As he descended, he gradually made out the scene below.
Brightly lit and bustling with activity, yet the place was oddly silent.
It was... unsettling.
A sentence suddenly flashed in Eoryun’s mind, causing him to beco wary. Beneath the cover of his sleeves, a thin layer of magic energy ford on his hands, ready to be unleashed at any mont to save himself in case of an ergency.
As he descended to a certain height, Eoryun finally realized why this place was so brightly lit yet unusually quiet.
After all, how could it be anything but quiet when everyone was standing on the ground with wide eyes, staring up at him?
Being watched like this, Eoryun couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of embarrassnt. The current situation reminded him of when he used to visit the zoo before crossing over.
He couldn’t help but wonder if the animals felt the sa sense of discomfort when surrounded by curious gazes. Right now, he shared that sa feeling of being put on display like a zoo animal.
Stop looking at —it’s so weird, please, he thought to himself, feeling like he was about to cry.
Just as Eoryun was unsure of what to do, he caught sight of soone in the crowd below with a familiar hair color.
Overco with excitent, he shouted, "Illiya! I finally found you! You have no idea how hard it’s been for these past few days!"
On the ground, Illiya: ???
Eoryun knew exactly how impactful his words were, but at this point, he didn’t care anymore. He couldn’t even think about the consequences of what he was doing. His mind was occupied by only one thought—stop staring at him! It was unbearably, excruciatingly awkward!
He hurriedly activated his magic power, trying to land on the ground as quickly as possible. The mont he touched down, he didn’t even bother to steady himself—he stumbled and sprinted straight towards Illiya. Thanks to his enhanced physical abilities, from the mont he started his descent to the second he hid himself completely behind Illiya’s back, it all happened in the blink of an eye.
Illiya: ...
The others: ...
Wasn’t there sothing that just zipped past us?
Before Illiya could even react, he suddenly felt countless gazes converging on him from all directions. None of these looks carried malice; instead, they were filled with curiosity and a hint of teasing amusent.
The most intense of these stares ca from soone standing close by—a certain Demon King’s gaze was particularly scorching, making it impossible for Illiya to ignore no matter how much he tried.
Illiya truly felt hopeless at this mont.
Being watched like this—watched not with malice but with a strange sort of curiosity—this was the ultimate form of social death. No wonder his teacher had so earnestly warned him before his journey: "When traveling outside, you don’t need to have the strongest strength, and it’s okay to have a bad temper or many enemies. But your face must be thick. Rember, it must be thick. You have to be prepared to face the most embarrassing situations without flinching."
Now he understood. He truly, deeply understood—he had attained a profound epiphany.
Because wasn’t he living that exact scenario now? But, dear teacher, he really couldn’t manage to keep his expression calm and indifferent while so many people stared at him like this.
He felt like he was dying inside.
Especially when he felt the tug on his sleeve.
OK, fine.
Illiya felt like even if he jumped into a river, he wouldn’t be able to wash away the suspicion clinging to him now. Was it still possible to insist he didn’t know the person hiding behind him?
It was probably too late.
Because Eoryun had already started his performance.
Once Eoryun had cald his nerves—or rather, once he had reconnected with his reliable partner—he resud his usual persona as the elegant young master, exuding poise and confidence in every gesture.
If only everyone could forget the humiliating scene of him hiding behind Illiya earlier, it would be perfect.
Eoryun seed completely unaware of how embarrassing his earlier actions had been. He clung tightly to the sleeve of the golden-haired elf, refusing to let go, and began to "accuse" his friends of abandoning him without a second thought.
"You all said we’d travel together, but you left behind without saying a word! Isn’t that the definition of a scumbag move? Do you know how devastated I was when I swam up from the sea, ran excitedly to the inn, and discovered you were all gone?"
"Illiya, you’re heartless—"
"You’re a heartless elf—"
"My life is so tragic!"
...
Illiya: ???
The more Illiya spoke, the more heated the surrounding gazes beca.
Their desire to gossip was practically impossible to hide, even though these demon folk still maintained serious expressions.
Their synchronized silence left Illiya speechless.
Even soone as strong-willed as Illiya couldn’t bear being the center of attention like this—especially with a certain chatterbox Illiya at his side, going on and on.
It was a double tornt—ntal torture plus physical embarrassnt—utterly unbearable.
To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, Illiya had no choice but to interrupt Eoryun’s "crusade." He said, "We’ve only been out of the inn for less than a day, right?"
Hearing this, Eoryun imdiately froze.
He carefully thought back to everything he had experienced over the past day, and belatedly realized the glaring detail he had missed.
It seed like from the mont he followed his great aunt into the depths of the sea, then erged alone, and finally crossed the mainland to arrive in the Demon Realm—it had all happened within the span of just one day.
Yes, just one day.
Eoryun: ...
It was hard not to go silent.
Seeing Eoryun’s silence, Illiya began his "counterattack." "First of all, from the mont you parted ways with us to now, it’s been less than a day. Second, we didn’t expect you to co out of the inheritance so quickly. That caught us by surprise. And third, we also entered the Demon Realm by accident, so it’s not like we disappeared intentionally or deliberately abandoned you."
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