Chapter 6
Rex called out to the girl, who seemed to be searching for something in front of the pedestal.
But the girl didn't seem to notice the Hero's party at all. She was frantically examining the pedestal.
"What are you doing?! Who are you?!"
When the girl showed no response, the Hero lost patience and shouted at her.
At last, perhaps noticing them, the girl stiffened for a moment and cautiously turned around. A red braid peeked out from beneath her hooded cloak. Her large eyes still held a clear childish innocence, and her small, neatly shaped nose and mouth were set in a face glaring at them with unconcealed hostility.
"Rex-sama... That girl has an incredible amount of magic for a child..."
Before she could wonder why a girl was here, Kururu sensed the strange magic emanating from her and stiffened.
"Yeah... That girl is probably a demon. No wonder there are so many monsters in the dungeon."
The moment they judged the girl before them to be an enemy, Rex and the others took up battle stances.
There were three main races in this world.
First, humans; then monsters; and finally demons, who stood between the other two races. They were said to have come into being as monsters began appearing in great numbers throughout the world.
They looked almost exactly like humans, but had horns somewhere on their heads that held vast amounts of magic.
And their nature was very different from that of humans.
Their intelligence and physical abilities were superior to humans' in every way. Even at the same Level, their intelligence was on par with that of a human Sage, while their physical stats were on par with a Hero. That was what demons were.
"What are you doing in a place like this...? No, I know! You're after the holy sword, aren't you?"
As Rex said this and took a step closer, the girl stepped back. The top of the pedestal, which she had been obscuring, came into view, and Rex realized the holy sword was no longer embedded in it.
"You... What have you done with the holy sword?"
Humans and demons were enemies. That meant a powerful weapon usable only by a human Hero could only be a threat to demons. Rex assumed it was only natural that they would target it.
But he didn't stop to wonder why a young demon girl had appeared at this particular moment.
Even if they were children, demons were enemies who had to be defeated. All humans were taught to see them that way. Their reason for being there didn't matter; finding one meant executing them on the spot.
This was because the magic of demons and humans differed in nature.
The magic emitted by a demon's horns served as nourishment for the creation of monsters. Spawn blocks, which absorbed magic and produced monsters, responded only to the magic of demons.
If a demon entered a dungeon, the magic leaking from them would be absorbed, causing monsters to appear. This could only be a disadvantage for humans.
Naturally, monsters never attacked demons. In fact, they might even obey commands from the demons whose magic was the source of their creation.
Of course, demons and monsters could become enemies if their lives were at stake. But since they weren't normally hostile to each other, such a situation wouldn't arise, and demons were treated just like monsters.
Unless the demons were wiped out, monsters would never disappear from this world. Humanity's greatest goal was to defeat the Demon King, who possessed immense magic and continued to create monsters.
"Answer me! Where is the holy sword? How did you take it out of here?!"
The holy sword could only be drawn by someone with the Role of Hero. And yet, it was no longer embedded in the pedestal. The girl didn't appear to have taken it with her, either.
"I... didn't do anything. I didn't take it!"
The girl answered in a whisper, sweat running down her forehead, as the Hero shouted as if ready to attack at any moment.
In fact, she didn't appear to be hiding the holy sword, and she wasn't tall enough to conceal it completely.
"Rex-sama... What should we do?"
"She's more likely lying... Either way, she's a demon. Let's take her down."
The moment he said this, Rex raised his drawn sword toward the sky and began gathering his energy.
A bluish-white light then appeared across his body and flowed into the sword he held aloft.
"Even though she's still a child, don't approach carelessly. We'll take her down all at once with ranged attacks."
Parnah and Kururu nodded at Rex's instructions and began chanting spells.
Then, as soon as Rex gave the signal, countless ice blades appeared around Kururu and flew toward the girl.
Parnah sent blades of wind at her, while Rex unleashed a blade-shaped flying slash of dazzling light that raced straight toward her.
"...Wha—?!"
At that moment, perhaps it was a trick of the eye, but they saw something fly toward the girl even faster than the attacks Rex and the others had unleashed. It came to an abrupt stop right in front of her and took every one of their attacks upon itself.
"You guys... What are you doing, ganging up on a little kid?"
When Rex's final flying slash struck its target, a loud explosion sounded and smoke billowed up. From within it, a calm, relaxed voice directed that question at Rex.
"...Who are you? Are you her ally?!"
Wary of the figure hidden in the smoke, Rex and the others took several steps back.
Parnah immediately used magic to summon a gust of wind, sweeping away the smoke.
"Who... are you?"
The entire Hero's party stared suspiciously at the bizarre sight. Standing in front of the girl was unmistakably a human.
He was a young man wearing cloth and leather gear far too light for such a high-difficulty dungeon—or rather, it looked more like ordinary clothes than proper equipment.
He had short black hair and an utterly ordinary face, and despite the situation, he was yawning.
"Huh...? Me? Just a villager passing by."