Subaru and Übel walked side by side. The road stretched ahead of them, green and winding, with trees on both sides that swayed gently in the breeze. After walking for days, they finally saw a village in the distance. Smoke rose from chimneys, and the faint sound of voices carried across the fields. It was a welcome sight after so many nights spent sleeping under the stars.
Übel pointed ahead. "There is a silent old dwarf sitting at the gate of the village. Last time I passed by, he had not talked or even lifted his head. He was very old."
Subaru squinted, trying to make out the figure. "Should I be worried?"
Übel merely grinned. "You should be wary of him."
"Why?"
Übel did not answer. Her grin widened, and she picked up her pace, leaving Subaru to follow with a growing sense of unease.
As they reached the village, Subaru was met with the flash of a sword at her face. The blade came from nowhere, fast and sharp, aimed directly at her throat. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up. She jumped back, the edge passing inches from her skin.
The old man was very fast for his small size and age. He was upon her again before she had time to recover, his sword sweeping in a low arc aimed at her legs. Subaru leaped over it, landing in a crouch. The old man followed with an overhead strike that cratered the ground where she had been standing.
Subaru yelled, "Why are you attacking me?"
The old man did not answer. His eyes, visible beneath the brim of his helmet, were focused and cold. He moved with the precision of someone who had spent a lifetime training, his strikes flowing from one to the next without pause.
Subaru turned to Übel, who had sat down on a nearby rock and was watching the fight with obvious enjoyment. "A little help here!" Subaru shouted.
Übel cheered lightheartedly, "You are doing great! Keep going!"
Subaru cursed under her breath and leaped back, creating distance between herself and the old dwarf. She summoned two daggers in her hands, the blades appearing from her mana. The weight felt familiar in her grip.
This old man was certainly not a bad person. He was probably attacking her because she was a demon, which was a valid reason. The truth was that she was not a demon, not really, but explaining that would take time she did not have.
True strength lay in restraint. She remembered something she had read, or maybe watched, in her old life. Thorfinn discovering that the strongest warriors were those who could control their power, who could win without causing harm. She could use grappling, Aikido style parrying, to exploit the old man's own momentum. She could knock his sword away cleanly without causing physical harm.
The old man lunged again. His sword came in a straight thrust aimed at her chest. Subaru sidestepped, her body moving smoothly, and caught his wrist with her free hand. She twisted, redirecting the force of his attack, and his momentum carried him past her. He stumbled, caught himself, and turned to face her again.
He swung horizontally, aiming for her midsection. Subaru dropped low, the blade passing over her head, and swept her leg toward his ankles. The old man jumped over the sweep, his movements surprisingly agile for his age. He landed and immediately launched a flurry of strikes, each one faster than the last.
Subaru deflected them with her daggers, the metal clashing in a rapid rhythm. She did not counterattack. She did not try to hurt him. She simply blocked and dodged, waiting for an opening.
The old man grew frustrated. His strikes became wilder, less controlled. He was spending too much energy, too much force. Subaru saw her chance. She caught his blade with both daggers, crossed them, and twisted. The sword was pulled from his grip, spinning through the air before landing on the ground several feet away.
The old man fell forward, his momentum carrying him to the ground. He landed on his hands and knees, his helmet tilting to the side, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He was speechless, his eyes fixed on the sword that lay just out of reach.
Subaru stood over him, her dagger pointed at his throat. "I am telling you," she said, her voice calm, "I am not your enemy."
She sheathed her dagger and walked away. The old man remained on the ground, his body trembling, his hands pressed against the earth. Then he opened his eyes, wide and desperate, and yelled after her. "Kill me! I failed to protect the village! I have no right to live!"
Subaru looked back at him. Her eyes were tired, heavy with the weight of everything she had been through. "You did not fail," she said. "The village is still standing. The people are still alive. You have not failed."
The old man yelled again, his voice cracking. "I let a demon in! I could not stop you!"
Subaru shook her head. "You tried. That is more than most people would do."
She turned and walked to where Übel was sitting. Without hesitation, she reached out and bonked Übel on the head, a sharp tap with her knuckles. "You are a traitor."
Übel rubbed her head, but she was still grinning. "That was entertaining."
Subaru sighed. "Now let us get some things. And apples. I need apples."
───✧───
Thankfully no one in the village was able to know that she was a demon. Subaru had been worried, especially after the fight with the old dwarf, but the villagers simply saw her as a traveler who had defended herself against a strange attack. They had no reason to suspect anything else.
From what she had observed, the way someone recognized a demon was pretty obvious. Übel had known she was a demon despite her hiding her horns. It was probably because she was a mage who could understand and resonate with different types of mana in the surroundings. Mages were sensitive to the flow of energy, to the subtle differences between human and demon mana. They could feel the wrongness, the strangeness, even if they could not see it.
Same went for warriors, to some extent. However, most warriors, no matter how strong they were, were usually not able to understand and differentiate between human and demon mana. They relied on their eyes and their instincts, and those could be fooled. That was the reason why people in the Orden family had not been able to see through her disguise. To them, she was just a girl in a turban.
