The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 196



EP9. ■■

I started to worry. What should I do?

The relationship between Grandis and his colleagues did not get any worse. They were just distant enough to ignore each other when they saw each other. Nothing more, nothing less.

As for me, I was just glad that it didn’t get to the point where they would growl at each other just by meeting each other.

So, I thought the surrounding relationships had been resolved to some extent, but the biggest problem still remained. The Demon King of Arrogance and his army were still intact. Even though the Demon King of Arrogance’s army was reduced by more than half, the fighting power of that army was still dizzying.

The demons are usually about ten times stronger than humans. However, that doesn’t mean that ten humans can fight one demon. The premise is that ten humans will use all their abilities to join forces to fight the enemy, and that they are ten times stronger than humans.

And, the army of Oman was a strong army. What is a strong army? It is not a strong army because its combat power is far superior to that of other armies. Even if they are fresh recruits, if they give their all, it is not difficult for two of them to fight one strong army. However, the strong army is what prevents them from exerting their all.

Considering that, no matter how many soldiers I gathered, there was no way they could possibly be a match for the Demon Tribe’s forces. The entire continent was already groaning from healing the scars left by a dead Demon King, so how could that be possible?

In the end, the only way to think about it was to repair the holy sword and select a hero, but even that was ambiguous as to whether it was even possible. Most humans would not be able to properly utilize the power they received by holding the holy sword, and it was even more so when you don’t know what kind of person the hero would be selected as.

In addition, the problem became even bigger when you considered the probability of repairing the Holy Sword, which required the character who would become the warrior to come into direct contact with the Holy Sword and pass the criteria.

I stared blankly at the remains of the Holy Sword. … In fact, there is only one way to solve that problem.

I shook my head as I thought about that. No, I will not become a hero. I have no intention of going through that pain again. Besides, even if I became a hero again, I did not think I would be able to defeat the Demon King by just turning back the clock by one year.

I am that kind of person. Even if I were given the chance to turn back time and catch up on my mistakes, I am a person who can’t do anything with just one year. I have felt this deeply during the 99 years I have lived as a warrior.

As I was thinking like that, Se-in approached me.

“What are you doing?”

When the person who asked me that question asked me, I closed my mouth for a moment and then answered.

“…I was thinking.”

“thought?”

“I wonder if we can win.”

When Se-in heard that, he stood next to me, leaned his back against the wall, and said.

“… Then, can we win?”

The man who said that continued to speak.

“I saw the Demon King and the Archangel fight in person last time, and I was confident in my own strength, but I suddenly felt incredibly pathetic. I thought I had reached transcendence or something. When I think about that, I start to worry and wonder if it was right to win.”

“…Can I win?”

When I said that, Se-in opened his eyes wide and looked at me, then answered.

“Still… I have to believe that I will win, what can I do?”

“I believe….”

“There’s something precious. You have to win to protect it. Right?”

I closed my eyes when I heard those words. The scenery of my hometown came to mind. The sight of people smiling. The plants swaying in the breeze. And, above all, the sight of my parents in that scenery.

To protect what is precious, you must win. Not just me. Everyone.

“Yes… There are precious things we must protect. You and me.”

I answered like that. Se-in said, looking up.

“Yeah… I don’t know if you remember, but I have a younger sibling.”

Se-in’s younger sister. I don’t remember well, but I think I’ve heard of it. Since the side effects of the regression have already been completely recovered, the reason I don’t know much about her younger sister is simply because I haven’t heard much about her.

“She’s a very delicate, kind, and innocent girl. Her name is Angelotia… She’s the only blood relative I have left now.”

Jacob Luderan, who had served as the head of the Luderan clan before Saint, died on the battlefield while trying to stop the overflowing demons from the place where Ainzel had told him to hide. No one had told him to do so. I don’t know what he was thinking. Maybe it was a final atonement, or maybe he was just tired of living in hiding. But there was no way to know the mind of the dead.

So there were two people with the name Ruderan. Sein and Tia, the ten-year-old younger sister of Turul.

“I wanted to make sure that she would not have to go through the hardships of the world. Since I couldn’t live like that, I think I wanted to make sure that Tia had a good life. And I still feel the same way.”

I continued to listen quietly to what she said.

“I don’t want to lose my little brother to the demons. No… Not just my little brother, but everything else, everything. I want to protect them.”

I smiled at her words. Perhaps Sein was more suited to being a warrior than someone like me who had grabbed the holy sword on impulse.

As I was thinking that, Se-in came up to me and opened his mouth.

“I would like to tell you that I will protect you too. But… I can’t say that. You are already stronger than me.”

I looked at Sein. Well, I’ve never been stronger than Sein.

“Is that so? I… I am incomparably weaker than you.”

I thought that perhaps the three of us could come together to form a hundred-sided world against the world. The gap between me, who could not overcome my limit, and her, who had overcome her limit, was so extreme.

“No… It’s not just a comparison of fighting power. It’s about what’s on your mind. If I were you, I would have given up long ago. Maybe I would have been pessimistic about my situation and done nothing. Maybe I would have become a coward. Maybe I would have completely fallen apart.”

“…”

“But you decided to fight. That alone makes you strong enough. Look. No matter how pessimistic you think you are, you’ve already killed a demon lord. You’re stronger than me. Incomparably stronger.”

“No, I…”

Se-in stroked my hair. I wondered why he was stroking my hair while standing on tiptoe, but I endured it.

“Even if you say that, I know. You carry a lot of burdens. You are much stronger than me, and you have decided to shoulder those burdens yourself. So, even though I can’t protect you… I want to lighten your load a little bit as you walk the path you want to take.”

What I want to do.

I closed my eyes and saw the scenery of my hometown.

Yeah, that’s what I wanted.

“…Now that I think about it, I feel like I left so suddenly without saying anything to my parents.”

Se-in looked at me.

I smiled at her and said.

“So… after everything is over, I have to apologize to my parents. They were happy to see their child come back to their hometown after so many years, but then he disappeared again after so many months. How shocked they must have been.”

When I said that, Se-in looked at me with a strange look.

“So, after everything is over, after I win… I’ll go home and tell you. ‘I’m sorry for disappearing without saying a word.’”

It was something a child would say, but I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to say.

“And… I want to introduce you to my parents too. They’re my colleagues. They’re the people who helped me a lot, that’s what I’m saying.”

I saw Se-in’s face turn red. I smiled. Until her face turned as red as her hair.

When I thought about it, it was obvious. Why did I leave my hometown? Why did I leave a place where everything was perfect and jump into the battlefield of pain and struggle again?

Because even if I stayed still, I knew that in the end, that perfect paradise wouldn’t last long.

…because I knew that if I didn’t take action, nothing would happen.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I now have some idea of ​​what to do.”

After saying that, I turned my back on the saint and walked away. There was something I absolutely had to do.