Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

"How terrible, hero."

The witch grumbled with mixed feelings.

"Why don't you just avoid provoking that guy in the future? With such a perverted physique, who, who can withstand it?"

She couldn't help thinking again.

Fortunately, Ciel would not transform into a beast at any time, so she had some chance to rest. Otherwise, she would have become the first person in the history of Pan-Continent to be...

Miss Witch didn't dare to think of the remaining words.

That's really terrible.

She sighed, closed her eyes, and decided to enjoy this hard-earned leisure time.

However, the hero lingers.

"morning."

Along with a steady and powerful greeting, a tall and strong shadow appeared from behind the witch lady and covered her who was lying in the rocking chair.

The witch immediately became nervous, she was about to have PTSD! She hadn't done anything bad, but whenever the hero appeared next to her, the closer he was to her, the more panicked and guilty she became.

She had no idea what was going on.

But she hid her strange emotions well and responded to Charles:

"morning……"

After greeting each other, both of them fell into silence.

The weather deck has been retired, and the weather deck has become a frequent visitor to the sewer.

They both probably wanted to challenge each other to a duel, but they both found themselves in the awkward situation of having no cards to use.

Maybe it's because of the updated version?

Initially, in the past three years, before the game was officially launched, the test server focused on the friendship between the priest and the hero. After the priest went offline and the public beta was launched, the witch took over her duties and became the master and servant of the hero. When the game was launched, the priest and the witch merged into one, becoming Lacie, and she established a brand new relationship with the hero, Charles.

Engaged couple.

The witness was probably Lao Deng.

After seeing the ring on Laciel's ring finger, she teased her for a whole week, which made Laciel almost furious. If she hadn't given Laciel gold coins and a prototype of a contraceptive spell, Laciel would probably have fought with her to the death.

Even so, Lao Deng still dreams of becoming the witness at their future wedding.

Don't even think about it!

Engagement ≠ She must marry Charles!

Laceier thought so, but looked at Charles unconsciously.

"Come to think of it," she muttered to herself, "after this guy proposed successfully, why didn't he mention whether he wanted to get married or not? And when will the wedding be held?"

But she soon felt that she was too impatient.

It has only been half a month since Charles proposed to her. Moreover, during this half month, Charles has been staying in the White Tower, dealing with the impact of Diesel's abnormal incident. He was very busy and of course had no time to plan the wedding.

"well……"

Lacie sighed silently in her heart.

Well, with such a big mess happening in the Pan-Continent right now, who has the time to think about such trivial matters as whether to get married or not? What's more, Charles is a hero... Although he considers himself a fake hero, in the eyes of those who have been helped by him, he is undoubtedly a hero.

The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

I'm afraid that after resting here for a while, Charles will return to the White Tower or go to Conker, just like before, and die heroically for others.

And she was not going to persuade Charles to stop, stay with her, and live in seclusion with her in the Sea of ​​Forests.

On the contrary, if Charles really wanted to return to the White Tower or go to Conker, she would probably go with Charles, right?

She would pick up the staff instead of the wand again, she would stand behind Charles as a priest instead of a witch again, continue to heal the stupid hero and become his most reliable backup.

As for marriage...

"Why don't we wait until this unprecedented change in thousands of years is over and the situation is completely stable before we talk about it? By then, I'm afraid that by then, it will be time for Ciel, the false hero, to retire..."

Rachel thought.

At this time, Charles had already moved to her side, standing beside the armrest of the recliner, looking at Lacie's constantly changing expression in confusion.

"What are you thinking about?"

He couldn't help but ask.

Having her thoughts interrupted, Lacie subconsciously looked at Charles, and quickly felt inexplicably ashamed of the thought of getting married. After all, she considered herself a macho man, and how could a macho man be willing to put on a wedding dress and throw himself into the arms of another man in public?

So she quickly cleared her throat and said seriously:

"I'm not thinking about anything. I'm just thinking about what to eat later."

After all, after the battle last night, her physical strength had been completely exhausted.

So her answer is about as reasonable as a mechanic carrying a wrench.

Charles had no way to refute it, but based on his understanding of Rachel, he obviously thought that what Rachel was thinking just now was definitely not such a simple matter.

As for how to pry the information out of the stubborn witch lady...

He walked from the side of the recliner to the front, leaned over, put his hands on the armrests of the recliner, and circled the witch lady.

"?!"

Lacey was startled.

She instinctively dodged backwards, but there was no space behind her for her to hide, so she could only watch Charles' face gradually get bigger in her eyes, until it almost touched her nose.

She could feel the man's hot breath, which made her feel extremely unbearable, so she turned her head with a red face, not letting the man kiss her easily, and then stammered and asked:

"What...what are you doing! You're too close! Hurry up and crawl!"

