The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

26 – EP2. One Night of Love

“Ah, then I’ll be on my way.”

As Ainzell got ready to begin the plan, he moved towards Sane, and Rufus Luderran looked at him with a mysterious gaze.

Ainzell deliberately ignored him, and when Sane came into view, he walked quickly towards her.

“All right, are you ready?”

Ainzell whispered to Sane, and she nodded.

“Okay, let’s go quickly.”

Ainzell whispered, and the two of them discreetly began to move, saying they would have their own time after getting rid of the maid. As they approached the underground door as casually as possible, two guards blocked their way.

“You can’t go in here.”

“Even with my orders?”

Despite Sane’s frosty tone, the guards didn’t flinch.

“It’s the King’s orders. No one, not just Sane, can enter.”

So Sane and Ainzell looked at each other and nodded. They had never expected to be let in so easily from the beginning.

Thunk! Sane quickly incapacitated the two.

The door opened smoothly, as if it had been used by someone not long ago.

They began to descend into the depths of the underground.

And when they reached the end of the stairs, they found numerous soldiers holding swords and spears.

“This is bad.”

“What do we do?”

“For now, be careful not to get caught…”

As Sane spoke, a crunching sound echoed loudly, and the guards all turned to look at the source of the noise.

“Are we really in trouble now?”

“Damn it.”

They started running. There was nothing more foolish than rushing into a group of unknown enemies without knowing their numbers.

They quickly pushed past the guards and began to delve deep. The underground chamber was so vast that it was difficult to find any weaknesses.

In the end, they had to wander around, scattering the enemy and then trying to defeat them one by one.

But how? How could they divert the enemy’s attention to make them scatter?

Ainzell threw a fireball onto the floor of the underground chamber. Of course, underground chambers often had good fire prevention systems in place to prevent fires from spreading, but it was enough to divert their attention for a moment.

The guards scrambled to put out the fire, and Sane and Ainzell took advantage of the opportunity to escape.

They hid in a small room. Since it was not well lit, it seemed like a good place to hide.

And there, countless corpses were scattered.

Sein recognized them at a glance.

They were the bodies of the nobles who had recently gone missing in Luduran.

A shiver ran down his spine.

“…What is this?”

“These are… nobles who’ve recently disappeared. I never wanted to see something like this from the start.”

“What…?”

“Shh, enemies are approaching.”

As the guards approached, they disarmed them and then rendered them unconscious. At that moment, they heard these words:

“If you find intruders, kill them immediately! No matter who the intruders are, they must be killed!”

Hearing those words, Sein frowned. It would be impossible to keep fighting by subduing them reasonably any longer.

“It might get a bit dangerous like this… Do you want to leave now?”

“Fine. There’s no way out even if I help you knock out the guards. And even if it’s unfair, we’ll have to see it through to the end.”

“…Alright. So, let’s keep going until the end…”

“Let’s not avoid a fight for now. We’ll have to fight anyway, and I have a bit of magic I can use for healing, so we can reduce the risk while fighting.”

They left the room filled with corpses and began searching another room.

Guards poured in periodically, and they fought back. They continued to use their healing magic, but fatigue was inevitable. Soon, even their magical powers ran dry.

“…There’s nothing much here either. It seems to be related to corruption, and it looks like they’ve gathered information to threaten other families rather than our own… Damn, there’s a palace too.”

“…Let’s move on to another place.”

“Agreed.”

As they left the room, an enormous number of guards had gathered.

“…Run.”

They fled without looking back. They had never dreamt of defeating such a vast number. Escaping was their best option.

“Capture them!”

Soldiers’ voices echoed from all around, and their hearts pounded. They ran desperately here and there, but in the end, they were surrounded.

“…What do we do?”

“I don’t know.”

With no way out, surrendering was the only option.

The words meant that Sein would kill. Aynzelle asked.

“…Sein?”

“The lord said so. He said to kill your child if they invade this place, no matter the reason.”

Sein lowered her head, her voice tense. Yes, she had expected this much.

“…Even you have to live. Surrender.”

She bit her lip. Yes, it had come to this after all.

She had done everything she could. It was not an unexpected outcome. But she shouldn’t have dragged Aynzelle into this. She should have resolved her own affairs. Now, without marriage, she would be bound to her father.

“I don’t want to.”

“What?”

Sein replied with a surprised expression.

“Are you crazy? Are you saying we should die together or something? You’re not scared at all, are you!?”

“I’m not scared.”

That was a lie. He was still afraid of death. But…

“Leaving you alone here and running away on my own is scarier.”

If he ran away once, he would become uncontrollable afterward. No matter what happened, he couldn’t run away. If he did, he would end up as broken as when he had repeatedly stabbed himself to death.

He summed it up in one sentence.

“…Do you think we won’t be able to kill you? We are members of Luderan. We can kill a mere demon army without any consequences.”

“I know. You know it damn well.”

He had truly learned that fact as his own throat was cut.

However.

Still, Aynzelle said to Sein, who had an expression close to tears.

“Why, even if you’re going to die anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to have a companion on the journey to the afterlife? Listen, I’m not running away. And don’t pretend to give up or act indifferent. It’s annoying.”

“What? You really…”

“You want to live, don’t you? Don’t give up on what you want to live for. Until you die, or even after you die. Once you’ve made a choice, you stick with it till the end.”

It was also an oath to himself. No matter how many times he died, he had to complete this path. More precisely, he could only either complete it or fall apart.

Sein looked at him with a vacant expression.

“What are you looking at? I told you I’ll be your miracle. A miracle is something that accomplishes the impossible. You and I will succeed and survive. Stop talking anymore.”

A true miracle, not one that used divine power.

He was a hero. A being that achieved the impossible.

“Grip the sword tightly. It would be even better if you could think of a way to escape.”

“…Are you really going to drink the poison?”

“It’s not poison, I’m going to raise a toast. Someday.”

Even if I die now, someday.

The guards raised their hands and spoke.

“…Kill them.”

The guards slowly formed their ranks, determined to hunt them down with minimal casualties.

“…There, there’s an empty space over there.”

And Sein didn’t miss that opening.

“See, there you go. Finding a solution is much better than complaining.”

It was wisdom he felt firsthand while facing the enemy directly.

“…Finally, we’ll both gather our strength and create a barrier. You have to break through. Can you do it?”

“….”

Sein nodded.

They started running. Even though there was no chance of victory, even if it was an impossible feat, they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Believing in themselves, believing in the slightest possibility, forgetting fear and hesitation, they moved forward.

And they broke through the encirclement.

Sein successfully pierced through the weak point of the enemy’s encirclement.

“This damn bastard!”

And just as they were about to completely escape from the encirclement,

Angel’s body was pierced by a spear. So futilely.

It wasn’t deep, but if left untreated for a long time, it could have caused his death.

“W-Why…didn’t you put up a barrier?”

“Uh.”

He laughed and spoke.

“Putting up a barrier wouldn’t have helped us lose them anyway. So…come on, taste this again.”

So, believing in the slightest possibility.

He threw a fireball at the enemy soldiers. One soldier burned to death, and the fire began to spread.

“We have to lose them.”

“…!”

Sein started running while holding him. The soldiers scrambled, unable to catch them.