I held Lina's hand as we quietly walked to a spot where we could see the village chief's house. Then we crouched down and hid in the bushes.
From there, I saw demons surrounding the chief's house from all directions. I looked left and right but couldn't find anyone who looked like their leader.
However, one demon caught my eye—a tall, muscular figure with two red horns on its head. It looked just like a bull.
At that moment, the door of the chief's house opened. A man walked out, his hair a strange mix of colors—yellow, pink, and purple.
Because the other demons blocked my view, I could only see his head. I decided to call him "Tricolor Head."
Suddenly, someone was thrown into the air—it was the village chief. Tricolor Head raised his blade and let the chief fall right onto it.
The chief's body bent backward like a bow. With a flick of his arm, Tricolor Head tossed the body off the blade. Then he brought the bloodstained sword to his mouth and licked the blood from it.
(That's… disgusting.)
Watching him lick the blood made me feel sick. In my previous life, I had seen villains like this in dramas—psychopaths who always had to taste the blood of their victims.
Every time I saw that, I wondered, "Does blood even taste good? And don't they ever cut their tongues?" People like that are truly deranged—obsessed with blood to the point of madness, never satisfied until they see it spill.
I turned to Lina. She was staring at the demons, terrified but not backing away. Her hand clutched mine tightly, as if afraid I might let go. I squeezed her hand back and looked toward the demons again.
After licking the blood, Tricolor Head turned to the Red Bull and said something.
Whatever it was, the Red Bull snorted and gave an order. Tricolor Head nodded, then led the demons eastward. Only when all the demons were gone did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.
There was a mountain to the east, and… a cave? Ah!
I remembered—Father once said that if anything ever happened to the village, we should hide in that cave. But now that the demons had gone east, they'd probably find it.
When I was little, Father used to take me there to play. He told me it was his and Uncle Gray's secret base, and that if something ever caused chaos in the village, I should go there and wait for him to come get me once everything settled down.
But if the demons were heading that way, did that mean they came from the east?
Now that we'd seen the leader, the sky was getting darker. The moon had already risen. Still, I wasn't sure where the demons had come from, so for now, we'd return to the clearing.
The forest was full of fruit trees, and there was a river beside the clearing—food and water were guaranteed. We just needed a place to sleep.
＂Lina, let's go back to the field.＂
＂Why? Didn't the demons leave?＂
＂They might come back. We can't return to the village yet. We'll check again tomorrow, okay?＂
I said that because Lina looked anxious after the demons left. She wanted to rush back to her uncle's house, but I stopped her—making her disappointed.
＂…Alright.＂
Lina nodded, her voice low and resigned. Seeing her like that filled me with guilt. I'd been forcing her to go against her own wishes, yet she still listened to me without complaint.
(Lina… thank you for understanding me. I'll make it up to you someday.)
On our way back to the clearing, we picked some bluish fruits that looked like grapes but grew on trees—Clarity Berries.
Clarity Berries were a deep sapphire blue and gave off a faint fragrance when ripe, capable of keeping small insects away. Eating them calmed the mind and helped with sleep.
When we reached the field, the moonlight shone bright since there were no trees to block it. We didn't even need a fire. That was a small blessing.
We sat down and started eating the berries. I looked at Lina—her snow-white hair shimmered under the moonlight like a jewel. She looked… beautiful.
＂Karen, where are we going to sleep?＂
Lina asked after finishing her berries. The Clarity Berries were already working—she looked sleepy.
＂Just a moment.＂
I stood up, walked behind a large tree, and peeked out at her.
＂Let's sleep against the tree. It'll be less cold that way.＂
Sleeping on the ground would make us catch a chill, but leaning against the trunk would block the wind.
＂Mm.＂
When Lina agreed, I sat down and rested my back against the tree. Soon after, she appeared from the other side and sat next to me.
＂Lina, good night.＂
＂Good night, Karen.＂
I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep—but I couldn't yet. My mind kept spinning.
(What should I do next? I don't know if the demons will leave tomorrow… how do I find out?)
I kept thinking about how to track them, but drowsiness slowly took over. My consciousness started to fade—until I felt something heavy on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw Lina's head resting against me. She was sound asleep.
(Might as well sleep too… too much happened today. I just hope I don't have nightmares.)
Watching her peaceful sleeping face, I felt my own eyelids grow heavy. I closed my eyes again—and this time, I really fell asleep.