Edited by: Kuro and Lille
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Difficult was an understatement.
Evelyn was a kind, open-minded, and courageous person with a pure heart and a good sense of justice. She was not ignorant of the ways of the world even if she didn't know how to read and write that well.
What was difficult was trying to cram as much as they could within a month. Everyone, not just Evelyn, was tired of this cram session that lasted a whole month. Grey even had to continue her studies while on the journey to the Demon Continent.
Even so, Evelyn had grown a lot during that time. She wasn't the best at speaking like a polite noble but it was good enough for a month's worth of practice.
She also got along well with Princess Natalia, who became her sparring partner. As for Evelyn falling in love with Princess Natalia… He had only heard from a little birdy that Evelyn confessed to her after falling for her at first sight and was directly rejected by Princess Natalia. That was none of his business though.
On the day Grey, Vincent, and Azul were leaving with the Hero, Grey got caught up at the west entrance of the capital. His parents and brothers were hugging him, crying about how they didn't want to see him go, for him to come back safely, and to finish the Demon King as quickly as possible so that they could see him again.
Grey spent a good hour trying to appease his family. Even Vincent and Azul had to step in and promise to keep Grey safe.
The King and Queen, Azul's parents, as well as Princess Natalia and Crown Prince Zyair, also showed up to wish Azul and Grey luck, but they were overshadowed by the screaming Hansferds who didn't want Grey to leave.
Once Grey's family were assured and coaxed, they finally sent Grey off tearfully.
Grey, Aeneas, Faylan, and Evelyn got into the basic, but high-quality carriage the kingdom provided while Azul and Vincent sat at the front to take turns controlling the horses.
Ren looked out the window once more and said his goodbyes to his family who were waving at him while crying for him to come back soon.
His family was a little messy but he loved them a lot. He could understand Ren's feelings of wanting to go home and how that kept him alive for so long…
"Ren, your family loves you a lot." Evelyn was happy for Grey but a little melancholy that her mom couldn't be there to wish her luck too.
Luckily though, she was able to get a letter from her Mom who wished her well on her journey. She had also given early goodbyes when she made her way to the capital, but having to leave like this really sunk in for her that she was the Hero now and that she and her new friends may not make it back alive.
"Yes… I love them as well. They love me quite a lot and are very overprotective of me. I feel like they still see me as a 6-year-old boy sometimes."
Only Azul and Vincent knew what Grey meant. Vincent felt a little bitter because he knew exactly what Grey had to go through, especially the last few months of being imprisoned. Grey's torture got progressively worse than the other kids in the room. He still didn't know how Grey had survived until he was rescued.
Evelyn didn't notice Vincent or Azul's sour mood. "Our parents will always see us as little kids even if we are all grown up and old just like them." She softly chuckled and then took out the letter that her mom had sent her.
"I hope I can go back soon and see my mum again… We only have each other, so I don't want to leave my mum all alone on the farm."
Grey patted her on the head. "Don't worry. I will make sure we will beat the Demon King and come back to our families. There's a lot more you have to learn, but everything you learn will help you get back to your mother."
"Mhmm, I understand! Thanks, Ren."
The previously nervous and anxious Evelyn felt a lot better after talking with Grey. She was glad to have so many reliable companions coming with her to defeat the Demon King.
It was going to be a long journey, but Evelyn felt determined to defeat the Demon King and get back home to her mother who was waiting for her!
*****
It took them three months to reach the Demon Continent, after traveling across the Tresna Kingdom and two more nations.
The horses needed to frequently rest, the weather determined whether they could continue onward, and there were a lot of demons and monsters on the road. The Hero's group used this opportunity to continue to teach Eveyln the topics that she couldn't get to when she was in the capital and to train her in combat.
In the beginning, Evelyn vomited when she killed her first monster. It took some time to console her, but she finally stopped shaking after killing that first monster.
Demons and monsters were a bit different. Monsters were created by corrupted magical energy coming from the Fallen God's crystal where he laid to rest. While demons were the intelligent monsters that could communicate with each other. They were also able to organize themselves; control other monsters and even create armies.
Demons could only be killed by those who could use magic, especially holy magic, which was why Evelyn had to do the final attack on the demons.
Training in a controlled environment was much different than getting real combat and battlefield experience. Grey felt that Evelyn did her best to harden her heart and didn't give up.
He was a bit curious about how the previous Evelyn's were. Did the other Hosts train her enough?
[To answer your question, Grey, the Gods said that the Evelyn we see here is a lot stronger than the previous two times a Host had tried to help her. The other two Hosts… Well, the first one was strong, but he wasn't good at teaching. He was one of those geniuses who could not understand why people could not pick things up as quickly as he could, so that led him to his downfall. As for the other Host, she was so obsessed with Crown Prince Zyair that she forgot to take care of Evelyn properly, which made Evelyn much weaker than she is now.]
'I'm utterly speechless.'
[This was when Hosts did not have to worry about the Villain System. Plus, a lot of Hosts who were good with A-ranked worlds tried their hand at S-ranked worlds and found it too difficult, so they didn't care as much as we do now. Don't worry. I'm going to change this system and make sure qualified people will do their jobs well!]
Well, it was a good thing he was here. Evelyn was not untalented, actually, she was quite hardworking and smart, she just needed time and decent tutors to help her out. She was like a rough gem that just needed to be polished to show how beautiful it was.
"Hey everyone, I think we made it to the Demon Continent." Azul's voice woke up everyone in the carriage.
They all peered out of the window and witnessed an eerily strange sight. There was a clear dividing line that separated the Demon Continent from the rest of the world. The once beautiful green grass was scarce and purple. It looked as if the ground was made of hard purple rocks and occasional purple plants. Everything looked like a muted purple in the Demon Continent.
Even the sky was purple and the clouds were always black and gray. There didn't seem to be any water in sight. The trees had no leaves and looked as if they had died and dried up.
But there were all sorts of monsters and demons roaming the continent. They looked as if they hadn't eaten a good meal in years.
"With how dead the Demon Continent is, it's no wonder they leave and terrorize humans and animals." Faylan couldn't help but comment while touching a handful of sand on the ground. It was dry and deprived of life.
The horses that accompanied them on this journey refused to take a step closer. They resisted no matter how much the others pulled and prodded and even wanted to turn around.
Everyone got off the carriage and looked at the horses that tried to turn around but couldn't.
Grey felt bad and didn't want to force them to come with them. "We should let them go. I can carry the carriage and when we come back, we can walk to the nearest village to see if they have any horses we can buy."
Everyone knew he had some sort of dimensional space so they felt that was fine. Plus, the horses looked like they would rather die than go into the Demon Continent.
Vincent and Azul released the horses and they ran in the opposite direction of the demon continent. As for where they went, no one knew. They could only hope that the horses would stay safe from monsters and demons…
"Well, I guess we are walking from here on out!" Evelyn pointed in the direction where there was a large mountain. Everyone knew that the Demon King lived in that mountain.
Grey couldn't help but chuckle at Evelyn's pose.
Azul took out the map that was created by other Heroes. "Everyone, we have to stick together. There's a good spot that we can rest at so let's go there first."
Everyone nodded and took their first steps into the Demon Continent.