I was Born in the Final Demon Realm of a Dark Fantasy

As our conversation was wrapping up, we left the iron bars and looked around at the other prison cells.

We decided to release them.

According to Arnen, since the Dark Guild wasn’t legally selling them as slaves, we had no major reservations about freeing them. Though it might seem strange to worry about such things after having killed all the organization members.

There were a total of 8 people imprisoned. For some reason, as soon as they were released from prison, they lined up in a row in front of me, looking at me as if waiting for my instructions.

At their feet lay the handcuffs I had cut in half.

“…You can go now.”

Despite saying that, no one was quick to move first.

“If you could tell us what ‘you can go’ means… what we should do…”

The person who stepped forward was someone I had been staring at all along. No, would it be right to describe him as a person?

He appeared to be a young boy, but he had ears that looked like those of a beast protruding from his head, and a tail covered in black fur extending from around his waist.

The tips of his ears twitched nervously, closer to the reaction of a beast.

Perhaps because I had been staring at his appearance too obviously. He seemed to feel he should step forward first, and spoke while gauging my reaction.

Arnen explained from beside me that he was a beastkin. She added a brief explanation, as if knowing I wouldn’t understand, that they were a hybrid race with mixed blood of wolves and humans.

‘Indeed, befitting a world with magic…’

To think there would even be hybrid races.

At the same time, I felt unnecessarily apologetic. Had I stared too openly?

“It means you can go wherever you want to go. …Let’s get out of here first.”

Since they showed no intention of moving first, I took the lead and left the prison.

Only then did I hear cautious footsteps following behind.

As we climbed the stairs, the smell of blood filled my nostrils.

Bodies with their heads blown off lay scattered in pools of blood.

Arnen scanned each corpse before turning her gaze to me.

“Now that I think about it, Bell. Did you face someone named Vendel?”

“Vendel? I don’t know the name.”

“He’s the man who acts as the boss here. Black hair with deep dark circles under his eyes.”

I thought about whether I had seen such a person and shook my head.

“I’ve never seen him. I took care of the deputy captain at the entrance, though.”

“Hmm, then he probably wasn’t here.”

“That person is the boss?”

“Yes… it might be a bit troublesome. He has connections with the Black Snow Society.”

Arnen added that the Black Snow Society was a larger organization than the Dark Guild. Mostly composed of criminals of not-so-good quality, black mages, or illegitimate children of exiled nobles.

“The money they took from me would be with him.”

“…It’s probably best to leave this place first.”

I felt there was no need to wait specifically for this Vendel person to deal with him. After all, the bodies at the door had been lying there for quite some time, so many people passing by would have seen them. It was too late to clean up.

At this point, we didn’t need the money paid for the debt anymore.

Leaving this place quickly was a much more rational choice.

“Yes, you’re right. Maybe… Vendel might track us if he finds out.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“Okay.”

Arnen nodded as if she didn’t doubt it at all.

We crossed the first floor, which was set up like a tavern, and went outside. I told the eight people we had rescued that they could leave now. They hesitated at first, but soon gave brief greetings and quietly began to move in their respective directions.

One of them, the beastkin boy, remained behind and approached me. Then he carefully extended his palm.

On it lay a fairly large fang. The fang had three thin lines engraved on it.

“This is a kind of token that allows entry into our village. It’s nothing special… but if you get the chance, please visit our village. It’s called Lugarion, located at the northernmost edge.”

“Alright.”

I readily accepted the fang. Beastkin. They were certainly interesting.

Though he appeared to be a young child, his solid physique suggested he had potential. I was also curious about how powerful the fully grown ones might be.

At that moment, Elia tugged at my collar from the side. She was glaring at the beastkin with a sulky expression. The beastkin either didn’t notice her gaze or deliberately ignored it, keeping his eyes fixed only on me as he continued speaking.

“My name is Lykar.”

“I’m Bell.”

“Hoping for a chance to repay my benefactor… I’ll be going now.”

