Chapter 2 - "Take me with you."

Act 1 - Course of Action

Ironblade Kingdom.

Throne Room.

A night had passed after the disaster brought upon by the summoning ritual that got out of hand. Workers were summoned in the throne room to fix the broken stone walls and cracked pillars. Medics also came to tend to the unconscious knights, fortunately, there were no fatalities.

"I sincerely apologize for everything your majesty! If it wasn't for my ignorance of the ancient script, none of this would've happened!" Phoros said, prostrating himself on the ground.

"No need to apologize. I'm not blaming you, besides, doing so wouldn't do me any good," King Galen calmly replied. Medics were treating his head after it received such a strong kick from the hero's enhanced physical strength.

"But---"

"The scripts of the ancient language have already been long lost in the passage of time. The only reminders we have of them are the magic spells that uses the script. I can't blame you for something you cannot be responsible with."

"Oh your majesty! How benevolent of you!" Phoros sang his praises to the king, already looking better after getting comforted.

"Still, the fact remains that the hero, no, that scoundrel is out there probably going wild with his heroic powers, and your knowledge that he took," the king remarked.

"We are responsible for taking him down, whatever the cost," he added.

King Galen stood up from his seat as the medics were finally finished with his treatment, although they still attempted to keep the king from moving but it was all for naught. He headed towards the broken window where the man responsible for the mess jumped off, Phoros followed close behind.

"In the name of the proud Ironblade bloodline, I swear, I will hunt you down and take back the power that was not meant to be yours," he said as he looked out onto the horizon.

Meanwhile...

"Crap...what do I do now?" a confused Ren was stuck, sitting on a huge rock by the side of the road, splitting a huge plain that spans as far as the eye could see. The mountains visible from his view on the castle window were even farther now that he's on the low ground leading up to them.

"That old man's memories were nothing but mostly magic, history, and personal memories. There's nothing practical here!" he complained.

There were wild animals roaming the wilderness but Ren's experience when it comes to outdoor survival was basically non-existent. There are trees as well, but according to the old man's memories, there are no trees in the vicinity of Ironblade's Capital that bears edible fruits. The only source of food available in the kingdom comes from farm products imported from outside the capital.

"Wait that's it! I'll start by going to the nearest city, find a job then figure things out from there!" he thought.

"But the nearest city is five days away on foot... and I haven't eaten or drunk since the last night I was in my room."

As he thought of that, memories of his previous life flashed in his mind. His family, his friends, his classmates, all the time they spent together came rushing to him. Since he has no way of returning, he will never see any of them again. He is alone in this new world. As the memories came flooding, his vision suddenly got blurred. He felt his eyes getting wet for some reason.

"Am I seriously getting sentimental? This isn't like me," he said as he wipes his eyes with the back of his right hand.

After a few more moments of reminiscing, he stood up from his seat.

"Well, I won't get anywhere just standing here. Time to take the first step," finally steeling his resolve, he began his journey, following the path leading away from the capital.

"According to that old man's memory, I should reach the seaside town if I follow this path. Some seafood oughta cheer me up."

As he took a few more steps ahead, he heard the sound of an animal's footstep along with what seems like sound of a carriage getting closer to him. There's nothing ahead of him, so he instinctively looked behind him and saw a wooly creature, about the size of a bull, with similar qualities approaching. Behind it was a carriage, connected by a wooden beam. A man sat in front of the carriage, holding the lead that holds the bull-like creature.

"Hmm...doesn't look like those knights to me," Ren said as he continued looking without stopping in his tracks.

The carriage got closer, any second now and it will overtake Ren. He thought about hitching a ride, but decided against it as the man on the wheels doesn't exactly look friendly. Ren kept eyeing on the carriage until it finally whizzed past him. But then...

"Quit struggling you darn monster!"

Ren heard the sound of an angry man as the carriage body aligns with his body. The muffled sound of someone else can also be faintly heard after the man's shout.

"What was that?" Ren wondered as he just let the carriage gain distance after passing him. After a short while, the carriage door suddenly flung open. Something came out of the door, falling to the soft grass on the side. The speed of the carriage made whatever came out, roll a few distance. After a while, the mystery object that fall out stood up.

