....
....

　Currently, Princess Sophia and I are sitting in a hospital bed side by side.
　This is a small field hospital in the village of Canaan.
　In the other beds, people who were injured or petrified in the earlier battle with demons and monsters are sleeping.

　Incidentally, Friae-san said the moment she saw Princess Sophia, "The rest is up to you two! And then he left at great speed.
　Are you a black cat (Tsui)?
　I'm sure that's why Princess Sophia and I were left behind.

"You seem to have become quite friendly with the moon maiden.
Yeah, well, you know.
　I don't know why.
　Princess Sophia has the same cool look on her face as usual.
　My back is tingling and sweat is trickling down my cheeks.

''Speaking of which, the third daughter of the Ballantine family wants to get married to the brave Mako of our country (Roses). It's funny, I think she hated you.
"Huh?
　Princess Sophia announced in a tone that said she didn't care about anything.
　The third daughter of the Ballantine family?
　Is this about Janet?

Oh, by the way, I don't see Janet....
　The Pegasus Knights are not there in the first place.

'She has returned to her home country (Highland). To report on the Demon King who was nearly resurrected in the Woodlands (Spring Rogue).
Oh, I see.
　Sure, there's a cult of snakes in the dark, the Beast King's men are getting in, and there seems to be a lot to report.
　But it's a bit hectic.
　It seems like it would be nice to have at least one word to say.

'Brave Mako, Janet Ballantyne has a message for you.
A message?
　Oh, you've left a few words for me.

I'm going to hone my skills so that I can stand next to the hero, Makoto. The next time we see each other, let's have dinner together, just the two of us. ........That woman, how dare you leave me this message?
　In the second half, Princess Sophia's tone became irritated.

　As I recall, the Ballantine family of the Five Holy Nobles is on par with the royal families of other countries, including Roses?
　Anyway, you don't have to ask the princess to deliver a message....
　No, it's on purpose.

'You've been getting along with women here and there while we haven't seen each other for a little while, haven't you?
Well that's not true, is it?
　Princess Sophia's hand on her cheek is terribly cold.
Isn't the 'Ice Magic, King Class' leaking out?
　We stared at each other for a while.

''Well, it's good. I'm relieved that you're safe. When I heard that you were petrified, I was surprised, but...''
　Princess Sophia's expression softened.
　The hand on her cheek grew warm.

'It's hard work. I was originally meant to be a messenger to greet the heroes and priestesses of the woodlands...''
　He took a gentle tone, as if he was working me over.

'Well, there's a lot more to it than I thought.
'Oh!　Brave Lord Makoto!　I hope you're awake. I'm glad you're safe!
　Maximilian-san, the brave man of the wind tree, came in quietly, shouting loudly.

''Is Maximilian-san okay, too?
　The last time I saw him, he was about to be petrified, but he seems to have recovered safely.

'I am ashamed to say it. How carefree you are to be turned to stone in a crisis in the land of trees.
　He clenched his fists with a regretful look on his face, "Ugh.

''Once you're feeling better, I'd love for you to join me in my training!　May I borrow your breasts?
Ha, ha.....
　I looked at the thick chest plate of Maximilian-san, the dragon race, and gave a languid reply.
　With my poor status, I'd be blown away if I was decoupled.
　Hahaha, Maximilian-san left while laughing boldly.

''Brave Makoto, it seems you've become close to the brave man of the wind tree.
Well, we went to fight the Demon King together.
　Princess Sophia asked with a serious expression.
　Come to think of it, the purpose of the meeting with the brave men of the tree country was initially to meet up with the brave men of the tree country.
　I forgot about it.
　Goal accomplished.

''Oh!　Master Makoto!　I'm so glad you're awake!　I haven't woken up for a week, and Lucy was worried about it too.
　Suddenly, a beautiful elf sister appeared in front of me and grabbed my hand.
　Let's see, this person is a priestess of a tree goddess, I believe, and her name is.......

Miss Flona, I'm so sorry I'm worried about you.
''Good.......my poor curse-reversing magic didn't work.... Your companion, Huli-san, is an amazing user.
Yeah, well...
　She's an expert (expert) in cursed magic, she's a maiden of the moon, you know.
　Also, I'm afraid of Princess Sophia's gaze next to me if her hand is held so tightly.

'I'll go get Lucy and Aya. We were both worried about you. Princess Sophia, so long.
　The tree goddess priestess, Flona-san, greeted us and left lightly.

''A ... womanizer.''
　Princess Sophia muttered something unheard of.
'Let me tell you, Miss Flona is a married woman, and she's Lucy's sister-in-law.
Hmm.
　It doesn't seem to matter.
　At any rate, I'm not in a good mood.
　Now, as a state-certified hero, I wonder how I can put my boss in a good mood.

