The story continues when Yory reveals his identity to Joe and Christana, who are taken aback by the news. Christana fell silent, her eyes widening with shock, while Joe's expression grew serious.

"So, you're a demon," Joe said, his voice even.

Yory nodded. "Yes, indeed."

Joe then smiled and said, "So, you're the second demon I've ever met."

Christana spoke up, confusion etched on her face. "That's it? He's a demon and you only just found out, and that's all you have to say?"

Joe scratched his head. "Well, it's not like he killed anyone or anything. This lad saved me from Cryptid village's thugs and he's helping me reach the capital too. I don't know what you want me to do, Christana?"

"But he's a demon," Christana protested. "He's evil and all that."

"You nuns and your studies," Joe said with a chuckle. "The real world is different than what you read in books. Yory saved my life, and your sister Avilyn's life. Even if he is a demon and evil as you say, no rule in this kingdom forbids demons from walking on its lands."

Christana felt a knot of anger and confusion twist in her gut. But as she reflected on it, she realized Yory had done nothing wrong, and Joe was right about the kingdom's laws. Not to mention her sister was saved by this demon.

After a long moment, "I'm sorry, Yory," she said, her voice softening. "I didn't mean to judge you. It's just... difficult to reconcile what I've been taught with what I see."

Yory smiled, the tension in the air dissipating. "No problem. Next time, just ask me."

Christana nodded with a faint smile and retreated to her carriage, lost in thought.

Joe clapped Yory on the back, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "So, tell me, Yory. How does it feel to be a demon?"

Yory rolled his eyes. "What kind of question is that? My feelings are the same as yours, you idiot."

They laughed as the tension broke. Then Joe said, "So, we're staying here for a month? That's good because..."

Yory interrupted him: "Because we will be near the festival of Daekrahm city when we leave Brilfax city, right?"

Joe said, raising his eyebrow: "You learn fast."

As the sun set, Christana withdrew to the library, hoping to find answers in her books. Later, she took a long bath and crawled into bed, still turning the day's events over in her mind.

In the stillness of midnight, Christana suddenly sat up, a thought jolting her awake. "He's a demon," she whispered, her voice trembling. "So how did he enter the temple!?"

After three days, in the Lavender village, a man in his forties entered the library. He had a white face, dark black hair, and eyes. He was wearing a black shirt and pants, with white accents on his chest and arms, and a beautiful necklace hanging from his neck. Three scars adorned his features, one stretching from his forehead to his upper lip, another from his neck down beneath his shirt, and a third, large scar, as if from a heavy sword or axe, starting from his right arm's middle and extending to his middle finger. He wore a golden ring on his left hand, signifying his high rank, much like Mother Elora.

He was looking for someone, and after a few moments, he spotted Christana engrossed in a pile of books. He began walking toward her. When Christana saw him, she greeted him with a smile: "Falkor, it's been a long time."

The man, Falkor, smiled and opened his arms. Christana walked into his embrace, and they hugged tightly. Falkor spoke, "I missed you, little Christ."

Christana replied, "I missed you too, Falkor. You're family, and we never forget our family."

They both smiled. Afterwards, Falkor found himself in a spacious room with Christana serving him black tea and cookies. He seemed a little nervous, and Christana noticed, saying, "Falkor, you've known Mother Elora for years, but you still get nervous before meeting with her."

Falkor, still smiling, replied, "Sorry, Chrisa. I love Mother Elora, after all, she saved me from my previous life. But even after so many years, I still feel inadequate. It's my fault for dedicating myself entirely to the temple and neglecting my own life."

Christana looked at Falkor with a serious expression, stating, "You served our temple with all your heart and soul, but I won't make the same mistake, Falkor."

Falkor smiled warmly. "At least you're one of my greatest accomplishments, little Chrisa."

Christana smiled back, but their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. When it opened, Mother Elora and Eyva, the nun, entered. Falkor was momentarily shocked and stood up, exclaiming with his hand over his chest and his head lowered, "Mother Elora! Nice to see you again!"

While Christana wasn't particularly impressed by Falkor's greeting, Mother Elora responded with her usual warm smile, saying, "It's been a long time, Falkor. Nice to see you again. How was your journey?"

Falkor, still nervous, replied, "It was good, as always. But I have some news."

Christana expressed concern, "I hope it's not bad."

