'She was the girl you hired when you opened the branch, as I recall. May I ask why you chose her?

　Immediately after hearing Layla's name, Travis showed a slight frightened reaction, but he tried to proceed in a much calmer manner than I had imagined.

It's useful to have someone else in addition to Garnett," he said. The choice of people is a process of elimination. Erica the apothecary, Noir the black wizard, and Alexia the crafty engineer have their own specialties, so I'd like them to stay in the shop if they don't need to be taken out.

　While I'm hiding something, the explanation itself is not a lie.

　Noir and Alexia said that Noir and Alexia were often relied upon while I was away, and if you think about the residents of Green Hollow, the medicine man should be on the ground.

　And by hidden things, of course, I mean that Leila herself wants to accompany me because of her ulterior motive of wanting to get close to Travis.

''By the way, and Ezell the Brave, doesn't it bother you to add a young woman as a member?
'Do I look like the kind of man who would be selfish in such a big deal, if I were on a quest for myself?　You'd know it when you approached the swordsman Sakura in the first place.
You're right.

　In the end, we were both worrying about something that was unnecessary.

　Neither I nor Travis would have survived to such an age if we couldn't break it off when we should have.

Then we don't have a problem with the members. Shall I have Leila say hello?　As far as I'm concerned, you can always go to .......

　Just as I was about to wrap up the conversation, Leila reluctantly appeared from the back of the store.

　Her usual firm demeanor was ringing off the hook, almost crushed by confusion and nervousness, but she continued to do her best to raise her gaze without hiding it.

　Just as Leila was trying to somehow squeeze out the words, Travis let out an 'oh' as if he remembered something.

'That's a familiar face. That was the girl at the scene of the collapse, as I recall.
"......!　You remembered me!
'In my profession, I have a habit of remembering people's faces. The stronger the lateral connections, the easier it is to move things around ...... oops, now that's not really important.

　It's not so surprising to me, as we've known each other for a long time, but for Leila, it's more than a surprise, it's a thrill to her.

　It's a good thing that this guy claims to be not good with women, but his every word and action seems to strike at Leila's weaknesses.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to be doing. I want to adjust my schedule as well, so I'll be in touch as soon as possible.




　A few days have passed since then, and the three of us, Garnett and Leila, are heading to the Demon King's Castle as planned.

　As usual, we descended the Sundial Forest as usual, passing through the Hollow Bottom Branch, and then passed through the passage that connected the two dungeons to enter the Hollow Bottom Fortress managed by the Golden Fang Knights.

　Originally, the branch was half of the fortress that was paid off to the Adventurer's Guild, so the building itself is almost identical, but the atmosphere is still very different.

　The branch has a lot of shops and a lot of ordinary people, and most of the people wandering around are adventurers, all of whom have a relaxed atmosphere outside of work hours.

　However, there were almost no civilians in the fortress, and the adventurers could be seen to be fired up before the dungeon attack on the 'Demon King's Castle Realm'.

''From here on out, we'll rent horses. If we decide to go to the Demon King's Castle on foot, it's going to be daylight. I know I don't need to ask, but is Leila the one who can ride?
Of course. It's what people do for a living. Every member of my family knows how to ride a horse.

　Leila, with a crisp face, was pulling the reins of the horse that the Knights of the Fortress had loaned her.

　You can see that he is trying his best to act calmly, but inside he is fidgety and hurrying ahead.

　While each of the three of them straddled a separate horse and headed to the Demon King's Castle, they confirmed with Garnett about their plans after their arrival.

I'm not sure if Sakura or Travis guy is already going to the demon king's castle?
Yeah. After we join up and the night is over, the advance team will resume their investigation once again.
"Spending the night in the Demon King's Castle? Even though the knights have already conquered the city, it's still a strange feeling. Don't they have any lodgings in the dwarf town?
The dimensions of the building are different. It's easier to use the facilities of dark elves of similar stature than to build a new building for humans. It's just a castle, it's big enough.

　When you are on the ground, you can't help but feel less of it, but there are times when the intelligent race of demons live in dungeons, building their own culture.

　In the case of this 'Demon King's Castle Realm', there were two types of dwarves that seemed to be the indigenous race, and dark elves that appeared from an even deeper realm.

　It is thought that all the dark elves have either escaped with the Demon King's army into the underground, died in the battle against the knights or were captured, and all the dark elves have disappeared from the Demon King's Castle Realm.

　Of course, there may be some guys hiding in the rocky mountains and wilderness unnoticed, but that's the extent to which the possibility cannot be denied.

　As we continue on the roads that have been improved since the war ended, the castle town where the dwarves live and the Demon King's Castle eventually come into view.

...... It's about time we saw it.
It's the first time I've seen one in person. Jesus, you're freaking me out just thinking about it.

　Beside Garnett, who was muttering as he spat, Layla was looking at the Demon King's Castle with a gasp.

''Is this the first time Leila has come here?''
''Yes, ...... this is the first time I've seen the Demon King's Castle today. I couldn't even see it from afar from near the fortress.
'It's supposed to be secure, so don't worry about it until we're underground. Well, well, we're already underground here, too.

　I didn't mean to say it as a joke, but Leila blurted out lightly with a chuckle and seemed to relax a little bit of extra strength from her shoulders.

''Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever asked you two or Travis-sama for details about what kind of activities you two and Travis-sama did in the Demon King's Castle. I've read through the published material: .......
You don't care about us, you care about Travis?
No, no!

　To Garnett, who was looking at her face nastily, Leila stared back with a blush and a furrowed brow.

　We have some time left before we arrive at the Demon King's Castle.
　Since it's a good time, let's tell them a brief story about that battle, shall we?

　For me, it's a memory that makes my right eye and left arm ache inexplicably.