Chapter 95: Chapter 90: Detour

"And you're definitely just a normal villager, and not some evil witch or something?" I asked.

"Yes! For the thousandth time, yes!" exclaimed the irate woman. "How many times do you need to ask?"

"It's just that I have really poor luck when it comes to trying to 'save' people. When I swooped in to rescue some kidnap victims from bandits, I kinda expected to discover they were actually just rough-looking adventurers who had captured some heinous wanted criminals."

The third sack contained a teenaged boy, again knocked out by a blow to the head, but who was now sleeping normally with his wound looking a week old rather than raw and bloody. I'd given them each a mouthful of a healing potion. I didn't want to waste my limited supplies, but unlike a real game, it wasn't like someone had to drink the entire bottle in one go.

"So, why is a demon saving us from bandits? Or are you going to brainwash us for your army?"

"And for the thousandth time, I'm not a demon!"

She looked at me incredulously as I tucked my wings back away and switched over to my concealing leather armour and cloak.

"You sure ain't human, and that doesn't leave many other options."

I just sighed. I'd even tried showing her my letter of passage, but it wasn't as if random villager A had any idea what some high-ranking noble's seal looked like. Or, for that matter, was literate.

"Well, it was nice to meet you and all, but I should get going. The road is over in that direction."

I turned and spread my wings before remembering what Ortho had said about locals.

"Actually, before I leave, are there any shrines to the Goddess around here?"

"Given that you just pointed out the location of the road, you're obviously aware that we spent the past few hours being carried around in sacks, and hence have no idea where we are."

Okay... That's a valid point. "Fine. Have a safe trip. Try not to get kidnapped again."

I resumed my journey, pondering the best way to find a shrine closer to the front lines. It was all well and good deciding that I would avoid dying, but actually fulfilling that goal would be another thing entirely, so somewhere closer to respawn was strongly advised.

They'd talked about a grand barrier. From the map, it was centred exactly on the capital, but he'd claimed there wasn't a shrine there. There had been no statue in the castle chapel, but I had respawned there anyway. Maybe outside of the dungeon I just needed a place of worship, and the statue itself was unnecessary? Or maybe the altar counted?

If barriers were a thing here, they'd want one around their fortresses, wouldn't they? Perhaps I could find a respawn point in the Muigal Pass garrison. I'd need to deal with them anyway, if I wanted to pass without being attacked, or putting far more trust than I wanted to in my stealth skills. But while that would fulfil my goal of finding a respawn point, it wouldn't do anything to help me with my levels.

Unless I let the demons overrun it first, and then rushed in after...

No, I probably couldn't get away with that. I needed to finish up here and get home. And, if at all possible, save the fox-kin. Even if I'd utterly failed their copies, perhaps I could do something to help the originals. But even then, I couldn't afford to be soft-hearted; I'd bet that the moment the demons realised I didn't want to hurt the fox-kin, they'd be pushed into use as meat shields.

It was another long few hours of flying before the fortress came into view, the towns and villages that I passed growing progressively sparser and the landscape changing from green pastures, farmland and woods into rocky scrubland or scorched, dead earth. I hadn't asked how long the fighting had been going on for, but either it had been a long time, or people hadn't wanted to live close to demon territory to start with.

Shortly before the fortress came into view, I returned to the ground and did my best to hide my inhuman features. Despite not being able to train my stamina in any traditional way, with my respawns constantly resetting my body, the endurance boosts from my first class, draconic might and my enchanted ring were plenty enough that I'd win any cross-country race against more traditional humans, so having to jog the rest of the way wasn't a huge hardship.

Of course, while a winged, scaled humanoid creature flying towards a military installation would have invited a full attack, a single, hooded individual in non-standard armour was still as suspicious as heck. They may not have attacked immediately, but from the bows pointed at me, violence was still very much an option.

Would holding up my hands be interpreted as a sign of non-aggression in this world? With the existence of mages, an empty hand could be a deadly long ranged weapon.

I ignored the bowmen, on the basis that I doubted an arrow would actually hurt me, and stopped in front of a moat. The fortress had tall, stone walls, manned at the top. The walls extended north and south, presumably covering the full width of the land-bridge. Perceive mana picked up enchantments all along. However narrow the land-bridge, it must still have been kilometres. That was a lot of wall to guard.

The stone blocks the walls were made from were suspiciously even, and they seemed to be fused together with no sign of any sort of mortar. I'd bet the construction involved plentiful use of magic.

The interesting architecture aside, how was I supposed to talk to the defenders? It would be easy to fly up there, but that would be counterproductive. I could shout all I wanted, but they wouldn't be able to see my letter of passage from a distance.

"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted down someone standing above the drawbridge, which was kinda cool. I never thought I'd hear someone shout those words for real. I thought it was just a movie thing. Lacking any other sensible options, I decided to stick with the truth.

"Hi! I'm a summoned hero, here to help!" I yelled.

"What in the abyss is a summoned hero?" shouted back the guard.

Okay... So the rank and file don't know summoned heroes exist. Also, he's using the abyss as a swearword again. The demons of the abyss would be most upset.

"I have a letter?" I tried.

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"A letter... Really?"

"What's wrong with a letter? It's got a big red stamp on it from some important-looking guy and everything. Ortho Grelingham."

