Frilian: This Demon Isn't So Cold

"Although I expected this to happen, you're far too careless. Didn't you hear a single word those mages from the capital said to you?"

Judging from Bergman's reactions and attitudes when they met before, Carlos had a general idea of ​​how the village viewed him now.

Village Chief Kress served the two teas made with local tea leaves. Sylvia took a sip curiously, said "It's too hot," and put down the teacup, focusing her attention on their conversation.

"I already knew about this."

"In short, if you encounter demons later, don't assume they'll act like I did. Please don't show any mercy," Carlos emphasized. "Also, run if you need to."

He had deep concerns about this village located on the border of the unified empire. Although the empire seemed incredibly powerful in people's eyes, Carlos believed that its disintegration was only a matter of time.

As long as the pressure from the demons remains, it will be impossible for the empire to maintain the safety of the entire territory, because there are simply too many places to take care of. No matter how powerful it appears, it will inevitably fall short.

"Do you take me for a child?" Klein shook his head with a smile, his gaze sweeping over Sylvia's face before he took a sip of tea. "Of course I know it's dangerous here, but even if we were to run, I don't know how many people would be willing to come with me. This is the place where we grew up..."

"Even if the price is life?" Carlos couldn't quite understand.

There is hope as long as you are alive. What kind of person stays here for such a reason?

At least he has never experienced this situation, perhaps because he is not particularly interested in this kind of thing?

"It's mostly wishful thinking, the feeling that since the demons haven't arrived yet, there's no problem," Klein sighed softly. "Even I'm no exception."

"..."

Carlos didn't know what to say.

"Should we set up a barrier magic here to resist the demons, just like Master did before?" Sylvia, who had been silent, suggested.

The place we just left, Tiyua, still contains magic that Volame set up to defend against the demon invasion.

"The situation here is different from over there. There isn't enough local population or strength to protect the barrier." Carlos shook his head. "The [Barrier Magic] invented by Vlame is not yet at its most perfect. If I were to cast a spell of this scale here, it would not only be of no help, but would also turn this somewhat hidden village into a bright light bulb in the eyes of the demons."

[Barrier Magic] cannot currently conceal its existence from the outside world.

Village Chief Klein smiled and nodded to Sylvia, thanking her for her kindness, and said:

"I really hope the war won't escalate..."

"But this has given me a good idea." Carlos looked at the sullen Klein. "Although it's not exactly a wise idea, I can set up a spell here, as long as I have a medium to hold the spell, preferably a slightly larger one."

"He's really strong, you know. He could easily wipe out all those demons." Sylvia praised Carlos enthusiastically, trying to convince the village chief that he really could do it.

But she was also very curious about what method Carlos would use.

Upon hearing this, the village chief, Kress, found a wooden basin in the room.

"Is this okay?"

"Of course." Carlos took the basin of water, his body surging with magical power.

In Sylvia's eyes, a spell she had never seen before and could not understand now was carved into the wooden basin, accompanied by an astonishing infusion of magical power, and finally finished with the [barrier magic] that she was already very familiar with.

When it was over, although the magical power emanating from Carlos's body hadn't changed much, Sylvia could sense his weakness.

Huh, the slight fluctuations and misalignments caused by the restriction and compression of magic power that were previously visible have disappeared?

Does it consume that much energy?

And why does that thing look so familiar the more I look at it?

Sylvia felt that she must have seen similar items before, which was why they looked familiar.

"In a crisis, just use this to shield yourself." Carlos returned the modified wooden tub to Klein. "The [Barrier Magic] will automatically recognize magic power from demons. It will be destroyed as soon as it comes into contact with them, and then the spell engraved inside will be activated by the magic power I left behind."

Just like before, he used the [Barrier Magic] that Vlame originally used to block the demons as a judgment device.

"What will happen next?" Klein asked him with a smile.

"I can't say," Carlos shook his head. "In short, the magic here will last for about 50 years, and I'll be back before then."

"Thank you so much." Klein solemnly accepted the gift.

"It's alright. After all, this place holds my memories, and protecting it is naturally the best thing to do." Carlos stood up. "That's all I can do."

"Are you leaving?" Seeing him get up, Klein realized something.

"I'm just here to take a look," Carlos replied softly. "Besides, I'm still too weak right now, and I have problems that urgently need to be solved. So, what I want to do now is to travel around and look for solutions that might exist somewhere."

"Good luck." Without saying anything to stop them from leaving, because there was no need, Klein watched them go.

……

"They're leaving already?" Sylvia thought it was a bit too fast.

"Hmm." Carlos nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Actually, I didn't feel anything about that village just now."

"what?"

"I thought I could still find some connection, but it seems I was just being wishful." Carlos chuckled self-deprecatingly. "By the way, did you sense anything interesting on your way here?"

He didn't want to continue the conversation on this topic.

"Is there something wrong?" Sylvia asked sensibly, changing the subject as he did, but secretly remembering what he had just said.

"There's another village in that direction, and the people there possess considerable magical power." Carlos looked towards the woods to the east. "It seems your magical detection range is still insufficient. But I was also detected by them; long-range magical detection has this drawback."

"Want to go take a look?" Sylvia asked excitedly, also curious about who might live here.

You should know that this place is already quite remote. If you go any further east? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's completely isolated from the world.

"Let's go and meet up with Master and the others first. I'm feeling a bit weak right now," Carlos frankly admitted that he had overexerted himself.

"Oh... So, can you still beat me now? What are you doing? That hurts!"

Before Sylvia could finish speaking, she received a powerful knuckle strike to the forehead from Carlos, instantly bringing tears to her eyes.

"Why do you keep thinking about these kinds of things? Are you really that eager to beat me?"

"If I could win, I would have done it already," Sylvia muttered softly. "I would have caught you, tied you up, and let me vent my frustrations on you!"

In fact, Carlos heard everything.

But he could only pretend he hadn't heard it.

With a sigh, Carlos launched a grand magical probe towards Seria's residence, continuing for a while before withdrawing the probe.

This is to send them the signal that it's over here.

He still had the location spell cast by the other party, so there was no need to worry about Seria not being able to find their location.