The Paladin Owns the Relic

173 – Knight of the Forest (3)

“…For now.”

I glanced at Duran. Sudden changes seemed rather unpleasant.

Duran’s breakthrough is to imitate the ‘incarnation of the world tree’ that resembles him.

I lifted his chained hand. Slowly. Very slowly

It is important to melt into her heart!

“Let’s change our daily life.”

“What changes?”

“Let’s start with things like self-development. sh*t. Lets think. If you don’t change first, the other person won’t change either.”

“……”

“You want to do your best before giving up. Is not it? Then what should I do first?”

“What should I… Do?”

“When a woman discovers an unknown charm in a person she thought was a male friend, she is attracted.”

Duran blinked.

“What is my charm that I… don’t know about?”

“You are good at fighting. Is not it?”

“I have the confidence not to lose to anyone.”

“Then, that is the main thing. It shows diligence. It’s self-discipline.”

“I do that every day.”

“Does the Queen know that?”

“……”

“The point is to appeal to the queen of the forest that you are doing. But don’t be blatant. It’s a subtle show. Let’s analyze her behavior patterns first.”

“Your Majesty spends most of his time in the garden…”

“You’re not going to be stuck there all day. Aren’t you doing your official duties?”

“Do it.”

“Then let’s search for that passing route.”

Duran wrinkled.

“Is this not stalking…”

“It’s love.”

“……”

. . .

The Forest Queen slowly passed through the garden. The Wind Guardian joined her side.

“Your Majesty. Is her body okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s not that hard to move her body.”

“It can be dangerous to move recklessly. Your majesty.”

“It’s okay that you’re worried. But I think we should do this. Because that’s the fastest way to reduce damage.”

The Wind Guardian whispered. Small whispers came in front of her as she sat on the rock.

Long-distance communication through spirits. The forest queen’s face darkened slightly.

“…The saplings of the fairy forest are also complete. I don’t know how she did it.”

“Holy Father chose us.”

“That’s right. But… I can’t hide my worries. He is fickle.”

“It’s okay. Your majesty. The Guardian of the Rock is advancing into the Fairy Forest to pick up the saplings himself. The last remaining barrier will soon be broken.”

“…Isn’t it?”

The forest queen turned her head. She heard whispers from elsewhere.

“Have you not captured Garnet yet?”

“Yes. More resistance than you think. The damage is also considerable. It’s a spirit that doesn’t die even if it dies… But it takes time to reorganize.”

“I thought one day would be enough…”

“I don’t know how they did it, but they’ve created a ‘fire’ that can counter us. I think there is a wizard who is better than I thought.”

“Who is that?”

“Perhaps it is a wizard called ‘Assortment’ in the Empire.”

“Assortment? I hear it for the first time.”

“My ears are clear when it comes to rumors. Your majesty. I know assortment is a word that means wizards who are said to be the best in the empire. One of them is over there.”

“…Uhm.”

The forest queen frowned. This one is also unexpected.

Garnet must perish. The main target was the humans in it. To be precise, to keep the ‘deal’.

I had to annihilate the entire expedition through a deal with ‘he’ who brought me the information. But since I couldn’t pick each one individually, I decided to kill them all.

They are humans after all.

I don’t feel any remorse even if I kill him.

The forest queen raised her head. Fairy forest and garnet. She sent troops to subdue them both at the same time.

The ancient forest was vast. The forces that had been dormant for hundreds or thousands of years were strong. Like an army of immortals, soldiers sprang up endlessly, and the number was ridiculously large.

If you count all the soldiers, hundreds of thousands beyond tens of thousands. Even though they sent 10,000 troops each with a light heart, the two were already in a state of destruction.

Although there was a restriction of the spirit that could only be active within the realm, that also did not pose any obstacle to the forest queen.

“…I will destroy everything and hold him in my arms.”

“Your Majesty will do as you wish.”

“That’s right…everything…”

The forest queen played with the tips of her withering hair.

Her body is straining. In addition to forcibly expanding her territory, she is making herself a vessel for ‘him’.

She did, but she felt the opposite.

