me, Master. I will protect this village with my life."
Daris gave a small nod. "Good."
Without another word, he turned and walked out.
Varner stood there for a moment… then quietly returned to his duties.
Ron and his party entered the eastern forest.
The trees stretched high above them, blocking most of the sunlight. The deeper they went, the quieter it became.
Pears looked around with excitement. "What a huge forest… do you think there are any tasty fruits here?"
Maria, already struggling with the heat, kept drinking water.
Selena walked behind them, carefully arranging their items and making sure nothing was missing.
Meanwhile, Tank…
…was busy picking a fight with a gorilla.
"Crazy idiot," Ron muttered under his breath.
But even then, Tank managed to defeat it using nothing but his raw strength.
After that little chaos, the group continued moving deeper into the forest.
While walking through the forest, Selena suddenly flinched.
A snake had bitten her.
"Selena!" Maria rushed forward immediately.
Without wasting a second, she placed her hand over the wound and began casting healing magic. A soft glow surrounded Selena's leg, and within moments, the poison was completely neutralized.
Selena let out a small breath of relief.
As expected from the healer of a hero's party.
After making sure she was fine, we continued moving deeper into the forest.
We settled down under a large tree to take a break and enjoy our food.
Everyone started unpacking their lunch. The meals were prepared by the castle chefs, so of course… they smelled amazing.
And tasted even better.
But that also created a problem.
A group of monkeys suddenly showed up, attracted by the smell.
Before we could react, they rushed in and grabbed Pear's lunch.
"Hey! That's mine!" Pear shouted and immediately ran after them.
His speed was surprisingly fast.
Within moments, he managed to catch up, snatch his food back, and return like nothing happened.
Selena quickly cast a wall spell around us, creating a barrier.
The monkeys gathered outside, staring at us helplessly, unable to cross.
And just like that…
we continued eating our lunch in peace.
After lunch, we packed our things and continued moving.
We were getting closer to the village…
when suddenly—
a voice echoed through the forest.
"Help! Someone, please help!"
It was coming from the left side.
Without wasting a second, we rushed toward the sound.
When we arrived, we saw a goblin—probably a merchant—and his young son being attacked by a Void Stalker.
The beast was fierce… its movements fast and unpredictable.
The two of them were barely holding on, struggling to defend themselves against the magical creature. The goblin father stood in front of his son, shielding him as the child cried behind him.
The beast moved in… ready to strike.
It was about to kill him.
I didn't think.
I just ran.
I rushed forward and threw a punch straight at the beast.
It staggered back.
For a moment, my team hesitated…
They didn't understand why I was saving a demon.
But they joined me anyway.
The beast recovered quickly and charged at us with full speed. Its jaws opened wide, aiming straight for me.
At the last second, Tank jumped in and grabbed its jaws, holding them apart with brute strength.
But the creature was too powerful.
It forced its way through and bit into Tank's shoulder.
Blood spilled.
"Tank!"
Maria immediately cast a healing spell, her magic glowing as she rushed to his side.
That left the fight to me, Selena, and Pears.
Pears stepped forward. "Aero Slash!"
A sharp wave of wind shot forward, cutting into the beast and pushing it back.
So this was his real power…
But the beast didn't stop. It came again.
This time, Selena raised her hand. "Fireball!"
The flames struck the creature, burning it and slowing it down.
That was my chance.
I focused and cast one of Rudo's spells.
"Earthquake."
The ground beneath the beast cracked open, splitting apart.
Before it could react, the creature fell into the gap.
Silence followed.
After a tough fight…
we had finally won.
The child ran forward, still crying. "Thank you… thank you so much!"
The goblin father bowed his head. "You saved our lives… we are deeply indebted to you."
I shook my head. "It's okay. Are you injured?"
The child quickly said, "My father… he hurt his hand while protecting me."
Maria, who had just finished healing Tank, moved toward them and began healing the goblin as well. The goblin father looked at us with gratitude… and curiosity.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"We're just travelers," we replied.
Luckily, we had already changed into simple clothes before entering the forest. Our story worked better than expected.
He nodded slowly, believing us.
"Then… please," he said, "come to our village. We would like to thank you properly."
I exchanged a quick glance with the others.
This was a golden opportunity.
Varner…
We finally had a way to meet him.
Still, we showed a bit of hesitation.
Before we could respond, the child stepped forward, looking at us with hopeful eyes.
"Please come…"
That was enough.
We agreed.
And just like that, we began walking toward the goblin village. We reached the entrance of the village.
Two goblin guards stood at the gate.
The merchant quickly went up to them and explained what had happened.
As soon as they heard the story, the guards looked at us with respect. They bowed their heads and thanked us for protecting one of their own, then allowed us inside.
The moment we entered, more goblins gathered around us.
The child excitedly told everyone, "These humans saved us!"
Within minutes, we were being treated like heroes.
It felt… strange.
After a while, the crowd slowly parted—
and Varner arrived.
He was tall, with a commanding presence. The moment he stepped forward, the atmosphere changed.
"I heard you saved one of my people," he said.
"Yes… but it was just a coincidence," we replied.
Before we could say anything else—
Varner bowed.
"I thank you for protecting my people."
That caught all of us off guard.
We didn't expect a village chief… especially a demon… to care this much.
"It's our pleasure," we said.
Varner looked at us carefully. "Who are you?"
Before we could answer, the merchant stepped forward. "Chief, they are travelers."
"Travelers…" Varner repeated.
Then he nodded. "You are welcome here. Stay in our village. It is the least we can do to repay you."
We accepted his offer.
This was exactly what we needed.
Now… we just have to find a way to capture Varner alive.
Far from the crowd—
hidden among the trees outside the village—
a blue-skinned demon watched everything silently.
His eyes glowed faintly.
Using telepathy, he spoke to someone unseen:
"I've arrived."
- to be continued -