It seemed like I was asking the Demon King to run an errand, but Heath readily left. He could have asked an attendant but he said he’ll go himself. When he saw such a figure, the Grand Duke frowned. He came close to me and spoke to me in a discontented voice.

“What have you done?”

“..Huh?”

My short answer deepened the wrinkles on the Grand Duke Keith’s brow. But I raised my chin, saying, “Pretend not to know and keep talking.”

“It’s already been a long time since the Demon King was resurrected from the seal. Enough time to start a war against the human race. But even though I tell him every day, the devil doesn’t start a war. Even though the army is already ready!”

“....you’re going to war?”

He’s been busy walking around every day, he’s been up to something like that.

“Aren’t you deceiving the Demon Lord?”

“I’ve never done that.”

I’m not lying. Heath didn’t tell me a word about the war. My purpose is to wait for the ransom, so I don’t care about the feud between the temple and the Demon world after that.

At that time, Heath returned with a thick shawl, perhaps with a quick walk. I waved to him. As expected, the word “war” seemed totally out of place for that bright smile.

“But Heath doesn’t seem to want a war.”

“He is the incarnation of the evil god Ramuta. Coexistence is nonsense. War is a fate to avenge what happened a hundred years ago.”

The sharp eyes glared at me. What was in it was coldness and greed.

Currently, the Demon world and the human world have signed a peace agreement, but there are also people in the human world who want war. The Pope did not increase power, but it was said that he should periodically invade the demon world.

The reasons ranged from the cause of the goddess Gremia to the special warfare. But they had one thing in common. It is that they do not go directly to the battlefield and give up their lives. It is always the weak who die, and the strong, like Grand Duke Keith, survive.

I felt like a worm crawling around. I looked at the grand duke with a great deal of displeasure.

“Heath is not that kind of person.”

“What do you know about the Demon Lord?”

I don’t know.

The war a hundred years ago, and why Heath got the name as the incarnation of evil.

All I knew was the arms and the friendly eyes that hugged me tenderly and hard. But that is enough.

Grand Duke Keith, who uttered a ferocious sound, looked at me for a long time with a meaningful glance, and walked away as if he had said everything he had to say. As expected, I don’t like him. I need to be careful. I haven’t seen a decent guy who wants war.

☆*: .?. ?.?.:*☆

The ground gradually began to move as I leaned close on Coco’s back.

“You don’t have to be so scared.”

Heath said so next to me, but it was hard for me, a human being, to relax on the back of a dragon floating in the air.

When Coco flapped his wings a few times, the Demon Castle quickly became smaller. Under the body of Coco, a cold and desolate realm unfolded.

They flew by a lake after they were in the sky for a long time. The forest continued behind the small hill and it was quiet. It was a beautiful scenery unlike the stark frozen land I saw a while ago. The bushes were green, and the air was warm.

Come to think of it, I could hardly go out while I was in the temple. Even if there was an outside event, I couldn’t afford to look at the outside scenery because I was hit by a lot of work. It was my first time going out to look around the scenery like this.

I came down from Coco’s back and looked around slowly. Heath held me by the hand as I was reeling from motion sickness. Coco put us down and flew away again.

It was a quiet and beautiful place. Forgetting the original purpose of finding a way to escape, I relished the surroundings for a moment. The Demon Realm is known for its dark and desolate land, and I never knew there was such a wonderful place.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Heath smiled as he said so.

However, warm steam gushed out of the lake. The temperature was so hot that I felt good when I put my hand in slightly. The lake is hot. Heath added an explanation when I was surprised.

“It’s hot spring water.”

“Hot spring water?”

“The hot spring water flowing down here flows into the lake.”

Hot spring. I wanted to soak myself, but I didn’t prepare clothes to change. I dipped my hands for a while.

However, I could see the sky across the forest as if it were cloudy. It was no ordinary cloud. When I looked closely, it was not a cloud, but a translucent magic chain. The magic emanating from the barrier blinked like lightning.

“Heath, what’s that?”

I raised my hand and pointed to the cloudy sky.

“That.. That’s the boundary between the human world and the Demon world. If you go beyond that boundary, you can go to the human world.”

Gulp. I looked in the direction of the sun and measured the position of the barrier. That means that that’s where I’m headed when I run away.

Heath’s words continued.

“Julia, have I ever told you that I was sealed with two keys?”

“Yes...”

I recalled what he said in the treasure trove of the Demon Fortress and nodded. One is the earrings, “Goddess Tears,” which is what I have now. It was uncomfortable to wear the earrings, so I changed it to a necklace. I fiddled with the purple jewel hanging from my chest.

But I didn’t know what the other key was. In other words, Heath is currently only half resurrected. But he seemed so relaxed and affectionate that I almost forgot about it.

“Also, only half of the doors have been opened between the human world and the Demon world. That’s why there’s such an unstable barrier.”

Somehow, the remark sounded ominous. I asked the question cautiously.

“Then, when it’s fully revived.... What happens?”

It was then. I was about to take a step closer to Heath, but I slipped on the floor. My body, which lost its balance, stumbled and fell back. Behind was a lake.

Splash!

“Uh, eheuk!

“Julia!”

The warm water enveloped me.

“Kaelok, kaelok!”