Broken logged back into Immortal Legacy, but not Yunatea like usual—this time, it was Hell! He found himself back in the same inn room as before. As he scanned the room, he noticed someone else had logged in before him. It was a girl-a healer wearing glasses. She looked startled, quickly averting her gaze when he glanced in her direction.
What should I do while waiting for the others to gather? He wondered.
There were still two hours before their scheduled meet-up. Marlene had given the team some leeway, allowing them to either handle things in the real world or spend some time exploring the town.
For some reason, he couldn’t shake the urge to venture deeper into this small, eerie town. After his first encounter with the demon society yesterday, he felt more prepared-more accustomed to their strange, unsettling forms. So he decided a quick walk around wouldn’t hurt.
But Marlene had set a strict rule: no one could leave the inn alone. They had to pair up. It was a precaution to prevent troublesome incidents; with two people, they could look out for each other.
Broken glanced back at the healer girl, who was now also looking at him. She gave a small bow and hesitantly waved. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he replied, unsure of what else to say.
They both stood there in awkward silence.
“My name is Calista,” she finally offered.
“Broken,” he responded with a nod.
Calista nodded back before shifting her gaze down again. “I saw you during the competition in the Dissidia Kingdom.”
“Really? I remember seeing a few of the Shadow Wolves there, but I didn’t really pay attention to everyone,” Broken admitted.
Calista nodded, though she hesitated before lifting her head. For some reason, she always seemed anxious, even around her own teammates.
“Anyway,” Broken continued, “I want to explore this town a bit more. If you’re up for it, maybe you could join me?”
Calista looked up but didn’t respond immediately.
“No pressure, really,” he added quickly. “It’s just that I’m curious about this little demon town.”
She remained quiet for a moment longer before giving a small nod. “But… I’m not that useful. All I can do is heal… If something happens, you might be in trouble.”
“Don’t worry,” Broken reassured her with a slight smile. “I think as long as we don’t stir up any trouble, nothing bad should happen, right?”
Calista nodded again, then moved toward him. Broken stood up as well, and together, they left the room, stepping out of the inn. A few other guests noticed them as they passed by, their curious gazes following the pair-who, in contrast to the typical demons, stood out.
Both of them wore clean, polished gear-Broken in his well-kept clothes and Calista in a pristine robe. The demons around them, on the other hand, were generally grimy, their clothing dark and ragged.
But Marlene had made it clear that as long as they didn’t draw too much attention to the fact that they weren’t actually demons, this kind of thing shouldn’t be an issue, right?
“I’m afraid they’ll figure out we’re not demons,” Calista murmured, walking with her head down.
“We’re doing what Marlene suggested,” Broken replied. “I think that’s our best option.”
They continued down the busy streets of the town. Calista struggled to keep up, frequently bumping into demons as they passed by, nearly falling with each collision. Broken glanced back, waiting for her, but she kept trailing behind him. Then, a pale, hairless demon dressed in nothing but a cloth around his waist bumped into her.
“Sorry… sorry…” she whispered, her voice trembling.
The demon stopped and stared at her, his face blank with confusion. Calista looked terrified and quickly lowered her head. The demon reached out as if to touch her face, but Broken intervened, grabbing her hand and pulling her away.
“Come on, stay close to me,” he said firmly.
She didn’t reply but hurried to match his pace. He kept hold of her wrist, making sure she didn’t fall behind again.
“Broken…” she said softly.
“Yeah?”
“Are you looking for something? Or do you need to buy anything?”
“No, not really. I don’t know this place well, and there’s nothing I need. What about you?”
She hesitated before saying, “I need to buy something.”
“Do you know where to find it?”
She shook her head. “But a merchant around here should sell it.”
“Alright,” he said, nodding. “Let’s look for it together. We’ll go through the streets until we find what you need.”
They spent some time wandering through the town, and Broken was slowly getting used to the strange and varied forms of the demons. It still felt like walking through an endless Halloween party, but with costumes that were impressively high-budget.
As they continued, they passed by the same spot where, the day before, a merchant had been selling slaves. This time, the scene was different, but something else caught their attention. A demon was dragging three people in cages-humans-completely naked. freewёbnoνel.com
Calista saw it, too, and let out a small gasp before quickly covering her mouth. They both tried not to stare, forcing themselves to keep walking as if nothing unusual had happened. Calista was visibly nervous, her eyes darting around as she did everything she could to avoid making eye contact with the demons passing by.
“Those were humans, right?” she whispered, her voice barely audible, but Broken heard her.
“Yes… slaves,” he replied quietly.
It seemed that the trade of slaves from Yunatea into Hell was more common than he had anticipated. This was the second time he had seen such a scene. What would happen to those unfortunate souls forced into this place?
Slavery wasn’t a common practice in the Dissidia Kingdom, though in other regions or continents across Yunatea, it was more accepted. Yes, this was a fantasy world, far removed from reality, where what was considered normal here might seem strange to outsiders. Practices like slavery, for instance, were a common occurrence in this world.
But when demons enslaved the people of Yunatea, were they treated with any decency? Although, perhaps the very notion of slavery and decency didn’t quite mix. What did the demons need humans for, anyway? He had overheard talk of them wanting to eat humans just the day before. Did they really eat them?
After some time, Calista finally found the merchant she was looking for. Broken helped her purchase what she needed since she was clearly too nervous to speak or interact with the
demons. It turned out she was buying ingredients for alchemy.
“You’re an alchemist?” Broken asked as they walked away.
“Yes, I have a second class-alchemist. But it’s just to support my healing class,” she explained. After a brief pause, she added, “You’re a blacksmith, right? As your second class?”
“Yes.”
As the time to gather drew near, they decided to head back to the inn. Once inside, Broken noticed that nearly half of the group had already assembled, though Marlene was still
nowhere to be seen.
“So, the outsider tried cozying up to one of our teammates again?” the archer sneered. His in-game name was Archer.
Calista looked visibly shaken. She lowered her head and quickly moved to her seat, trying to make herself as small as possible. Broken, on the other hand, calmly returned to his bed and sat down, choosing to ignore Archer’s provocation.
But that didn’t stop Archer. Seeing no reaction, he stood up and walked over to Broken, now looming over him. With neither Marlene nor Subaru present, Broken realized this could turn into an annoying confrontation.