Frilian: This Demon Isn't So Cold

The message spread very quickly.

The next day, almost the entire city of Tiyua learned that the city's strongest mage and his party were about to leave.

Almost no one was happy about it.

The lord took a drag of his cigarette and stood on the city wall, overlooking the open fields outside.

"You've probably heard the news, right? Is there any way to resolve this?"

When Cybert heard the lord's question, his lips twitched. He really regretted agreeing to the lord's request to chat with Carlos for a bit. Now, the lord always brought him along when they talked about these kinds of things, and he couldn't refuse!

Although the trade routes in the north are dangerous, the profits are also high!

Good fortune and misfortune are intertwined; as the owner of the merchant guild, he couldn't afford to offend the local lord.

"I think we can start with Sylvia," Seibert said, taking a deep breath and revealing the idea he had just come up with. "Her father is a businessman under my management; perhaps we can play the emotional card."

"Playing the emotional card, huh..." The lord took a deep drag, his last bit of spice gone. He spat out the cigarette butt and stomped out the embers. "Then it's up to you. How confident are you?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but Lord Carlos has turned down many introductions this year, and he's the only woman in the area who can get close to him." Sebert didn't say it explicitly, but his words implied that there was still some hope.

"You don't think I'd hold a grudge against you over something like this, do you? Even if it doesn't work out, it's not a big deal." The lord suddenly laughed and patted Cybert on the shoulder. "Now we have new [barrier magic] here to defend against the demons, the soldiers' quality is much higher than before, and the level of the mages we've trained is now up to standard. They'll soon be able to launch long-range precision attacks, and the monsters roaming around are being cleared out regularly."

"Even if they really leave, we can defend this land ourselves!" the lord said resolutely.

"So, don't put so much pressure on yourself."

He patted Cybert on the shoulder again and left.

Cybert gave a wry smile. That's what he said, but something is better than nothing, so he still had to do his best.

With a helpless sigh, he ordered his men to summon Sylvia's father.

……

"What? You want me to do something like this?" Hearing her father's words, Sylvia blushed. "What do you take me for?!"

"I said from the beginning that this is not mandatory, and it is up to you the most important thing." The father looked at his daughter's rosy cheeks. "Xixi, I know you have grown up and don't want to listen to my nagging anymore, so I don't mean to stop you from going out and making your own way. But if you can seize this opportunity, you should try your best to do so."

"Waaah—"

"I see how excited you are every day when you come home. There probably wasn't anyone you liked in the city before, right?"

"Okay! I know! I'll go tell them!" Sylvia ran to her room, pounced on the bed, and buried her face in the pillow.

"An excuse handed to me like this, how annoying."

She tossed and turned in bed, finally gazing at the familiar ceiling.

Sylvia had originally planned to experience some things on the road before confessing her feelings to Carlos. She was determined to make the most of every opportunity. Even if he was a blockhead, she could eventually develop feelings for him by spending time with him. The best outcome would be for him to confess to her...

For some unknown reason, Sylvia buried her face in the pillow again.

But now, do I really have a chance?

Thinking of Carlos's gentle face that was so kind to everyone, Sylvia felt a pang of distress.

Forget it, I already have a ready-made excuse. If it doesn't work out, I have a way out. What am I afraid of?

Sylvia is a woman of action, and by the time she had time to think it over again, she was already standing in front of Carlos.

"What's wrong?" Carlos, who was secretly buying travel supplies, reminded Sylvia, who was panting as she ran up to him. "You should work on your physical fitness."

"Mind your own business!" Sylvia glared at him, then lowered her voice, "I have something very important to tell you."

"Something important? At this time?" Carlos tilted his head, thinking of his less-than-pleasant past experiences.

When he first came into this world, he lived in a human village, where a woman said the same thing to him.

What happened next was incredibly awkward, the kind of thing Carlos tried his best not to think about.

"It shouldn't be... a confession, right?" he asked casually.

Then Carlos saw Sylvia's originally healthy face quickly turn red, and the girl grabbed his hand and ran out of the city, ignoring all the stares from others along the way.

Once there were no onlookers left, Carlos gently grasped Sylvia's hand, signaling her that she could stop.

The two stood in the deserted forest, a gentle breeze blowing, but Sylvia did not turn to look at him, maintaining her forward posture.

"Is...is that okay?"

After a long while, the girl's voice, barely audible, finally drifted over. If Carlos hadn't been listening intently, he might have mistaken it for the sound of the wind and missed it.

This is troublesome.

Anyone who has ever confessed their feelings knows that if the confession fails, even if you say "Let's just be friends," it's impossible for the two of you to go back to the way things were before.

This is what troubles Carlos.

They'll be traveling together afterward, and if I'm not careful now, it could lead to disaster and cause the group to fall apart.

"Are you really sure? Maybe you don't actually have those kinds of feelings for me?" Carlos replied, trying to keep his tone calm.

"I'm absolutely certain, absolutely certain!" Sylvia said without turning around, her voice soft yet firm. "Didn't you say yesterday that you hoped my future daughter would be a sweet and caring person? If you didn't want a partner, you wouldn't have said something like that, would you?"

You remember it so clearly...

Carlos was even more distressed.

I should have known better than to say those things.

"I want to know if I can become that kind of person. After all, I joined Master's group because I wanted to travel with you. You should have noticed that, right?"

Sylvia continued talking to herself, making no attempt to look back at Carlos's reaction; only the trembling in her arm reflected the girl's emotions.

—Their hands were still clasped.

"How can you think any girl wouldn't like you? Whether it's your abilities, personality, or looks, every single one of you is attractive to girls!"

"Volame doesn't like me, and neither does Celia..." Carlos quietly cited two counterexamples.

"I don't care about them! I only care about myself!" Sylvia's voice echoed through the forest. She didn't even notice that Carlos had already set up a spell nearby to block their sight, sound, and detection.

"I only came to talk to you because of what Dad said. Everyone wants you to stay here, but I was just thinking, 'Ah, finally I have an excuse to confess to you.' But when it actually happened, I couldn't control myself at all. I didn't want it to turn out like this! There were ways later that would have had a higher success rate! Why did it turn out like this?!"

Sylvia still didn't turn around, but her voice was already tinged with sobs.

"Why was I so foolish! Why were you so kind to me! Why did you fulfill my dream! If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be so sad right now!"

After Carlos's two replies, she already knew she would be rejected; such things are obvious even without being explicitly stated.

"Sylvia."

"Don't talk to me!"

"Sylvia!" Carlos emphasized, "Please don't try to avoid the question. Look at me and say it again, okay?"

"I didn't run away!"

The girl turned around abruptly, but didn't let go of his hand. Carlos saw that her once bright eyes were now bloodshot, and she looked extremely aggrieved.

Sylvia's lips parted slightly, as she was about to continue expressing her feelings and grievances, but she froze after seeing Carlos's appearance.

Because the person in front of me is not the one I usually remember.

"you……"

Two menacing horns were prominently displayed on Carlos's head.