"Yoo-hoo, boyfriend!
Wow!
　Suddenly, a blonde elf appeared in the air and hugged me.

''Ro, Rosalie-san!
"Gu, are you the Red Lotus Witch?
　Princess Sophia screams in surprise at the sound of my voice.
　Oh, that's quite a surprise.
　Have you never seen her before?

Oh, you're the hero who defeated the Demon King. You're awake!　Hmm?　Who is the twirly woman next to you?　Cheating?　I'm not impressed with your cheating.
'Good morning. Rosalie, is the petrification curse safe?
　I greeted Lucy's mother, who appeared in a spatial transition (teleportation).
　As I recall, Rosalie had one arm turned to stone, too.

'Hahahaha!　I can afford it, I can afford it. I've got the spunk to fix it!
Did you fix it yourself?
　Isn't he just too special?

Oh, um, I, uh, I don't...
　Princess Sophia was too frazzled to speak.

'Hmm, is your boyfriend the type of girl you like?　Well, Lucy is crass like me - but I'm sure she'll be just as devoted to you at night as I am, right?
Would you please stop making gossip in your sleep?
　How can you say that about your own daughter?

"Hahaha. And who is this girl who's staring at your boyfriend with the hot eyes?　A girl like her looks so serious, but she's actually quite dirty.
What?　What?
　Princess Sofia screams in anger at Rosalie's overly judgmental attitude.
　No, we're going to have a diplomatic row.

"I'm Princess Sophia of the Water Country (Roses).
"Geez!
　Quickly, Rosalie raises her hands and moves away from me.

"Whoa!　You're royalty?　You're royalty?　They're going to have me beheaded!
Sophia, did you mean to have Rosalee beheaded?
But I can't do it, can I?　You're a hero in the trees!
Yes, Miss Rosalee.
Oh, yeah?　Then I'll get out of your way. Now, come on, show me your dagger!　That God-killing blade!

　After saying what she wanted to say, Rosalie-san disappeared in a spatial transition (teleportation).

''........''
....
　I don't know what it was.
　She's really a stormy person.
　I glanced at Princess Sophia and she was also staring at me.

'........What's wrong?
''You've become quite close to the important people of the tree country......... I sent an emissary to you and it didn't go well at all....
　I got a dark look on my face.

'No, but we were all related to Lucy.
　It's a senior at Lucy's school, Lucy's sister-in-law, and Lucy's mother.
　To be frank, it was like we were 'sure to win' as long as we took Lucy with us.

　Sighing with a sigh, Princess Sophia looked at me with a serious expression.
''Brave Mako.
Yes. Yes?

"You have a summons from the King of the Sun Country (Highland).
What?
　Also, the Land of the Sun (Highland)?
　You've only been there the last time.

Why do you look so strange? You're the one who defeated the Demon King, aren't you?
Is that... what you call...
　We had a little conversation, and it felt like the demon king destroyed himself.
　Even the only victorious demon Shuri was also weakened by the continuous battle with Rosalie-san.
　Or rather, it was mostly the power of the Water Goddess (Eil).
　Huh?　What did I do?

The one who defeated the strongest demons this time was Rosalie, right?
''........is that so?　But according to the Red Lotus Witch-sama, the meritorious ones this time are the heroes of the Water Kingdom, so the honor of defeating the Demon King will be given entirely to the heroic Makoto, as I heard from the chief of Canaan's village.
....

　Miss Rosalee!
　I'm telling you, you're trying to make things difficult for us!
　d*mn it, where did they go?
　I will find him and complain about him.

'And I've just received word from Princess Noel's secret messenger that it would be best if the brave Mako did not come to the Land of the Sun (Highland).
What do you mean by that?
　The King of Highland is the father of Princess Noel.
　It's a strange thing for his daughter, Princess Noel, to put a stop to a father's call.

'It's a simple matter. The brave man who defeated the Demon King and the nobleman who wanted to be a part of it must have approached the Highland royal family. If you go to the Land of the Sun (Highland) now, you won't be able to return. They say you can choose any wife or concubine you want from the daughters of the Highland nobles. I'm glad to hear that.
　Princess Sophia told her calmly.　

''........''
　Oh come on, are you serious?
　Could this be the same route as Sakurai-kun?
　You mean like 20 wives?

What do you want to do?　
　Princess Sophia asks with a superior look.

　At that moment, a choice appeared in the air.


''In Highland, do you want to end up in a harem?''

　Yes, sir.
　No.


　Language!
'RPG Player' Skill, you're malicious!


I'm leaving.
　I answered immediately.
　Upon hearing that, Princess Sophia rolled her eyes, as if a little surprised.

''If you become kin to the royalty and nobility of the Highlands, you'll have all the wealth in the world, right?　For we are not a weak nation like the Water Nation, but we are at the heart of the largest nation on this continent.
　Princess Sophia asks in a serious tone.

