The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP10. The Falling Twilight

I picked up my bag. I took off the expensive clothes I had been wearing and put on clothes made of tough materials instead, and packed the necessary items.

And as I stepped out of the room, I saw my colleagues. They were greeting me with complicated smiles.

I looked at them and said with a small smile.

“Why did you all have to come all this way to see me off?”

Then Peria came out and shook my shoulder and said,

“Why, since it’s the day you go home, I should at least send you off like this.”

“That’s right. So… I wanted to give you a blessing, hoping that you’ll be healthy and return home without any problems.”

Beatrice said that, closed her eyes, placed her hands on my head, and muttered a prayer.

I said, scratching my cheek as she finished her prayer.

“Why are you acting like this… like I’ll never see you again. We’ll meet again anyway.”

Beatrice nodded.

“Yes, we can teleport, so we won’t be completely cut off in the future. Definitely.”

I smiled brightly. Then Lena said, pulling my clothes away.

“It’s a bit of a shame that you’re not in the Empire, though. I wanted to show you with my own eyes how the world changes.”

“Well, I’ve already experienced enough of the world around me changing rapidly, so I don’t really want to see it. Even if I don’t see it, I know you’ll do well anyway.”

Se-in nodded with a bright smile while listening to me and shed tears.

“Yes… I hope you can rest in your hometown now. I will always hope that you will not get sick and that you will always be filled with happiness.”

“You speak as if you are someone I will never meet again.”

Se-in wiped away his tears with his index finger and smiled bashfully.

“Well, maybe I’ve become too sentimental. It’s just, the fact that you’re leaving like this… Yeah, I have mixed feelings.”

I hugged them one by one. And then I said to them.

“Still, I plan on visiting the Empire from time to time. You guys will visit my hometown often too, right? Don’t cry too much.”

Let’s say so, Beatrice said cautiously with a red face.

“…I know that. But you’re not just going to hug me and then leave?”

When I heard that, I had to kiss them all once.

I finally left the imperial capital and looked back. I saw the magnificent and splendid walls. The sky was shining brightly all over the world.

It’s been about a year and a half since I was exiled from the former empire and started on my way back to my hometown.

The destination was the same, but now it seemed like something had changed a lot.

I walked little by little. And finally, I ran until I was out of breath. If I used my magic power, I wouldn’t have been out of breath, but I ran until I was exhausted without using anything like that.

And then, after a while, I had to stop because I was out of breath.

My heart was pounding like crazy. My blood felt hot. My lungs felt like they were going to burst. The muscles in my legs were screaming.

Throughout my life, I have had to continue to endure pain.

And this was the end. I thought the suffering would never end, but beyond the suffering, I arrived here.

Where did we arrive? Where did we arrive? No, it’s not appropriate to say that.

Right now, I’m just walking down the road. I haven’t arrived anywhere, I’m just continuing to walk down the road.

I am alive. After going through the darkness and enduring the pain, all that remains for me is to get out of there and walk the path that lies ahead.

I trembled with the realization that I was alive. And then I laughed. Because this feeling of being alive felt so true. And because I thought that alone was enough.

After standing still for a while, I continued walking. And, in the midst of that fullness, I thought of Grandis.

… One day after defeating the Demon King, Grandis suddenly disappeared from the palace. And I never saw Grandis again. When I asked my other companions, they said that Grandis was doing something, but I couldn’t understand why he didn’t show his face to me.

When I think of her, the fulfillment I had gained from the path I was walking on suddenly disappears, and a feeling of emptiness fills its place again.

I drew her face in the sky. When I think about it, she was the one who had the greatest influence on me when I was living a life full of pain. Even if I were to add up all the time I spent with other people, it would not reach her. I even thought that maybe there was something wrong with her that she didn’t appear in front of me.

As I was thinking about that, a black figure fell before me. No, the figure landed right in front of me. Quickly, accurately. And surprisingly delicately.

I said with a blank face.

“Gran…dis?”

She brushed her hair back and looked at me.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

I looked at her blankly and said.

“…Where have you been all this time?”

Grandis answered with a faint smile.

“I came here to change the power structure so that the demons would no longer cause wars and could establish a single nation and survive on their own, because there might be trouble among the demons. So that the demon lord would no longer appear and drag the demons into useless wars.”

“…So, now you want to become the leader of the demon tribe?”

When I asked that, Grandis opened her eyes wide and said,

“What does that mean?”

I continued speaking, not knowing what to say to her question.

“What are you talking about? Since you don’t even show your face in front of me, I thought that what you were doing among the demons was that now that the Demon King situation is over, you had returned to the demon society and were doing that.”

Then Grandis shook his head and said.

“No, I have no intention of becoming the leader of the demons. I have already made it so that they can choose who will become their leader, so I have nothing more to do among the demons. In the first place, all the vassals I ruled over are already dead, so I don’t feel the need to do anything more, do I? That’s what I mean…”

I looked at Grandis. She came up to me naturally, faced me, and continued speaking.

“…Yeah, I told you. Right now, you’re the only one I have left.”

She tapped my chest with her index finger.

“What does that mean?”

I asked back, not understanding what she was saying. Grandis distanced herself from me, raised her eyebrows, and spoke.

“Don’t you know? So… just let me follow you wherever you go. I have nothing left in my hands anyway, and I have no destination.”

She said, tossing her long, black hair.

“You, be my destination.”

I was silent at her words. It was hard to accept the weight of being the only thing left for her. How heavy it is to be everything to one person, to one individual.

The thought that I was worthy of it never crossed my mind. Even though I was everything to her, she was not everything to me. It couldn’t be. Knowing that, I hesitated.

When I showed my hesitation like that, Grandis sighed. As soon as I heard that sigh, I lowered my head. I felt pathetic. What good was I doing spreading seeds like a stallion in heat? In the end, my true nature was still pathetic.

Seeing me like that, Grandis wiped the smile off her face. What was she thinking? Was it disappointment in me?

After much thought, I opened my mouth.

“…I don’t know if I’m worthy of it.”

Then Grandis narrowed his eyes and approached me, saying:

“Qualification? Why, because you’re with them? I don’t care about that. That’s not what’s important anyway. What’s important is you. What you think of me is important.”

At those words, I could only stare at Grandis for a while. If that’s what she was thinking, then there was only one thing I had to think about.

Am I ready to accept her?

… Honestly, I don’t know. She’s the one I’ve spent almost half my life with. But I never really thought I could have any kind of relationship with her. Maybe I unconsciously deified her.

I decided to answer her for now.

“…How should I introduce you?”

First of all, I wanted to go with her and see if she was the kind of person I could be. Yes, this is a journey to get to know myself, not her.

Grandis said with a smirk.

“You should have said that you brought some fabric.”

As she said that, she gently stroked her head, and in an instant, the horns disappeared.

As I blankly stared at her, she crossed her arms and spoke to me.

“What are you doing? Okay, let’s go.”