In the Shadows of the Festival - Part 2

It was rather difficult to keep up with them.

The massive crowd from the festival made it extremely hard to distinguish individuals, and the path itself wasn’t exactly short either. In fact, we ended up leaving the city altogether and entering a forest, and even then they continued moving forward for quite a while.

Then, all of a sudden, the girl stopped and hid among some bushes; it seemed she wanted to spy on the men from earlier. I intended to do the same, but I let my guard down and stepped on a branch.

It didn’t make a loud noise. No normal person could have heard such a small crack. However, the girl turned around instantly, and although I tried to hide quickly, it didn’t work.

“Come out. I know you’re hiding there,” she spoke in a low voice, but loud enough to be clearly understood.

With no other option, I stepped out with both hands raised, signaling that I had no intention of fighting her.

“…You again? What the hell are you doing?”

“I—”

However, before I could answer, we began to hear voices.

The girl turned back toward the men, who seemed to have started moving. She gestured for me to crouch, and I positioned myself beside her to observe the scene.

There were two fairly large wooden wagons, each pulled by two horses; they were the kind of wagons commonly used to transport large amounts of materials or supplies for sale. However, what they were carrying was not materials.

“Is that all of them?”

“Yes, this time we found even more demons thanks to the heroes.”

“Who the hell would want those things? Well, as long as they pay us, I guess it’s fine…”

They were slave traders—many of them. The girl beside me watched the scene closely, and although I couldn’t see her expression because of her cloak and the darkness, it was easy to tell she was furious.

As for the slaves, they were mostly children and very young people. They were humans, demi-humans, and above all, demons. Apparently, the defeat of the pillars of the demon army and the sudden loss of the territory they once held caused many of their kind to hide or flee, with some of them ending up here. What a miserable situation.

“Get out of here. This doesn’t concern you,” the girl told me in an authoritative tone.

“Of course it does. I can’t just look away from this,” I replied as I prepared my staff to attack.

“…Don’t blame me for whatever happens to you.”

“Of course.”

Finally, after that brief exchange, we both launched our attack.

She dashed straight into the scene, catching the nearest target off guard. He barely had time to react before taking a blow to the face so powerful it sent him flying into the rest of his companions, who immediately went on guard.

As for me, I conjured one of my most basic spells, [Soul Spear], which simply consists of spears made of mana fired at high speed. It’s a simple spell, but also an efficient one for quick attacks.

I conjured three mana spears and launched them, aiming for the shoulder area of three of the men. They were shoved back by the force of the spears and ended up on the ground, screaming in pain.

“Chantless magic, huh? Not bad!”

Meanwhile, the girl continued fighting. Her strikes were powerful and precise, and she dodged incoming attacks from multiple opponents with remarkable accuracy. She was good—really good.

“Bastard!” shouted one of the thugs who tried to attack me from behind.

Fortunately, I had already been watching him. One of the keys to forming strategies on the fly is taking into account most of the surrounding factors, and enemies, of course, are not something to ignore.

I managed to dodge the stab easily while concentrating mana into my staff, and when I saw my opening, I fired a point-blank attack at the thug.

Magic that one can perform oneself has two branches; the most commonly used is “Controlled,” which consists of spells with chants and defined forms and effects. It is the most efficient way for a mage to use mana. However, there is another branch simply called “Burst”; magic without a specific form or effect, essentially an explosion of mana that Garrik described as using a magical shotgun… whatever that is. The advantage of this latter branch—and the only one it has over “Controlled”—is that it requires no chant and can be extremely lethal if the user has a large amount of mana. Precisely my case.

The thug was hit head-on by a mana explosion that left him completely out of combat, his clothes and skin burned by the impact despite the fact that I had held back quite a bit. The three thugs I had attacked earlier saw the scene and were horrified, but they couldn’t move. The effect of my [Soul Spear] is constant, intensifying pain, and only those with sufficiently high mana control can dispel it unless I do so myself. It was only a matter of time before they lost consciousness from the pain, but… why not speed up the process?

