Chapter 130 – Leaving
The streets of Varmela where numerous citizens, merchants, and adventurers come and go for various purposes.
ㅡWoong Sung Woong Sung… ．
The eyes of many people who recognized Roden and Roxia, the twin sisters who were passing through the forest, were looking at them.
Basically, Roden and the others are more impressive than ordinary people, and the place where the four of them lived… In other words, it was only natural that Roden’s potion shop was blown away just two days ago, so people’s attention was drawn to it.
And among her party, the one who gets the most attention is Loxia, with her striking shape and size of horns rising above her head.
The horns on her head are the symbol of demons.
Among the people who are curiously looking at Loxia, a demon, some are frowning.
『A race of invaders who tried to devour human lands in the past』… This is the first paragraph that most people think of when they hear demons.
Not a few years have passed since the Man-Human War ended in vain with an armistice agreement, but most of the eyes and perceptions of humans in the northern continent towards the Demons are not very good.
In the case of the Principality of Haron, which is located on the opposite side of the Demon Kingdom, it has received almost no direct damage from the demon army, so the reputation of the demon tribe is relatively better.
As Roxia, whom she has known as her human until now, is walking around the middle of her city, revealing her true form, it is clearly felt that her unkind eyes and whispering atmosphere are stabbing her.
If it weren’t for Roden, who was subtly showing a sense of intimidation, he would stare more blatantly or even talk to and touch him directly.
“Maybe it’s because rumors spread throughout the city in one day, more attention is being paid to it than yesterday… Hey, Loxia. If it’s inconvenient, why don’t you go somewhere less crowded?”
Worried that this experience might leave a bad memory for Loxia, Marill looked at her demon girl carefully and said that.
“Thank you for caring. Marill, I’m fine, so don’t worry too much.”
“Then it’s fortunate…”
However, the person himself was accepting people’s negative eyes casually.
It’s not that I’m trying to pretend to be okay or being patient, but I’m genuinely not caring about my surroundings at all.
The important people to Loxia are her master and sisters, who are like her family.
Other than that… I have no interest or interest in the people around me. It doesn’t matter if they like me or hate me.
“Ah! I’m hungry, I’m hungry. Everyone, let’s stop talking leisurely and move quickly.”
The current situation was not very pleasant, so Merim, who acted more exaggeratedly than usual to prevent Roxia from being treated like this, took the lead and moved her steps toward her restaurant as quickly as possible.
And soon after, Roden’s party arrived at a restaurant where there were not too many people and not too few people, and they sat in the far corner and ordered the food they wanted.
While waiting for the meal, Roden opened his mouth first to talk about the first destination of the trip that will start tomorrow.
“Thanks to the conversation you guys had a while ago in the forest, I remembered a person I should meet.
“Going to the Duchy of Crove? Is the person you want to meet a wizard?”
“Or is it a beast?”
The twin sisters, who knew about the Principality of Crove, which is widely known as a special country where wizards and beastmen coexist, asked such a question. Roden answered right away as if he had prepared it in advance.
“Wizard… To be more precise, a witch. She is a witch I happened to meet while traveling alone long ago, and she also made the scrolls that she often entrusts to you.”
At Roden’s words that he was planning to go see the witch of the Duchy of Crove, Roxia just nodded her head beside her without asking any questions, and her twin sister’s face hardened slightly.
There is a widespread prejudice that witches who can handle black magic are evil enough to simmer people in a cauldron and eat them… Is it because of that? For once, Roden continued.
She said, “Since she is a witch, she knows a lot about many things, so there is a high possibility that she will hear useful things about the power of the demon lord. Of course, you have to pay a fair price.”
It’s good to have her learn polymorph, the transformation magic, but it might give her a deeper understanding of magic as a whole. Not just Roxia, but also Merim… ．
Just when I thought that far, the ordered food began to be placed on the table in order. The party stopped talking for a while and decided to enjoy the meal first.
“…”
“…”
The twin sisters, who had been showing a worried atmosphere while emptying more than half of their plates, looked into each other’s eyes and nodded.
“Roden oppa, Roxia. I’m talking about the story of Croeve, but actually we…”
“I’m from the Duchy of Crove. It’s been a while since I’ve settled here, so I don’t know the situation these days.”
“And speaking of it, I didn’t say it because I didn’t want to burden them, but I come from a noble family of wizards.
The twin sisters, who became relieved as they confided in her hidden secrets, smiled and added her words.
“Whoa, considering Roden’s older brother and Roxia’s true identity, the fact that we are from nobles is trivial.”
“Merim and Marill were nobles… ?”
“Yeah, you mean a precious body that grew up listening to the voice of a lady~”
In an instant, I felt as if the bridge of Merim’s nose had risen even higher.
Unlike Roxia, who widened her eyes and covered her mouth, while Roden was living with her twin sister, watching their behavior, he vaguely thought that it was something like a fallen aristocrat or a runaway girl. She wasn’t too surprised.
However, how did the twin sisters, who were said to be daughters of noble families, run away from home and become adventurers in such a remote territory… ．I am very curious.
Roden, who had been quietly listening to her twin sister’s words, carefully asked her for details, but… Instead of answering, they shook their heads with awkward smiles.
“I’m sorry. Roden oppa and Roxia also told us secrets that were hard to tell, so we decided to share our secrets in our own way… After all, it’s burdensome to tell everyone right now.”
“It’s okay to talk about the details later when you feel comfortable. Thanks for telling me about you guys.”
“Anyway, Roden oppa. Show us a map of how you plan to get from here to the Duchy of Crove.”
“As this is the hometown where we were born and raised, we know geography quite well, so it will be of great help in planning our itinerary.”
“Okay. Wait a minute…”
Laying out a map of the continent on her table, Roden and her twin sister put their heads together to plot the most efficient route to the Principality of Croeve.
And after she came out of the restaurant, she went around the city all day long, looking for her wagon in advance according to the route she had just completed, or stocking up on additional supplies and clothes.
* * *
Another day passed, and the day came for her to leave the Varmela estate.
After preparing for the past two days, Roden’s party had another meeting with the lord who had called them about the raid before starting the journey.
I’m in the position to leave anyway, so it won’t be a big problem for the trip if I just ignore it, but I plan to come back here after everything is settled, so it’s wiser to leave a good impression on the lord as much as possible.
Unlike the other day when Roden and his party were called around lunchtime, today we entered the Yeongjugwan from the morning and sat side by side in the guest room inside.
The lord, who had heard about the incident at the potion shop in advance, exchanged brief greetings with Roden before looking closely at his left hand, which was wearing a leather glove.
“Hmm, hey… He knew he had lost his left arm, but it’s a little different from Berhem’s report.”
“It is true that I seriously injured my left arm, my lord. I was wearing a glove to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.”
Roden, who got up from his seat and slowly took off his leather gloves in front of the lord’s eyes, showed him a prosthetic hand that glowed cold silver from under his elbow, and gave a brief explanation before the lord even asked about it.
“And the one I’m wearing on my left hand right now is something I was lucky to acquire in the past. As you can see, it’s an artifact that replaces the damaged body.”
“It doesn’t seem like it was acquired simply because of luck… ．All right. It doesn’t matter now. Sit back.”
“Yes.”
The lord, who stroked his beard several times for a while as if facing Roden and his party from the front, decided to tell them what he had to say as the general manager of this territory.
“Although it is said that I replaced my left hand thanks to the artifact, it is clear that I was attacked without fail in the city under my control, losing my house and even losing my left hand and being seriously injured… ．As a lord who couldn’t protect his people, I’m sorry.”
