While Rem, Alex, Izel, and Chloe, made their way to Leroy City, Roy was exploring the castle in Elkia by sneaking out. Little did he know what the Elven King was planning.
"Tch... I knew that Lawrence person wasn't trustworthy! He didn't manage to do his job correctly. How dare he! When I find him, I'll make sure to chop his head off personally." The Elven King said in a resentful voice.
"Let's see. How should I deal with that dragon?" The Elven King asked himself.
"I'll just watch what he's going to do for now." The Elven King decided.
He rang the bell that's always on his desk. A few knights came into his office room. Before they could say anything, the Elven King ordered them to guard Roy's bedroom.
"Watch him carefully. Got it? We don't want any trouble, do we...?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The knights said in unison.
They exited the room and walked towards Roy's room while the Elven King began to read the stacked-up papers on his desk.
...
It was midnight and an enormous battle was going on in Orthio City.
"KILL EVERYONE IN SIGHT!!!" The commander of the horde of demons ordered, yelling as loud as he could in demon language.
"KILL, KILL, KILL! FOR OUR GREAT LORD!!!" The demons chanted in their language relentlessly.
The sight was horrendous. There was blood and dead bodies everywhere. Most of them were human ones.
Just before the demons began to raid Orthio City, Oliver, Karina, Yukino, and Yukio already left for Yusio Kingdom. Despite them knowing that their journey would be long and harsh, they all agreed to leave nonetheless what they would have to go through.
Kaito also left, but he didn't leave with the others. Instead, he left with the first and third prince of Arka City. They brought two dozen knights with them and left for Arka City by horse.
...
Rem was running towards Leroy City until she sensed a strange aura nearby.
'What's that aura? It feels similar to a portal... Is it a portal...? It has to be. I can't mistake it, ever. The portal definitely here somewhere.'
{Go check it out if you're not sure. You might find something useful and gain more levels if you destroy that portal.}
Rem stopped as she opened the system's map. Alex, Izel, and Chloe were too tired to notice Rem's sudden stop.
'Locate the portal.' Rem demanded.
{It's Southwest from here.}
Rem ran towards the portal in her monster form. She stopped a few meters away from the red-colored portal.
'A red portal... 002, is there another way to get out of a portal once you enter other than defeating all the monsters in the portal?'
{Yes, you can. You just have to simply find the portal inside the portal you entered. Every portal has a portal inside it. You call the portal you enter first, the First Portal. the portal inside the First Portal can be called the Second Portal. If you enter the Second Portal, it would be as if you're exiting the First Portal. Is that too confusing for you to understand?}
'This is a rare chance for me to get to know about the portals. I can go in myself, but the time inside the portal is different than the time in this world, correct?'
{That's correct.}
'It's too dangerous... Note this location down on the map. I'll come back here when I feel confident that I can clear it. I have too many kids with me anyway.'
{Great choice.}
Before Rem left, she created a barrier around the portal.
'With this, there shouldn't be anyone going near this portal unless they're strong enough to find the barrier and break it. The barrier causes everything inside it to seem invisible. Creation magic is quite useful.'
Rem then continued her way towards Leroy City with the three fast asleep kids resting on her back.
...
Rem just entered the desert. It's early morning, and Rem is already halfway near Leroy City.
Izel was wide awake, looking around her surroundings with caution. Chloe was sleeping behind Izel, using Izel's back as a pillow.
"Are we there yet...?" Alex asked as he rubbed his eyes.
His fiery hair is messy. It seems that his horns have grown a little larger.
"Izel doesn't know."
"I'm hungry..." Chloe suddenly announced.
She woke up from Alex and Izel speaking.
Rem stopped and laid down, letting the three climb down her back. She then shifted to her beastman form.
"Whoa...! You have cat ears and even a tail!!!" Chloe said in surprise.
"This is how I usually look when I don't hide my ears and tail." Rem admitted.
She didn't think it would be a big deal for her to show them her beastman form since they saw her monster form earlier.
