The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP8. The Coming Doom

Ainzel frowned and looked at Grandis.

“No… I told you to cover your face. It wasn’t intentional.”

“I don’t think it’s meaningful to say that now that you fed me that poison.”

“That, that was…! It was the result of my creativity. Even though there was a little, just a little problem, it turned out that way…”

Ainzel looked at the plate lying on the floor, raised one corner of his mouth in a mocking expression, and then said.

“You took a bite and threw the whole plate away, and now you’re talking too much.”

The results of Grandis’s creativity were in stark contrast to other dishes that were just fine, or even excellent, and there was not a single part of them that could be called fine, from the aroma to the texture.

Then Grandis clapped his index fingers together, looked away, and said to Ainzel.

“Poetry, be loud, and practice controlling your black magic quickly.”

“I’ve already used up all my black magic.”

That meant that the black magic training for that day was also over. Grandis’ face crumpled at those words.

“…Ha, at this rate, when will I ever reach the level of a master…?”

Ainzel looked at Grandis’ face and said.

“I was like this when I was practicing handling magical and divine powers. I don’t think it’s any different just because it’s called black magic.”

“So, that means you have no talent. How on earth did you reach the level of a Master with magical and divine powers…?”

Grandis suddenly realized what he was saying and stopped mid-sentence. Ainzel shrugged and said.

“Yes, I definitely don’t have any talent. I never had any from the beginning. Compared to my colleagues who are now dead, my talent is nothing more than dust. But it doesn’t matter. I already know that deep down in my bones. The important thing is not to complain about talent and give up, but to think about what I can do with my humble talent.”

Grandis was troubled as she looked at Ainzel’s face as he spoke. The enlightenment of a talentless person, that is. It was a word that was far from her.

The warrior was truly terribly untalented, but he had reached the level of a master. Perhaps it had taken countless efforts and suffering to reach that level. Considering his power, he had probably experienced many things worse than death, let alone death. Grandis was curious about him, who was the complete opposite of himself.

“I see.”

Grandis had no choice but to answer like that. She had nothing else to say. For her, who had been born with everything in her hands, there was no point in saying anything to him.

Grandis looked at him quietly.

“…I guess I should go out for a bit now.”

Ainzel could not stand the silence for a moment and tried to go outside. Grandis looked at Ainzel and asked.

“why?”

Ainzel said as if it was a given.

“Shouldn’t you be training? Even though you can’t train black magic anymore, you should continue to train things like swords and magic that you can train now. Even if you can’t improve, you should at least maintain it.”

Grandis stared at Ainzel.

She had never tried to maintain herself. To her, achievement was easier than breathing, and even then, the moment she faced her limits, she immediately turned off all interest.

That must have been why she felt bored and started obsessing over things that would entertain her.

But she realized it after seeing Ainzel say that. If she had known this would happen, she would have tried harder.

She lost everything to the Demon King. Her own territory, her vassals who lived there, literally everything. For the first time, she felt that she was lacking, and only then, when she saw Ainzel, did she realize that she had never tried to surpass herself.

She had thought that she was too wide for herself. She had a headache because there were so many things she could do and obtain within her one world. So she was trapped in herself.

Yes, she has never tried to surpass herself and explore something outside of herself. Unlike the warrior who always had to surpass himself and fight against enemies who were stronger and bigger than him.

‘Were you afraid?’

After reaching the very edge of what she thought was her limit, she gave up all efforts. Yes, maybe she was afraid of not getting anything out of her efforts.

Grandis looked at Ainzel, who was handling divine and magical powers. There was no sign of genius in his technique, but it felt like the years and experience of handling those powers were all ingrained in him.

The strength she had gained through countless deaths and countless efforts was pitiful compared to the strength she was born with.

The complete opposite of her. It is difficult to expect any further development. Rather, she is anxious and anxious about not regressing.

So, rather, when she sees such a sight, she inadvertently sees something she doesn’t have and yearns for something she can’t do.

Grandis watched Ainzel quietly until he finished his training.

After finishing his training, Ainzel looked at Grandis and said.

“Huh? What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Grandis, unable to express her true feelings, chose her words and opened her mouth.

“Oh, I had nothing to do anyway. That’s why I was watching.”

Ainzel looked at her for a moment, then washed his entire body with magic.

Because he used water magic, after the water passed over him, he was left with not a bit of moisture left.

Grandis watched him wash his body like that for a while before blurting out a word.

“How many times have you died?”

Ainzel glared at Grandis.

“I don’t think we were close enough to each other to say something like that.”

To Ainzel, Grandis was nothing more or less than something he needed to defeat the Demon King. Their contract didn’t include a condition requiring him to be intimate with Grandis.

Grandis looked at Ainzel, no matter what his thoughts were.

“…Why do you want to know that?”

Grandis answered what Ainzel said.

“What should I say, you’re the complete opposite of me, so I’m just curious about you.”

Ainzel narrowed his eyes. Now that he thought about it, Grandis had been obsessed with him in the past as well. She had appeared in front of him with a smiling face and knocked him to the ground, killing him.

If you think about it, it might be quite strange that we are having this conversation, but Ainzel began to wonder if that was the reason Grandis was so obsessed with him.

He sat on the edge of the bed. If he were asked how many times he had died, he would not know what to say. He thought several times whether he should really answer, but seeing Grandis staring at him, Ainzel decided to give up and give a reasonable answer.

“How many times have I died? I’ve died countless times. After I became a warrior… I think my first death was on my way to the Holy Land. After that, I died for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it was in a fight with the legion commander, or sometimes it was just a death from a lowly monster. I was so scared of dying in the process and it was so painful that I even tried to commit suicide, but it didn’t work.”

Grandis surprisingly listened to Ainzel until the end.

“As time went by, I became less and less afraid of death. That’s why… That’s why I was afraid. Because the more my fear of death faded, the more distant I felt from my past self. Because I felt like I could never go back to the past when I was happy. That’s why… No, no. I talked about something unnecessary.”

I was just trying to answer appropriately, but somehow I ended up talking about something useless. Ainzel was internally criticizing himself for that, but he felt that it wasn’t a bad thing.

Was he glad that someone got to know his life, which no one could know or understand?

But it would be meaningless for the current Grandis to know that. After all, it was certain that he would die and return to the past, and if that happened, Grandis would also forget his current memories.

Ainzel barely came to his senses and looked outside the cave.

Before she knew it, the sky had turned black, and Grandis was lying in her bed.

“What are you doing? Lie down quickly.”

Ainzel’s bed was separate from Grandis’s, but the distance was very close.

Ainzel shrugged his shoulders at the sight and lay down on his bed.