The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

36 – EP3. The Fading Glory

The climate of the castle where ravens flew was harsh. Life was almost nonexistent, and the wind swept over the bare yellowish ground.

The sky remained hidden behind clouds, and even when they occasionally cleared, all that could be seen was a dark sky, not a hint of blue.

Amidst this desolation stood a black castle.

The castle, like the outside, was engulfed in silence. No lights were visible; it seemed as though the castle itself had become a curtain of desolation.

And there was only one place from which smoke billowed.

“Here… put this in….”

A woman with tied black hair stirred various ingredients, vegetables, and meat in a pot.

“It’s done.”

She wiped the sweat trickling down her forehead. For trivial tasks, she could have had the undead do it, but there was something about the taste of handmade cooking. Besides, she had nothing else to do.

She ladled the thick, simmered dish from the boiling cauldron into a bowl. Then, like the dishes on the plate, she had them carried over to the undead.

“Alright, children, let’s eat.”

She called out as the plates and bowls were arranged on the table. Horned young children rushed over and took their seats.

“Okay, are your hands clean, children?”

The children nodded, smiling brightly.

“Go ahead, eat.”

The children began devouring the food laid out on the table with enthusiasm. Her lips formed a joyful smile as she too began to eat, taking small bites.

“Grandidis, what is this, though?”

One child pointed at a peculiar dish with his hand, asking. She replied,

“Oh, that? I exercised my creativity and mixed wild boar meat with cloves….”

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“Kids, did you hear that? Grandidis just exercised her creativity after a long time. If you eat it, you’ll die. Don’t eat it.”

The largest child spoke, and the others nodded in agreement. Another child commented,

“Why is it that Grandidis usually cooks well, but when she exercises creativity, she creates garbage?”

Her head sank in embarrassment at the innocent criticism of the child’s untainted thoughts.

“No, is it really that bad?”

She thought to herself as she reluctantly tasted the dish.

It was the worst thing she had ever tasted.

She cast her ambitious creation aside. A zombie naturally grabbed it and carried it away as food waste.

“Darn.”

She closed her eyes tightly and muttered. It was strange; it seemed like it would be delicious… Why is it so tasteless?

“Don’t be too disappointed. Everyone has something they’re not good at.”

Her irritation began to intensify at his attempt at consolation.

“I can cook well too! I just… I’m too creative and occasionally create dishes that surpass others.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. Even your taste buds seem to be ahead.”

“Enough with the chatter.”

She quickly devoured her food. The children continued to giggle, relentlessly teasing her.

“Ugh, these kids. Do you really think I’m weak?”

“Yes.”

“But…”

She gave up on conversing with the children.

After finishing her meal, she made her way to her laboratory.

“Grandidis, even if you’re angry, please don’t stomp around! The castle will collapse!”

She bit her lip.

“These kids.”

They seemed to view her as someone who played with them instead of their parents. She suppressed her anger.

Fine. What can I do against children? I can’t scold them.

She entered her research lab and looked around.

…It was quite messy.

Only after she had dispatched the undead and tidied up the room could she enter.

Next, she picked up a cold piece of metal.

Ding – a clear sound rang out. She began to examine it.

“…Strange.”

She definitely felt that way. Doing decryption work that didn’t suit her nature had become her daily routine, but she still felt a strange sensation whenever she looked at records on the fragment of the holy sword.

Especially this time, she couldn’t shake off that feeling while looking at what she had just done.

“Why…didn’t he die?”

She cocked her head. Odd, isn’t it enough to kill him at this point?

“No, seriously, why didn’t he die?”

The more she looked at the records, the more the hero’s behavior seemed to plunge into mystery.

“And this softie is the mad butcher? Really?”

Even after losing his mind once and still showing some remnants of his kind nature, it felt eerie to her.

“No, if something like this happened, how did he end up like that even after…?”

She couldn’t understand. What? Did I change this much just because I killed him once? Then why did I spare him?

She recalled that image and shivered. Even though she should be much weaker than him, the sight of him massacring allies while his eyes shone brightly, drenched in blood, his bones breaking through his skin and healing with divine power before he smiled and continued to fight, she still couldn’t find the right words to describe that madman.

So she thought, ‘Oh, maybe we got along well, and that’s why I spared him.’ But after seeing herself actually kill him, she really didn’t know anything.

She continued to decipher the holy sword with a sense of doubt.

“…I really can’t stand it.”

Of course, the process of deciphering didn’t suit her nature.

…

“I’ll be right back. You guys watch him.”

Sane stepped out of the white room after saying that.

For some reason, it felt like she was about to vomit.

She twisted her face.

“I can’t stand it…”

She muttered to herself.

Why? Why was it so repulsive? Even though she had already seen him die several times, it was still too hard for her to watch him die again after what he had done for her.

Every time he died, it felt like a dagger stabbing into her chest. She clenched her fists.

“Really… why like this….”

She tightly closed her eyes. Then she turned back and spoke again.

“I’m going back now. I’m not feeling well.”

“Yeah… okay.”

Peria looked at her with a worried expression and said. In fact, not only her, but also her other colleagues had worried expressions towards Sein.

Since finding out about the incident with the hero, her expression had never been good. Always walking around as if ready to die, she even resigned from her position as the Chief Commander of the Imperial Army.

Beatrice remembered the scars she had on her wrists.

Countless shallow scars on her wrists. Clearly the marks of self-harm.

She sighed inwardly. Her chest felt suffocating, as if something would never be resolved.

…

“Hey, hey. Eat this.”

“Oh, thank you.”

When I patrolled the village, the villagers often offered me various things like potatoes, it was nice. I smiled and took a bite of the warm, boiled potato.

“Oh, what’s this?”

The lord who was patrolling with me asked.

“Oh, I got it from Aunt Mary.”

“What? She didn’t give me anything.”

The lord started grumbling.

“…You receive taxes, what more do you want?”

“Well… honestly, it’s a bit unfair. Put yourself in my shoes. Wouldn’t you feel upset?”

“I can’t say since I’m in the position to receive, I don’t know what it’s like to not receive.”

“This guy.”

I reluctantly cut the potato and handed him the part that hadn’t touched my mouth. The lord smiled satisfactorily at that.

“Oh, so delicious.”

…It seems like he’s quite satisfied.

Even though it’s a countryside, I pondered whether it was right for the lord to be so happy over just one potato when a flock of crows flew in.

“Why a flock of crows? Ugh. Can’t avoid them.”

“Yeah, true.”

As someone who had seen a lot of battlefields, crows were always a feared sight.

I licked my lips with my tongue. For some reason, it tasted bitter.

I began to scatter magic in response to the ominous feeling slowly creeping in. Yes… it should be enough to monitor the town and a week’s worth of distance around it.

I set up a protective barrier to surveil the area around the town and resumed my patrol. Of course, patrolling had no real purpose, considering I had just established the barrier.

I entered the next house and started stuffing myself with bread and soup. The amount of food I consumed had increased due to rolling around on the battlefield.

“You eat well, my child.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to see you eating well. I was worried you might be starving.”

… It felt odd to say that, having eaten all kinds of gourmet food. I silently devoured my meal.

“Oh, by the way, you. You need to help out with some work tomorrow.”

“What kind of work?”

“It’s nothing special, just helping Mr. Smith with weeding.”

“Ah, okay.”

It really wasn’t a big deal.

I smiled and thought,

May this kind of daily life continue.