The King of Devils (5)
Lunia stopped drawing the symbol with her foot and raised her head.
For some reason, it was noisy outside.
Hurried footsteps, devils gathering busily and heading somewhere.
Something unusual had happened among the devils.
‘Did Aster or the others come?’
Lunia's thoughts naturally went there.
But if that were true, it wouldn't be a good sign.
She was happy that they came to save her, but their busyness meant they had been discovered. They might have gone to attack Aster, or perhaps they were discussing how to deal with Lunia as a hostage.
Of course, the reason they were busy was that they had lost contact with Marco, their current leader. They still didn't know how the situation was unfolding.
After a while, as if the discussion was over, a few devils entered the house where Lunia was.
Among them, the devil who was originally guarding Lunia opened the locked door.
“Hey.”
“……What.”
Lunia replied curtly. She was a little worried about the water bottle she had left by the door, but fortunately, they didn't seem to notice it.
“We're moving. Follow me.”
“What if I don't want to?”
When Lunia said that with a provocative smile, the devil clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers.
“Kyaa!”
At that moment, the bracelets that were restraining Lunia began to pull towards each other like magnets. Unable to resist the force, Lunia's wrists were bound together. They had become handcuffs.
“Should I drag you by your hair?”
“……Alright. I'll follow you.”
In this state, even a little resistance was impossible. Lunia, although she didn't like it, decided to move as they wished.
‘Well, fine. The temporary rune is complete, and I can activate it even if the distance is a bit far.’
Of course, the lines and dots were all rough, and the symbols weren't properly aligned, but Lunia was confident she could activate it.
Just as even the worst handwriting could be read by the person who wrote it, Lunia intuitively knew how to make that incomplete rune work.
Thump, thump.
As Lunia followed the devil in front, one by one, devils began to fill the space around her. From a distance, it might look like they were protecting her, but it was just a way to prevent the hostage from being taken away.
‘……They’re moving locations and increasing the number of guards……. These guys aren't sure of anything either. Something I don't know must have happened.’
If they had discovered that Aster had come, it wouldn't be this quiet. It seemed they were just being more cautious. Perhaps the devils were also trying to figure out the situation.
Most of their comrades, including Aster, could blow up a shabby house like this.
If they could pinpoint Lunia's location, they could break down the back wall where she was imprisoned. Reinforcement magic would hardly be an obstacle for them.
So instead of imprisoning her, they were creating eyes all around.
A slum like this was perfect for hiding something, but once discovered, it wasn't a good place to defend.
There weren't many places that satisfied both concealment and defense. This was especially true for those who were pressed for time, like Satan's devils.
Creak.
The devils carefully checked their surroundings, making sure no one was approaching, and opened the door to a large building.
‘……A building like this still exists.’
Lunia was inwardly impressed by the quite spacious interior as she entered. There was a building of this size in this slum. It wasn't luxurious, but the size was comparable to a mansion.
‘The village hall…… maybe?’
That thought was brief. One of the devils brought a chair and placed it in the center of the room.
And then he pulled Lunia.
“Kyaa!”
Lunia screamed at the rough touch. He wasn't deliberately being rough with her, but rather, he was moving quickly due to his urgency. Naturally, there was no consideration, and Lunia was roughly seated on the chair.
Woong—
Click!
Her restraints separated again, and this time, they sent her arms behind the back of the chair and reattached them.
“……That's a really damn good bracelet.”
When Lunia said sarcastically, the devil in front of her grinned.
“Right? Got a good one from Hitchcock.”
“……Hitchcock?”
Was he talking about the famous magic tool company, Hitchcock?
The devil next to him frowned.
“Don't talk nonsense. You're being too loose-lipped.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
They talked without much thought, but Lunia's mind raced.
She was more interested in the fact that they warned him about the statement than the fact that they were using Hitchcock products.
‘Is there a devil in Hitchcock too? Are they on the same side as these guys?’
Lunia's guess was only half right.
Hitchcock, rather than being on the same side, tended to sell to anyone who could buy. Moreover, since their chairman was a devil, they would deal with anyone who wanted their products, whether they were devils or humans.
“By the way, what happened to Marco?”
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