The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

Ainzel and Beatrice have finished their journey. Instead of wandering around any further, Ainzel has chosen to settle down in a quiet village.

“Isn’t the life of an ordinary person constantly traveling? I thought this was the best way to show you what an ordinary person’s life is like.”

“I see. But aren’t you going back to your hometown? I think you’ll miss it.”

“…my hometown.”

Ainzel closed his eyes and recalled the scenery of his hometown.

“I miss you. I miss you.”

He opened his eyes again and looked at Beatrice, recalling his longed-for hometown that had gradually faded from his memory.

“Then why don’t you go back home?”

“…If I go back home, I will be out of control.”

Perhaps, he would return to his hometown and live happily, spending his days like he was dreaming. But if that happened, he would definitely not be able to get up again. He knew that. The moment he returned to his hometown, he would forever be lost in his dream and would never be able to escape. He would not want to face the cruel reality.

That’s why he couldn’t return home.

“And, can I do good deeds by myself? I promised to save the saintess.”

“that….”

“From now on, we need to know the daily life that the Saintess doesn’t know. Wasn’t that the Saintess’s… no, Beatrice’s wish?”

Beatrice hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said.

“yes.”

“This is a quiet village, so there won’t be any attacks from the demons. I’ve already found a house, so there’s only one thing to worry about.”

“What is one thing?”

“We have to start farming now. It’s the planting season.”

“Ah… That means… .”

“It might be a little difficult.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Even though I look like this, I’m still a master. As long as it’s just a little bit of physical labor…”

The next morning, Beatrice fell ill in bed.

“…I told you not to overdo it. Aren’t your muscles surprised by the sudden exercise they weren’t used to?”

“That, that….”

“Isn’t it because you just moved around without knowing the tricks that you ended up in such a bad situation? What on earth made you believe in that…?”

“I’m sorry… .”

Beatrice buried her face in the pillow and covered her blushing face.

Ainzel thought for a moment, then lay down on the bed next to Beatrice.

“Oh, I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

When Beatrice let out a sound of bewilderment, Ainzel turned his head toward her and said.

“Let’s just consider today a day off.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It won’t be a problem if you rest for a day or so. I know because I come from a farming family.”

“Is that so?”

“But if something like this happens again next time, it will be a problem.”

“Ah… yes.”

Beatrice was too embarrassed to raise her head.

“Hey, it’s okay. I haven’t done much physical labor in my life, so this is enough.”

“Ugh, ugh… .”

Ainzel gently patted Beatrice’s head as she lay face down.

“Should I take a nap?”

Just as Beatrice was about to answer, a knock on the door made Ainzel sit up.

“Oh, yes. I’m going out.”

When Ainzel opened the door, a man was standing in front of it.

“Oh, Mr. Nelson.”

He was one of the residents of this village.

“Oh, it’s nothing special… I just got here so I brought some food to celebrate. Is that okay?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

“Yeah, but… what about that wife?”

“Ah, Bea… Beria?”

Ainzel tried to say his real name without thinking, but ended up saying Beatrice’s pseudonym in a fluster.

“Yeah. Where did that wife go? It doesn’t look like she’s working.”

“Oh, Beria is lying down because his back hurts.”

Nelson chuckled strangely when he heard that.

“Is it because you’re newlyweds? You’re still young. Hey, no matter how pretty you are, you shouldn’t be bothering your bride like that~”

Ainzel waved his hand when he heard that.

“Oh, no, that’s not it…!”

“Okay, okay, I understand. I’ll leave the food here and you two can have a nice time. Oh, I guess I unintentionally interrupted you.”

As Ainzel said that, he quickly placed the basket containing the food on the table and looked at Nelson’s face with a sinister expression as he left.

Ainzel looked at the basket Nelson had brought for a moment, then put it back in the storage room and went back to Beatrice.

Beatrice’s face was completely recalled.

“I…”

Beatrice spoke in a small voice.

“…Have you heard?”

“Oh, no!? That’s not it… .”

Beatrice spoke so hastily that her voice cracked and she buried her face in her pillow again in embarrassment.

“…It seems like the two of us look like a married couple to the people here.”

Beatrice still had her head buried in the pillow.

Of course, it’s not that it looks strange, but it would be stranger if it didn’t look like that for a young man and woman to suddenly live together in one house…!

Beatrice twisted her body in shame. Of course, the sharp pain in her lower back continued even as she twisted her body.

Ainzel shut his mouth and watched her closely, then felt aggrieved again.

He had become immersed in peace before he knew it, and he felt the playfulness that had been hidden deep inside him begin to rise up.

“…If you think about it, it’s not really embarrassing, right? Last time, I was going to do exactly what he said…”

“Whoa, whaaah!”

Beatrice let out a shrill scream.

“T-That was a mistake! I was just drunk and out of my mind! Why are you suddenly saying that!?”

Ainzel felt his playfulness constantly being triggered by her reactions that were more blunt than he had expected.

“You were too sincere to be drunk and out of your mind…”

“Stop! I told you to stop!”

Beatrice got out of bed and tried to grab Ainzel, but fell back onto the bed due to the sharp pain in her lower back.

“100 million.”

Beatrice was just trembling in excruciating pain.

When Ainzel saw her like that, he realized that he had been a little too much.

“…I, I think I went a little too far.”

“…”

Even after seeing Ainzel apologizing, Beatrice just looked at him with cold eyes, her eyes brimming with tears.

“I, that, I…”

“Okay, come here and rub my back a little.”

“yep.”

Ainzel rubbed Beatrice’s waist.

“Ah… good. I feel proud to have finished the year’s farming like this.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

Ainzel looked at Beatrice. She, who had never worn anything but white robes in her entire life, was naturally dressed like a country woman. Of course, that didn’t hide her beauty to that extent.

“Wow, is this all we harvested?”

Beatrice looked at the piled wheat and said. Ainzel nodded.

“Yes, now we have to take this to the mill and grind it into flour.”

“Okay, then since we’re already at it, should we just do it all at once and take it now?”

“I hope you don’t hurt your back again from lifting heavy things.”

“Hey, I’ve adapted well now. Do you think my back will break just because I lift a little bit of this?”

Beatrice lifted up a sack of wheat that had been stacked up. Seeing her carrying heavy things so casually, having adapted to her daily life, made Ainzel feel a strange sense of unfamiliarity.

Ainzel took the remaining sacks and headed to the mill.

When they arrived at the mill, the miller welcomed them.

“Oh, so that’s it. I think it’s about 10%. But why is this amount so much?”

Ainzel looked at Beatrice. He couldn’t bring himself to say that this was the result of a former saint who had no more work to do to heal people and was just sprinkling her divine power on crops.

Beatrice also realized that it was a ridiculous thing to do as she said with a slightly red face.

“I guess it’s because God helped me. Haha.”

“I see. Well… If it continues like this, I think I can have a few more children.”

“Huh!? A, a baby?”

“Yeah, kid. Why, there’s nothing strange about it. At first glance, it looks like she’d give birth to a baby, so it’s not strange for her to have a baby, right?”

Ainzel could only cough in embarrassment.

Beatrice was tired of arguing that they were no longer a couple, so she just kept her mouth shut.

“Wow!”

And then from somewhere a loud cheer was heard.

“Huh? What is this?”

When Ainzel asked the miller, the miller looked at Ainzel and said,

“Oh, I heard there’s a Human Alliance dispatch ceremony or something. It’s like the various countries are going to join forces to stop the demons.”

Ainzel’s face hardened when he heard those words.

Before we knew it, war was fast approaching.