/
Since she was just brought in like a mere slave, the demons never felt the need to take special care of her. If only her life was the one at stake, perhaps it would have been better for them to have her lie down helplessly instead.
‘Hungry……’
She had her shoulders slouched weakly as something moist and warm brushed against her cheek. The wolf cub that had been playing with her just then was now staring at her with much anticipation in its eyes while leaning towards her face. It also seemed to have thought that this was another different game altogether.
‘Even if it’s just an animal, it still feels good to have someone who actually needs me……’
It was a sense of warmth which she had not seen in a very long time. Julia hoped that she would not be rejected as she gently embraced the wolf. Although it had still been quite young, the bulky feeling in her arms gradually filled up her void heart.
“Kking?”
“I’m sorry, are you getting bored? I’ll play with you once again. I just keep on mentioning that I’m sorry. I guess I just wouldn’t like to be hated by you.”
When she picked up the disc-shaped tray that she had just seen earlier, the wolf cub began wagging its tail with another look of anticipation. By the time Julia was looking around in which direction to make a throw, she could see a camel was grazing leisurely outside the stable.
By general standard, it was much larger than that of an adult, but it had been the same with the wolf which was right in front of her. It was bigger than a large dog, but it had some fluffy fur on its belly, so it was rather clear for it to appear like a ball of dust rolling from a very, very far distance away.
“Is it okay if I just leave it like that?”
Revenna had already said that this was a stable for those newborn beasts. Then, it also meant that the camel was another young beast as well. However, if it had gotten out that far and eventually injured itself, she would not be able to face Revenna, who was the one entrusted this to her in the first place.
She put the discus down and started her steps carefully so as not to startle the camel. Nevertheless, Julia’s hair got pulled back abruptly for a moment.
“Kiiing, Kking!”
“Uh…”
“Kkang, kkang!!”
As she turned around, she saw that the wolf cub was already dangling from her own hair. The figure seemed to have insisted strongly for her not to leave, so Julia gradually hesitated as she tried to grab on her hair that had been bitten tightly by that wolf cub.
“I’ll just put away the camel safely over there before I come back soon, okay?”
“Kuuung!”
“Let, just let go of this first.”
“Kuuunngg!”
It wasn’t painful enough by the sheer intensity of it, but it still had a rather vital size. Therefore, whenever the wolf had shaken her head, Julia was swung along by it. With so much hair locked in its mouth until it could no longer bark properly, the wolf lay down all over the ground as it rolled around on that dirt floor.
The headdress, which Revenna had attached to her, was instantly ripped off at the wolf cub’s fierce struggle. Julia toppled over on her behind and began to breathe heavily, but the wolf was just unaware of everything as it merely rolled around in a trance while begging her to play. It was a relief actually.
“Aren’t you a good boy? I’ll be back very soon.”
Julia mumbled softly and quickly backed herself away. The camel that was grazing on the grass began raising its head as if it could sense a presence while its big eyes started twitching blankly in response.
“Baaaaeeeekk…”
“Oh no.”
“Meeeeehhh…”
For the first ever, she was aware that camels could actually cry. Upon reflection, it could definitely make a sound due to its own vocal chords, but this was unexpectedly unique. Was it similar to the blare of a long siren?
‘Maybe it was a sudden surprise for it to see people for its very own first time.’
She then grabbed hold of the nearby grass and pulled it out before shaking them slowly. The camel’s long, moist tongue soon crept a little closer.
‘Does it want to eat? It would be nice if I could lure him inside eventually like this.’
Julia gently waved the grass and opened the door to the stable. It was at that moment when she was about to step back inside slowly.
Huwak—!
The camel had breathed in a black energy that appeared out of nowhere and turned into a huge, muscular black horse in an instant. The black horse that was already several times even higher than Julia herself suddenly bit the back of her neck before tossing her into the air. She was extremely surprised that her voice couldn’t even come out properly.
“Uhk…!”
“Hhiiinnggg!”
The black horse immediately snatched her as she fell helplessly onto the floor. Then, it started running like crazy all of a sudden.
Her vision began to flip haphazardly and she couldn’t come back to her senses. Julia could only hang onto the back of the saddleless horse with all her might instead.
“St-stop!”
Her pathetic screams were utterly overshadowed by the roaring of the horseshoes. She crouched down while clutching on the mane tightly, but the sharp vines and many branches of the forest still scratched her delicate skin.
The black horse started raging even harder at her as if it was trying to drop her, who was still clinging onto it. On the other hand, she was unable to think properly because of her frantically shaky vision.
She didn’t really know why the horse had suddenly appeared or why it became so agitated or even where it was actually going. Just that it was running fiercely across the forest surrounding the Demon King’s Castle instead.
‘Where, where is this? How long has it already been?’
The landscape that came into her view was changing rapidly. Her eyes were soon dyed with confusion as she belatedly faced the current reality.
‘No way—am I already out of the castle right now?!’
As if it was answering her own bewildered question, the giant spire of the Demon King’s Castle gradually got smaller behind her back and began to vanish immediately. Now, she couldn’t even guess the direction she got bolted into. At some point, the road became more and more difficult before it soon turned into a complete wasteland with nothing ever laid on it.
A strange sound rang in her ears, which had already hardened with tension.
“Grrooowwlll…”
“It smells like a human.”
“It’s that sweet, soft scent of a human.”
The lustful gazes were greedily scanning Julia’s whole body. A girl—powerless to even defend herself—had fallen among the demons with her own bare body. A girl, who was pure and unripe, appeared very delicious.
An instinctive beep instantly echoed in Julia’s brain. She didn’t even want to imagine what it would be like if she were to fall into their hands. Her fingertips that were still clutching onto the mane eventually turned white.
“Let’s all surround her from the other side.”
“Catch it, kik kik.”
A gruesome laughter as if an iron being scratched had penetrated Julia’s eardrums.
She felt like a helpless herbivore in front of a wild beast. However, the reality was far worse than that. Demons possessed higher intelligence and superior physical abilities than that of wild beasts. On the other hand, she was slower and weaker than those mere herbivores.
It was then that she bit her lips with an eerie sort of feeling. The black horse, whose eyes were burning red, suddenly raised its front hooves and began running recklessly.
“Hhhinngggg!”
“Kyaak!”
Julia’s vision, which had eventually missed the mane, turned around wildly in return.