The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

66 – EP5. Memory of the Wind

A man was walking through the city streets. He was following a middle-age

He counted in his emotionless voice.

“Mom! Dad!”

The young girl, who seemed like their child, shook the lifeless body in her arms. However, the detached head wouldn’t return, and the little girl shivered, gazing at it.

“H-h-h…”

The young girl shivered, staring at him.

“P-please… save me…”

As the young girl spoke, he looked at her with a disgusted look in his eyes.

“Disgusting.”

“Y-yes?”

“Pretending to be innocent won’t work… I sense dark magic emanating from your body. You can’t fool me.”

The young girl’s face contorted in shock, and she started to sweat coldly.

She quickly got up and began to run.

As he swung his sword, the dishes thrown by the young girl shattered it.

“…My sword broke. I didn’t realize it was so fragile because I’ve been using it, thinking it never breaks. But even so, did you think I’d spare you?”

He approached the young girl, seized her by the throat. As the girl struggled, the man lifted her and prepared his magic.

“Die, abominable trash.”

The young girl’s body started to burn. He threw the burning girl’s body aside and set fire to the wooden house.

“Three.”

The man counted the lives he had taken. His voice remained cold and emotionless, like ice, like steel.

After rolling his bloodshot eyes for a moment, he left the burning house. It would be a spectacular sight if the entire house burned down like this.

Leaving the house, the man discarded his useless sword and belt.

In a voice tinged with madness, he began to mutter.

“It’s not enough… if I don’t save more trash who sold their souls to the devil…. I have to kill them all.”

The man clenched his fist, and blood oozed from it.

“Yes, all those souls traded to the devil… I must kill them all.”

With a fierce, bloodshot glare, the man began to walk. He needed to find his next targets.

…

“Damn, what kind of dream is this again?”

Ainz scratched his head.

“…Of all times, I had to witness the most delicious days.”

Angela felt somewhat embarrassed. It was definitely not her intention for such memories to resurface just because old memories were coming back to life.

She referred to that period of her life as the time when she savored her shameful past. Of course…

“I don’t regret killing them.”

Angela said quietly. Whether it was because her eyes had just opened or for some other reason, her bloodshot eyes were intense.

Angela stepped outside her house. As usual, dawn had arrived, and Angela stretched her stiff body.

And as always, there was a presence that arose when she woke up.

From Noble mtl dot com

“…Did you sleep well?”

Sain greeted her hesitantly as always. Even though it was nothing much from his perspective, Sain still seemed to feel a sense of indebtedness towards her.

“Yeah, you?”

Angela didn’t voice those words and instead kept them to herself before speaking to Sain. Sain nodded.

Another ordinary day began, and the townspeople waved at Angela as they went about their work and patrolled. Angela responded with her usual smile, and everything seemed normal on the surface.

However, Angela’s inner world was rotting away. It was because for the past few days, though not as much as the first day, large groups of monsters had been attacking her hometown. Moreover, the number and strength of the monsters were gradually increasing, which made Angela firmly believe that someone had planned these monster invasions.

Angela dealt with the approaching monsters today as well and returned to the village with Sain. Angela’s days always followed this sequence. However, there was something unexpected that happened.

“You mean the neighboring village?”

Angela asked the lord. The lord nodded and said,

“Yes, that’s right. Monsters have been appearing frequently in the neighboring village lately, so I am going there to discuss lending them troops.”

Angela realized what had happened. It seemed that some of the remnants of the monsters she thought she had already dealt with had gone to the neighboring village.

“I see.”

“As a lord, I can’t go alone, so I need someone to accompany me… Angela, you are the most reliable and trustworthy young person around here. You have been fulfilling your role as a patrol member well. That’s why I am asking you to come with me. What do you think? Of course, you will be generously compensated.”

Without much thought, Angela nodded.

“Yes, of course.”

Then, Sain spoke up from the side.

“I, I’ll go too.”

Angela nodded.

“Great, what about you, Lord?”

“It’s no concern of mine.”

That way, Angela and Sain went to the neighboring village with the lord.

Angela looked at the neighboring village and became lost in memories. Compared to Angela’s hometown, the neighboring village was relatively more developed due to its prosperous trade with merchants. In Angela’s young eyes, the neighboring village felt like the most advanced place in the world. But after experiencing the empire, even the neighboring village seemed meager.

In reality, Sain couldn’t find any significant differences between Angela’s hometown and the neighboring village. Despite being the most developed village in the vicinity, it still appeared insignificant to her.

