The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

Lena looked at Ainzel. He was different from the past. He was even different from when he left the empire. His tattoos had grown longer, and his once black eyes had turned red.

What does she feel from that appearance?

I never even thought he’d be here.

It was a natural thing. It was a country that had killed the man who saved them several times. It was even stranger that he would step forward.

He died several times while protecting this country from the Titans, but also fell victim to his blind hatred for humans.

He fought for the fairies and for himself until the end.

The pain may have been forgotten by the saint, as he said. Even so, Ainzel’s feelings toward the guards would not have been good.

And he spat on him in anger at the fact that he had burned the World Tree, killed his father, and killed the guards who had killed him.

Why are you here?

Clearly, clearly, there is a high chance that he will die. Right now, even if he dies, he probably won’t be able to return.

I heard that he has been living quietly in his hometown for a long time.

Why on earth, why am I fighting warlocks here now?

But the surprises didn’t end there.

The most surprising thing was the huge sword he held in his hand.

Needless to say, that was black magic. I knew it instinctively.

It wasn’t even at a basic level. Rather, his level of black magic was superior to that of the countless black magicians he had swept away.

Yes, except for Grandis, there is no other black magician in this land.

I couldn’t believe that Ainzel was using black magic.

It was Ainzel who hated black magicians more than anyone else in this world.

Even now, I can vividly recall the sight of him smiling eerily and laughing with blood all over his body whenever he sees a warlock.

He, who burned with such blind hatred, bare his fangs even to Grandis.

It wasn’t a question of whether or not he could win, it was just a near-infinite hatred. That was the feeling Ainzel had for the warlock.

That’s why I couldn’t believe that he was using black magic.

In the first place, he didn’t use black magic even when dealing with the Demon King.

But when did you learn black magic and when did you reach that level?

Lena recalled the barrier she had seen on her way back to Tirentus.

I thought it was the domain of both wizards and warlocks, but that wasn’t the case.

It was Ainzel’s territory.

And perhaps the village surrounded by that barrier was his hometown.

Lena’s head started to hurt when she learned the truth only then.

Lena looked at the retreating warlocks, clutching her head.

I wanted to talk a little quietly.

…

I looked into the green light that seemed to have compressed the recording. My eyes met those of a pair of amazingly deep, transparent, and luminous green eyes.

I looked at her and said.

“…It’s been a while.”

Since we haven’t seen each other for a few months, I thought it would be okay to say something like “It’s been a while”. Although I can’t be sure because my sense of time is ruined.

Lena looked at me, held her head in her hands, and spoke in a wet voice.

“…Why, why are you here?”

As Lena spoke, I gave Iverkas a look. After hearing that, Iverkas disappeared somewhere. He probably went to do some damage control or report.

I sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree. The warlocks seemed to have mostly disappeared, so the story would be long.

“Sit down.”

I told her, but she just looked at me and frowned slightly with a sad look in her eyes.

“Please sit down. No matter what we talk about, it’s uncomfortable to continue like this.”

Lena then awkwardly sat down a little further away from me.

I asked her.

“Have you heard what the world said?”

First of all, I had to know this. If she hadn’t met Sein, or if she hadn’t seen my records, then there was nothing I could do about her attacking me.

“…Yeah. I saw your records too.”

I see. I felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, it seemed like I didn’t need to prove that I wasn’t conspiring with the devil.

Let’s think about it, she asked me again.

“Then, answer me. Why are you here?”

I asked her in return.

“What does that mean?”

“Why are you fighting here? It’s dangerous. There’s no reason for you to help me, so why am I here to help you fight?”

I said, unable to find the words to respond to her.

“well.”

Because that was all I could say.

“I don’t know either.”

How can I possibly answer questions to others that I can’t even answer to myself?

I continued.

“It’s just, Iverkas asked me to help him first, and I accepted his request and came here to fight. I don’t even know why I came here.”

The chances of death are high, and things beyond my control may happen. Even now, I don’t have the ability to go back even if I die. There was no particular benefit I could gain from coming here, and the risks I had to take were numerous. And yet, for some reason, without even knowing why, I came here.

As I came to my senses with that thought, I saw that it was getting darker and darker. I lit a fire.

“…okay.”

Lena said with a somewhat pained look in her eyes.

Lena looked at the burning flames for a moment and said.

“When did you learn black magic? I don’t even know how.”

I had a hard time finding words to say when I heard that.

“…that.”

“I used to hate warlocks so much, but now that you’re using warlock magic… I feel a little strange. I feel like we didn’t know this much about you. That’s why I’m asking. I want to correct the things I didn’t know before. Why did you learn warlock magic?”

I hated all warlocks.

I thought all demons and warlocks were things that should not exist, and I didn’t care what they did or what they thought. They were just things that I had to kill, and so I killed them.

I couldn’t stand the fact that a world like mine existed where they lived and breathed, because I hated and loathed them.

And I had to learn black magic.

The reason was that she, who was alive and breathing right before my eyes, was telling me.

“…To defeat the Demon King.”

That was all that was needed to explain why I had learned black magic and how I had managed to reach this level. At least, there was no explanation for me beyond that.

“And yet, you never once used black magic when fighting the Demon King.”

I nodded at her words.

“No, I wrote it. Without you guys knowing.”

“…Is that so.”

Lena smiled with lonely eyes.

“You used black magic when you fought the Demon King. I really didn’t know anything about you.”

I looked at her.

“…It’s not a bad thing that you didn’t know. In fact, it’s obvious that no one would figure that out on their own. Because I didn’t tell them.”

But Lena didn’t seem to accept it that way.

“It’s not a crime not to know… I see. You think so.”

Lena shook her head and said.

“You may think so… but I don’t think so myself. If I didn’t know anything, I should have done nothing. But I thought what I knew was all the truth, and I spat on you. I just can’t believe that’s something that can be forgiven so easily.”

I looked at her.

“…Do you remember what you looked like in your records?”

Lena looked at me and said.

“…Well, I don’t remember very well. It’s just vague.”

“That’s right. In the records I saw, you died. You really died a lot to prevent my brother from committing suicide by embracing the entire country. In the process, the Royal Guard attacked you. When I spat on you, it was for the people I had known since childhood, the people who were close to me, but from your perspective, they were just the ones who killed you. That’s why… that gap, it was so painful.”

I listened to Lena’s words in silence.

“At least I shouldn’t have asked you about their deaths. At least I shouldn’t have said that to you… Thinking back now, there are so many things I regret.”

Regret. Only then did I understand why Sein and Lena were suffering so much.

They just regret hurting me. That’s why my lightly offered forgiveness without even remembering it doesn’t make the situation any better. That’s how it is.

‘That’s right, that shouldn’t have happened… I’m sorry… .’

In addition, I was finally able to understand her heart. I was finally able to realize the past that had already passed.

I looked up at the sky. Lena said nothing more.

The stars flowed across the night sky.