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“Then… goodbye…”

In the streets of the burning city, I was uttering words that didn’t come from my heart. The scene from that unforgettable moment long ago.

‘I can’t be with you.’

—I always want to be together.

‘I have to leave.’

—I don’t want to leave my friends behind.

Even knowing it was a dream, the emotions from that time felt vivid. After a fierce internal struggle between conflicting feelings, I ultimately chose to disappear from their side forever.

It was a phrase of farewell that I squeezed out, knowing that it had to be said. Although I was filled with the desire to see her expression until the very last moment, conversely, I turned my back to avoid revealing my feelings when I spoke those final words.

Still, it’s just a dream, so I wondered if showing her face would cause any harm, but anyway, perhaps relying on my memory, I had my sight turned away from her.

“Ah, no! Don’t go! Please…!”

As I felt her voice drifting away behind me, I slowly awoke from the dream.

*

“Selian…”

“Long time no see, El.”

As soon as I opened my eyes, Selian’s face met my gaze.

Though there were a few subtle changes in her appearance after three years, it wasn’t so short a time that I wouldn’t recognize her.

Looking at the back of my head, still feeling numb, it appears I haven’t been unconscious for long—perhaps only a few minutes.

I wondered if I could possibly escape, but my body wouldn’t budge. As I looked down from my gaze on Selian to see my condition, I found my arms and legs tightly bound to a chair inside the shack where I had been discarded. The ropes were tied so tightly that even trying to break free with strength was futile.

“Um, I suppose asking you to untie me is out of the question?”

I cautiously asked, but Selian just smiled quietly without a word, her smile only deepening my fear. If she had been angry, that would have been understandable, but her completely genuine smile was enough to invoke dread.

“Oh, if it’s too tight and hurting, just wait a moment.”

Another voice from behind Selian belonged to Mariel, the one I had heard just before I lost consciousness. A bright light enveloped my body from Mariel’s hand as she approached me, instantly relieving the pain I’d felt at the back of my head. My wrists and ankles didn’t particularly hurt anymore, and I was grateful the numbness in the back of my head had vanished.

Only then could I begin to recognize the surrounding situation. The place was the inside of the shack where I had just killed a low-level demon. I was tied to a chair, and my friends were looking at me.

“El!”

Before an awkward silence could settle, Anne, who was standing a step back, rushed over and hugged me tightly.

“You idiot! Fool! El, you really are a dummy!”

It seemed Anne hadn’t grown at all over the three years, still retaining her tiny frame. She lifted her buried face, released the hug, and threw a cute tantrum at me while simultaneously punching my chest with her tiny fists.

From an outside view, it looked adorable, but her punches were hard enough that they made a noticeable ‘thud’ sound. It was clear she was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t control her strength. Or perhaps it really was sincere…

Cough, cough! Anne, maybe tone down the punches…

Just as I was beginning to regain my composure, the onslaught of Anne’s overwhelming strength was threatening to knock me out again, so I tried to plead with her, but it seemed my words didn’t reach her ears as she continued shouting.

“Anne.”

Fortunately, while my voice may not have reached her, Yuli, who had placed a hand on my shoulder, seemed to catch on, causing Anne to finally stop punching and step back.

Meanwhile, Mariel, who was continuously casting healing magic on me from across the way, was…

“El, you know how foolish your actions were, right?”

Yuli approached, calming Anne, and asked. But my response was already settled.

“I can’t say it was an act I wouldn’t regret. However… even if I had to go back to that time again, I would definitely make the same choice.”

“Why… why do you want to leave us so much? Don’t you trust us at all?”

Yuli’s voice quivered. I would have preferred if she showed some resentment toward me; however, in her chiding voice, I could find no hint of blame.

“It’s not a matter of trusting or not…”

“No!”

Yuli interrupted my explanation and shouted loud enough to make the shack shake. It was so forceful that it made me wonder if this was the Yuli who had always taken a step back, keeping her deep-seated shyness hidden. I could feel just how long three years had been.

“We all understand! We know everything! We know what El has done and why he left!”

“Normally, it would be right for El to confess it himself, but since he is already in a state of escape, even if we were to meet again like this, I’m sure he wouldn’t even utter a word.”

Selian, who had been silent until now, chimed in. Normally, nobody aside from Selian, who had been the Hero before me, would know about what happened in my past life. However, it seemed that Selian was the only one who had eventually revealed everything to the others.

It was undoubtedly a difficult story to believe, yet looking at them, it seemed they had accepted Selian’s words without a hint of doubt.

“So… I can’t take you all into danger anymore.”

But even if they understood, nothing changed. Even if they knew the sins I had committed, my debt wouldn’t be reduced.

How could I possibly ask them, who had lost their lives because of me, to risk them again for me?

“Do you understand, El?”

However, Yuli approached so close that our faces almost touched and looked straight into my eyes as she quietly began to speak.