What came into Ren's view was a young girl in tattered clothing. Her skin was covered in dirt and a few gashes, most likely received from the fall. Her hands, tied behind her back, and a gag hung from her neck that seemed to have come loose. But the most noticeable feature of the girl was the two horns protruding from her forehead, and her white hair getting brushed back by the horn's position.

The sight made Ren stop from his track. He just looks at the scene unfolding before him with curious eyes. Finally, the girl managed to caught sight of him. She ran towards Ren as fast as she could.

The carriage also stopped further ahead, and two bulking men came out of the open door. They ran after the strange girl, carrying worn-out swords.

The girl looked back onto his pursuers who seemed to be gaining on her. She looked forwards again, towards Ren who was still frozen in place.

"Please!" the girl spoke.

"Help me!"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Act 2 - Karis the Demon

"Should I get involved in this?" such thoughts rose in Ren's mind as he witnessed the scene unfold in front of him. From the moment he saw the girl fall out of the carriage, he hasn't moved an inch and simply let things play out. However, now that the girl is running towards him, asking for his assistance, his involvement was inevitable.

The girl quickly ran past and went to hide behind him. The girl's pursuers stopped a few feet in front of Ren to catch their breaths. One of the men drew his sword and pointed it at Ren's neck.

"Quietly give the girls to us and there'll be no trouble," he said menacingly.

"I haven't even done anything yet, and you're already threatening me. I don't like that," Ren replied.

"Shut it! This has nothing to do with you. Hand over the girl now!" the other man said as they took a step closer towards Ren. However, Ren didn't budge in response to their advance.

"You know, here I am thinking that I shouldn't get myself involved here..." Ren trailed off as he tried to put on an intimidating look.

"...but just because I hate the way you spoke to me..."

Ren raised his right hand, aiming it towards the pursuers. Wind currents suddenly started gathering on his palm, rotating violently as they do so. The surrounding air got violent as they joined the rotating wind current. Blades of grass got sucked along but was grinded to dust the moment they came in contact with the wind sphere. Finally, Ren closed his hand, compressing the violent air ball.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a one minute headstart to leave my sight," Ren warned.

"Heh, you talk big, but we're not scared of you!" one of the men shouted as he rushed towards Ren, his blade raised above his head, ready to swing down anytime. His accomplice followed right behind.

The front man swung his blade once Ren was in reach, but before the man's blade could make contact, Ren opened his palms and a strong gust of wind blew the man away.

"GAH!" the man screamed in pain as the gust focused on his stomach, that made him feel like he had been punched in the gut. The man behind caught his body but the force was too strong that he was also blown away and sent them both flying to their carriage. The impact dealt some serious damage to the carriage, even the bull-like creature in front bellowed in a panic.

"Hey what ye doin' over there!" the driver yelled and looked behind but was surprised as he saw the damage to the cart.

"Son of a bitch! My cart!" he screamed.

One of the pursuers rose up while he stretched his aching neck.

"Oh shut it geezer, we'll pay for the damages after we got that merchandise back."

The other pursuer also stood up after his accomplice finally got off of him.

"But boss, we're gonna need some backup for this. That lad is clearly extraordinarily powerful."

"Tch. Let's go get some more men. We can always track that girl down wherever she goes."

On the guy's cue, both pursuers got on the damage cart. The driver whipped the bull's lead so hard that the carriage took off with so much speed. It went to the direction of the mountains, and it wasn't long before it got out of sight.

The road suddenly got empty again, leaving behind Ren and the mysterious horned girl.

"Well, there goes my ride," Ren said as he watched the carriage disappear in the distance. A look of discontent formed on his face as he just realized that he had let an opportunity slip by.

"Now then..." after finally moving on to acceptance, he turned around to look at the messed up girl hiding behind him. The girl, in response, silently looked at him back.

"What?"

"T-thank you for saving me," she said.

"Huh? Didn't you hear me earlier? I had no plans of saving you."

"..."

"Get lost already, I believe I've done enough for you."

Ren continued on his walk to the next town, not paying the girl standing behind any mind.

