Volume 1. Chapter 9. The Fifth King's Offer. And...

The merchant stared at the three children. Swayed by Rii's words, he told Una and Cindy to go around and secure their resting place.

"Here... eat while it's warm."

Grit fed the three children meat, soup, and bread, remembering the difficult times his own family had experienced.

"Thank you, uncle. I promise... someday, I will repay your kindness."

Grit laughed at the words of one of the children.

"Then... do you mind helping my grandson if she gets into trouble?"

Grit responded to Rii's words jokingly. He didn't actually expect the three children to take it seriously.

"We understand, uncle."

Vail tried to end the conversation because it could endanger their identities, who were disguised as children.

Una and Cindy returned after securing the area just as Cindy was about to approach the three children.

They heard screams of people asking for help, and not long after, a man staggering like a drunk man.

"Help...!!"

When the man saw the group of traders and two adventurers, he was happy, but he fell when approaching them.

Grit asked Una and Cindy to give the strange man some water.

"Drink slowly."

Cindy held the strange man's head on her thigh and helped him drink.

"Thank you..."

The man said after drinking from the leather pouch Cindy gave him,

"What happened? Why did you run like a scared person?"

Una asked curiously.

"A monsters attacked our village... I ran to find help from adventurers in Norf city."

The man told the reason he ran so frantically that he appeared like a drunken man.

"Your village was attacked?!"

Grit exclaimed in shock. He knew that the village in question was Souh village. Because that was the only village on their journey.

"Before attacking our village, I saw the demon beast coming from the forest on the border of Tars city."

The strange man told him again.

"What should we do?"

Una wanted to determine what action would be taken based on Grit's decision.

"That village is our destination. Can you handle that monster? I'll pay you double."

Una and Cindy accepted Grit's words and immediately went towards the village. Their actions forced Vail, Cini, and Rii to intervene.

Dealing with demonic beasts is no small matter.

"You three, you should hide..."

"Where did they go?"

Grit, who wanted to ask the three little children to hide in the horse-drawn carriage, was confused because he didn't see them anymore.

Meanwhile, the demon king who appeared at Noel's residence felt a familiar presence from Souh village.

"Hmm...? Why are those two women here of all places?"

The demon king said after using his long-distance vision with his power. Watching how Cindy swung her sword, Una attacked with magic to kill the demonic beasts.

"They are so troublesome...!"

Una attacked all the demonic beasts with her magic, using her experience on the front lines.

Cindy swung her sword and saw Una tired from using too much magic.

"Una!"

Cindy swung her sword and slowly moved to protect her friend.

"Are you okay?"

"Sorry Cindy, I overdid it with my magic."

Una regretted pushing herself too far, realizing she was no longer fighting on the front lines.

"Shouldn't we help them?"

Cini felt bad just watching them from afar.

"We just need to observe them if the situation gets dangerous. We'll help them."

Vail told what they would do if the situation threatened Cindy and Una's lives.

"Vail, Cini. Do you feel a greater presence?"

Rii wanted to make sure his two friends felt what he felt.

"If you didn't tell me, maybe I wouldn't have been noticed."

Vail had just noticed a strong aura.

"Then leave the powerful presence to us while you stay here."

"Okay..."

Vail agreed with Rii.

Cini and Rii cast magic to fly and approach the demon king, watching Cindy and Una.

"Una!"

Cindy's scream made Vail surprised that the demon beast was about to prey on Nia, who was already out of energy.

"I won't let it...!"

An attack shot out, hitting several demonic beasts surrounding Una. Not only that, two sisters and a knight rushed in to rescue Cindy.

"Leave the rest to us..."

Erik said when he managed to catch up with the hero.

Vail was surprised to see a teenager in a typical hero's outfit. Meanwhile, the hero finished off the remaining demonic beasts.

"My plan to attract the hero's attention has succeeded. The rest is to create—"

"... Barrier?"

The demon king was a little surprised by the appearance of a barrier that blocked his power.

"Creating a barrier and blocking my magic, it's like I've caught your attention without realizing it."

The demon king said quite calmly.

"If you're really great, show your true selves in front of me. Because I want to make a deal with you."

"What deal do you want to give?"

The demon king glanced back and jumped forward because Rii appeared behind him.

"What a great power... I couldn't even feel your presence."

"So, what offer do you want to give?"

He was surprised again by Cini, who appeared behind him, but this time he did not dodge. The demon king acted calmly as if he had predicted Cini would appear behind him, too.

"We will give you half of this world if you will join us."

The demon king made his offer.

"Accepting an offer from a stranger, do you think we will accept it?"

"Ah... sorry about that."

"My name is Neii, the fifth-generation demon king. And one of the subordinates of the ancestor."

The demon king introduced himself like a noble and spoke in an arrogant voice.

"Demon king...?!"

Cini was so surprised, and the demon king laughed at the reaction of the human who had just realized his identity as a demon king.

"I can see you are very scared—"

"What are you saying?"

"We are just surprised because we will meet the demon king so soon, and it does not mean we are afraid."

Cini interrupted his words and made the demon king annoyed with him.

"Lowly human, you make me angry."

The demon king felt looked down upon and toyed with.

In the middle of their conversation, Rii heard Vail's voice in his head. Asking them to finish quickly and return before anyone suspected them.

At the same time, the hero and the three people with him managed to kill all the demon beasts that attacked the village.

"Are you okay?"

The hero approached Cindy and Una, who were already exhausted.

"Thank you for helping us. We're fine." Cindy said in a weak voice.

"If I may ask... who you are?"

"Sorry if we haven't introduced ourselves. I am a hero who was summoned to this world. My name is Mansa. These two sisters are named Nita and Sara."

"Then... the man dressed as a knight is named Erik."

The hero introduced himself and his party members to Cindy.

"Nice to meet you... What are your names?"

Said Nita, who wanted to know Cindy and Una's names.

"My name is Cindy, a C-rank adventurer. And she is Una, an A-rank adventurer and my friend."

Cindy introduced herself and her friend because Una was so exhausted that she couldn't speak.

"Give her this potion. It seems like your friend has crossed the line when using magic."

Sara said, taking a small bottle of potion from a pouch tied to her waist.

Cindy took the potion and helped Una drink it, but at the same time, Erik looked at Una suspiciously.

"What's wrong? You don't usually look at someone like that?"

Nita was so curious to see Erik looking at Una curiously.

"She looks like one of the witches from the Union. If I'm not mistaken... her name is Nia Aghture."

Hearing Erik's reason made Una scared and trembling.

"...I don't know her, but many people in town told me about it."

Una tried to hide her identity and pretended not to know.

"Sorry I made you feel awkward. I believe you."

Erik felt guilty for comparing Una to Nia, thinking his words made Una feel uncomfortable.

"Then, what's your name?"

The hero asked and turned to the tree behind them.

"Hero, who are you talking to?"

Sara and the others were curious about Mansa's words.

Vail was surprised that the hero knew of his presence, and he did not have many choices. He canceled his invisibility magic and pretended to be a child following Cindy.

"A... child?!"

The hero was a bit surprised to find that the person hiding and suppressing his presence was a child.