At the mention of the name, the guard reared back, eyes wide. "From the commander of the army? Wait there."

The guards at the top of the wall had some sort of uneasy discussion, before one of them went running off. I was left twiddling my thumbs for a few minutes until a new group appeared atop the wall, one in armour that was substantially fancier than any of the others, and two not in armour at all, but rather wearing flowing robes.

One of the enrobed humans stepped over the edge of the wall. For a moment I was left wondering why they'd chosen that particular moment to commit suicide, but then they just kept on walking, taking perfectly normal steps as if they were walking down a flight of stairs, ending up standing right in front of me.

Where the male wind mage, by the name of Christoph according to appraisal, looked straight at my hooded, scaled face and into my blighted eyes.

"It's a demon!" he shouted, jumping straight up into the air, but accelerating rather than coming back down, as gravity normally demanded. A rain of arrows were launched from the wall, while the second mage launched a fireball. The first mage, having gained sufficient height, started casting too, firing spells I couldn't see. Probably wind blades or something.

I was really starting to wish I could turn my scales off, with the way these people equated anything inhuman with the demon army.

"No I'm not, you bloody idiot," I yelled, employing body reinforcement to dodge the rain of arrows and spells. "Now stop attacking me before I start fighting back."

There was no response other than the ringing of a bell from inside the encampment, and presence perception picked up multiple signatures moving towards my part of the wall.

"For fuck's sake!" I yelled, considering my next move.

Should I flee? I probably could, but then what? Try to cross the wall elsewhere? They'd be on the lookout for me after this. Leaving now without correcting the misunderstanding would just cause more problems later. I could fight my way through, but that would have the same problem. I needed to get them to listen.

Waiting for a retinue to arrive and vouch for me wasn't an option. Travel here from the capital on horseback would take days, and that was time the humans didn't have.

What about suicide? When they investigated the body, they'd find the letter, and hopefully treat me better on my respawn. The letter wouldn't say anything about me respawning, since Ortho had thought I'd survived the judgement spell, but I could shout something. Hopefully, someone would hear. The problem was that even if I was faster than a horse, my respawn point was still a ten-hour flight from here. Perhaps I could do it within the time limit, but I still had to pass through demon territory, and who knew how long that would take.

What about pushing my way in, unlocking a respawn point here, and then suiciding? That would only cost the hour's respawn time. The obvious problem being that there would be a fortress of battle-hardened soldiers who would be very much against the idea of me pushing my way in. Perhaps I could find someone of a high rank to take as hostage? Despite the problems, it was still the best option I could think of. Perhaps a better one would occur to me were I not trying to think while dodging a storm of arrows and magical flame.

I spread my wings and jumped towards the top of the wall. The fire mage summoned a wall of flame in my way, so I stashed my non-fireproof armour and flew through naked, re-equipping myself with my resistance-boosting plate mail on the other side.

"Dra... dragon!" was yelled from more than one direction, along with shouts of, "How?!" and, "But the barrier!" I'd been hoping to grab the fancy-armoured guy, but he seemed to have fled at some point while my line of sight had been interrupted. I should have tracked him with my perception skills. Instead, I was met by multiple warriors jumping up onto the wall, clearing the ten metre height in a single bound.

"Remain still, demon, and your death shall be painless," one of them shouted, charging at me with a spear.

Fortunately, with me on the wall among the defenders, the ranged attacks had ceased.

"This is your last warning," I shouted, dodging the spear with ease but not feeling so confident about the next five that were rapidly approaching. "I've come all the way from the capital to join the war on your side, and the first thing you do is attack unprovoked. If you want me to be a demon so desperately, then I'll show you how much of a demon I can be."

Of course, no-one listened. Why were these humans so suicidally stupid? I mean, I've heard the excuse that this world is literally humans against everything, and anything you see that talks but doesn't look human is probably about to kill you, but they could at least stop to listen. If I was a real demon, why would I be letting them attack me like this without fighting back? What's the point in having a letter if no-one reads it?

"Fine," I muttered, grasping a spear that was being thrust towards me and pulling it forward with my draconic might. The soldier reacted quickly, releasing it before being toppled over, but he was still dragged a few steps toward me. I thrust forward with my other hand, aiming at his breastplate. The armour buckled and he went sliding along the wall.

Perceive presence advanced to level 17

Perceive presence informed me of a second soldier coming from behind, so I swung with my captured spear, not trying to pierce him, but using it as a ram to shove him off the wall. It snapped, but not before launching him over the battlement. He screamed as he fell toward the moat below, ending in a crescendo of clattering metal as his armoured body slammed into the ground. Given how easily he'd leapt onto the wall, he would have survived the fall. Hopefully.

The bell started ringing again, this time further away. More reinforcements. How many people would I be forced to kill or immobilise before I could start fighting the real enemy?

"She's a distraction!" yelled someone, which was news to me. I would agree my beautiful scales could be distracting, but it wasn't as if I was distracting them from anything.

A boom came from the opposite side of the fortress, and the sky rippled.

"Whu?" I asked, looking over as another three huge balls of magic slammed into the barrier that surrounded the fortress.

Apparently, the second bell wasn't for me. The demons had chosen that moment to launch an attack.

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