At dusk, atop the battlements of Grayrock Town, during a temporary shift change, Denov was chewing a piece of jerky hard enough to hurt his teeth as he squinted at the pitch-black forest in the distance.
Several sentries nearby, having stood watch all day, had already leaned against the wall for a brief nap, their spears still clutched in their arms.
"Captain, is that—"
A fire had only just been lit when a young sentry beside him suddenly nudged his arm and pointed toward the edge of the forest.
After narrowing his eyes for a closer look, the bearded guard captain abruptly stopped chewing.
The horizon had already turned gray-white, but at the border between the deep black forest and the gravel road, something really did seem to be moving in the darkness.
—No, not beasts. Human figures!
And more than one.
No longer caring whether it was clean, he stuffed the jerky into his clothes, grabbed the longbow propped against the wall, and the sentries beside him were quickly shaken awake by their companions. Rubbing their eyes, they followed his gaze.
"Those—aren't they the three from this afternoon?"
As the running figures drew closer, they could barely make out three familiar black-haired men.
"They actually came back? Well, Banan owes me a huge cup of Seran Wine loaded with Coldflame Grass now."
Another sentry leaned over as well, surprise in his voice, though even more of it was teasing relief.
Clearly, some people had even made bets over it.
When those three black-haired demon hunters had left town that afternoon, few had honestly believed they would make it back alive.
After all, while those "messengers" had theoretically crossed the forest before, many people had been entering and leaving it lately. Even the most experienced old hunters could go out