Carrying the sleeping girl in my arms I start walking back to the tent where I left Arana, or at least that's what I hope I'm doing... I probably should have realized this sooner, but even if the 'whispers of the forest' can guide me to a place where a murder is taking place, that doesn't mean that they will also guide me back to where I was before, still, all I have to do is go back the way I came, that cannot be such a difficult thing to do, probably...

...

Nevermind, I have no idea where I'm going, I think I've already walked past this fallen tree four times, I need help!

"Excuse me mister pine tree, would you happen to know where my friend is?"

It's not answering, I guess it doesn't work that way...

Well, even if I cannot find my way back, I'm sure that Arana will be able to find me, so I might as well stay in one place and wait for her, she'll probably be waking up soon.

I'll just sit on the fallen tree and read a book, I have not had a lot of chances to read these past few days, I'll place the girl sitting next to me, it shouldn't take much longer for her to wake up either.

...

To my surprise, it seems like the forest is actually a good place to read, the silence despite being out in the open is rather relaxing. But I got to a part of this novel that seems strange, the bad guy was making a very long evil speech until the protagonist interrupted him by impaling him with a spear while saying 'get to the point', but how can he get to the point if you kill him? ... Oh, wait! I get it, it's supposed to be a pun!

"Hahahaha"

"Eeeeeeeek!!!"

Eh? Oh! The girl just woke up, what are the odds of her waking up just when I was laughing? Now she seems to be completely terrified, is my laugh really that creepy?

"I was just laughing at the book! I'm not..."

"Stay away!"

She tries to run away, but being tied up she ends up tripping and falling to the ground.

"Are you alright?"

"Stay away! stay away!"

She's crying and yelling like crazy, it doesn't seem like she's listening to me at all... I probably should just wait until she calms down a little.

...

After a bit of waiting her sobs finally start to subside.

"Will you listen to me now?"

"What are you planning to do with me?"

"I'm not planning anything! I just saw those guys trying to kill you so I went there to help!"

"Then why did you tie me up!?"

"Because you tried killing yourself earlier! I cannot risk letting you do something like that again!"

"You are lying... the way you look at me... is the same way a predator looks at its prey"

If she words it like that people may think that I'm planning to do something indecent...

"I cannot change my eyes... look, just bear with this for a while and I promise that I'll let you go as soon as we reach a town"

She stops to think for a moment, and then she seems to decide to stop trying to fight back.

"It's not like I have a choice, do I? Fine, let's go..."

"..."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Eh, I'm actually waiting for a friend, we'll leave after she arrives"

I don't want to admit that I got lost...

"Waiting for a friend? In this place?"

"We agreed to met here"

"You agreed to met in the middle of nowhere in a forest?"

Uh, I need to change the topic.

"So anyway, are you really a princess? What kingdom are you from?"

"I will not reveal any information to you"

"I don't think either of those things should be a secret..."

"..."

Now that she's calmer, she's acting rather defiant, I suppose that this is how a proud princess is expected to act when kidnapped, not that I kidnapped her.

"Anyway... my name is Luna, would you mind telling me yours?"

"I will not reveal any information to you"

"You won't even tell me your name!?"

It seems like winning her over might be more difficult than I thought...

---

 

"You really do not waste any time, do you? It's not even been a week since you became a demon lord and you've already kidnapped a princess"

"I did not kidnap her!"

"Then why is she tied up and why does it look like she has been crying?"

"I only tied her up for her own safety"

"I see, so you are the type of villain that takes away the freedom of people 'for their own good'"

"I'm not a villain of any type!"

As expected, it didn't take Arana long to find us, I wonder how she does it, and of course, as soon as she arrived she started making fun of me.

"That hat... "

But the princess in question seems to be more interested in Arana's hat.

"That's a witch's hat, isn't it? Why are you wearing that?"

"A witch? What's that?"

Is there anything special about that hat? Arana herself doesn't seem to know.

"I don't know what a witch is either..."

"It's a legend that only a few have heard... a witch is a creature that is both a human and a demon, they are able to look into the hearts of people, and whenever they appear they always bring chaos and misfortune"

"Well, that certainly does sound like Arana..."

Still, that legend is probably not true, humans are animals, so no one can be both a human and a demon.

"Ufufu, that's right, with Luna's help I shall bring chaos to the entire world! Now let me take a look at your heart!"

"Nooo!!!"

Arana is approaching the princess while making some creepy gestures with her hands.

"Ara! Stop joking around! You are scaring her even more!"

"Haha, you should learn to have fun every once in a while"

I don't think this is a good time to 'have fun'... but I'm still curious about one thing.

"And you think that Arana one of those 'witches' because of the hat she's wearing? Is there anything special about it?"

"A witch is supposed to be always wearing a pointy hat just like that one"

Is that so? Now that she mentions it, Arana never takes her hat off, not even when she sleeps, I wonder if she's actually bald on the top of her head?

"Luna... did you think something weird about me just now?"

Huh? Can she really look into my heart? Or am I just that easy to read?

"I was just wondering... Ara, could it be that you cannot take off that hat?"

"Eh!? Of course I can! I just don't want to!"

Why is she getting so worked up over this? This is suspicious.

"Then why don't you take off your hat right now?"

"What!? Why do you want me to take it off?"

"I see, so you really are bald at the top..."

"No, I'm not... hey! Why don't you show the princess those imps of yours? If she sees how weak they are maybe she'll be less scared of you"

"Don't try to change the topic..."

She's trying her best to appear calm, but as I keep staring at her with eyes full of suspicion, she cannot help looking at the sides.

"Alright! You win! I'll take it off!"

She lifts her hat for less than a second and then quickly puts it back in place, but it's enough for me to check that the top of her head looks normal, that's a bit disappointing.

"There, happy now?"

"Sure..."

She's breathing heavily for some reason, huh, there's no way I can just let it go like that, I need to find out what this is all about!

As soon as it seems like she's dropped her guard, I swipe her hat with all the swiftness that my speed stat grants me, when she realizes what I've done, a look of despair appears on her face.

"Luna! Give me back my hat!"

With me holding it as high as I can, she cannot reach it, no matter how much she tries to jump.

"This is not funny! Give it back!"

The Arana I know would be able to think of a way to get her hat back, but instead, she just crouches on the ground and places her hands on top of her head with a pitiful look on her face.

Don't tell me...

Did I finally discover Arana's weakness!?

"Luna... please..."

She looks like she's about to cry... I've never seen Arana crying, now I feel like a bully.

"Uh... here"

As soon as she gets the hat back she puts it on in a rush, now she looks angry... and the princess looks confused at everything going on here.

"Forget what just happened! And never do that again!"

How am I supposed to know not to do it again if I forget it?

Not that I want to forget anyway, I should probably keep this new information in mind for the future...