'Humans…' I thought.
A few days earlier, as we passed through a quiet village, the echo of our footsteps followed us while Zayn and I went over our cover story.
In the human realm after all, the hunt against demons were serious business. Even lords, nobles, even princes and princess once suspected of being possessed by demons were executed and hunted. Meaning they had to get their story straight.
And for them, there was only one answer: the most convenient one.
Orphans of war.
From an unknown village that has been ruined in the war.
They don't need any complicated backstories. Stories like that were also very common. After all, in times like this, villages had vanished like bubbles, children lose names, and graves were made but all unmarked. People hear stories like these every day.
No matter how much one tries to dig into it too, it was almost impossible to find out the truth.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
The road curved gently through the trees then the rhythmic creak of wheels, iron rims biting into packed dirt, became louder.
It was a caravan!
Three horse-drawn carriages with two horses on each wagon rolled forward at a measured pace, and the latter two bearing what seemed to be an eagle insignia in their banners. The horses snorted, hooves steady.
Seeing us, the lead carriage finally slowed., but didn't stop.
Noticing us approaching him, the middle-aged coachman then reined in his horses, eyes narrowing as his almond-shaped eyes took us in suspiciously. You could literally see the wrinkles in his face.
For some reason, the passengers inside had also taken notice.
"Travelers in this area?"
"Be careful, Albert."
The coachman nodded to his passengers who was watching us from inside. They looked at us.
Contrary to what they might have expected, they saw two children: one tall young man who may pass for a young man in his late teens or early twenties, and a smaller boy who couldn't have been older than twelve.
"Kids?" a male murmured.
"They are," a woman said with the quiet confirmation.
The young man was naturally Ard.
He wasn't exactly a child—more a young man, tall and well-built. He carried no visible weapons, dressed in clothes worn thin from travel. He had black hair framing an almost delicate feminine face. But the most stand-out feature were his crimson eyes and stoic-looking expression.
Beside him was Zayn who was certainly not even five feet tall. His blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes shone under the light, and a bright, relieved smile spread across his face as he took in the scene. Like Ard, he carried no weapons.
"Identify yourselves." The coachman then spoke.
For some reason, Zayn then was the one to answer. He stepped forward before me glowing with flawless confidence and spoke like he had rehearsed it countless times.
"Good afternoon, sir. I am Zayn! This is Ard! We're not dangerous," he said quickly and even do so in a joking manner. "We're just trying to reach the next town."
The coachman's gaze flicked to me.
"We are travelers." I said, "Our village burned down in the war from the distant north. We've been walking for weeks."
Of course, it was vague but the words landed heavier than any embellishment.
The coachman exhaled through his nose.
He glanced back toward the other carriages.
Discreetly, I followed his gaze.
I was also curious honestly. This wasn't an ordinary caravan. From the insignia and the banners, these clearly belongs to a caravan of knights. Moreover, I could feel multiple sources of energy inside the carriages which only meant one thing…the people inside weren't ordinary people. They were dangerous.
Then after what seemed to be a word from someone inside, the coachman nodded. Then his gaze lingered on us, almost too long to be a mere stare. Then his hand slipped into his coat.
This had happened to me many times before. I already knew what he was going to do.
The middle-aged coachman pulled out a small palm-sized device etched with runes and a familiar transparent crystal sat at its center.
The Demon-Detecting Device.
'Ah. Of course.'
Gulp. Zayn stiffened, making his smile crack. I could almost hear his racing heartbeat.
We hadn't seen someone do this in our travels until now. Maybe because it was no longer needed by those people we passed through, but the more we go deeper, the more peaceful people are, and the more we are going to see this.
The coachman pressed a button.
The device started to hum in that annoying tone. Then after a second, the crystal glowed faintly… then dimmed.
Nothing.
"Sorry, I just have to make sure." The coachman's expression changed and said apologetically but at the same time, looked over his shoulders as his passengers were watching.
Zayn swallowed audibly but then sighed in relief inside. But he kept himself calm which made me smile. This place almost turned to another battlefield. And frankly, even I would hate that.
Suspicion drained from his eyes as he chuckled, tucking the device away. "Can't be too careful these days. Demons and all that."
If only you knew, I thought.
Then the coachman smiled widely, friendlily.
"Sure," he continued, waving as he sauntered and invited us toward the carriage to seat with as he drove the horses. "Hop in."
Zayn bowed quickly. "Thank you, sir!"
"Thank you." I also thanked them.
"Do you guys know which town is next?"
When he climbed up, Zayn then shook his head with a mild, apologetic smile.
"No, I'm afraid we don't."
"Well," the coachman said slowly, then grinned, and climbed to the driver's seat with us. "We are also going there. It's called Salience."
Seated next to Zayn, I leaned back against the wooden frame and simply nodded, trying to recall where Salience was. My fingers brushed against the ring on my hand. It had done wonders for me.
Because of it, I was free.
Right now, I had only one goal.
I closed my eyes, and remembered ten years ago when I had roamed the human realm too. Disguising as a human, I once explored labyrinths, dungeons, and even participated in demon-raids. It made me smile, one thing which didn't occur naturally to me before not until I wore this ring.
'No, there is no need to do anything rash, like before… no dangerous adventures. After all, I'm no longer the leader of the Shadow Legion, the Demon King is dead, and the world will likely enter a peaceful era.' I told myself.
'For now, I just want to take it easy and enjoy life.' I listened to Zayn talking to the coachman as if they were already friends and let the sun shine on my face, 'Just like ordinary people, I want to stay away from trouble… away from blood and live normally. Salience, huh… I'll try to learn some farming there from the residents or some fishing and call it home for the next hundred years or so.'
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