It was morning when he woke up The sunlight opened his eyes with its comforting warmth.

It was chilly even inside the room, the blankets were not dense enough to protect him from the cold. But nevertheless, it was a nice sleep.

His huge body tilted the bed as he goes to the side, squeaking wood and rippling cloth.

Today was the second day of the princess visitation with the hero.

His schedule was tightly packed and he has to back to the mansion early.

And after finishing all that, he will go to the guild, sit on that one particular table, and maybe, hear a tale of adventuring from a certain wizard girl.

Since the day of the parade was over, the white and shiny armor that was sent to him no longer has its use.

Big bulky plate armor was standing next to him, the metal was clean and without design, except for the symbols of her goddess Aversia.

Darwyn cleaned himself, put on his clothes, his chainmail, and his plate armor.

The thick shield the size of his lower half hung to his back and the wide broadsword on his waist.

As an A-ranked adventurer, he earned quite the hefty sum. But most of that goes to the orphan and his equipment.

The house that he lives in was run down, it has no fireplace to protect himself from the freezing cold of winter, nor the well-designed roof to keep off the heat in summer.

He planned to eat by buying at the stall which sells breakfast as he usually does.

It was still early in the morning, but the townspeople started their day, while the farmers have begun earlier.

The horses and carriage roam the street, wives and the like started their gossips, adventurer entering the guild.

If this was his normal day, he would pick a quest right now, perhaps a witch slaying quest? No, better leave that to the new adventurer.

A demon-slaying quest would do, sightings of them increased, maybe because of the demon lord.

But well, he can do that after his duty as the princess bodyguard.

Arriving at the mansion, he was greeted by the guards. It seems that the princess and the hero were still asleep, or so the servant says.

That was fine, it was not like he was eager to work anyway, he could always kill time by watching the town he had known so much.

The chatter of variant humanoid races, children waking early just to play outside with their friends, the sound of merchant calling out for costumer.

This is the town that he swore to protect, along with the people living in it.

It was the will of her goddess that he has power above the normal populace, and it was his duty to protect them.

Looking back now, he never dreamed of being the paladin of justice, he just wanted to live a normal happy life.

When did it start? He wondered. He was standing at the courtyard of the mansion. The sun was finally up high, radiating bright, and tepid.

“S-Sir Darwyn! We have a problem!” Called out the servant. He had a difficult face with sweats from his forehead.

“I-it seems that the princess and the hero snuck out of the mansion!” He said.

“Then I will search for them,” Darwyn replied. The servant nodded vigorously saying “Then I will dispatch some guards too!”

“Do that.” He turned his back and head to the entrance.

Maybe the curiosity got the best of the princess and the hero.

Or they were just bored since there was too little to do in this town. Either way, he had to find them.

He looked at the market place, the church, near the pond, none. A moment later, he heard screams and cries of civilians far away along with a familiar scent. Something terrible, a foul odor, like rotten meat mixed with feces.

Something that should not be in this world.

“Demon...” The power that was granted to him by Aversia to locate out of this world entity proved to be useful.

He started to run, he had a rough estimation of where the demon could be.

When he reached the place of screams, he saw several adventurers laying on the ground, some were unconscious, the rest are dead. Even if he was a paladin, he learned healing miracles and used them to the surviving adventurer.

Not just adventurer, the injured civilians received healing from him too. His miracles for today was almost none, but he did not regret it.

The demon is not here. He thought as he looked at the town gate. Outside. He proceeded to run while staying vigilant.

As he got closer, finally, he saw the demon.

LongHorn... A middle-ranked demon that specialized in magic cancellation and ailment magic.

The hero and the princess were badly injured, it looks like the demon wanted to torture them first before killing them for good. He cannot determine if that was whether to good luck or bad luck.

On the far back, he saw Liliana and her party, exhausted.

He needed to protect the five and defeat the demon, and as if it was not troublesome enough, he heard a roaring sound of a Simidar.

