Chương 139: Chapter 123. Wendy

" DON"T KILL ME! PLEASE!" The little girl began to cry as she saw my shadow cover her." Lord Matthew! What is it!?" Ruby appeared after seeing that I stopped my attack." Lord Drake!" Edmon arrived soon after Ruby. I looked at them and then we all looked at the little girl. I looked back at them and spoke in a confused tone." What is a Human doing here?" / Sniffle/ The little girl continued to cry." I'd hate to point out the irony of you saying that, Lord Drake. But I'm also at a loss. How could a human get here?""

Is she a Spy?" Ruby bent down to look at the kid then she picked the kid up by her arm. She began to cry harder when she saw Ruby's face." AHHH!" pain!" She has some pipes on her... Ruby, set her back down. I doubt she's a Spy. A Spy wouldn't have been caught so easily like she was." Ruby did as I asked, and the girl curled up in the fetal position, when she reached the ground. She continued to cry as she curled up." Don't eat me... Please..." The girl whimpered that out between rapid breaths.

I turned to Ruby and Edmon." Do Demons eat Humans?" Both Ruby and Edmon shook their heads." I've heard stories of Demons doing that in the past when food was scarce to come by, but the act of eating a creature you can have a conversation with, while not a crime, is looked down upon. From what I understand, there hasn't been any public consumption of human flesh for around 3000 years. I can't answer for what people do in the privacy of their own homes however." Edmon answered my question.

I had another question for both of them though." Either of you thinking about taking a bite out of the kid or me?" They shook their heads furiously at that." I would never, Lord Matthew! How could you even think I'd do something that barbaric!?"" I have a similar opinion, Lord Drake!" Ruby and Edmon spoke quickly in succession to my question." Good, I'd hate to be looked at as an emergency meal. Did you hear that kid? They may be Demons, but they're not man eaters.

And I'd rather starve than partake in cannibalism."" Cannibalism!?" My words shocked the girl out of her crying fit. She stared at me and began to mumble." A... Human!?"" Yeah, last I checked."" What are you doing with Demons!?"" Hunting game for training."" No, that's not what I mean!"" Lord Matthew, stop teasing her already. I'm starting to feel bad for her."" A Demon!" The girl took another look at Ruby and seemed to remember why she was so fearful before." Seems you scared her?"

I look at Ruby with a teasing smile on my face as I speak. Ruby just seems exasperated by the Human girl's reaction. I turn back to the Human girl and begin to speak." Okay, I think that's enough crying for now. If we wanted to hurt or eat you, we would've done that by now." The girl grew silent and looked at us. She seemed scared still, but she was apparently listening to me." My name is Matthew Drake. I'm the Demon King's Paladin. You may have heard of me.

I beat and turned the Hero of Promethia away from the Northern Border of Diablos last year. Does that ring a bell to you?" The girl nodded." Why did you stop him? The Hero was supposed to defeat the Demon King and save Humanity."" Save them from what exactly? If you're referring to the Demon attacks that happen in Promethia and other territories that are farther away from Diablos. They have nothing to do with Diablos and the Demon King.

They're done by a sore loser who lost the battle for the Throne and his followers. And rather than submit to King Warrick Dreadnaught, he ran away like a child not willing to admit they were wrong." Everyone looked at me with surprised expressions. I look at Ruby and Edmon and question their reactions." What? That's what that fool Dardus did, didn't he?" Both of them looked at me and chuckled a little to themselves." While yes, that is the case... We've just never heard it described that way before, Lord Drake.

It is funny to think of that Dardus as a child throwing a tantrum about losing to King Warrick." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation." Quite fitting in a way!" Ruby began to have a hardy laugh. I turn back the kid. Who at this point, seems to believe Demons were not capable of true laughter. Or at least, that's what her expression of disbelief tells me." As you can see, they don't particularly have a high opinion of those attackers either.

From what I've learned, King Warrick has even sent Assassins and the like to take out Dardus and his group as they're a thorn in his side when it comes to his plans for the future."" He has plans for the future?"" Doesn't every King?" This kid just tried to dig for information. Well, I've been a little loose lipped to be honest. Granted... She still doesn't seem like a spy. More like a curious child." So, kid. I answered a question for you, why don't you answer one for me? What's your name?"

The little girl was still guarded, but she seemed open to talking to me." Its... Wendy."" Nice to meet you, Wendy. Like I said, I'm Matthew. This is Ruby Flameskin and this is Edmon Iceskin. I'm their Lord. Something like a Village Head for big towns or cities. We're out here hunting for food and because I need to train. Why are you here?" Wendy, who had stopped holding her arms in front of her face. Showed me that she had dirty brown hair and brown eyes, like a doe almost...

And she's as skinny as a newborn doe as well... But despite how weak and frail she looks, in those brown eyes of hers, I saw a glimmer as I mentioned why we were out here." I'm here for the same reason!" She seems to be opening up to me a bit." Why are you gathering food here? Are you hungry?"" We all are."" We?" Edmon and Ruby spoke in unison. I waved my hand to tell them to be quiet. I then look at Edmon and speak." Edmon, give me my lunch for today from your Mana Storage please."

Edmon did as I asked, and he handed me a sandwich and container full of hot soup that Anna had prepared for me." Here, Wendy, eat. You look like you haven't eaten in days. Here, it's not poisoned or anything, watch."" Why would you poison food?"" I ask people that same question when I heard about someone doing that exact thing." Bite. I bite into the sandwich that Anna made me. It's delicious and filling.

The meat is tasty, but doesn't overpower the veggies or the sauce in the sandwich, they all join together in harmony. After I bite into it, Wendy joins me after seeing my reaction to my first bite. We finish the sandwich and soup pretty quickly." That was good! It's the best meal I've had in weeks! I wish everyone could've had some!"" Wendy, you keep using plural words, are you traveling with people instead of being lost?"

