The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

30 – EP2. One Night of Love

Seine was blankly staring into space.

She felt like she had fallen victim to some kind of joke.

She couldn’t possibly laugh at the absurdity.

Unable to think, her mind went blank.

She saw it. The sight of him being stabbed from behind for her.

She saw it. The sight of him sacrificing himself for her.

She saw it. The sight of him saving her.

It was the worst situation for her.

In anger for his betrayal, she lashed out at him.

But, if you really think about it, she was the one who betrayed him first.

She preached about justice and righteousness towards him, who had first killed her from behind and then spoke of love and salvation.

Can anything be more ridiculous than this?

Can anything be more disgusting than this?

“Ah, uh, uh.”

As if representing her confused state, her voice, along with her words, got lost with a lump in her throat.

She owed him too much.

She owed him her precious younger brother, and she owed him her freedom.

What kind of justice is it to brandish a knife at the person who helped you in your debt-ridden life?

He heard harsh words from himself, and what thoughts could he have had when he left this country?

After receiving all the help he could get, what kind of words did he say inwardly to the person who dared to show his fangs?

He wished he had blamed himself instead. He wished he had asked for responsibility for his death.

But what does it mean that he embraces the one who killed him, despite being wounded?

She didn’t deserve to be embraced in his arms.

She didn’t deserve to sing love for him.

It had been like that since she first stabbed him.

But he embraced himself. Beyond death, pain, and wounds, he shone a light of salvation.

What did I do?

Her head hurt as if it would shatter.

Guilt filled her mind.

She clutched her head.

Guilt flowed through her blood and stabbed her heart.

Her heart became tattered, as if it had exploded.

She asked herself once again.

What, exactly,

Blood started dripping from her tightly clenched fist, yet that blood didn’t even register as something worth her attention.

The blood her heart was expelling was vaster than the sky and deeper than the ocean.

Gasping, she found herself in the sea of crimson she had vomited up.

She began to feel as if she might vomit again.

Every constituent part of herself felt repulsive, as if it might make her throw up.

She felt disgust towards her very existence.

“Filthy….”

She spoke it to herself, better expressing her current self with that word than with any empty words of justification. There was no better word for the one who had stabbed the savior in the back, holding a knife to their savior’s shoulders.

“Filthy….”

She began to scratch her forearm vigorously with her fingernails, not stopping until the blood welled up as if something dirty had tainted her.

She had risen, swaying unsteadily.

Toward her sword.

Why had she come here? She asked herself in a daze.

And the moment she grasped her sword, she understood why she had come here.

She brought her sword to her wrist.

Snick, the sound of the blade cutting through flesh.

“Ah….”

It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. It felt more like her strength was draining away, and she let out a whimper.

Snick, she once again sliced her own forearm.

“I have to get it out….”

Her disgusting blood.

“I have to get it out….”

She stared at her bleeding wrist with vacant eyes.

Snick, snick, the sounds echoed from her room for a while.

Staring at her bleeding wounds, she tossed the sword aside and staggered to her bed. She just wanted to rest, even for a moment.

In her foggy state of mind, she saw a vision.

It was a fantasy from the time when they had traveled together. A fantasy where they trained, fought, laughed, and shouted, all filled with hope to defeat the Demon King.

It felt so vivid, as if she could grasp it just by reaching out. But she knew it was a fantasy she had created herself.

It would be fitting to call her a dreamer, even one who could see fantasies.

However, it didn’t really matter. She, in that state, embraced the illusion of a cherished memory and fell asleep.

When Sein regained consciousness, she found herself trapped in a pitch-black space. She attempted to move her arms and legs, but they seemed to be fixed in place, refusing to budge.

She was seated as if she were an audience watching something.

And the black space began to transform. It swayed and started to open, and when she closed her eyes against the sudden light, she found herself in a room.

Candlelight gently illuminated a bed made of luxurious fabric.

She realized there were people in the room.

A man with black hair like silk was pacing around the room.

And behind him, a woman with fiery red hair was gripping a dagger.

She felt as if she couldn’t breathe.

It was herself.

And as the man turned around, her past self stabbed him from behind.

He fell, blood oozing from his body.

“No, no, no.”

She stuttered. But she was still bound, unable to do anything.

Then, a voice flowed from the fallen man’s body.

“Well, I’m dead.”

His body sprang up grotesquely like a puppet in a puppet show.

“It’s okay, though! You were trying to save your sister, right? I can understand.”

With blood dripping, he brought his face close to her and spoke.

Next, she witnessed a scene where a masked man was stabbing the throat of a bleeding man.

“Oh no, he’s dead again!”

He exaggeratedly exclaimed, his neck bouncing as if in a theatrical performance.

“But it can’t be helped. It’s not your fault, right? Even though it was just because your father refused to marry you, it’s okay! I can understand.”

Then, his body, with no neck, only the dagger impaled, was torn apart by a clawed hand, oozing blood, walking and stumbling before collapsing with a thud.

His neck continued to bounce as he spoke.

“Oh no, he’s dead again. There are all kinds of fools in this world. These so-called heroes are really useless, aren’t they? Don’t you think so?”

His neck grinned eerily, blood still streaming.

“Let’s be honest, you don’t like that kind of hero either. A kinder, braver, more capable person could have been the hero instead of that one.”

She said, bowing her head deeply, as if crawling.

“Ah, no….”

His throat bounced up and down as he laughed merrily.

“What? I can’t hear you, your voice is too soft!”

“No, it’s not! He….”

As she spoke with tears welling up in her eyes, his laughing throat abruptly stopped, and he made a sinister expression.

“Is that so?”

She nodded her head in fear. His throat twisted into a menacing expression.

“Then why did you kick me out?”

Blood tears started to flow from his throat’s eyes. And suddenly, his throat expanded, and he glared at her.

“Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that?”

She clutched her head. Her body stiffened in terror, and cold sweat poured down her face.

“Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Why did you do that?”

She seemed on the verge of going mad from fear.

She started screaming.

“aaah!”

“Tell me straight, why did you do that to me? After helping me even when you were dying, and without knowing any gratitude, you dared to backstab me. Say it properly, why did you do that to me?”

His throats started to tear at her body, and just as her breath was about to be cut off, she woke up from the dream.