I am Kurt Von Ritzburg

"Here, a catastrophic class beast."

I handed over the materials from my recent haul of catastrophic class demon beast on the counter.

"Y-Yes. Here is the money."

And with a scared gaze, the man handed me the pouch with coins. Without saying much, I took and returned back, listening to the miscellaneous whispers about me within the hunters.

"Look at him. He hunted another high class beast!"

"As expected of the child monster!"

'Child Monster. Who came up with that name!'

For some reason in these few months of demon hunting has gained me an alias - Child Monster.

Because of my absurd strength as a child that even overpowers adults, the hunters labeled me as a monster. It's not wrong to say my rising reputation has made me a very popular individual among the demon hunters.

'The one who slices a human on his first day!'

'A small figure but a great hunter!'

All sorts of rumors are flying about me, even making that desk accountant nervous facing me.

I have no problem having an alias, but this 'Child Monster' is not acceptable to me! This naming sense is just too bad! Who the hell named me this title?

I tried to trace its source, but I couldn’t find it. And even if I beat up a person calling me with this name, I doubt that would make the rest quiet.

‘It would only flare it more.’

The Child Monster thrashed a hunter for calling him a monster. As expected of the Child Monster!

“I can already hear that rumor spreading like a wildfire.”

Feeling helpless for the first time, I decided to accept this absurd title of “Child Monster.”

While it bothered me, there was something more important on my mind.

"Where is Miria?"

I scanned the area, but I couldn't catch a glimpse of her. In my months of immersion in demon hunting and enchantments, I had forgotten about her.

‘Don’t tell me that she has already converted into a villain!’

Fearing the worst scenario, I ran to the accountant and grabbed his collar, lifting him up in the air despite the size difference between us.

“Wha– Wait! Why are you grabbing my collar?”

“I need to ask you some questions.”

—

[Stealth]

[Reinforcement]

Using my magic to blend into nature and increase my stats, I walloped through the thick forest avoiding all the beasts to make sure I could reach in time.

“According to that accountant, Miria and his group came deep into the forest for a mass hunt.”

And after listening to details, I grew more nervous. Don’t tell me, she became a devil after her loss of party members?

“That shouldn’t happen. Except for the main antagonist, none of the rest were natural devils.”

That’s why all of them followed him as humans, until the main antagonist gets the method of converting humans into devils through experimentation.

“And Kurt was the first artificial devil.”

If that’s not the case, then why did she follow the main antagonist to the point she wanted to bear his child?

“Tsk! Thinking idly won’t get me anywhere. I should first find her.”

I dashed much faster, jumping from tree to tree and using barriers to stomp and accelerate on air. It is a very novel idea to use barriers as air pads. Who knows why the protagonist doesn't use it?

Boom!

“That sound…!”

[Search]

I closed my eyes and the mana inside me expanded outwards, coming out in the form of waves which returned after hitting an object like a radar. All of the surroundings were in my sight.

“Three— No, four of them are there. But two of them are dead. And the demons…”

I am afraid but the number of demons is too much. At least, I can see twenty of them attacking Miria and her party of hunters. From her skills, she can defeat that level of demon.

“But the problem is in the numbers.”

The demons aren’t that much of a threat individually but in numbers they are quite fearsome enemies. But why are the demons together? Demons are the animals who lose themselves to the mana.

Let alone intelligence, they don’t possess the same kinship between the same species. All they do is to live by obeying their instincts to destroy anything in sight. But for them to band together and attack… What is happening?

And that’s when something clicked in my mind.

“Don’t tell me…”

[Search]

I used more of my mana to expand the search and it seemed that my conjure was right.

The demons aren’t attacking, they are fleeing from a greater predator.

“If I leave them, without a doubt they would die. But I am running low in mana.”

The constant use of barriers, and other buffs have taken a great deal of my mana. If I go in, it would be a difficult fight for me.

Should I save her?

If I think rationally as a villain, even if I don’t do anything, it’s a good result. Miria is a future supporting antagonist. And now she is fighting for her life. If I don’t help her, then she would die, thus removing the worry of her future.

“That’s the case of being rational. Cold hearted yet perfect with no flaws. But I didn’t come all the way from Earlshide to Bluesphere just to see her die, right?”

—

“Tracy! Are you alright?”

Miria ran to her comrade, Tracy who was heavily injured because of the herd of devils.

“Cough! Cough! I-I am alright.”

“Don’t talk. Just rest a bit. I will protect you.”

Despite her promise, Miria herself was in jeopardy. The numbers of the demons were too much for her to handle.

Two of the four are already dead. Tracy is in her last breaths, and she is also out of juice.

“What should I do?”

She lifted her sword, but for some reason it seemed to be quite heavier than before. Her moves were sluggish and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t move as she wanted.

“The sword…!”

The unexpected pounce knocked the sword from her hands, and she knew that she was about to die.

'Am I going to die? Mother, father, little brother… I am sorry.'

With the last glimpse of the wolf's claws in front of her eyes, she closed her eyes, ready to meet her end. But...

"Get off, you wild mutt! Didn't you know that I've already called dibs on her?"

And in that moment, all she saw was a single line of a sword, and the wolf was in pieces.

"You..."

"You haven't forgotten me, have you? I'm Kurt, a random demon hunter.”

===

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