The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP8. The Coming Doom

After Grandis finished reading the record, he felt an indescribable emotion.

Something, a strange feeling.

She had never known such intense emotions as those in the records. She had never known the pain of loss, she had never known intense obsession, and above all, she had never known unknown love.

The emotions she had never felt before were being shown by her in the records. She felt confused by the sight.

She had never thought of herself as the kind of person who could feel such feelings. She had lived a colorless life within the boundless expanse of her own self.

The warrior guessed that there was a connection between him and Ainzel. He thought that they simply happened to become friends.

But it was different from what I expected. The relationship between Ainzel and her was much heavier, stickier, and… stronger than I thought.

What kind of feeling was it? That obsession, that love that my past self wanted even at the risk of dying.

Grandis couldn’t figure it out. She couldn’t quite understand how she could have such sticky feelings.

However… However, after realizing that the warrior and I had that kind of relationship, I thought that if I met the warrior again, something would change.

From just an object of curiosity, it’s unclear what it will turn into… but it will change, for sure.

Grandis thought about that and looked at his castle.

She saw her vassals. She also saw their children running around. It was such a contrast to the record she had just seen, she smiled faintly.

Then she shouted at the children.

“Children, come in now. Playing is good, but shouldn’t you do it while eating?”

At her words, the children smiled brightly and began to enter the castle.

She saw the sight. Everyone, the warrior’s appearance had changed.

“…You kept your promise.”

She sat down by the window and said absentmindedly.

He did not allow her territory, her vassals, or her life to be lost.

She looked up at the sky at the sight he had created.

I wanted to see him. I didn’t know what to say to him, but I just… I just wanted to see him. No matter what I said or what I thought.

As she thought about that, her thoughts shifted to another topic, which was also related to Ainzel.

Grandis felt a strong sense of discomfort for a moment.

So then, why on earth was the Holy Sword destroyed?

No matter how you look at it, Ainzel has never done anything wrong after defeating the Demon King.

So, was it destroyed because I swung the holy sword after defeating the Demon King?

That wasn’t it either. It was a holy sword that had already been used to cut down the goons she had sent.

So then the problem was that he attacked ‘her’.

Why is that? Why is that being treated as a problem?

Grandis couldn’t figure out why the goddess, the mistress of all light, had let the holy sword be destroyed just before she was attacked.

Wasn’t there something wrong with the idea of ​​the Holy Sword from the beginning?

She began to have doubts.

…

Several months passed. Feria and the other companions who remained in the Empire were finally able to finish viewing all of the warrior’s records.

In the end, he was innocent until the end.

The appearance of a demon cult engraved on his body was simply an appearance created by receiving the power of the Demon King without their knowledge, and his bloody murderous acts were all just hatred towards the Demons.

Despite all the pain he suffered, Ainzel forgot how to regret or resent, and simply set out to reclaim the daily life that had been taken away from him.

It was only then that they realized the fact.

I didn’t have the strength to say anything. If it had been like this, there would have been no need to even assume that.

That doesn’t mean they could die and turn back time like they did when Ainzel was a warrior.

I didn’t even have the right to say anything to him.

The emotions and pains he felt alone were already beyond compensation. They had already gone far beyond that level.

They could tell at the same time that he was the one who could become the hero. The Holy Sword had chosen him because there was no one else worthy of becoming the hero.

They began to deteriorate as a group.

It was said that Sein found comfort only in taking care of his younger brother in his mansion, that Beatrice would shut herself in her room and pray, and that Feria had become obsessed with politics as if trying to forget her pain.

They couldn’t even figure out what to do about Ainzel.

One day, while they were living like that, Peria gathered them all together and said.

“Let’s meet Ainzel.”

“what?”

Sein frowned at her words and said, Feria looked at her with serious eyes.

Se-in shook his head.

“Well, I… I can’t do it.”

Now that she knew the whole truth, she felt shameless for going to Ainzel right away. Ainzel said clearly. It would be better not to look at his past, and that he did not resent them.

And they saw the hidden meaning behind those words.

I saw that he had lost his emotions. I saw that he had lost his memories. I also saw that despite all his sacrifices and suffering, he had been falsely accused.

Sein had already met Ainzel. That was why she couldn’t even think that she would be able to meet Ainzel again.

Because, in her opinion, it was such a shameless thing to do.

But Peria thought differently.

“Yes, it may seem shameless to Ainzel that we are apologizing now. But if we don’t at least apologize, if we run away from what we have to do because we can’t bear the pain anymore, we’ll be even more pathetic.”

Feria looked at Sainte-Anne and Beatrice. They all had the same fear.

Feria had been afraid until now. She was so afraid of apologizing to Ainzel and meeting him that she couldn’t bear it.

That’s why she ran away under the pretense of looking at Ainzel’s records. She wanted to see with her own eyes what happened to him. It was a very flimsy excuse, and she hid behind that excuse.

But is it right to hide like that for your entire life? Can it really be said that it is the right path to be so afraid of facing the sins you have committed that you cannot even think about moving forward?

Her answer was no. It would be wrong for her to hide so cowardly for fear of her own sins.

Peria decided to face Ainzel. Seeing her gaze, Sein sighed.

“…Ha, good. If I could see him again, that would be great. If that happens, I’d have to give him a proper apology someday. But… Do you know where he is now?”

“To Ainzel’s hometown….”

“Well, Lena hasn’t come yet, even though it’s been months since she heard that the matter in her hometown was resolved. I don’t think it’s certain that Ainzel is still in his hometown.”

As such words were exchanged, Beatrice cautiously raised her hand and said.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but even if you’re looking for him, there’s something you need to think about first.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

When Feria asked, Beatrice spoke in a small voice.

“It’s about meeting him and figuring out exactly what to do.”

“That’s something to do once you find out his location…”

“no.”

Beatrice firmly denied it, even cutting off Feria mid-sentence. Beatrice continued.

“It’s important to decide in advance what you’re going to do with him. That will have the greatest impact on what kind of behavior you’ll take in the future.”

At Beatrice’s words, Feria opened her mouth cautiously.

“Meet him, apologize, and clear his name… Is there anything more to it?”

Beatrice quietly watched Peria as she spoke, then closed her eyes and spoke.

“You’re going to meet him and apologize? In front of people? Or privately? If you were to clear his name, what would you do? Even if you did it half-heartedly, it would only hurt him more. I… I can’t stand seeing that.”

At Beatrice’s words, their meeting once again descended into a labyrinth.

…

Meanwhile, Ainzel and Lena hunted down the warlocks and dug up their bases, and finally managed to find the warlocks’ stronghold. It was near his hometown.

They say the darkness is under the lamp, and that is exactly what happened today.

Ainzel and Lena began walking towards the center of their base.

EP8. The End of the Coming Doom.