23-4. Who are the uninvited guests?

***

Head entered the magic club’s booth. In front of the dark mirror maze where a little light comes in.

“hehehe! I was surprised! ..Uh, what? Aren’t you surprised?”

“Ariel, I bet you didn’t startle me properly.”

“It’s okay. Young people.”

A large-looking warrior couple appeared in front of them and scared them, but the demon king did not show any signs of surprise, just stood still and pondered over something.

‘As expected, it’s not Kainel.’

The demon king who makes a silent sound. The yellow Cerberus in front of him has not yet grown enough to destroy his ignorance.

“Not bad. This old man’s heart almost fell.”

“Look, Kai. I did it right!”

It was the same with the red-haired wizard who smiled smirking at the hero from the side. Artifact-grade equipment was nowhere to be seen.

As expected, the possibility is high that the person who showed an unexpected change in the grade exam. He was only a man wearing a black knight helmet.

‘It bothers me that I almost defeated the princess, Fine Grancia.’

He judged that the person who hurt Magic Hat was also Licht. Even after hundreds of calculations, he didn’t even have a variable. Even if the information is covered in lies and cannot be read by you.

‘The advantage in information warfare is not disclosing the hand you have.’

A man named Rich was already like a protruding stone. Even if he stood out, he was too revealing, and no matter how much he thought about it, only one possibility existed.

“One minute from now.”

He spoke briefly, checking his own watch. If there were no more variables, the future he and Licht would meet was fixed.

“..What is this?”

But as he passed by the couple of warriors and walked further into the maze, he saw that the place where the Sphinx and the students dressed as Quer were supposed to be was empty.

Once again, the calculation was wrong. At the time of the kidnapping of Chartines, even if it was because he did not know,

‘As a hero, it’s hard not to know exactly what your abilities are.’

He was dumbfounded that there weren’t two people who should be there right now, at this moment. It was judged that he was a person who not only destroys ignorance, but also obliterates omniscience.

‘Is it the ability to completely twist cognition?’

Head felt dejected and hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, feeling that he was two steps behind. He is a hero who defeated the demon king of truth.

Even though he moved carefully and preoccupied the place, he couldn’t meet him. The demon king looked at the bottom of the deep tunnel.

“..Did you fall here?”

He murmured as he watched the training slime wriggling beneath him.

***

The incident happened suddenly.

“..Licht. It’s okay?”

“It’s okay.. Rather, please come down from the top of me.”

Because of the student who was surprised to see my Durahan makeup and took out the flame spirit, I backtracked and tripped into a trap next to me.

“Oh, sorry.”

Because Mardol, who saw me falling into the training slime, immediately threw himself down and went underground with him.

“I’m sorry.. I guess I’m still afraid of fire.”

“It’s okay. Licht.”

It was like that last time Ariel threw a fireball at me, and it seems that my body has not yet recovered from the wounds of that day.

“I wondered if it was a little better now.”

I took a deep breath and rested. The Mardol that landed on me was clean, but I was covered in slime’s slime and felt disgusting.

“Licht.. Why are you afraid of fire?”

She raised her body and asked me curiously. I had some of that when I was little.

The reason why I got burn marks and avoided people. There was no miracle at the scene of the fire, where they ran back after hearing screams for help.

How would I have lived without

The thought arose momentarily.

“There was an incident.”

“..That’s a bad thing.”

Perhaps he noticed my mood, the golden wolf eyes in the wooden costume were shining. The eyes are really fast. Different from anyone

Thank you for not asking more. These are the scars I have to live with. It must be something you can’t ask others to understand or share.

“Licht. I have.”

“..Is that why you fell together?”

“Yes. Perverts should not be left alone….”

Mardol, who seemed to be holding her hands tightly, lost her balance for a moment and stumbled. Why are you doing that all of a sudden

“..Mr. Mardol?”

“…”

“Did you sprain your leg?”

“Ah, I guess so..”

Mardol lame. You can heal it with divine power. I was about to say that, but training slimes were coming around.

Her surroundings were so dark that if she swung her sword as she was, her booth could be destroyed, and things were happening as if she was telling me to take care of her.

‘I can’t help it.’

The flags must have overlapped and exploded. How did the person who came to save him get more injured? It was absurd. With her back to Mardol, she sat down and bowed.

“Get up.”

“Licht..? If you wait a little bit for this….”

“The slimes are coming. Besides, you’re too injured to use magic.”

“..Okay. Licht.”

It seemed that a strange scene would be created if we delayed here. The fact that she sprained her leg in her master piece left me with only one option.

‘This must be the right decision.’

Something that has already happened like coercion. In games, it was also common for flags to gather in this way to trigger strange bursts of events. Besides, she is the main heroine.

Isn’t it common for a female protagonist to bite into her loaf of bread and shout out that she is late in a Ryu game, and bump into a male protagonist?

I had a flash of thought that I might be severely punished by the slime. Coincidence coincided with coincidence and became fate itself.

“Then, I will walk forward.”

“..Yes.”

