Chapter 370: A Breather in Human Territory

The little demon didn’t stay still under his older sister’s stern glare. Without wasting a second, he moved quickly across the grass and sought refuge, darting behind Chloe’s back.

"Sister, I just want to help," Beatrice’s brother said, cautiously poking his head out from beside the young human.

Beatrice fixed her gaze on Chloe, silently blaming her for letting the boy slip out of the village just before they closed the gateway. Feeling that intense stare fixed upon her, Chloe immediately raised her hands nervously.

"Huh? Don’t look at me like that. I had nothing to do with this," Chloe said, addressing Beatrice to clear her name immediately.

Beatrice ignored her companion’s excuse and took a firm step forward, keeping her frown as she pointed at the rift still glowing behind them.

"You can’t be here. Leave immediately," Beatrice ordered in a strict tone that left no room for the boy to argue.

The boy clutched the fabric of Chloe’s clothes and shrank back slightly, refusing to turn around and go back through the relic’s portal.

"But sister, I just want to help," the little boy insisted, trying to convince her not to send him back.

"No buts," Beatrice replied sharply, crossing her arms in front of him with no intention of yielding.

Before the argument between the two siblings could drag on any longer in the middle of the forest, Karol casually walked over and stopped beside her companion.

"Let him be. It’s better if he stays with us, or he’ll have to go back to the village alone. Ryan plans to close it, you know," Karol chimed in, reminding her that the workers had already left and there was no one from their group inside to watch over him.

Beatrice turned toward the mage with obvious hesitation, not entirely liking the idea of letting her younger brother roam free in another territory.

"But Karol," Beatrice protested, trying to maintain her firm stance.

A few steps away, Irina watched the scene with a faint smile and sighed at the contradiction in the demon’s words.

"Now you’re the one saying ’but’," Irina sighed with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Ryan glanced at the little demon, remembering how the boy had spent the last few days searching the castle for someone to play with after the other young prince had left.

"He probably thought he would run into his new friend," Ryan said, referring to Demon King Rohan’s sixth son.

Upon hearing that spot-on comment, the boy averted his gaze to the ground, his cheeks flushing slightly at having his true intentions exposed. Ryan took a couple of steps toward the group and looked at Beatrice before turning his gaze directly to the little boy.

"Let him stay. It will be good for him to go on missions and gain experience if he wants to get stronger. Or is that not what you want?" Ryan asked the demon boy in a calm tone.

The boy’s eyes lit up at the question, and he stepped out from behind Chloe, puffing out his chest enthusiastically.

"Yes, I want to be as strong as you," the boy replied with absolute certainty and admiration for the group’s leader.

Beatrice let out the breath she had been holding and approached her brother, gently placing a hand on his shoulder as she shook her head slightly.

"Forget it, that’s impossible," Beatrice said with total sincerity, fully aware of the massive gap in power between him and Ryan.

Everyone present in the clearing laughed at the demon’s blunt response, completely easing the tension in the camp. In the end, Ryan allowed the boy to stay on the mission under the girls’ care.

A while later, once everything was in order with the extraction groups in the grove, Ryan sealed the village portal again, reverting it into the small relic, and tucked it away in his pocket.

Without wasting another second, he temporarily parted ways with his companions and set off alone toward the human city of Erhes Valley.

As he left the forests of Ignis and approached the human border, the cool wind whipped against his clothes. He pondered for a moment over the decision he had just made, leaving the camp to venture alone into guild-controlled territory.

’Maybe it’s irresponsible of me to enter human territory right now, but perhaps I just want to relax. Now that I think about it, aside from having sex, I haven’t done any of the things a human is supposed to do since arriving in this world,’ Ryan thought, reflecting on how hectic his days had been.

With that in mind, Ryan activated one of the new relics forged in his castle, changing his hair and eye color in an instant to conceal his true identity.

After also masking his stats and his true rank using the artifact, he pushed off the ground and flew through the sky at high speed until he was near the entrance of Erhes Valley.

Ryan landed in a secluded spot off the road and casually walked toward the wall’s massive gates. Posing as an A-rank adventurer, he passed the guards’ inspection and entered the city without a hitch.

However, as he walked through the streets and observed the relaxed demeanor of the soldiers at the gate, he realized just how easy it was to infiltrate human cities. Perhaps it was because only humans possessed these kinds of concealment relics that they were so trusting of anyone who crossed their walls.

After witnessing this firsthand, he began thinking of ways to improve security back home and prevent the same thing from happening in his own kingdom.

Ryan continued walking past the stone and wooden buildings, watching the people go by until he stopped in front of a rather crowded establishment.

’A tavern. I should get something to eat,’ he thought as he stood out front, deciding to take a break before exploring the rest of the city.

He pushed open the wooden door and casually stepped inside. The place was packed with adventurers eating and drinking at various tables, creating a noisy atmosphere filled with loud chatter.

Ryan took a seat at an empty table with a good view of the room. Right next to him sat a group of adventurers consisting of three men and one woman, who were chatting animatedly over their drinks.

"There sure are a lot of outsiders lately," the first man commented, setting his mug down on the table after glancing toward the entrance.