Leaving those parting words, I ran away. There was nothing good in pressing a demoness so much. With the Matriarch of the Lust Demon Clan showing interest in , she wouldn't harm , but there was no certainty.
Morgana had a quirk.
Anyone who was weak yet mysterious, clever, and mature attracted her attention.
Most demons looked young despite their age, but she was just around 30, which was like a teenager or puberty for demons.
It was unimaginable and unjust. Alas, what could one do except be jealous? Due to the realm of her parents, she was born at the Warden rank.
Yes, a Warden who had stats between 5 to 10.
Coming out of the room, as I materialized out of my shadow, I spotted the one-roof building at the back. Looking ahead, I saw myriad races of living beings scattered around a dirt horror-stricken area.
The concrete road had turned dirty from prolonged rain. Many gas lamps, the height of an adult male, emitted a bright but misty light due to the smoke around, lighting up the place.
Tents and shelters seed to have been crafted to accommodate the people—the ragged and tired people. I closed my eyes for a mont, and the lively scene of the market, with hawkers, sellers, and pedestrians before destruction, lingered in my mind.
"LUKASSS!"
Saber appeared, screaming my na. Before I could react, he lunged at and started assessing .
"Are you alright? Did that bitch eat you? No... It wouldn't be that quick unless you are a quick shot."
BANG!
"Ouch!"
I punched his head to stop his idiotic thoughts. "I am good, and she didn't touch . What's wrong with you? Don't think about all those filthy things."
Saber rubbed his head and pouted. "You're saying that because you are new. Demons don't have a high fertility rate compared to you humans, and they are quite unreserved. The mont a demon finds soone they like, they make sure to have a feel. In fact, many demonesses have tried to molest ."
"Do you know how hard I fought? I even had to pretend to be impotent to save myself from getting sucked dry. So, with that handso appearance, I doubt you can stay a virgin for long in the Demon Continent, but…"
Saber paused and looked around to see if soone was there. He leaned forward and whispered, "By the way, have you already lost it? I'm sure you must… AH!"
I pinched his ears and pulled him. "I didn't know you were such a trash talker. Now, stop talking and lead to Gremlin. I'm sure he would be worried about us."
---
The shelter tent was bustling with activity.
Healers and dics rushed back and forth, tending to injured demons sprawled on makeshift cots or leaning against the tent walls. The air was thick with the scent of herbs and blood, mingling with the faint, sour odor of damp earth.
Saber led inside, and the scene imdiately caught my attention. A group of young baby demons, their small bodies bruised and scratched, sat in a corner. Despite their injuries, they seed lively. The mont they saw , they scrambled to their feet and rushed toward , their tiny voices overlapping.
"Big brother Lukas!"
They clung to , so tugging at my clothes while others held onto my legs. Their warmth was comforting, but it also made my heart ache. I bent down, patting their heads one by one and reassuring them as best as I could.
"I'm fine, don't cry," I said softly, though the pain in my body was hard to ignore. My bandages seed to alarm them, and a few of them burst into tears, their wails filling the tent.
What surprised was that no one asked about Chris, but as I looked around, I understood. They had already been briefed and told not to ask about him.
This agitated a bit.
I forced a smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey, I'm tougher than I look, rember? These are just scratches. I'll be fine in no ti."
Their sobs quieted a bit, and they nodded, though their wide, tearful eyes remained fixed on .
As I looked past them, my gaze landed on Gremlin sitting near the edge of the tent. His usually calm deanor was overshadowed by a grim, somber expression. His head was lowered, and his hands were clenched tightly in his lap, as though he was deep in thought or wrestling with sothing unbearable.
I frowned, sensing the heaviness in the air around him. Sothing was wrong.
I gently detached myself from the little ones, giving them a reassuring pat before walking toward Gremlin. The closer I got, the more his silence unsettled .
"Gremlin," I said, stopping just in front of him. "What happened?"
Gremlin reacted by raising his chin to look at . That unfamiliar gaze, once filled with vitality, now seed to be questioning . It was a bit unsettling.
Gremlin looked around, catching Saber's and the other cheerful gazes, which made him pause.
Noticing it, I understood a bit. "Kids, can you go around and play? We have sothing to talk about."
"Yes, brother."
"Also, please look after brother Gremlin. He has been like this for quite a while," one of them whispered before running away.
I took a look at Saber, who just shook his head.
Gremlin, who had been silent for a while, opened his lips, making his fangs sprout. "Lukas, you knew this was going to happen, right?"
I was caught off guard by the question and looked at Saber, who also frowned at . I didn't expect Gremlin to ask this.
"So what if I knew, and so what if I didn't?"
Gremlin was visibly stirred, a bit irritated by that response. He opened his lips wide as if wanting to scream, but looking at the bustling scene and busy demons, he clenched his fist as if to suppress his rage and spoke. "Because you could have saved them."
"You could have saved everyone here. Do you know how many died? How many lost their loved ones? And you could have saved this entire outco, but you didn't. And that's what has been eating ."
"Chris… He died just like this."
I wanted to say that he wasn't the only one who died. Many kids lost their parents, and many lost their loved ones, but as I opened my lips to rebuke, surprisingly, I wasn't able to.
"Chris… He was such a lively boy, yet he was killed unjustly."
"Just who should I bla for this?"
Gremlin's voice beca louder, yet it carried a tinge of lancholy.
I sat beside Gremlin and rested on the floor. Honestly, I felt a bit restless eting those earnest eyes. They were the eyes of that kind-hearted, heroic fellow who sacrificed themselves for the world.
It was wrong… It was totally wrong.
Why should I be questioned like that when I wasn't the one responsible for this? But for so reason, I couldn't refute it.
I tried, but I couldn't.
The gaze of the blonde-haired boy who once stole my chocolates seed to appear, questioning .
[Why… Just why didn't you save , Big Brother?]
[Just why?]
As if escaping, I gazed at Saber. "What do you think about this, Saber?"
My voice cracked a bit at the end as I attempted to shift the topic to him, as though looking for relief.
"Do you also have a certain resentnt toward , as if I am the one responsible for this?"
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