What should I do if the hero is resurrected in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia?

Chapter 125 The Heart of Lead (Part 2)
"Here, give it a try, but be careful, it'll burn you."

The wild boar meat sizzled over the campfire, dripping fat and sparking a few sparks. By the time the meat was fully roasted, night had fallen, and the original smells of blood and filth in the forest had been cleansed, leaving only the aroma of meat and a faint smoky scent.

Milad cut off a small piece of still-steaming pork tenderloin and handed it to Orpheus.

She took the piece of meat, her fingertips not flinching as they touched the scalding oil. Following Mirad's example, she blew on it with practiced ease, then carefully took a bite and chewed it slowly.

"How does it taste?" Mirad asked expectantly.

"It tastes pretty bad. There's way too much seasoning..."

Orpheus puffed out his cheeks, chewing for a long time without swallowing the meat in his mouth.

This piece of meat comes from a house-sized wild boar... The muscle fibers are so thick that they require force to tear, and every chew feels like a struggle. You can clearly feel the tough connective tissue between the muscle bundles with your teeth.

Mirand had tasted a small piece beforehand and knew that the girl's evaluation was completely objective and devoid of any extraneous emotion. Hoping for the best, he handed it to the girl, and unsurprisingly, received the same evaluation.

"And it didn't mask the gamey smell, and the meat was tough. But that's not your fault, it's the meat itself. You probably deliberately chose this wild boar, which is dominant in the woodlands, as your prey, without considering the taste. Why?"

After swallowing the first bite of meat with difficulty, Orpheus took the second bite.

Mirad thought for a moment and said, "Hmm... because I want to show off in front of you?"

The firelight illuminated Orpheus's face. Because of the effort he was putting into chewing, his usually cold and aloof face was now throbbing vividly, revealing a touch of childlike cuteness.

“Performance,” she repeated vaguely until she finally swallowed her second bite of meat, “If you mean strength… I knew how powerful you were when we were fighting the Crown Prince, so there was no need for you to show off. This doesn’t make sense.”

As she spoke, she had already begun chewing her third bite of roasted meat... It seems this girl is truly lacking in magic, to the point that she's so hungry that she's swallowing this unpalatable food whole.

The flickering firelight cast dappled light and shadow on Orpheus's face, making her oily lips shimmer even more... she looked quite alluring.

Unconsciously swallowing, Mirad forced himself to focus on the meat that was roasting, lest it burn into a black lump of charcoal.

"That's different."

Mirad gently poked at the campfire with his rock stick, and sparks rose up like fireflies.

His voice sounded unusually gentle amidst the crackling fire, "On the battlefield, displaying strength is for victory and survival. But today, this wild boar..."

A spark suddenly burst from the campfire, illuminating his reddened earlobes.

Mirad chose this enormous boar to show Orpheus that he could hunt the fiercest prey for her... Looking back now, this idea was full of childish whimsy and immaturity, his mind only focused on the biggest and most eye-catching, without considering whether it was really appropriate.

"Just consider today's wild boar... as me showing you goodwill."

After hesitating for a long time, Mirand still couldn't bring himself to say that naive reason: "If you can't accept pity and compassion, can't simple kindness do?"

"It still doesn't make sense. But if this is your final answer, I won't delve into it."

Orpheus stopped tearing at the meat and looked intently at him. The firelight flickered in her pale eyes, like fishing lights suddenly appearing on a lake on a winter night. "Next time, just bring a wild duck."

Even though the first dinner experience was so bad, she was still willing to have a second chance with him?
According to Luo Ran's theory, this should be close to accepting oneself... right?

A surge of heat welled up within Mirad's chest. He had never before found it so difficult to express his feelings. As the crown prince facing monsters on the battlefield, he had never flinched, but facing the girl before him, even the simplest words, "I like you," seemed like an unbearable weight.

"actually, I……"

His fingers intertwined and slowly tightened. For a moment, Mirad even considered kneading the slime gel to relieve the growing anxiety in his heart, but unfortunately, he had put it in a safe.

