The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

6 – EP1. Breaking Dawn

The wind brushed through the leaves.

The dazzling sky clashed with the river, breaking into fragments.

I inhaled deeply, taking the air deep into my lungs.

I felt neither the clinging stench of blood nor the echoing cries in my ears.

The noose-like burden that had tightened around my throat didn’t register. That alone made me content.

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Yes, my journey was meant to end like this. There was no regret in the culmination. What I longed for more than wealth and luxury was the scent of this earth, its texture, and its vitality.

My comrades in the empire would manage on their own. They might resent me, but in the end, stronger individuals than me would tread the right path.

Smoke appeared before my eyes.

It was a small, quiet village. I set foot in the village.

Then, I saw one of the villagers.

As I approached him, his complexion turned pale.

“An, an acolyte of the devil!”

Ah, now that I thought about it, the markings on my body and the bleached hair were the characteristics of a devil worshiper.

I realized that I had become an object of fear.

I decided not to approach him for no reason.

Instead, I headed for a small shop in the village.

Clang, the door opened, and a bell rang.

The shop owner, with a tired face, yawned and then closed his mouth when he saw me.

“In a place like this… by some strange chance…”

He trembled and tried to speak, but he couldn’t finish his sentence.

I spoke to him.

“Do you have a robe? As you can see, I want to avoid unnecessary trouble in this state.”

With trembling hands, he handed me a robe.

I gave him a silver coin and said, “No need for change.”

He had an expression that I couldn’t tell whether it was relief at my departure or happiness for the silver coin, and I walked out of the store.

I turned the robe inside out and arrived at a small inn.

“I just need a night’s sleep. How much is it?”

The innkeeper said in a gruff voice.

“There are sixty fairy tales. With the addition of rice, it becomes seventy.”

“Then with the addition of rice, will it be possible to prepare breakfast tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, that’s possible.”

As I handed over a silver coin, he counted the change and I bit his hand as he handed it back to me.

“The journey is long, and it’s a bit difficult to carry heavy things. I don’t need the change.”

“Oh, is that so? Then it’s good for me, I suppose.”

I received the room key, ate vegetable stew for dinner, and fell asleep sulking on the bed.

And when dawn broke, people were surrounding the inn with plows and sickles in their hands.

“There’s a devil worshiper over there!”

…It seems like they’ve gathered to catch me.

I went out of the inn.

“Hey, over there! That person is the devil worshiper!”

It was the owner of the shop where I bought the robe yesterday.

I scratched my cheek. Oh well, I guess I should have just camped outside the town.

I couldn’t find a proper solution for this situation, so I just teleported outside the village.

This is going to get more tiring from now on.

I sighed deeply.

…

Sein frowned. He just couldn’t understand.

He couldn’t understand the motivations behind the hero’s actions.

He understood that his ability was to go back to the past, even if it meant his death. But there were too many things that couldn’t be explained by just that.

His ability could have been the reason for his overwhelming victory in the war. The things he anticipated about the enemy’s attacks could have been his ability. But what was the connection between his ability and his hesitation to attack Grandis, the broken Holy Sword, and the evidence of his wrongdoing?

What reason did the person who fought against the enemy while facing death have for colluding with the enemy and persecuting the weak?

…The only way to understand the whole relationship was to directly witness his movements.

When they arrived at the holy land, the faces of his other companions also showed signs of worry. It seemed that they had been through a lot as well.

The crystal began to shine brightly.

…

“Well, it’s unfortunate that there was an unfortunate incident, I apologize. But fortunately, no major accidents occurred.”

The hero looked at him, nodding his head. Internally, he was probably thinking something like this.

“There have already been several major accidents.”

However, even in his shaken state, the hero had enough discernment not to utter such words.

“Lady Saint, we shall meet tomorrow. For now, I will lead you to your resting chamber.”

Following the person who welcomed him on behalf of the organization, he was shown the room he would be staying in. After washing the bloodstains of battle off his body with hot water, he lay down on the bed.