Seeing me approach, the thugs tried to crawl away from me, but the pain from the spears lodged in their shoulders prevented them from doing so.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick,” I told them with a smile that, according to my companions, was terrifying.

Then, I gathered mana into my staff once more and used the mana burst again to get rid of them.

The remaining thugs were terrified. On one side, they had a girl with overwhelming strength, capable of sending them flying with a single blow, and on the other, a mage who had already taken out four of them in a painful manner. They stood no chance, and no matter how hard they tried, they were no match for our improvised duo.

***

Once we had defeated the thugs, we restrained them with the ropes they themselves carried so we could hand them over to the local authorities, but first we also had to free the slaves.

The children were frightened, but once we began releasing them, they gradually relaxed and started behaving calmly.

The collars they wore were troublesome, to say the least. Each one had an engraved magic circle commonly known as an “Obedience Seal,” a spell that forced slaves to follow their masters’ orders. If they refused, the collar would begin to burn around their necks, and even if they or someone else tried to remove it carelessly, it would also ignite. Fortunately, this wasn’t our first time dealing with slave traders.

I already had experience dismantling enslavement spells, especially ones of this level, so the process was actually fairly quick.

After finishing with the human children, I moved on to the demi-humans. Their case wasn’t particularly unusual. They were the result of unions between humans and beastmen, something that causes disgust among a large part of both the human population and the beastmen themselves, who tolerate them more but still treat them with a certain coldness. Because of that, it was normal for them to be somewhat nervous when I approached.

One girl with canine traits, such as ears and a tail, was especially defensive, baring her teeth at me.

“Be careful, she might… Wha—!?” my companion exclaimed, startled by the scene.

The girl had bitten my arm when I got close. It hurt, but I was used to taking far worse hits, so I endured it and took advantage of the fact that she was now still to remove her slave collar. The sound of the collar hitting the ground surprised the little girl, who immediately began touching her neck in disbelief.

She didn’t say anything for a while, so I gently patted her head.

“It’s okay. You’re free now,” I told her in a soft voice so as not to scare her.

The girl began to shed tears of relief as the other demi-humans watched. I could see how their expressions, once gloomy and tense, were now filled with hope.

“Alright, next!”

And so, the demi-humans were freed, and everything proceeded without issue until I reached the demon children. They kept their distance the entire time, still afraid.

I could understand why. Demi-humans still received sympathy from some people, but demons were humanity’s enemies. Helping them was something almost no one would do in their right mind, or at least not without risking arrest and interrogation under suspicion of collaborating with them.

The girl accompanying me began to stare at me intently, as if analyzing my every move, but I didn’t pay it much mind. If she had something to say, I would deal with it later; the children were the priority right now.

“Come here,” I said to one of the children. “It’s okay. I just want to help you.”

They hesitated, but one of the children gathered his courage and timidly approached me. I responded with a faint smile as I removed his collar. He kept his eyes closed the whole time, but when he heard the collar hit the ground, he opened them wide and checked his neck. Realizing he was no longer a slave, just like the demi-human girl before him, he began to cry.

“Thank you…”

I nodded at his words. The rest of the children looked at one another and, unanimously, all stepped forward so I could help them as well.

“…Are you really okay with this?” the girl asked as she approached me.

“What do you mean?”

“Helping demon children. Aren’t demons supposed to be humanity’s enemy?” she asked, genuine doubt in her voice.

Yes, that was true. For many years, humanity had viewed demons as threats due to their strength and aggressiveness. There were even very old records of demons who had devoured humans. They were not a race with a good reputation. But then again, neither were humans.

I myself had been a victim of human greed; schemes within the nobility to obtain what they wanted at any cost were something my family and I had suffered firsthand. And throughout my journey with Garrik and the others, I had seen that every race had a very pronounced dark side.

There was also the well-known story of the Duke of Beaufort, whose wife and son were attacked by bandits during a journey. The child lost his life, leaving the family devastated.

Demons may have attacked humans, but humans are no saints either. That’s why I prefer to judge situations without considering race, focusing instead on the people involved.

“Yes, but I prefer to help based on people’s circumstances, not their race. Demons may be at war with us, but what kind of monster would I be if I attacked defenseless children?”

