The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Afterwards, Shien and Lucy stopped talking about the Hero, Goddess, or Demon Lord.

There are just too many mysteries there, so they're not going to make any progress even if they continued talking about them.

In that case, what the two of them needed to do still hasn't changed.

"I'll keep an ear out for any information in the divine realm for you. I'll make sure to let you know right away if there are any news."

That's what Lucy was planning to do.

And Shien had an even simpler job.

"No matter how it is, it's never wrong to get stronger."

It's those same old words. No matter what happens in the future, even if they did solve the mystery in the end, he won't have any way of dealing with it if he lacked the strength.

Thus, in order to be able to keep himself and those that he wants to protect safe no matter what happens in the future, Shien needs to increase his strength.

If one wants to be free to do as they like, then they must first have the strength for it.

And Shien does indeed want to be free to do as he liked.

Therefore, getting stronger is an absolute necessity.

Thankfully, although Shien didn't have a life hack, he did have quite a few cheats on the growth front.

Thus, getting stronger isn't something all that difficult for Shien.

After having made those decisions, Shien stopped talking about those matters. He just accepted the books that Lucy brought back and changed the subject to less important topics.

Lucy seemed to have realized Shien's thoughts as well. She knew that he didn't care to keep slamming his head against that topic anymore, so she also put it out of her mind, relaxed, and chatted along with Shien.

Of course, although they're technically chatting, it was more Shien talking and Lucy listening.

It all started with a question from Lucy.

"What kind of place are the other worlds anyways?"

The princess showed her curiosity like so.

Thus, Shien started talking up a storm.

"What? The other world also has princesses? And the princesses of the other world all like to bathe in rivers or lakes? That way someone might steal away their cloths? And the person who does it is her destined partner? Why?" (TN: Reference to the fairy tale of Altair and Vega)

"Ha? There's a princess named Snow White who does nothing but eat and sleep all day? She only eats apples day after day? And she goes to sleep as soon as she's eaten? And she refuses to get up without a man to kiss her? How is this princess so shameless!?"

"You… You said that this princess married seven dwarves rather than the prince on a Rainbow Cloud? What kind of magic item is this Rainbow Cloud though? Also, why was the princess able to marry seven people? I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Finally, the prince committed suicide out of despair by throwing himself into a river, but a goddess pitied him and didn't want to just see him die like that, so she turned the prince into a frog, so that he may freely live his whole life in the water? D-don't you think that the prince is kind of pitiful?"

Lucy listened to one supposed story of the other world after another with rapt attention.

Those stories basically completely broke Lucy's common sense, and she was utterly bewildered.

It's not like Lucy didn't suspect that Shien was just pulling her leg. After all, they had already established that the other world didn't have any magic, is touched by magic, and is unaffected by magic. It stands independent from magic, so logically, there shouldn't exist some magic item like a Rainbow Cloud or a goddess that turned a prince into a frog. But Shien looked abnormally serious and solemn as he recounted all that, as if those things really did happen. It was to the point where even Lucy was fooled to the point where she couldn't tell what was truth or lie.

In the end, Lucy could only listen to Shien's made up stories. However, as she listened, she actually started really getting into it.

It can't be helped. Although they were strange, Lucy has indeed never heard Shien's stories before.

To use something like internet slang, those stories are the type where "they're actually pretty interesting if you turn your brain off". They're fine if you're just listening to them for entertainment, but if you wanted to apply real analysis to them, you're likely to have a bad time.

Thus, Lucy just gave up on analyzing them. She just completely took Shien's tales as interesting stories to listen to, so she ended up quite entertained in the end.

Shien didn't hold back either.

"Actually, beside being the heir of an ancient legacy, I'm also a master of (tall) tales."

Shien tried to show that he's someone of status.

In that case, he won't be able to live up to his reputation if he didn't completely baffle the princess before him.

Thus for the two of them, one was happy to serve, and the other was happy to receive. All in all, both ended up quite happy with the whole thing.

The result of it is that even when the sun has almost set, Shien still hasn't left Lucy's room. This had reduced all the young noblemen watching and waiting outside nearly to tears.

"W-why are they in there so long?"

"How was that adventurer able to stay in her highness Lucilosti's room for so long?"

"W-with all this time, j-just what are the two of them doing?"

"I don't know. There's never been someone able to stay so long in the princess's room. Not even Leili of the Latrard family has taken this long."

"Damn it!"

"Get out of there already!"

Those young noblemen had their imagination run wild to the point where they're about to collectively collapse.

By now, even an idiot would know that those previous words about tasks or quests were complete lies.

There's no way that kind of stuff would require them to chat for this long.

With all the time they've spent together, they could practically have made a baby, right?

Thus, a number of the young nobles couldn't take it anymore, and several have even attempted to go up and knock on the door. However, they were intercepted by the female knights.

"Her highness had given us instructions. She won't be meeting anyone besides Mister Shien today."

"Sirs, it's best for you to go back now."

"Don't disturb her highness."

Those merciless words from those female knights became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

"Shien was it?"

"I'll remember you!"

"Just wait and see!"

A bunch of nobles left with insults on their lips.

It's only when the sun had nearly set, dusk had descended, and the sky was dyed crimson that Lucy finally reluctantly let Shien leave.

"No taking so long to see me next time, got it?"

Lucy warned Shien just before he left.

"Alright. Next time, I'll tell you the story of a man known as the Big Bad Wolf who wanted to eat up a cute little girl called Little Red Riding Hood. However, in the end, he discovered that Little Red Riding Hood was actually her grandmother in disguise, and the Big Bad Wolf instead got eaten up by Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother."

Shien happily agreed this time. It seems like he found a new hobby.

The two of the reluctantly bid each other goodbye. Anyone who didn't know better might really believe that he two of them had some kind of intimate relationship.

Then, Shien left the palace and headed to the western noble district.

…

"The sun's almost set. I wonder if Airi's still waiting there."

Shien took a look at the sky and finally remember that there was a seriously adorable little girl waiting for him. Thus, while carrying the books from the divine realm that he got form Lucy, he hurried over toward the direction of Lillet's Desserts Shop.

However, when Shien arrived, he was stunned by the scene before him.

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