"??"
"What are they doing?"
"No idea..."
"Look! That little girl—how come she has golden hair and blue eyes? Could she really be a demon?!"
"She really might be a demon!"
"Of course she's a demon! When have any of our Terrans ever looked like her? Otherwise, the soldiers wouldn't have made such a fuss and surrounded her!!"
"Oh... that makes sense!"
"Everyone, haven't you seen the notice?"
"What notice?"
"Notice? Never heard of it..."
"The reward notice posted on that wall over there! It only went up a little while ago!!"
"I can't read..."
"Me neither..."
"..."
Outside Chentang Pass's walls, which stood over ten meters high, a crowd of soldiers guarding the pass had surrounded a certain human-shaped "little Fire Elemental" in the middle of their formation. She had golden hair, blue eyes, a little red dress, and fair, luminous skin—and she was holding a strange demonic bear in her hand. The soldiers included muscular, powerful spearmen carrying short bronze spears, sword-and-shield soldiers with cured-leather wooden shields and short bronze swords, and countless ordinary soldiers carrying bronze halberds.
Naturally, their actions drew the attention of the townsfolk and residents of the pass who were passing nearby or preparing to enter Chentang Pass. They stopped and whispered among themselves, pointing at the soldiers making such a commotion and the little demon girl surrounded by them, who was surely doomed.
To be honest, ordinary people like them—especially villagers near Chentang Pass and residents of the pass city—rarely got the chance to see demons, what with the General of Chentang Pass keeping watch there. So, with such a rare opportunity before them, they all became spectators and onlookers.
"..."
(ー`′ー)
For some reason, Annie had a vague feeling that perhaps she shouldn't have gone out today. Or maybe some hateful villain,