Uta was a large kingdom that covered millions of acres of land on all sides. The majority of the kingdom was occupied by forestry that formed a wide u-shaped covering along the outside of the kingdom. The forest outside the kingdom was out of bounds for anyone that didn't have at least D-class skills because it was filled with demons that made it into their home.
The demons in Rivalle were very free-spirited. Even after Floid came to Rivalle and announced his presence as the new demon lord, there were still a lot of demons that decided that they wanted to continue living in the forests that they settled in. The number of demons that remained was very few, but they were still enough of a threat for any small town or village. Most of the demons that remained in Uta were goblins, but there were also giants and even some dangerous lizardmen or minotaurs living in the forest.
It was because of the presence of these monsters that Uta had an adventurers guild located right on the edge of the forest. The adventurers guild was the most popular place in the entire town and every single child in the kingdom all once dreamt of being an adventurer. Adventurers were treated like royalty by the people of Uta. They were given gifts and thanks every day for saving the lives of the citizens from the demons and the adventurers were all living in luxury because of the money they got for each kill.
Well, at least they used to.
Slice! Slice! Slice!
A knife cut through the bushes of a stubborn tree and a woman appeared from the other side of the bushes with an annoyed look on her face. She was a black-haired woman with a toned body and average height. She was a beautiful woman, but there was a scar along the right side of her face that ran from eh top of her cheek to her jaw making her beauty a little less appealing than it would normally be. People would normally cover that sort of scar with their hair to prevent others from staring at it, but this woman's hair was cut short into a bob cut so there was no way she could hide the scar at all.
"Gloria, stop going so damn fast. It's not like there is any money to be made from killing the demons here anyway. You're just making us rush for nothing,"
A voice called out from behind the woman and she turned around with a small scowl to see a blonde-haired man walking out from the bushes. He was also of average build and height, but Gloria was just a bit shorter than him. He had a sword at his hip and a shield strapped to his back. His handsome face and blue eyes would have made any woman swoon over him, but after staying with him for so long, Gloria had thankfully gotten used to his handsomeness.
"What the hell are you talking about, Sophen? Is that all you think about? Money? We're going to help a town that was attacked by demons and you can't even think about the people for a moment,"
Sophen grumbled something about 'lack of proper payment' and Gloria gave him a scowl that immediately made him look away in annoyance. Gloria could understand where Sophen's anger was coming from. Ever since the barrier was set up, things have only gotten harder for all the people working inside the kingdom. The townspeople could no longer pay the amount that they used to pay for subjugation missions and even the small amount that they could pay was cut shorter because the guild had to take a percentage from it. It was very hard for the adventurers in the town to accept such an arrangement, but they didn't have a choice because the queen was the one that set the decree. They cannot disobey her or they'll end up facing the Grand commanders for insubordination. No one wants to face any of the Grand Commanders for anything.
The guild already apologized to all the adventurers openly and told them that there will be a big bonus for all of them once the barrier is taken down. The guild in Uta makes the majority of its money by selling the parts of the demons that the adventurers kill and bring in. A lot of the demon parts can be sold for a lot of money in the market. But the guild cannot make money right now because the barrier was preventing them from reaching Trad to sell the demon parts. The guild was just storing the demons and they would sell them once the borders are opened again. Once they sell the demon hide, there will definitely be a lot of money to give the adventurers large bonuses.
The guild had no idea that Trad was already under the control of the demon lord and they thought that the kingdom was still being run by the current king! If they try to sell dead demons to a kingdom run by a demon lord, they would not get out of there alive!
"The both of you keep fighting like a married couple over there. Can someone come to help me with this fucking bag already?"
Another voice called out from behind them. This time, it was a gruff voice that belonged to a man that was much taller than Sophen. The man's name was Henri and he had black hair with a clean goatee on his face and blue eyes. He had a giant shield on his back that he uses to fight as a tank for the group. He was carrying a bag with his fingers while carrying a woman bridal-style in his hands.
The woman was a cute teenage girl that had a fair face and beautiful white hair. Her clothes were white nun robes and she held a cross in her hand as she stared intently at the face of the man carrying her. Her name was Selphy and she was the healer of the group. She learned her magic in the church from childhood so even though she wasn't a part of the church, she still felt most comfortable when she was wearing the nun robes that she wore all her life.
Once Sophen saw Henri carrying Selphy, he rolled his eyes before going back and grabbing the bags from Henri. What the hell did Henri think he was doing carrying Selphy like that?
"You know she can walk, right?"
Sophen said this in an annoyed tone while giving Selphy a look of disbelief and Selphy blushed while glaring at him to tell him to shut up. Henri grunted as he spoke.
"She said she's tired so I said I'll carry her. There's nothing wrong with that, I have the strength,"
Sophen almost sighed. Almost. Instead, he gave Selphy a deadpan look before turning around whole saying some last few words.
"She's lying to you, Henri. She o ky did that so you'll carry her and she could watch you from a closer angle,"
Selphy's blush deepened and she used the cross to hide her face. She glanced towards Henri to see if he was angry at her but all she saw on his face was a look of confusion. Selphy sighed in long-suffering tiredness.
It was not a secret to anyone that Selphy was in love with Henri. Everyone could see it and it became such popular news in the adventurers guild that everyone there already thought that the two of them were married with how much time they spent together. No one was ignorant enough to miss how Selphy looked at Henri.
Noone, except Henri.
Henri was so oblivious to her love that Selphy couldn't help but think she was not beautiful enough for him. She did everything that would get him to look at her, but this man was so ignorant of anything involving love! He ignored all her advances and when she finally decided to sleep in his room one day to see if he would touch her, he didn't even try to hold her! He just took his blanket and slept on the floor and Selphy cried her pathetic self to sleep on the bed alone!
But even with all these failures, Seplhy wasn't going to give up! She would get Henri to look at her as a woman no matter what it took!
"You can walk on your own, can't you?"
Henri looked down at Selphy curiously while asking this and Selphy jolted out of her thoughts as she realized she was still in his hands! She cursed Sophen in her mind as she immediately tried to think of a reason to give to Henri! She didn't like lying to Henri, but she couldn't tell him that she just wanted him to carry her. She looked up and saw Henri's curious blue eyes staring at her and at that moment she couldn't even think of lying to him. She nodded shyly to tell him that she could walk and Henri hummed before he started moving again.
Selphy was stunned.
"Y-You won't drop me?"
"No. I said I would carry you to the town, so that's what I'll do. We can talk about why you lied at some other time,"
Selphy watched Henri's face and the seriousness on it as he carried her and a huge blush crept up her cheeks as she brought her hand up to her face. This was exactly why she fell in love with him. Henri was the sort of person that never went back on his word no matter what happened. Selphy knew that she would have to explain herself to him later, but she was glad that even after finding out she lied to him, he was still willing to finish what he started for her.
Selphy sent a glare towards Sophen that was walking with Gloria in front of them and she promised herself to get back at him for what he did here! She would definitely have her revenge!
Sophen could feel the glare from Selphy at the back of his neck but he just rolled his eyes and continued walking. Selphy was about as dangerous as a Chihuahua and she couldn't even hurt a fly if she tried. There was no way that Seplhy would do anything serious for revenge. At the very most, she would refuse to cook for me for the next day or two.
Actually, now that I think of it. That could be pretty bad.
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