Chương 140: Chapter 124. Negotiations

We arrived in the encampment that the Humans made. As we arrived, we heard a woman yell at us." Wendy! What have you done!?" A girl around my age came running in a panic. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her skin was pretty pale. I guess she didn't get much sun for some reason during the camping> Her figure was hourglass shaped. It was hard to ignore her breasts swaying from her running. They were bigger than Sarah and Anna's. In fact, I think each of them are bigger than my head?

I suppose I should keep these thoughts to myself." I believe you should be looking at that girl in her face, Lord Matthew. Unless you'd like me to tell Lady Sarah and Lady Anna about everything about today verbatim?"

"?" It's always the closest people to you that can betray you. I don't know why Ruby had suddenly turned so cold to me? I listened to her command however, and I only stared at the girl's panicked red face as she approached with around 100 other Humans to meet us at the edge of the encampment. Once the girl arrived in front of us, she proceeded to yell at Wendy." Wendy! Get over here this instant! Those are Demons!" I looked at Wendy and she had a worried look on her face."

It's okay, you can go to them and explain the situation to them. But hang on for a second and let me say something, okay?" Wendy nodded to my words and then I began to look at the 100 or so Humans including the girl at the front that have arrived." Hello! I'm Matthew Drake! I'm a Marquess of Diablos. You may all know me as the Demon King's Paladin that struck down the Hero. However, I did that for many reasons. None of which had to do with him being a Human.

The only thing that has happened to Wendy, is that I fed her my lunch for the day. Which I also ate half of. If there were poison in it, we'd both kick the bucket. I came here because she told me that there were injured people. I'd like to heal them if you don't mind! As for my Associates, yes, they are Demons. As long as you do not attack us, we will not attack you. The way this all plays out, is on you from here." I looked at Wendy and nodded. She ran to the girl and they begin to talk.

Wendy was hugged by the girl. During this time, I created 3 Barriers to use as chairs for us. Thanks to maxing out Barrier's Level, I've become able to manipulate the size and shape of the Barrier. I can also make it visible or invisible. If it wasn't for the Spells limitations and the fact that I needed so much mana recently, I'd probably try wearing the Barrier Spell as an invisible suit of armor.

Unfortunately, I've found out through trial and error that the Barrier Spell doesn't move regardless of if I want it to or not. I even tried manipulating a Barrier to the size of a bullet and firing it. The experiment failed like any other that involved moving it from it's original spot. Barrier Spells seem to only allow me to stretch them or widen or shrink them. So that makes moving or launching it from somewhere impossible. All I can think as I sit down is how much more training I still need for the future.

After around an hour of waiting, Wendy, along with the girl she spoke to, and 2 old men and 2 old women approached us." Wendy said you fed her. Thank you, she's, My Granddaughter." One of the old women spoke to me first. I was surprised she thanked me. She seemed to be around 50 years old with streaks of white in her dark-brown hair. I could see the resemblance to Wendy in her." You're welcome, Miss. Don't worry about it, however. She's the first Human I've met in a long time. Didn't seem right to let her starve.

So, I fed her. No more, no less." I smiled at the lady, and she had a contemplative look on her face and said 1 thing to me." I see." Once the old woman was done, she walked back and she pat Wendy on her head gently. After that, Wendy was the next to speak." Come on Em, you should introduce yourself! You're the Leader when it comes to this kind of stuff!"" But... He's technically an enemy..." Ruby and Edmon reacted to her words and looked a little angry.

This switch in mood affected the group of Humans in front of us. I turn to them and begin to speak." Now, now. They're not wrong. I nearly killed the Hero. Calm down. Wendy probably didn't explain about Dardus to them." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there." Dar... Dus?" The girl seems to be interested. I began to repeat what I told Wendy to them." A sore loser...." Everyone, except 1 old man, were shocked at my words."

All of that suffering and death... Because he lost the battle for the Throne..."" Yeah. I was surprised at this information when I heard it for the first time too." I shrugged my shoulders as I spoke. This reaction seemed to be a little too nonchalant for that 1 old man I noticed." That attitude! Do you have any idea how many people have lost their lives to that monster!?" I looked at the old man and spoke my honest opinion of the matter." No, I don't. If you have a true issue with Dardus and his actions.

You should've petitioned your King to stop wasting all his military efforts in fighting a war that's done nothing for anyone. And redirect that into exterminating Dardus and his followers. Hell, Diablos would've been more than happy to lend their cooperation to that mission as well. Dardus is a Demon with enemies everywhere. It makes me wonder why he chose to do something like attack Promethia in the first place?" The old man...