Falkor's face grew more serious, "For now, it's not alarming. There have been reports of ghouls approaching the borders of our kingdom, close to Daekrahm city. There are also rumours of a longstanding grudge between Daekrahm and the ghouls' kingdom. It's not an immediate threat, but exercise caution when travelling to that city or its surrounding villages. Mother Elora, I implore you to be extremely vigilant. Let's keep our conversation confidential, as spreading this information could stoke fear and panic, which we must avoid."

Eyva raised a valid question, "If it's meant to be a secret, why invite me? I'm still relatively new here as a nun."

Christana answered, "Eyva, you were once an adventurer, so you possess combat experience and know how to protect yourself. We may need your skills if anything were to happen."

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Falkor added, "Most of the nuns here have never faced battle. We'll need individuals who can step onto the battlefield and save lives. Those individuals must know how to fight, like you, Eyva."

Eyva concluded, "That's why you requested me to train the nuns when I first arrived."

Mother Elora said, "Yes, my daughter. And with your help, they will learn to protect themselves and save others. That's what we, the Temple of Light, have been doing since day one - saving people."

Eyva nodded, and Falkor added, "That concludes our meeting for today. I need to head to Brilfax city to report to the temple and share the news with all the temples, including the capital, of course."

Mother Elora smiled, lost in thought, before saying, "I hope to see you again soon. Try to visit us often; I and the daughters will miss you."

Falkor's face turned red, and both Christana and Eyva burst into laughter. Falkor tried to speak but only managed to mumble before finally forming a coherent sentence, "Thank you, Elora, I mean, Mother Elora! See you later."

Half an hour later, Falkor disembarked from the cart and began his journey towards Brilfax city. Mother Elora and the nuns waved him off, and Falkor leaned out the window, shouting, "See you later, Mother Elora! Farewell, daughters and sisters!"

After that, everyone returned to their tasks, except Christana and Eyva, who stayed in the library to study. Eyva exclaimed in excitement, "So there's a festival in Brilfax city that will last half of this month, and another one in Daekrahm city, where we're supposed to travel after the end of this month? That's fantastic! I'm so happy to be a nun here."

Christana laughed, "You're a bit of a lazy girl. All you want to do is eat, drink, have fun, and sleep."

Eyva responded, "Don't forget, I was an adventurer before I became a nun. My quest for excitement drives me all the time."

Christana smiled and replied, "No problem, we'll have our fun. But until then, we need to study, train, work, and fulfil our other duties."

Eyva smiled back, saying, "I'm off to tend to my duties now. See you later. But there's something I've been wanting to ask you, Christana. That day when I... you know, when I lost consciousness, who was that man?"

Christana responded, "It's none of our business, and I'm truly sorry for involving you in my troubles."

Eyva nodded, "No need to apologize. You're my sister, and I'll always protect you. But I'll tell you this much..."

Christana's expression grew serious as she looked at Eyva, who continued, "That man was no ordinary person. It doesn't matter if he was a devil, demon, ghoul, or even an elf. He was incredibly powerful and very intimidating."

Christana nodded in acknowledgement, "Thank you for sharing that. Rest assured, he's as harmless as we are."

Eyva got up and patted Christana's back before going to attend to her duties. Christana continued her studies, as she had fewer tasks compared to Eyva and the other nuns due to her higher rank.

A week later, in Brilfax city's market, an irate customer shouted, "Give me pepper, and make it fast!"

Yory responded, "One moment, sir!"

He began filling a bag with an abundance of pepper, weighing it. Another customer, a woman, called out, "Get me that spice over there, I want to try it on my food!"

Joe began filling a bag with the requested red spice and weighed it. The market was filled with impatient customers, eager to make their purchases.

Joe raised his voice, demanding, "Yory!!! Where did you get all these spices!?"

Yory answered while tending to other customers, "I bought them from the demon kingdom. Thanks to Avilyn's documents, I knew Brilfax City had a spice shortage problem. So, thank you, Avilyn."

Joe, puzzled, asked, "But why did you buy so much of it?"

Yory replied, "Serve the two customers next to you, we'll talk later."

Joe exclaimed, "Why am I even doing this for you?"

After a long day, Joe sat on the ground and remarked, "My hands will smell of spices for months because of you."