As the night deepened, sleep eluded him.

His breathing quickened. Hunched over, his body began to tremble all over.

He bit his lips and beads of cold sweat formed on his brow.

Before long, he started scratching his own throat. It was the throat that had been grazed a few times by the ogre’s club.

Skin peeled away, flesh tore, and soon blood began to well up from his fingertips and throat.

Yet, he continued to scratch and scratch his throat.

He began to tear at his own hair, as if trying to extract the memories from his head.

“Uh, uh, uh.”

Moans escaped from his throat. Veins bulged in his bloodshot eyes, and tears flowed.

“Heh, where did the village boy who called himself a hero come from, only to fall asleep now?”

Before him stood a beautiful woman with hair as blue as the sea and eyes like sapphires, casting a chilling gaze upon the man before her.

She was Feria, the next Tower Master.

She had become his comrade and mentor in the art of magic.

As she stared at him with that cold look, the hero awoke from his drowsiness.

Sweating and with dark eyes, he gazed at her.

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

As the hero tried to apologize, she cut him off.

“Leave.”

“Yes, yes?”

When the hero, his angelic eyes tinged with fear, looked at her, she repeated herself.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said leave.”

“Well, um…”

Angel stumbled over his words.

“I have nothing to teach the guy who falls asleep at our first meeting, so get out. Find another magic teacher.”

She delivered the verdict with cold eyes.

Angel straightened his shoulders and hesitantly opened the door.

It had only been a few greetings and meetings with the holy maiden, Beatrice, and already he was being kicked out of class. He couldn’t bring himself to take a step forward.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and leave.”

As the final verdict was pronounced, he returned to his sleeping quarters.

And as he opened the door to his room, a person dressed in priestly robes stabbed Angel with a dagger.

He opened his eyes.

It was the same moment when he was falling asleep.

“Leave.”

And once again, the cold voice echoed.

There was no choice.

If he were to return to his room after being expelled from this class, he would surely die. He had done the calculations.

The person dressed in priestly robes had killed him. He couldn’t sense who would kill him.

So, in order to survive, he had to stick to this class.

He knelt down.

“I’m sorry.”

The woman before him stared at him with an incredulous gaze.

“No, there’s no need to apologize. Just leave, please.”

Peria was a person with strong self-esteem and had no intention to forgive him just because he kneeled.

From Noble mtl dot com

However, Angel continued to kneel.

At that moment, Peria decided to simply ignore Angel, thinking that he would soon leave on his own.

Two hours passed, and Angel was still on his knees.

Peria furrowed her brows and scratched her head.

“…Damn it, this is driving me crazy. Hey.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll give you one more chance, so get up. You’re such a bother….”

And so, Angel began to learn magic from Peria once again.

Several hours passed. Peria finished the lesson and was walking with Angel.

“Damn it, just learned one damn fire-spell, and it’s already over. They say the old heroes could recognize a spell with just one look, but this guy can’t even master one, even if I show him ten.”

Feria muttered, and Angel, ignoring him, opened the door to his room after taking a deep breath.

Inside, there was someone dressed in priestly robes.

“Hey, what’s this? Why is that person in your room?”

“hahahaha, I had to inspect the room for a moment since it’s where the hero stays. Well, then…”

The priest who had killed the hero made excuses and hurriedly left.

Feria watched until the hero’s room was closed, then started walking again, making a clinking sound.

And it became late at night. The hero’s room was gently opened.

And suddenly, the hem of the priest’s robe caught fire as they entered the room. Due to the flammable nature of the long priestly robe, the fire rapidly started to burn, and the priest panicked and tried to put out the fire.

Then, Angel seized the opportunity and stabbed the priest in the abdomen with a knife.

“…Huh?”

The priest began to bleed from his mouth with those last words, and he died.

Angel looked at his corpse and turned it into ashes by burning it.

He didn’t take his eyes off the corpse until it was completely burned away.