Overnight

It took two days to walk, from the village to meet Hendrick, the time would be much longer if Satoru and Hilda had no way to get around quickly, it was just a problem for Envy to walk a lot, especially not being used to long trips.

So most of the time it was Satoru who carried her, but even so, her body kept getting tired constantly, so now she slept in the cart.

Hilda refused to sit beside Hendrick so she walked with the cart, which left the merchant in shock, a person walking for so many hours and not even showing fatigue.

Satoru sat in the coachman's part leaving his sword at his side, he dozed off as if nothing had happened, that's what Hendrick thought at least.

But actually, Satoru wasn't good at talking to people in this kind of situation, so keeping quiet and pretending to sleep was the best thing to do, since when he lived in another world, it was people who talked or pulled business with him, all his brain did was go with the current.

"We've arrived!"

Opening his eyes, he saw a village that was already familiar to him, after all that was the deal, to accompany Hendrick, being his escort to the town of Bellony, but before they did the merchant will make his sales in Emendus first, according to him, the best thing to do is to sleep tonight in the village.

From Emendus to Bellony it was almost a two-day trip, so being well-rested proved to be vital, it could be risky for Hilda's sake, but for the sake of Envy, it turned out that Satoru accepted it.

When they arrived at the village, people who knew Satoru were shocked to see him working for a merchant, however, many associated this with the fact that he had enough money to spend at times, which ended up killing a suspicion he didn't even know existed.

"Oooooh, where are we?" — Sleepy Envy got out of the cart, still processing where it should be.

"Villa de Emendus, Mr. Hendrick, I'll go ahead and see the rooms, if you don't mind."

Satoru stopped beside the newly awakened girl.

"Oh yes, of course, since we're staying here for the night, I'll be at the tavern if you need me."

Satoru nodded, so he, Hilda, and Envy went to a small inn, and rented two rooms.

Heading up the stairs, Hilda got into one of them, Satoru and Envy into the other.

"Big brother, aren't you going to sleep?"

The sun was almost setting, the little food they had would only last a few more days, so Satoru decided to put everything back in the village, it would be risky for Hilda to stay too long in a city like Bellony.

Once they got there, they would get the ride they needed and leave, simple and fast.

"Not now, you can continue to sleep"

As soon as Satoru finished speaking the girl lay down on the comfortable bed not caring about anything else.

Leaving the inn, Satoru started walking around the shops he knew, everyone asking questions whose answer was always him nodding his head to agree or disagree.

Deep down he really wanted to stop and talk, but people always broached subjects he didn't like, or he didn't have an answer, and the insistence didn't please him at all, the only one who could do that in a conversation with him was Envy.

It was ironic, he was almost an adult and Hilda was already one, but the one who was better at fitting in was still a thirteen-year-old girl.

⊛⊛⊛The night had ended without any eventuality, in the morning with the cart now empty, the four continued on their journey, Satoru and Hilda were hiding in the back, while Envy excitedly at the front of the cart looked in awe at the things she saw along the way.

It was funny to Hendrick, it was all just a common sight, but the girl beside him looked like a child looking at everything.

"Little girl, is this your first time away from home?"

"Uhum, it's all so colorful here, is it like that in cities?"

I don't understand the question right away, the merchant was confused as to how he should answer.

"Colorful, right? I think so, tell me, where did you live?"

"Well, that... where I grew up had nothing but ash..."

Looking a little sad, Envy straightened in her seat and smiled.

“But big brother showed up and changed that."

Like all good merchants, Hendrick has heard of a region bathed in ash, according to the rumors it was the fury of the earth god who was displeased with the humans of that area and caused a volcano to erupt.

Hendrick wasn't religious, so he didn't believe in this story, but he had seen the ashes that covered the earth, for those who lived very isolated and could not move for long, all that was left was to wait for death. The girl in front of him said she lived in such a region and came out alive, yet she managed to keep herself so excited, Hendrick only felt his regard for Satoru, who was supposed to be Envy's Brother, increase.

