When I opened my eyes, it was already day. The sun shone in my eyes and I had to blink a few times to adapt to the brightly illuminated environment.
I was satisfied to see that the changes were not that noticeable this time. At least not at first glance.
I stood up and took a deep breath to take in all the scent around me. I had to make sure if the others had already caught up with me.
But that was not the case. What I did notice however was a man, and he was extremely close.
Flying away was a possible escape , but he would see me. and if he saw me the news would probably spread to the stone city. Things like that could cause confusion and end up in the situation where they would send reinforcements to the wrong place.
Killing the man was also an option. But he didn't do anything wrong. He just had the inconvenience to stumble upon me.
So, I decided to put on my torn cloak and use illusion magic to slip away without him realising that I am a demon. And if he were to find out I would have no option left but to kill him.
I walked towards the main road and headed in the direction where the others were supposed to be.
The man was also walking on the main road. Carrying a basket filled with freshly plucked herbs that only grew in these winter months. I knew that it was risky to do it this way but if I kept walking through the forest the man would think that it was suspicious if he were to see me.
"I wouldn't go in that direction young man."
The elderly man spoke. His soft voice resembled the wind that blew through the leafless branches.
I immediately stopped and panicked a little bit. Then I realised that I could use this man as a test subject for my new form of illusion magic.
I infiltrated his mind. It took me some effort to do so and it was even harder to do it without him noticing. But I managed to pass through his mental barrier and use my illusion magic.
This made me wonder if age or life experiences had any influence on the sturdiness of the mind.
Despite the effort it took to infiltrate the mind of this old man, I was really lucky. The man was blind on one eye. He could only see through his left eye so it would take even less magic to keep the illusion up.
I got a little dizzy from looking through my own eyes and that of the man at the same time, but it worked, and the illusion looked believable. I grinned because of my small victory.
"And why is that?" I asked the man in a polite tone.
The man showed a soft smile on his wrinkled face and worry in his old eyes. He looked like a really friendly old goblin or something along those lines.
His skin was pale, he was skinny, wrinkled, and bald. But he looked sweet like a child offering you candy.
"It is not safe there. Oni's live on that mountain over there."
" I am well aware of that."
The man thought for a short time and eventually answered.
"Then let me please give you a place to stay and rest before you head there."
I could read the thoughts of this old man and knew that I couldn't decline. If I refused, he would most likely drag me to his house. And I would be able to join the others in no time.
So, I agreed.
Apparently, he lived close to the village where the men that tried to rob us lived. But he was exiled for some reason. I couldn't deduce why from merely his surface thoughts. If I really wanted to know I would have to look through his memories and I was sure that he would notice that.
I figured that it wasn't wort it.
When we arrived at his house, he immediately started to make tea while I looked around the room. There hung so many holy items on the wall.
The chairs were standing in front of the fireplace so there would be a few meters between me and the items. I wouldn't hurt myself, but it still felt really uncomfortable and I actually wanted to leave that building as soon as possible.
After some time, the man came back and handed me some tea, still with the friendly smile on his face.
"It has been a while since I had company."
He looked so happy, not that he wasn't alone for a change.
I took the tea and thanked the man.
The man sat down in the other chair and stared into the fire.
He let out a deep sigh like only an old man could do.
I was a little confused about his sudden change of attitude.
"Is something wrong?" I asked him. I tilted my head, awaiting his answer.
The man took a sip from his tea.
"Yes. The people in the village have lost their ways. Even when the devil himself warns them, they just won't listen."
("I see. So, they have delivered my message. I need more information to know how bad it really is before I try to do anything about it.")