Escape from the Demon Continent

The dim basement beneath the livestock shed reeked of animal dung, and the air was stale.

Elizabeth and the others complained, but we had no choice but to endure it.

There was nowhere safer in the entire Demon Continent than this place.

With every exhalation, the irritation in the room mounted, but footsteps suddenly sounded overhead, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense.

The prince and Roki half rose and drew their blades. Ekaterina took hold of her staff, but I reached out and stopped her. Magic was dangerous in such a confined space.

The footsteps stopped directly above us. Two steps, then one, then three. After the signal, the wooden board in the ceiling was slowly removed, and the faces of a young girl and her mother peered through the gap.

"Michelle-san. Sera."

I let out a relieved breath and invited them inside.

They had been brought to the Demon Continent as slaves after the Demon King's army destroyed their homeland.

They were also our allies.

When we first infiltrated the continent, we had no information at all.

We knew neither the continent's name nor even what it looked like on a map. We did not know the Demon King's face or where he was.

Our plan had been to go there and gather information on the ground. Even I had to admit it was reckless. But we had no other choice, and the people who had been brought here as slaves were the ones who supported that absurd plan.

They provided us with hideouts and shared their food with us. They also gathered information about the Demon King.

Everything we knew about the Demon King's movements and his seclusion in the temple had come from them. Without their help, we never would have defeated the Demon King.

"Sorry for the delay. It isn't much, but..."

Michelle-san held out a bag. Inside were bread and a canteen filled with water.

We were hungry and thirsty. Everyone eagerly reached for the food and quenched their thirst.

Little Sera watched the prince and the others eat with longing in her eyes, but she swallowed her words and pressed her lips tightly together.

"I'm not very hungry, so why don't we share it?"

I was hungry too, but I broke the bread in half and offered one piece to Sera.

The girl was delighted, and her mother apologized, but this food had originally belonged to the two of them.

The two of them ate slowly together.

"So the magic ship still isn't departing?"

After finishing the bread, I asked Michelle-san. In the large harbor east of this city, a magic ship built by the Demon King was moored.

An unbelievably vast ocean stretched between the Demon Continent of Gordia and the Axis Continent where we lived.

Storms were frequent, and ocean currents blocked the way, making it impossible for ordinary sailing ships to cross. Sailors had set out many times in the past, but none had ever returned.

Yet somehow, Zergis had used the mysteries of magic to build a ship powered by magic, crossed the storm-tossed ocean, and invaded our Axis Continent.

We needed to stow away on the magic ship to return home, but the commotion during the day had led to heightened security, and the ship's departure had been postponed. We could no longer leave the city, either.

"Yes, the ship's departure has been postponed. I don't know when it will resume."

The prince cursed at Michelle-san's words.

"Damn it, we don't have time to be held up here!"

I wanted to tell him that they were the reason for this, but I desperately held my tongue.

Pointing out someone else's blunder would accomplish nothing. I had made several mistakes myself on the way here. They had cost me my engagement, but unless we returned to our kingdom, defeating the Demon King would have been meaningless.

I reminded myself of that and considered our next course of action. The problem was when the magic ship would depart.

As far as I could tell, news of the Demon King's death had not yet spread.

To prevent confusion, his death was probably being concealed. The current state of heightened security was likely merely a pretext for searching for the rebels who had caused the explosion.

But there was no telling what would happen next. They might lift the heightened security to conceal the Demon King's death, or they might announce his death and conduct a thorough hunt for the assassins.

"When do you expect Thomas-san to return?"

Michelle-san's husband, Thomas-san, was working as forced labor at the harbor.

He was the one who had discovered us hiding in the cargo and brought us to this hideout.

He came from a family of knights and supervised the people assigned to forced labor, giving him access to a great deal of information.

"My husband should return by sundown. Please wait until then."

I desperately wanted information from outside, but there was nothing to do except wait.

