Chapter 259: Gift

“This place is —”

It was a pitchblack space.

I didn’t have an inkling about what’s in here other than Halt-sama’s hand that I had been gripping.

“Wait a bit. ‘Lumiere’.”

Halt-sama chanted something.

It wasn’t elvish, nor was it the ancient language of runes.

Still, it was an incantation that I heard before.

If I wasn’t mistaken —

Our surroundings became bright while I was mulling about when I heard that spell.

The ceiling and walls were faintly glowing.

Ah, I remember now.

The Demon King —

A huge chair stood in front of us.

It was the throne of Demon King Velt.

In short, this was —

The demon king’s castle.

“No need to worry, Tina. There are no monsters nor demons here.”

I turned into battle mode, so Halt-sama reassured me.

The demon king had already been annihilated a century ago, and he didn’t have a successor yet.

Regardless, this place was smack in the middle of the Demon Continent, the place teeming with countless monsters.

Even if he told me not to worry, there’s no way I could let down my guard.

Indeed, there was no hint of a monster’s presence, but —

Eh?

W-What?

I-Is it true that there are no monsters here?

There were a few, but the number was extremely low.

At any rate, it seemed that not a single demon could be found inside this demon king’s castle.

I tried extending the scope of my magic detection to cover the entire demon continent, but I only managed to find just a smattering of monster herds.

“W-what on earth happened here!?”

The demon continent had a place where magical ley lines protrude out of the earth, flooding the atmosphere with mana.

It was for this reason that the monsters’ ratio of spontaneous generation was extremely high.

This demon castle stood right in the middle of it.

That’s why it was quite unimaginable that not a single monster could be found here.

Even if there was no demon king at present, this continent should still be teeming with monsters, originally.

“I go here regularly to destroy the monsters. I marked the throne room with a teleportation circle so I can go right away to defeat the demon king if it appears.”

He said that nonchalantly, but still, this is THE demon castle, you know?

Monsters that were generated here were usually A-rank…

And did he say that he would defeat the demon king should he appear?

On his own, to boot.

…Well, if it’s Halt-sama, defeating one or two demon kings was just a piece of cake.

Nevertheless, it’s still dangerous.

“Ah, sorry. I should’ve told you beforehand, Tina.”

Halt-sama noticed that I was angry when I pouted.

“It’s too dangerous to go alone.”

“Sorry. I thought I can just teleport away if the situation turned bad. It’s far scarier to put everyone in harm compared to that.”

Ugh…he’s really too arbitrary.

I understood Halt-sama’s reluctance to put us in danger.

We also didn’t want Halt-sama to be in danger.

“...Halt-sama, may I know why do you have to do this?”

Without the demon king, it would be rare for the monsters to attack the regions populated by people.

Of course, the intention to reduce the monster population regularly should be applauded.

It would greatly reduce the strength of the next demon king.

However, I couldn’t help but think that Halt-sama didn’t have to do that.

Even if those monsters could never stand a chance against him, we still couldn’t predict what might happen.

“I want to spend my life with Tina and the others, so I want to turn this world into a peaceful one. The demon king who threatens that peace is my enemy. But then, I don’t know whether my abilities will work on the demon king, so I wanted to reduce his strength, even if it’s only a little.”

So that was the reason, as expected of him.

“If possible…I want you to stop.”

“Sorry.”

No matter how I beg, he wouldn’t relent — that’s what his expression said.

“I understand. Well then, it’s okay even if it’s just me.”

“What?”

“I won’t tell you to bring the entire Ernol family with you. From now on, you have to take me along if you want to destroy the monsters here.”

“B-But, that’s —”

“Dangerous, is it? I am the strongest magical knight in this world, excluding you. I won’t fall behind, even if my opponent was the demon king.”

Just like how Halt-sama didn’t seem to have any intention of quitting defeating monsters, I also didn’t have any intention of letting him fight on his own.

This was the only thing that I would never concede to.

It’s impossible.

I didn’t want to think about it.

However, if something happened to Halt-sama, if he were to never return —

I never wished for such a day to come.

Even if the situation turned for the worst, and no hope was in sight, I wanted to be with Halt-sama until the end.

And so, I would never leave his side if he wanted to go somewhere dangerous.

“...Got it. I’ll take you with me from now on. Of course, I will definitely protect you, Tina.”

It seemed that he noticed I wouldn’t back down.

“Yes. It’s a promise, alright? You absolutely promise, right!?”

“Yes. I promise.”

Halt-sama was previously the Guardian Hero.

I was sure that he would become stronger because he had to protect me.

No matter what happened, he would definitely find a way to survive with me.

“By the way, did you take me all the way here to let me know that you’re preparing to defeat the demon king?”

Halt-sama had been doing everything to humor me today, starting last night.

I said a lot of things, so it seemed like we quarreled for a bit, but I don’t think he took me here for that reason.

“I got scolded by Tina for a bit, but…See, this is also one of the places in our memories, right?”

He was right.

This was the place where I had the saddest memory of Halt-sama.

However, as miserable as it was, this was also the place where I started to harbor hope for our future.

“So, let me say this again.”

This was the place where Haruto-sama bid me farewell.

It was right here,

I had been bawling my eyes out after Haruto-sama disappeared, and it was also here that he returned to me.

He did vanish again right after that, but he promised me that he would return one day.

And he did.

“I’m back, Tina.”

“Welcome back, Haruto-sama.”

So unfair.

I couldn’t stop the tears streaming down my face.

Halt-sama hugged me tightly.

I also embraced him with all I got.

I would never be separated from you again.

From here on, for the rest of my life —

I would forever stay by his side.

“I wanted to give this to Tina here.”

Halt-sama showed me a magical tool set with a red gemstone.

It was an object that Haruto-sama gave me when he left a hundred years ago.

It was also the magical tool that had been broken by Halt-sama’s magic.