The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

Beatrice prayed before going to bed tonight as well. Seeing her, Ainzel said.

“Do you still pray every night?”

“Yes, it’s become a lifelong habit. In fact, except for the days when I got drunk and got into an accident, I prayed most of the time before going to bed.”

“okay.”

Ainzel looked at her. Beatrice smiled faintly and said.

“I just do it out of habit. I’m not in pain or anything, so don’t worry.”

Ainzel stared at Beatrice. Beatrice blushed and said.

“…Actually, I still feel a little bit uneasy. I feel a little uneasy thinking that the Human Alliance, which was launched without me, is going into battle.”

“okay.”

“Isn’t it strange? Even so, a woman who was supposedly a saint is having such ugly worries.”

“There is nothing strange at all. Didn’t Beatrice say it herself? She was just an ordinary person.”

Beatrice smiled faintly when she heard that.

“…Thank you. I feel a little better hearing that. Well, I’ll go to sleep now.”

“Yes, good night.”

Ainzel quietly left the room.

Beatrice lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

“…As expected, Ainzel just looks at me as a person… ”

After becoming a saint, no one had ever looked at her as a person, as a human being. Most people admired her and followed her, and those who stood on the other side were enemies. She was tired of those people who had never seen her before, who treated her like that just because she was a saint, and those gazes that had no interest in what kind of person she was.

But the warrior, Ainzel, tried to find out what kind of person she was. He told her that she too was just a human.

If the impression the saint gave to ordinary people was anything to go by, it would be closer to a sage god than a human. An incarnation of a living god. Whether friend or foe, being overwhelmed by that name was something she was very used to.

That is why Beatrice felt joy at the sight of Ainzel turning her into a mere human, into a woman.

“Perhaps, if I were by Ainzel’s side, I could really live like a normal person? Forgetting about being a saint… or a demon… or anything…”

Forgetting the fight, forgetting the faith, feeling the joy of each day, and even loving. Beatrice thought about what she wanted to do.

Beatrice then realized what she had been thinking and stomped her feet and buried her head in the pillow.

Ainzel heard the sound from the next room and thought this.

‘It’s the same today too.’

As Ainzel and Beatrice continued to enjoy their peaceful time, they saw a large number of soldiers returning to the castle. To anyone who saw them, they looked tired and haggard, and only a few of them were in good physical condition.

Ainzel had a gut feeling that something was up.

Ainzel spoke to the guard who had been talking to the soldiers.

“Excuse me, what the hell happened?”

“It seems like the Allied Forces were defeated by the Demons. They say that Malekidus breached the fortress and took away the strategic point…”

“…The fortress has been breached? Where are you talking about?”

“Well. Tel… Telbren Fortress? Anyway, I heard it was a fortress blocking the mountain path. They could have stopped Grandis, but they fell to Malekidus, who was relatively unprepared.”

Ainzel felt dizzy.

“You mean the Telbren Fortress?”

“Yeah. I think so… Why, did you live nearby?”

“…no.”

Telbren Fortress? Wasn’t that the fortress that Beatrice led the Paladins to finally take after he had fought the Black Knight and eventually fled?

It was a fortress that occupied the most important position in grand strategy, and it was taken away?

Ainzel bit his lip. Since the place had been recaptured by the demons, it was obvious that the demons would seize the initiative in the battlefield. If they had been able to continue to occupy the Telbren Fortress, the Allied Forces would have seized the initiative in the battlefield, but since they had lost the Telbren Fortress, the war had become extremely unfavorable.

Ainzel felt deeply uneasy.

Ainzel returned home with Beatrice. Beatrice welcomed him.

“How is it? It’s a bread I baked once. I feel like it’s a bit much to just eat it every day…”

Ainzel chuckled and wiped the soot off her cheek.

“I’m looking forward to that. Shall we take a look?”

Ainzel stuffed the bread that Beatrice brought with a flustered expression into his stomach, which anyone could tell at first glance was missing something, and then said.

“It’s delicious. But I have something to say.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Beatrice looked at Ainzel, and Ainzel looked at Beatrice and said.

“It seems that things are not going well for the Allied Forces.”

“ah…”

Beatrice made that sound and took on a serious expression.

“…How much?”

“They say the Telbren fortress has been taken.”

“Te, the Telbren Fortress?”

When Beatrice shouted in a panicked voice, Ainzel nodded.

“Then what should we do? We, we should join in too… .”

“Well, I don’t think anything will change if we step in now that the alliance has been launched. Especially since our opponent this time is Malekidus.”

“Malecidus?”

“Yes, Grandis could have defended the fortress, but it was taken over by Malecidus, who was relatively less well-defended. Doesn’t Beatrice know of its strength?”

Beatrice recalled Malecidus’ appearance throughout Calethion. The overwhelming power that made her think, ‘I can never win.’ Even though nearly a year had passed, that power was still firmly engraved in Beatrice’s mind.

“…Then what happens then?”

“Well, it’s true that we’re at a considerable disadvantage, but at least the Alliance won’t be defeated right away or anything like that. A Alliance that brings together the power of all of humanity can’t be weak, right?”

“That’s… that’s true.”

“All we can do is just sit still. If we move recklessly, the chaos will only accelerate.”

“I guess so.”

“…Actually, if Beatrice really wants to go to the battlefield, there are ways to do it. The two of them could work together in a place no one knows about, or they could intentionally hide their identities. However, other things are more important than those things.”

“…What is it?”

“It’s a question of whether you want it or not.”

“We, as people with power, have a responsibility-”

“Responsibility? Isn’t it because you wanted to escape from that responsibility that you have been living like this? Leave responsibility and faith alone. What matters is your true heart. Do you want to go to the battlefield and fight the demons in the face of death?”

“that…”

When Beatrice showed signs of distress, Ainzel said,

“Is your desire to save others really so great that you are willing to leave this life behind?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

Beatrice felt her face burn. She had nothing to say even though Ainzel was contemptuous of her, saying, “I don’t know,” when asked what she really felt after babbling about duty and such.

But Ainzel placed his hand on her head and stroked her, saying:

“Isn’t that enough?”

“yes?”

“If you don’t know your own mind, then it’s a problem you can worry about. Leave the decision for later.”

“That, that’s too…”

“What is that? It’s unsightly? You don’t like it? People usually put off difficult problems when they have them. Especially when it’s a life-threatening problem like this, it’s something you should spend even more time thinking about.”

“Then, what about you, sir? What about you, sir?”

“…I also have concerns. So I am still thinking about it.”

Beatrice sighed as she saw Ainzel smiling awkwardly as he spoke, then smiled faintly and said.

“That’s right. I think we need to think about it a little more. After all, it’s still a fact that the Allied Forces have the upper hand.”

And as time went by, the Allied Forces became increasingly inferior to the Ashen Soldiers. As the days passed, these tireless soldiers took the place of the Demon King’s Army instead of the demons, and when most of the Demon King’s Army had finally turned into Ashen Soldiers and were fighting a tough battle against the tireless enemies, the Demon King began to move to put an end to the battle.