"Fluffy..."
Izel kept staring at Rem's ears.
"No, you can't touch them." Rem said sternly, almost instantly after noticing Izel's stare.
"What are those black marks on you?" Alex asked, pointing at the black tattoo-looking things that's on Rem's face, arms, legs, and body.
"I'm not too sure."
"Well, it's nice to know that our Lord has another form." Alex smiled smugly.
"Anyways... You guys should be hungry. Have some more jerkies."
Rem handed everyone each a few dozen pieces of jerky.
"Oh, c'mon...! We've been eating jerkies for ages!!!" Chloe complained.
"How could you complain in front of our Lord??!" Alex argued, defending Rem.
"It's fine. If you're getting sick of the jerkies, I can get you something else to eat. It's normal for you to get bored of that..."
'If it was me, I would have been bored of it too. I mean, Roy loves these jerks so much. I don't think he would ever get sick of it.' Rem thought.
Rem opened the system's shop, searching for other kinds of food.
"Sandwiches are alright, yes?"
"Yes!" Chloe quickly agreed.
"Izel is fine with eating whatever Chloe eats," Izel claimed.
Rem bought 6 egg and ham sandwiches, two sandwiches for Alex, Izel, and Chloe.
"OIIIII!!!! You kids over there! Do you need help???" A man's voice asked, yelling at the top of his lungs.
Alex flinched from the sudden loud yelling.
'Is he dumb? There are monsters everywhere in this desert. Does he want to die? Urgh... Shouting at nighttime in this desert isn't a good idea at all.'
Rem sighed. She thought the people near her would ignore them, but she was wrong. The moment she shifted to her beastman form, the invisibility barrier she created broke.
"What should we do?"
Chloe stared at Rem, waiting for her response.
'Usually, normal monsters who can sense my aura would avoid getting near me. If I go with that person, they and us should be safe unless he's going to attack us.'
"They saw us. We might as well ask where they're going."
'There are 5 people, including that man who yelled. Four are in the wagon.' Rem noticed, walking towards the wagon.
Alex, Izel, and Chloe followed Rem from behind.
"I was right! What are kids doing out here?" The man questioned.
"That's none of your business." Rem answered, observing the man.
"Yeah... You're right. We're going to Leroy City. Would you like to come with us? It's 15 copper coins per person." The man stated.
'Hm... Getting to Leroy City by wagon wouldn't look suspicious. If the guards there see a few kids at the gate without any guardians, they would interrogate us, which isn't something I want to go through.'
"Alright, I'll pay."
Rem threw a bag with 60 copper coins in it. The man checked the money amount and welcomed Rem, Alex, Izel, and Chloe on. The wagon was slightly cramped for this many people.
'Two adults sleeping, and two kids are sitting near us. They look malnourished. Their life must not be easy...'
The kids watched Alex, Izel, and Chloe eat their sandwiches. Chloe pitied the kids, so she gave one of her sandwiches for the two kids to share.
"Thank you, big sister!" The little girl smiled.
"No, don't eat it! What if there's poison in it?" The little boy who seemed a little older than the little girl asked.
"Izel knows whatever Chloe gives someone is never poisonous!" Izel said angrily.
She was offended by what the boy said.
"It's okay. there's no poison in it." Chloe took a piece of the sandwich from the little girl and ate it.
"See?"
The little boy nodded, allowing his younger sister to eat the whole sandwich.
"Why did you even give them anything to eat? They'll just complain anyway." Alex said, looking at the kids with pity as well.
He shook his head, reminding himself to be strong and to never pity others. If he did, he thinks that he wouldn't get stronger.
Rem threw a few jerkies at the kids and their parents.
"You guys didn't want to eat them. It'll be better to give it to them instead of throwing it away and wasting them." Rem said quietly.
"Thank you very much!"
The kids woke their parents up by shaking their shoulders.
"Ah, thank you, youngsters." The two parents bowed.
{How nice of you.}
Rem ignored everyone as she stared into the vast sky.