Is this how a rabbit surrounded by a pack of tigers feels?
I watched the demons looking me up and down with eyes full of various emotions and my shoulders trembled slightly.
- Why is a human coming out of the Secret Relm?
- No, I can sense a small amount of magic power from him. Maybe he's a half-demon.
- He looks incredibly weak, so did Lady Rene deliberately spare him?
The demons gossiped about me and guessed my identity.
Watching them, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, I avoided being killed right away…….
I had also concealed the Arsene mark on my nape using the Darkness trait, so it hadn't been discovered.
……So what am I going to do now?
It's all futile now.
'Crete…….'
I swallowed dry saliva as I met Crete's gaze filled with interest.
I thought he would try to kill me right away, but for some reason, he didn't seem to care much.
His arrogant eyes were fixed on me, but he didn't seem angry or even slightly agitated.
I thought it might be because he wanted to capture me alive, but judging by Crete's attitude, that didn't seem to be the reason.
What could it be?
I was speculating on my own while looking at Crete's appearance, which was clearly different from what I had expected.
"Did you successfully conquer the Secret Relm?"
Crete opened his mouth and spoke to his daughter, Rene, in a monotonous voice.
Rene's body trembled at the question.
Then she met Crete's gaze and answered, biting her lower lip.
“……Yes.”
"I see."
That was the end of it.
Crete turned his back on Rene without giving her any more attention.
He added one more word.
It was clearly directed at me.
"Follow me."
Oh no.
My head hurts as I stare at Crete, who has started walking forward.
What the hell is he up to?
……But what bothered me more was Rene, who was staring at me with cold, hard eyes.
'My father called me, so why you?'
Rene seemed to be asking that.
I turned my head away without answering her silent question.
Don't ask me.
I don’t know either…….
I guess the fortunate thing is that Rene didn't find out that I was pretending to be an escort.
Since Crete has been completely silent, it seems like the other Demons have lost interest in me as well.
The problem is that even I don’t know why Crete has kept his mouth shut.
‘I guess I’ll find out once I go.’
I followed Crete and looked around.
The Demons of the Bares family were surrounding Rene and me with their weapons drawn.
With my current abilities, I couldn’t fend them all off and escape.
That’s because each and every one of them was exuding an aura that rivaled Peltz.
I barely managed to escape after a difficult battle with just one Peltz.
There’s no way I could escape from them.
‘I can’t use Arsene’s Gate either.’
The Arsene family’s Gate can be used to travel to the Demon Realm, but it can’t be used to travel from the Demon Realm to the Human Realm.
I would have to borrow the power of the Information Paper to find a Gate that leads to the Human Realm, but the price will be far too high.
I could also offer my final Mana as payment, but…….
If I reduce my final Mana any further, it’ll be a significant loss for me.
‘Even if you enter a tiger’s den, if you keep your wits about you, you can survive…….’
I recalled that proverb and dragged my heavy steps forward.
Crete doesn’s seem like he’s going to kill me right away, so maybe there’s a way to survive.
As I followed Crete, I gradually opened my eyes wide as I saw the unfolding landscape of the Demon Realm.
‘Is this the Demon Realm…….’
I momentarily forgot that this might be the lair and looked around.
Unidentifiable trees were planted everywhere. Grotesque birds were perched on them and crying out in flocks.
It was a world that I had created, but it felt different when I saw it in person.
The fact that I had come to the Demon Realm was only just starting to feel real.
Thud. Thud.
Thud.
I moved my feet as if I were possessed by something, and before I knew it, Crete had stopped walking and was looking back.
“Disperse.”
Crete ordered.
The Demons began to scatter, leaving only four of them, including me and Rene.
The remaining two seemed to be Crete's escorts.
I couldn't dare to guess their level, but the aura they exuded was extraordinary.
However, it seemed that Crete's words included them as well.
"You two should go too."
“Yes, sir.”
At Crete's command, they quickly left their seats.
That left only Crete, me, and Rene.
Crete looked at me and Rene and gestured for us to follow.
‘He's not going to torture me alone... is he?’
I shook my head, lost in a horrible imagination as I looked at Crete's back.
I finally realized it.
Crete had no intention of killing me.
Rather, he wanted ‘something’ from me.
The problem was that I didn't know what it was...
I was racking my brain trying to figure out Crete's intentions when it happened.
‘That mansion.’
A Western-style mansion with the Black Dragon crest appeared before my eyes.
I recognized it at once as the Bares family mansion.
"You wait here. I'll call you later."
Crete opened the door to the mansion and ordered me to wait, and my eyes lit up.
This is my chance.
The Demons had all left this place, and with Rene and Crete going into the mansion, there was no one to stop me.
‘But something's bothering me.’
Shouldn't Crete have considered the fact that I might run away?
...I have a bad feeling about this.
I had no choice but to use my mana once.
Whew.
I took a deep breath and divided the mana mass into small pieces.
Then, I infused it with the Killing Intent trait and spread it out in all directions for a moment.
At that moment,
*Flinch.*
A slight movement was detected in the grass.
It meant that someone was hiding in the grass.
It was obvious that the reason was to keep an eye on me.
‘It's a good thing I didn't move.’
I don't know who the person hiding in the grass is, but at least they're not an easy opponent.
I was exhausted and running low on mana, so I might have been in danger.
‘What should I do?’
I looked at the mansion where Rene and Crete had entered.
In the end, I couldn’t do anything and just sat down.
Somehow, it felt like my life was miserable…
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