All of this was new to Jhed. It had been fifteen years since he'd arrived in this world, yet he had never seen so many different races of people gathered in one place. He had never once ventured outside his tent — he had always stayed close to Linea. But after Metye's attack, they'd been forced to leave that tent behind.
They stood in line.
"I can catch a bit of a view of the city from here. There's a stone road up ahead, and on both sides of it stand these huge houses made of stone and wood," Silia said, describing everything she could see. She was eager to get inside. Slowly, they inched forward. Silia stood at the front of their group, with Jhed behind her, Daichi behind Jhed, and Shine behind Daichi — that was the order they stood in the line. Behind Shine stood plenty of other people too, all of whom had arrived after them. This alone showed just how bustling Mariana was — there was no shortage of people arriving from outside.
Behind Shine stood a man with deer antlers. All sorts of creatures were present here, of every kind, yet not a single one tried to cut the line or push ahead. Everyone was following the rules.
Morning had turned to evening, and the line was still enormous. This was because Mariana had only just been liberated. They were determined not to let anyone with ill intentions slip inside again — after all, Miruth and Metye had once entered the city the very same way, posing as ordinary travelers, and that was exactly how Mariana had ended up enslaved. So this time, they weren't willing to make the same mistake. They didn't want to let in anyone who might be aligned with the Demon King. The line remained long, but at last, their turn arrived. Now the soldiers of Mariana moved to inspect Silia.
"That tickles," Silia said, as a female guard checked her over.
"Alright, you may go in," the guard said. They carried some kind of magic-detecting device, shaped like a small orb, capable of sensing any kind of power. But Silia was a blood demon — so why hadn't it detected her? The reason was that she no longer had enough power to take on her true demon form. Now, she could only assume her demon form within the world she herself had created — not in this one. That was why the magic detector hadn't picked her up. But if she kept drinking Jhed's blood the way she had been, she would soon regain her full strength.
Silia smiled and skipped happily into Mariana.
"Wait — you, 'Sir Selen,' come here." The guard called out to a higher-ranking officer above her, gesturing toward Jhed.
"Yes, what is it?" Selen said.
"Sir, is this... him?" the guard asked.
Selen looked at Jhed, raising an eyebrow, and stepped closer to him.
"Hmm... I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..."
Now what did I do wrong? I haven't even done anything this time. It must be something Shine did. But why is he staring at me like that? This is making me really uncomfortable, Jhed thought, growing anxious. He was starting to think the guard was about to arrest him.
"I remember now..! You fool, this is our protector — our hero, the one who liberated Mariana!" Selen said, his voice booming loud enough to carry all the way to the very last person standing in the line.