The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP8. The Coming Doom

It was several hours after Ainzel had made the stew that Grandis finally came to her senses. Only then did she calm down and wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face.

“Are you feeling better now? It seems like you weren’t feeling well… .”

If it was a physical problem, he could have healed it with his divine power, but in Grandis’ case, it was more like a mental problem that affected her body. That’s why Ainzel obediently took care of her so that she felt at ease.

“Ugh, I’m embarrassed to show you this. What time is it?”

“The sun is already high in the sky.”

As Ainzel spoke, Grandis looked at him and said.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry. Get up and prepare dinner…”

“No need. I prepared the meal. I prepared the stew, but it’s already cold. I’ll warm it up and come back, so just wait a moment.”

Grandis looked at Ainzel with surprised eyes.

Ainzel took the look in his eyes as surprise at the fact that he had cooked, and scrunched his face and said.

“Did you think I was some kind of idiot who couldn’t even cook? Just sit still. It’ll be ready soon.”

As Ainzel spoke and grumbled slightly, warming the stew on the fire, Grandis held her cheek.

Her face felt hot. Even without looking, it was obvious that her white skin was flushed with red.

‘Why are you suddenly doing that…?’

Ainzel usually treated her coldly. It was probably the same reason he hated and killed the demons so much. Of course, she knew that he was surprisingly kind and gentle on the inside, but when he suddenly showed consideration for her after being blunt, the gap was so big that Grandis couldn’t get used to it.

Ainzel said as he saw her face turning red while he was heating up the stew.

“Hmm, why is your face red? Has your fever not completely gone down yet?”

As he said that, he strode towards Grandis and placed his hand on her forehead, making Grandis unable to come to her senses.

“I think my fever has gone down a little… but why is my face getting redder?”

After saying that and confirming with Grandis that there was no problem, Ainzel went back to reheating the stew and then scooped it up.

“Now, eat.”

Ainzel brought her a steaming vegetable stew, simmering thickly. The vegetables had all melted into the broth, mushy. It was obvious that this had been done on purpose to make it easier to digest.

Grandis hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say.

“…thank you.”

Ainzel heard that and said.

“It’s nothing much, so just eat it. Don’t overwork yourself.”

Grandis took a spoonful of the stew and put it in her mouth. It might have tasted bland to her, who usually liked strong liver, but instead she felt warmth spreading through her entire body.

She ate the whole stew.

“…Okay, if you’re done eating, rest a bit more. If you overwork yourself again, you could end up in bigger trouble.”

“No… I have to train now.”

“training?”

Ainzel looked at her with an expression that said, “What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“Yeah… You took up a lot of my time for no reason…”

Ainzel laid her down on the bed and said.

“Just rest. It won’t be a big problem if you rest for a day or so anyway.”

Grandis looked at Ainzel.

“…You’re cooperating with me for that. But if I don’t teach you how to use black magic… I’ve already caused you too much trouble today…”

Ainzel laughed at those words.

“You say all sorts of funny things.”

Grandis looked at Ainzel and asked.

“Why… are you saying that’s funny…?”

“You can train well with that body. What you should do is make your body in good condition, not talk about that. … I don’t have any talent, so I won’t change much in a day or two anyway. So don’t worry about that and just rest for now. I don’t know if a person who is mentally shocked can have such problems in their body.”

Grandis’s physical body was in trouble because of her mental issues. Such mental issues were not likely to get better easily, and in the long run, I thought it was not a good idea to push myself to the limit by not investing even a single day.

Ainzel thought about it and shook his head inwardly.

No, no. He was fooling himself like that, but the truth was that he was just worried about her suffering from nightmares, her fragile appearance as if she could break into pieces.

Grandis said with an expression on his face that seemed to show that he could not trust Ainzel, whether he knew Ainzel’s thoughts or not.

“…Yeah, I understand.”

Grandis lay on the bed.

It must have been a contractual relationship from the beginning. He was contracted to kill the Demon King and save his comrades, and she was contracted to revive her past vassals and take revenge on the Demon King who deceived her. That’s why she was unfamiliar with Ainzel’s attitude.

But it’s not bad.

Just a moment ago, she had a nightmare where her body was a ball of fire, and she felt the coldness of the dead creeping all over her body. But when he held her hand – the warmth still seemed to remain clearly in her hand.

She opened her mouth.

“…You lie down too.”

Ainzel looked at her and said.

“huh?”

Ainzel frowned when he heard that, since he had been planning to train Grandis even after seeing her eat well.

“Lie down next to me.”

With those words from Grandis, Ainzel asked.

“How can I? That bed seems a bit too narrow. No matter how much I think about it, there’s no way I can lie down next to you.”

Ainzel said so, indicating a subtle refusal. However, Grandis smiled and said, taking advantage of his current situation.

“After you put the beds together, just lie down next to me. Come here and lie down next to me.”

Ainzel had no choice but to follow her words.

Ainzel lay on the bed and looked at her face. She smiled and said.

“Haha, after being sick, I saw how that warrior treated the demons like this. It’s not a bad idea to be sick once in a while.”

Ainzel said to her,

“…Get up quickly.”

Grandis drew a dark line on her lips.

As Ainzel stood up after making eye contact with her for a while, Grandis said.

“…thank you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Grandis smiled bashfully and answered.

“Actually, taking care of me like this is something that is far removed from your original purpose, but you took the trouble to hang out with me. So… Yeah, so. I’m grateful that you treated me like this even though you hate the Demon Race.”

Ainzel looked at her, sat down on the bed, and sighed.

“…Do you know why I hated demons, and why I went wild whenever I saw demons and warlocks?”

“no.”

Grandis looked at Ainzel.

Why did he hate and despise the demons so much?

The question that I had been curious about but had never thought to ask was about to be answered by Ainzel first.

“…because of a girl.”

“girl?”

Grandis looked at him with curiosity at the seemingly random and odd words.

“It wasn’t like she had any special talent or anything. The girl just approached me first with the innocent eyes of a child.”

Ainzel continued speaking.

“At that time, to be honest, I was a little tired. That’s why I felt joy and blessing that there was such a pure and innocent life.”

Grandis continued to look at him without saying anything.

“He was a child who had absolutely nothing to do with war. He was a child with a pure and clear smile.”

Ainzel took a deep breath and began to open his lips again.

“And then, the child was cut in half and killed. It was a massacre of those who had nothing to do with the war that occurred due to the betrayal of the warlock. It all felt like… the warlock and the demons were to blame. So I held the demons and the warlock responsible for the deaths of those who should not have died. I just gave in to hatred and ran wild.”

Grandis looked at Ainzel’s face. A variety of complex and subtle expressions, from guilt to regret, seemed to pass across his face.

“…I see.”

Ainzel clenched his fists.

“…but we have already become too close to you to just blindly and recklessly explode with hatred.”

“so?”

“To put it simply, I was bothered. It bothered me to just sit and watch you suffer.”

Grandis met Ainzel’s eyes.

… Somehow, I felt a little happy.