On their arrival at a log hut alleged to be the witch's inn, neither Fay nor her companions could digest the fact that it was supposed to be an inn. Made of log walls, and a roof of hay, it almost appeared like a poor man's house that lived on day to day's pay. However, being as desperate for rest as they were, the three unmounted the horse before, straddling in with Haruki's body held up by them all.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Fay asked Darwin as they stood right by the entrance.
"It is, trust me will ya?" His answer although unconvincing was all they had.
Onlooking a dark corridor leading deeper into the dainty hut, they stood with their mouths covered to protect themselves from the dust laying resting heavily in the air. After just a second of them revaluating their decision to come here, the sound of wood squeaking under hushed footsteps came from deeper within the place.
"Ophilia! Come out quick, I've got guests for you!" Screaming at the top of his lungs, Darwin called for the witch living in the dainty hut of an inn.
"Oh, shut up, you prude…" As the dried voice of an old woman replied, they all saw a staff with a lantern came into view from around the corner.
Eventually, a wrinkled woman with a hunched back walked over to the front. Her hand clutched tight on the staff, and the wrinkled skin was enough to let them all know that she was far from a threat to them. If anything, her living here all on her own and surviving at all was a miracle on its own.
Standing before them all, she stared at everyone's face for an uncomfortably long time, and it wasn't until Darwin grunted that she was broken from that staring contest.
"You brought me a pile of demons, and you think that's something you can shout at me for?" Her words instantly put everyone on edge.
"Yeah, yeah, everyone's a demon to you, you nagging witch!" Moving forward, Darwin turned to Fay and the others. "I'll show you in, if we keep waiting for her, it won't be until next year that you'd be able to get out of here on your wagon."
To their relief, the strained relationship between Darwin and Ophilia seemed to have saved them all. Shooting each other with a worried gaze, they simply decided to push on forward while keeping up the human act.
"Oh, how moronic your kind is…" Tired of the talk already, Ophilia turned around and headed deeper back into the hut.
Once she was gone from their sight, Darwin led them to an empty room with a tatami mat floor and sliding paper door. To Asuka, and Riley who'd been conditioned to luxury, it felt a bit odd to walk into such a minimalistic room.
"There's another girl staying here at the moment, try not to disturb her. I'll be off to the grassland looking for poison todes if you need me," shutting the door closed with that message, Darwin had them all even more confused than before.
"Anyways, I think we should first clean off, and then maybe get some rest until he brings the wagon back here," agreeing with Fay's suggestion, the three, headed straight to the river by the hut to clean up the mud.
Being at the edge of a small forest, the inn was surrounded by serine sights of nature, and so despite being in full view all three of them got naked themselves and Haruki naked and dipped into the water.
"This feels weird," Asuka mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Asked Riley.
"I don't know, it feels normal, I guess? After all the chaos that happened, just taking a dip in a river feels weird, as if I don't deserve it for some reason?" Huffing out the emotional turmoil Asuka, forced a smile and looked at her own image in the clear water.
"I get what you mean, but try not to let those thoughts ruin your peace of mind," sitting down beside Asuka, Fay playfully bumped her shoulder onto her.
Beaming a warm smile, Asuka turned to her other side to start cleaning up Haruki's body. All the while, Fay and Riley kept on playing with Stella as she splashed around in the clear waters. For the first time, in a very long time, they were enjoying the moment even if it simply met taking a bath together for some.
'Master, please wake up soon.' Thankfully so far, nobody had questioned them about Haruki's condition, but that too made Asuka feel a bit anxious. Back in the castle, everyone was always ready to offer up everything for their master, but now out in the real world, that concern for him was only confined to their small group. 'Till the end of time, remember? I'm not leaving your side even if it takes forever.'
Deep in thought, Asuka didn't notice another girl with a towel wrapped around her body joining them into the river. But, finally as Fay and Riley stopped playing around and their noises died down, she looked around to find exactly what had happened.
"What-" At first she turned to her companions, but then following their gazes, she was left shell-shocked by the sight in front of her.
"Is something wrong?" Asked the girl as she sat down beside Haruki's body.
Her charcoal skin threw them all off, and the blood-red horns reaching backward only baffled them all the more. Frozen in shock, only one thought went through the mind of all three of them.
'Is she a threat?'
Tilting her head to the side, the girl placed her index on her lips with a puzzled look on her face.
"Never seen a devil before?" And with that statement, they all leaped away and turned into their demonic forms.
Ready for a fight, their eyes were fixed on the devil.
"What do you want?" Making sure to hide Haruki behind her, Asuka was ready to defend her master.
However, unfazed by the whole thing, the girl closed her dark eyes and simply took a brief dip into the water. Their eyes still fixed on her, Asuka and the rest were ready to unleash countless attacks on her body if she dared to make a move against them.
"Sit down…" Peaking her head out, the devil made them all forcefully take a seat with her words alone. "I'm a citizen of Dolatia, don't make me ruin my reputation by punishing you three presumptuous idiots."
Away from their comfort zone, this encounter with a devil opened them to how little they knew about the kingdom they were headed into.
'I knew Dolatia had a multi-racial population, but devils too?!' Fay though, utterly baffled by the revelation.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