Eugene kept his eyes fixed in front of him as he landed on the ground. Standing there was Hector Lionheart.

Eugene had spotted Hector wandering around in the darkness as he flew overhead.

“Sir Hector?” Eugene called out.

Hearing Eugene’s voice coming from behind him, Hector turned his head with a surprised expression. “Eugene?”

Eugene read a look of youthful embarrassment on Hector’s face. Before asking what had happened, he first scanned Hector.

Hector was on his own. That on its own was already something to be concerned about. Hector’s traveling companion, Deacon Lionheart, was nowhere to be seen.

“..Why are you on your own?” Eugene eventually asked him.

“It’s all my fault,” Hector replied in a rushed tone. “I should have held on to him, but… as we got deeper into the forest, Deacon became frightened by the commotion caused by the demonic beasts, and he ran away all by himself.”

That was a likely story. After all, wasn’t Deacon just an eighteen-year-old brat? This would be his first time hunting demonic beasts, and seeing his appearance full of timidity, he probably didn’t have much experience in combat. Needless to say, his skills were also likely lacking.

Dense demonic power could cause mental interference. The weaker your mental strength, the faster and more aggressively the interference took hold. In the face of such terror, it would only be natural for that kid to end up running away in fear if he had been unable to overcome it.

“Would you mind helping me?” Hector asked cautiously.

Instead of replying immediately, Eugene took a look at their surroundings. It was dark wherever he looked. It might still be because of the dense demonic power, but this thick darkness was more likely to be a trick played by the darkness spirit.

“...Well, something like that… it’s not a difficult request,” Eugene said, expressing his willingness to help.

“Thank you. Since this forest is so wide, there’s a limit to how much I can search on my own,” Hector said as he sighed in relief and approached Eugene. “There’s something strange about this forest. While...