The Adventure Story of the Devil, the Maid, and the Hero

"Yeah." Iluna lowered her head and thought for a while, then raised her head and put her hands together, showing a bright smile, "It's indeed a good way to say it once and for all."

She exudes a kind of strange black aura that is as real as it is, and she maintains an incomparably innocent smile and continues in a vibrant tone:

"Hero, for Luna's happiness, please—disappear forever!"

After finishing speaking, she drank the whole cup of black tea and sugar water in one breath under the eyes of everyone, and then returned to normal as if nothing had happened:

"……That's it."

Giulia's back turned cold inexplicably, and when she opened her mouth to speak, Fuono who was beside her had tears in her eyes and couldn't help but screamed:

"Madam, please be violent, what do you think of a brave man!"

Iluna smiled slightly, then took a deep breath and tried to look serious, "Xiao Nuo, you should know that there is no such thing as getting something for nothing in this world." She closed her left eye, and shook her right index finger, "As the saying goes Where there is gain, there is sacrifice, and brave men are just stepping stones to a happy life.”

"The brave man is innocent!"

Fuono immediately protested without even thinking about it.

Hearing that Iluna made an exaggerated dismissive and nasty smile, she asked calmly:

"Oh, are you trying to say that the hero who will come to crusade against us and whose job it is to end the life of the Demon King is innocent?"

"..." Fuonuo flinched, but still insisted, "However, you can't use something that didn't happen to convict you."

"That's true, but our enemies probably don't think the same way as you do."

Shirpasha said with a wry smile.

"Hey?"

"The Demon Lord is a dangerous existence, isn't he?"

"...!" After being stunned for a moment, Fuono retorted in a low mood, "But Shirpasha didn't do anything..."

Shirpasha just smiled wryly, "It's not like I didn't do anything, I also emptied the library in the nearby town."

"No, not to that extent."

Fuono looked like she was about to cry, with tears in her eyes but she still insisted.

"If you want to add a crime, you can't worry about it."

Seemingly remembering something, Giulia murmured softly while holding the teacup in both hands.

"So it's impossible."

For Shirpasha, this is an established fact that has long been known.

"After all, it is wise to take precautions before they happen, and nip all possible dangers in the bud."

"But, but..."

Fuonuo still couldn't accept this, desperately trying to justify but couldn't open her mouth.

After all, she is just a reckless girl who dared to come here with a moment of courage. Even though she has passed the age of believing that the world is as beautiful as a fairy tale, she still cannot calmly face the various realities that she doesn't like.

She is so serious that she has a bit of a horny character. I don't know if she has been influenced by someone too much.

Maybe this is really a naive idea, but Giulia can understand that feeling.

——Even though this world is full of natural cruelty, I still hope to be treated gently by it.

So she drank tea and considered for a moment, then asked with some doubts:

"Actually, let's not talk about how to deal with the brave ones. Isn't it okay to simply mix in with the adventurers and play by ear?"

"That's right."

Shirpasha, who was asked, not only did not explain, but echoed in agreement, still smiling lightly, making it difficult for people to understand his thoughts.

——Is it just a random talk about how to deal with the hero before?

"It's true, after all, there is a gap between ideals and reality." Although she was quite interested before, Iluna obediently obeyed, "It's not that simple to kill the brave or something gorgeously." What about the matter?"

- Yours is not an ideal at all, but a delusion, okay!

"So, were you just joking when you said you were going to get rid of the brave?"

Fuono, who still had tears in the corners of his eyes, said dully to himself.

"Ahem," Shirpasha cleared her throat in embarrassment, and announced, "Since it's been decided, it's time to set off in three days." Then she looked at the crowd, "Are there any questions? ?”

Giulia comforted Fuono with a cup of black tea, and the latter took it after thanking him, staring at the gently fluttering tea leaves in the cup.

On the contrary, Iluna, who was stirring the black tea that was no longer considered black tea, stopped what she was doing, raised her hand and replied:

"Luna has a question."

Then, under the gaze of Shirpasha, he stated, "Since we are going to infiltrate, we can't just call Shirpasha 'Shirpasha' right? If this is the case, it won't be revealed all at once."

Indeed, to infiltrate adventurers under the name of the Demon King, even if it doesn't scare people away, it must be too eye-catching.

"Looks like I need a pseudonym."

Shilpasha swallowed a bite of the cookie and decided, for some reason, she didn't seem very interested in it.

After being depressed for a while, Fuonuo finally recovered a little bit of energy, and said with some lack of confidence:

"Isn't it okay to just use an abbreviation like 'Hill'?"

Iluna, who made the proposal, was obviously dissatisfied with this perfunctory name, and mercilessly denied:

"The suspicious feeling is too obvious."

Giulia was silent for a moment, trying to think in reverse:

"Is this... a cover-up?"

But with Iluna's enthusiasm for this, it is obvious that she will not compromise because of this level of explanation.She slapped the table and stood up:

"Instead of making such a lame cover-up, it's better to just give a handsome name!" Silently blowing on her slightly red palm, Iluna suggested straightforwardly, "For example...Elizabeth II, so .”

"No, it's not the queen of any country."