Wendy listened to my question and her ears wiggled, and she had a look on her face as if she failed at something." Relax, Wendy. I'm not going to hurt anyone. Nor are my people going to. Well, unless someone tries to hurt them, I suppose? Do you, or the people you're with, plan on hurting anyone?" Her eyes darted from left to right quite quickly at my words. She seemed to understand that I realized she was traveling with others." No! We don't want to hurt anyone! We're just trying to make our way to Kuga!

It's South of here!" Perhaps she was thinking we may have taken her lack of an answer as confirmation her group did wish to do harm to us, Wendy horridly corrected us. However, I had a question." What's Kuga?"" Haaa... Lord Drake.... Kuga is the Country of the Dwarves." Edmon answered my question." Ah, right! They had a Country, didn't they? Whoops! Slipped my mind! To be fair, I had to cram a lot of knowledge in my head about Governing before I came to Office here!"

I laughed a bit, then turned my eyes back to Wendy, who seemed relieved that I wasn't angry." So, Wendy... Why are you out looking for food? Shouldn't one of the adults of your group be doing that? Or a boy? No offense."" Well, we are... It's just that... None of our group are really fighters. Or were trained to fight a little. We're from Atheis after all."" Atheis?" Wendy looked at me with some shock in her expression." You don't know about Atheis!? It's the Commerce Capital of Promethia!

My Dad and Mom are some of the most Skilled gem cutters in the world! That's why we're going to Kuga!" Wendy got angry at me for not knowing about her hometown. But a Commerce Capital? This might not be a bad find in all honesty. However, before that, something didn't add up for me." Wendy, if Atheis is the Commerce Capital of Promethia, and your parents are some of the best Craftsmen around, why leave on a dangerous journey to Kuga? Especially when it means crossing through a Demon controlled area?

I mean, I know my lands are past the Eastern border, but shouldn't Humans want to avoid Demons at all costs?" Wendy started to get sad again at my questions. Before long, after calming down, she answered me." It's because of that dumb noble! And that dumb Hero Party!" I waited for Wendy to explain. She began to... And in quite a spirited fashion." You see! Before I was born! There was this dumb nobleman put in control as Lord of Atheis!

You would think they'd put a guy who knows about Business and Economics, but no! They put in a guy who only knew how to increase his own wealth! He increased taxes to an almost unbelievable amount! It was nearing 60%! before Mom and Dad and other Business Owners had enough! They Petitioned the King to put someone new in charge! They even included evidence that that idiot was altering the Official Records so he could keep tax revenue to himself!

The King sent the Hero and his Party to arrest the noble, but funnily enough, the noble put up a fight with mercenaries and they ended up wiping out the street that Our Business was run on! So, Emily, who lost her dad in the fight, and all the remaining Adults decided to pack our bags and head to Kuga!"" Wendy! Wait! I get that its anger inducing, but slow down! I can only take in information so fast!"" Huh!? Oh!... Sorry..."" Just call me Matthew for now." Wendy smiled at my words." Okay, Matthew!"

"... Lucky..."" Huh?"" Nothing!" Ruby just mumbled something while I was talking to Wendy. I turn back to Wendy and begin to see if I had the list of events right." Okay. A corrupt lord made life hard for everyone. So, they gathered evidence that the King of Promethia saw. Right?" Wendy nodded her head to me." Next, he sent the Hero Party to remove them. A fight breaks out between the Hero Party and mercenaries hired by the corrupt noble." More nodding... Good!"

They destroyed a street that had a bunch of Businesses on it, and even had civilians die from the destruction?"" Yes..." Wendy seemed sad at that part. I could understand why." Then you and your group, decided it wasn't worth sticking around and decided to move to Kuga?"" Yes."" Okay. So, are you looking for food because you didn't pack enough before leaving Promethia?" Wendy shook her head at my question." Then why?"" Well... We had enough food for the journey. We had 4 months' worth of food...

But we're stuck right now." Seems something went wrong during their travels? Not the first time something like that happened to people, I'm sure... I decided to see what it was regardless." What happened, exactly?'" We were attacked by Monsters."" Like the boars that run around?"" Not just them. We were also attacked by adult-sized squirrels and even Killer Rabbits."" How many have you lost?" Wendy looked saddened as she tried counting the dead in her mind." 87 people. And more are injured."

I leaned back as I thought about what she just said." Wendy, do you want me to heal them? I can, you know?"" Really?" Wendy looked at me with hope in her eyes." Sure, if you bring me to your group, I'll heal anyone that's injured." Wendy looked worried." Wait, Lord Matthew! How do you know this isn't a trap!?"" If it is, I'll just kill whoever tries attacking me. I'm a Paladin, not a Saint after all."" What!" Wendy grew concerned at my response to Ruby's concern." See!?"

Ruby used Wendy's reaction to try and prove something. I turn to Wendy and speak." Relax, I expect that your group will be worried if you just bring a random guy with you. If they attack me, I'll just dodge unless it really is a trap. You guys can head back home, I'll open a Portal and bring myself back after I heal them."" Absolutely not!" They both yelled in unison at my suggestion." So, you both want to come with me? That will make things harder. It could even cause a fight to break out.""

You're our Lord, Lord Matthew! We follow where you go! No matter what!"" You're crazy if you think we're letting you go alone, Lord Drake!" I turn back to Wendy and sigh." Can you just lead the way?" Wendy began to giggle at my reaction." Sure! Somehow I think it'll be okay." Her optimism was impressive. We took off East and in about an hour of walking, we found a decent campsite, with around 400 Humans all around it.