An old wagon shuddered continuously as it was dragged through a stony path. The driver, covered completely in a black cloak rode their horse northwest, toward a small settlement visible in the distance.
The expanse around them was a wilderness with stones and rocks scattered about. For over a day now, this traveller moved nonstop, straight away from Gurbarra.
Inside the wagon lay a young boy covered in a black blanket. He was asleep, despite the constant vibration of the wagon.
Meanwhile, the cloaked traveller hummed tenderly as they approached their destination. From the travellers voice, one could correctly assume it was a young girl.
Behind her was someone she had to get to Reel, the small settlement before her. She had been travelling discretely all this time, keeping the young boy hidden as much as she could.
A short while passed and they arrived at Reel, a lively small settlement of mostly bars and inns.
At most times of the day or night, its bars would be occupied by one notorious group of drunks or the other. And so, bar fights were common.
In fact, as the young girl strode in, a man was thrown out of the first bar they came across.
He was flung out the closed wooden doors, breaking through it and crashing into the house directly in front of the bar.
Another brawl. It was quite an unruly place to be in but the young girl barely reacted to it. She simply continued past the noisy bar and further into the town.
There were also preying eyes around. Since she carried a wagon, they wondered what kind of valuables would be there.
But then, none of them would make any moves at her since they could see where she was headed to.
"Must be the brat from earlier" someone said in a low voice.
"Did the boss send her again? Where did she go?"
She paid no attention to any of them.
Finally, she arrived at the bar where she had someone waiting for her and the person she brought with. She stopped and came off the horse.
"You should rest now" she said, patting the horse gratefully before opening the small wooden doors to the bar.
Unlike most bars here, this bar was much quieter, with about ten people inside. She removed the hood over head, revealing a shapely face with pink hair cut very low.
She walked toward the bar counter where the bartender served.
"Ahhh, Irin" the slim middle aged man called her name cheerfully on seeing her. "You're back"
"Yeah" she said tiredly.
"You must be looking for Olin"
"Where is he?" she asked sharply. "Don't tell me that fool left already"
"Ehh, I don't think so. He just stepped outside a moment ago" he explained soothingly.
"A moment ago?" Irin said, thinking back. She was just coming inside now...
Just then, they heard a crash outside. Just where her wagon was. Even her horse neighed in agitation.
Swiftly, she bolted for the exit, scared that something might have happened to the young boy. She was meant to defend him, even at the cost of her life!
As soon as she got past the doors, she could see the carriage had indeed been smashed and a young man in brown robes stood there, with a body hung limply over his shoulders.
Around the man were about three other men, laying trounced on the ground, grunting in pain.
"Olin" she called out upon recognizing him, which relieved her greatly.
"Irin! As I thought, this really is the lad you brought" he said. "You shouldn't leave important people outside with these bastards next time. Especially when they're unconscious"
Then he walked toward the bar. He had a composed demeanor and his gaze, calm, with a piece of cloth tied around his forehead.
"You should be grateful. If not because of your boss, I'd have broken all your bones" he said, looking back at the men, who had just tried to kidnap the boy he carried on his shoulder.
Then, he and Irin disappeared into the inn along with the boy.
Later that evening, the both of them were in a lamplit room, staring at the kid while he slept.
"I see. He hasn't woken up since you retrieved him" Olin said, sitting on a stool close to the boy.
"No, he hasn't" Irin replied, leaning against the door. "He has been in a deep sleep since yesterday"
"Hmm. He must be quite tired" Olin said, observing him more closely.
"Of course he would be, after all that" Irin mumbled.
Olin sighed. "Well, we should let him rest then" he said, then shifted his gaze to Irin.
"So, what did you see?" he asked sedately.
Irin inhaled deeply, constructing her words before speaking.
"I've--never seen anything so terrifying in my life" she said. "Gurbarra was completely destroyed and--everyone at the mines, dead. Both the slaves and their taskmasters"
Olin absorbed the information.
"I see. It must have started from there" he said, looking back at the young boy. "How do we deal with that now?"
Olin thought for some time.
"Did you see how they were killed?" Olin asked. "Were there holes in their heads?"
"That's right. And they were all roughed up as well" Irin answered.
"Heh" Olin laughed tensely. "Must have been the work of a demon. I wonder if he will remember that. Although he must have lost control but if he does remember it, he might lose himself" he said.
Irin understood that much as well.
"The royal investigation may assume the deaths at the mine and the destruction of Gurbarra were of the same cause" Olin continued. "If they do, then they are already on the move. They might have already started rounding up the demon realm enlivened"
His was certain of his deduction.
"We must remain out of sight, Irin"
Irin exhaled deeply. There was more she hadn't told Olin yet.
"One more thing" she began. "The Knight Regel--" she said. "--he's dead. When I arrived, he was already crumbling to ashes" Irin said.
Olin couldn't hide his surprise.
"I see" he said, taking his time to come to terms with that news. He brushed his hair backwards and closed his eyes.
"Regel, huh. He must have channeled a demon strong enough to defeat him" Olin said, then chuckled tensely. "Unbelievable. I never thought anyone could be so compatible with the demon ore"