What to do? Fighting two demons were hard even for him, but protecting five people at the same time? Even so, he has no choice, it was his duty and his reason to live to fight and protect.

“Aversia, preserver of law. Lend me the courage to fight, and the will to live. Watch us as we challenge the evil! Heroes Heart!”

His miracle given by the goddess of law, spread through far and wide. Reaching the princess and the hero, Liliana, and her party.

The soft light touched them and change something inside, as if a fountain of will and determination built upon them, the hope and life returned to their face.

A miracle that grants presence of mind added with small healing. A high-class miracle.

Then he took a deep breath, “GO INSIDE THE TOWN'S GATE!” he shouted from the top of his lung.

They heard him, the princess and the hero moved quickly as fast as they could, the party did so too.

It was not a pleasing sight for the LongHorn. When he was about to chase the princess and the hero, he sensed something.

A flying shield heading to him at full speed. His eyes widen as he jumped back in a hurry.

The shield buried itself on the ground, shaving off the soil and grass.

“...” A broadsword came down to the LongHorn. He didn't speak, he let his sword do the talking as he kept the LongHorn busy.

The demon raised its hand and blocked the sword. The scale of the demon was hard as steel as it reflected the sword.

Darwyn picked up his shield swiftly and struck down another blow to the demon. His fluid motion was mesmerizing to watch especially for the melee specialist adventurer.

Even with his one hand alone, the heaviness of his strike numbed the arm of the LongHorn. His plan was a success as the adventurers and the hero-princess due gathered behind him, to where he could protect them properly.

As he was busy exchanging blow to the LongHorn, the Simidar running in four came into his view.

He gave the LongHorn a front kick, the demon defended against it but he was pushed back.

“Aversia, preserver of law—”

“̲͞҉G̲͞҉O̲͞҉R̲͞҉O̲͞҉R̲͞҉H̲͞҉O̲͞҉G̲͞҉O̲͞҉H̲͞҉B̲͞҉O̲͞҉D̲͞҉O̲͞҉!̲͞҉”̲͞҉

The Long Horn cast its anti-magic spell. Causing the weave of mana to go wild in the area, not him, or even the demon could use magic right now.

Well, in terms of pure strength, the two demons could overpower him within seconds.

The Long Horn smirked in satisfaction, after all, the human could no longer call for his damn goddess.

But he made a slight miscalculation. A paladin does not rely on magic alone—nay, the years of experience and skills he got while adventuring, will come into play at times like this.

He bashed his heavy shield to the LongHorn, and again, he defended from it. The Long Horn acknowledges that the man before him was strong, that was why the demon was waiting for its companion to come.

The shield dealt bludgeoning damage, to the LongHorn, causing its arm to bent.

“̲͞҉G̲͞҉R̲͞҉O̲͞҉R̲͞҉O̲͞҉O̲͞҉H̲͞҉E̲͞҉O̲͞҉H̲͞҉E̲͞҉O̲͞҉H̲͞҉E̲͞҉!̲͞҉”̲͞҉

Loud indescribable words came from the Long Horn's mouth. A demon language that none of them understand.

The howling Simidar came like a mad beast, throwing its arm at Darwyn right of the bat. He stepped sideways to evade the attack and slashed the Simidar hand.

Another scream from the demon. Darwyn might appear calm but his heart beats faster than one could imagine.

His eyes never close, because if it did, his life and the other would forfeit.

With the hand that holding his sword, he punched the LongHorn in the face with a light jab, just to keep it busy.

After that, he crouched to dodge the horizontal punch of the Simidar.

He heard a gust of wind above his head as he sliced the feet of Simidar.

Critical. Its left foot flying, blood gushing out.

Then he rolled over and pierced the chest of LongHorn, though little, he managed to injure the LongHorn.

The Simidar was enraged, throwing punch one after another and finally, hit Darwyn.

Darwyn purposely jumped and offer no resistance to the fist of Simidar as he received it with his shield.

He was blown away but that gave him time to think for a plan, and as well a room for breathing.

He needed to prolong the fight for ten-second in order for the dispel magic to wore off.

