A Demon's Journey

The villagers numbering nearly 200 to 300 were led by Noah and Sargan to Kloras Town.

These people talked a lot about what had occurred. Sargan continued to speak, giving more details and explaining a gruesome scene they had witnessed.

After 2 days, they were camping in an empty field near the route to Kloras Town. According to Sargan and Noah, they would be able to reach Kloras Town without taking any more rest.

Before leaving, the people had packed all of their rations, and right now, the women in the village gathered up and cooked food for everyone.

As they were happily chatting, a few villagers heard some movements. They were surprised as they looked around but saw no one.

They soon returned to their sitting spot and waited for the food.

At this time, someone saw a tree being thrown at them from a distance.

"Save me!" A few villagers who were about to get hit by those trees immediately screamed in fear.

Before those trees could strike their bodies though, the trees were cut into multiple parts.

The villagers looked ahead and saw Noah standing there, his back facing them. Noah seriously spoke, "They have come. Leave now!"

Sargan appeared as well. He spoke to Noah, "I will hold them back. Lead them to Kloras Town."

Noah hesitated slightly before turning towards these villagers, "Please follow me. Leave behind your supplies. They can't be more valuable than your life, right?"

Noah's words resonated in their minds. But still, many of the villagers grabbed whatever they could and followed Noah.

Noah was taking them to Kloras Town through the shortest path possible. If they went through the route assigned on the map then they would probably need more than 3 hours to reach Kloras Town.

But using Noah's shortcut, they would be able to reach Kloras Town in One and Half hours.

While the villagers were running for their lives, they finally realized that whatever Noah and Sargan spoke was actually true.

Some people had begun to think that Sargan and Noah were lying. They were even making wild stories regarding the incident.

A few people had even been convinced by those stories. But now, they didn't hesitate to throw those possibilities out of their minds as quickly as possible.

They even cursed those people and thought that they were just trying to be over-smart. Those idiots

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Sargan was happily talking with the assaulter who had attacked them.

It was none other than Ralph who had been sent here to scare these villagers.

"Master's plan has worked. It wouldn't be an issue for him to swallow these villagers inside the town now. I also managed to turn Aramore Village into an antagonist for them." Sargan spoke.

Ralph nodded his head and said, "Master informed me of this task in the early morning. I feel like I haven't even had a proper sleep yet." He yawned as he finished speaking.

Sargan raised his hands and replied, "…I am not going to carry you."

Ralph rolled his eyes at that joke.

Some moments later, Sargan asked Ralph, "How is the training going? Today will be the day you all attempt the trial again, right?"

Ralph spoke while lowering his head, "It's actually not going that well. I still don't know what I am lacking."

Hearing Ralph's words, Sargan thought for a couple of moments.

"Let's have a spar. I want to see how strong you are and how you truly fight. Just do your best." Sargan spoke with a serious look.

~~

Around this time, Azaroth and Sophie were eating food.

"Do you know about Inquisitor Fox?" Azaroth asked her with a curious look.

"Inquisitor Fox? I have heard his name multiple times. He is considered to be greatly favored by the King and even the Noble Family Heads respect him. He is intelligent and has solved many issues that had troubled the kingdom." Sophie told Azaroth what she knew of Inquisitor Fox.

Azaroth soon spoke, "This guy brought my father here and inspected the area. He was suspicious of me, thinking that I was sheltering the elf who is being searched for by the King."

Sophie's eyes widened at those words and she asked him, "When did he come here to inspect the area?"

Azaroth casually replied, "Just a few days before you arrived. Well, he found nothing and left in disappointment. Obviously, I wouldn't take any actions against the Kingdom."

He then looked at Sophie with a curious look, "…Why? You wanted to meet him?"

Sophie nodded in affirmation. But she quickly explained, "I am just curious to know what it is like to meet him. Even my father is full of praise for him. He said that he had never seen someone as intelligent as him. Moreover, he appears to be rather young yet the King trusts him greatly and appreciates his talent."

Azaroth internally thought 'Naturally. How can the guy who nearly cornered me be ordinary? But to think even the king trusts and appreciates his talent. If he contacts the king, he will figure out there are no rumors about the demon. In fact, he will also continue to investigate the clues and sooner or later return with even more people well-versed in the Array Formations and Alchemy Techniques.'

In reality, even Azaroth had missed something. And it was his very own Totem. Shun was trying to use it to figure out the identity of the demon. Maybe there would be something about him in the historical records stored by the Sinyalian Kingdom.

Each demon would possess a unique statue. And it would mostly be very similar to their true physique. That was when its effects would be most beneficial.