Yory splashed water on his face. After wiping it with a clean cloth, he said with a smile, "I'll compensate you for the trouble."

Joe chuckled, "I didn't help you for that. I was idle, and when I saw you with all those customers, I just couldn't help myself. Maybe I'm a kind-hearted man after all."

Yory burst into laughter and retorted, "Don't flatter yourself, you scoundrel. You're an awful human, the worst of your kind."

Joe laughed and said, "Coming from a demon, I'll take that as a compliment."

Yory smiled, holding a golden coin, "You win. Take this as payment for your assistance."

Joe smiled back, "Keep it, lad. I don't need it. Helping a friend should be freely given, at least that's what I believe."

Yory tucked the coin away, then extended his hand to help Joe stand. Joe accepted and grasped Yory's hand to rise to his feet.

Suddenly, Yory's widened eyes focused on the gate. Joe noticed Yory's sudden shift in expression and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Yory replied, still looking, "One of my problems. Remember the dragon that destroyed Cryptid village?"

Joe nodded, "Yes, the one that froze the entire village."

Yory informed him, "That dragon is here, and I believe he's after me."

Joe spoke with a serious tone, "Then we can alert the guards. They can deal with it somehow."

Yory explained, "They can't, he's a holy dragon, much stronger than the usual ones."

Joe questioned, "So, how do we protect ourselves then?"

Yory answered, "He isn't trying to kill me, Joe. It's probably a messenger from the noble families trying to establish a connection with me."

Joe then said, "You told me two days ago that you could enter the temple because you were a high-level demon. But what could the dragon nobles possibly want from a demon?"

Yory explained, "To gain connections, influence, and enhance the prestige of their family name."

Joe nodded in understanding and said, "So the dragons are seeking your favour for their own goals. Can't you just reject the messenger?"

Yory replied, "No, because they will recognize my face, and they will never leave me alone. Even if I use magic to change my appearance, I would lose some of the connections I've established on my journeys."

Joe then asked in confusion, "You can change your face? You know what, I don't care. What’s the plan?"

Yory was lost in thought for a moment before saying, "I'll sprinkle some spices on my cart to mask their sense of smell and hide my powers and myself inside. You start moving the cart towards the inn. There we'll figure something out."

Joe nodded and got up from the cart. Yory climbed into the back and sprinkled spices on his clothes and the cart’s floor. Joe began moving towards the inn.

At the gate of Brilfax city, the woman who had once destroyed Cryptid village passed through on her cart. She said, looking under her hood, "Yoranios's scent is strong here. After a long search, maybe I'll be lucky enough to find him. But for now, I have to head towards the inn."

As Joe reached the city centre, the road was nearly empty, and the guards stopped him. Joe inquired, "Good day, what's happening here?"

The tall guard explained, "Apologies, sir, but the road is closed in preparation for the annual festival of the city. It will last for half a month. Please turn around and take alternate routes to reach the inn."

Joe nodded and signalled to Boris to manoeuvre the cart and start moving. Yory sighed, "It's here."

As Joe tried to take another route, he encountered the female dragon riding her cart and looking at him. She thought to herself, "Yoranios's scent stopped here, and that lad is a human. Did Yory ride this cart for a while?"

Joe noticed her and greeted her with a smile, "Good day to you, pretty lady. Can I assist you with something?"

The woman looked at him with serious eyes and answered in a composed tone, "Good day to you, merchant. Has someone ridden this cart recently? A foreigner, to be precise."

Joe thought for a moment and then replied with a serious expression, "We are all foreigners in this kingdom, my lady. Every day something new happens, and each time, harsh realities confront us. From corrupted knights to treacherous friends, we're all strangers in our own land, madam."

The woman nodded and said, "I am a foreigner to this kingdom. When I hear stories from merchants like you, I think everyone is a stranger in their own land, not just me."

Joe agreed, "Yes, my lady. As for your question, I often help people reach their destinations, so I pick up many foreigners. I apologize if my information is limited."

The woman nodded, "No problem. Good day to you, merchant."

She stopped in front of a luxurious inn, while Joe nodded and continued on his way to his own inn. Meanwhile, Yory secretly observed from the back of his cart and whispered to himself, "I know who you are. You're Maya, the jewel of the Dragon Kingdom, and the daughter of Divitry, the Dragon King."