But this was not the case for Old Man Voll. Apparently that was his name, though he had not offered it himself. Subaru had heard it from a passing villager who had muttered something about the old guard. She believed that an experienced warrior who had fought demons before could easily differentiate between demons and humans regardless of disguise. Voll had sensed something wrong about her, something that made him attack on sight. He had not needed to see her horns. He had simply known.
This was going to be trouble when they reached Äußerst. That place was crawling with mages, experienced ones who had trained for years, who could sense mana with the same ease that humans sensed heat and cold. And there would be warriors too, seasoned veterans who had faced demons and lived to tell the tale. If Subaru could not hide her nature from them, she would be exposed the moment she walked through the gates.
She was still thinking about this when they saw Old Man Voll standing near the village square. His sword was in his hand, the blade gleaming in the afternoon light. He was waiting for them, his eyes fixed on Subaru with an intensity that made her uncomfortable.
He spoke, his voice rough and tired. "Finish me off. I cannot live with the shame of being defeated by a demon."
Subaru sighed. She was tired of this. Tired of the fighting, the suspicion, the constant threat of exposure. She just wanted to buy supplies and move on.
Übel leaned close. "You should do it," she said, her voice light. "End his misery."
Subaru gave her a disgusted look. "Are you sure you are not a demon?"
Übel grinned. "I have my moments."
Subaru turned back to Voll. Her voice was calm, patient, the voice of someone who had said the same thing too many times. "We are leaving. We just came to buy some stuff for our journey. You can continue guarding the village."
Voll's grip on his sword tightened. He did not lower it.
Subaru continued. "The villagers think very highly of you. You have been protecting this place for so long. That is a great thing, even though nobody knows why you did it. You should continue doing it if you feel this is what you want."
She paused, searching for the right words.
"But I just want to let you know that just because I defeated you does not mean you lost. You are just being an idiot. Or maybe too cautious. I do not know. I do not want to be rude, sounding like someone bullying a senior citizen." She winced. "Ouch. What am I even saying?"
She rubbed the back of her head.
"Anyway, what I am trying to do is, uh, I am terrible at pep talks. What I am trying to say is that—"
A huge shadow loomed over them. Everyone looked up.
It was a giant red skinned dragon. The creature was massive, its body longer than the village square, its wings spreading wide enough to block out the sun. Its scales were the color of dried blood, and its eyes burned with a yellow light that promised destruction.
It landed on the village square, its claws tearing up the ground, its tail sweeping across the stone. Everyone screamed. People ran in every direction, abandoning their baskets and their carts and their children. The dragon's head turned, and it laughed, a deep rumbling sound, as it looked at a woman with baskets who had frozen in fear.
Übel drew her staff, her expression shifting from amusement to focus. But Subaru was faster. She appeared between the woman and the dragon, a sword materializing in her hands. She struck the dragon across the snout, and the creature flew a few meters away, landing with a crash that shook the ground.
Nothing happened. The dragon got back up, shaking its head, its scales unmarked.
Übel used her cleaving magic on it, Reelseiden, the spell that could cut through anything. It struck the dragon's side, and nothing happened. The scales did not even scratch.
Old Man Voll yelled as he attacked. He rushed forward, his sword raised, his voice carrying across the square. "This dragon is immune to magic! Only physical force can harm it!"
Subaru's mind raced. "Übel! You can kill it if you can imagine it!"
Übel shrugged, her expression frustrated. "Reelseiden is not working on it. I cannot really imagine how to cut it. This dragon is completely immune to mana based attacks. My Reelseiden is also mana based at the end of the day."
Old Man Voll kept attacking the dragon with his sword. Each strike landed, leaving small cuts and scratches on the creature's hide. It did seem to work, but it was barely enough. The dragon was huge, and Voll was small, and his attacks were like pinpricks against a mountain.
The dragon was already destroying things around them. It swept its tail through a cart, sending splinters flying. It breathed a stream of fire that set a roof ablaze. People screamed and ran, and the dragon laughed, the sound deep and terrible.
Subaru conjured a giant black arrow. It appeared in her hand, long and thick, with a head that gleamed with a dark light. Then she conjured a bow, twice as big as her, the limbs curved and powerful. She held it in her hands, the weight familiar, the tension building.
"Old Man Voll!" she yelled. "This way!"
Voll heard her. He struck the dragon's jaw, a powerful blow that made the creature stumble. It turned, its eyes searching for the source of the attack.
Subaru released the black arrow. It was a blur, moving faster than sight, before piercing the dragon from head to spine with a single strike. The arrow went through the skull, through the neck, through the body, and emerged from the other side.
The dragon stood there for a moment. Its eyes widened. Its mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Then it fell.
The ground shook when it landed, and the dust rose in a great cloud. When it cleared, the dragon lay still, its body already beginning to dissolve into dark ether.
The village erupted in cheers. People ran to the square, pointing at the dragon, at the arrow, at Subaru. They shouted her name, though they did not know it, and they praised her for saving them.
Subaru sighed. She lowered her bow and let it dissolve, the mana returning to her. Her body ached. Her head pounded. She had used too much energy too quickly.
Old Man Voll stared at her, his sword still raised, his eyes wide with surprise. He looked at the dragon, then at her, then back at the dragon.
He did not speak. He did not move. He just stood there, frozen, his sword trembling in his grip.