The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP8. The Coming Doom

Ainzel looked at Grandis, who had an expression on her face that seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“…that.”

What should I say? Ainzel felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked at her face.

“Please… be honest. Be honest with me.”

I could feel Grandis’s hands shaking.

Ainzel didn’t know what to say. What could he say in this situation to get the best result?

Unfortunately, he had no way to overcome this situation and no communication skills.

All he could do was tell her honestly.

“…once.”

Ainzel shut his eyes tightly.

“Once, I died directly to you.”

Grandis bit her lip. Red blood flowed out and soaked her lips.

“how?”

A tear fell from Grandis’ eye.

“How did you die?”

Ainzel looked at her and felt speechless as he spoke.

“that…”

Can I tell you? Her current condition was so normal that no one could dare say it was normal. Her eyes were red and she was crying, and her words were so different from her usual appearance.

“Please… if you don’t tell me, I’ll go crazy.”

Ainzel looked at her.

He saw her holding his shoulder.

“…The first time I met you was when I went to rescue the soldiers. Yes, that is… when I was being chased by the gray soldiers.”

Grandis’ expression darkened even further.

Without even knowing what the identity of the Gray Soldiers was, he simply used them because the Demon King told him to. And he used them to capture him. Not only that, he even surrounded him with undead and tried to kill him.

Her face turned pale as soon as she realized it.

I thought I knew when I killed him.

Her eyes opened wide.

Ainzel continued speaking.

“Yes… It was when we somehow managed to break through the undead’s encirclement and arrive at our castle.”

Ainzel looked out of the cave, recalling the past. Although Grandis had created a door and a wall, the stars in the night sky were still visible.

“The allied castle was in ruins. Before I could even figure out what had happened, you appeared before me.”

“…Yeah, so?”

Grandis was still shedding tears, but somehow managed to keep her expression in check.

“At that time, I was still afraid of being sick, afraid of dying, and afraid of fear. When I first saw you, I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t understand the fact that such a creature existed in this world. No, it wasn’t just me. Others were also overwhelmed by you and couldn’t even breathe.”

At Ainzel’s words, Grandis’s grip on Ainzel gradually grew stronger.

“And then I saw your smile, that’s what I thought. When I came to my senses at that moment, all the people around me had evaporated. Yes, except for Beatrice.”

He continued, not making eye contact with Grandis, because he had no idea what expression she might make.

“Beatrice was able to stand up to you for a bit… but after a few minutes, she was defeated by you.”

Ainzel clenched and unclenched his own hands.

“Then you came to me… and said you wanted to meet me once. I got really angry at you… for being so angry. I got angry at you for saying you wanted to reduce the ally’s fortress to rubble just because you wanted to meet me, for killing your comrades, for all sorts of things.”

Grandis felt like she couldn’t breathe. She felt nauseous. She wanted to throw up.

“You, seeing my reaction like that, seemed to have decided that there was no reason to keep me alive. You probably thought I wouldn’t solve your curiosity. Then, you said.”

Ainzel barely gathered his courage and looked straight at Grandis.

There was a surprisingly deep fear and sadness in her eyes.

It was a sight he thought he would never see.

“I want to know what happens if a person falls from a high altitude.”

The color drained from Grandis’s face. She was so pale that one wondered if her skin could ever be any paler.

“Then, you threw me from the sky. My organs burst, and I think the most fatal blow was that my spine was broken, but I threw myself like that. That was… my first meeting with you, and my only memory of being killed directly by you.”

“Direct… that is.”

“I think I died a few times to the undead you created, but I don’t quite remember.”

Grandis let go of Ainzel’s shoulder and flopped down on her bed.

Then she clenched her fists. They trembled.

I knew it from the beginning.

I knew from the beginning that I could not be like him.

His killings were different from her own. He killed for revenge and for a mission, while she killed only for her own interest and amusement.

Unlike the pain and countless thoughts contained in his killings, there was no meaning, no noble sacrifice, no nothing in her killings.

But… she was shaken by the news that Ainzel and the warrior had been killed as a result of her killing.

To her, other humans were nothing more than ants that would be trampled to death anyway, but Ainzel was different.

In a colorless world, only he was special.

And it pained her so much that she had to stop the breathing of that special being with her own hands.

How would he view her if he knew she was thinking like this? She thought so, and before she knew it, she had been thinking of him first, even in this situation.

To her, what he thought of her was more important than the lives of the insect-like humans. After all, other humans were good beings after all.

Since when did he become this kind of person to himself?

It was unclear exactly. Was it when he first asked her to lend him strength in his quest for revenge against the Demon King, or when he saw her back as she worked so hard that he couldn’t even understand it, or when he held her hand as she was aching with guilt?

No, there was no need to argue any further. He had already dyed her heart deep inside like ink in water.

Before he knew it, she had become colored in his colors.

Even though her essence has not changed.

Even though she is still selfish, pleasure-seeking, and evil.

She could transform into another being just for him.

No, rather, the change would be closer to shedding. Her feelings for Ainzel had grown so strong at some point.

She barely managed to get out of bed and hugged him tightly with trembling arms.

As she reached the state of transcendence and hugged him tightly, he couldn’t help but push her away.

She felt tears continuing to flow from her eyes. What had started out as just a drop or two was now flowing like a huge stream.

“Sorry….”

She left behind an apology that only he could convey in this world.

“Sorry….”

Ainzel hesitated and then hugged her. Grandis continued to shed tears.

“Sorry….”

Ainzel patted her back.

She felt disgusted at that moment.

She had to tell him she was sorry, but her heart was wavering just because he patted her on the back.

“…It’s all in the past. I’m okay.”

Stop. The more he cared about himself, the more he told himself that he was okay, the more the hurt spread uncontrollably.

But more than that, what hurt the most was that she was reassured by his words and gave him more of her heart. She was disgusted with herself for being like that.

She couldn’t bear the fact that she was the pain inside him.

Ainzel remained still until her tears soaked his clothes, then he abruptly got up.

Then he took her crying hand and walked out.

“…What are you doing?”

She asked.

Instead of speaking, Ainzel showed me the vast night sky.

“Do you see? That night sky.”

The sky was dark because it was waning and the moon was not visible. She looked at Ainzel and said.

“…I can’t see anything.”

“No, look closely. At all those stars.”

The moon was gone, but countless stars were shining brightly in its place.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“…What do you want to say to me?”

“Well… even though it looks dark now because the moon is not visible, look. The stars are shining brighter than usual. There is joy to be gained because it is dark and because the situation is not good.”

Ainzel took her hand and said.

“Even though you attacked me in the past, when our situation was so dark, you cooperated with me like this, and we lived and talked together. These are all scenes that I could not see when the moonlight was shining brightly. But when it was so hard, you became my starlight on a moonless night. Compared to that… a single death is nothing.”

She lowered her head.

“I’ll ask you again. Isn’t it beautiful? This situation. The starlight passing by us. The past is something we can just let pass by. What’s important is the present moment where you and I are alive and breathing.”

“…huh.”

She answered.