Betrayal

Chapter 14- Our New Friend

Y/N's POV: 

Two weeks had passed since the second wave. The other three heroes were completely healed and were forever thankful for our assistance. 

I was even surprised that they hadn't shown Naofumi any disrespect like they used to do. Motoyasu even stopped hitting on me! I never thought I'd see the day!

Right now, we were heading North. I still didn't know our final destination. I merely followed Naofumi, as he led the way.  

As we stopped by a cave to rest one evening, we received a letter. Surprisingly, it was sent by an owl. How did it even manage to find us out here?! 

It was a letter from the queen, Melty's mother. We had never met the woman, but Melty was adamant that she was on our side. 

"What does it say?" I asked, leaning over Naofumi's shoulder. 

'He smells good'. 'Huh?' 'Did I really just think that?!' 'God, I'm so embarrassed'. 

"Did you hear me Y/N?" 

"Huh?" I shook my head, focusing my attention back to the boy. 

"It says we should head North until we reach the edge of the dark forest". 

"Dark forest?" "I've never heard of it". 

Naofumi continued. "Apparently, the royal family has received intel that the demon king has gathered an army of fellow demons. They wish to cull the heroes and their parties to prevent them from saving the world". "Essentially, they want to conquer our world, wreaking havoc on its villages and killing off its people".

"That's horrible", I gasped, still eyeing the letter in his hand.

"Don't worry. We'll be sure to stop them!" "Now, let's get some rest for the night". "We'll get right back on the road tomorrow!"

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Naofumi's POV: 

Over the next few days, we continued heading North. The next wave was due to start in about a months time. According to the queen, this wave was predicted to be the final wave we were set to face. Essentially, this fight would be like fighting the final boss in an action game. 

"Hey Fumi?" 

"Hmm?" 

"After all this is over, do you think you'd want to go back?" "You know, like back home to Japan?"

I slowed to walk at her pace. 

"I don't know yet. I haven't decided. What about you?" The girl cast her gaze towards the ground as we continued to walk.

"I don't think staying in this world would be all that bad". "It's not like I have anywhere to go back to". "No one would even miss me if I never returned". 

"Yeah, me too", I sighed.

"And if we do decide to stay here, we won't need to leave Raph behind. And we can settle down somewhere in the countryside in a  cute little cottage". "Wouldn't it be fun living all together?"

I laughed, "Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad does it?" 

"Hey guys..." Raph's voice interrupted our conversation. We both glanced in her direction, as she pointed to a large boulder.

"A rock?" Y/N queried. 

"No, look at what's under it". 

Like Raph had said, there was indeed something underneath the rock.