Chapter 43

The situation had finally settled.

“Are you sure you have no interest in joining the knight order?”

“No.”

“But with your skill, you’d receive generous treatment. To put it simply, a comfortable life would be guaranteed. What do you say?”

Even though I had already made it clear I wasn’t interested, the man in front of me—Halbert—kept pressing. As soon as the battle with the ogres ended, the knight in the white cloak had rushed over, introduced himself, and immediately started trying to recruit me into his order.

“I’ll say it again. I refuse.”

I met Halbert’s eyes and spoke in a quiet, level tone. That should be enough, shouldn’t it?

“A-alright then.”

As I expected, Halbert stammered as he took a step back. Yes, that was how it should be. Easier for both of us this way. Strange, though—he had been so persistent just moments ago, and now he backed off so easily.

“Ahem. Ahem! Everyone, we’ll camp here tonight and return to the count’s estate tomorrow morning!”

Halbert cleared his throat a few times and turned away, barking orders at his men while still sneaking glances at me. As the commander, he regained his composure quickly. But the other knights weren’t listening to him at all. They just kept staring at me. It wasn’t often knights looked at a mercenary like that.

“Amazing, isn’t it.”

The voice came from behind me—Medsav. The word amazing could mean many things. I didn’t answer. I knew he’d speak again.

“You don’t seem like the type who likes things sugar-coated, so I’ll be direct.”

Oh? Would I? I turned to face Medsav’s bulky figure, silently telling him to speak. I had a good idea of what he wanted to say, and I had already decided my answer.

“Would you serve as my personal guard? I’ll pay one hundred gold a month.”

His face was set and serious. A hundred gold a month? Enough for a family of four to live comfortably for ten months. A fortune. But compared to the two thousand gold I needed, it was nothing. That would mean twenty months of service. I didn’t even bother to reply.

“Then two hundred a month. Any higher is impossible.”

Medsav’s face hardened further, twitching from the strain of forcing his expression. Two hundred would still mean ten months. And yet he dared say any higher is impossible? Who exactly was asking whom for a favor here?

“The same goes for me.”

I brushed past him with those curt words. Medsav didn’t try to stop me. He must have expected this response. He had asked only on the off chance.

I climbed onto the rear wagon and looked back at him as he stood frozen in place.

“Not leaving yet?”

He jolted back to his senses, rubbed his cheek, and hurried toward the lead wagon. Soon after, the caravan began to move, and the knights faded into the distance, still hacking apart the ogres’ corpses so they could be carried off more easily.

By chance, Sharn had seen me use gold aura. He said nothing. Sunwar’s eyes, on the other hand, had changed—complicated in a way I couldn’t easily read.

As I thought it over, I noticed the merchants in the same wagon stealing glances at me. The sun had already dipped low; the skirmish with the ogres had kept us out there longer than expected.

My pay for today’s fight was five gold. Exactly the amount I needed to join the Mercenary Guild. So, back to square one. Still, word of this battle would spread quickly.

“I see it!”

A cry of joy snapped me from my thoughts. Someone had spotted something ahead. The city gates, maybe?

“City’s in sight!”

That confirmed it. We’d made better time than expected, thanks to the drivers lashing their whips with relentless effort. Once inside, my first request would officially be complete.

“I came to greet you.”

“Welcome.”

Baan received Hiberio calmly, even though his sudden appearance would have startled most.

The two of them stood face to face in a small chamber. A black table and chairs sat nearby, but neither took a seat.

“When will you return?”

Baan asked. Not even Belephor himself had told him when Hiberio would return from the Human Realm.

“Four years. By Human Realm time, I’ll return in four years.”

Hiberio’s voice carried a distant, recalling tone, echoing faintly in the cramped space. As it faded, Baan spoke again, his words tinged with an emotion so subtle it was hard to catch unless one listened closely.

“You may use your power freely in the Human Realm. Lord Belephor has given his permission.”

“……”

Hiberio said nothing. His silence held no surprise. Demonkin were already formidable in sheer physical power—far beyond what most humans could ever withstand. And Hiberio was more than that. He was Belephor’s son, heir to the Demon Realm’s throne.

The mention of unleashing dark mana in the Human Realm should have been startling. Yet Hiberio showed no reaction.

Baan had spoken of permission. Permission from Belephor, the Demon King—the one absolute ruler of ten thousand demonkin, master of the entire Demon Realm. His authority extended even over their strength itself.

It meant he could seal a demonkin’s dark mana. Though in truth, that power was almost never exercised. Unless a grave crime was committed, the Demon King rarely stripped his people of their strength.

But by the treaty between Heaven and the Demon Realm, any demonkin entering the Human Realm was to have their powers sealed. This time, however, Heaven had agreed to an exception.

“And… you need not worry about war.”

Baan hesitated before speaking. The memory of that event rose unbidden—the reason war would not come. He had not seen the Demon King kneel with his own eyes, yet the image forced itself upon him. It made his chest ache with a gnawing weight.

“I see.”

Hiberio’s voice remained unchanged, calm and even. He did not know what Belephor had done. If he had, he would not have sat so still.

While Belephor and Baan were away in Heaven, Hiberio had come to Baan’s quarters. Finding them empty, he lingered nearby. When he sensed Baan’s return, he moved inside.

“I should go.”

“As you wish.”

Hiberio would return in forty years, by Demon Realm time. Four years in the Human Realm passed as forty here, though the flow of time felt the same to both. For mortals, forty years was a lifetime. To demonkin, it was fleeting—hardly more than a breath.

There was no need for more words. He would be back before long.

“Then, farewell.”

Fsssh.

With a short murmur, Hiberio vanished. No incantation. No spell. One moment there, the next gone.

Baan sank into a chair beside him, exhaling a long, heavy sigh, as if something dark and shapeless had been dragged from his chest. It had been a long time since he had sighed like that. For him, sighs meant turmoil. Thought. Burdens.

He would likely remain seated there for a month or more, until his heart found order again.

“Gate!”

Hiberio appeared at the place where Kark had once vanished into a massive portal. He raised his hand, and a new gate opened—only wide enough for one person.

At once, mana surged around him, whipping into a violent vortex. The black gate sparked with harsh blue current, the crackling hiss filling the air with menace.

His violet hair whipped in the storm. His eyes, when they opened, glimmered faintly for the briefest instant. His red lips parted, then closed again without a word.

He stepped forward. Stones ripped from the ground spun in the gale, hurled away, but his movement never wavered.

Another step. And another.

At last, he stood at the very edge of the gate. To keep it open this long consumed enormous mana—but for Hiberio, it was nothing.

He lifted his right foot and set it inside. Blue current coiled up his leg, but he strode on unfazed. His figure vanished into the darkness.

The gate snapped shut behind him, shrinking to a sliver of searing blue before flickering out with a sharp pit. The mana storm collapsed just as quickly, leaving the landscape once again in its natural Demon Realm stillness.

No one knew where in the Human Realm Hiberio would arrive. Not even he did. With no precise coordinates, he had chosen to open the gate into the open sky—safer that way.