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The situation ended blandly.

After getting hit on the back of the head and regaining consciousness, Heukgu and Heukrang tied up all the villagers and gathered them in the center of the village.

Villagers 1 and 2, who had been electrocuted and knocked out, as well as the village chief, were all tied up.

There was no shortage of ropes, probably because they had made a lot in preparation for outsiders visiting the village.

In fact, there were even some left over.

“Captain, what should we do now?”

“Good question. We can’t just kill them all…”

It’s not like I’m some saint trying not to kill people.

I do have a history of wiping out followers of the Satan Church.

But if I hadn’t killed them back then, many students at the academy would have died or been injured, and it was almost unavoidable for me.

The situation is a bit different now that we’ve subdued everyone.

‘What should I do…’

The entire village, including children and the elderly, is a human trafficking ring… It’s really a tough situation.

Crime is like smoking; the first time is the hardest.

If we let them go, the same thing will just repeat itself.

“We, we won’t commit crimes again! We swear!”

Even now, the village chief is begging for forgiveness so earnestly that his hands are burning, but I’m not a fool to fall for such words.

Look at that guy’s eyes, he wants to kill me right now.

“Anyway, they were trying to harm you, Captain. Let’s just kill them all.”

“If we go by that logic, you should’ve been dead first.”

“…”

Stupid Heukgu, don’t forget you also pointed a sword at me.

“Is there something like a guard force in the Demon Realm?”

“Of course! The city we came from is managed by Dantalion. The guard force there is amazing.”

Strong is strong, and cool is cool, but saying they’re “amazing” is a bit weird.

Anyway, I’ve made a decision.

“Let’s go there and hand them all over to the guard force.”

“No, please! Anything but that!”

The village chief panicked and crawled towards me.

It seems that the treatment of criminals in the Demon Realm isn’t great.

‘Actually, that’s good.’

It’s better than Korea, where criminals are given better meals than soldiers under the guise of respecting human rights.

Not that I should be the one saying this, but if I were given a Hero Certification, I’d probably clash with human rights organizations a lot.

Korean Hero Association, fighting!

***

We arrived at the city managed by a high-ranking demon named Dantalion.

I was curious about how “amazing” the guards were…

“All units, on alert!”

Seeing them rush out and draw their spears, it seemed like they were trying to kill me.

They really are amazing.

“…Heukgu, what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry, Captain. We started from here, right?”

“Just trust us!”

Heukgu and Heukrang confidently approached the guards.

If I step in, it’ll just turn into a fight.

I decided to leave it entirely to Heukgu and Heukrang, who probably know the ways of the Demon Realm better.

A demon who seemed to be the guard captain came out, and the three of them started talking.

Seeing them occasionally wave at me, signaling that things were going well, it seemed there was nothing to worry about.

The conversation seemed to be taking a while, so I passed the time by observing the guards.

They looked similar to the lizardmen you see in comics.

The guards, with scales on their bodies and resembling walking lizards, were all red.

‘Not a rainbow of seven colors, but every race I meet has a different color.’

Anyway, the red lizards, except for the one who seemed to be the captain, were all holding spears.

Whether Dantalion pays a lot of attention to the guard force or the Demon Realm is just like that, their equipment and eyes looked good.

Wait… So is Dantalion a lizard too?

“Pfft.”

The thought of a city’s leader being a lizard made me laugh involuntarily.

Whether I laughed or not, the guards didn’t budge, still pointing their spears at me, making me scratch my head awkwardly…

“Why are they like that again?”

“Haha, Captain! Please save us!”

After seemingly having a good conversation, Heukgu and Heukrang ended up getting arrested.

Heukgu and Heukrang were the epitome of incompetence, utterly useless.

I thought they’d be good guides for the Demon Realm, but maybe I’d be better off alone.

“Subdue them all!”

The guards started surrounding me with their spears.

The villagers were tied up, so they seemed to be a lower priority; only the spear tips were pointed at me.

“…Wait a minute! Shouldn’t we talk first?!”

“You’re the leader of Breck and Hicks, what’s there to talk about! Get him!”

Breck must be that Heukrang kid, and Hicks is probably Heukgu’s real name.

I really want to kill those guys…

My head started throbbing.

Thanks to the wrong guides, I’m about to go on a prison tour.

I don’t plan to struggle and escape here.

It’ll come out in the investigation that I’m not associated with them…

If they try to frame me for something I didn’t do, I’ll just break out then.

As I extended my wrists, one of the guards cautiously approached me.

Whoosh—

With rough hands, he tightly bound me with rope… and his hands occasionally touched other parts of my body.