"Is it because I'm a demon?" he heard the girl spoke, which caused him to, once again, stop in his tracks and looked behind him.

"Is it because you think I'm a savage creature that you act so harsh to me? I haven't even done anything to you, yet--" the girl said, her voice sounded like she's in the verge of tears.

"Why? Not all of our kinds are dangerous you know. People just made us that way because they're scared of us. In truth we--"

"Hey, can we not?" Ren interrupted looking annoyed.

"You being a demon and me casting you aside aren't related in no way whatsoever. I just don't want to bring any unnecessary baggage," he explained.

"Coming with me won't benefit you much anyway. I can't even feed myself right now since I don't have any cash on me,"

"Cass? What? Do you mean money?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, yeah money. You know? The thing you need to buy food from a vendor."

"Then help me."

"No."

"Why!?"

Feeling like the conversation is going to last much longer, Ren sat down and leaned on a nearby tree.

"Damn, now I'm tired again."

"Why won't you help me?"

"What do you need help for anyway?" Ren curiously asked.

"Those guys that tried to take me away, they belong to a group of bandits that kidnaps people to be sold to the slave market."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ren said as he placed his arms behind his head, relaxing under the shade of the tree.

"It's a bandit's camp. They have food, water, and money over there. Supplies that will last them enough until their next raid. I've been there once, escaped, then got caught again by those two." the girl explained.

The moment Ren heard 'food' his attention was already caught by the girl. He was already attentively listening from that point on but was still relaxed as to not show his desperation.

"Stealing from thieves huh? I like the idea." a wry smile formed on his face as the thought crossed his mind.

"Fine, I'll help you out. In the first place why do you want to go back there anyway?"

"I've made some friends over there that I cannot abandon. After I broke out, I promised to myself that I'll return for them with some help. However asking help from humans is a no-go since, well..."

"You're a demon."

"Yeah."

The girl stood quietly as she was once again reminded of that fact. The binding on her hands reminded her of that fateful day, when a group of humans burned their village down and took the weakened survivors. Her eyes got wet from the tears that she's holding back after remembering those memories.

"Come here," Ren called out.

"Huh?"

"Hurry up and get over here. I can't reach you from over there."

"Right."

The girl meekly walked towards Ren who was looking at her with a blank look on his face. She knelt down right beside him to get closer.

"What is it?"

Ren moved over closer to the girl, making her blush in embarrassment since he was so close. But Ren moved even further. He aimed his hand over the rope that was holding the girl's arms.

"Wha-" the girl jerked away in surprise as she felt a warm sensation on her hands...which are now free.

Ren went back to his relaxing position after the feat. Meanwhile, the girl raised her arms and looked at the spot where the rope once was. A red mark formed on it, most probably caused by the rope holding her for quite a long time.

"We leave after I get some more rest. I'm still tired from standing around too long, and that whole ordeal a while ago."

"Right," the girl said. Tears that she's tried to hold back came flowing down uncontrollably as she wiped them away with her hands. But with each wipe, more tears just kept coming out.

"By the way, what do I call you? You haven't me told your name yet. Oh by the way Ren is my name," Ren introduced.

"Karis. My name is Karis," the girl, Karis, replied as she knelt in front of Ren with tears running down on her face, and the biggest smile that Ren has ever seen for the first time in a while.

"I am in your care. Master Ren."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Act 3 - Bandit's Camp

"Not too shabby for a bandit's camp."

Ren and Karis finds themselves hiding behind a tree somewhere deep in the forest. Beyond the cover of the trees lies a clearing with a small hut in the middle. An extinguished campfire stands in front of the hut a fair distance away. Several men and women stand in random places throughout the clearing, some snoozing near the campfire.

"So, where are the supplies?" Ren asks Karis who is scoping the place out at a much closer distance.

"That hut has an underground area. It's quite spacious enough to hold around fifty people. Around forty of those are slaves," Karis answers.

"I said the supplies! The food, and water!" Ren retorts angrily.

"Oh...right. There are food supplies inside the hut, but I don't know if they're ready to eat, there's clean water at least."