When I lowered my gaze, little Sera had finished her bread and was touching her left arm with her right hand. Her fingertip traced a welt-like scar. It was a whip mark.

There were many children on the Demon Continent. The demonfolk deliberately prioritized bringing couples with children who were too young to serve as laborers to the Demon Continent.

They probably intended to raise the children and use them as slaves, but more than that, they used them as tools of control.

When a slave rebelled, the demonfolk whipped the slave's child instead of the slave.

If a slave was injured or died, they would lose a source of labor. By beating the children, they bound our hearts and kept us obedient.

At first glance, it might seem like an effective method, but it was a serious mistake.

No one could watch a child being beaten and remain unmoved. We were still obeying for the sake of our children, but even after being treated as slaves, our spirits had not been broken. In fact, many people were cooperating with us.

Unable to bear looking at the wound, I turned to Elizabeth.

Recognized as a saint by the Salvation Church, she possessed the power of a healer, able to heal wounds. Her power was astounding: she could reattach severed arms and even restore lost organs. It was truly a miraculous power worthy of a saint.

Yet even after seeing Sera's injuries, Elizabeth did not move, nor did she even consider treating them.

She would heal the prince immediately if he suffered the slightest injury, but she pretended not to notice anyone else's wounds.

Even during life-or-death battles, she clearly devoted a disproportionate amount of healing to the prince and tended to ignore the others. Of course, she would heal her companions if they asked, but her unwillingness to act unless prompted had not endeared her to the other two.

And I had to wonder what kind of attitude that was for a saint.

There were many healers in the world who could treat wounds, but Elizabeth's healing abilities were peerless. That was why she had been recognized as a saint and brought along on this journey, but she seemed to have badly misunderstood her position.

Whenever wealthy people or powerful nobles were injured or fell ill, she immediately offered to treat them for free. Yet when a mother traveling with a sick child begged her tearfully for treatment, she refused. Even when people were wounded after the Demon King's army burned their village and destroyed their homes, she simply walked past them without a second thought. I wondered what the founder of the Salvation Church, the Child of Healing who had once traveled around healing the poor, would say if she saw this.

"I'll put some ointment on those."

I took out some ointment I had made myself and applied it to the wounds on Sera's arm. Then I found several other small injuries and rubbed ointment into those as well.

Perhaps the contact tickled, because Sera squirmed. Pretending to apply medicine, I tickled her and playfully brushed my fingers over her sides and back. Sera broke into a delighted giggle.

Since we were hiding, I could not let her make too much noise and soon stopped. Still, seeing a child's smile soothed my heart.

Even so, I was angry with Elizabeth. This was supposed to be a saint's role.

Of course, I was not saying she had to heal and treat every person's wounds like the Child of Healing. That would only cause trouble for us.

But if she was known as a saint and intended to take the prince's former fiancée's place, this would not do.

Kings and other powerful people were, in a sense, in the popularity business. Practical benefits were important, but sometimes one had to accept a loss in order to gain renown.

Above all, what kind of saint failed to heal the person right in front of her?

While venting my anger at Elizabeth inwardly, I smiled at Sera and played with her a little.

If there had been flowers, I could have made her a flower crown, but there was nothing suitable here. At best, I could make a crown of woven straw or a crude doll.

Even so, Sera was delighted by the toys and smiled at me. Her happiness soothed my heart all over again.

Thomas-san returned after sunset.

Worn down by the harsh forced labor but still sharp-featured and vigorous, Thomas-san immediately approached the prince upon his return.

"Prince, could it be...?"

"Yes. We defeated the Demon King."

The prince showed him the severed head.

"Ooooooh!"

Tears streamed down Thomas-san's face when he saw the Demon King's head.

The long-cherished goal of defeating the Demon King had finally been achieved. Thomas-san must have felt as though all the hardships and suffering they had endured had finally been lifted.

"We must return to our kingdom and tell them of the Demon King's death. Can't you somehow get the magic ship moving? You work there, don't you?"

