A few days back, Ren was ordered by a Demon Elder to find the person with the moon tattoo among the human prisoners.
Ren asked his men to check them thoroughly… but no one had the tattoo.
So he reported that he couldn't find him.
Today, a Demon Elder named Neo arrived at the castle.
Ren said, "Welcome back, sir."
Neo didn't waste any time.
"Where are the prisoners?" he asked.
Ren took him there.
Neo grabbed a small child. The kid was terrified.
He placed his hand on the child's head…
And suddenly—he began seeing the child's memories.
Through that, he found the one with the moon tattoo.
Neo looked at Ren and said,
"The person with the moon tattoo is a traveling merchant. Go and bring him… quickly."
"And hide your appearance while moving through human villages. Do not start any conflict with humans… or you will be stripped of your position as Demon King."
Ren replied calmly,
"There's no need, sir. I will find him and bring him back."
He turned and called, "Calt—come with me."
Neo immediately stopped him.
"No. You will go alone. Too many demons will attract attention from humans."
Ren paused… then nodded.
"Yes, sir."Unlike Ron… Ren knows how to change his appearance.
So he disguised himself as a human merchant and left.
Ren knew he wasn't strong enough yet to face an elder, so for the time being, he chose not to question their orders.
Daris was put in charge by Neo until Ren returned… and that annoyed Calt.
Ren continued his journey.
He wore brown pants, a light green shirt, and carried merchant supplies, traveling on a horse…
And just like that—
he began his journey.
It was almost night.
Ren had been traveling for a long time.
Elder Neo told him who the person was… but not his location.
So Ren had to find him on his own.
After a while, he came across a group of people… they looked like merchants.
A plan suddenly came to his mind.
If I travel with them… I might find that man easily.
He was thinking to himself when—
Suddenly, a group of bandits appeared and started attacking the merchants.
Ren was watching from a distance…
The merchant group was surrounded by bandits.
The guards traveling with the merchants started fighting back.
Ooser… the head of the bandits, stepped forward and took down two guards instantly.
He moved in to kill—
But Ren stepped forward.
He looked at the merchants and said,
"If I save you… will you let me travel with you?"
He sounded arrogant.
The people were confused… but they still replied, "Okay."
Ren moved in.
Ooser looked at him and said, "Who are you, freak?"
Ren replied coldly,
"You talk too much for a human."
Then Ren started throwing the bandits left and right.
Even without using his demon form… he was strong.
But Ooser was not like the others.
He stepped forward and started attacking Ren.
Ren realized—
this guy is strong.
He couldn't transform into his demon form… and using too much magic would ruin his cover.
So he mostly guarded against Ooser's attacks.
The fight went on for a while…
The merchant group just stood there, watching.
Finally—
Ren defeated the leader.
But Ooser didn't go down easily.
At the last moment, he threw a knife toward a child.
Ren moved instantly and saved the kid—
…but the knife struck him instead.
Unfortunately, the sword was not a normal one. It was a holy weapon… probably someone stole it from a saint.
And it put Ren into a deep sleep.
Ren didn't wake up for a long time…
When he finally opened his eyes, he realized he was moving in a wagon.
There was a kid and an old man sitting in front.
The kid turned back and saw Ren opening his eyes.
"Gentleman woke up!" she shouted excitedly.
She quickly stopped the wagon, jumped down, and ran to tell the others.
The old man smiled and said,
"Finally… you're awake, young man."
Ren asked, "How long has it been?"
The old man replied, "Maybe half a day."
Ren was shocked.
Then he asked, "Who was that brat?"
The old man laughed.
"That's Uruka. She's the one you saved last night."
"She's already grown attached to you. She was the one who changed your bandages."
Ren replied, "…Is that so?"
Then he asked, "When will we reach the next village?"
The old man said, "Maybe in two days."
Ren sighed.
Just then, Uruka came back—full of energy.
"Big bro! What's your name?" she asked.
Ren frowned.
"Big bro? Go away, brat."
But she didn't move.
She asked again.
Ren couldn't ignore her eager eyes… so he gave an alias.
"Patrick."
The girl's face lit up.
"Oh! That's a cool name, big bro!"
And just like that…
Ren found himself traveling with them, listening to her nonstop chatter.
On their way, Uruka asked Ren,
"Big bro… have you eaten red berries?"
Ren replied, "No." He wasn't very friendly.
She smiled, "That's sad, big bro… maybe we'll find some on our way."
Ren just responded, "Mm."
They continued travelling.
Suddenly, a boy fell in front of the merchant wagon—badly wounded.
The merchant immediately stopped the wagon and rushed out.
They lifted the boy and sprinkled some water on him.
Ren's wagon arrived next. The elder moved to the front.
"What happened?" Elder Shah asked.
"This boy suddenly fell from above… he's badly wounded," they replied.
Elder Shah looked at him and asked,
"Did anyone treat him?"
"Yes."
"Good… let him rest. We'll ask what happened after he wakes up."
Uruka ran down from the wagon. She took her water bottle, closed her eyes, and started praying.
She gently made a cross sign on the boy's forehead.
Seeing that… Ren remembered she had done the same for him before.
The elder and the others quietly joined her in prayer.
After that, everyone returned to their wagons and continued moving.
Uruka soon fell asleep.
Ren looked at Elder Shah and asked,
"What was that brat doing out there?"
The elder laughed softly.
"Uruka wants to become a Holy Saint one day… that's why she acts like one."
Ren looked at her sleeping face…
…with a slight arrogant smile.
"This brat… a Holy Saint?"
He thought to himself.
After a while, they stopped to eat.
Uruka said, "Big bro Patrick, do you like mushroom stew? Big sis Seena makes the best stew in the world!"
She started humming happily, waiting for the food.
Ren was annoyed… but he was also starving.
Soon, Seena finished cooking and served the mushroom stew to everyone.
They all started eating.
Uruka took one sip…
…and immediately started singing ha
They started moving again…
Suddenly, the boy woke up.
He was terrified. He jumped out of the wagon and started running.
Elder Shah saw it and immediately stopped the wagon.
He said, "Patrick, go catch the boy… he's not fully recovered yet."
Ren got down and walked toward the boy.
"Hey, brat… stay there. I'm coming," he said.
The boy was terrified. He started shouting loudly.
Ren thought the boy was scared because he realized he was a demon…
But when another merchant went near him, the boy started screaming again.
He was terrified of everyone.
He just couldn't stop screaming.
Ren didn't understand what was happening…
But he realized one thing—
The boy wasn't afraid of demons.
He was afraid of people.
Ren stopped for a moment.
"What… happened to him?" he thought.
- to be continued -