The girl fell silent for a few seconds, as if trying to understand how someone like me could exist. I was ready to receive a lecture for my way of thinking, but instead…

“…Has anyone ever told you that you’re a strange guy?”

“…Huh?”

“Sorry, don’t take it the wrong way. It’s just that I didn’t expect to find someone with that kind of philosophy. I like it.”

It seemed she shared my way of seeing things. That was truly rare. Even Tyra and Aurelia from the hero’s party preferred to simply fight and not exchange words with demons; only Garrik could understand my perspective, having come from another world. It was a pleasant surprise to find someone else with whom I could share my philosophy.

“Achoo!”

We were interrupted by the sneeze of a demon child. It really was starting to get cold.

The girl then approached the child and removed her cloak to wrap him in it. It was then that I could finally see her more clearly.

Her skin was pale, and her blond hair was long, with bangs covering the left side of her forehead. Her face was beautiful as well, and her build was somewhat muscular—no wonder she could take down so many slavers with just her fists. She was both strong and beautiful. Even so, I don’t know if it was because of the darkness, but her features felt somewhat blurry to me, as if I couldn’t quite focus on them. I could barely make out that her eyes were yellow, matching her hair.

“I’ll take the demon children with me. I doubt you’d be able to get them help if you go to the authorities.”

“Good point. Will you be okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry. I’ll make sure these children can have a good life.”

I smiled when I heard that. She really is a good girl. If it weren’t for the fact that I have to prepare for the battle against the Demon Queen, I would help her.

“Thanks for the help, um… what’s your name?” the girl asked. Right, we hadn’t introduced ourselves yet.

“Kris. Kris Prestone. And yours?”

“Just call me Kara.”

The girl—no, Kara—was already preparing to leave the area. However, as I watched her walk away, I felt anxious, as if something inside me was telling me that this shouldn’t end like this. The seconds felt eternal as I debated with myself until I finally made a decision.

“Kara!” I called out. “How about we go out for a drink some other day?”

Kara looked at me in surprise, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. I wanted to know her better—her gestures, her way of thinking, how she had enjoyed my cookies. I wanted to see more of her. However, she put on a complicated expression.

“…I’d like that, but I can’t,” she replied as she clenched her fist. “I have to fight soon, and… I don’t know if I’ll make it out alive.”

***

Her response worried me, so I asked the children to give us a moment to talk. Kara refused at first, but she agreed after I insisted a little.

“I’m… part of a gang, or something like that. Another group has been wiping out my people lately, and now I’m the only one left. They’ll come for me soon, and if I’m being honest, I don’t know if I’ll make it out alive. I haven’t seen them, I don’t even know what they look like, but I’ve heard they’re a very powerful group.”

I really wanted to help her. Someone like her shouldn’t be in situations like that, but there was nothing I could do. The scale of the war was beyond me.

“…I’d like to help you, Kara. But to be honest, I’m in a similar situation. Truthfully, I find it hard to believe I’ll make it out alive from the fight that awaits me.”

“You too, huh?”

We both fell silent for a minute after letting out a sigh, resigned to the idea of dying in battle. It felt eternal. We were both in life-or-death situations, and neither of us could do anything to help the other. It was frustrating.

“…Five days,” Kara said, finally breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?”

“If we both survive our problems, let’s go have a drink in five days. Does that sound good to you?”

I was a bit taken aback. I hadn’t expected her to say something like that. Even so, I liked the idea.

“Then it’s a promise.”

“A promise, huh? I guess now I have one more reason not to die.”

“I’ll bring more of my cookies as a reward if you make it.”

“R-Really!? You’d better not go back on that!” she replied energetically. She really did like my cookies.

After that conversation, we finally said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. We agreed to meet at the same tavern in the afternoon.

I hate making promises I’m not sure I can keep, which is why I’ll do everything I can to survive and see Kara again.

With my mind set, I took the children to the local authorities so they could take care of them, likely sending them to some orphanage. With that done, I returned to the inn with the others to rest. Tomorrow, preparations for the battle against the Demon Queen begin, and I need to give it everything I have.