Negai o Kanaete Moraou to Akuma o Shōkan Shitakedo, Kawaikattanode Kekkonshimashita ~ Akuma no Nīdzu

“Shaaa!!”

The horrible shriek of a monster echoed throughout the forest.

Its torso was ripped apart, and his upper and lower body hit the ground separately.

“T-thank you Helvi.”

“Hmph, this much is no problem at all.”

Helvi stepped in front of Theo to protect him from the monster that suddenly attacked. She activated her magic in a split second, and the goblin was cut in half.

To Helvi, it was an enemy she could kill by casually waving her arm, but Theo could have been hit by this surprise attack.

Helvi did not want a single wound on Theo’s body, and she was much more watchful of her surroundings than usual.

“Still, there are a lot of monsters.”

“Yes, it’s usually not so bad…”

The place where Theo usually picked medicinal herbs normally had a low monster encounter rate.

There were places where more medicinal herbs would grow, but they were more dangerous.

But that day, there were a lot of monsters.

Helvi slayed any monster that she found within her range before it could appear before them, but they were still encountering too many.

They did not know the reason… But in a way, Helvi herself was the reason.

Helvi easily defeated the legendary Chimera. The mere existence of this monster was destroying the ecosystem of this whole area.

Humans knew that the Chimera would not attack them if they did not attack first, and let it be, but other monsters were not as smart, and were left with two choices, run or fight.

The ones that fought it were completely crushed, and the ones that ran, suddenly came back when the Chimera was defeated.

It was for this reason that the forest was full of monsters, but it was only temporary, and a few days later the forest returned to normal.

“Are you done collecting medicinal herbs Theo?”

“Just a little more.”

“Alright. It takes more time than I expected.”

“Since you’re here, we should have just gone to a place with more herbs… Sorry.”

Theo headed to same place he always did without giving it much thought, but with such a powerful escort by his side, he assumed he would have been fine even somewhere with somewhat stronger monsters.

He felt bad for doing things in such an inefficient manner, by walking all over searching for medicinal herbs, as he felt he was needlessly making Helvi tired.

“What? It is nothing to apologize about. I have never done something like picking medicinal herbs, so it feels fresh and fun. Also…”

“Ah..”

Helvi hugged Theo from behind, and placed her head on his shoulder.

Their faces were close enough to just barely not be touching.

“No one can see us here… We can fool around without worrying about others watching.”

“H-helvi, but the monsters…”

“No problem, with that last one gone, there are no more monsters around us. I say so, so you can be sure of it.”

Helvi could not hold back, after talking to Fiore and the other receptionists about what happened the previous night.

“Theo, turn this way… I can’t… Kiss.”

For the next dozens of minutes, they forgot about the quest and focused completely on kissing.

Theo collected the medicinal herbs quicker than usual, but he ended up finishing later.

(Uu, I kissed Helvi again…! And then it got late before I knew it… But it felt good…)

(Ahh, so great… Theo’s lips are sweeter than any food and drink I have tasted… Once we get home, I want to taste them one more time…!)

But neither had any regrets.

◇ ◇ ◇

“We haven’t been to Nemophila in a while.”

Said a woman, as she stood on top of a hill overlooking the town.

They were still far, but they would reach it by night.

“A year perhaps?”

The woman next to her nostalgically looked at the town below.

“I wonder how he’s doing.”

“I hope he’s gotten a little stronger.”

The two women thought about the boy that once formed a party with them.

They dissolved it because the difference in their power was too big, and they could not take him with them on more difficult quests, but it was not easy saying goodbye.

“Just wait Theo.”

“We’re coming to see you.”

The two walked towards Nemophila, to meet Theo once again.