"So everything's over there huh?" Ren says as he stepped away from their hiding place. He walks towards the clearing in a leisurely manner.

"Hey wait, what are you doing?" Karis loudly whispered to her companion who is blowing their cover.

"I hear something over there!" says one of the bandits who is nearby their hiding spot.

"Who's there?!"

"Master Ren! That's dangerous."

Despite Karis' warnings, Ren continues to move away from the trees, finally getting out onto the clearing where bandits with weapons greet him, although it's not a warm one.

"Identify yourself, how did you find out about this place!" one of the bandits says as he threatens Ren with his blade, but Ren, without a care in the world, continues walking as if nothing stands in front of him.

"Hey!"

"Jump him!" on one of their comrade's cue, the bandits charges at Ren, weapon drawn.

"Move!" Ren screams furiously as he strengthens his step, causing an earthquake that knocks the attacking bandits off balance.

"Oh wait, probably not a good idea."

The quaking halts abruptly as Ren lightens his step on the ground.

"What was that?"

One of the bandits says as she looks around, seeing her allies all knocked on the ground. However, as she observes her surroundings, she notices that the sky is getting dark all of a sudden, which is strange since just a while ago it was a clear, cloudless day. Her eyes locks onto Ren who was bending over picking something up. It is a sword that must have fallen from someone's grip from that quake earlier.

Ren raises the sword into the sky, pointing directly to a single point above where the dark clouds do not cover.

"This oughta do it," he says as he continues on raising his sword.

Suddenly, a crimson lightning strike went down and strikes Ren.

"Master Ren!" Karis, forgetting the fact that she is hiding, shouts as she sees her companion get engulfed by the crimson lightning. However, much to her surprise, Ren is unscathed, and instead he now stands there, holding a sword infused with lightning. The edge of the sword is extended by what looks like red mana, shaped to match his blade.

"I'm in a hurry, so excuse my rashness," Ren says as he winds up the enormous lightning sword. It's reach is so massive that it almost touches the nearest tree trunk as he assumes a stance.

The bandits, seeing an opening to strike him, did not waste any time and tries to jump him once again, even the sleeping bandits wakes up from the commotion but it is too late for them to act.

"[Titan Slayer!]"

With a swift motion, Ren swipes his sword to the right, hitting the nearby bandits. The solid part of the blade is completely out of reach but the solid mana was able to come in contact with them. The attack electrocutes the bandits, knocking them unconscious, but some still manage to stand on their feet and more reinforcement comes out of the hut.

However, Ren is not finished yet, as he swipes the sword to the opposite direction with another swift motion, hitting the approaching bandits, and those that remain standing after the initial slash.

Karis watches in awe as she witnesses Ren's display of power. Her heart fills with joy as she realizes that she may be able to finally fulfill her promise to her friends.

"Hey what's happening out he--what?!" a familiar person comes out of the hut. It is one of the bandits that was with Karis earlier, the one addressed as the boss.

"You! It's you! How? Why? How did you find this place!" as he says that, his eyes wanders around and saw Karis standing in the clearing border.

"Damn monster! You led him here!"

"Let the other slaves go!" Karis screams to the man.

"I see, you're here for the slaves huh? Well hear this, if you so much as lay a finger on me and this hideout, the higher ups will hunt you down and kill you. And trust me, your death will be not be painl--"

Before the bandit finishes, Ren closes the distance between them in an instant. His blade, now back to normal, sticks on the bandit's neck. Ren looks at him, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he stares menacingly at the bandit.

"Food. Where it it?" he says in a dry, husky voice.

The bandit, in surprise, falls flat on the ground. His whole body trembling in fear as he saw what can only be described as nightmare fuel.

"I got it! I got it! It's inside! Inside! Take as much as you need," the bandit says, his voice shaking.

Ren turns around to the demon girl behind him.

"Let's go Karis."

"Y-yes, I'm coming."

"And you." Ren turns his gaze back to the bandit on the ground.

"Y-yes?"

"Are there anyone else inside?"

"No, this is everyone. We're pretty low on manpower today since we just had a huge delivery sent out."

"Delivery?" Karis repeats in her head.

