The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 225



EP10. The Falling Twilight

I looked at the stars through a telescope. It was quite a strange experience for me, who was from the countryside, to see stars that were large and clear, even though I had no idea how they were done. It was meaningless to look at a regular telescope in the night sky. I asked the people.

“What is this?”

“Oh? Yeah. Nothing special, just a telescope. It’s specially designed to observe the night sky.”

“Ah… I see.”

What kind of eccentric person would have made something like this just to look at the sky? I was struck by a strange feeling. Until then, telescopes that I knew were at best used by explorers or a few nobles who liked novel things, but I didn’t know about something like this. I was curious about when something like this came into existence, so I asked the world.

“Who made this?”

“Well, I’m not sure, they say it was made in the far eastern continent. What I’m sure of is… If someone made something like this just to capture the vast sky in their eyes, they must have really big dreams. Yeah… Someone with really big dreams, to the point where they could embroider the sky with their dreams.”

I looked at the night sky through my telescope once again. Who would have wanted to embrace the Milky Way that decorates the sky? Who on earth would have dreamed of conquering that vast sky?

As I thought that, I slowly took my eyes off the telescope.

“Oh, you’re not going to see me anymore?”

“Yeah. This much… is enough.”

Se-in stared at me intently. Her originally red hair was swaying in the night sky, casting a strange light.

“why?”

She looked at me and asked.

“That’s enough. This isn’t looking at the night sky. This is… reflecting the dreams of someone who wants to embrace the night sky, whose dreams are too big to keep up with. I don’t fit into those dreams.”

I leaned my back against the pillar of the observatory. And, I stared at the people.

“And it’s more important to see the people close by than the stars in the sky far away. My dream isn’t something that vast or high up. Just… within my reach, that’s enough to make my dream come true.”

Se-in looked a little disappointed when she heard that. I looked at her and continued speaking.

“And… look.”

I took her wrist and led her into the open space of the observatory. Then I pointed to the sky and said,

“The North Star is clearly visible even without that. Rather than borrowing someone else’s dream and looking at the sky through a narrow hole, I want to see the vast sky with my own eyes.”

Se-in looked at the tip of my finger, smiled, and answered.

“…Yeah. It looks good. Amazing.”

The person who said that kissed me.

“…This is.”

“I just… wanted to. After hearing you say that, I also wanted to focus on what was nearby.”

I looked at her. And then I kissed her again.

… I haven’t given up on my worries yet. Perhaps, I might regret being intoxicated by this one-night atmosphere and the beautiful night sky. No, even if I almost certainly regret it, there’s nothing to say.

But… I can tell. At least giving myself over to this atmosphere, even if I regret it for a moment, it won’t be a bad memory for me.

I didn’t drink alcohol, nor did I do drugs like the decadent aristocrats, but I was drunk. I was drunk. I was drunk on the Milky Way that adorned the beautiful night sky, on the crazy human dream that wanted to embrace the sky, and most of all, on the woman who was smiling and blushing before my eyes.

She and I started to descend from the observatory. Our destination had already been decided.

…

I woke up to the dazzling morning sunlight. And, of course, the bed was littered with traces of the previous night.

‘What have I done?’

I don’t know what the hell a kid who doesn’t even drink was thinking while talking nonsense. I cursed inwardly. Since I didn’t drink, I vividly remembered what I was thinking and doing yesterday, which made me even more miserable.

‘Are you crazy because you lost your bachelor’s badge? Huh? Do you think you’d lose it if there wasn’t a woman every night? This motherfucker… .’

I cursed at myself like that, but nothing changed. Se-in was still sleeping soundly next to me.

‘…Is it okay to leave the master’s bedroom dirty like this?’

I thought to myself. It must be quite embarrassing for the servants to see. How much of a mess must they have made for Sein, who has much better stamina than Peria, to still be up? The funny thing was that even after all that mess, the lower body was faithfully reflecting the morning as if it were a clock.

Yeah, let’s find a bright spot. … Se-in’s body, which I thought would be muscular and hard, was much softer than I thought? No, no, no, what are you thinking, you crazy b*stard? You’re trying to think of a better situation right now, why are you critiquing last night?

After much effort, I was able to discover one good thing.

From noble mtl dot com

‘…I woke up at noon yesterday, but I woke up in the morning today.’

Where did I go, the person who used to wake up at dawn and do warm-up exercises? It was thrilling to think that a human being could change so much just by experiencing color once.

“…Wake up.”

I shook Sein awake. Sein looked at me with half-closed eyes.

And then he hugged me tightly and said.

“Sleep a little more.”

Even though I knew in my head that I had to get up, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse her offer, so I lay down next to her.

After that, there were a few things that happened, such as Tia, Sein’s younger sister, questioning me about what happened with her sister after I woke up again, but in the end, I left her mansion after having dinner and spending one more night with Sein.

‘…How did it end up like this?’

Once the burden in my mind that had been holding me back from my actions was gone, I couldn’t control myself like a dam had burst. I definitely didn’t mean to do this, but I couldn’t count the number of times I had done it on both hands in the past few days, as if I was crazy about s*x. I don’t know for sure, but I couldn’t say it was normal.

… If they really do have my child, what will I say?

But that doesn’t mean I can live my whole life without seeing them. No matter how much I thought I would live peacefully in my hometown, my relationship with those who had been with me for most of my life was inseparable.

It was the same when I was falsely accused and headed back to my hometown. I tried to live without being involved with them anymore, but I ended up getting involved with them again. Deep down, I thought there was no way to avoid being involved with them forever.

Well, no matter how much I thought about it, there was no way I would get an answer right away, so I decided to decide what I had to do first.

‘…I’ll have to participate in a few events, see my colleagues’ faces and say hello properly, and then go back to my hometown.’

And, I had to face not only my colleagues but also Grandis’ face properly.

I bit my lip.

“First… let’s go to the palace… .”

For now, I had work to do here.

…

A few days passed. And the festival was over. Now, all that remained was a time of healing.

Even if the Demon King had been defeated once more, it would be safe to say that all problems had been resolved, but that did not mean that everything was truly fine.

The Empire’s power was decimated after two wars with the Demon King. Of course, it could be rebuilt quickly with the help of the fairies, but at least its current power was not enough to look abroad. The Magic Tower also lost many young talents along with the Imperial Army.

The fairies, too, lost quite a few enemies while fighting the Demon King.

The sect… lost not only the Crusaders and Paladins, but also the Pope. I heard that he was on the front lines treating the wounded, but was caught in an explosion that was essentially the Demon King’s last desperate attempt and disappeared without a trace.

This place now is to commemorate them all.

The funeral was held on a grand scale, just as grand as the festival commemorating the defeat of the Demon King. No, perhaps even more so.

So many have died. For their beliefs, for their love, for their hate, or for all of the above.

I don’t regret going into battle. I don’t regret my decision at all. However, I just… feel a little regretful that I didn’t let those countless people die even a little less.

As I was staring blankly at the spirits of the dead with that thought in my mind, my eyes met with someone’s.

It was Lena.