After a few minutes of dragging the demon girl with me, we stopped inside the isolated back alley, both out of breath.
I promised Rudolph I would stay out of trouble, but the situation forced me to.
I sat in front of the demon girl and looked at her appearance. Demons here were far from the demons as portrayed back on Earth in any fictional book. They were ugly and terrifying entities, whereas Demons here were like humans in appearance except for the tiny horns on their heads.
This is my very first time seeing one, a real one. I think the demon is about ten years old, and she reminds me of Crissy.
The child demon was wearing a white dress stained with footprints of the person who probably hurt her; even her bruises were fresh, but without it, she looked like somebody was taking good of her.
"I'm Troy, what's your name?"
She connected both of her hands and looked down. "Rafaela…Hemsworth."
"I see. We need to leave this place as soon as possible, and this place is no longer safe for you." I stood up and walked, but she immediately grabbed my hand.
"Big brother Kieran. He's waiting for me."
"Your big brother? Is he a demon, too?"
"No, he's my master, the kindest human I have ever met... and his kind mother... and father... all of them are kind to me."
Now that she mentioned it, a metal collar is dangling on her neck. Probably, she's a slave, a well-treated one, to be exact.
"I see. Let's just talk about that once I finally got you out of this kingdom. Do you know where the nearest exit from here is?"
She nodded.
"Good, first we need to get something we can use to hide those horns. And also-" I looked at Rafaela. I need to heal her, but how would I do that?
I acquired a healing ability but don't know how to use it.
Should I just say heal? Or should I touch her instead? I remember Baldy Cain emitting a glowing yellow light on his hand. Should I copy it? But how did he do that, by the way?
Unlike the Fire Magic, it automatically appeared, especially in my dire situation. But that's it. A plain fire. No shape, no form, just a fire, and I don't even know how I produced it.
[Note: All kinds of magic use mana. Offensive magic, such as fire magic, automatically channels mana from your body to protect you from danger without your consent. It's a body defense mechanism. While defensive magic such as healing, requires a lot of mana and full concentration.]
Oh, is that so? Okay. Thank you for the information. It was informative. By the way, who are you?
[I am your Unique Skill, Cherubim]
Are you like a system or like those anime I watch?
[No. I'm your strategist or assistant and an imitator. Everything you see, especially skills, I can imitate and make them yours]
Wow! Are you that awesome? So, then, I'm not crazy at all! There's actually someone speaking in my head.
[Correct]
So, about this healing skill?
[Let your mana flow through your fingers. Once you feel the vibration, your mana transfers to the wounds of anything or anyone you want to heal. This kind of skill requires concentration and a large amount of mana depending on the wounds you want to heal]
Okay! I'll try it.
I patted Rafaela's head and concentrated. Cherubim said all I need to do is let my mana flow and feel the vibrations coming from my fingers. Once I felt the vibrations, I saw her bruises immediately healed, and to my surprise, even her broken horn regenerated back.
Wow, I can do this shit?
But I immediately felt drained and staggered when I tried to stand up.
Why do I feel weak? I felt like my energy was drained from me.
[Like I said, healing can drain a lot of energy and mana, especially if you restore something already broken, like her horn. Wounds usually only cost a little mana. Broken body parts need a lot of mana to restore them; once mana is consumed, you will be weakened.]
Arck! I'll keep that in my mind.
Rafaela probably felt that all of her injuries had healed, and she looked up at me.
"Thanks... Mister, uhm, Troy."
"Let me rest for a bit, then off we go."
After regaining some of my strength, we started to walk, but the first thing I did was buy her a robe with a hood to hide her face and her horns as we traveled toward the nearest kingdom exit.
The real difficulty occurred when we finally reached the gate.
Based on Rafaela, to bring a slave outside the gate, you need to show the key to the slave's collar, but going back to her owner to get the key while with her is far riskier than sneaking through the guards because I don't know if the knights are already searching for us and climbing up to the wall is not a viable option due to the countless guards scattered around the kingdom wall.
A violent approach is the worst option in this situation, and I don't know what's coming after me if I make a flashy uproar. I'm still new to this world. Hence, I'm not a skilled magic user.
Upon reaching the crowded gate, one of the knights immediately walked towards us, but the sudden sounds coming behind us immediately took their attention.
One of the carriage wheels behind us collapsed and the fruits and vegetables inside fell to the road simultaneously. One of the horses before us escaped and unexpectedly ran towards the outer gate.
The knight who was about to approach us immediately joined the owner of the carriage to pick up the scattered fruit and vegetables.
"Thank you, kind sir."
"I don't mind," said the knight who was supposed to check us.
I touched the shivering shoulder of Misha in front of me. "Let's go," I said as a go signal.
Both of us ran as fast as we could. I unleashed a huge sigh of relief when we reached the outer gate.
I quickly took her inside the nearest forest and searched for a safe place for Rafaela to hide. The hardest part is finally done; that scared me big time.
I guided her behind the tree and patted her head. "Now, I just need to take care of something."
She looked at me with confusion in her eyes.
"We need to get rid of that thing on your neck."