"That gray-haired guy, he wasn't with you today?"

Ophie's sudden question startled Mirad, who then realized she was referring to Loran.

"As for Luo Gen... she has important matters to attend to in the workshop today."

“She’s too weak. She can’t survive the upcoming battle for the crown prince. I don’t see any reason why you must bring her along… Are you also fond of her body?” The words Mirad was about to say were abruptly cut off by Ophie’s unprepared question.

"…What?"

He wondered if he had misheard.

“I asked,” Ophie’s tone remained calm, devoid of any emotion, as she tore off a strip of meat and put it in her mouth to chew, “do you also like her body?”

Is it jealousy? Or perhaps resentment?
Mirad tried to discern some emotion in those clear eyes, but he failed. Those pupils, like pure white lilies, held only a pure curiosity… To Orpheus, it might have seemed like a perfectly ordinary question, something as mundane as asking what one ate that day.

He was somewhat unsure how to answer the question.

To say "yes" would undoubtedly be to admit to Orpheus that he is a frivolous person who only lusts after girls' bodies.

Saying "no" would be to belittle Luo Gen's charm. She was his best friend; how could he be so disrespectful?
More importantly... Mirad believed he had never looked at Loran in that way. In his heart, Loran was Loran, a close friend he could entrust his back to, and also a half-sister.

Her gender and her body were not taken into consideration.

Mirad asked, puzzled, "Why do you ask that?"

"……Oh."

Orpheus stared at his confused face for a long time, even forgetting to chew the meat in her mouth. "Let me put it another way. Is she very important to you?"

"Ah."

The answer was unquestionable, and Mirad answered without hesitation.

"Then don't let her go to the battlefield. You're so much stronger than her, she should obey you without question. Because only the strong survive on the battlefield. I was one of the few survivors in Petro, not because I was lucky, nor because I was smart enough to build a magic gun. It was simply because I was strong."

Hearing her reasoning, Mirad chuckled. The idea that the strong should command the weak—a concept akin to the survival of the fittest—was, in essence, one of the few times she showed concern for those around her.

“I can’t impose my will on her, even if it is the logical choice. But sometimes things don’t really follow logic.”

Mirand's voice was gentle yet firm; he shook his head.
"After all, you see, whether it's the Dragon Crown Prince or Baphomet, Loran played a very important role. Without those two bullets, I don't know how long my battle with the Dragon Crown Prince would have lasted. Your immortality, which absorbs the surrounding magic, would have prevented you from recovering... and that Baphomet would have had a chance to escape, increasing the number of victims several times over."

His gaze passed over the campfire, as if he could see in it the gray-haired girl carrying the magic gun, laughing carefree and always able to come up with a silly joke to make him laugh.

"...There isn't just one definition of strength. Luo Gen's strength lies in her ability to wait for the most unlikely moment, find the only rift that can decide the outcome, and then, without hesitation, bet everything on that bullet. I think partners who can fight alongside me and trust each other are more important than soldiers who obey my orders."

"partner."

Orpheus repeated the word in a low voice.

Mirad knew that she had grown up in the palace and had never been exposed to the outside world.

The first time she stepped out of the palace, what she witnessed was a bloody and cruel slaughterhouse during a demonic siege. Everyone was struggling to survive, fighting for the few resources available... It's not surprising that she developed this perspective.

Mirad's urge to confess his feelings gradually faded.

Luo Gen's plans and strategies were ultimately designed for ordinary girls. They would likely be completely useless against the princess before him.

Perhaps only time will tell.

Time will allow her to understand the world again, to realize that relationships between people are not just about taking and being taken, and to slowly, slowly, allow her long-frozen heart to relearn how to feel warmth and how to trust others.

“As for wild ducks…” Mirad suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, “If you want to eat them, I know a place. The wild ducks there are very plump and tender.”

Orpheus slowed his chewing and then nodded slightly.

"Take me there next time."

(End of this chapter)