Later that evening, Ard, Eva, and the others prepared to leave for the bandit village in the mountains. They waited in the village square along with Dimitri, who was seeing them off.

"Alright, I ask you all to be careful. I actually wish you could stay longer in my territory, but the Empire is starting to focus on me, and it's better for you to leave with Vahn than stay here," Dimitri said.

"We understand, Count. Thank you for your help," Ard replied.

"No need to thank me. I do this for myself and for peace in this world. I wish you all a safe journey and good luck in your struggle. Don't forget, if you ever need my help, I'm ready to assist you," Dimitri replied, smiling.

"Good, we will remember that. Thank you once again, Count Dimitri," Eva said.

A moment later, Vahn arrived with some of his men. Vahn noticed Ard, Eva, and the others were carrying nothing but their swords and their familiars.

"You're not bringing anything?" Vahn asked.

"No, all our belongings are stored in Ard's and Eva's dimensional storage," Claudia answered.

"Oh, I see. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have needed to call my men. Alright, let's go," Vahn urged.

"Very well, please lead the way, Vahn," Ard replied.

They said goodbye to Dimitri once more, then began walking out of the village and heading toward the path ascending the mountain. During the journey, smack, Beatrice suddenly hit her arm.

"Ugh... why do we have to walk in the middle of the night?" she grumbled.

"Because it's much riskier during the day, Princess," Rosalind said.

"Yeah, that's right, Beatrice. Bear with it and don't be spoiled," Eva replied.

"Who's spoiled?" Beatrice retorted, annoyed.

"Alright, alright, don't fight. It's much nicer at night anyway—it's hot during the day," Milia said.

"Exactly. Please stop commenting," Ainsley added, adjusting his glasses.

Ard looked up. He saw Pyria in the treetops, leaping from tree to tree to observe their surroundings, relying on her hearing and sight. Suddenly, Geoffrey gripped his shoulder.

"Still worried about your brother?" Geoffrey asked.

"A little. I don't know what happened or how Prince Edmund got back to the imperial palace, but even though I'm curious, I believe my brother couldn't be taken down that easily. There must be another reason why he let Edmund go," Ard replied.

"Good. Because if you keep thinking negative thoughts, I'm ready to knock some sense into you," Geoffrey replied.

"Haha... thanks, bro," Ard replied, smiling.

"I also believe that Prince Abel will definitely return to the Fredonia palace. He's not that weak. His fiancée, named Anastasia, is also my friend, and if Prince Abel were hurt, Anastasia would be sad," Alicia added.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm sure he's fine," Ard replied, petting Alicia's head.

"Don't think negative thoughts, my Prince. Promise me," Alicia said, removing Ard's hand from her head.

"I promise," Ard replied.

"There are so many problems we have to solve, Ard. First, who was capable of opening the seal of the ancient black dragon from the fairy tale? Second, why did Prince Edmund return to the palace? And third, concerning the goddess Ophelia and the demon god Malekh? We have to find out everything," Mirea said, thinking.

"That's true, but first we need to find safety. That's why we're going to the Rellios Kingdom," Ard replied.

"But are you sure it's safe there?" Mirea asked.

"That... I don't know myself, but what's clear is that the Rellios Kingdom is safer than the Fredonia Kingdom, my kingdom, although maybe if measured by strength, my kingdom is no less powerful than the Orthus Empire," Ard answered.

"I see," Mirea muttered.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Nikolai is also fine, and I'm also sure he managed to convince his father not to ally with the Orthus Empire in this war," Ard said, putting his arm around Mirea.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Ard," Mirea replied, smiling and holding Ard's hand that was around her.

They continued walking. Pyria finally came down, and Irwin emerged from the bushes, simultaneously concealing his demon eyes. As the path began to climb, they could see a lot of ancient ruins—like a submerged city—scattered in the forest and hidden in the darkness. Ard and Eva looked around because when they had come down the path toward the village earlier, they hadn't noticed the ruins around them, being too busy fighting monsters.

Suddenly, Ard stopped, looking around. His mind drifted to a very distant past when he saw those ruins. Eva, seeing Ard stop, immediately stepped back to his side, then turned to look at Ard.

"What is it?" Eva asked.

"Don't you remember the city here 1,000 years ago?" Ard asked.