The prince asked this, but it was an absurd request. Slaves mainly performed simple manual labor. There was no way Thomas-san would know how to operate a magic ship.

"I understand. Leave everything to me."

Thomas-san accepted the task anyway. Did he have some sort of plan?

"Thomas-san, I'm sorry to ask this, but could you procure some salt? We need to salt this head to preserve it."

I felt guilty asking him for something like that, but the head would rot if we left it as it was. We had to salt it to prevent decomposition.

"Understood. I'll arrange for a tub as well. Is there anything else you need?"

When Thomas-san asked, the three women stepped forward.

"Hey, could you get us a little more food? Fruit would be nice, if possible."

"I want to bathe. I haven't had a proper bath in ages."

"I want some perfume. The one I was using has run out."

The women made one unreasonable demand after another. I was embarrassed just listening to them.

Whenever they went outside, they were whipped as slaves.

Slaves could hardly go shopping whenever they pleased, so the only alternative was to steal. If they were caught, they would either be whipped nearly to death or killed outright.

I looked at the prince, urging him to stop them, but he did not.

It was the prince's duty to admonish and guide them. But he was intoxicated by his status as a hero.

A man drunk on himself could not see what was happening around him. His sole priority had become defeating enemies as stylishly as possible.

Even in the final battle against the Demon King, he had insisted on a straightforward duel and suffered an attack so devastating that, for a moment, we thought he had died.

Elizabeth's healing had arrived in time and somehow saved him, but if he had been less concerned with fighting honorably, we could have secured a far more certain victory.

I understood that he had to maintain appearances as royalty, but the fate of not only one man, but the kingdom and perhaps all humanity, had rested on that battle. This was no time to invoke justice or chivalry. We could tack those things on afterward.

Besides, the prince had treated Thomas-san and the others lightly—no, he had looked down on them. His attitude made it clear that he saw himself as a hero and them as slaves, inferior people from a ruined country. That attitude had reached the three women as well, encouraging their selfishness.

Their requests were outrageous, but Thomas-san accepted them anyway and actually procured everything.

In addition to the salt and tub I had requested, he brought two small citrus fruits, a little bottle of perfume, and a tubful of hot water.

I could not imagine how much trouble it had taken to obtain all of this, but the three women complained that the fruit was sour, the scent was not to their liking, and there was not enough hot water.

It was late into the night when Thomas-san promised that he would somehow get the magic ship moving by the next day.

Thomas-san's resolute eyes, Michelle-san's gentle smile, and Sera's innocent grin were the last sights I would ever see of them.

We spent the night taking turns keeping watch, but at dawn, the prince's voice woke me.

"Romelia. This is bad."

I sprang to my feet at once and looked around, immediately preparing for trouble.

The prince and the other three stood around me with anxious expressions. What had happened?

"What is it?!"

"It's terrible. My weapons have been stolen."

"They used magic on us, and then everyone fell asleep."

The prince and Ekaterina spoke over each other. Elizabeth, who had been on watch, turned her gaze away as if to say it was not her fault.

"We need to escape right now."

It was an obvious conclusion, but I stopped them.

"Wait a moment. The only things stolen were the prince's sword and armor, correct?"

Roki's weapons and Ekaterina's staff were still there. The Demon King's salted head had not been stolen, either.

"Those three betrayed us."

"I never trusted them from the beginning."

I had indeed been wary of betrayal.

In harsh and brutal circumstances, a person's humanity could be stripped away with ease. I had seen countless people betray others for the slightest reward or the simple peace of knowing they would not be whipped that day.

But this was different. Could it be...?

"I agree that we should act. But first, we need to assess the situation."

I had Ekaterina cast Colorless Magic, then we left the hideout.

There were no enemies in sight. If we had been betrayed, the surrounding area should already have been swarming with demonfolk.

Roki had her blade ready to cut down any enemy who appeared, but I urged her to sheathe it. We were in the very heart of enemy territory. If we cut down one person, everyone else would come running. We had to move without being discovered.