It didn’t make sense. No matter what, it would be a wrong decision to just leave it here or swing a sword. The Imperial Guard could show up and hold them accountable.

‘It’s not very heavy.’

When I chose to break through the event, the princess put her arms around my neck. The feel of hard wood on your back.

I’ve felt it before, but it’s quite light. Or maybe it was because I became stronger through training.

“Mr. Mardol.”

“..Licht, excuse me.”

“I didn’t say I had to lose weight yet….”

“Pervert, Pervert.. Licht.”

Back on her back, she tapped her back lightly with her fist. Fortunately, she was not seriously injured. Her surprise swept her chest into hers.

“Oh, come to think of it.”

“Why..? Richt?”

“Why does Mardol not take off his helmet?”

Judging that there must be a reason why her system made her and me alone, she asked what she had been curious about.

“…”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to talk. I won’t bother asking for more bad memories.”

Then, with a bang, she buried her face in my back. What? Seeing that he repeatedly patted me on the back a while ago, his likability must have gone down. Soon Mardol opened her mouth.

“..It’s because of the magic hat I met when I was young.”

The truth she barely uttered while crying. In fact, I know that if we do this, we will be far from the saintess’ route.

‘I kept getting nervous. Was it because of the demon king?’

This is the person who sprained his leg while throwing himself to save me from falling into a pit. I already had more than a certain amount of feelings for a person named Mardol.

“What did the demon king of truth do to you?”

“They said it was a problem because I was a woman. Killing the maids….”

“That’s why you… concealed your gender.”

“Yeah.. I’m afraid others will fall for the devil again because of me..”

Then I would have lived a life far from normal. Helpless. You could easily think that there was nothing she couldn’t do in the position of the imperial princess.

“..It must have been difficult.”

“It’s my fault.. I…”

“Don’t talk like that. Didn’t you say you were young?”

Everyone has their weaknesses. Listening to it, it’s like the crazy magician ruined her whole life.

“..I said something too harsh before. Sorry.”

The steps that were moving forward stopped. In her past, she apologized again, recalling her dark history of swearing at her at her swordsmanship training ground.

She seemed like a cold glass, but in fact, she cared about others more than anyone else. A life ruined in childhood cannot be easily restored.

“No.. Licht.”

“Then, as an apology, the reason I am not revealing my face. Can you tell me?”

“Uh..? Uh..! Let me know..”

I sympathized with him because I knew him better than anyone else. A child, not an adult. At that time, what kind of solution would you have if you were frustrated by bumping into a cold wall?

“I also suffered severe burns when I was young.”

In the end, when you can’t hold anyone accountable, people turn the standard on themselves. He can’t blame others, so he eats his own flesh.

It was better not to blame myself for being immature and immature.

“I barely got out…. I heard screams for help, so I ran back in. That’s when you got hurt.”

“I see. I guess I didn’t want to talk. Why me…?”

“Didn’t Mr. Mardol also share a painful memory?”

Happiness is doubled when shared, and sorrow is halved when shared.

Plus, since her grade exams, Mardol has been the one who’s been trying to keep me going, so she can’t help but get on her nerves with her.

“..So please don’t blame yourself. The demon king is bad.”

“Licht..”

“After all, you don’t have to hurt yourself. I know because I’ve tried it, but that’s really bad.”

Emotions were not linear. I wanted to give some encouragement to a knight who looked like me.

‘The saintess will be angry, but… This is right.’

Maybe I was momentarily moved by the warmth I felt from my back.

Or maybe it’s cheap sympathy. I’m not exactly the type to know her, so maybe it’s just her ease of getting her words out.

‘It’s just that she had no one to turn to after all. Just like me in my childhood.’

But a wounded person desperately needs even the slightest encouragement, so I couldn’t push Mardol, who brought up her trauma to answer my question.

“..Cheer up. Or, would you like to have a drink with me today?”

“Uh..? At the night market?”

“Yes, when you’re in a bad mood, let go.”

I offered a drink to the tree monster. It would be all right to enjoy the summer festival night with a couple of warriors.

She was also a freshman at her academy when she had her coming-of-age ceremony. Maybe we can have a drink together. The SS will be watching around, so there won’t be any incidents.

“Okay. Richt… By the way, I won’t lose.”

“hahahaha. I’m looking forward to it. Let’s end the day with a fun story rather than something gloomy like this.”

It was also a method I enjoyed doing when I was stressed in real life. If you buy a can of beer and snacks from a convenience store and play a game,

“..Licht.”

All the hard memories of that day are gone. Maybe this will be fine She’ll pay less attention to my face in her helm.

“Thank you. Licht.”

“Nothing. Aren’t we friends? Mr. Mardol.”

“Friends..”

“If you have any concerns like this, please let me know. I will pay for it by buying you a meal later.”

Actually, asking for food is a joke. She seemed to have more to say, but then she buried her face in my back even more. It seems to be a little better now.

“..Yes, they were friends. Us.”

We walked out together to the exit of the booth where we could see the light, sharing each other’s burdens.