Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day, Leticia was dragged to court. Count Grey and his wife made Leticia their step-daughter. They signed documents that made Leticia officially their third daughter.

Nonsense! My only parents are my mom and dad!’

Leticia was strongly against this decision. However, a twelve-year-old without her substantial guardians could do nothing

“You should thank your step-father and mother for giving you this opportunity because you can now escape the poor life of being an orphan.”

She just listened to the employee who knew nothing of her situation.

Before she knew it, the Count and Countess sent a message saying they would send their third daughter to the Halstead castle.

Just a few days later, a carriage to the North departed at an amazingly fast pace.

Surrendered. That was the word she could describe herself in that carriage. No matter how many times she thought of it, she couldn’t understand how this happened. Then, she asked herself a weird question.

‘Did I commit a grave sin in my past life?’

However, that wasn’t the case because Leticia was a kind woman in her past life.

Even if she was poor, she lived out her life helping her neighbors.

‘Yet, I end up with this ending.’

Leticia looked out the window with a sad face that did not suit a twelve-year-old. The carriage drove several days before reaching the North. They went past the forest’s scenery. As she thought to herself, this might be her last time seeing a forest. Soon, she saw signs on each thick tree hanging onto it.

<Soon the North Territory> <Take the chance to leave. Your life is precious.>

They continued and ignored the warning posted by the Empire. When they were close to arriving at the castle, Leticia started preparing her heart.

“The Halstead’s Lord is apparently so cruel! He takes a bride he likes, but if he doesn’t, he’ll eat them alive!’

‘What happens when the devil’s grandmother leads you to the room of sacrifices? If they open the locked room, the dead virgin’s items will pile up.’

A shiver went down her spine as she recalled the stories her cousins told her.

‘I can’t be nervous. First, we have to calmly poke his eyes and then……

The carriage suddenly stopped when she was revising over her plan.

“Ouch!”

Leticia let out a scream while grabbing onto the seat handle. Her stuff fell down with a ‘thud.’

“Can’t you do your job properly?”

The teen who was chosen to escort her let out an annoyed response.

“The horses aren’t moving! The area is weird!”

“What?”

When Leticia looked out her window, they could see the wasteland over the cloudy sand breeze. They were not near the North, but were already in the North. They have arrived in the demon’s land, Pandemonia.

She realized that the demons messed with the signs because she was sure they didn’t go past the North border yet.

“Let’s go back! Hiyah!”

No matter how many times the coachman yelled at the horses, they didn’t listen. Struck by fear, they fumbled around.

It was at that moment they heard a tremendous sound from far away. It was the sound of metals bumping against each other that grabbed their attention.

Everyone looked towards the sound, terrified. Through the grains of sand, horrendous wagons came into view one by one. Metal barrels were hanging on the side, and were lighting the way like one big torch. Other than that, the one who was riding one of the wagons was not a human.

They had horns on their heads, bat-like wings, and a bloody red skin color.

They call these creatures ‘imps’.

“Demon! The devil arrived!”

The coachman and maids were looking at the imps with fear. The next moment, they jumped out of the carriage and ran for

their lives, leaving Leticia behind.

“Take me too!”

Leticia shouted. However, no one turned back for her.

Only the carriage remained in the wasteland. The imps surrounded the wagon in no time. The tiny devils jumped in excitement.

“It’s a human! A little girl!” The demons cheered gleefully and thrashed around. In the blink of an eye, the carriage fell apart and broke.

Crack!

Like a doll, Leticia rolled around inside the carriage.

She must get her head straight despite the pain. Out of instinct, she hid near the broken parts of the carriage.

“Where did the tiny one hide? “Maybe over here? Or here?”

The imps were mocking her and clearing out the debris. Her future was looking bleak to her. If the imps caught her, then it was obvious. She would die a horrible death.

“I can’t! I can’t die off to these demons either!”

Leticia looked at her surroundings. Was there a way for her to escape? Would a miracle appear in front of her? She looked at the group of imps through a tiny crack. After that, she could only see the feet of the red-skinned imp. Out of despair, she looked around even more.

“……..?”

Suddenly, Leticia’s eyes widened when something grabbed her attention.

“That is……?” It was so absurd that she thought she was hallucinating. But no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, it was still there. A canister tied at the bottom of the wagon. In the center, a very weird item was there.

It had a brilliant color scheme of red and blue with a circular trademark in the middle. On top of it was a red lid. Even with her eyes, she couldn’t believe it. It was an artifact unknown to this world. She remembered that it was an item from her past life. So, she tried to think of its name.

……butane gas!’

It was a portable butane gas lid.

It was like finding the hidden item in the picture, calmly mixed in within their storage.

It seemed like the imps didn’t know what it was. Even if they were busy lighting things on fire, they didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to it. Leticia looked at it as if she was possessed. In the midst of despair, a spark of hope flared.

‘I could use that!

Her brain quickly turned its gears to think. She searched through her past memories in a hurry.

……news.’

It immediately came. In her past life, she memorized the news while she was preparing for a job interview. A malicious businessman snuck into a company building in the middle of the night with a butane gas. The culprit lit the butane gas and ran away.

After a while, the gas exploded. The office was a wreck, and the glass shattered into pieces. It was just a tiny can, but people shouldn’t underestimate the power of butane gas as it could explode up to ten meters.

‘Alright! Let’s do it!

Leticia decided.

Since Leticia was not fed properly, her arms were thin enough to get out from the cramped space between the wagon and her spot.

She sneaked part the imps while crawling and straining her arms. After hovering in the air multiple times, she finally grabbed the can. The imps were screeching and jumping wildly that they didn’t even notice. At that moment, she whisked it to herself. Along with the dirt, she felt the can’s slick and firm shape.

She thought hard to remember how it felt in her past life. This was the real deal. She gained more confidence in herself. Leticia grasped the can hard. In the other, she got a clump of dirt. Then, she stood up.

Crash!

The carriage debris was tipped over. In that moment, they saw a red-haired human girl standing in between.

“Hm?”

The imps stopped moving. They did not think for a second that their prey would reveal herself.

“What is this?”

Leticia threw the dirt into their eyes. They also did not think this would happen. The demons who were trying to grab Leticia screamed.

“You dare?”

She earned a few precious minutes. Without missing a second, she threw the can with all her might. She aimed at her target. The middle of where the imps were stumbling around. It was a sight.

‘Mother, father! Please give me strength!’

Her sincere thoughts gave her more arm strength. The butane gas flew hard. She hit the mark.

After checking that it hit, Leticia went to go hide near a plank.

“What is she doing right now?” “What did the puny human throw just now?” “Does she think we’re a joke?”

The imps leaned in closer to the can. It was at that moment.