However, there were too many historical records possessed by the Sinyalian Kingdom. If one tried to gather them all up in one place, even two large warehouses would fall short.

Azaroth asked, "Do you have any idea about Inquisitor Fox's true identity?"

Sophie smiled upon hearing that question, "You are the second person to ask that from me."

"Who is the first?" Azaroth asked.

Sophie proudly responded, "My best friend Ellen Valliadis."

Azaroth narrowed his eyes upon hearing the surname, "Valliadis? As in the same as the Royal Family?!"

This was the surname used by the Royal Family.

Sophie further clarified, "She is the 7th Princess of the Kingdom. Hehe… I never did tell you that she is my best friend."

"…" Azaroth blankly stared at her.

Soon, he asked Sophie, "Why is the 7th Princess curious about the true identity of Inquisitor Fox?"

Sophie stopped smiling upon hearing that question. She was hesitating whether to answer it or not.

Azaroth didn't speak for a few moments and gave her time to think.

Sophie soon spoke, "I trust you, Edwin. So, please make sure to never tell anyone." Sophie looked slightly relieved as she saw Azaroth nodding seriously.

"3-4 months ago, Ellen was kidnapped by some warriors from the Glerian Kingdom. It was Inquisitor Fox who had retrieved her before these warriors could take her out of the Sinyalian Kingdom."

"Ellen had some favorable impression of him. In fact, she even requested her father to give him a hefty sum as a reward. And during the reward ceremony, she met him and talked to him. She told me about this and asked me whether I knew about his true identity or not. She mentioned that she wanted to know what his real identity was behind the mask. You can guess her reasons, right?" Sophie informed Azaroth with a knowing smile.

Azaroth had a grim look as he thought 'Just fucking amazing. The Princess even likes that Inquisitor Fox. If my guess is correct then the King has already given his consent to this relationship. Or else, he would have told his daughter to stay away from him.'

"So… Do you know about his identity or not?" Azaroth got back on the main topic.

Sophie shrugged in response and said, "If I knew, I would have told you by now. That guy's identity is something even my father doesn't know of. Let alone me."

'I am at a great disadvantage then. He is suspicious of me and knows a lot about me. As long as he investigates more, he will figure out that the Beast Raid in Kloras Town was also fishy. I need to begin my counterattack soon.'

Just as Azaroth was thinking along these lines, he sensed Noah's presence entering his range.

'Perfect timing.'

~~

Noah soon returned to the wooden mansion. The villagers continued to follow him to this place.

He quickly entered the mansion while the other villagers were asked to stop ahead of the entrance.

Noah went to Azaroth's room and knocked on his door, "Master, I have returned."

"Come in, Noah," Azaroth instructed.

Noah was surprised to see Sophie sitting in Azaroth's room.

"Umm…"

"Sophie, this is Noah, my retainer." Azaroth introduced the two to each other, "And Noah, this is Sophie. She is my friend from my school time."

"Eh? She is your friend since your school time, master?" Noah glanced at Sophie with a slightly envious look.

Sophie didn't understand why Noah was looking at her with such an envious gaze. Normally, when she was seated with a guy, people would enviously glance at the guy, not her.

But she thought it might be because Noah was a kid.

"Alright, let's go outside," Azaroth spoke as he stood up.

Sophie and Noah soon followed behind him.

While they were walking, Noah whispered to himself, "If only I met master a few years earlier…"

Sophie nearly stumbled upon hearing Noah's words. This little kid was jealous of her since she met Azaroth earlier than him.

This was probably one of the most ridiculous reasons to be jealous of someone.

Soon, Azaroth went outside the mansion and met up with the villagers.

He spoke, "I am regretful for your loss. I will try my best to recover your things as quickly as possible. The laborers here will focus on forming the houses for you first. Also, you need not pay any tax for the next 2 years. Just focus on your growth."

"Lord Mayor, we are willing to accept everything. But we want revenge. Just as those guys from Aramore Village killed our village chief, we want to see the head of their village chief." A guy spoke rather emotionally.

The other villagers along with him shouted in affirmation. They wanted the same to happen as well.

They knew that this man was an Heir of the Rhodes Family. As a member of a Marquis Ranked Family, he should possess enough power and prestige to accomplish this task.

Azaroth internally smirked as everything had gone according to his plan. But outwardly, he showed a solemn expression.

"Very well. But for that to occur, you all need to work as if your life depends on it. Even I cannot touch the Aramore Village if I don't show good results to the Kingdom."

Those words were the final trigger that caused these villagers to become part of Kloras Town.

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