No all of the older people except for Wendy's Grandmother, didn't like my answer to the old man's question and began to get angry. This in turn drew the concern of Ruby and Edmon. I decided to speak again." Look, all of you. I'm here because I want to help the sick and injured. Discussing the relations between our Countries is irrelevant to that. Can you just gather the injured so I can heal them already?" The old man again spoke with an angry tone." How do we even know you are who you say you are!?""

How dare you question Lord Matthew's integrity!?" And now Ruby's pissed too... It's like 2 cats trying to fight each other as she glares at the old man. Oh? Wendy is still trying to plead our case to the older girl and her grandmother? Seeing that, I raise my hands to both sides of this discussion." Okay, you don't believe me, I can prove it though."" How!?" The man yelled again." I'm going to draw my sword. Don't freak out." After I spoke, I brought Scarlet out. The Humans were concerned...

Except for Wendy and her grandmother. Cut! PAIN! / Splatter! / I held my arm out and rolled my sleeve up as I stared at the old man and then I cut into my arm. Right as the blood scattered on the ground I heard a scream from behind me. It was Ruby. I kind of feel bad now. I guess I should've told her what I was about to do? I hope she can forgive me." Lord Matthew!"" Damn that hurts! How did Warrick do this without even grimacing!?"" You crazy fool! Do you want to die!?"" Oh! Now you're worried about me, Gramps!?

Well, watch my next trick!" I start to channel my Magic in full view of the Humans. Then I speak the name of the Spell." Holy Heal!" Soothing... And like that the pain and blood disappears. I show the area that was previously cut. Besides the fresh blood, it was now my normal arm. Ruby came running up to me with a towel. Where did that come from?" Don't ever do something like that again!" Wipe! Ruby was crying as she wiped my blood off of my arm. She's looking at me with tears streaming down her face...

Maybe I did cut a bit too deep? When someone looks at me like that, I really do feel like the bad guy." Sorry, Ruby. I won't do that again. I'll only cut my finger a little if I ever have to prove I can use Healing Magic." / Sniffle/ This is a bit awkward... What can I do that would make her feel better? I can only think of one thing." Ruby. I'm sorry. Seriously, I won't do it again. Please, stop crying.... If you do... I'll do any 1 thing you ask of me. Okay?"

"!" She seemed to be receptive to that. As she wiped, I began to think about our Friendship from the past few days. It's almost strange how much she already cares about me now. I originally thought that my Title must play a big part in that, but even still... I guess this shows she really does care about me besides that, doesn't it? Wipe... I used the sleeve of my shirt to wipe some of the tears away from her eyes. Once Ruby had calmed down and finished cleaning my blood, I turned to the Humans to speak to them.

Only I was surprised by what I found." The Demon... Is crying for a Human!?" The old man was stunned completely by the scene of Ruby caring about me." What the hell do they teach them in Promethia?"" Propaganda, Lord Drake. Also, please, for the sake of the Ladies not killing us, don't hurt yourself like that again! Please!" Edmon answered my question and then added a small bit after it. I noticed that his expression looked as if his life was riding on my answer.

I nodded to his request of me since he looked desperate. Wendy had approached us with the older girl and her grandmother." Matthew... Are you okay?" Wendy had a deep look of concern for me. I guess cutting my arm isn't the best way to introduce myself. I answer Wendy's question with a gentle tone." Sorry for worrying you, Wendy. But that old man was making me a bit angry. So, I decided it'd be better if I just show him, I could heal as quick as possible. But from being angry, I cut myself a bit too deep.

But look, my arm is as good as new!" I moved my arm around to show Wendy I was fine." You really are a Paladin, aren't you? And you said you were a Marquess?" The girl around my age spoke to me. I looked at her and began to speak." Yeah, like I said. I just want to help you guys out. You have my word, as long as you all head straight to Kuga after I heal you, I'll forget this ever happened and won't write about it in my Official Report. I fought the Hero for many reasons, but not because he was a Human."

The girl looked at me and then Wendy and her grandmother. Her light-blue eyes then looked straight at me, and she extended her hand to me." Paladin Matthew! My name is Emily Metis, please heal our people!" I smiled at her. Seems she wasn't used to leading anyone. I could understand that. It took a while before I became comfortable giving people orders. Shake. I shook her hand and spoke." Nice to meet you, Emily. And sure, I'd be happy to.