If you don't want to just drift through life, you have to go through time.

Xin Shi Ji, 28 years.

The territory of the Count of Guranat in the northern kingdoms.

"There are many guards on the street. What happened here?"

After arriving in the town, Truman and his companions frequently saw heavily armed guards patrolling the streets, searching for suspicious individuals. Just then, Frillie suddenly pulled out her magic wand and made an attack gesture.

Philon quickly stopped her.

"Lord Frilian!?"

"They are demons."

From the end of the street, a nobleman, escorted by numerous guards, walked along with three demons.

They are called demons because they have distinctive horns.

Moreover, even though the leader of the demons had a smile on his face and behaved in a very proper and elegant manner, chatting and laughing with the nobles around him, the smile on his lips and the cold indifference hidden deep in his eyes made him look very much like a fake human.

"...the skin thief."

"Um!?"

Truman's mutterings seemed to have caught the attention of the demon. He suddenly turned around and stared at the crowd, his previous elegant facade instantly transforming into murderous intent and malice, as if he had heard that unpleasant name.

The nobleman noticed them, and with a wave of his hand, the guards rushed over and pinned Frilian to the ground.

"Hey! What do you want to do!?"

It's no wonder the guards were so nervous when the magician raised his wand in the street and pointed it at the nobleman.

However, they misunderstood.

Frilian's target was not the nobleman, but the three demons beside him.

"Count Granat, did you order this?"

"Your Highness, I do indeed hate the demons to the core, but I am not foolish enough to attack a peace envoy in broad daylight. I think she is probably just an adventurer who doesn't understand the situation."

"Let's just assume that's how it is."

The demon named Luguna ignored Frilian, who was subdued on the ground, and instead came up to Truman and stared intently at him.

"You used a form of address that I really dislike hearing."

"You mean... the skin thief."

"Yes, that's it. It reminds me of a very... very annoying person."

"Isn't it fear?"

Truman looked at the demon in front of him with equal defiance. Although he said he was unhappy, he was clearly not just unhappy, but wanted something deeper.

"Demons don't have that kind of boring emotion."

"Don't make your Master Chu laugh."

Demons lack empathy such as malice, guilt, and compassion; they possess only the most basic emotions of living beings, such as joy and anger. Of course, they also experience fear.

It is because they have fear that they succumb to the more powerful demons, and it is because they have fear that they are defeated by humans.

The demon Lucuna seemed to understand that he could not do anything to Truman, so he turned to look at Frilian, who was being subdued by the guards. Count Granat understood this and gave the order first.

"Lock her in the manor's dungeon!"

"yes!"

Frillie was forcibly taken away by the guards.

The demon Liuguna's expression remained unchanged, letting a golden opportunity slip away. No, since he just said he came to negotiate, he probably intended to include this matter in the negotiations as well.

They left quickly.

Truman stood there, lost in thought.

Shutark, somewhat troubled, asked, "What should we do now?"

"Lord Truman..." Philon was also somewhat worried.

But Truman was actually more confused.

"Do either of you know what a travel permit is?"

"You mean the one from Journey to the West?"

"That's right. The so-called travel permit is a symbol of identity. To put it simply, it means: either let him through, or I'll come over... Since I've already experienced something like this once, or rather, I'm certain I'll be going to the Northern Continent again, why would I encounter something like this again?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to say. After all, that happened 80 years ago, right? Maybe you've already forgotten about it?"

"How could that be? I still remember that acting city lord from the last chapter."

"Um???"

Of course, that's not important.

Truman guessed that his past self probably wanted to convey something to his present self, and he began to feel a little expectant.

After Frilian was taken away, Philon and Shutark went to check on her condition.

Truman then went to Count Granat's main house to meet him.

However, probably because the other party held a high position and was planning to negotiate with the demons, he was not summoned but instead taken to a guest room next door.

This nobleman is quite wise.

It's important to understand that for an ordinary adventurer like Truman, meeting a nobleman is extremely difficult. With that in mind, he stopped complaining that no one was serving him tea.

However, during his wait, a commotion arose outside the door.

Then, the door to the guest room was opened.

"...I thought they were here to serve tea, but it turns out they weren't. What a disappointment. The local nobles are so impolite."

"I regret to inform you that I am not a nobleman, but a demon."

A demon entered the room.

He appears young, wears overalls and a white shirt, and has a pair of sharp horns on his head. He is one of the two demons who accompany Luguna.

"That's strange. I thought you would go to Frilian's side, since she was the one who provoked and attacked."

"Who told you to say things you shouldn't have?"

He walked slowly toward Chumen.

Judging from the earlier dispute, Truman is clearly the biggest obstacle to their conquest of this town. As long as Truman is dealt with, the peace talks can proceed smoothly—it's wonderful that the demons' idea is so simple.

"Don't worry, it will be over soon."

"Feel the same."

As the demon suddenly launched a sneak attack, Truman felt a thread binding his neck, and he was then suspended in mid-air by the roof beam, swinging back and forth on a swing.

"That's really unexpected. If it were an ordinary magician, their head would have rolled off the bridge long ago without them even realizing it."

"That's undeniable."

Truman looked at him as well. "I said, do you know about defensive magic?"

"You mean the defensive magic developed by creating murder magic? Of course I know, that magic caused us quite a bit of trouble... You mean you used defensive magic?"

"That's right. Generally speaking, defensive magic is hexagonal. Even if you use a full-body defense, it will only form a sphere to isolate the magic from the outside. But this method is actually quite wasteful of magic power. So, is there a way to save magic power without reducing defense? The answer is yes."

Truman, as if giving a lecture, kept changing the shape of the hexagon in his hand as he talked about it, until it finally seemed to envelop his hand like a liquid.

"Look, like this."

"Is it a protective film?"

"That's right. This method is really useful. Besides saving magic power, it can even resist sneak attacks like those with silk threads."

"But this thread is second to none among all the magic of the demon race; it cannot be broken by human magic."

"How confident you are."

Truman tugged at the thread, but found it didn't budge.

"Yes. I probably couldn't break free, and neither could some old hag who doesn't hide. But you probably don't know the diversity of human magic."

"Varied……!!!?"

Before the demon in front of him could react, he felt a sharp poke in his buttocks, and the pain caused him to go mad and lie on the ground, even the magic threads in his hand dissipating.

Truman stepped on his head, rendering him unable to move.

"You know what? Although I'm reluctant to admit that demons are human, your physical structure is actually quite similar to that of humans. For example... the source of your magic is in the same place."

Slightly exert force with your foot.

"Wait, wait a minute! I have something to say!"

"……I."

Truman stopped.

The demon's lips curled into a fleeting smile, before he immediately adopted a pleading attitude, saying, "I'm sorry, I was wrong! I shouldn't have attacked you! Please forgive me, considering I'm a subordinate of Lord Luguna who is here for peace talks!"

"Heh. No, you don't just know you're wrong, you know you're going to die."

Truman pressed down hard with his foot again.

The demon clearly sensed something and tried to beg for mercy again.

"Wait, wait a minute—"

Pfft!

With a muffled thud like a watermelon bursting open, bright red liquid sprayed into the room, staining the high-end bright red carpet a dark red.

"That's disgusting."

Truman cursed.

I don't know if it was because of the messy room or because of the demon who got his head blown off.