The Water Magician

In front of the castle gate of Farafao Village, a black-haired girl and a blue-haired boy appeared.

"Hey, that blue-haired one..."

"That's him! Go call the lord and Ronja!"

The lookout at the castle gate became frantic.

Within a minute, the current lord, Ange, and Ronja climbed up to the lookout.

They then confirmed the identities of the girl and the boy.

"Blue-haired... my father's rival!"

"Calm down, lord."

Ronja tried to soothe the trembling Ange, who was filled with rage.

Ronja was suspicious about why the blue-haired rival of the previous leader suddenly showed up in front of the village's castle gate.

He had no followers with him... and he was not alone, as he had an unknown black-haired girl beside him.

He had never heard any reports about such a girl, nor had he ever seen her.

"Both of you, don't come any closer!"

Ronja shouted.

Both the blue-haired boy and the black-haired girl, without needing to be told, stopped at a safe distance.

"What are you here for?"

Ronja asked.

"Before I explain the reason for my visit, let me introduce myself. My name is Dainan, and this black-haired girl is Raja. We've been fighting against you for quite a while, but I never introduced myself."

Dainan answered with a laugh.

Beside him, the black-haired Raja shrugged her shoulders, looking bored.

Then, Dainan continued speaking.

"You've added a new magic sword user to your ranks, right? I want to challenge that person."

"What?"

Ronja couldn't help but respond with a voice filled with suspicion at Dainan's words.

It was only natural.

If the leader of a rival faction suddenly appeared and said he wanted to challenge a newly added member, one would think something was amiss.

Though they couldn't hear it, Ryo and Abel climbed up to the lookout.

And they showed their faces.

"Did you say you want to fight me?"

"That's right, you, the magic sword user. Fight me!"

"A fight? What? Are we going to race to see who's faster?"

"Of course not..."

"Then should we play chess? Not to brag, but I'm not that strong at it."

"It's swords, swords! What kind of nonsense is this about racing or chess? There's no way I would challenge you with anything other than swords!"

Dainan responded, his anger oozing.

Beside Abel, Ryo nodded while murmuring, "Taking away the opponent's calmness is the most basic of basics in a duel."

"If you want to fight with swords, just say so from the beginning. Don't you learn that kind of thing as a demon's kin from your demon lord?"

"…What?"

Dainan's expression turned sharp at Abel's suddenly pointed remark.

"What? Did I say something weird?"

"You said kin."

"Yeah, you're a demon's kin, right?"

"Interesting, magic sword user."

Dainan nodded a few times quietly.

Ryo had been intently watching the black-haired girl beside Dainan, and with a certain conviction, he nodded once and whispered in Abel's ear.

"That black-haired girl is a demon."

"Seriously? She's been revived!"

Abel was astonished.

Then he turned to Ronja and asked.

"Ronja, have you ever seen that black-haired girl before?"

"No, I haven't. I was wondering about that too. What is she, a kin?"

"It appears she is the master of the kin."

"What? So, she's a demon."

Ronja was surprised by Abel's words.

Ange, who had overheard their conversation, widened her eyes in astonishment.

"I want to know the reason why the demon herself, who has never shown herself until now, has finally appeared. Let's talk a little more."

Abel murmured that and called out to the two in front of the castle gate again.

"Hey, kin. No, was it Dainan? And that girl is Raja? Is Raja the name of the demon?"

Abel's words were like a bombshell.

"Hey..."

That was all Dainan could say.

His expression had drastically changed.

He no longer had any composure, his face a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion… a very complicated expression.

Abel pressed on.

"I heard you attacked only the guardian army, right? You didn't go after ordinary civilians, but instead took down experienced fighters to awaken the demon... so it was the final stage?"

"You... who the hell are you?"

Dainan's surprise grew, as he was not completely sure of his own conviction.