If At First You Don't Succeed...

All six of us who went to the enemy city managed to safely return to the Human Army camp. The palace had not raised any alarms following my infiltration for some reason, but the guards had been told to watch out for weirdos. At least, that’s what I kept overhearing as I snuck my way to flee from the place. All I could think of is that there were some other party skulking in the palace grounds. In any case, my men and I were able to retreat without problems.

However, the mood was dour. We were all hanging our heads as we sat around the campfire.

“I was unable to conquer the Demon Queen”, I declared when I met up with them to escape the city, and the atmosphere has been bad since.

We have not spoken about the mission until we started debriefing back at the camp.

“It’s frustrating that we couldn’t help you, Hero”, one of them said to me.

“Don’t be”, I answered. “It’s all due to my inexperience.”

“Then all the more reason we should have gone over the wall with you”, another of my men replied.

The air then felt heavier as each of them buried their head into their hands.

“No, I mean that was the first time I met the Demon Queen. I wasn’t sure what I should be doing yet, but I promise I’ll get her next time.”

The five burly men lifted their heads to look at me. Hope seems to have been returned in their eyes.

“You mean?..” they all asked simultaneously.

“That’s right, I plan to return tomorrow.”

“Ohh!” They cheered.

“That’s why I want to ask, what’s the best gift to bring if I want to ask a girl out on a date?”

Reflecting upon my failure earlier, I realized that I jumped too many steps by immediately proposing marriage. I figured that I should ask the Demon Queen out on a date first, which is what I intend for the next time.

However, I don’t have much experience with regards to romance. It’s not that I’m not interested in girls. But, even back in my world, there wasn’t someone that has made me feel like I want to be with them until I saw the Demon Queen. I was never really interested in it until now.

The men have been silent for a few moments now. All looking like they’re trying to process why I asked my question.

Eventually, the person sitting directly in front of me answered, “Flowers, I guess?”

The others, though seemingly reluctant, started agreeing with him.

“Preferably, her favorite if you know what it is”, one of them added.

I think I remember seeing deep red carnations displayed all around the interior of the palace. If it’s there, then the Demon Queen probably likes it to a degree, so that flower could be an option.

“Okay, what else?” I asked.

“You’re just asking her out, so you don’t really need much else”, the man nearest to me on my left replied.

“Then, how should I ask her out? Do I need to do a speech? Do I need to recite a poem?”

“Just ask her like you’re inviting a friend to do something”, now I turn to my right as the man directly in that direction spoke.

“Yeah, no need to do those things”, the person next to him added.

“I see”, I acknowledged their suggestions.

“If the Hero is thinking about picking up girls, then he must be confident about tomorrow!” the man to my left commented.

That lifted the spirits of the five. They started laughing and smiling as if moments ago they weren’t wearing faces like the world had just ended.

“Then, when are we going back inside the city?” the man in front of me asked as he stood up excitedly.

“Oh, you guys don’t need to worry about that. I’ll go in by myself.”

My response caused all five of them to fall silent.

“What do you mean?” the same man asked.

“My plan can work if I’m on my own so there’s no need to risk your necks this time”, I answered.

They seem to have accepted it as one of them commented, “If he’s that confident then all we can do right now is cheer the Hero on!”

The rest of the night was then spent merrily.

The next day, the following evening to be exact, I again infiltrated the city. This time, unarmed. I wasn’t there to fight, after all.

I didn’t go straight for the palace unlike last time as well. Although, that wasn’t intentional. It was because I went around the shops looking for red carnations. I had planned to head there immediately with carnations that I bought from the nearest village unaffected by war, but the currents were strong. This caused the flowers to lose quite a number of petals and they no longer seemed presentable after surfacing.

Unfortunately, according to all the flower shops I went to, the siege seems to have stopped the supply of these particular flowers. They were grown in the surrounding hinterlands and, since the trade routes were blocked, they couldn’t be imported into the city. I couldn’t find any.

I couldn’t help but feel conflicted about this fact. For one, the siege seems to have some effect. On the other hand, no red carnations.

I’ve been told the only place it’s grown within the city walls is the palace, so I settled on only buying a piece of cloth to wrap a bouquet with before heading there.

After jumping over the wall, I sneaked my way to the palace’s garden. Sure enough, there were plenty of red carnations growing there among other things. The garden was on one end of the palace grounds and was about the size of two football pitches, albeit sloped.

I figured, with this much planted, they wouldn’t miss two dozen stalks, which is the amount I picked for my gift.

Once I bunched the flowers within the cloth I bought earlier, although admittedly sloppily, I quickly, but stealthily, made my way to the throne room.

At the door, I stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. I held the bouquet in my left hand and positioned them in my back. I wanted it to be a surprise.

Then, I entered the room while loudly saying, “Pardon me!”

I knew the door would groan so I wanted to speak over it.

Inside, what I saw was the confused expressions of the Demon Queen - now without a helmet - and her advisors.

“You again?! How did you survive my attack yesterday?” the Demon Queen authoritatively asked me with a raised voice across the room. “Who are you?”

“Forgive me, my lady. We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot last night”, I said as I placed my right hand on my chest and bowed slightly. “To correct this, allow me to introduce myself.”

Before continuing, I revealed the bouquet I had hiding behind my back and presented it to her.

“I am the Hero, and I want to ask you out on a date.”

Upon hearing my introduction, the Demon Queen, without hesitation, rushed towards me to pierce my heart with her sword.

I barely had time to react as she was able to move across the room in a split second, but I managed to sidestep to my right and evade her attack.

That wasn’t the end of her move as she stopped directly in front of me to slash her sword diagonally across my torso.

By reflex, I activated my gift to fortify the bouquet I had on hand and parry her attack.

That caused us to cross swords. Figuratively speaking, of course, since I wasn’t holding a sword.

As our swords - rather, "weapons" locked, I couldn’t help but notice the Demon Queen with her mouth agape, wearing an even more dumbfounded expression on her face.

I found it cute.

“What is the meaning of this, Hero?” she asked me. “Why aren’t you drawing your sword?”

“I didn’t bring one with me”, I replied matter-of-factly.

“Hah?” she voiced, sounding surprised but unconvinced.

She then broke away from our lock and eyed me from head to toe and back up again. She seems to be looking for my sheath, or any place I could hide a weapon.

“I told you, I’m only here to ask you out on a date”, I said. “I even picked flowers from the palace garden to make a bouquet for you.”

When she heard that, the expression on her face quickly transformed into anger.

“YOU DID WHAT?!” she shouted.

I recoiled a bit. I was surprised by her reaction.

But, before I could ask what made her angry, she sent me flying with the same spell she used last night.

As I was launched out of the roof, I could hear her scream, “HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY GARDEN?!”