Chapter 194: Return
A desolate and withered land, mangled corpses strewn about.
Amidst the stench of blood and the lingering scent of mana, the Saint stood.
The Saint looked around with despair in his eyes.
They were all his comrades.
He was the only one left alive after a desperate battle.
“Damn it…”
The saint muttered a curse word he had never uttered before.
He must have felt miserable, for he realized that he had no one left to lean on.
“Fucking shackles…”
Tears started to fall as beneath him lay a body, mangled beyond recognition, it was his dearest ally, the hero.
The saint held the hero in his arms and cried out.
Break it.
I will break it.
For your sake.
I will break it.
He begged.
He begged the heavens.
The gods, taking pity on him, listened.
And so a symbol was carved and the rest is history.
“I never thought that the Sword Demon, who is said to have no blood or tears, would be a beautiful woman with crimson hair…”
The saint became the conquering king of the East.
It was called reincarnation, or rebirth.
“Is there a problem?”
“I hadn’t planned on continuing my lineage, but perhaps I should reconsider.”
“…I will honor the price of my defeat, and this sword is now yours. However, being the lady of a mad king who wants to go on an expedition to destroy all the demons doesn’t sound too appealing.”
“Haha, that remains to be seen.”
I met a new star, but it ended badly.
I couldn’t break the chains.
I didn’t accomplish what I wanted.
I couldn’t protect anything this time.
And so another mark was made.
If there was one thing that had changed, it was that he had given up being human.
As a demon, he dreamed of a forbidden love with a human woman. Perhaps it wasn’t forbidden love, since his roots were human.
“You’re trembling, Red Flame.”
“…Because I don’t think I can protect you.”
“Not for long, for a hero will soon be born…”
“… The shackle… I hear it every time we meet. Do you realize how strange it seems that you, a demon, are doing that?”
“How can I give up just because I’ve grown horns on my head?”
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“…”
“Don’t smile. That smile… I don’t want to see it.”
“Didn’t you like it?”
“That’s why I don’t like it, because you’ll leave me again.”
“When I come back, you’ll be the first person I look for.”
“…You’re lying.”
“Do you have any intention of staying here?”
“……”
The silence spoke volumes.
He had tried to protect her at all costs, and he had left her arms.
He had failed to protect her again and so the three dots were carved.
He had lost so much that he finally wanted to rest.
After that, he thought he would never see another mark again.
But time passed and time passed, and between the three marks, another mark emerged.
The seemingly separate marks were joined together around that mark, creating a line.
Where that line goes is unknown.
This is as far as I’m allowed to go.
“Boss, what are you doing when you’re not frying chickens?”
That’s all I could think of.
I turned my head away from the four chicken legs laid out side by side.
“When did you get here?”
There stood my loyal subordinate, a “part-timer,” to borrow a phrase from Earth.
An ordinary Academy cadet by the name of Madler, he has a considerable talent for cooking and is usually in charge of the kitchen on my behalf.
“Excuse me, but why are you frying chicken when there are no customers?”
Madler, in his fluffy coat, walks into the kitchen and gives me a pathetic glance.
Come to think of it, why was I making chicken?
I shifted my gaze to the hall, which was empty, with flies buzzing around as usual.
“They must have gotten out of the habit…”
I had practiced frying a chicken once before, but I must have gotten used to it.
The body is indeed troublesome.
“Well, there are no customers in the yard…”
Madler, with his back to me, starts to frown at my fried chicken.
Here we go again.
I flick my ears and scowl.
“I guess you don’t care about sales anymore?”
“It’s just the way I like it, no hassles.”
“Then why did you open the store?”
“Because I need to exist.”
It’s an instinct I have because I have a body, unlike before.
I couldn’t resist the urge to leave my mark somehow, even if I didn’t want to.
“You know, Mr. Madler, you tend to look down on me quite a bit, but the truth is, if I had my way, I could turn this little shop into a super-giant in a matter of months with this wonderful food called chicken.”
“A super giant…?”
“I’m talking about making a ton of money.”
“Oh, really, then why don’t you do it, and I’ll come work for you and make some big money.”
“…But alas, I can’t do that.”
I smirked and shook my head.
“It’s a bluff, after all.”
I thought I’d drop a little hint to Madler, who wouldn’t understand no matter how I explained it.
I held up a finger and opened my mouth.
“If I told you that the heavens were holding me back… would you believe me?”
“Ha, the heavens…? You can’t be referring to Heneryes!”
A wide-eyed Madler exclaimed, spittle flying.
“Yes, that Heneryes.”
I closed my eyes and nodded, then I heard Madler sigh.
“Ha…boss. I take offense to you referring to Lord Heneryes like that, even in jest.”
Well, it was funny but Madler’s reaction was normal.
No one would believe me if I told them that I was once the sole god of a world, and that I had lost much of my godhood and was now living in this one.
In a building in a remote location, that was not easily accessible.
We don’t even advertise it because as I mentioned, I preferred the shop to be as quiet as it is now.
My existence in this world is an impurity.
I shouldn’t have made too much of an impact.
