“Is there anything else that you want?”
“If I ask for more right here, I will definitely be punished. But thank you for your words.”
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Julia’s lips. Bael couldn’t take his eyes off of her for some reason. The moment she smiled, his throat seemed to have choked in return. It was at that moment when Bael, who impulsively pulled Julia close, lowered his head.
“Master, a messenger from the Human Realm is requesting to enter the castle…”
The door suddenly burst open and Barbatos made his way in. Julia, whose cheeks were instantly flushed, pushed Bael away without her even realizing it. There was no way that the King of the Underworld would be pushed away by her lightweight power, but Bael readily separated himself from her even more than she thought.
Instead, a wave of magic instantly flowed from Bael whereby Julia, who had some magic resistance, would not be able to notice. Barbatos immediately prostrated himself on the floor in response.
“I’ve chosen the wrong time. Do forgive me.”
“…”
“I will give a report in regards to the messenger’s work separately later. I will also allow them inside the castle, but at the same time, restrict them from going outside the designated area…”
The conversation between the two demons eventually went unheard. Julia hid behind Bael while fanning herself with her hand lightly. She wasn’t getting caught doing anything bad, she simply received a necklace and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Julia breathed as quietly as possible so that the surroundings wouldn’t be able to hear it. Still, it was completely useless in front of those demons with such excellent hearing.
Barbatos, who had finally finished his report and began to withdraw himself quickly, turned around and saw that the King was already coiling around the key’s waist just before he closed the door. The King was actually staring at the key with such a clear gaze along with a little smile, in fact.
It was a look that Barbatos himself had never seen in the past hundreds of years as he followed after the King.
Barbatos, who got engulfed in a subtle feeling for those unknown reasons, slowly shut the door silently. Then, the key’s laughter could be heard no more.
* * *
The Human Realm consisted of two empires and several more minor kingdoms as well as city-states that also belonged to them. Originally, there had been more countries than what there were now, but as the Demon-Human War prolonged, the power distribution began to get centered on the two empires instead. And at the end of the war, it completely solidified into what it was in today’s form.
It had been the two empires, Vestra and also Elgos, that truly benefited from this power structure.
Elgos was originally a great country that produced a total of two Sword Masters. However, with the birth of the most powerful Sword Master right in Vestra, the power that Elgos had been monopolizing before was eventually divided.
‘In other words, even they don’t feel very comfortable with the same humans as well.’
Agares, who had been entrusted with the military command by Bael, laughed openly as she watched all the humans lined up in the hall. She simply couldn’t help but laugh as she was faced with those who had been fighting fiercely to exercise the right of speaking up first.
The warriors, who were all well aware of Agares’s military service and cruelty, could not bear to protest against her mockery. Even on the battlefield, she was literally the grim reaper.
“You’ve come a long way. Was the trip smooth sailing enough?”
“Thank you. Thanks to your consideration, there wasn’t any big difficulty.”
“I’m glad you did. Our Great Master has taken great care of your journey after all.”
Amidst the Demon Realm and the Human Realm, there were several passages that could be traveled between the two areas. And amongst them, the entrance that had been allowed by Bael was the Valley of Death, the place which Julia had used when she first crossed over to the Demon Realm.
The human side had no other choice but to send the ‘Key of the Magic Stone’ that was requested by the demons due to the urgent situation at that time. However, in consideration of the danger that would be brought in the future, no one wanted Julia to arrive safely underground. It had been because of the fact that they couldn’t guarantee what would truly happen if they were to find out that she was merely a fake.
So, they starved her without giving her anything to nibble on for a very long time during the entire way to the border area as they hoped that Julia would soon die underground. They trailed after a long distance in a wagon that had been used for moving goods and the most dangerous area was deliberately chosen as the entrance to the crossing place.
She was the nuisance who had been left to suffer for days and nights even when the cold wind flurried away. Everyone in Vestra was certain of her death and eventually became at ease.
Until it was finally revealed through Berith that Julia Vestra had been the real key after all.
“More brief the greeting is, the better. Rather, there is one thing to be clear before we proceed with the end-of-war agreement from tomorrow.”
The humans who received Agares’s gaze held their breath as they waited for her next words.
“Even if you are human, if you come down to hell, you ought to follow the laws of hell itself. If you break the rules that you should have followed, no one can guarantee the outcome. Thus, I recommend that you be very careful with your words.”
“We’ll do anything you ask for the period we stay underground. But…”
Then, a warrior cladded in heavy armor stepped forward. Right on his chest, a lion crest that symbolized the Vestra Empire was clearly engraved.
“We have asked that you return Her Highness back, the Princess who was being held hostage. Therefore, to say that we aren’t allowed to meet her is not simply an exaggeration.”
“I clearly know how horribly Her Highness is being treated right here—not even allowing to check upon the said hostage. If you’re going to keep on acting in this manner, we shall officially file a letter of complaint!”
“Oho—then, it seems that you’re not really able to follow that through?”
The atmosphere in the hall had dramatically changed just because Agares raised her chin in response. It was as if several blue balls of fire were already dripping out from her long, slit eyes.
“The story which came to my ears was a tad bit different though.”
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