This is...

　It was a dark space.

　I don't know what's there except for Hurt-sama's hand in mine.

Wait a minute. 《Light.》

　Master Harut cast a spell.

　It wasn't in Elvish, nor was it in ancient Runic.

　But I think I've heard of this spell before.

　I believe it was...

　As I thought about when I heard that spell, my surroundings grew brighter.

　The walls and ceiling began to glow vaguely.


　I remembered.

　That spell, the Demon King...


　There was a big chair in front of me and Master Hurt.

　It was the chair where the demon king, Beret, used to sit.

　So, this place...


　The Demon King's Castle.


"Don't worry, Tina. There are no demons or demons around here.

　I was ready for battle, but Master Hurt told me that.

　The Demon King disappeared a hundred years ago and the next Demon King has not appeared yet.

　But this is the middle of the Demon Continent where demons used to thrive.

　Even if you are told to be at ease, it's impossible to be careless.

　It's true that there's no sign of demons...


　What?

　Oh, what?

　Really, there are no demons?


　There are some, but their numbers are extremely low.

　At least in this Demon King's Castle, there were no demons at all.

　After extensively detecting the Demon Continent, we finally only found a few groups of demons.

''What the hell is going on!

　The Demon Continent has a portion of the dragon vein coming out of the ground, and magic power is flooding the air.

　Because of that, the rate of spontaneous generation of demons is very high.

　And the center of it is this Demon King's Castle.
　Therefore, it's impossible for there to be no demons at all.

　Even though there is no Demon King now, this Demon Continent is essentially a land overflowing with demons.


''The demons are regularly defeated by me. Whenever a new Demon King appears, I marked the transition in the throne room like this so that whenever a new Demon King appears, he can come back to defeat it immediately.

　As I said, this is the Demon King's Castle.

　The demons that occur are usually all A-ranked........

　And even if the Demon King appeared, did you plan to defeat him?

　All by myself.


　Well, I'm sure Mr. Hardt-sama could easily defeat one or two of the Demon Lord's soldiers.

　Even so, it's dangerous, isn't it?

Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe I should have told Tina.

　I was puffing out my cheeks, and you noticed that I was indeed angry.

'It's too dangerous to be alone,'

I'm sorry. I thought if things got bad, I could just run away in transition. I was more afraid of putting everyone else in danger.

　It's already ... really, really selfish.

　We understand that you don't want us to be in danger.

　We also don't want you to do something dangerous, because we don't want you to do something dangerous.


Why is .........why is Harut-sama doing this much?

　Without the Demon King, the Demon Continent's demons would rarely attack us humans' living areas.

　Of course, it is very meaningful to reduce the number of demons on a regular basis.

　It's because it can greatly reduce the war potential of the next Demon King.

　However, I didn't think it was necessary for Harut-sama to do that.

　Even though there were no demons to contend with, there was no way to know what would happen.

I want to be with Tina and the others forever. In order for that to happen, I want to make this world a peaceful place. Any demon king who stands in the way of that (peace) is my enemy. But I don't know if my power is good enough for the Demon King. That's why I will continue to reduce the Demon King's war potential as much as possible.

　So that's what you're saying, after all.

'If you could ... please don't.

Sorry.

　He had no intention of stopping when I asked him to - that's the look on his face.


I understand. Then I'll be fine with just me.

What?

'I don't ask you to bring everyone of the House of Elnor with you. From now on, the next time Master Hurt defeats a demon here, make sure you bring me along with you.

But I don't think that's why...

Dangerous?　I am the world's strongest magic swordsman, except for Mr. Hurt. Even if my opponent is a demon king, I won't fall behind.

　Just as Harut-sama has no intention of stopping me from coming to defeat the demon, I have no intention of allowing Harut-sama to fight on his own.

　I won't give up this one thing.


　I don't think it's possible.
　I don't want to think about it.

　But what if something happened to Master Hult?
　If Mr. Harut has not come back...

　I don't want to have that day.

　I want to stay with Master Haruto until the end, even if the situation is really out of control.

　That's why I will never leave your side when you go to a dangerous place, Harut-sama.


''I understand. From now on, I will make sure to bring Tina with me. Of course, I'll make sure to protect her for sure.

　You have realized that I will not be broken, haven't you?

'Yes, sir. 'You promise?　Absolutely!

I promise. I promise.

　Master Harut is a former guardian hero.

　I am sure that you will be stronger with me as your protector.

　No matter what happens, he will do his best to find a way to survive with me.



''By the way, did you bring me here to tell me that you are prepared to defeat the Demon King?''

　Last night and today, Master Hurt acted to entertain me.

　Because I said a lot of things, it seemed like we fought a little bit, but I don't think he didn't bring me here for that purpose.

'I know Tina got a little angry at me but you see, this is our memory place too, in a way, right?

　Indeed, it is.

　This is the place where I felt the most sadness in my memories of Hurt-sama.

　As much as that sadness, it's also a place where I had hope for the future.


''So, let me say it again.


　This is where we said goodbye to Haruhito-sama.

　This is where I said goodbye to Haruhito-sama.


　When I was crying here thinking about Haruhito-sama who had disappeared, he came back to me.

　Shortly after that, he disappeared again, but he promised me that he would definitely come back one day.

　And he really did come back.


'I'm home, Tina,'

Welcome back. Master Halt.

　This is so unfair.
　The tears flowed on their own and wouldn't stop.

　Harut-sama hugs me tightly.
　I hug back with all my strength.

　I'll never leave you again.

　From now on for the rest of my life...
　I'll be with Master Hurt the whole time.

　

I wanted to give this to Tina here.

　Saying this, Mr. Hurt-sama showed me a magic tool with a red jewel on it.


　It was given to me a hundred years ago by Haruka-san when he left.

　And it was a tool that had been broken by preventing Ha-Ru-To-sama's magic.