"Let's go," Ren says as the two of them enters the small hut with Ren kicking the door down in a hurry.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Act End - Tears of Joy and Grief

"YES! FINALLY!"

Ren almost jumped in joy after seeing the hut's storage area. Sacks of fruits, uncooked meat, and canteens are messily placed on a cabinet hanging on the wall. Ren merrily rushed over to the food bank and immediately grabbed two pieces of fruits which resembles an apple, and ate them like a slob.

He then grabbed some slabs of meat and roasted them with fire magic. Due to his starving state, the taste of the food was the last thing he can think about. He then followed it by drinking two canteens of water in a row, spilling some of content on his clothes but he couldn't care less.

"You aren't kidding about being hungry huh Master?" Karis remarked as she hunched over beside Ren who was still nonstop on his mini-buffet.

"I haven't eaten since I woke up in this world, what do you expect? Here have a bite," Ren said as he handed over a piece of bread to Karis with his left hand while his right was still busy feeding himself.

"Oh, thanks. But wait, did you just imply that you're from another world?" Karis was surprised at the sudden revelation.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that kingdom back there summoned me then basically tried to force me to work as their dog."

"Then that means you are the hero?"

"Do I look like a hero to you?" Ren asked sarcastically as he shoves some small fruits into his mouth.

Karis paused for a bit, took some bite out of her bread and took a good long look at Ren, then smiled.

"You are my hero," she replied.

The unexpected answer made Ren blushed a bit in embarrassment, turning his attention back to his meal.

"Anyway, don't you have some slaves to free? Why are you still here?" he said, changing the subject.

"It's fine I'll wait for you."

"Suit yourself. Well in that case, grab that knife over there."

"This one? Why?" Karis asked.

"Just take it. I'm almost done."

Ren emptied his sixth canteen then stood up from his position. He grabbed the knife he asked Karis to get then placed it in his pocket.

"Alright let's get this over with."

Karis led Ren to the basement entrance. It was a dirty, old trapdoor, pretty hard to miss but it was hidden under piles of wooden planks. The trapdoor had a lock but Ren simply burned the trapdoor with weak fire magic as to not overdo it.

The two of them went down a ladder, and into a corridor, leading to a huge room. Just like the bandit boss mentioned, there are no more of his people in the area. Seems like everyone was really up there.

A door was situated on a wall in the huge room. Voices can be heard through the door, a lot of voices in fact.

"This is the room," Karis confirmed.

"Well obviously, I don't see any other room," Ren rebutted.

Karis grabbed the door handle then tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked too."

"Oh for the love of--"

Before Ren could finished his words, he grabbed the door handle himself and pulled on it. The door swiftly opened, though not in the usual way as it breaks free from the wall and onto Ren's hands.

The people on the other side of the wall was caught by surprise as they saw the door leading to their room suddenly got torn off. Ren tossed the door aside and got greeted by scared looks of men, women, and children alike. Some of the women shielded their children as if to protect them from a threat.

"Hmm, this is a huge room," Ren commented.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" one of the slaves asked, it was a middle-aged man with a skinny body.

"Uhm!" Karis intervened before Ren could answer.

"Does anyone know someone here named Ellie and Melle?" she asked.

"A demon!" another one of the slaves screamed in horror. This caused some of the children to cry in fear and some of the people to move far from the two.

"Oh shut it, just answer the damn question," Ren said with an annoyed tone.

"Young Melle was already sold off just recently and is being delivered as we speak." the first slave answered. He seemed to act as the other slaves' spokesperson.

"As for Young Ellie...well..." the man looked behind him onto the far end of the room, which prompted Karis to look over there as well. Located there was a piece of blanket which was bulked up, seemingly covering something.

"No...no it can't be!" Karis rushed over to the blanket, the other slaves made way for her to run to, their gazes following her as she runs towards the far end of the room.

Karis gently removed the top part of the blanket, her hands trembling violently. What met her view is the pale body of a young girl whose body was already as thin as a tree branch. The girl's facial features are already sunken to the point that her skull is traced on her skin. Flies swarmed over the girl, and a rotting odor can be smelled by everyone in the room, even reaching Ren who was on the other side.