More than that…
“…Were you a believer in Heneryes?”
“Where are the unbelievers these days?”
“Hmm… I see.”
It wasn’t really an act of God like they thought, but it was a miraculous display in its own way.
“Oh, speaking of which… He said he just got back from the Holy Land today.”
Said Madler, naturally picking up one of my fried chicken bites.
“If it’s him…”
“The one who was resurrected this time, the Returned from Paradise, whose name is… I mean…”
“…Zetto.”
“Oh, right. Zetto. I heard that Cadet Zetto was back, but he must have been in a bit of a hurry to get to the Holy Land as soon as he realized how long it had been since he’d been revived.”
“It’s understandable. It was a pilgrimage after all.”
“Anyway, there’s a lot of commotion outside right now. It seems like everyone is going to see him. Aren’t you going to watch? You don’t have any customers.”
“I’m fine, I don’t really care about him.”
In fact, I’m more interested in him than anyone else but that doesn’t mean I have to go to him first.
Apparently he’s been talking to Heneryes, or he would have asked about me.
I wonder if he can reach me.
Whether he likes it or not, he will need to find me in order to move forward.
This wait might be quite pleasant.
***
“Finally…”
I’m finally home.
The comfort I felt as soon as I walked in the door.
Not to mention the familiar air.
I feel like I’m finally in my own space.
It’s a comfort I hadn’t felt even when I was being treated like a royalty in the Holy Land.
Under the circumstances, being escorted by Bernice to meet the Pope of the Holy Land should have been an uncomfortable experience.
“Hello.”
Geppeti greeted me immediately.
Rei…There she was.
“Uh, brother. You’re late.”
Rei, still in bed, didn’t even get up, just turned her head to greet me.
Her demeanor gave away the fact that she had gotten used to her current life.
“Haha, I thought you’d be back soon too.”
Somehow, a week had flown by.
“So… Are you ready?”
I asked Geppeti, not even bothering to unpack.
“The stuff arrived a few days ago.”
Geppeti nodded.
I was talking about the prosthetic arm.
I hadn’t had time to get them fitted before leaving for the Holy Land, and now I had to take care of them.
“How long have you been here and you’re just going out…”
I couldn’t just walk into the dormitory and then go out with a prosthetic arm.
I couldn’t put it off any longer, even though it was inconvenient for me to have a missing left arm.
With my left arm in this shape, Bernice, who was traveling with me to the Holy Land, had a hard time.
She fed me, helped me get dressed and held my hand so I wouldn’t lose my center while walking.
Oh, and I had to stop her from offering to follow me to the restroom.
‘I didn’t mean it at all…’
I could only admire her dedication for being able to say such a thing from the heart.
A saint is a saint after all.
‘By the way, what did she mean when she said we’ll see each other more often?’
She had said that before we parted ways but it did sound strange.
After all, I would be staying at the Academy, and Saint Bernice would be an outsider, so we wouldn’t have much contact.
Unbeknownst to me, there’s been some intimate talk between her and the Academy, but I still don’t know exactly what it is.
‘Now I really need to get an informant.’
For now, I have to assume that the timeline for going East is much later than I knew, and that the lives and deaths of the characters have changed.
In the future, things will change even more than before.
Even if I’m okay with immutable things like past events and objects, I still need an informant to figure out how things are going to play out in real time.
A very competent one, too.
I have a few faces in my head, but what I really want are trends in demons and villains.
After all, now that Murka is dead, there should be a change in the demons’ behavior.
‘Helgenas is on the move.’
Above all, I could not ignore Heneryes warning.
No matter how competent they were, they were only human.
Even if they could get past the famous villains, it would be difficult for them to grasp the movements of the demons.
“Hmph…”
A problem that suddenly became serious.
As I stare at Sierra’s face in silence, another question arises.
I was missing something important.
With that realization, I turned to Geppeti and asked a question.
“…Has everything been okay?”
Geppeti tilts her head at my question.
I was asking, has anything happened to the Academy, to ‘them’?
“Not much…I mean, nothing really…”
Geppeti’s voice trailed off toward the end and this was not a good sign.
Soon, Rei, who was lying on her back hugging her doll, joined the conversation.
“Oh, I met Yuri once…She was carrying a doll that looked like brother.”
I realize that it’s a doll I’ve never seen before, and that it was bought while I was away.
“A doll that looks like me?”
“Yes. I tried to ask her a question, but she just ran away. Also, do you find that things sometimes go missing in your house?”
“Things disappear?”
“Geppeti said your clothes seem to be missing.”
“…”
Geppeti scratches his head at Rei’s answer.
“You said, ‘Uh, Zetto’s shirt number five is missing, intruder…?’ What do you think?”
Rei suddenly jumps out of bed and turns her head this way, imitating Geppeti.
What’s with the shirt number five, anyway?
[…as if nothing really happened.]
Sierra narrowed her eyes as she listened to the conversation and commented in a lazy voice.
I agree with her, there’s definitely something going on so I glance over at Geppeti.
“…”
She was pursing her lips, and it looked like she had quite a bit to say.
What the hell had been going on while I was gone?