"Oh," Eva turned to look around, then she carefully observed the ruins around her, squinting. A moment later, she gasped and looked back toward the path leading to the village. After that, she turned back to Ard.

"This is... the place where we ended everything 1,000 years ago... where we stabbed our swords into each other's stomachs and you changed back into Ashton?" Eva asked.

"That's right. The ruins around us here are the back part of the city from 1,000 years ago. I initially thought that city was the academy city... but the real location is here, at the foot of this mountain," Ard answered.

"The place where it all began," Eva replied.

"Yes, this is where the friendship between humans and demons first happened," Ard replied.

The two were stunned, looking around. Unconsciously, their hands linked together. Their minds recalled the events 1,000 years ago, where a miracle occurred when they were ready to die and end their lives.

"Hey, why did you two stop?" Irwin shouted.

"Come on, hurry up," Pyria shouted.

Ard and Eva gasped. They saw their friends had passed them and were walking ahead of them. All their friends turned to look at them behind them and stopped. Ard and Eva looked at each other.

"Come on, Eva. Let's finish everything in this tenth life," Ard said.

"Yes, let's go, Ard," Eva replied, smiling.

They let go of their hands and ran toward their friends who were waiting ahead of them. After that, they all continued their journey, following Vahn and his men who were walking in front, guiding them.

After walking for quite a while and listening to Beatrice's non-stop complaints, they finally arrived in front of the cave that served as the entrance to the bandit settlement. They walked down the cave corridor, which was heavily guarded and illuminated by torches, with Vahn leading them.

When they arrived inside a very spacious cave chamber, everyone was shocked to see a thriving village with its own livestock, fields, and gardens inside.

"Welcome to my settlement," Vahn said to everyone.

"Wow... I never thought people lived inside a mountain like this," Alicia said.

"Same here. I've never seen a village like this either," Milia added.

"This is interesting, truly interesting," Ainsley said, holding his glasses and observing the surroundings.

"Ugh... I'm starting to get sleepy," Geoffrey said, yawning widely.

"Me too, I'm exhausted," Claudia added.

"We're all tired. Too much happened today, and it made us tense," Mirea added.

"So, are we camping here or what?" Irwin asked.

"Come with me. You can sleep in the barracks. I'll prepare a special spot for you there. Tomorrow morning, we'll start traversing the mountain and take the secret route to get to my settlement on the coast," Vahn said.

"Oh... there's another settlement there too?" Pyria asked.

"Of course. If there wasn't, how could I be a pirate without a settlement on the coast? Hahaha," Vahn replied proudly.

"Um... Princess Beatrice... please wake up," Rosalind said, trying to wake Beatrice, who was sleeping next to her with her head resting on Rosalind's shoulder.

"Zzz... zzz... zzz... chew... chew," Beatrice muttered, apparently fast asleep.

"Such a spoiled brat, pathetic," Eva muttered.

"That's enough. Come on, everyone follow me," Vahn replied.

Rosalind ended up carrying Beatrice, helped by Pyria, who supported her. They walked to the barracks that Vahn's men were preparing for them to sleep in. As they walked, everyone looked to the right and left. Because it was late, the village was quiet, but many lights were still visible inside the homes.

Once they reached the barracks, they all waited in the front room, sitting on the floor casually to rest, while their rooms were being prepared.

"Alright, so the plan is that we'll leave late tomorrow afternoon. Midway through the journey, we might have to camp for one day before continuing the next day. You all don't mind that, do you?" Vahn asked.

"No problem. We're all used to camped," Ard answered.

"Good. That means even though you're children of nobles and royal families, you're not spoiled. I'm glad to hear it. Alright, I'll head out. Have a good rest," Vahn said, standing up.

"Thank you, Vahn," Ard replied.

"No problem. We're even now," Vahn replied, winking with a smile.

Vahn stepped out of the barracks, then plop, Eva suddenly rested her head on Ard's shoulder. Snores, Ard heard soft snoring next to him. He looked over to see Eva was already asleep. He immediately smiled and stroked Eva's head. Then plop, he looked to see Alicia also asleep on his other shoulder. Plop, Milia also lay down, sleeping on his lap, and plop, Pyria also lay down, sleeping next to his thigh.

"Hey... hey... why is this happening? Ugh... this is heavy," Ard muttered to himself, looking over at Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin, who were lying down with their backs to him.

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