Chapters 20 and 21

Leon was about to go off, leaving the used slave girls in the middle of the hallway, he was just going to go towards his room.

He would only walk a couple of doors down the hall, but the girls felt that being left alone in a place that was just a battleground was unpleasant.

Leon noticed how uneasy they looked, so he turned towards them.

"It's okay, girls, I'm just going to get someone. It'll only be a moment."

"Um Demon Lord Leon, are you sure you're not going to leave us for long?"

"Oh, it's you, from before. Yes, I'm sure. Also, could you give me your name, you didn't give it to me before, I don't want to have to keep referring to you, as you?"

"Oh, sorry, It's Mableleen, but you can call me Mable for convenience."

"Okay, Mable, well you and the rest of the girls stay here, as I said I'll be back in just a moment."

So they all huddled together, kneeling on the carpeted floor, and waited for their only form of hope to return.

Leon started walking down the hall, he noticed the door to his room was cracked open.

'Didn't I see Luna close the door?"

He quickly opened the door, causing the peeping Luna to fall to the ground.

"Luna why is the door open, I thought I told you to stay in the room till I told you. Someone could have made off with you in their clutches when I had my back turned."

Leon got on one knee and stared at Luna. He raised his hand, but before he could do anything Luna closed her eyes as if expecting a punishment and blurred out,

"I'm sorry master, I didn't mean to go against you, I just..!"

Leon lightly patted her head, Luna looked up at Leon, his inviting eyes eased the fear that Luna was experiencing.

"Why do you always become scared of me, it's fine if you opened the door to see what was happening, I just don't want you to get hurt or be taken away from me, that's all."

"Now, let's go. We still have to go and do what we originally planned, hopefully, this time we won't have to get in a scuffle again."

Leon gave a reassuring smile, giving Luna his hand, they both stood up and walked out of the room.

......

The girls watched Leon walk away from them, they just stayed there huddled together.

"Hey you, Mable right, how do you know that man is he your master?"

Mable looked at the girl next to her, who asked the question.

"N, no he's not. He's just someone who asked if I was okay after my original master left."

"Is he trustworthy, he might have helped us from those guards, but he's still a demon Lord, right?"

"I don't know, but he did say if I needed help to let him know."

"Even if he's not, he's the only hope we have at the moment. If we want to leave this place alive, we will have to trust him."

Another girl, who looked like an elf moved into the conversation, looking at the carpet.

The girl who asked Mable the questions said reluctantly.

"I guess your right."

—————

-Demon King's castle, hallway-

Leon walked down the hall with Luna connected to him. She held on to his arm while trailing behind him. Each door they passed brought on memories of horrifying noises they heard before, but now they were utterly silent.

The girls on the floor started staring at Luna as if she was lucky. I mean if this man was truly good then she was quite lucky, but if he were to turn out like the other demon lords then she would be just as screwed as themselves.

...

"Okay girls, let's go. I'm taking you all to my ship, if it's not ready to sail then you will stay there for your safety."

Leon looked at the girls with an encouraging smile, probably trying to lighten the mood as well as show that the girls were in good hands.

The girls helped each other up, none seemed to be severely injured. Rope marks and bruises were common, it was also obvious most were emotionally scarred.

———-

Having been a demon lord all the guards knew not to mess with Leon. Fighting that man and those guards for the girls was the first time he had any problem with them. It was quite a sight to see one man with multiple women. It seemed every man who laid eyes on the group walking out of the castle got quite jealous.

The City of Escalon, the capital of the Demon Empire, was bustling. It resembled a human city during midday, but there were some slight differences.

Instead of humans, there were people of the demon race. Instead of some pristine capital city, the atmosphere seemed low quality.  Crime and slavery were evident everywhere you looked, sure people still had shops and daily lives, but this place was mismanaged.

Much to be expected of the worst race, disliked by everyone in the world. Of course, Leon was an exception and I'm sure there were a few others.

Watchful eyes followed the group as they made their way to the port area. Luckily the port of Escalon was only a little bit away from the castle walls.

Even so, they still had to walk through the crowds of greedy eyes. The people who noticed them wanted nothing more than an opening, to snatch away one of those girls.

Leon looked around, his gaze bested the others, the gazes eventually dissipated after they made it to the port.

———-

Leon's ship was in a loading area, and Leon saw the crew loading supplies on the ship. He also saw the captain of the vessel helping out the crew.

"Captain, I've come to check if we might be able to go home to Ampool today."

"Oh, my lord, how are you? Did you receive any harsh punishments from the Demon King because we were late? I'm very sorry if it caused any problems."

"Oh no, instead of a punishment I received a reward, it turned out to be very enjoyable."

"That's excellent and regard your question about leaving the port. We are ready when you are, right now we are just bringing in some last-minute supplies."

"Great."

Leon gestured to the group of girls behind him.

"Oh yes, these girls will be accompanying me back to the Human Continent. Is that alright? I want to make sure we are well suited to take care of a couple more people."

"It's fine, my lord, we have enough food for more people, but we don't have any extra clothes."

"Ok, then can you show them to my cabin? I'll buy some clothes for them, as well as sleeping supplies."

The captain did a slight bow, and he then escorted the girls to Leon's cabin. Leon noticed the captain was trying to make Luna go with the others up the ramp. Leon put his arm on Luna's shoulder, pulling her to his chest.

"Hup, not her she'll stay with me."

As her face and hands pushed up against Leon's chest, her face went red and her eyes widened, 

"Oh, my lord I'm sorry, who's this."

"Luna, she's.. she's my reward, so treat her well."

Leon gestured his hand towards the girls walking up the ramp.

"But I would like it if you did that with these girls as well."

"Will do, my lord."

Leon eased off the tension, letting Luna go free. His arm was still around her though, but not as tight. Luna's face was beet red, Leon looked down at her, and he blushed a little as well.

They walked away from the ship, they both were still slightly uncomfortable with each other, yet both were yearning for what might come next in their relationship.

.....

To be continued