Though she answered boldly, she wasn’t unafraid.

The tremendous demon before her might cut off her head in anger, shouting “How dare you reject my proposal!”

Natalie slightly lowered her eyes, afraid her anxiety and fear might be detected.

Hahaha!

The man’s laughter poured down over her slightly bowed head. Though it sounded hearty, to the tense Natalie it sounded like screams echoing from hell.

But the man was surprisingly generous.

“So you’re saying you’re still immature and want me to wait until you become more remarkable.”

No, perhaps there’s actually a communication problem.

How did he interpret it that way?

When Natalie raised her head, unable to hide her bewilderment, the affection notification above the man’s head flickered again.

Demon de Marteva’s a؃tion has incڣڒ৶ed by 10%.

Demon’s a؃tion: 15% ▶ 25%

Natalie’s expression contorted violently again. As she hurriedly tried to compose herself, the man continued speaking.

“You amuse me so much even in your immature state—I look forward to how much more interesting you’ll become when you’re more remarkable.”

After finishing his words, the man dropped the magic stone he was holding at her feet.

It seemed he had no intention of taking it back, as if telling her to do whatever she wanted with it.

Then came the man’s meaningful words.

“Taking this will help you become remarkable faster. I’ll withdraw as you asked today, but I don’t know if I’ll have patience next time. Grow as quickly as possible.”

How can communication be this difficult? Did you come from Mars rather than the demon realm?

Natalie tried hard to recall their recent conversation, wondering at what point such a misunderstanding had occurred and what request she had supposedly made to him.

She couldn’t understand how her statement “I’m not as remarkable as you think” could possibly be interpreted the way it had been.

It seemed the man’s language, though similar in form to hers, had a completely different semantic structure.

While Natalie was reviewing their conversation, Demon slightly bent his knees as if about to make a small jump, then straightened them with a spring. Simultaneously, his body floated up into the air.

Looking up with startled, wide eyes, Natalie saw Demon click his tongue briefly as if regretful.

“I’ll come back when the time is right. Make sure you’ve completed all preparations by then.”

After finishing his words, the man soared high into the sky in an instant.

More accurately, it was closer to “shooting up” than “soaring”—with tremendous propulsion like a rocket being launched.

As the man rapidly moved away, the air that had been heavily pressing down around her suddenly lightened.

Natalie picked up the magic stone he had tossed with a dubious expression and blankly stared up at the man who had disappeared into a dot in the blink of an eye. Belatedly, she let out a short sigh of “Ah.” She had just remembered that McClain was injured and collapsed. She hurriedly climbed up to the driver’s seat to check McClain’s condition.

“Hey, Sir Lindhart! McClain! Wake up!”

Huk, huk, heuuu, huk.

McClain was desperately clinging to his feeble life with labored, groaning breaths, but he seemed to have already crossed halfway over the river of death.

His face, devoid of any color—not just pale white but almost bluish—with blood-soaked hair sticking to it, now seemed to radiate the light of death rather than charisma. Blood flowing from his head and shoulders had formed a dark red puddle on the driver’s seat floor.

After barely removing his severely dented armor to check the extent of his injuries, Natalie’s mouth fell open.

“My God! What am I going to do!”

It seemed the demon man had used some meteor magic that she hadn’t noticed. McClain’s head and shoulders were crushed as if directly hit by a massive meteorite.

The fact that he had tried to continue driving the carriage in this condition… It was unbelievable he hadn’t died instantly. Should she call it a miracle that he was still breathing in this state?

Among his injuries, the condition of his caved-in head looked particularly serious. Even if she managed to heal him, she worried about potential aftereffects like language disorders or lower body paralysis. It was so horrific that just looking at it made her wince.

Unfortunately, her healing magic skill level wasn’t particularly high compared to her other magic abilities.

While treating minor injuries was common, people with severe injuries would typically rush to a priest.

In a world where mages had to fulfill the roles of healer, buffer, and debuffer, they were versatile but not highly skilled in healing specifically.

At most, she had only treated simple injuries or fractures. It was only natural, as she had only participated in such dangerous combat since joining the expedition.

Natalie wasn’t confident she could heal McClain’s injuries.

“Stop the bleeding, I need to stop the bleeding first.”

Natalie reproached herself for being distracted by the demon man instead of treating McClain’s injuries.

Regardless of whether the demon intended to kill them, she should have checked this man’s condition first.

She should have provided emergency treatment to this man before begging the demon for their lives.

But he was still breathing. So she could still save him.

I can do it. I can save him. I can do this.

Muttering like a madwoman, Natalie hastily raised magic at her fingertips. A bright light exploded from her fingertips and enveloped his body.

She might have been surprised by the much denser magical wave than usual, but Natalie was focused solely on healing his injuries, repeatedly chanting “I can do it” like a spell.

As she cast healing magic repeatedly, the man’s faint and irregular breathing gradually stabilized.

The swelling on his face, which had been so puffy his eyes couldn’t open, subsided enough to make out his features. His sunken skull slowly reconstructed itself.

This seemed sufficient for emergency treatment. The remaining healing should properly be completed in a safe place, not in such a precarious location.

They hadn’t even completely left the corrupted area yet. If she used up all her magical power here and monsters appeared, they would obviously die without being able to fight back.

After confirming that the bleeding had completely stopped, Natalie tried to wake him by tapping his cheek.

“Sir Lindhart. Can you hear me? Hey, McClain! Answer me if you’re conscious.”

But he still gave no response.

His brow twitched slightly, and he opened his eyes with difficulty. His blurry green eyes slowly turned toward her.

Then a low, subdued voice escaped through his parched lips.

“Quickly… run away…. That demon is—”

“That demon is gone now. I’ve only managed emergency treatment to stop the bleeding, so stay alert until we reach the lord’s castle.”

“Natalie….”

“Don’t even think about saying something ridiculous like leaving you behind. I absolutely cannot escape alone since I don’t even know where we are.”

McClain’s lips moved as if trying to say something more. Natalie waved her hand dismissively and spoke with a resolute face.

“It seems too difficult to move you into the carriage. The magical flow here is strangely distorted, making detection magic unreliable. You need to guide me from beside me. I’ll cast a binding spell right now to secure you, so you won’t fall off the carriage.”

After pouring out words without giving him a chance to interject, Natalie immediately formed a hand seal and whispered a small incantation. She cast a binding spell on McClain to secure his body to the driver’s seat.

Then she rummaged inside her clothing, took out a small bottle, and placed it in McClain’s limp hand.

“Drink this while we travel. It’s a recovery potion. It won’t provide instant recovery like in games, but it should help restore some of your strength.”

Natalie tightly gripped the reins with both hands and turned to look at McClain with a tense face.

“Now, let’s depart. Which way should we go?”

McClain answered her question with a strained voice.

“That way…, to the right of the forest.”

He painfully gestured with his chin somewhere to the right. Natalie nodded in understanding, focused her eyes, and cracked the whip to start the horses running.

Hiyah!

Whether before or after her transmigration, this was her first time driving a carriage. But in their current situation, there was no time to worry about inexperience. She was the only person with functioning limbs.

Perhaps because she was gripping the reins too tightly, her palms quickly became sweaty and her fingers tingled.

No matter how hard she squinted, it was difficult to distinguish one area from another in the darkness-covered wasteland.

She was diligently driving the carriage in the direction McClain had pointed, but she couldn’t tell if she was going the right way.

With a mangled person sitting beside her, the carriage jolted more than ever before. This wasn’t due to a problem with the carriage but because of her unskilled driving. She now realized how much she had been carried by the skills of her capable teammates until now.