The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP8. The Coming Doom

Ainzel woke up at dawn the next day. When he came to, Grandis was still sleeping next to him.

The sight of her sleeping soundly without even tossing and turning was so defenseless.

Ainzel couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. The fact that Grandis, who had been able to evaporate hundreds with a single wave of his hand when fighting, was showing such a weak appearance made him laugh without realizing it.

He looked as if he was fragile, like a glass sculpture, ready to shatter with a snap the moment you touched him. His white, slender neck was visible. His sleeping posture was unusual, as he was curled up in a shrimp-like position. If you think about what was hidden behind such a fragile-looking appearance, his laughter must have been justified.

Grandis slowly opened her eyes. Ainzel was secretly amazed at how tired her eyes could be.

Grandis tossed and turned a couple of times before finally raising her upper body.

“…Haam.”

Even after getting up like that, Grandis had to yawn and lick her lips a couple of times before she could fully open her eyes.

Ainzel watched all of this quietly.

“Uh… Well, this is… .”

Grandis looked to the side, thinking back on his memories and realizing where he was.

From the side, Ainzel was staring at her intently.

“It looks like I woke up early today.”

When Ainzel spoke, Grandis’ face turned red.

“What, what? If you were already up, you could have said something. Wake me up.”

Ainzel looked at her and said.

“Why should I do that?”

Grandis frowned and said.

“Okay, you’re good. … Wait a minute, I’ll prepare dinner.”

Grandis snapped her fingers and the cooking utensils were instantly in her hands, and when she clapped her palms together, cooking ingredients poured out into the kitchen she had remodeled.

“Where do those ingredients come from?”

When Ainzel suddenly asked out of curiosity, Grandis laughed and said,

“Why should I tell you?”

Ainzel’s expression crumpled, while Grandis’s mouth was wide open with a smile. He thought he had landed a punch. He also felt like he was acting a little childish, but wasn’t it the warrior who acted childishly first?

Grandis smiled at Ainzel and then said.

“I just had nothing better to do, so I shoved it into the subspace as a precaution against disaster, but I didn’t know it could be used like this. Don’t worry. It’ll be enough to live off of for a few decades.”

What on earth could they possibly do with enough food to last for decades, stored in subspace? Ainzel looked at Grandis with a questioning look on his face, and Grandis glared at Ainzel as if he had been stabbed in the butt.

“Is there any chance of… being lost?”

Ainzel, however, could not overcome his curiosity and ended up speaking out loud. Grandis was a strong man who had reached the realm of transcendence, so there was no way he would get lost. Both Ainzel and Grandis knew that, so Grandis thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“…I thought, since I have nothing else to do, I’ll just pretend to be stranded, and that’s what I did.”

Ainzel looked at Grandis with a pitiful look in his eyes. Even though not a single word came out of his mouth about why he was doing such useless things, it seemed that both Ainzel and Grandis heard it.

Grandis moved the cooking utensil roughly, her ears reddening.

Then, after continuing to cook like that for a while, he glared at Ainzel and said.

“Well, if you think about it, it’s thanks to that that you can sit still and eat like this. Shouldn’t you be thankful?”

Ainzel looked at her and said.

“Of course I thought that was fortunate, and I didn’t say a word.”

Grandis felt a sense of resentment towards Ainzel, who did not give in to a single word, something she had never felt before in her life.

Ainzel felt his own emotions upon seeing Grandis like that. For the first time, he saw Grandis’s fragile appearance, and also saw her human, or rather, ‘personal’ appearance. Ainzel was absorbed in emotions after seeing Grandis’s new appearance in many ways.

Grandis blushed and grumbled for a while before finishing the food and placing it on the table.

The dishes were, as expected, prepared with great skill, and, with the exception of one plate, were filled with familiar dishes.

Yeah, except for ‘just one plate’.

Ainzel pointed to the ominous plate and said:

“…What is this?”

Grandis answered with her mouth pouting.

“This is a dish made with a new recipe I created. Try it.”

“…I guess it would be better to just say that the materials were thrown on the ground.”

At what Ainzel said, Grandis looked at Ainzel and said.

“Ha, why don’t you try it once and then tell me?”

Ainzel poked his plate with his fork and took a bite of her creation.

And the result was the same. The ingredients were all off, the seasoning was incredibly strong, and I couldn’t even tell what the heck it was smelling like.

As soon as Ainzel tasted it, he snickered.

Grandis blushed at the sight. She had never once been recognized for her creativity by others, so she thought that Ainzel had given her a good evaluation.

Ainzel’s laughter, which had started out as a snicker, grew louder and louder until he was still laughing.

Grandis took a bite of his creation, then threw it all away on the plate.

“Ugh.”

Grandis clutched her head. She felt sick to her stomach.

Ainzel sneered at Grandis and then said.

“It’s such a delicious taste that nothing but laughter comes out.”

Grandis was inwardly angry at those words, but also angry at herself for not being able to deny them.

After finishing the meal, Grandis taught Ainzel the techniques of black magic. They were simple techniques that had no special techniques or anything, and were literally aimed at raising one’s level. It was absurd to think that one could raise one’s level that way, but he thought that it would at least help.

“Hmm, this seems somewhat similar to magic and sorcery.”

Hearing that, Grandis shrugged his shoulders and said.

“That’s true. The study of magic techniques develops over time, and the best ones that wizards use are likely to be applied to black magic and developed. Even if they’re not exactly the same, they’re bound to be similar to some extent.”

Ainzel continued to listen to Grandis’ words.

“While black magic has strong properties of erosion and destruction, the main properties of magical power are conduction and amplification. Therefore, magical power has some similarities with black magic and divine power, and can perform roles similar to those powers. On the other hand… divine power and black magic never mix.”

Only after hearing that explanation did Ainzel understand why the black magic techniques resembled magic. After hearing that, Ainzel began to weave the magic techniques he had learned using black magic.

And the attempt was stopped midway, because the recipe wasn’t put together properly.

Grandis clicked his tongue and said,

“Oh my, you said that magic power can play a similar role to black magic power, but how could black magic power work in a spell created exclusively for magic power? It might be different in the opposite case, but in a case like this, it’s obvious that it wouldn’t work well.”

Ainzel heard those words and used his magic to weave a black magic spell. The spell was completed smoothly, except for a slight stutter.

Ainzel looked at Grandis and said.

“Then, I guess I could practice using black magic instead of black magic… .”

Grandis looked at Ainzel and said.

“Hmm… Now that I think about it, that seems to be the case. Since there was no being that could handle black magic and other powers at the same time, I didn’t really think about that.”

Grandis said that and calculated all sorts of spells on his own, then nodded his head after muttering.

“Hmm, a little bit of stuttering is a bit bothersome, but at least it will help a little.”

Ainzel nodded at those words.

“Then it’s good. Let’s continue training with magical power instead of the black magic that has run out.”

When Grandis heard that, he said:

“Hmm… But one thing that bothers me is that, to be honest, the effectiveness of the training will be really poor. Black magic and magical power are completely different powers, so even if it helps, it will only be a little bit.”

Ainzel heard that and chuckled.

“Efficiency is not important. What matters is whether I can move forward or not, and as long as I can move forward, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Hearing that, Grandis smiled faintly.

Yeah, that’s what it takes to be a warrior.

“Okay, then let’s continue training, even if it means using magic.”