Lykar gave a respectful greeting and immediately turned, quickly disappearing between buildings. Arnen watched him leave and said:

“Beastkin face discrimination, so he’ll probably try to hide while moving around. Such discrimination is even worse in rural cities like this.”

Just as I was about to nod at those words, Elia muttered quietly from the side.

“…I don’t like him.”

“Why?”

“He’s trying to steal you away.”

“Isn’t he just inviting me to his village as a way of showing gratitude?”

“You’re so naive, Bell. What do you think he’ll do after inviting you to his village? He’ll try to make you stay somehow. Make you feel attached, feed you, go hunting together, and then steal your heart too…”

I didn’t sympathize with her at all, but there was no need to argue. Elia had always been imaginative and had her peculiarities.

Thus, only the familiar three of us remained, and we carefully left the city gate to avoid attracting attention and quickly headed toward the mountains.

On the way home, I carried Arnen and Elia in my arms and instantly returned to the front of the house. In less than a few minutes, when we returned to the house on the mountainside, Arnen looked around with a bewildered expression. It was a similar expression to when I first took Elia down from the mountain.

Seeing her reaction, Elia put her hands on her hips and boasted.

“No need to make that face. This much is easy for Bell.”

“…Why are you the one saying that?”

“Ahem, because I’ve already experienced it.”

Upon entering the house, we immediately began packing. The three of us had already shared our respective goals, so there was no reason to hesitate further.

Each of us shouldered our bundles and left the house. Arnen and Elia paused briefly, looking back at the house with a nostalgic expression, then turned around again.

Arnen said we needed to head to the central continent, close to the capital, to reach the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters. It was quite far from here.

Instead of carrying them for fast travel, I joined them on the journey. There was no particular rush, and above all, they would have trouble withstanding my running speed.

Thus began our month-long journey.

From some point on, we spent most of our time in a carriage, but the sisters adapted well to the occasional outdoor living thanks to their experience of living in the mountains.

And finally, we arrived at the city. It was part of the central continent but was quite far from the capital.

Though not as grand as the capital, it was a large city bustling with people, befitting a central city. The Adventurer’s Guild headquarters was located in the middle of the city’s busiest street.

Upon entering the building, dozens of adventurers were gathered inside.

Some were carefully examining the quest bulletin board, while others were seated at various tables in front of the guild bar.

‘The people here really like alcohol.’

The gazes that briefly turned toward us soon dispersed. A sturdy man with two girls of similar appearance seemed to be a familiar sight to them.

Unsure of where to go, we hesitated briefly, then followed after seeing some people take parchments from the bulletin board and approach a man inside the bar.

He was dressed in a much more orderly manner compared to the surrounding adventurers.

The man with his long brown hair neatly tied up raised his head when it was our turn.

“Looks like you’ve come to register as new adventurers.”

A shallow smile appeared on the man’s lips as he quickly looked us over.

“It’s so obvious that it’s hard not to notice.”

Though it was said jokingly, Arnen asked with a calm face that didn’t move a muscle.

“How do we register as adventurers?”

“It’s not difficult. …May I ask what kind of adventurers you want to become?”

“Dungeon exploration.”

“…”

The man’s face, which had been wearing a flexible smile until then, stiffened slightly.

A brief silence ensued.

“…You’re choosing a difficult path. Few opportunities offer the chance for a windfall like dungeon conquering. But you should know that it’s equally high in risk.”

“I know.”

“Hmm…”

Since Arnen was becoming an adventurer solely to follow her father’s last known whereabouts, it was difficult to say she exactly understood what the man was cautioning about.

The man seemed to read that hint. After staring at Arnen’s face for a moment, he shrugged.

“Well, what adventurers stand for is freedom, so it’s not my place to say more.”

He pulled out a thin piece of parchment from behind the counter and continued.

“First, to become a dungeon exploration adventurer, you need to conquer an apprentice dungeon. If you have skills you’re proud of, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Would you like to proceed?”

Arnen briefly turned her gaze toward me. I nodded silently, and she looked forward again and said:

“Yes, I will.”