The Traveling Hero Won’t Let the Innkeeper’s Son Escape

Noticing the presence behind him, Ruth slowly stepped back one step or two.

"Shadow Demon, when…………………"

"Ruth, there's going to be a swing!

"!"

Flying sideways reflexively to Ed's voice, then his hand waved down to where he had been. The hand slaps the floor and makes a dull noise. Was there magic in it? The carpet was blown away by the movement of its hand, and the nearby vase rolled far from each table. Ruth is also flown to the stairs.

"Huh…………!

"Ruth, it's this way!

Noticing Ed as he was beginning to descend the stairs, Ruth rushed after the look. I don't seem to have time to think about anything extra right now.

Looking back at Ed as he chased him down to the dance floor in the center of the stairs earlier, the demon of the shadow that attacked Ruth had not yet moved from the scene. I'm slowly moving my neck and staring at this one. Basically, the movement seems slow.

"Ruth, come here!

With this, Leo will be able to establish himself as the fourth faction in the current three-ways succession war.

Ed leads me up the stairs straight to the second floor on the opposite side. The shady demons of the four bodies lined up in front of the front door didn't move for some reason when they saw Ruth and the others. Thanks to this, I can climb upstairs on the other side without being disturbed.

But as we tried to advance down the hallway, a new demon of shadows appeared again.

Tiana, who died some time ago, was held in her arms.

(Huh, come!?

Ruth, anticipating an attack from the demon, stretched out his arm in an attempt to shield Ed, who ran ahead of him.

"Ugh, and…………?

The hell hit Ed and Ruth and pushed them straight down the stairs. I had no reaction at all, as if nothing had happened to the two of them in my eyes.

"Hey, what...?

The shadow demon with Tiana goes down to the dance floor and hits the whole thing that was chasing Ruth.

The two giants did not attempt to give way to each other on the small dance floor of the stairs, and were unable to move. Eventually they tried to reach out to each other and retreat their opponents, but at the same time they were just making weird moves because they were grabbing. He's unconscious about giving way or avoiding it.

"Ruth, it's this way right now!

Ed called me in. Ruth chased me as I looked sideways at the two bodies making strange moves. Then he ran straight into the back of the hallway and jumped with Ed into the open door.

Lock the door, escape into the back of the room while avoiding objects in the dark, sit back and lurk your breath.

"For one thing, just give me this far..."

The Shadow Demon who has attacked Ruth just tried to move forward and didn't look at this one. You must have lost sight of it so far.

(We need to gather some information here)

Until Ruth gets caught by them and starts over again, that's probably not enough time. Then I needed to buy some time to gather information. It ends with nothing to discover as it is.

"Sorry, Ruth"

He turns to Ed's apology as he sits beside him, even if he doesn't see him.

"The truth is, at the end of the Tiana thing, I was going to tell you about this. And yet I can't believe I fell asleep... I'm so sorry."

Ed seemed to regret falling asleep. But even if I had been informed, with six such big demons, I wouldn't have been able to fathom Ruth alone in the end.

(Unless you have Alec's powers, but you can't even rely on this bracelet anymore...)

I sigh staring at the silver shining bracelet that I didn't even remove in the bathroom just in case. This bracelet has never demonstrated its original ability since it was sealed by Geo.

"Ed...... I'd rather sort out the situation than that.... That black one fits in with the Shadow Demon, doesn't it?

"Yes. That is the shadow demon that always reveals itself. As you can see, the shape is similar to that of a person, but the nature feels close to demons. Of course the words don't make sense, and there are so many odd movements like that..."

"It did feel weird……………………"

Like Ed said, the Shadow Demon feels close to the Demon when he sees it. But I can't help but feel strange about it.

"Ed, is there an effective attack or something on that demon? Have you ever tried it?

"I've tried Ruth a few times as well as me...... it didn't look like magic or weapon attacks were working very well. This way, if you attack with a weapon, you can interrupt your actions, but it doesn't look like you're being damaged. Sorcery doesn't respond well in the first place..."

"Can't even magic do damage......"

Being an opponent that big, even if Ruth had a weapon, I don't know if he could do a lot of damage. That's why the outline of the favor was Ed's sorcery, but it also said the effect was subtle.

When that happens, you might want to abandon the idea of defeating that shadow demon on your own at this stage.

"Just in case, I ask? Have you ever been run away from me?

"There isn't. That shadow demon will come after you no matter how far you run. In the first place, this mansion can't escape from the front door, so there's no escape route."

"Ah, speaking of which, you said the window wouldn't open..."

Instead of opening the mansion windows, you can't even get out of the woods around the mansion in the first place, so it seems impossible to escape.

The Shadow Demon says he moves foolishly and if he does, he is quick to discover this side.

(If you can't defeat them or escape, you'll be all right...)

I didn't think there was a way to escape or defeat it, but it's still emotionally painful when people say 'no'. No matter what happens, Ruth and the others will have to be killed by me and thrown into the darkness of the front door.

I can also see Ed couldn't quite say this so far. It feels good to give hope, but it should be ruthlessly painful for a normal person to give despair.