The presence of ‘him’ is getting clearer day by day.

“As I wish…It will work…”

Coming.

That day.

The day she has been waiting for so long is coming.

“……”

…By the way.

“Duran?”

Duran, who was swinging his sword nicely from a distance, looked back.

“Did you call? Your majesty.”

“What are you doing now?”

“I was polishing radish.”

“Why are you doing that here?”

A wonderful line that seemed to have been prepared jumped out of his mouth.

“I was able to come this far because I focused on training. Sorry.”

It coolly wipes away sweat that is not there. The bright wooden muscles that could be seen even through the armor moved rapidly.

The Guardian murmured.

“Are you crazy?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“No. Just. Sorry. The words came out without a filter.”

The forest queen sighed. How can I…

Duran has gotten a little weird these days.

Haven’t you brought water yourself a while ago? There were times when I woke up in the morning with a sweet voice.

I don’t hate it. It’s not that I hate it…

“…It’s a bit burdensome.”

“?!”

Duran’s body stood still.

. . .

“Is it burdensome?”

“Everything is ruined because of you!”

“What is it because of me! You didn’t do it right!”

“You did everything you were told!”

After holding each other by the collar for a while, we put our heads together.

“Let’s start with the situation. If the other person feels burdened, it’s over.”

“…Is it over?”

“Don’t face the collapse of the world like that. Ruler.”

What I want is a piece of sh*t, not a depressed knight drowning in a broken heart.

I raised Duran up.

“What do you think I should do?”

“Oh, we need to clear up the misunderstanding! About my heart…!”

“You must be very uncomfortable?”

“…….”

“Think. Duran. Please. Don’t just follow what I tell you to do, but transform slightly.”

“But if I just listen to you…”

“No, you idiot! Even if you are in a relationship, will you just listen to me and live? It’s not!”

I growled.

“If you feel uncomfortable with someone. You feel a bit burdened.”

“I never…”

“You can imagine! Fool! That head isn’t just for fighting!”

“……”

“Then what would you like him to do?”

“…The person who made me uncomfortable…”

Duran looked at me.

“So, honestly…”

“Don’t mind whether the answer is correct or not, just spit it out.”

“I hope it doesn’t go unnoticed…but…”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yes. Cub under. Look! Because you do it too! He’s not that ignorant!”

I put my arm around Duran. I drew a picture on the floor.

“It’s a situation where the other person is uncomfortable with you. With a burden Then, no matter what you do here, it’s a minus. Because? Because you’ve already been filmed.”

“…Doesn’t that mean it’s ruined?”

“So here we have to do as you say.”

“Don’t get into His Majesty’s eyes?”

“Exactly! You’ve been conspicuous for a while, and now you’re disappearing from her presence. The first day may be a bit chilly. But for two days, I’ll be worried. After three days, you will secretly be curious about something.”

“…Is it real?”

“Right! Because it’s real! A change came to the other person who always did the same thing. But the guy who was doing the wrong thing suddenly starts to disappear right in front of my eyes.”

“…That makes me curious.”

“Isn’t it? Let me intrigue you first. Because all crushes start with curiosity. Then what if she comes to you first? Then there is only one thing for you to do.”

“What can I do?”

I grinned.

“Show me that you are ‘you’ and not ‘Duran’.”

“How to…”

“Since you’ve thought this far, you should do it next.”

The sincerity always works.

From my experience so far, I realized. This kid can’t do exactly what I tell him to do.

In that case, it’s best to just go naturally.

“Don’t be conscious of the name Duran. There’s only one thing I can do for you. In important moments, forget everything I said.”

“……”

“As we have been doing. But unlike what I’ve been doing. Do it.”

“I don’t know…”

“Don’t you know? Originally, love is difficult.”

“Didn’t you say you had no dating experience?”

“I did it hundreds of times in my brain.”

“……”

. . .

The forest queen awoke. Dark night. The garden, where the sun did not shine, was very quiet.

It is quiet. The middle of the night when even the noisy flowers fell asleep.

The Queen of the Forest turned her body over. She was sleepy, but for some reason she couldn’t sleep anymore.

