''So what's the plan?'' June's dreary voice sounded out as she was trying to eat her breakfast and not fall asleep at the same time. It was the next day's morning and the group had gathered on the inn's first floor to get some food in their stomachs and discuss the plan for today.

  ''I think we should go out and just take a look, try and find some clues or trails.'' Kayne took another bite of some sort of meat before he continued. ''If that doesn't work we can ask the locals for more information.''

  ''And if that doesn't work?'' Sam's voice sounded from Kayne's left as she stuffed another egg in her mouth.

  ''Well, then we will brute force it and be on the lookout all day and night, taking shifts until we get sight of it.'' Kayne's answer wasn't a pleasant one, as no one wanted to be alert all the time, so everyone hoped that it wouldn't come to that including the brown-haired wolfkin himself.

  ''Then we better get started, don't want to drag this longer than it needs to be.'' Although June was sleepy and would be more than happy to just go back to sleep, she knew that the faster they started the faster they would end, meaning she would get days off and as a result, she could sleep as much as she wanted. The party agreed with her, so they finished their breakfast, went up to their rooms, and got ready.

  Aella had nothing much to do, so she just followed June as a shadow without making a sound. Mostly she kept quiet because she didn't have much to say or add, but another part was keeping her quiet was the demon. The closer they got to meeting it the more she felt it. The feeling was a little unsettling, something like a mix of hate, excitement, and curiosity was bubbling inside her, it wasn't so bad that she couldn't suppress it, but it was always there, just boiling in the background.

  Aella still wasn't sure where the emotions were coming from, or why she felt this way about demons. It was like an instinct. her weary being making her feel this way. She just hoped that she could find out why when she meets the demon.

  While Aella was stuck sorting her emotions, June had gotten ready and summoned Grefured. While June walked out of the door Aella just automatically followed her while still stuck in her own head. They were the one of the first ones to be down, as June didn't have to wear armor or anything like that, the most time-consuming process on her part was the summoning, so they waited for the rest of the party to arrive.

  Fortunately, it didn't take too much time for the rest of them to arrive. They only needed the essentials, their armor, weapons, and a pouch or two, as they weren't going anywhere far. ''Ready?'' Kayne made sure that everyone was accounted for and ready before he led them outside the inn and towards the walls.

  ''Oh, good morning, it looks like I almost miss you!'' While they were on their way, they ran into the village chief, the man had a smile on his face as he greeted them. ''It looks like you are already leaving to investigate and find the demon.'' Kayne moved a little bit away from the party as he went and shook the chief's hand.

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  ''Yes, the earlier we get this done the better, we don't want to delay this more than it's necessary.''

  ''I see, that's good to hear.'' Chief was happy that Kayne and the others were such diligent people, he had heard about adventurers who don't take things seriously. ''Then I will get out of your fur and let you do your thing, good luck out there.'' With a smile and a wave, the chief wished them well. Appreciating the gesture the part said their goodbye and continued on their way.

  While walking to one of the gates that led outside the walls, they got plenty of stares, some were full of admiration some were made out of curiosity, and most of them were full of positive emotions. These people were putting their hopes on them, their livelihood, because if they failed to get rid of this problem, the panic would just grow, and from that this settlement would slowly crumble.

  Under the gazes, they finally arrived at the gate, and it didn't take long before they were on the other side of the wall. But even though they were outside the wall, they still got some people looking at them, and some of them were the brave farmers who despite the threat of a possible demon, stayed outside the wall to farm, either because they had no other options or they just were that brave.

  The party sped up their tempo and soon arrived at the forest where the demon had been spotted. When they arrived at the treeline Alex and Sam split up from the party and started to look around to see if they could find anything, but they still stayed close enough that the party could come help them if something unexpected happened.

  Aella watched them work while following June, and although she didn't understand some of the actions Alex and Sam took, she still was interested. While Aella was quietly observing, the party slowly got deeper and deeper into the forest, and it looked like Sam had found some tracks.

  She informed the party with a simple motion but didn't make a sound of fear that their enemy could be nearby. Aella was a little confused as to why they didn't speak because she was sure that they were easily seen because of Hubert, plus they weren't that quiet, but she didn't intend to question the professionals so she just kept quiet.

  The party started to follow Sam a few steps behind her as she followed some kind of trail. At some point while following the trail Aella started to see some drops of blood smearing the green grass that led to somewhere. It didn't take long before they found out where it led. Some distance before them they saw their dark-haired catkin crouching behind a tree looking at something, while at the same time throwing them a signal to be careful.

  Seeing this, the party slowed down and carefully approached the spot, and soon they saw what Sam was looking at. Between the trees, there was a monster ripping and eating some kind of deer. The deer looked bigger than the ones on Earth, but it didn't matter right now, what did matter was the creature that had ripped open the deer and was now eating it like a wild beast.

  The creature had leathery brown skin, it had a somewhat human-like face, his mouth was full of sharp teeth, he's head was decorated by a horn that grew out from his forehead and then curved up and split into five ends, and the monster's arms looked longer than normal and his hands ended in four-fingered claws, and the legs of this creature looked somewhat like humans, but they were longer and lankier. And right now the monster was just standing above his prey and ripping chunks out of and eating them raw.

  ''They weren't wrong this is a demon.'' While Aella looked at the creature she heard June quietly confirm that indeed the thing they were looking at was a demon. The others in the party also heard this, and you could feel the air around them grow in pressure, as they got ready to attack.