“You’re really selfish.”

Her once innocent-sounding voice now felt chilling.

“Who asked you to worry about my life? It’s my life! It may be dangerous, but who doesn’t know that? When we promised to go slay the Demon King together, who thought it wouldn’t be a dangerous path? Why does El try to unilaterally change my choice? Did you think I’d be happy with that? You stay back in a safe place while I go slay the Demon King, that’s what you thought would make me happy?”

Her voice, which had started coldly and quietly, grew louder, becoming more vehement than before. No, it was a scream.

“Did you say you stabbed my heart in my previous life? But do you know? In this life, El has ripped my heart to pieces! Even if I were stabbed, it wouldn’t hurt this much! You say you’re sorry! You say you’ve committed an unforgivable sin! If you’ve committed such a grave sin, then why do you leave all by yourself? I haven’t forgiven you! Who do you think can just leave like that? Why! Why! Why! Just why!”

Yuli, unleashing all the feelings she had piled up deep inside over the three years where I wasn’t aware of it, clutched my collar tightly, crying uncontrollably. It was difficult to watch her like that, but I had no right to close my eyes or turn my head away.

I found myself thinking I might as well forget and think of me as cursed, but why on earth did Yuli and the others come all the way here to find me? I had no idea they would hurt this much because of me. Was that still too insincere an excuse?

As I opened my mouth to find words of explanation but could only stammer, Mariel broke the silence that had fallen over the room.

“Guys, wait a moment… there’s a presence of demons approaching us. From the magic I can sense, it seems to be a high-level demon.”

From the distance, perhaps the presence of the demons was quite far since even I, who was skilled in sensing magic, could not detect what Mariel was talking about. If I had the Holy Sword in hand, at least at my waist, I might have been able to sense them too, but the Holy Sword was neatly placed in a corner of the room.

Given that Mariel was a Saint, who was more sensitive to demons than anyone, my friends immediately entered battle formation, keeping watch outside without a hint of doubt.

“…According to the Ghosts, there are others besides the demons. Two humans, one elf. And it seems there are two golems that appear to be summoned beasts. They aren’t Demonic Beings or Monsters, but they seem to be allies, so it would be best to be cautious.”

Yuli even confirmed this after sending out scouts.

“It’s rare to hear about a demon who comes to rescue friends, even if they are still demons…”

Anne said, tilting her head as she dragged her Great Sword out of the shack. Yuli also quietly released my collar and wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her garment before following Anne outside.

Not only the two of them, but even Mariel, who seemed to be genuinely wielding a weapon, tightened her grip on the mace at her waist and slowly followed the two ahead of her.

“Yuli spoke strongly earlier, but… please don’t hate her. You can’t even begin to imagine how much she’s suffered.”

Now left alone in the shack were just Selian and me.

Selian gently caressed my cheek with her fingertip and then, seemingly out of nowhere, stuffed a rag into my mouth.

“Just for a moment, please stay quiet. If El raises his voice and draws attention, those in a tight spot might target you as a hostage. I don’t doubt you, but please understand it’s just in case.”

Mmmph…!

I wanted to argue about what I was doing tied up, but with the rag shoved in my mouth, all I could manage were muffled groans.

“Then… let’s talk more later.”

With that, Selian headed outside the shack, following the others.

Now I was left all alone in the shack. Unable to move or even make a sound.

After a brief moment of waiting, loud crashing noises began to echo from outside the shack. The banging sounded as if a rather large battle was underway.

Anyway, a demon coming to rescue friends. It was a situation I had never heard of before, as Anne said. Demons are inherently selfish beings. They pursue only power and bow down to the logic of strength rather than being loyal, even to a higher-up.

A demon coming to rescue friends? It seems ridiculous. Even the combination of the company they brought was laughable. An elf and two humans, not Demonic Beings or Monsters.

Haha, even a passing dog would laugh at this…. Huh?

Wait a minute….

One elf, two humans, one demon. And even two golems?

This combination feels familiar. To be precise, one more human should be included here, but if I assume that the additional person is captured somewhere, it aligns with the combination I’m thinking of.

…It can’t be, right? No way.

I utterly refused to accept the situation.

However, due to the sudden encounter with my friends, I hadn’t noticed the feel of her presence due to the contract with Frecia seemingly shouting that my guess is indeed true.

“Mmmmmm!”

I shouted with all my might to stop the fight, but my voice was stifled by the rag, merely echoing inside my mouth. Even as I squirmed, the binding was so tight that I couldn’t break free. All I could manage was to topple the chair over from the intensity of my struggles.

I remained bound to the chair and flopped around like a goldfish flopping out of water. Sometimes I rolled backward, but the more I jumped around, the closer I got to moving forward, even if just a little.

I needed to inform them before anyone got hurt, before anything went wrong.