I was anxious.

I dreamed of the future, but I didn’t know if it would come true.

“……”

The half-raised body leaned against the tree. I closed my eyes and slowly opened them.

My throat was dry. The forest queen slowly made her way to the garden lake. She kissed hers in the clear water and drank.

“…Um.”

It’s delicious.

The spirit had no particular appetite. Just a handful of water was enough.

A life without stimulation. Most of the spirits were used to it. But the Queen was different.

“……”

She couldn’t forget her memories of her once and sometimes chewed her food. She looked back on her time with ‘Duran’ and listened to her stories outside.

But there wasn’t the same stimulation. Even if I did the same thing over and over again, it wasn’t as enjoyable as before.

That’s…

It’s probably because it’s important to spend time with ‘someone’.

The Queen sighed. Then, suddenly, I noticed that Duran hadn’t been seen for a while.

She’s been doing her weird stuff for a while, and now she’s completely invisible. He wouldn’t have gone far…

Where did you go?

It was burdensome for a while, but when I was invisible, I became slightly curious. It wasn’t something the pusher would do, but the queen moved slowly in search of him.

Anyway, he is also his subordinate. It’s like a creature that you combed with your own hands.

The sequence was clear. The rank covered the guilt of ‘pushing it out’. Following her feeling that she was just curious, she sought him out late at night.

“…Ah.”

And there.

I found him on a high hill looking up at the moonlight.

Upright with your back straight. Just looking at the sky without a handful of distractions.

“…Duran?”

Seeing that, the queen called him without realizing it. The infinitely confident appearance reminded her of old nostalgia.

However, that hope soon faded. After all, that’s just the same in appearance.

It can’t be a real ‘Duran’. Therefore…

“…Your Majesty.”

So… Huh?

“It’s late at night.”

The Queen blinked her eyes. She peeked at the small flower in Duran’s hand.

A spirit flower that is said to be hard to find even in the ancient forest. The traces of an old favorite for a while were on his hand.

Evening primrose.

It is a flower that is more difficult to find now that the management of the forest has been forced to expand its territory.

“…Where is that…”

“Ah. This…”

Duran put down the flower. Putting it on the floor, he took a step back.

Subtle distance. It is an ambiguity that is neither detached nor attached.

…Don’t you care that I said it was burdensome?

The queen blinked her eyes. She lifted the evening primrose.

“…Did you bring it for me?”

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It’s something he wouldn’t have done normally. Because I was the one who tried to protect the side rather than picking flowers.

But for some reason, he was different today. It was different from the erratic he had been before.

Natural though.

A dignified attitude somewhere.

“Your Majesty.”

He neither affirmed nor denied his question.

With his back to the moon, he only put short words into his mouth.

“It is late at night. Let’s go back to the garden.”

“…Pol.”

The queen laughed involuntarily. Bitter at the same time

Having the face of Duran, it’s completely uncharacteristic of Duran.

The body was smirking. He was capricious and gave up quickly. She had to frown when she didn’t get her way.

The reason why she couldn’t regard Duran in front of her as ‘him’ was also a big difference in personality. Even if they look alike, if the essence inside them is different, they are different people in the end.

The queen fiddled with the flowers.

“…Duran.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you act like that?”

“……”

Duran averted his gaze. He took a deep breath, and stammered out the words.

A naive and upright person, a person who snaps when he speaks of his true intentions.

Because it’s consistent. A spirit that had been by her side for hundreds of years without a single hint of dislike.

He said.

Totally unexpected words.

“To Your Majesty…”

“To me?”

“I wanted to look good.”

The queen blinked her eyes. She looked down quietly at her flowers again.

“…Why?”

“Your Majesty…Your Majesty…”

The knight of the forest swallowed the back talk. Silence ensued. The unfinished words were scattered into the air.

The queen was also embarrassed for some reason and left her seat quietly.

I walked. On the way back, she was alone. But in her hand was an evening primrose.

What was the back story? The Queen was curious, but she didn’t bother asking.

“…….”

Evening primroses shone brilliantly in the moonlight. The queen quietly put her flower in her ear.