(But it's quick to give up. Although I may be this far this time, I can entrust Ed with the following. That's not the end of it. Then we need to gather more information...)

Ruth touched her bracelet and unraveled her body, which solidified with fear.

Even Ed is afraid of this situation. And yet, without crying, Ruth would be bad if she wasn't calm, because she answers the questions with great care.

"Ed, I was wondering what the hell we were doing holding Tiana in a bowl. Why didn't you attack us? They were on the front porch, too, weren't they? Is that what you always do?

I was surprised by the sudden appearance and the power and movements that were launching attacks that unleashed the shockers, but everything else seemed to be working as if it were machine motion. I was surprised by the other shadow demons who didn't respond to Ruth and the others, but the whole thing they came after seemed to see "only Ruth," and I wouldn't even try to avoid them if my people were imminent. It seemed like he was “only” thinking about killing Ruth or catching him.

"Ah, yes. That's where it's strange, but they seem to have decided who to chase, and they're not going to attack you unless they're disturbed otherwise. It's just ignored, as it was earlier."

"Have you decided who to chase?

"Yes, I thought it was weird too, so I tried a lot with Ruth before, but in the end, I couldn't change the target."

They seem to fight back no matter who they are when they attack them, but to the extent that they block the passage of travel, they say they won't be able to do anything just to be pulled back.

(You mean basically harmless except for the person you're after? What's that?

Increasingly, the Shadow Demons are unable to understand their actions. Maybe they don't even have something like companionship. Then why did we show up here together?

"... Ruth, do you remember there was a horn in the Shadow Demon?

"Horn?"

Ed told me that Ruth remembered that when he first looked down at the demon on the front door, there was something like a horn in his head. Only six horns should have grown in the first Shadow Demon.

"What I learned was that the target was set at that corner."

Ed says the demons chasing Tiana have one horn, Dickhout has two, Benno has three, Dorte has four, Chester has five, Iban has six, and Ruth has a demon with seven horns. He said this did not change no matter how many times he repeated it.

"I wonder, does that corner make sense?

"Meaning, Your Majesty?

"Yeah. There's a different number of horns growing, and it can range from one to seven, and I wonder if it makes any sense..."

"That's true... meaning..."

Although Ed realized that the demons coming after him were determined, he didn't think that the number of copies made sense. But Ruth doesn't know what that means either.

"In that order, is Ed the target of a demon with eight horns? Or maybe zero?

"No... there are no shadow demons coming after me."

"Eh?"

Unexpectedly a suspicious voice leaks, and Ruth hurries and coughs.

"Uh... he said he's not here. I mean, Ed's never been chased before?

"It is. For some reason, no demon came after me... and I never met him."

"Aren't you there all the time from the start? Didn't he just disappear on the way?

"From the beginning, I never showed up. There are only seven Shadow Demons in all."

Even with confusion, Ed affirmed with a clear voice.

(What's this all about? Why is Ed the only one without a shadow demon?

I wonder why only Ed's demons exist when as many as seven demons emerge to match the number of people in the mansion. Obviously, that's the only weird part.

(Maybe it has something to do with Ed being the only one who keeps his memory...)

The memory that only Ed could keep, the demons of the shadows that only Ed would not emerge, those two things that we don't yet know why, there was a good chance that they were somehow connected.

And what makes Ed different from the rest of the people in the mansion...

"No way, -!

As soon as Ruth shrugged, I heard the door to the room open. Nervous air also drifts from Ed next door.

It slowly moved its heavy body and approached Ruth's hiding place as it explored. I hear the sound of muffling the cloth.

(Shadow Demon, when...)

Though we had a conversation, we were mindful of the hallway. But I didn't feel any sign that the Shadow Demon was approaching.

(It still is. This demon, even though it has footsteps, I can't feel breath or signs)

Even when he first came out behind Ruth, Ruth had no idea that the demon had appeared.

Basically Ruth has good ears and is sensitive to signs if he is focused. Of course, it's a little bit more about the level of than the average person, but you can't possibly realize that a demon with this big body has come this close.

(How special is this guy a demon.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Ruth called out softly to Ed, who would still be next door while questioning him.

"……… Ed, slowly follow the left wall to the entrance"

"……… I understand."

Relying on footsteps, turn around the opposite direction of the demon's progress and head for the open door. If you're used to the dark eye, you know the difference between outside and inside the room, even in the dark.

Ruth and the others escaped into the hallway after a slow demon of movement, killing the signs and leaving the room.

(I still have a lot to think about, I don't want to end up here!

I gather a little information, and the next time I don't connect, it makes no sense.

"- Ruth, before!

But when I looked up at Ed's words, the shadow demon with the seven horns that were chasing Ruth was in front of me at some point.

He stares at Ruth from a little further down the hallway.

"Duh, why, I should have been in this guy's room!?

He hurriedly flips his body with Ed and hurries back the way he came. It wasn't if you were thinking about why the Shadow Demon suddenly appeared.

But a little while later, I heard the floor twitch again from the front. Turning his gaze at the end of the dim hallway, there stood a shadow demon with seven horns again.

Ruth pulled her strength out of the body she was in a hurry.