"WHAT DO YOU MEAN A DEMON TOOK HIM?" I couldn't stop myself from yelling at the battered nobleman that had walked through the gate.
No, no, no. This can't be happening. Out of everyone that went in there, he was the last person I expected to be a casualty.
I ran a hand through my short dark blonde hair and took a deep breath, ignoring the stares the other mages were giving me.
Diego didn't return. There were some casualties among the adventurers, my suspicion that the dark forest was alive confirmed. Out of thirty-one adventurers, only seventeen came back.
But this expedition had been successful. It had been the only successful expedition we'd had into the Monster Realm in modern history.
But Diego didn't come back. He hadn't stepped out of the gate and the spell I had put on him hadn't activated yet which at least let me know he hadn't been attacked. So where was he? Where was that impulsive, bumbling, reckless fool?!
