It was just before sunset, that time when the sun was not yet visible but the sky was already showing signs.

Careful not to wake her exhausted roommates, Jyl slipped into her clothes and made her way out the window. With a powerful leap, she grapped the edge of the roof and pulled herself up.

It had long since been a habit of hers to watch the sunrise, that she was far from home at the moment wouldn’t change that.

Once the shining orb had breached the horizon though, she didn’t linger long. She jumped into a nearby tree and quickly climbed down, before quickly heading to the cafeteria to eat.

The streets were still quite empty this early in the morning, as most were only just now waking up. The few that she did come across ignored her for the most part, having already gotten used to the human over the last week.

The cafeteria itself was also pretty empty, except for a group a scouts sitting near the window. The scouts, used as they were to travelling near enemy territory, always habitually rose from their beds a little while before sunrise.

Grabbing a couple slices of bread and a plate of scrambled eggs, she walked over to join them.

Jeffrey, noticing her approaching, made some space next to him and beckoned her to sit, an invitation she gratefully accepted.

“Those annoying humans, they’re planning something, I tell you!” bellowed a buff demon several seats to her left.

“It’s not the first time they’ve withdrawn their troops, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything”, commented the tall, black haired scout across from him.

“So you say, but last time they managed to nearly double their forces before attacking again”, the first snorted.

“Not that it did them any good”, a woman with bright blue horns interjected, “They still lost in the end.”

The man on her right, with strikingly similar features, poked her in the side. “Don’t downplay it. We still suffered significant losses.”

“I’m not”, huffed his sister, “It’s just fact, they haven’t won a single battle yet. Why do they even keep trying?”

“Because their church says we’re evil, and the people believe it”, Jeffrey commented begrudgingly, “So to appease their dissatisfied people, the kings wage war.”

The buff demon snorted. “They just want our lands, to satisfy their own greed.”

“That northern kingdom that Emerald’s fighting, sure. But I heard the king in the south isn’t actually all that interested in war. He’s only attacking us because the church will otherwise accuse him of being a heretic.”

Hearing an unknown word, Jyl added herself to the conversation. “What’s a heretic?”

The demon scouts all turned to look at her, startled by the sudden question. They’d all gotten used to the quiet human Jeffrey had introduced as a friend of Cecile, but they still tended to forget she was there sometimes.

“Well,” the tall scout started hesitantly, “a heretic would be someone who goes against the beliefs of the dominant religion in such a way that they would be deemed evil.”

“But they’re not actually evil?” she questioned.

‘They can be, but not necessarily. The term heretic is used specifically for people who go against the teachings of the humans’ churches. Let’s take for example you yourself. You have a demon’s mark and are living among us, so if a church discovered you they’d definitely label you a heretic.”

Jyl looked down at her hand, at the mark that even now connected her to Arick’s mana. She still remembered the uncertainty which he exhibited when bringing up the subject of the mark.

“What happens once someone is labelled a heretic?” she asked.

The scouts exchanged glances, no one really wanting to answer that question. Jyl was after all a human, they weren’t sure how she would react to what her fellow humans would do if they got their hands on her.

Eventually, it was Jeffrey who turned to face her.

“Heretics are usually publicly humiliated and then executed.

She nodded, a determined light in her eyes. “Then I just need to make sure not to get captured.”