The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

“…It seems that Tyrantus is under severe attack.”

“Yeah. If I had known this would happen, I would have gotten rid of the warlocks earlier. I did something useless and put too many people in danger.”

Feria spoke with a regretful voice, but Beatrice shook her head.

“No, regretting what has already happened won’t help anything. What’s important is what you should do from now on, and what you can do. Let’s start with what you can do. What you should do is too obvious.”

“…First, I think we need to find out what’s going on in Tyrantus.”

“Yes, but I don’t think it would be worth sending someone to find out what’s going on right now.”

“Yes. It would take too long, after all. But I can’t just sit back and do nothing about it….”

Feria clutched her head.

“It might have been different back when I was just a magician, but now I have too many things to worry about… and I can’t even send an army.”

“Hmm… Then I will send reinforcements to Tyrantus.”

“Paladin? Are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“Your Holiness is not so foolish as to object now. And he is not that dangerous. I will leave urgent matters to the Paladins, but I have one request.”

“ask?”

“Is there a magic that can tell me what situation Tyrantus is in? Even if it’s just a rough estimate, I think it would be quite helpful to just know what kind of situation he’s in.”

“It’s a magic that lets you know the situation in Tyrantus… It consumes quite a bit of magic power, but there’s one thing. The problem is that you can only know a very general situation.”

“What kind of magic is it?”

Feria began to explain the magic.

“It’s a magic that lets you know the current situation of a place by recalling the scenery that remains in your memory… Now that we’re on the subject, I’ll try it right now.”

Peria raised her scepter. The Emperor’s scepter was an ancient relic that served as a wizard’s staff and boasted abilities that were on a different level from other wands.

Feria snapped her fingers and summoned a crystal ball, upon which the current situation in Tyrantus would be reflected.

She began to recall the landscapes of Tyrantus she had visited in the past. The landscapes were still vivid in her mind.

I thought back to the border of Tyrantus. I saw an army of monsters crossing the border and advancing straight towards the royal road.

I thought back to the Way of Tyrantus. The road leading to the royal road was a mess from the clashes between countless warlocks and elves.

I thought of the World Tree in Tyrantus. The Elves were guarding the World Tree, their benefactor, so strictly that it looked as if not even a single ant could pass, but next to it, the corpses of Elves and Warlocks were piled up like mad.

And then, Peria finally remembered the palace of Tyrantus.

And the crystal ball reflected the image of a man engaged in a fierce battle against warlocks and monsters.

Ainzel. Their warriors were fighting the dark magicians in the land of the fairies.

“What the… heck is this… .”

Beatrice said in confusion.

“Rain, maybe someone similar to you or something?”

“…No, you remember it too. The way Ainzel looked when he left at the end. He looks exactly the same. He hasn’t changed at all.”

It certainly was. White hair that looked as if it had turned white. Eyes that had a slight reddish tint.

It wasn’t his past self, but it was the last time I saw him.

Beatrice and Feria were greatly surprised by the unexpected appearance.

“Why is Ainzel there!?”

Feria narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she was taken aback by the fact that Ainzel was fighting in Tirentus.

Tirentus is quite far away. It may not be comparable to the Empire, but from Ainzel’s perspective, there is no need to go all the way to Tirentus to help them.

And even if he helped Tyrantus, there was little chance of him regaining his former reputation. In short, the only reason Ainzel went there to fight was for self-satisfaction.

“…Now that I know the situation to some extent, I will give orders to the Paladins. Even if I don’t know why Ainzel is there, I must at least inform them of his existence.”

“Yeah. The question is how Ainzel will treat the knights….”

“…That’s something we don’t know either, so there’s nothing we can do. We need to quickly find out what happened to Ainzel…”

Feria sighed.

“…I’ve been busy lately, so deciphering the records has been delayed. As the Emperor, there’s more work to do than I thought. Still, I should be able to see the results of the decipherment within this week.”

“Yes, I’ll see you then.”

The knights, clad in armor, carrying maces and shields, and reciting scriptures, set out for Tyrantus.

It was a legendary army that even ‘that’ Malecidus had been restrained. They knew that they were no match for a mere warlock.

But if there was one thing that concerned me, it was the presence of the warrior.

To be exact, the saint they followed, the former warrior, was so angry with him that she threw him out, but now she gave orders not to antagonize him.

But the knights did not dare to doubt their master. They simply assumed that his emotions had now somewhat subsided and that he was thinking of past affections, and simply followed his orders.

“What should I do if I meet a warrior?”

“As long as he doesn’t attack first, we will cooperate since we share the same goal!”

“What if he becomes hostile first?”

“After trying to communicate, if that doesn’t work, we will prioritize non-lethal suppression. However, if the damage is severe, we will kill.”

“Yes, that is the mission the Saint has given us. However, no matter how much people say that the warrior is a traitor or something, he is fighting a warlock in a foreign land called Tyrantus. I think there will be little conflict with the warrior.”

The white army began to move to carry out the words of their master, the saintess.

A few days after the Paladins left for Tyrantus, Peria summoned Sainte-Anne and Beatrice to the palace.

“Why did you call me here out of the blue… What is it?”

Sein could not hide his rare embarrassment when he saw Peria’s face.

“…It looks like you’re on the verge of fainting at any moment.”

Feria looked at Sein’s face with cold eyes and said.

“…It was just a little difficult because there was so much to do… It’s okay… .”

“It doesn’t look good at all. To be honest, I think even a rookie who has just finished his training would look better than this.”

“…It’s okay. I need to check the records.”

“Is this why you called us to the palace? I think even a child passing by would laugh if he heard that the Grand Master was unable to move from the palace due to fatigue.”

“…Please don’t tell me something I already know.”

Sein patted Peria on the shoulder. Peria smiled faintly.

“Am I the latest?”

“It’s okay. In the first place… I was the one who changed the location first.”

“…Undead?”

At Beatrice’s serious muttering, Peria frowned and said.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit too much?”

“What the heck is this… I’ll heal you quickly.”

Feria felt her fatigue disappear as Beatrice’s divine power melted into her.

“thank you.”

Beatrice shook her head as Feria spoke.

“I don’t know what on earth I did to cause this.”

Feria tried to ignore the words and took them to her private room.

…

Ainzel sat there blankly.

What could be the reason?

Yeah, it was probably after Paladin succeeded in conquering the fortress.

Deep down, I thought I was special.

I thought that if I wasn’t the one who could turn back the past, I couldn’t be sure who I could trust with the job.

However, when he saw the Paladins take down the fortress so easily, he felt a strange feeling.

It was good that they had achieved what they had set out to do, but somehow. Ainzel felt complicated as he watched them achieve in one go what he had not been able to do.

Suddenly, the butler of the hotel where he was staying appeared and said to him.

“Sir, a letter has arrived.”

After receiving the letter, Ainzel looked at the butler who was walking away nonchalantly for a moment before unsealing the letter.

The contents of the letter, revealed when the seal containing the hardened candle wax was torn off, were quite surprising to him.

“…The Pope invites me?”

He tilted his head.