The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP9. ■■

Feria stroked Ainzel, who had turned into a monster, and then activated the magic circle.

Ainzel’s colleagues were all gathered and preparing.

“I’ll take care of this myself, but if we don’t show up in three days, come here and kill the monster.”

After saying that, Peria quickly left the people. The people were curious as to what the Emperor would do, but like a skilled imperial servant, she quickly disappeared.

Feria lifted the monster’s massive body and headed to the palace’s basement.

A barrier surrounded the palace’s basement, preventing anyone else from approaching.

Considering the monster’s enormous size, it would have been common sense to assume that it could not be made to enter the palace’s basement, but it was a simple matter for Peria to slightly bend the space.

The monster cried softly while chained.

“Grrrrrrr…”

Feria placed the monster on the ground and snapped her fingers. In an instant, the underground changed into a gigantic hall. The entire palace was already like her workshop.

The monster’s voice was heard.

“It hurts… It’s annoying. It’s painful…”

The monster, chained and unable to move, seemed to have lost its strength and stopped talking. Feria looked as if she was about to cry, but soon managed to smile. However, she could not change the sad look in her eyes until the end. Before she knew it, tears were slowly flowing from her eyes.

“Yeah. I’ll make it painless soon. Ainzel.”

Feria touched the monster, then looked at her companions. They all approached Feria, and Feria began to conjure up a spell.

“Once this technique is completed, we will be directed to Ainzel’s inner self. Then, what we need to do is find Ainzel’s true body within that inner world.”

“The main body… Even if you say that, how can you know what the main body is? Is there a way to know that?”

When Lena asked, Feria looked at Lena and said.

“Well… Ainzel’s current mental state is already in a precarious state, and he must have been forced to go berserk by the Demon King’s black magic. That means, unconsciously, in order to minimize the damage… the soul will instinctively seek out the moment when it feels the most comfortable.”

“It was a comfortable moment…”

That meant that there was a high probability that he would be quite different from the Ainzel they knew. Because… at least, all he gained from acting with them was pain.

Feria clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. Then she spoke in a strained voice.

“Okay, then let’s go now. Everyone, come back safely. Ainzel… is so kind that he would definitely be upset if someone died because of him.”

The ritual was completed. They all closed their eyes and accepted the ritual.

With that, they fell down like puppets with their strings cut off.

…

“…Here?”

Se-in suddenly came to her senses. This was definitely his mental world. She looked around.

All around her was a snowy field covered with snow. She started walking without any plan.

But no matter how far she walked, she couldn’t see anything. She found that fact strange.

Finally, after walking for a long time, she was able to spot a figure.

It was a human. An old man with a white beard and long hair, holding a sword.

The old man’s eyes were hard, his wrinkles were deep, and a refined energy flowed from his body.

Sein was able to realize the identity of the man before his eyes by looking at the figure and the sword in his hand.

“…Ainzel?”

The old man seemed to have just discovered Se-in and looked at him quietly.

“…It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

After saying that, Ainzel approached Sein and said.

“But, how did you say my name… Oh, I’m sorry.”

Ainzel looked at the holy sword in his hand and then said.

“Perhaps they are the surviving descendants of the humans who were wreaked havoc outside by the Demon King. Perhaps they recognized me because they saw that I was holding the Holy Sword?”

Ainzel didn’t seem to recognize Sein. Sein nodded for a moment.

“…Yes, perhaps the humans hated me. The hero suddenly disappeared, and the world was ruined by the Demon King. But for me, this was the best I could do. There might have been another way. But… I couldn’t think of a better way. I believed I had made the best choice, but now even that thought is clouded.”

Se-in opened his mouth carefully.

“What did you… do?”

Ainzel looked at Sein with his black eyes, then laughed and answered.

“I just came back from burying a friend. A very… very old friend.”

At those words, Sein finally realized where he was. This situation right now… It must have been the scene that remained in his mind right after Grandis died.

Ainzel lit a fire with magic. Since the fire was burning with magic anyway, there was no need for any fuel. Then, he made a place to sit and sat down.

“Would you like to talk for a moment? This is my last journey as an old man, and I thought it would be good to have someone to talk to.”

As Ainzel’s past, which was difficult to even imagine, came to life and moved vividly before his eyes, Se-in had no choice but to sit down.

“…What does it mean that your friend died?”

Sein spoke like that. Even though he knew what Grandis meant to Ainzel now, he had nothing else to say. And if possible, he wanted to hear his feelings directly from him.

“I had a friend. At first, I thought he was just a person who would help me and I wouldn’t have anything to do with him. But the longer we spent time with him, the more it became clear that he wasn’t. Was it because there were no other people around? Was it because the cold of this snowy field made it difficult for the two of us to survive without sticking together? Well, I don’t know for sure. But…”

Ainzel ran his hand through his beard and said.

“What is certain is that she was already a precious person to me. And then she died. She didn’t have to die. Why is that? She said she didn’t want to see me die. Does that make sense? Do you think that makes sense?”

When Ainzel spoke like that, Sein didn’t respond at all. He didn’t know what to say.

Only then did Ainzel look at Sein and apologize.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I talked too much to myself. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to anyone other than my dead friend, so I made a mistake.”

Sein continued to look at Ainzel. Ainzel continued to speak while looking at the flames.

“…Anyway, that’s how it has turned out. I’m going to go to the Demon King soon. I’ll go to the Demon King and fight and die. If that happens… even if I turn back time, it’ll just mean I’ll have one more burden to carry.”

Ainzel bit his lip slightly. Then, he continued speaking.

“Of course, the same goes for you. Countless people have been sacrificed to the Demons for what I believed to be the best. I have no intention of denying that fact.

… And, maybe you won’t be born again after turning back time. Turning back time means that even the smallest variables can have big consequences after time passes. Those are also… things I have to bear.”

After saying that, Ainzel lowered his eyes and spoke calmly.

“You may not understand what I am saying now. You may hate me for causing countless people to die without doing anything because of one thought. Of course, if that is what you want, I will gladly die. Since I was planning to die by the hands of the Demon King anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

“No… I… .”

Se-in felt as if he was suffocating. The way he said that he could kill himself as if he were just having a meal felt so disjointed.

Ainzel looked at Sein with his wrinkled face. For some reason, he didn’t seem to know that he was Sein, but it seemed as if Ainzel had seen right through Sein’s true identity.

And then, a loud noise started to ring out from behind the city.

It was dark. One side of the sky was covered in darkness, its tentacles stretching out.

And then, there, monsters that looked like Ainzel in his transformed state, or that reminded me of ashen soldiers, were running towards me.

As if they existed solely to exterminate humanity, the black creatures were rushing forward in waves.

Se-in took up his sword.