Shirpasha immediately denied without hesitation.

"Just now, it was just an example. If it is more formal, for example...Sudwinlei Alexander."

"No."

Reply in less than a second.

"Ahhh," Iluna sat down in frustration, bowing her head, unable to fight any more.

——Obviously, he was full of confidence before, but the actual combat power is actually less than 3 minutes.

Shirpasha, who knew that the negation was too fast, thought for a moment and asked:

"Aren't there any ordinary ones?"

That's right, after all, it's going to lurk, and making a high profile so that it seems to be shining, comprehensively considered, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.so--

"Edward?"

Julia pertinently suggested that this is the most popular name in her memory.

Shirpasha looked at her, happened to see her serious expression, and said weakly:

"It's obviously a male name, isn't it?"

"...Uh." Julia obviously realized something was wrong belatedly, and racked her brains to try to remedy it, "Then, Marisa, Serena, Charlotte?"

"This... don't want it either."

After hesitating for a while, Shirpasha still refused.

So Giulia had no choice but to continue thinking. She really has no experience in naming things. If she had ever thought about naming someone, she would only have——

"Ah." In an instant, her thoughts suddenly brightened, Giulia not only evoked a smile, "...Tifa, how is it?"

"Well, that's all."

Maybe it was because they realized that they couldn't think of a better name for them, or maybe it was because they realized that Kyuria was a little different from the previous ones, anyway, Shirpasha just accepted it.

— Shilpasha, Tifa.

After silently reading the two names in her heart, Giulia looked up at the Demon King who was still absent-mindedly eating the cookie.

She had almost wiped out the entire plate of cookies by herself.

"Tifa, what?"

Fuono confirmed softly.

"Little Fa, Little Fa, Little Fa, Luna remembers."

Iluna clasped her hands together and repeated, then drank the remaining liquid in the cup in one gulp, stood up and stretched, "Okay, then if there is nothing else to do, Luna should go practice bow and arrow first."

As she spoke, she got up and planned to take action, and Fuonuo not only looked up:

"Well, can I come too?"

"Does Xiao Nuo want to learn bow and arrow too?" Iluna turned her head curiously, and said with a smile after the other party nodded nervously, "I can teach you the trick."

"really?"

Fuono stood up with a "swish".

"Yeah." Iluna nodded slightly, waving her hands and urged, "Hurry up."

Signaling herself to take a step first, Fuono trotted forward two steps to catch up with Iluna who was not far away, and the two headed towards the same destination together.

Looking at the figures of the two people who were gradually going away, Giulia pondered for a while, and did not turn her head, until the figures of the two people completely disappeared from the line of sight before softly saying:

"Infiltrate the adventurers first, and then act according to circumstances——Actually, that's what you planned from the beginning, right?"

Shilpasha sipped the already slightly cold black tea, but did not answer.And Giulia didn't need this answer, and continued to state:

"The words Yu Wai added were to test her?"

——Get rid of the brave man.This is really not like the usual suggestion that Shirpasha would make. After all, although she always seems to be on a whim, it is rare for her to be so rash on really important things.

Moreover, if the matter could be resolved so simply, the history of the demon king's crusade would not repeat itself again and again.

The brave man is a chosen one with special abilities, that rumor; the suspected dual personality, Fuono who came here alone, is there any connection between the two?

——The answer, at least for now, is still uncertain.

"As expected of Hagi, she is so sharp." Putting down the teacup in her hand, Shirpasha admitted frankly, and then added, "But I'm not just here to test her."

Giulia's fingers hanging by her side trembled unconsciously, and her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably for a moment. On the surface, she continued to pretend to be calm and wryly smiled:

"Even me and Luna have a share?"

"After all, since we have this opportunity, we should make good use of it." Looking up at the alien species sandwiched in a piece of dark green, with most of the few remaining leaves already withered and yellow, Shirpasha smiled softly, meaning Inexplicably, "It's better than doing nothing and regretting in the future."

I don't want to regret it, so I can only do my best to grasp the present. This is Shirpasha's code of conduct.

Giulia suddenly felt that the bitter taste of the tea left in her mouth became very clear, she turned her head to look at Shirpasha, and suddenly met those dark night-like eyes, she tried her best to squeeze out a smile, "I understand."

Giulia understands Shirpasha's position, Shirpasha's helplessness, Shirpasha's innocence, and Shirpasha's tenderness, so she becomes Giulia.

——So, Giulia will not betray Shilpasha.

This is her unspoken promise.

Perhaps even firm vows and promises will appear fragile and meaningless in this grand and unpredictable world, but this is her most sincere thought at this moment.

——So, let time tell.

Let her confirm for herself how long this belief can last.

The author has something to say:

~About the origin of the name Tifa~

A long time ago, when Giulia was not called Giulia, I once met a little black cat on the side of a small road that I often passed by.

Because she often came to feed, she became acquainted with the little black cat unconsciously, and became a friendly relationship between feeding and being fed.

One day, she wanted to name the little black cat on a whim.

So he thought hard for several days, rejected countless options and finally made a decision, "Let's call it Tifa."

It's just that the world is unpredictable, but in the end the name was not given to the little black cat, but to Shirpasha.