“…What are you doing now?”

“Shut up! You criminal!”

He must have felt guilty because he suddenly shouted.

If this were Korea, I would’ve broken his wrist right now.

Given the situation, I decided to let it slide just this once.

Dragged along with the rope, I entered the city just like the tied-up villagers.

“Captain! Show those arrogant guards what you’re made of, like you did in the village!”

“What are you talking about, you crazy guys? Don’t call me Captain.”

“…Yes.”

If they keep calling me Captain in front of the guards, things could get complicated.

The place the guards took us to was a prison.

Heukgu and Heukrang were taken elsewhere for questioning, while the villagers and I were split up and locked in cells.

“We’ll investigate you one by one, so stay quiet and behave.”

Since I was sitting down anyway, I thought I’d do some training.

To better understand magic, I closed my eyes and focused on my magical power.

But not long after, the village chief started provoking me.

Some of the villagers locked up with me were shocked by the chief’s provocation, but since he was locked up separately, he didn’t seem to care.

“Serves you right! You couldn’t beat the guards either!”

“…”

It was a pathetic provocation not worth responding to.

‘Is that guy… the leader of a criminal group?’

The Demon Realm might be more polite and kind than I thought.

A kid from a community forum could probably make the chief cough up blood and collapse.

Maybe because I didn’t respond, he lost steam.

After spouting a few more words, he gave up and sat down.

Not long after, a guard came down to the prison.

“You, the leader of Breck and Hicks. Come out.”

“I told you I’m not their leader…”

“Just come out.”

I was taken by the guard to a room that felt like an interrogation room.

“Wait here.”

“…Again?”

Can’t they hurry things up? Why do they keep telling me to wait?

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the guard captain to come in and sit across from me.

“Name.”

“Jeong Gyeoul.”

“Age.”

“14.”

“Residence.”

“South Korea.”

“Sigh… Starting with lies! Just like the leader of Breck and Hicks!”

“…?”

The guard captain slammed the table, accusing me of lying.

“It’s true…”

“In over 20 years as a guard captain, I’ve never even heard of a place called South Korea!”

This is getting tangled.

Even if I say I came from another world, they wouldn’t believe me.

I don’t know any other place names besides the desolate desert.

Rather than being an illegal immigrant, it might be better to just be the leader of Breck and Hicks…

“I’m from the same hometown as Breck.”

“So you’re from the Dark Valley too?”

“Yes, the Dark Valley.”

“For a human with that appearance to survive there… You must be more capable than you look.”

“…?”

The guard captain knew I was human.

Except for Heukgu and Heukrang, everyone else seemed to know and believe I was human.

Surprisingly, there must be quite a few humans who aren’t slaves…

I really chose the wrong guides.

All they do is lie and are full of bluster, knowing almost nothing.

It reminds me of my elementary school days with Choi Jeong-min and Kim Su-chan.

Though that’s probably an insult to them.

“What is your purpose?!”

“I don’t know…”

“Why did you return to Dante?”

“Good question…”

“How many more of your gang are there?”

“Who knows…”

Our conversation wasn’t making any progress.

There were many questions, but I didn’t know the answers.

‘If someone saw this, they’d think I’m protecting my gang by holding out.’

While we were in the middle of the investigation, a guard opened the door and shouted.

“D, Dantalion is here!”

“What? Why so suddenly?”

“I don’t know either…”

Suddenly, the city’s leader had arrived.

The guard captain straightened his clothes and tried to look as presentable as possible, while the guards outside seemed to be cleaning up, causing a commotion.

It’s the same everywhere; when a big shot arrives, chaos ensues.

“Welcome, Dantalion!!”

The guard captain rushed outside and greeted him with a voice loud enough to shake the entire prison.

But… the footsteps kept getting closer to the interrogation room.

Boom!

The door to the interrogation room burst open with a sound that seemed like it would break.

“Are you the one summoned from Earth?”

“…?”

What the hell is this abomination…

Multiple faces sprouting from a thick neck.

Not only did it have faces of races I’d seen in the Demon Realm, but also ones I hadn’t, with a total of eight heads on one body.

It dragged a long robe along the floor as it approached me.

“I asked if you’re the one from Earth.”

“…Yes?”

“Fight me.”

“…?”

Suddenly?

I had no idea what was going on.

But since he knows I’m from Earth… it seems I’m here because of Satan.

“Follow me.”

As if assuming I would follow, he turned and walked out without waiting for an answer.

…Let’s just go along for now.

[When in doubt, just hit them, and the answer will come] – hayul. J

 

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