"Jin, I understand what you're trying to say. But there's nothing I can do, and I don't intend to. The fact that those kids are demons is enough reason for them to be executed."

"Yeah. Those brats, who lost their parents, might grow up and come after me or my comrades. As long as there's a chance, we can't let them live."

"..."

It's not that Marco and the others are heartless. Even though we've only known each other for a few hours, I can tell they're kind people.

In this world, demons are enemies that must be killed... that's all there is to it.

"You're right. Sorry for saying something strange. I shouldn't have brought it up since I know nothing about demons. Just forget it."

"No, it's okay. It's natural to think that way when you don't know about demons."

"Seriously, if you're too soft, you won't survive."

"Exactly. We were lucky it was just bandits this time, but if it had been demons, we'd be dead. Kindness is important, but you have to face reality."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll be more careful."

"I know that, but still..."

It's the middle of the night, and I lie on the hard bed, staring up at the not-so-great ceiling of the inn.

After parting ways with Marco and the others, I went to the buyout shop and sold the materials from the cow. It fetched more than I expected—20 gold coins, roughly 200,000 yen in Japanese terms.

Despite earning that much money so quickly, my mood remains low. The reason, of course, is those demon children chained up earlier.

"Obviously, they all looked completely hopeless..."

There were three demon kids in total. Either it wasn't a large village or most were killed during the battle with the expeditionary force.

The demon children were all quite different. One girl had two horns sprouting from her head, a boy had blue skin, and another girl had animal-like ears.

Sure, parts of their bodies differed from normal people, but aside from that, they really just looked like regular kids.

Their village was attacked, their loved ones and families were killed, and they were captured by soldiers from an enemy nation. There's no way they'd have any hope left.

"I probably had that same look on my face back then too..."

The worst day of my life, the day my parents died in an accident... I'll never forget it.

That Sunday was just a normal, happy day with my mom and dad... until I went out to play with a friend, saying, "See you later."

"When I came back home and heard that my parents had died in an accident, I just couldn't comprehend it."

It took days to truly understand that my parents were gone forever. When it finally hit me that I'd never see them again, all I did was cry.

I cried until I was exhausted, slept, then woke up and cried again. I don’t remember it too well, but I must have had the same hopeless expression as those demon kids.

Mom... Dad... please help. I knew deep down they'd never respond, but I whispered that plea over and over through my tears. I even cursed the person responsible for the accident, fate, and the gods for taking them away.

"Forget about it... they're not my problem."

Those kids mean nothing to me. They're just some random children I met today. Besides, this is a completely different world, and I'm just an outsider from another world.

Even if I could save those kids with the Demon King's power, then what?

Their village was attacked, and their friends and family were killed by humans. They must hate humans. Am I, with no experience raising children, supposed to take care of them?

Or should I help them and then drop them off at the nearest demon village, leaving them to someone else? That would be too irresponsible.

"Forget it. That's the smartest choice."

Yes, that's the wisest decision. Luckily, I now have some money. Tomorrow, I'll leave this town, go to a place far away from the demon wars, and live a slow, peaceful life. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

"I couldn't sleep at all..."

I decided to forget about the war between humans and demons and move to another town, but I spent the whole night questioning if that was really the right choice. When I get caught up in my thoughts, I just can't sleep, even as an old guy.

"Good morning."

"Oh, good morning to you. You look like you had a rough night, huh?"

When I go downstairs to the first floor, I find the innkeeper, a woman in her 30s with short brown hair. People in this town seem to come from all over, with hair colors ranging from brown, gold, silver, and red. There were even a few people besides me with black hair.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep at all."

"Figures. Last night, the whole town was celebrating the victory of the expeditionary force. Were you drinking until dawn?"

"...Something like that."

There weren't many people partying near the inn, but the rest of the town was full of people celebrating until the early hours.

"Are you staying another night?"

"No, I plan to leave town today."

After thinking it over last night, I decided to avoid getting involved in the war between humans and demons and leave this town.

First, I'll head to the market to buy food, spices, and some basic cooking utensils before I set off.