Next morning.
The hero party, along with Sukuna, stood outside of the tavern.
"You guys will walk on foot?" Sukuna asked while patting his horse.
"We don't have horses, and there are no carriages around..." Himmel said with a helpless smile on his face.
Usually, adventurers traveled by foot, especially since horses were quite expensive. Plus, the terrain they traversed was not always flat, which made having a horse a difficult task.
After rubbing the black horse's mane, Sukuna decided to walk as well.
Riding the horse wasn't comfortable in the first place; he was just doing it to experience the medieval world.
Having the horse carry their luggage, the hero party, with its new demon member, made its way forward.
Their destination was the last place where the Demon Sage of Corruption, Qual, attacked and killed people.
The place wasn't that far; in less than five hours they managed to reach it.
Himmel, Heiter, Eisen, and Frieren looked at the destroyed remains of the caravan. There were bloodstains everywhere, but all the goods and bodies were gone.
Demons weren't interested in human goods, so they must have been moved by other humans.
As for the bodies...
Either Qual ate them, or the humans who took the goods buried them.
As the hero party was looking around for clues, Sukuna waited patiently on the side.
He knew about a finding-prey technique from the Heian era, but he was curious about Himmel's luck since he was the hero who would kill the Demon King.
They must be able to find something, no?
Turns out, he was correct.
"He should have flown that way....."
The elf mage Frieren said while pointing the glowing tip of her staff northwest.
No one said anything and silently followed behind.
Sukuna walked beside Frieren and casually asked her,
"As an elf, you must have been alive for a long time, right?"
"Why do you ask?" Frieren said without turning her head.
The other members looked at him in curiosity.
"I wanted to ask about a type of magic spell."
"Magic spell? I do know several of them...." Frieren nodded and glanced at him before saying,
"Although I am not sure if I have the magic spell you are looking for."
"A spell to travel to another world," Sukuna said in a calm tone.
But his words instantly caught everyone's attention.
Another world?
Where did that come from?
"What do you mean by another world?" Frieren turned her head to him and asked in curiosity.
"A world different from our own, with a completely different history, geography, and people."
"This..... I do not know of such a spell..." Frieren shook her head.
"Not to mention, I don't think another world like that exists."
'It exists,' Sukuna said calmly in his mind.
The fact that he was here, with the memories of his previous life, was enough to prove the existence of another world.
Himmel looked back at the silent Sukuna and asked,
"Sir, are you researching other worlds?"
"It's just a thought for now, I haven't started doing any research on it yet."
"Sounds like a fantasy," Eisen added from the front.
"Everything is according to the Mother Goddess's wish," Heiter suddenly said in a devoted voice, earning a side-eye from everyone.
Frieren thought for a moment before saying,
"Perhaps Serie might know of such a spell."
Serie, the Living Grimoire.
Before Himmel could ask who she was, Sukuna said,
"Can you tell me where she is?"
"She likes to live in isolation. If she doesn't want to see you, then no matter what I say, you won't be able to meet her," Frieren replied in a calm tone.
Internally, she was a little surprised that Sukuna knew of Serie, but not too shocked considering he was strong enough to hide his mana fluctuation from her.
Someone at his level must have heard of Serie.
"Hm....."
Sukuna fell into thought.
Suddenly, a large bird monster came diving down from the sky, rushing straight at them.
"Everyone watch out!"
Himmel shouted, grabbed Frieren, and quickly jumped away.
At the same time, Eisen also caught Heiter and pulled him back.
Now the only one left
was Sukuna.
Nobody could understand
why Sukuna, who was clearly out of the bird's attack range, very calmly walked into it.
"Watch out!"
Himmel shouted, then quickly moved to help Sukuna.
But before he could even take a step,
Sukuna casually waved his hand. Using a mana burst, he riddled the monster's whole body with holes, instantly killing it on the spot.
"Don't disturb me, I'm thinking."
The earth suddenly moved and swallowed up the whole monster, burying it underground, leaving behind a plain road for Sukuna to walk on.
Himmel and his party stared in silence.
It happened so quickly, they didn't know how to feel.
Even Frieren tightened her grip around the staff.
'He didn't use a staff for his magic.....'
Anyone could use magic without a staff, but the magic would become extremely unstable and receive a certain lag in casting.
Though there were exceptions to this rule.
For a very powerful mage, staffs didn't have much purpose.
Like the Living Grimoire Serie.
...or demons, who were born from mana itself.
But Frieren couldn't sense Sukuna's mana, which eliminated the possibility of him being a demon from the start.
Which meant he was indeed a very powerful mage.
"That was amazing, sir...." Himmel came up to Sukuna with shining eyes.
"I know, I'm the strongest."
Sukuna replied in a casual tone, his mind still fixated on the previous conversation.
If he was able to create a portal-like spell... then he could probably take over other worlds and build a dimensional empire??
The thought intrigued him quite a bit.
Himmel and Heiter looked at each other, wondering how someone could say they were the strongest with a straight face.
"I feel like Serie will definitely like you..." Frieren said with a smug look on her face.
"I would like to meet her as well," Sukuna added.
Then they again began traveling after the clue.