(No, but hey...)
　It reminds me of the conversation between Noah-sama and Eir-sama.


　--they're more likely to lose the next war between the human race and the demon race.


I don't want to be playing around with you, getting into the nobility.
　I need to learn.

Let's wait until we defeat the Great Demon King. First, let's increase the strength of the Water Kingdom. We need at least ten more brave men. According to the Water Goddess (Eir).
''Yup, the number of brave men does not increase that easily!　Huh?　Is this about Master Eil?　What are you...
　Princess Sophia's calmness was broken when I suddenly changed the subject.

''Let's also think about tactics for the pattern of losing to the Great Demon King. We should set up an evacuation fort or something.''
''Wait a minute. If the Goddess can't hear that we're going to lose to the Great Demon King, we're in trouble!

　This information is from that goddess........
　Hmmm, why would the Goddess hide this information from the priestess Princess Sophia as well?
　Is it because it makes you feel uneasy?

(And as for the future, does Sakurai-kun know about it?)

　Sakurai-kun had thought that since he had the blessing of the daughter of the supreme god Jupiter, the goddess of the sun, Altena-sama, the daughter of the supreme god Jupiter, he would have plenty of time to spare even if his opponent was the great demon king.
　When Eir-sama talked about it, my anxiety increased all at once.

''Sophia, I need to ask Princess Noel to give me a message.
Wait, I'm not following the conversation from earlier...
　Princess Sophia and I were having a little chat.

"Mako!
Takatsuki-kun!

　Lucy and Sa-san hugged me.
　Their momentum pushed me down to the bed.

'Is your body okay?　Only Mako can't break the curse for any length of time, so...
Uh, you had me worried.
Lucy.................
　They both had tears in their eyes.
　They clung to each other and wouldn't leave me.
　Their hands were trembling a bit.

(Well I'm pretty sure I've been under a petrification curse for a week.)
　Oh, yeah, it's a little scary, huh?

I'm sorry you had to worry.
　I bowed to them both.

'No, I'm glad to see you're well. 'Right?　Roo-chan.
Yeah. Hey. Hey. Can you move on now?
Yeah, I'm still heavy.
　I could manage to walk, at least.
　But Sa-san and Lucy's next words were not what I expected.

'See!　Luu-chan!　Good luck!
'Yeah!　Do I tell you?　Ummm........hey, Makoto. Isn't being a brave man a dangerous occupation where you don't know when you're going to die...?　And this time it happened again. So.....
　Lucy moseyed closer to my face.
　She whispered softly in my ear.

'But we're not going to do something more like this, more loverly.'
　Chillingly, I felt something run through my back and my body temperature rose.

'Takatsuki-kun, your face is so red.'
Well, sir?
　I noticed that Sa-san's face was right near me.

(Wait, wait, something's wrong.)

　This sudden turn of events has to be someone who is backing out of this.
　I scurry around.
　At the far end of the room, I hear "Go, go, go!　Push it down! I could hear Rosalie's voice from her 'listening' skills as she was agitated.
　What is she doing, she's doing.

'Womanizer,'
(Ha!?!)
　I heard the same line from next door.
　Shit, Princess Sophia's right next to me!

You shouldn't worry your friends too much, you know.
　Princess Sophia's voice, which looked a little sulky, was like that of a small child fussing.
　'You're not angry?

"Sophie, you haven't left Takatsuki-kun for the past three days talking like that.
'Hey, I said I'd wait for you to wake up in the night, and the knights guarding you stopped me, Aya.
No, no, no, wait!　You promised not to tell me that!
　When Sa-san and Lucy spoke teasingly, Princess Sophia started to panic.


　That's when Sa-san started acting out something.
　Is that an imitation of Princess Sophia...?

No, stop!　I'll be angry at you any longer!
　Princess Sophia grabbed Sa-san's shoulder and shook her.

''Awwww.''
　Suddenly, Sa-san started to shake in increments.
'No!　Princess Sophia, the ice magic is leaking!
　Lucy stops her in a hurry.

　Ah, Sa-san, cold air is a weakness.
　Sophia-san, isn't your magic power (mana) a bit loose?　

　I was looking at the three women, who were making a lot of noise and cawing.

''........Guys~, what are you doing~?
　Oh, Friae is back.
　There's a black cat on his shoulder.
　Apparently, he heard everyone's noise and got lonely.

(Thank God, everyone is safe.)
　Somehow we all managed to get through it.
　I let my sluggish body fall back on the bed and closed my eyes.

　Let's go back to sleep.
　Let's go to sleep again, and listen to my friends.　

　--And so our adventure in the Land of the Trees (Spring Rogues) came to an end.