“Alright kid, what’s yer’ name?” Four individuals sat around a campfire, including me. An older but still young man squatted before me, holding out a cup of water. He had a wild look about him, and was extremely muscular. He had short, messy brown hair and his teeth almost looked like fangs.

I was wrapped in a blanket, my ruined clothes having been discarded. I was still dirty, but they did their best to clean me up.

“Name?” I asked him, confused. “I’m a cursed child, the fifth. That’s all… I’ve ever been.”

“Hmm, that’s not really a name.. How about this?” he said, drawing a shape in the dirt. “In common writing, the number 5 can be written with the letter V, so how about we call ya Vi for now?”

“Griffon, don’t you think that’s a bit of an insensitive name?” a second man, less wild and much thinner, with a pair of glasses on his face, asked his friend. He pushed his long black hair off his nose, then adjusted his glasses. 

“It’s fine, he can call me that.” I answered, taking a sip of the water. My dry throat burned from the cold liquid, but I knew I had to drink it if I wanted to survive.

“See? She’s fine with it, so get off my back.” he shouted at his friend, sitting down in front of me. “Name’s Griffin, the man who’s gonna slay the Demon Lord. Over there’s Vardon, my brother in arms.”

“And I’m Liza!” a small, flying creature exclaimed. She looked human, but was only about 3 feet tall, and her ears were pointed. Her hair was fluffy and pink, it was much prettier than my white hair. “What’s with that face? Never seen a fairy before?”

I shook my head in response, and they all became silent. 

“I’ve never… been outside before.” I told them, and they remained quiet. 

“Yeah, we kind of figured something like that, since well… look at ya.” Griffin reacted finally, opening a bag and handing me a dried ration. “But don’t worry, yer’ safe with us, we can take you to the next town on our way, I’m sure the church there can help you.”

“I have to… defeat the Demon Lord.” I said, staring blankly at the ration in his outstretched hand.

“Well, the three of us are on a quest to do just that, but I think ya might want to sit it out, you look kind of… well, I don’t think you’ll be much help in a fight.”

“I can fight, I can fight!” I shouted, but my voice was still weak. I lightly closed my fist, and a small burst of black flame shot out of my hand. 

“A sorceress, interesting.” the thin man named Vardon cut in, taking note of the flames dancing in my palm. “In any case, none of us are doing any Demon Lord hunting at the moment, we need to be much stronger than we are now, Griffin.”

“Yeah yeah, I know I’m only level 20, but it won't take me long to get strong enough to defeat him!”

The two continued to argue, though you could tell they were close friends rather than enemies. I was tired and weak still, and I ended up falling asleep during their fight. When I woke up, I was on the back of their horse drawn cart, the man named Griffin riding in the back with me and the fairy Liza.

As I had recovered a lot from the previous night, I was now painfully aware of how I was naked under this blanket. I pulled it tightly around my body, my pale skin flushing red as I noticed him looking towards me. 

I didn’t have much frame of reference, but I thought that the man before me was likely incredibly attractive. In fact, both of them were, in different ways. Had I been raised in a more traditional home I would likely have been terrified they were going to sexually assault me, a young maiden.

We reached a walled town and entered without much trouble. They took me to an inn with an attached bathhouse, and I was finally able to wash off the dirt and blood on my body. My wrists and neck were still scarred from the shackles, and my underfed body was hardly attractive.

When I began to exit the bath, I found a set of clothes waiting for me. There was a note on top I shouldn’t be able to read, but yet I understood it. It read ‘some fine robes for the young sorceress’ and was signed by Griffin. 

I dressed in the outfit, which was slightly too big for me, the sleeves hanging past my hands. This was fine, it covered my scarred body better that way.

“Wow~” Griffin whistled as I came out of the bath. “She cleans up nicely, chest’s a bit too small for me though.”

I blushed hard, averting my eyes from him. Vardon sighed at his friend’s comments, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. Griffin headed to the tavern portion of the inn, leaving me alone with the much quieter of the two. 

“Ahem, this is also for you…” he addressed me, placing a large, floppy blue hat on my still wet white hair. He avoided my gaze, adjusting his glasses. “Your skin is so pale, you’ll need some protection from the sun, so…”

“T-Thank you~” He too headed down to the tavern, leaving me alone. For the first time in my life I felt my heart beating in my chest, but it wasn’t from fear.  “Is this feeling…”

I began to follow them into the main room of the inn, but suddenly I was swept away into another world. I now stood on the steps of a golden temple, a man I didn’t recognize standing 

before me. He clapped his hands, then held one out towards me.

“Congratulations on clearing the tutorial, my cute little piece.” The voice of the god who saved me left his lips, and his identity was now clear. “Our introduction before was quite brief, so allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the wandering god, Beelzebub. Due to the rules of this world, I have been forced into a battle of wits against this realm’s ruler.”

Behind him, atop the steps of the temple, a silent figure sat, their eyes closed. Their tanned skin was covered in bright red markings, and they wore a style of clothing that looked ancient and mysterious. Before him laid a board, like that of a game.

“Now then, shall I explain the rules?”