The Simidar rushed to him with its full speed even with the missing foot. The demon hands crushed the tired Darwyn and buried his feet on the ground.

The LongHorn not missing this chance, he shot a sundering blast of mana, piercing Darwyn's shoulder easily even with the armor.

Still, he stood patiently, then.

Three...Two...One...

“Aversia, preserver of law. By the power of your sword, shall I defend the weak! Holy Smite!”

All of his strength gathered at his feet, dashing out as fast as it could towards the LongHorn, leaving the raging Simidar in a heartbeat.

The LongHorn was taken by surprise, he did not count the duration of his spell, for he was too busy fighting the paladin.

The sword of Darwyn, touched by the grace of his goddess glowed brightly.

And instead of holding it down with one hand like he always does, both of them grasped the handle and slashed the LongHorn.

The light from the sword dissolved the metallic scales of the demon, passing through its tough flesh and hard bone.

The LongHorn was cut in half, and as soon as that happens, the glow of the sword faded.

“Watch out!”Liliana screamed from afar when she saw the raging Simidar aimed at Darwyn.

The fist of the demon slid through his shield and hit him in the head. His helmet blown away but Darwyn did not, but his head bleeding.

Precisely, he sliced the soft spot inside the neck of the Simidar.

Then he maneuvers his sword upwards to cut the face, and penetrate the eyes.

The steel helmet spun like a wheel as it stopped at the feet of the spectator.

“Wha... N-no way...” Liliana let out an admiration.

Not only her, but all of them also have their eyes widen. They could not believe that a human defeated two demons at once without losing a limb or two.

But also.

“I...Is that really you Darwyn?” Liliana said as he picked the helmet up.

Without the helmet, Darwyn looked like the handsome action movie star she had watched in her past life.

Long brown hair, well-defined chin, sharp chestnut eyes, and well-built nose.

He was, in her terms, a hunk.

She felt her cheek getting hot, fanning it with her hand.

Her heart pounds stronger and louder, she wore the helmet of Darwyn.

“S-so, this is how you see things huh! Not bad! Hahahaha!” She said with an awkward laugh.

She did not want Darwyn to see her in her sorry state, she knows, she had felt this before.

I'm totally crushing at him! Gosh!

As if to distract herself, she checked her party members.

She could see well inside the helmet.

“Fine as always!” Yarjerit stated.

“The god of luck smiled upon us this time” Rust murmured.

“Y...Yeah...”

“Hey! What are you blushing for!”

Toira with her flushed cheek somehow angered Saeril. This was rare, the party laughed at how tables have changed.

But Liliana did not join them, for she felt threatened at the sight of blushing Toira... But why?

When she turned to the princess and hero, she saw Darwyn talking to the princess.

“Are you alright princess?” With his low voice, he reached his hand, offering her help.

She took his hand while averting her gaze, standing up while covering her red face.

“I...I'm fine...Thank you...” She said timidly. Her eyes switched from the ground, then at him, repeatedly.

That's it! Liliana thought.

“Darwyn wear this!” Liliana furrowed her eyebrow and presented the bent helmet. She didn't know why, but she does not want the others to look at his face.

“Umu! Enemies are everywhere! Be aggressive!” Yarjerit exclaimed and nodded in satisfaction.

“Hahahaha, its always good to be young.” Rust added.

“Wha! What are you implying!?” Liliana glared at her party members.

“Thank you, Liliana.” Darwyn held the helmet. Once again, she returned into her panic state and waved her hand in the air.

“I-it's not like what you think!” Her hands fluttering, her body quivering.

Saying something that does not make sense as always. Darwyn smiled for a brief seconds before putting his helmet.

“Wha...”

“Um...”

“Kyaa...”

Small shrieks from the three maidens were produced just from that one smile alone.

Liliana know this, it was called Gap Moe.

But in the chaotic scene, one man was not amused.

“Liliana, what are you doing here?” The hero Keizo asked.

Somehow, everyone fell into silence.