The Hero Should've Known Better

Chapter 13: Junil

"See?" the Demonfolk girl asked. "Shov-ar!"

Junil hesitated when asking the next question. "Luthar? You said that's the name of your brother?"

"Yes! But he got in trouble for some reason, and people are mad at him. But it's fine, because I'm going to go meet him!"

This was... it couldn't be Luth, could it? Luthar, Luth... some Demonfolk must've named their son Luthar, maybe after the name of Luth. Sure, that was it, there was no way... but then, the Healer thought about the Demon Lord's appearance. That orange hair, those apricot-colored eyes...

It couldn't be, could it?

Junil was so enraptured over her thoughts that she almost jumped when she felt the Hero's armored glove on her shoulder.

"Junil. Get back," Ronn said.

Confused, the Healer looked up. "Ronn? What's wrong?"

"I said get back!"

Ronn pulled Junil back by the hood of her coat. The Healer almost tumbled into the passengers right beside Ronn, as the Hero immediately held himself in a stance. One of his hands neared the hilt of his broadsword.

"Ronn, what has gotten into you?" Junil yelled. The earlier revelation she almost had now lapsed her thoughts, her mind now mostly focused on the slight stinging bruise at her neck due to the Hero's rough handling of her. The Healer steadied herself to her knees after taking that tumble to the ground.

"That Demonfolk girl you are talking to is her."

"Who?"

He spared her only a second's glance when looking down.

"She's the one we're after."

Both the Healer and the Hero stared at Sollar

"Ronn, I'm not sure..."

"Orange hair, orange eyes. Horns that curve backward. Incisions on her tail that roughly match. A shovel that looks as though it was hand-crafted by the Demon Lord himself."

Ronn said that with as quiet and as serious a tone as he could muster to Junil. The Hero's unrelenting gaze beamed down on the Demonfolk girl, who scooted a bit closer to the window. Her tail twitched as it coiled up around one of her arms.

"Her accent even sounds like his. No doubt about it."

The surrounding passengers murmured, while the closest ones in the seats directly in front and behind promptly vacated theirs. While it was technically against riding policy, it seemed that even the train attendant didn't want to say a word about commotion involving the Hero.

"Uh... Sorry? I'm sorry," Sollar said.

The Demonfolk girl wasn't sure what she did wrong. She was talking with the nice green-haired lady, Jun-ar, but then the armored person pulled her away for some reason.

It all began when she grabbed Shov-ar. Maybe she wasn't allowed to hold it out.

"Um, I put away."

Sollar proceeded to stash her shovel under the seat in front of her, and pat it twice to show the Hero that it was safely under the seat.

"See? Away!"

She gave a beaming smile to the Hero. Five seconds passed, and his posture did not change. The Demonfolk girl felt as though something was wrong for sure.

"I am aware of your true identity. Your time on the run is over. Are you willing to surrender?"

Ronn's right arm grabbed at the hilt of his massive broadsword. He pulled it out an arm's length, to threaten her.