I spotted the two of them at the entrance of the lower city and sprinted toward them at full speed.
“Zeke! Demon Queen! Wait!”
At my call, they stopped and turned around.
“Christopher? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Zeke looked surprised.
“No. I came to ask… please let me join your journey. I’ve already received permission from the king.”
Zeke’s eyes widened even more.
“Seriously?! Then… did you quit being a knight captain?”
“No, I haven’t resigned. I’ve been granted temporary leave—for training.”
“More importantly,”
The Demon Queen cut in.
“You said you want to travel with us… but do you really think I’d journey together with this Hero?”
Her tone turned cold.
“We’re enemies.”
…She had a point.
Just yesterday, they had called it a temporary truce.
“Yeah, I guess it is weird for a Hero and a Demon Queen to travel together,” Zeke said with a shrug.
“But right now, we’ve got the same goal. And with those Dragonkin running around, it might be smarter to stick together.”
“Scared, are you?”
The Demon Queen smirked.
“Yeah… a little,” Zeke admitted.
“…You noticed it too, didn’t you? Something’s off. Our magic power’s been cut to less than half. We’re not fighting at full strength.”
“Wait—that wasn’t your full power?!” I blurted out.
Just how strong were they… really?
I swallowed hard.
“And there’s more,” Zeke continued.
“Our usual weapons didn’t make it here with us. We had to borrow swords from the knights… but these won’t hold up. Not with what little power we have left.”
“…True,” the Demon Queen said quietly.
“And those Dragonkin…” she added, her expression sharpening.
“They’re unsettling. Even their foot soldiers—every single one of them had their physical abilities enhanced by magic.”
She folded her arms, thinking.
“To affect that many individuals… and possibly from a distance… either they possess an enormous amount of magical power…”
“Or they’re using a kind of magic we’ve never seen before.”
She exhaled softly.
“…Very well. Returning to our world comes first. Until then, I’ll postpone killing you, Hero.”
She extended her right hand toward Zeke.
“A temporary truce.”
Zeke looked at her for a moment—
Then smiled, and took her hand.
“Works for me.”
They shook.
And just like that—
The great journey of the Hero and the Demon Queen began.
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