A Demon's Demand

Looking at Luna, Luke, and Ray begging for help in front of her, Elise took a long breath.

"Okay, so what we understand is: you were attacked by a small goblins army controlled by a demon. They made you surrender, captured your leader, and let you guys go so you would do what they asked, right?"

"Yes!" Ray replied.

"Please, all of you raise your heads. We will help you,"

Elsie said,placing her hand on Ray's shoulder.

While returning to her original position with the others, Ray was shocked to see that, despite what he said to Elsie, she still wanted to help them.

"Please forgive me for what I said earlier to you," cleaning the remaining tears from his eyes, Ray said.

"Please, Miss Elise, forgive my friend. He really didn't mean it. He was just angry, that's why he said that. He always does that in anger," Luke said, placing his hand on Ray's shoulder, cleaning his tears too, and comforting him.

"Yes, Ray always says bad things in anger. Please, Miss Elise, forgive him," Luna said with a bit of a smile on her face.

On the side, Winifred was watching all of this.

"I still don't understand one thing: why is Ray blaming himself?" Elsie asked.

Listening to what Elsie said, and looking down with a guilty expression on his face, Ray said, "They dropped their weapons because of me. It's my fault!"

"Can you tell me more about what exactly happened there and why the others dropped their weapons because of you?" calmly Elise asked Ray.

"I was too excited after completing today's dungeon raid. Without killing many monsters, we were able to get more mana crystals compared to other raids. Since we're not a strong party, it's hard for us to survive. I was so happy, I thought with so many crystals, we could buy good things. Leo was his name; he was our leader. He told me something was wrong and not to lose focus, but I was just too happy.

"When we came back from the dungeon, I started running with excitement. Leo's energy detection sense was sharp; he detected goblins and the demon hiding in the forest, waiting for us. He understood it was a trap. He told Luna and Luke to run quickly and then he come towards me to save me. But then suddenly, the demon hiding in the forest attacked me, raising his sharp claws towards my neck. He told Leo to drop her weapon and surrender, saying loudly that he had captured me and would kill me if Luna and Luke didn't come back.

"Ray told Luna and Luke not to come back, understanding the demon would kill us if they captured us. But then, suddenly hitting on my head to create a distraction for Leo, the demon cut Leo's arm with his claws and told us that if we ran, he'd... he'd kill Leo. Seeing Leo in that shape, Luna and Luke also surrendered."

"If I had just listened to Leo, this would never have happened in the first place. Because of me, all this happened," Ray said while tightening his fist as small tears started streaming from his eyes again.

Winifred was shocked to hear what had happened to Ray, Luna, and Luke. She understood how this world worked. Feeling their pain, she thought, I have to become stronger.

"So this all happened today, huh…" Elsie said while thinking, looking down.

"Yes…" Luna replied.

Winifred was looking towards Elsie, wondering what she would do after this.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. "We've reached the destination," the man driving the carriage said.

"Let's get down, everyone. I have a plan," Elsie said with a bit of a smile and confidence.

Looking at Elsie, Ray and his companions felt motivated, with small smiles appearing on their faces.

Winifred already knew Elsie's strength. Remembering how Elsie had killed the goblin giant and how she said flying magic was advanced magic, Winifred knew it was easy for Elsie. But she was still nervous about the demon. She didn't know how powerful the demon was.

"Winifred, what are you thinking? Let's go," standing on the ground outside the carriage, Elsie said while offering her hand to Winifred to come down.

While Winifred was lost in thought, Elsie and the others had already gotten down from the carriage, waiting for her to come down.

"Oh, sorry, I just got lost in thought," Winifred said while grabbing Elsie's hand to come down from the carriage.

"Oh, don't worry. Let's go," Elsie replied.

After paying for the carriage, Winifred, Elsie, Ray, and the others stopped at the side of the road near the east city gate.

"Okay, so tell me what they asked you to give them in exchange for your party leader," Elsie asked, understanding that the demon was demanding something from them.

"He demanded we hand over this letter to his companion demon in the eastern city prison. His companion demon's name was Leos. He said he was trapped in the prison of the eastern city. We are to meet him there, no matter what, and give him this letter. Then get what he gives us in exchange and bring those things back to him in one week," Luna said, showing the letter the demon had given her.

It was a red letter folded in a green ribbon.

This is not a normal letter. This is a blood-bond letter. Something very important is going to be exchanged, Elsie thought.

"One week, huh… That means he's still nearby. I doubt we can find him if we go there!" Elsie said while thinking, looking at the letter.

"Tell me, Winifred, what do you think we should do?" Elsie asked, looking towards Winifred.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were on Winifred. Looking at everyone waiting for her answer, Winifred was shocked. She didn't know what to do or say. Looking at Elsie, she didn't understand her intention. She calmed herself and thought a bit.

"Is it possible to meet the demon in prison, give him the letter, and take something back from him?" Winifred asked everyone, confidence in her eyes.

Looking at Winifred, Elsie smiled.

"We can meet him in prison, but according to the rules, we can't give him anything or take anything from him without permission," Luna said.

"Actually, we even need permission to meet him. That's usually easy, but if he's in a different prison cell compared to others, then it will be impossible to meet him," Elise said.

"So what can we do? Even if we think of doing what they say, giving him that letter is impossible," Luke said, fear and worry on his face.

"We don't have time. Winifred, let's go!" Elsie said, looking towards Winifred.

Winifred was a bit shocked to hear what Elsie said so suddenly.

"What? You're leaving us? But you said you were going to help us," Ray said as everyone looked at Elsie.