Angel recalled the past as she traveled on the road to the lord’s castle in this village. She remembered how the lord of the neighboring village, despite having a small manor, had shown a much larger manor than the lord of her own village. She had felt it in her skin, the subtle disregard towards her own villagers.

The lord of Angel’s village let out a deep sigh. Even though he had come to discuss offering help, it was inevitable for his heart to sink as he observed the scenery of the most developed village nearby.

“Oh, oh, so you’ve come? Pain.”

The lord of the neighboring village welcomed them, calling out Angel’s village lord, Pain, with a joyful expression.

“…Yes, glad to see you, Ajax.”

Pain replied, accepting the name of the lord from the neighboring village, but from the beginning, he seemed restless, as if he were losing ground in a battle of wits.

“Let’s sit first.”

Ajax seated them at the table and served them some cheap tea. Of course, proper tea was quite valuable in this vicinity, so from Ajax’s perspective, it might have been an attempt to dampen their spirits. Unfortunately, Angel understood his intentions and couldn’t help but think that nothing had changed inwardly. Meanwhile, Sein had a dilemma about whether to call what was offered as tea and stared carefully at the tea cup.

However, from Pain’s perspective, it seemed sufficient to kill his enthusiasm.

“…Understood.”

After receiving the tea, Pain let out a small sip, and Ajax, making an effort to appear refined, took a sip of tea as well. Whether they drank it or not, Angel had no interest in the tea, and Sein, choosing to drink it after a conflict about whether to call such a liquid tea, held the teacup elegantly while no one paid her any mind.

“As you know, monsters have been appearing frequently in our village recently. I called you here with the thought of borrowing capable personnel.”

Angel thought that summoning someone was not something one did while making a request, but for now, she silently watched.

“…Monsters don’t appear in our village, so it’s possible… What’s the price?”

When Pain asked, Ajax chuckled and spoke.

“We’ll create some opportunities for cultural exchanges and trade with our village. Isn’t it a fair deal considering the situation in your village?”

Pain began to struggle with the proposal. It clearly didn’t sit well with him, but the reward was too sweet to simply decline.

Pain pondered and began discussing with Ajax, and Angel watched it unfold.

As the discussion was nearing its end, a man entered the room.

“Oh, you’re here, son.”

When Ajax called him, the man with orange hair shook his head and took a seat.

“He’s my son. He went to study in the Empire alongside the merchant we do business with. And, by the way, Angel also said she came back from working in the Empire, didn’t she?”

Angel gazed intently at Ajax’s son. Ah, right. Hans. He was always unlucky whenever they met.

“Oh, right, you also came back from the Empire? Nice to see you. Of course, you and I had different jobs, but still.”

As Hans spoke, trying to show that they were in different positions, Angel thought to herself.

…We certainly had different jobs. Quite different.

“…Yes.”

Angel replied with a bitter expression, as if she had tasted a sour fruit.

“Oh, is this your lover next to you? She’s unbelievably beautiful.”

“…She’s just a colleague I worked with in the Empire. She decided to take a break and stay in the village.”

Please note that some names and terms are subject to different interpretations without further context.

“Oh, really? Why are you resting in a village like yours? Ah, I see. Since there’s nothing but nature wherever you look, it must be a good place for relaxation. How about traveling with a woman like her? Do your shoulders feel a bit lighter?”

When Hans blatantly ignored himself, Angel spoke, looking at him.

“Cut it out. Ignoring is one thing, but don’t you think it’s too much to meddle with your colleague?”

“…What? What did this brat say?”

“I said calm down, brat.”

Hans contorted his face, seething, and said, “How dare you behave like this towards me? A commoner to a noble…”

Angel looked at him with a stern gaze. What kind of noble was he talking about? Angel recalled his own attempts to deceive and flatter commoners, wearing the facade of a noble, and snorted disdainfully.

“Enough. Angel came with me.”

Fayne tried to intervene with Hans. Then, Ajax said, “Who do you think you are to be so arrogant about commoners? As a noble, you should teach them manners.”

As Ajax praised himself, Hans, filled with confidence, drew his sword.

“Did you hear that, commoner? Today, as a noble, I will…”

Bang!

A tremendous noise echoed. Sein stood up, drew his sword, and slammed it on the table.

“A noble? Did you say noble?”

Sein said with an infuriated expression on his face.

“You, calling yourself a noble, I can’t believe it. Fine. You said you’re a noble? I challenge you to a duel in the name of nobility. If you don’t like that, kneel and apologize right now for insulting my colleague. If you don’t, I’ll cut your throat right now and feed you to the dogs.”