Lord Demon is behind you

"That's needless to say! Of course it's Arthur Crane..."

Just when the brave man reached out to cover his mouth, the devil disappeared miraculously.

The whole figure suddenly disappeared without a trace, only a little aftermath of magic power slowly spread in the original place.

"……Varied?!"

The brave man's hand was in the air.This is... Could it be? !He turned his head abruptly, staring at the writing on the door.

Could it be that this question is the "key" to enter the room?Only by answering correctly can one enter it, and just now the devil answered this question unintentionally, so he was teleported away—as for whether he was teleported into the room or somewhere else...

When he was in doubt, the Demon King suddenly appeared in the same place again, with a very subtle expression on his face.

"What's the matter?" The brave looked him up and down to confirm that his blood bar hadn't dropped, and he didn't get any abnormal status.

"Hmm..." The Demon King touched his chin and said slowly, "The woman's personal room has surprisingly good taste..."

"Eh? Did you go inside the door just now?"

This surprised the brave man a little.

Considering that Miss Emily should be waiting inside the room, it stands to reason that if the Demon King managed to break in and appear in front of her, there would be no reason for the other party to let him get away so quickly.So he thought that the Demon King was teleported to another place.

"That's right. It's really a beautiful room. It makes people linger and forget to leave. If I wasn't worried about you being outside alone, I wouldn't come back so soon—after all..."

Noticing the brave man's face, he wisely swallowed the emotion behind, and added instead: "The room is empty, and that crazy woman is not here."

"...Not here?" The brave man was a little confused, "Then where will Miss Emily go?"

The boss who was promised to be waiting in the deepest room disappeared without a trace—this was the first time in his long adventure career.

"About this, I have an idea..."

At this time, light footsteps came from not far away.

The brave man's expression changed.Is she back?Is the final battle going to start at the door of the boss room?

The devil suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him to the corner: "Let's hide first."

"but--"

"Okay, just trust me here for once!"

The Demon King shook off his long cloak, covering himself and the brave under it, blending in with the surrounding dark background.

This clumsy way of camouflage will definitely be exposed in the next second——the brave man thinks so.

However, the eldest lady who was approaching step by step seemed to be a little absent-minded, and her steps were more sluggish than usual, as if she had just done some physical work.She didn't notice the abnormality in the corner at all, she just walked straight to the closed door and stared at the question above for a few seconds.

"Anyway...Anyway, anyone can do it except Arthur Crane, who is so stupid that there is no cure for it!" She blushed and shouted.

A faint white light flashed across that line of writing, and then the girl's figure disappeared.

After confirming that her breath had completely left, the Demon King took off his cloak.

"This woman is so frank that even I can't help but marvel at her!" He commented, "What do you humans call this, Tsundere? You obviously like it so much that you don't know what to do, but He refused to face his heart even if he was beaten to death, and refused to admit it to himself even in private. On the one hand, he had true feelings, on the other hand, he had false self-esteem, and he was wallowing in infinite self-contradictions—"

"...Why does it feel like you really understand it?"

"Because that's the truth. I've worked hard on human psychology!"

The brave man at this time didn't know that these words were definitely not lies.

"Now that she's back in the room, it's time for us to—" Let's go to the final challenge.

The brave man walked slowly to the door and reached out to touch the line of writing.

Favorite person's name, right?

He felt that he had guessed what Miss Emily was up to.

Unexpectedly, a scene from a certain moonlit night not long ago appeared in my mind——

That night, he was so excited that he had just defeated the Demon King's City in his heart, and he couldn't sleep because he couldn't get rid of his emotions, so he simply got up and went outside the camp.

He didn't expect to see Emily bathed in the moonlight.

"Can't you sleep either?"

"—No, ah..." The eldest lady shrank back nervously like a small animal whose tail was stepped on, and swallowed it back in the middle of a sentence, "No...Actually, I really fell asleep. no."

"……yes."

Originally, such things as walking at night and looking at the moonlight were insulated from him; he was only good at wielding weapons, not good at feeling the beauty and enjoying life.But that day, for some reason, he was led away by the atmosphere.

He simply sat down on the steps, shoulder to shoulder with Emily.

"...Well, let me tell you."

"what?"

"The devil king has already been defeated." The eldest lady twisted her hair awkwardly, deliberately avoiding looking at him. "Our team will disband after we return to the capital..."

"Ah, that's right. Because...after defeating the Demon King, everyone will return to normal life."

Although he felt a little lonely about this, he could admit it frankly.

"Everyone has their own life. Isn't it good to be able to live in peace?"

"……how about you?"

Emily asked.

"What is your plan?"

"I……"

The brave man was at a loss for words.

In the final analysis, the meaning of the hero's existence is to regain the daily life disturbed by monsters.Now that the world has returned to peace, this meaning no longer exists.