The sun began to set as time passed.
Just as it seemed they would have to camp in the open, the outline of a village appeared in their vision.
The group quickly made their way forward.
As they were approaching the village, Frieren and Sukuna's expressions underwent a subtle change.
'A mana signal... lesser than Lenie in power...' Sukuna thought.
It seemed there was a newborn demon ahead.
Their group quickly stepped foot into the village and saw a crowd gathered around a young demon child and a middle-aged mage, holding pitchforks and knives in their hands.
The demon had long pale blond hair reaching her shoulders, with a pair of white horns extending from her head.
She wore a worn-out black cloak to cover her small body, as a trail of blood was seeping out of her head.
The mage, on the other hand...
was wearing a very familiar cloak, with a very familiar symbol...
'That's my city's crest..... wait! Isn't that Haron??' Sukuna instantly identified the mage as one of the first batch of people he had personally taught and healed at the very start.
Damn, what was he doing here?
Why was he standing so close to the demon?
And who the hell let this idiot out???
"It's just a child....."
Some villagers muttered, seeing the demon's pitiful appearance.
A woman who had been holding a young girl cried out in horror.
"Don't be fooled by her appearance! S-she tried to eat my daughter!"
She pointed at the middle-aged mage wearing a black and red cloak before saying,
"I-if not for him, my daughter would have died!"
"Please calm down..."
The middle-aged mage said with a humble look on his face.
"I was once a villager just like everyone here. I worked in the fields, chopped down wood..... but one day I lost my arm fighting a large wolf..."
"From then on, my life changed completely. I became disabled. Unable to help my family, I became a burden.... Still, I didn't give up and helped in whatever way I could until our village got attacked by a monster and then a dragon...."
"A-a dragon?"
The villagers noticed Himmel and his group but didn't say anything, too focused on Haron's story.
"Half of us died. The monster destroyed our homes, leaving all of us injured..."
Haron paused, then suddenly gave a genuine smile and continued.
"It was then that we were saved by him."
"The Lord of Dawn, Ryomen Sukuna.... our savior..... A demon."
The villagers instantly erupted in a frenzy.
"R-ryomen Sukuna!?!"
"The 8th Demon Sage of Severance!!?"
"I've heard he defeated the entire royal army by himself..."
Mage Haron calmly listened to their murmur. He was already used to it.
For those who hadn't seen his Lord in person, it would definitely be hard to understand how kind he was.
He waited for them to quiet down before continuing.
"Our Lord gave us a new life, helped us get a better home, education, wealth, and much more....."
"He did for us what the Royal Capital never cared for. He saved our lives and gave us new ones...."
Listening to his sincere words,
even Sukuna felt a little moved.
'Perhaps.... I have been too hard on him? But he would never listen when I said demons were bad.....'
"My Lord is great, mighty, kind....."
'Sigh, he thinks so highly of me.....'
"He's light, the guiding light for mankind's future....."
'Okay, that's a bit too much...'
"In fact.... demons are not bad, they're simply misunderstood."
'Wait, hold up! What?!'
Sukuna rubbed his forehead in pain. It was clear to him that this idiot had clearly forgotten everything he had told him about demons.
Beside him, Himmel stood in silence before saying with a small smile,
"Demons.... don't seem to be as bad as everyone says."
"....."
Frieren and Sukuna gave him a blank look.
Himmel didn't care and continued.
"I can tell by his expression and the way he speaks of the Lord of Dawn, all of it is filled with deep faith and reverence."
"You are making a mistake, Himmel. Don't be fooled by their act," Frieren added in a calm tone while raising her staff towards the demon girl.
Suddenly, the demon girl raised her head and said to Haron in a pitiful tone,
"It hurts..... mom...."
Himmel moved in front of Frieren, blocking her attack.
"See, Frieren? Demons are even capable of speech."
He pointed out with a calm look on his face.
"Poor young demon, you're bleeding. Here, let me help you....."
Mage Haron knelt down beside the demon girl, gave her a friendly smile to reassure her, then took out a bandage from his bag to help her.
"Don't worry, no one will hurt you anymore....."
The demon girl turned to Haron, then raised her arms and silently hugged his neck.
"Thank you..... kind sir..."
"It is my duty."
Haron hugged her back with a relieved smile on his face.
It was a beautiful scene.
Some of the villagers even started crying.
Even the hero party was affected.
All except Sukuna and Frieren.
While Frieren was calm, having experienced such situations multiple times,
Sukuna..... was getting annoyed.
Because he knew the demon girl grabbed his neck not to hug him, but to use him as a hostage if the need arose.
Seeing Haron suddenly start crying, he finally lost his patience and walked up to the middle-aged mage under everyone's curious eyes.
Then, before anyone could react, he grabbed the back of Haron's clothes, picked him up like a confused animal cub, and started slapping his face.
*Slap*Slap*Slap*
The scene stunned everyone.
Even the demon girl was taken aback.
Only Haron, the one getting beaten, exclaimed in a pleasant tone,
"L-Lord!?"
*Slap*
'There goes my cover.'
----
Note: Got a sinus surgery scheduled on 17th, wonder how it will go :v