"Hey Ellie, hey it's me. I fulfilled my promise. You remember? I said I will let you out didn't I? I failed to make it in time before Melle could leave but I'll find her next," Karis said to the motionless girl, her voice audibly shaking.

There was no response.

"Don't be like that Ellie, it's me, your friend, Karis. Don't you remember me? We were just talking to each other a few days ago. Remember? You told me about your village and how you wished you can take me there? Come on now, I don't know which way to go to get there," Karis said, this time tears streaming down her face.

There was no response.

"Ellie...don't leave me alone. Please."

There was no response.

Finally the spokesperson rose up and explained the situation.

"It seemed like Young Ellie already had a terrible illness before she was brought here."

Karis turned around to look at the speaker.

"She said she was taking a constant dose of medicine in her village, but with her being here, there was no way for her to get that medicine. As the days passed, she became more ill and the bandits didn't do a thing about it, combined with our mediocre daily food, her situation just got worse. Until just yesterday, well, she just didn't wake up anymore," the man said.

"No Ellie...Ellie!" the floodgates were finally opened as Karis bawled her eye out while hugging the corpse of her friend, screaming her name over and over again. She didn't mind the smell, or the fact that flies are literally swarming over them.

Ren who was still standing at the entrance looked silently at Karis' grieving.

"Hey you," Ren called out to a random slave. Although his voice seemed to be filled with...rage?

"Yes?" the guy asked, seemingly scared of Ren's tone.

"Get over here."

"R-right!"

The guy ran over to Ren without a second thought.

"Turn around."

"Right!"

The guy turned around on Ren's order. As he got in position, Ren placed his palm over the guy's binding, and just like with Karis before, he burned the rope off without harming the guy's hands.

"Ohh! I am free!" the guy screamed in joy.

"Take this and cut off everyone's ropes." Ren gave the knife he got earlier to the man who quickly got into work, cutting the ropes of every slave in the room. As he does so Ren quickly made his way over to Karis, his usual uninterested expression now missing, in its place is the face of a man who's quietly about to explode. As he got behind Karis, he stood there quietly, letting the girl mourn some more.

Noticing that her companion is standing behind her, Karis turned around to look at Ren, her eyes already red from crying too much. Not only her eyes, but her nose was dripping as well.

Ren merely stared in silence as Karis looked at him. Meanwhile, the voice of overjoyed slaves can be heard in the background, celebrating their freedom. Despite that, the two only looked at each other in silence, as if they are in their own little world. Finally, after not being able to bear it any longer, Karis ran up to Ren, burying her face in his chest as she embraces him. Her horn was slightly poking Ren's chin, but he didn't mind the pain, nor the fact that he can feel Karis' tears and snot sticking on his shirt. He simply stood there, accepting the little demon's embrace.

Suddenly, unfamiliar memories came flooding in Ren's mind as he stares at the corpse of the young girl. Memories that he does not remember being a part of his history at all, yet so vivid that it feels like his own.

"That bastard's face, why does it suddenly looks familiar," he thought as the memories came flooding in. His train of thought was interrupted as he felt the demon's embrace got stronger. Unconsciously, his hand moved over to the girl's shoulder and brought her closer to him, reciprocating the embrace.

"Oh thank you kind traveler for saving us from this place!" one of the slaves approached the two without consideration.

"Save your thanks to this girl here. I wouldn't even be here if she did not ask me to," Ren replied, still with the rage-toned voice.

"This demon did?"

Ren didn't pay anymore attention to the man and just kept on silently consoling Karis with his gentle embrace.

"Let's leave this place," Ren said, to which Karis replied with a silent nod.

The two of them left for the entrance, the freed slaves followed behind. As they made their way out of the bandits' hut, the surprised faces of the awakened bandits greeted them.

"Boss! The slaves are escaping!" one of the bandits exclaimed.

"I know! I'm not blind you moron!" the bandit boss retorted.

He then went over to Ren who was walking while still holding Karis in her arms.