Talking the rest of the time, Hendrick and Envy seemed like longtime friends talking, Satoru managed to hear them all the time, until when the moon rose in the sky and the sun disappeared from the horizon.

Satoru took the cloth from the front and saw Envy asleep, after so long talking non-stop it would be surprising she wasn't tired, so he called her and made her lie down on the back.

Having some doubts, Satoru decided to go ahead, he didn't like to start conversations like that, but if it was for the sake of their trip, it would be worth it.

However, nothing came out even if he wanted to talk, his situation was worse than imagined, insecurity around others was something embedded in him. Hendrick pretended not to come, even though it was stamped on the face of the person beside him, his discomfort with the silent situation.

"So, Satoru, you have a sister who adores you, that must be okay comforting?"

Breaking the ice, Hendrick said first, people like Satoru were the worst people to work within a business, but if you did everything right, you might get a good client.

"Yes, quite, and do you, I mean, Mr. Hendrick, have a sister or a brother?" Awkwardly Satoru asked, not expecting to be being intrusive.

"Haha, you don't need to call me sir, just my name is enough, as for your question, I would say I do, but it's a complicated relationship."

"I understand if it wasn't bothersome, what do you think of the other races?" If he missed the opportunity, Satoru might not be able to ask anymore, so without looking directly at Hendrick, he continued to speak.

"Hmmm, this is a complicated subject, I wouldn't say I dislike them, however, if they don't interfere with my business, I think there's no reason to hate them, so my final opinion is a neutral relationship, however dangerous it is to talk about it within a city, don't tell anyone, hahaha."

Seeing the person beside him laugh, Satoru felt more comfortable with the situation, it was good to see that not all humans in the city had the same opinion about the other races.

"Aye, as a merchant, aren't you afraid of the swift devil?"

It's been a few days since the swift devil has appeared, so it was better to ask, to avoid anything that would give away his identity.

"This legend to scare merchants? No, that doesn't even make sense, a slaver becoming a food thief? this seems like a kingdom excuse for incompetence itself."

"That's a pretty strong opinion." Awkward at what he'd just heard, Satoru flinched a little, but it was a good thing not everyone believed in his existence.

Several other questions Satoru had were discussed late into the night, it was the first time in a long time that the young man had talked a lot with someone he didn't know.

Seeing that the road was completely dark, Satoru decided to go behind the cart.

"I'll rest now if I get too tired and want to change."

"And do you know how to control a cart?"

"I can learn."

Uncomfortable with what to hear, Hendrick laughed, then the two said goodbye, and Satoru went through the cloth that divided the two parts, seeing that his two companions were already asleep, Satoru chose to do that too.

⊛⊛⊛

The dirt road along which the cart was moving was quite rutted, so the cart trembled a lot on the way, nothing that could disturb the sleeper inside.

However, a strong thud, as if the wheel had passed over a small mound of earth, together with the neighing of the horses, made everyone inside the cart wake up with a start.

"Big brother, what's up…"

Before he could finish speaking, Envy was interrupted by Satoru's hand covering his mouth, meanwhile, he pulled the greatsword with his free hand.

Envy didn't notice, but Satoru and Hilda did, the sound of footsteps moving through a type of vegetation, the amount of noise was on both sides and there were certainly more than 3 beings.

"Hilda, get down!" Satoru spoke in a rush when two figure hooded men appeared, however, none of them expected the sword of the human in front of them to undo and turn into a kind of tentacle that went full speed towards them, making them fly backward.

Seeing that he could hide no longer, Satoru leaped out of the cart, and at the same time an arrow flew towards him, but it was blocked by the now remade greatsword.

"They are dark elves."

Looking around, Satoru saw several people standing still, but surely there was something strange until behind him Hilda's voice confirmed his suspicion.

Because of the state, they were in they looked like fugitives, seeing that they even had children there, Satoru kept his sword, he didn't want to fight anymore.