And Charles was also a little embarrassed. Apparently, apart from being extremely brave in bed, he was still the slightly innocent and stupid hero in normal times.

However, when the stupid hero faced the even stupider witch, he gradually found a way to deal with it.

"I want to know," he looked into Rachel's eyes, "what you were thinking just now."

"Huh?" Lacier panicked, but still insisted, "What am I thinking...why do I have to tell you?"

Charles thought this was a good question, so he thought about it carefully before saying to Lacie:

"A long time ago, Uncle Elvis told me that if I ever like someone, I must treat her well and get to know her better..."

He paused, his expression serious, but with a hint of shyness that made Lacie's heart inexplicably moved, and said:

"I like you, so I want to know."

"!"

Laceel was completely devastated by this undisguised straight ball.

She wanted to be tough, but her body made a decision on its own. It was as if she had been completely tamed by Ciel and had become obedient. She answered in a self-destructive manner:

"Get married! I was just thinking about getting married!"

"Ah?" Charles was stunned. "Getting married?"

"What else could it be?" Lacey, who had given it her all, was no longer shy, and thus regained her former aggressiveness. "What! You don't want me to think about it! Just think about it! I'll piss you off to death!"

Of course, her words didn't sound like she was angry, but more like she was acting coquettishly.

So Charles wasn't angry at all.

He just thought Lacey was cute.

But speaking of it...

"Get married?" He looked at the blushing Lacier, thought for a moment, and nodded, "Okay."

"……what?"

This time it was Lacey's turn to be dumbfounded.

She almost thought she had heard it wrongly, and after hesitating for a long time, she asked tentatively:

"What did you say? Okay...ah? No, are you serious? You..."

She didn't finish her words.

She doesn't need to talk.

Charles understood what she was going to say. He knew what she was worried about, what she was hesitating about, and why she was asking questions.

So, he gave her the answer she wanted, he told her calmly -

"Long before you left the White Tower, I had discussed with Ms. Veridon that I wanted to hold a wedding with you, but I was too busy at that time. Envoys from various countries were constantly rushing to the White Tower. I had an obligation to tell them the whole story of Diesel's abnormal incident."

"When we're almost done, Diesel's matter will be at an end, and you'll have left the White Tower."

"I was wondering if you were not ready yet, so you secretly returned to the Sea of ​​Forest and hid yourself... That's why I came to the Sea of ​​Forest to find you. I want to know you..."

He stared into the dazed eyes of the witch lady, and asked with full expectation and seriousness:

"Are you...ready to marry me?"

"..."

Miss Witch felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

She bit her lip, trying not to let the corners of her mouth curl up, not wanting Charles to see her silly look of being moved to tears and laughter, and at the same time, she made a final symbolic protest:

"But...but it's too fast. We just..."

She was interrupted again.

"No, I've already made up my mind," the brave man declared to her in a tougher tone than ever before, "I've made up my mind since I found out that you're not actually dead."

He grasped her hand with the engagement ring on it and interlocked their fingers:

"I don't want to lose you again, Lacie, even if I have to use despicable means, even if I have to force you..."

"——I will also keep you by my side forever."

[To be continued]

-

4. Pretend to be drunk

Ciel didn't want to experience the feeling of losing someone dear to him again.

That feeling...is not really pleasant.

At first, he didn't feel any pain or sadness, he just felt confused and dazed.

Perhaps he was not ready yet, and he did not want to believe that Rachel had left, but the cruel truth was before him and he could not deceive himself.

After burying Rachel, he stood in front of her grave in a daze for a long time.

My body was so exhausted that I could hardly move at all, like a deflated balloon. All the strength that had filled this body in the past had been lost, and that hole, that broken hole...

At that time, Charles slowly clenched the front of his clothes, his face seemed to be covered with a layer of lingering fog, and his expression was dull.

He felt... there... in his chest... as if there was a hole, and all his energy and strength were sucked away by that hole.

He didn't know what to do next, and he didn't want to do anything. He felt a little sleepy. Was it because all the fatigue accumulated over the years had burst out at this moment? He suddenly wanted to take a nap.

"In the dream, will she come back to life?"

This sudden thought quickly expanded in the brave man's brain like a sponge that had absorbed enough water, swallowing up all other thoughts except it.

What followed was the cold reality, like someone pouring a bag of snow into your collar in winter.

The hero shuddered.

No, he suddenly realized, Lacie would not come back to life.

Then the last bit of strength and spirit remaining in his body flowed out of the hole in his chest, and finally he was just an empty shell.

After that, even he himself couldn't remember how he got back to Kangkel. He only remembered that when he returned to the camp, his teammates in the Brave Squad almost didn't recognize him.

Few people can associate a homeless man with untidy beard, messy hair and ragged clothes with a real hero.