"Are you happy now? This will cost us months of no income, oh and you attacked our food supply as well huh? You should be feeling proud of yourself, saving this slaves from down the--"

The bandit boss' words were cut off as Ren grabbed his face with his hand. The muffled shouts of the bandit boss caused the other bandits to panic.

"Whaff a y foing?! (What are you doing?!)"

Ren looked at the bandit with rage in his eyes. The same memories that he saw earlier came rushing back, but this time, he finally understood.

"Your face pisses me off," he said as he gathers mana in his hands while grabbing the bandit's face. Water bubbles formed around the man's head, slowly getting bigger every second, until it was finally enveloping the man's head. Ren tossed the man aside but the water bubble remained on him.

The bandit boss struggles as he tries everything he could to remove the water bubble, but every time he tries to grab it, his fingers simply pass through.

"MMMMFFFFMMMMMM" the man screamed from within the water bubble but this only caused him to struggle more violently. A few seconds later, his struggling finally started to slow down, until finally, he was no longer moving.

"..."

"..."

"H-he... he killed the boss! Run!" seeing their leader get drowned in front of them, the other bandits scattered in different directions like a colony of ants after their line has been disturbed.

"Master Ren..."

"Don't assume anything, that wasn't meant for your friend. The guy's face really just pisses me off," Ren said before Karis can say anything else.

Karis finally calmed down after all those crying but her mood is still no better than before.

"Melle already got sold. Ellie is dead. What do I do now?"

"Umm!" the representative of the ex-slaves interrupted their conversation. As Karis and Ren turned around to look at him, they noticed that the ex-slaves that they saved earlier are now on the ground, prostrating before them.

The man who called their attention also went and joined the others prostrating.

"We still haven't did it since it was a bad time earlier, but we would like to thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for freeing us!" the man said.

"Thank you!" everyone else repeated.

"Especially you miss demon. We heard from your companion that it was your idea to free us. We also would like to apologize for detesting you earlier since you were a demon, it was not obvious but we did feel it." he added.

"And to you oh great hero. Without your strength, raiding this camp would have been impossible."

Ren continued looking at them but now his expression have calmed down. He let out a wry smile while subtly looking at Karis for a moment.

"I'm no hero. Well that's not important now. You guys all take care now, I'll be on my way. Take care of this brat while you're at it."

Karis and the man looked at Ren, both of them surprised by what he just said.

"Wait isn't she with you?"

"Ahh, no no, I only helped her free you guys, in fact the main reason I came along was to simply grab some food to eat," Ren explained.

"Then..."

"Well then, I'm off. And you, take care of yourself," Ren gave Karis a light pat on the head before turning around and heading off.

"..."

"..."

Karis quietly looked at Ren's back as he got farther away with each step. The short memories of the time that they spent together came rushing in all at once to her.

The time she fell out of the carriage.

The time he freed her from her bindings.

The display of power he showed against the bandits.

The piece of bread that she received from him that she ate happily.

And finally, the moment she felt his gentle embrace as she jumped to his chest for comfort.

Ren was already a fair distance away as soon as she finished remembering all the memories. Then, in a moment of no hesitation, she lifted her feet. At first it was slow, but gradually she gained speed as she ran towards him.

"Oi!" the man shouted after Karis.

"Huff, huff."

The man's sudden shout made Ren turn around, only to see a demon girl running towards him. Seeing her made him remember the time she was running to him with her hands tied. Back then she coldly ignored the girl but let her hid behind him to escape her pursuers.

The girl, after reaching the right distance, leaped towards Ren. This time, Ren warmly received her embrace as he swung her around to break the fall.

"What are you doing? Those guys are about ready to adopt you into their community. That's your ticket to integrating to humans."

"You're the only one I want to be with!" Karis said as tears once again streamed down her face.

"I want to be with you! I want to be by your side!" she added.

Ren let out a sigh of defeat, then lightly placed his hand over Karis' head, brushing her hair gently.

"Do what you want I'm not stopping you," Ren replied, a hint of happiness can be heard from his voice.

"Then will you grant my wish?"

"Fine. Let's hear it."

"Please..." Karis raised her head to look Ren in the eye.

"Take me with you."

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