Noisy voices could be heard from the main street. I signaled that we should go investigate, and we moved together as one group. Colorless Magic made us invisible, but it did not erase sound. It also prevented us from moving quickly, so using it came with several restrictions. Even so, it was indispensable for infiltration missions. Without this magic, we never could have assassinated the Demon King.

We took a back alley and emerged onto a broad street, where a crowd had gathered. Demonfolk passing by and people being forced to carry cargo as slaves had all gathered to watch the center of the commotion.

At the center, soldiers from the Demon King's army waved their spears and urged the crowd to disperse. Among the soldiers, human arms and legs protruded from beneath a rough cloth. I could not see the face, but the armor and sword worn by the man were the prince's.

"What is this? What happened?"

The prince stood there dumbfounded, unable to understand.

"It's Thomas-san. He made himself a decoy for us."

The heightened security would not be lifted until the intruders were found, and the magic ship would not depart. In other words, once the intruders were found and killed, the heightened security would be lifted.

The Demon King's army had seen the prince's flashy armor many times that day. That was why Thomas-san had stolen the prince's weapons and armor and made himself a decoy.

The Demon King's soldiers brought in a cart and loaded the body onto it like a piece of cargo so they could remove it.

For an instant, the cloth slipped, revealing the face of a young woman and the hand of a little girl.

I could not bear to watch and turned my eyes away.

The relatives of anyone who had plotted to assassinate the Demon King would naturally be punished. Rather than be tortured and killed, the three of them had acted together and met the same end.

Why had I not anticipated this? Why had I failed to realize it when I saw the resolve in Thomas-san's face? I blamed myself for what I had done yesterday. But no matter how much I blamed myself, the three of them would never return.

Suddenly, screams rang out, and a large number of soldiers from the Demon King's army entered the street. One after another, they began arresting the people being held as slaves.

"What are they doing?!"

"Humans tried to start a rebellion, so they are arresting them as dangerous elements."

"What will happen to them now?"

"I don't know. In the worst case, they may be executed."

They had already been incorporated into the labor force, so they probably would not kill everyone. But they might execute several people as an example, and the slaves' treatment would become even harsher from now on.

"What?! Then we have to save them!"

The prince was outraged when he saw women and children being captured and whipped. But I stopped him.

"No, we can't!"

We might have been able to defeat a few soldiers, but we could not defeat them all. Besides, if we did that, Thomas-san's sacrifice would have been wasted.

"Now that the cause of the alert has been resolved, there is no reason to maintain heightened security. The ship may depart now. We must board it immediately."

If we missed this opportunity, there probably would not be another.

"But we have to save them. They'll be killed."

"I know. But bringing news of the Demon King's death back to our kingdom takes priority over everything else."

Defeating the Demon King alone was not enough. We had to bring news of his defeat back to our kingdom, inform the invading Demon King's army, and shatter its will to fight. Only then would our victory have meaning.

This information was worth more than the lives of several hundred people. It would halt the Demon King's army's advance and become the signal for a counterattack. It would save even more lives. We had to deliver it at any cost.

Besides, I had known this would happen sooner or later.

Once the fact that humans had defeated the Demon King spread, people would naturally begin to view the slaves as a threat, and they would be punished. The people who had helped us had known that, yet they had helped us anyway.

When I decided to abandon them, the prince and the others looked at me with contempt, as if I were a coldhearted woman. But no matter what they thought of me, I would not change my decision.

Without looking back, we moved on and slipped among the cargo in the magic ship.

With a drawn-out sound like a horn, the magic ship departed, just as I had expected.

I stared through a gap between the boards at the receding Demon Continent until it vanished from sight—and even after it vanished, I kept watching.

I would return. I would, no matter what.

The nails of my clenched fists dug into my palms and drew blood, but I felt no pain.

I vowed, with a fist clenched harder than ever, that I would rescue them.