Now that Ryan had defeated the Principality-rank demons,

  he decided to heal the demon girl.

  Even though he used Recovery, he wasn’t sure whether that skill would work on a demon.

  The demon girl slowly opened her eyes.

  She leaned her face forward with curiosity toward the person standing in front of her.

  "Human?"

  Her eyes widened in surprise.

  She quickly moved to the side, taking a guarded stance in front of Ryan.

  "I’m not going to hurt you. Don’t you realize I saved you?"

  The blue-haired mage girl hid behind Ryan.

  "Be careful..."

  "Save me? Why would a human help a demon?"

  She stepped forward.

  She looked at him with defiant eyes, as if warning that she was ready to fight.

  'Just as I thought. She won’t listen.'

  Ryan extended his hand toward her.

  "Don’t try to fight us. It would be pointless. We just want to talk."

  "Talk? Sure..."

  Turning her back on them, she jumped, ready to escape.

  'You’re not leaving.'

  "I order you to stop. Come to me, kneel, and bow before me as your master..."

  The demon girl who had jumped to escape fell onto the ground, nding on her backside.

  "What... what is this feeling? I can’t move..."

  The girl began crawling on her knees across the ground.

  Toward Ryan.

  "What are you doing to me, miserable human...?" she said with suspicion.

  "Wow, that’s sadistic. She’s really obeying you!"

  'What do you mean sadistic?!'

  The demon girl was already under Ryan’s control.

  Looking at him with a mixture of uncertainty and fear.

  "What kind of control ability is this? Who are you, really?"

  "I told you I just wanted to talk, and you tried to run."

  The demon girl was now kneeling in front of Ryan. She grabbed one of his legs and began kissing the fabric of his pants.

  'What is she trying to do? I didn’t specify anything sexual.'

  Ryan pced his hand on the demon girl’s forehead and pushed her away.

  She grabbed Ryan’s hand. She looked at him with a confused expression, her face red from humiliation.

  She held Ryan’s hand tightly and began kissing the back of it, then his palm.

  Then she ran her tongue across Ryan’s fingers and began licking them intensely.

  The mage girl moved closer.

  "I can’t believe you’re forcing her to do that... I’m not even sure who the real demon is here anymore."

  "Just shut up!"

  Ryan turned his attention back to the demon as a new sensation made him tense. Now she had pced two of his fingers into her mouth and began sucking on them.

  'It’s already been a day since I separated from Helen and Mirian. I’ll use this demon girl as a compass to get back. I wonder if they’re looking for me.'

  "Please... stop... leave me alone. I promise I won’t try to run away and I’ll listen to you."

  The demon was kneeling. The debt payment had not yet finished, so when she spoke, her voice sounded strange with Ryan’s fingers still inside her mouth.

  "Hmm... good. I’m gd you understood so quickly. I can do this whenever I want, so it would be best if you don’t try anything."

  She nodded.

  [Debt Collection Applied]

  [Debt Bonus: +50 Points]

  [Debt Bonus: +45000 XP]

  'Just in time.'

  The girl released Ryan’s hand. She had regained her mobility, but remained frozen, perhaps from embarrassment. Ryan pulled his fingers from the demon girl’s mouth.

  He wiped them on his pants.

  The girl, still kneeling, lifted her gaze toward Ryan.

  Then she sat down on the ground, her eyes lowered and her ears red.

  "...If you’re here, it must be to rescue the kidnapped child, isn’t it?"

  "Hmm? A child?" Ryan asked.

  "Isn’t that it? Then why are you in the Demon King’s territory?"

  The small mage stepped forward to intervene.

  "Tell me what you mean. Did those giant demons kidnap a human? For what purpose?"

  "I thought that’s why you came. When I saw you, just a small child, I assumed this man had saved you. So you’re a group?"

  "Ha ha, of course, of course, we’re a group!"

  "A group with this brat? I don’t even know her name."

  "Hey!"

  The demon girl stood up. Even so, it was true. Despite spending an entire day together, Ryan didn’t even know the name of the small blue-haired mage.

  In fact, at that moment, the three of them were complete strangers.

  After speaking for a moment, the demon girl asked them to follow her. It would be faster if they saw with their own eyes what she was talking about.

  As they walked, the demon girl introduced herself and told them her name.

  Beatrice. A Principality-rank demon who had been searching for her missing younger brother.

  Ryan and the mage girl introduced themselves as well.

  "So you’re Karol and Ryan... I should have thanked you for saving me, but this situation isn’t normal. I didn’t know how to react. I’ve never dealt with a human before..."

  She paused briefly.

  "But you must be quite strong if you’re protecting this girl, and you don’t seem injured at all."

  "I’m not a child!"

  "Huh? Of course you are," Beatrice replied.

  "No, she’s not," Ryan said, raising his hands in frustration.

  "I don’t understand what you mean..."

  Karol approached the demon and took her hand.

  Almost immediately her body returned to its normal size as she absorbed part of the demon girl’s mana.

  "See?"

  "What is this... You two are a very unusual group..."

  After walking a little farther, they entered a mostly destroyed house that still had a basement.

  Inside, there was a small demon boy and a small human boy.

  Both looked to be around ten years old.

  "Sister!" the little demon cried with tears in his eyes and ran to hug her.

  "Stop crying. I told you I would come back."

  "Who are these people, sister?"

  Karol walked forward and went straight to the human boy. After checking him, she noticed he didn’t have any injuries.

  "Now, will you tell us what’s going on?"

  "That was my intention. That’s why I brought you here. A few days ago... my little brother was kidnapped. I followed the trail and found a demon from the giant cn... This area is very far from demon cities, so it’s almost like a ghost town."

  Ryan spoke.

  "I see. It’s easy to hide around here. So they also kidnapped this boy?"

  "Wait a moment!"

  Karol stepped closer to them.

  "Those demons are from the territory of Demon King Rigal. Why would they be here?"

  "That’s true. Demon King Rigal and His Majesty Demon King Rohan are currently in conflict. But this pce has a secret tunnel that connects to Ehres Valley. That passage leads to where the sealed dungeon once was."

  "Underground?" Ryan asked.

  "Yes. That’s why, back then, the demons were able to enter so easily. There wasn’t a barrier like there is now."

  "That’s strange... I’ve been to that pce many times and never saw any tunnel."

  "That’s natural. It’s underground. It isn’t easy to find. But don’t get distracted. The point is, after interrogating those demons, one of them said that Demon King Rigal had an agreement with a human noble. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the name, so that’s all I know."

  The demon girl approached the small human boy.

  "I don’t know the reason, but that noble wanted to deliver this boy to Demon King Rigal. Since I rescued him, he hasn’t said a single word."

  "A noble...? What scum!" Ryan muttered.