"It's okay, I don't want…"

Suddenly another arrow flew towards him, but this time he just grabbed it with his hand before it hit his head, looking good, the arrow was made of dark wood and the point of common iron.

"It's okay, he's not your enemy."

Hilda spoke, who stepped forward, taking off her mask and hood, thus revealing her appearance.

Which made all the dark elves, even those who had risen from the ground now froze, and then looked in the direction from which the arrows came.

From behind a tree, a dark elf emerged with her bow lowered. According to what he learned, Satoru knew that the two races of elves were experts in archery, along with their skills in each other hide.

“A daemon with a human, have you by any chance forgotten what they did to our races?”

The elf who will appear now, anger in his voice, looked contemptuously in the human's direction.

"Big Brother, where is Mr. Hendrick?" — From inside the wagon, Envy whispered to Satoru who was nearby.

What she had said was something he didn't notice as he was concerned about protecting his mates against the surprise attack, so he looked around and saw in the background, a fallen body.

Hilda was talking to the elf until suddenly they saw him running towards the fallen body, no one said anything, they only felt a chill in bodies when the figure crouched down and saw the body up close.

Without understanding what was happening, with no apparent explanation, all the elves began to feel threatened, everyone was frozen in place as if looking directly at a demon.

The sudden fear caused the children to start crying, and the slave elves to start speaking in a foreign language, for those who understood, knew they were praying for their lives.

Wanting to react and shoot an arrow to kill the human before something happened, it was not possible because his body did not move.

"Big Brother…"

"Satoru, calm down!"

Envy was shocked by the scene to see Satoru like that, Hilda in turn tried to say something, however, to no avail, the young man didn't even seem to hear what she said.

But with all the confusion, no one noticed lights that saw the road contrary to everything that was happening, everyone only realized when several arrows were shot aiming at everyone who was there.

Hilda pulled Envy closer to her, as soon as she saw the arrows coming, the elves had no luck in this matter, as when they saw the attack, one of the women was hit in the leg. And another woman was hit in the chest, then fell.

Satoru was the farthest away, and yet an arrow flew towards her, but she couldn't even get close to hitting it, and was mangled, by a tentacle.

"FAST HELP HER WALK, THE REST RUN INTO THE FOREST!" In desperation the elves began to run, while one of the hooded helped the other to walk, the speed that the lights were moving, it was obvious that they were on horseback, the elves didn't seem to stand a chance.

The place where they met was a forest, there were not many thick trees, even horses could walk through them.

Controlling his anger, Satoru came back to himself and saw Hilda protecting Envy, looking at the elves who started running in one direction, he only lowered his head at what had happened to Hendrick.

"Hilda, let's go this way!"

The best option was to go in the opposite direction of the elves, after all, they seemed to be fugitives, going with them was the same as making unnecessary trouble.

Running into the forest, Hilda holding Envy in her arms started to run along with Satoru as well. Satoru's intuition proved correct when all the lights started to turn in the opposite direction to theirs. But it was good to keep running, the further away the better, but Hilda suddenly stopped making Satoru do the same.

"Did something happen?", asked he looking at Daemon.

“Satoru, I'm staying here with Envy, so please save the elves.” Baffled by the sudden request, Satoru glared, he refused in his mind.

"Why should I? They killed someone innocent, it doesn't even make sense to save someone who simply prefers to kill as a first choice!"

Hilda knew she was asking for something that even she didn't seem to like very much, the anger of the person in front of her was quite understandable, but she had her reasons, so she didn't give up so easily.

"Yes, it's true, but do you think everyone deserves to die just because an elf thinks it's better to kill indiscriminately? Think, be better than them and not like other humans, did you say you wanted to be better when you asked me to train you, or did you forget that?"

“Aaaah, everything then, but you two stay here until I'm done."

“Thank you.”, said Hilda.

Satoru was surprised that this was the first time he had seen Hilda thanking him for something, however, he still suffered from a conflict within himself about helping the elves.