He and his sword are things that are not needed in a peaceful and prosperous age.

Just like human beings will only go to seek medical advice when they are sick, and if everyone is extremely healthy, doctors will have to lose their jobs.

However, doctors must hope that everyone can be healthy rather than keep their own jobs.

Thinking of this, he scratched the hair on the back of his head and slowly laughed.

"Well, maybe I'll go back to the countryside to farm... right?"

Although my family has passed away long ago, there should be more or less familiar folks in my hometown who are still alive.He carefully calculated in his heart, wondering if the little money he had saved during the journey would be enough to buy a hut——

"What, are you going to be a farmer? How rustic."

The eldest lady scoffed.The brave man only returned a helpless smile.He has been with the other party for a long time, and he has already understood the other party's temper very well, so he will not be angry at such a trivial matter.

"Not necessarily a farmer," he said, "maybe a fisherman; my hometown is a fishing village near the sea."

"Hey, let me say," she asked suddenly after a while, "compared to that kind of place, haven't you ever thought of settling in the capital? Living in a big brick house with a group of servants, Accepting the service of a professional butler, there is also an independent martial arts training ground underground. It's okay, that, learning the ancient martial arts that have been passed down for thousands of years, that..."

For some reason, she spoke intermittently.

"Big house," the brave man thought for a while, "It's not that I don't want to live in it, but I can't afford it, right? It's too—"

"……Are you stupid!"

Emily interrupted roughly.

She jumped up and stood in front of the brave man, looking at his face against the light.

"That kind of thing, you don't need to think about it at all! Because, the house price and so on... don't you still have me!"

"have you?"

The brave man didn't know, so: "But I can't use Miss Emily's money?"

Even if they fought side by side as companions all the way, everyone has always been very clear about money matters.

"So say..."

Emily bent down, grabbed the hem of the brave man's clothes with both hands, and moved her face closer.

Those eyes, which were always filled with pride, now carried complex emotions that he couldn't understand.

"So... so! Why can't you understand, you idiot! I mean—"

——The shoulders suddenly sank.The devil came behind him at some point, and put his chin on his shoulder.

"To be distracted in front of the boss room, this is not the demeanor of a brave man! Well, let's put the gossip aside, let's study the topic. You should have thought of it, right? The purpose of this door."

The brave man trembled like an electric shock, and hastily swung the Demon King's head off.He's not used to being so close to people, especially the same sex.

"Ah, I probably already thought of it..."

According to normal people's thinking, the correct answer here should be "my favorite person is named Emily".Because Emily likes him and hopes to get his love.

As long as he confesses to Emily here, this door will allow him to enter unconditionally.

But, "I can't."

"I can't do it." He answered very seriously to the question on the door.

"I know what you're expecting, but I'm sorry. I can't say that sentence. I'm a stupid person, and I can't be flexible and stubborn. Because of this, once I have what I'm looking for Things and the person you look for, you will definitely be loyal to her forever; in contrast, if you are not really determined to protect the person for the rest of your life..."

If he is not facing someone who is sure to be with him for a lifetime, he will not be able to confess his love.

This is his stubbornness and perseverance.

"So... I'm sorry, Miss Emily."

Words are like mantras to him, something that must be obeyed once spoken.Even if it's not a real person, but just an institution, he can't make false promises nonchalantly.

"Why are you apologizing to the door?" The Demon King interjected, "It's useless. If you can't hear it in the room, that woman can't allow herself to hear it. I hope you can say it, but I don't dare to face it in person. Yes, this is the embodiment of her contradictions. That is to say—”

He snapped his fingers, "Whether the answer is right or wrong is entirely judged by this door! Maybe you don't need to confess to her, as long as you say the correct answer according to your own wishes, you can enter? For example... The person you love the most is called Albert, what?"

Emily knew enough about the brave man, so she should be able to predict the result of the brave man's refusal to confess.Unsolvable puzzles are against the rules of the game.As the devil, when designing the maze, at least the brave must have a way to reach the boss room at the end, otherwise it will be the devil's negligence.

"However, it is bad behavior to tell a lie," said the brave man.Neither the Devil nor Emily was his lover.

"...The rejection is really merciless." The devil clutched his chest, "Well, forget it, this is your style. It doesn't matter, I'm not one of those fragile women who are broken after being hit. Okay! Then Let me suppress the burning pain in my heart and ask you, brave man!"

He raised his cloak with a splash, and made a handsome (secondary) pose.

"Have you ever had something you love? Have you ever had something that you would give your all to and be loyal to forever?"

"Love..."

The brave man muttered to himself and clenched his fists.

"At least, so far... If there is one, the name of the object I love must be——

"'Humans'."

The author has something to say:

I myself feel that my Riqing accent is too heavy (cover my face)

I will work hard to overcome... I will work hard... (Kneel down)