Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 302: To be honest, it’s hard to say.

Chapter 302: Chapter 302: To be honest, it’s hard to say.

Walking back to the dormitory, Iyas was full of worry. She was very afraid that Yang Yu would lose to Vorquis.

That way, she would have no choice but to join Vorquis’s team.

Recalling the man’s "righteous indignation" and "passionate eloquence," Iyas felt an indescribable discomfort.

Perhaps such a person was what Yang Yu had once described: a refined egoist, who always claimed to do everything for others, but in actuality, was only out for himself.

Just being around that man made Iyas feel like her skin was crawling, let alone becoming his partner.

"You’re not really thinking about facing him in a showdown, are you? He’s so confident—must have some kind of secret weapon. Do you think you can beat him?"

"To be honest, it’s hard to say."

Yang Yu’s ambiguous and extremely nonchalant tone infuriated Iyas,

"You’re not sure?! Then why did you accept his challenge! I thought you were somewhat confident, but now you’re saying ’it’s hard to say’ with no confidence. You do realize it doesn’t matter if you lose, right? That man clearly wants me to join his team. If you lose, I’ll really have to join his team.

Yang Yu, use that invincible brain of yours to come up with a strategy. Every time there’s a crisis, you always come through with some amazing idea, right?

You can do it this time as well."

"In your eyes, they’re brilliant ideas, but those are all plans I come up with to the best of my ability. Not every method works. And this time, I really have no idea what to do."

"How can that be? Isn’t there even a small chance?"

Following Yang Yu’s steps, Iyas stopped, trembling.

That man had been handsy with her at first meeting; Iyas couldn’t imagine what would happen after getting familiar with such a person.

"Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill," Yang Yu said with a smirk. "Although I agreed to compete with him, I never agreed that if I lost, I would hand you over to him."

"Ah?"

Iyas paused, recalling Yang Yu’s words. True, he never mentioned conceding her if he lost.

But Iyas didn’t feel relieved by this, "I don’t think he’ll accept that. A man like him would never let go of something he wants so easily. Moreover, he knows my secret of being an elf, he definitely won’t just give up."

"Whether he accepts it or not, that’s his problem. Anyway, all I have to do is fight him... not even fight, actually. Winning or losing doesn’t really matter. We agreed to meet at the All Things Library conference. If one of us is eliminated before then, the duel will most likely be cancelled. If I face him in the first round of the preliminaries, then it’s just bad luck. At that time, I’ll try to defeat him."

Yang Yu had agreed to Vorquis’s challenge only because he was pressured on the spot.

But what Yang Yu never expected was that a new Task titled "Defeating the Hero" had appeared in his task bar, just like the challenge Task he had triggered in the forest with Sekamens, offering a huge amount of Experience, enough for Yang Yu to jump straight to Level 50.

It seemed that such Tasks could only be triggered when the gap between the two was substantial.

Discovering another pattern for triggering Tasks, Yang Yu felt it was worth it.

As for actually defeating the Hero, that would have to wait until the time came.

Anyway, with the protection of the Barrier, losing would just mean losing, and there was no real loss; Yang Yu was willing to give it a try.

Seeing Yang Yu with a relaxed smile, Iyas couldn’t manage even a slight grin.

"Alright. Let’s set aside the unpleasantness for now. Let’s talk about where to go after the Library conference."

Yang Yu pulled out a rolled-up map and handed it to Iyas,

"I’ve got some leads on the auction house that sold you and your brother. Once the Library conference is over, we’ll go find your brother right away."

Upon hearing that Yang Yu finally had news of the auction house that had sold them, Iyas forgot her previous unhappiness,

"Have you really found where the auction house that held me is? From there, we can find Hake by following the clues, right?"

Iyas couldn’t wait and snatched the map from Yang Yu’s hands. Upon opening it, she saw a map marked with different colors but couldn’t figure out what the markings meant.

"You need to be prepared; there are many places I need to investigate. If we want to search them all, it will take some time. Also, I may learn a few Skills along the way, which will take more time, so you must be patient."

"I’ve followed you long enough to understand this. So, can you tell me what this map represents? Where is that auction house?"

In the moonlight, Iyas lifted the map, letting the moonlight shine through it, but no matter how many times she looked, she still didn’t understand the intentions behind Yang Yu’s markings on the map.

Yang Yu simply asked Iyas to lay the map flat and then circled and pointed on it with his finger,

"You mentioned smelling an out-of-season floral scent and seeing a special insignia on the auctioneer. I’ve marked both ranges on the map: red is for where that flower blooms out of season, and blue is for the range of that family’s auction house territory. The major overlapping area, these green spots, are where you were likely auctioned off, one of these spots."

Following Yang Yu’s hand, Iyas saw there were still a dozen points in the same area on the map. Investigating all these locations would require a lot of energy and time,

"That’s way too many. To investigate all these places will take way too much time. By the time we find Hake, everything might have already changed."

"You need to be prepared for not knowing what he’s become."

"I know, but if it’s even a moment sooner, I want to see my brother as soon as possible to make sure he’s alright."

"But that’s all the information you provided. Based on what you told me, these are all the leads I have."

At this point, Yang Yu couldn’t expect Iyas to recall any new leads to search for in the Library.

"Isn’t there a way to narrow down the search?"

Iyas clenched the map tightly in her hand, having thought Yang Yu would be just as powerless when he confidently said, "There is a way to narrow it down, we might even find him in one go."

Hearing this, Iyas was overjoyed, "What is it?"

Without hesitation, Yang Yu replied, "Luck."