Zavilia landed gently about 20 meters behind Curtis and the others.
I held my heart over my clothes, which had been beating violently ever since I heard that the demon had appeared, and quickly looked around.
Beyond my vision, I saw Curtis facing a black-haired girl, and Green and Blue standing behind her.
All three of them were standing on their own two feet and there were no signs of injury, so I let out a breath of relief.
...Ah, good. I heard that they had encountered a demon, so I was worried that they might be seriously injured, but they were okay.
I hurriedly ran towards them, and as I got closer—I could clearly make out the figure of what looked like a girl.
As I did so, my heart, which had begun to calm down, suddenly picked up its speed and began to beat again.
Demon—……?
I ran up to Curtis, feeling 70% sure and 30% uncomfortable, and stopped next to him.
I fixed my gaze on the demon-like being standing about 5 meters in front of me, and I stared at it silently.
"......"
She had two horns growing out of his head and stared at me with eyes that had almost no whites, making her look like a typical demon, but—I felt uncomfortable.
I could tell that the demon was a demon the moment I laid eyes on him—she had a beautiful face with no facial expressions, and she was wearing pitch black clothes with unique patterns on them.
I desperately gather information about demons from my memories of my previous life.
Demons were completely different from humans.
That's why even if their outward features resembled humans, I could tell at a glance that they were demons.
However, the demon in front of me did not have the frozen expressionless expression typical of demons, but the corners of her mouth were raised in what looked like a smile.
The clothes she wore appeared to be black at first glance, but the original color, yellow, was peeking out from the edges.
...If it weren't for the horns on its head, she looked just like a human.
I was biting my lip, not knowing what to think about the person in front of me, when an amused voice called out to me.
"Oh, it's true that this is the black dragon's lair, but it's a big deal for them to move across the space to welcome me alone. Pipipi, will I be treated well?"
"...!"
The moment I heard those words, an inarticulate sound escaped from the gap between my clenched lips, and a strange feeling of discomfort crept up my spine.
My eyes widened with fear and astonishment, and trembling words fell from my lips.
"... she... talk... ed."
When the demon heard my words, she looked dissatisfied.
"Oh no, how stupid do people think I am? Of course, I can easily imitate human language."
But, but, but!
Demons believed that they were the best of creatures, so they would rarely use words other than their own.
At the very least, it was impossible for us to utter words that had no meaning, like the demon in front of us.
I couldn't comprehend the situation in front of me, and as I stared at it with my eyes wide open, the demon put one hand to her forehead as if in thought.
Even her gestures seemed to imitate humans, and I strongly believed that demons shouldn't behave like this.
"Ah, now that I think about it, up until about 300 years ago when they last appeared, all the demons barely spoke human words. Ah, I see. I was under the impression that I could only speak words."
The demon nodded as if she understood, then mumbled something in her mouth.
"...Well, it's a change in direction as a species...I guess it's a matter of superiors and subordinates..."
Then, as if to change his mood, the demon waved one hand and looked at me with interest.
"Pipipi, you have amazing red hair. I've never seen such bright red hair before. It's like...a princess from 300 years ago, isn't it?"
While saying that, she stared at my red hair.
"A happy princess who......"
The demon murmured in an inaudible voice and curled his lips.
"Well, in any case, we're all saying goodbye here. I can't let anyone who saw me go home just like that. I have to pretend it never happened."
When she said that, the demon in front of me grinned as if it were a human.
No, she made a face that looked like she was laughing—but the smile didn't reach her eyes, and there was a freezing light in them.
...300 years was a long time.
There were many things that had changed drastically, like the saint's recovery magic had deteriorated and the spirits no longer appeared.
And that change was also visible to the demons.
In the first place, demons should have avoided humans and built castles in deep forests or high mountains to live in, but the demon in front of me didn't seem to be avoiding humans.
This was because she could imitate speech and behavior that were so close to humans.
Was this individual special?
Or perhaps many of the remaining demons—or maybe they're all mixed in with humans.
"...No way, that can't happen. It's a completely different creature. There's no way you wouldn't notice it if you were nearby." (Fia)
Suddenly, I felt the fear of someone creeping up next to me, so I spoke out loud to shake it off.
Then, I closed my eyes to calm down and took a deep breath, counting one, two, three in my head.
Then, when I slowly opened my eyes, I looked at the demon again, thinking that it was the one I should defeat.
A strange figure with horns.
The appearance of a demon who seemed to be imitating a human, but could not fully imitate, whose cruelness was exposed.
...It's scary after all.
Even though I knew that the demon in front of me was different from the Demon King's Right Hand, and that their strength and abilities were different, I still felt like a numb was running from head to toe.
While I was silently fighting my emotions, Curtis grabbed my hand tightly with the hand that wasn't holding the sword, even though I was in a dangerous situation.
"Lady Fi, if you'd like, please stand back. This 'bird imitator' is a demon with two crests at most. There's no need for you to bother me." (Curtis)
As Curtis held my hand, I became conscious of the warmth of his hand and realized that my own hand was cold due to nervousness.
...Ah, my body still feels fear and I can't maintain my normal state.
In this state, would I be able to protect these three and Zavilia?
Unable to gauge my anxiety, I instinctively called Curtis.
"Well, then... let's leave this place. There's no 'box' to seal, so it's not necessarily necessary to fight now." (Fia)
This demon didn't know that I was a saint.
Therefore, there shouldn't be any big problems if we evacuated here.
While I thought this way, Curtis clearly disagreed.
"...I'm sorry for going against your words, but I previously swore that if I ever saw a demon from now on, I would not let even one escape and seal it away. I cannot break my oath." (Curtis)
Curtis' policy was fundamentally correct.
Demons were generally combative and highly intelligent.
They set up their own castles, subdued many monsters, and acted according to their own desires, so some individuals could cause great damage to humans.
Or, since demons were fickle, trivial things could cause previously harmless demons to suddenly start causing harm to people.
Therefore, the correct answer was to seal them as soon as you saw them, but that was only if you had a good chance of winning.
Otherwise, our side would suffer great damage, and by giving them experience, the demon would learn how to fight against the saint.
Besides, I never expected to encounter a demon, so I didn't have the "box" on hand to seal it in the first place.
I was sure Curtis didn't understand this, but since he didn't seem to be backing down at all. He looked calm, but maybe he might actually have blood rushing to his head.
Therefore, I continued speaking to remind him.
"Curtis, I don't know what's been going on lately, but considering their past ecology, demons should live separately and have no interaction with each other. So, if you seal them away, the other demons shouldn't notice that this demon has disappeared. However, if you defeat it... at that moment, all the demons will notice that this demon has disappeared." (Fia)
And by doing so, it would be known that there was someone who could defeat the demon, so even Curtis would want to avoid it.
While thinking this, I looked up and found Curtis tightening his grip on his fingertips for a moment, then quickly releasing them.
"Lady Fi, I have no problem with that." (Curtis)