Retribution

While the heresy inquisitors, led by the Saintess, knocked out the nameless mage bastard and dragged him off to the ruins, I searched the belongings of the Demon King's soldiers alongside Asilie.

I figured that since they handled dirty work, there'd be something to gain, whether it was information or equipment.

Because we'd made such a huge mess, an investigation from Ogwen and the royal family was inevitable, so I had to loot everything that could be looted beforehand. When that happened, we had to play the part of innocent victims who'd 'coincidentally gotten caught up in an internal conflict among illegally infiltrated Demonfolk's and claim we had absolutely no connection to any of it.

"Did you find anything? Not much over here."

"Same here. At least each of them carrying a usable dagger is nice... Ah, big sis, gather up the daggers over there too. I think I'll need to use them."

When I explained my brilliant idea to Asilie, who shot me a questioning look at my sudden turn as a dagger collector, she was horrified at my intention to snap ordinary daggers and use them for the same purpose as the arrowheads made specifically to tear open wounds, but she did agree that it'd be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pretty damn useful.

"Come to think of it, every weapon Eldi uses was sturdy. It's impressive you came up with an idea like that."

"Looking at that bastard's dagger suddenly gave me the thought."

From what I'd felt while fiercely clashing with the Demonfolk's weapons made of Magic-Armament Alloy, Master Balkun hadn't simply melted down the metal and re-forged it into a sword—he'd definitely done some additional processing. The javelins Water Buffalo Horn used, the Axe-wielder's hand axe, they all accepted Magic Power well enough, but there was a clear difference in sheer strength.

Thanks to that, the thought naturally occurred to me that I ought to spend some money and gift him some expensive liquor when I got back this time.

"...You said it was the remnants of an evil god?"

Just as I was about to wonder how I should explain the wrecked sword while handing over the expensive liquor, Asilie's voice, coming after a brief pause, cut off my thoughts. When I turned my head, there was Asilie, holding the daggers recovered from the Demon King's soldiers' corpses, gazing at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Axe-wielder's body with a gaze full of worry and concern.

"Hey, what are you so worried about again, big sis."

"Does this look like something not to worry about? They called it an evil god."

Even though I'd never spoken about what happened with Luwiming, perhaps because she didn't dismiss the threat of evil gods as mere legend, Asilie's expression was far from good.

"You're saying that if Eldi had been stabbed by that dagger, you would've ended up like that? It ended well this time, but there's no telling what might happen next time."

"Ah... I don't really have anything to say to that, but..."

Even if I ended up a knife-holder, I'd only become something vaguely similar to a demon, so from my standpoint it'd actually be a downgrade, but getting directly stabbed by that thing was a separate matter entirely.

That force had tried to climb up the Magic Power link I'd spilled and take over in reverse. I couldn't be sure right now whether I'd be able to safely push it back if I were directly stabbed in the body.

"Still, training with the Saintess has gotten me used to sensing Divine Power, so I can pick up on it quickly. This time it was my first time seeing it, so I couldn't get a read on what it was, but if I just stay alert, there won't be any situation where I fall victim to that stuff."

"Really?"

"No matter how much I try to reassure big sis, I don't do it with lies. No matter how much I might look like a suicide aspirant, I'm strictly a person trying to live, you know?"

When I shrugged my shoulders, feigning the world's greatest injustice, Asilie let out a small laugh and lightly extended her fist, still gripping the daggers, to tap my shoulder.

"You saw it too, so you know that when it isn’t used on an enemy, they stab it into their own body like that. In that state, they’re no different from a demon, and demons aren’t any threat to me. I’m Eldmia Ega, the demon hunter who has even killed an Archdemon, remember?"

I deliberately didn't mention the worst-case scenario of a warrior far superior to me wielding that as a weapon. And Asilie was the same.

Since her reaction was closer to resignation, knowing that even if such a bastard existed I wouldn't stop my steps, this time I approached first and lightly hugged her.

"What's this? Are you being cute right now?"

"It's because I'm sorry."

"Pfft, so you do know it's a situation to be sorry about, huh? The Hero's gotten sharper too, it seems... Could it be there's another special power of the Hero that I don't know about?"

Not rejecting my touch, Asilie rested her head lightly against my chest and looked up at me. The words she spoke, unlike her adorable reaction, were a question with quite a bit of weight to it.

It was clear this wasn't so much a light joke as it was a sign she had some inkling of something.

"...Well."

Thinking the time had finally come to talk about my past life, I tried to open my mouth, but the words wouldn't come easily.

Part of it was guilt for having kept the secret all this time, and another reason was that the mistakes I'd blithely committed under the pretense of acting like a child flashed through my mind like a lantern procession, but the greatest thing was the fear that I'd be treated as something alien and rejected.

It was a truly laughable thing. I'd localized the act of cutting down people who got in my way without batting an eye, yet when it came to being rejected by a single person I cared about, I was exactly the same coward I'd been in my past life.

Just as I was wetting my lips, gone dry of their own accord, and agonizing over how to broach the subject, Asilie, who'd been playfully rolling her eyes side to side while looking at me, suddenly spoke up.

"Do you know the stories about the Heroes who've been on the continent so far?"

"Huh?"

At a point where I already knew Siegfried's true identity, I'd been roughly guessing what kind of beings the Heroes might have been, so I didn't actually know anything worth calling their 'stories.'

If I were some ordinary kid, I might've had an interest in their heroic sagas, but to me they were nothing more than records without a shred of meaning.

More than anything, things like that were usually written in the biographies or life stories of Heroes, but it had been hundreds of years since a being called a Hero had appeared in Itisel, so they weren't the kind of constant hot topic they were in the Empire. Moreover, no matter how much they were said to be beings who saved the Human Race, most Heroes had belonged to the Empire, so there weren't many documents or books in Itisel that treated them as heroes.

Thanks to that, while I hesitated over how to answer this question, Asilie spread both arms and wrapped them around my waist, continuing her words.

"It seems there were quite a few Heroes who came from completely different worlds. Some came with only their soul, and some crossed over with their physical body entirely."

"That's... a pretty hard story to believe."

"Isn't it? But looking at the records and traces they left behind, it seems to be true. There's even talk that the Empire's uniquely remarkable development is the result of applying parts of the knowledge those Heroes possessed."

It was a story overflowing with possibility, and in fact, it was exactly what I'd guessed. Just comparing the various infrastructure I saw in the Imperial capital to the Western Kingdom region alone, the difference in level was like heaven and earth.

I couldn't help but understand her intention in suddenly bringing up this topic, so I bit my lip and lowered my head. Asilie's eyes, gazing directly at me, were infinitely clear and, as always, brimming with affection.

As if she'd already guessed to some extent, but her gaze firmly carried the will to hear it from my own mouth. Facing that look, I found my own hesitation—the fear of being rejected if I brought up the story of my past life—a little ridiculous.

If I didn't trust Asilie, who would I trust?

...Of course, the number of people I trusted had grown by now, but still, the top priority was Asilie.

The worry of 'how' to say it shifted to the worry of 'where' to start from.

At the same time, my heart felt considerably lighter, and without realizing it, a lopsided smile formed on my lips. Once that happened, the thought struck me anew that there was no need to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make some big formal production out of it, and the words came naturally.

"The truth is, my mental age is somewhere around my forties."

Seeing Asilie arch an eyebrow as if to ask what the hell I meant, my answer apparently so wildly random and strange, I ended up bursting into laughter this time.

Anyway, the interrogation would take some time, so there was leisure.

I'd tell it all today.

◈

After roughly tidying up the corpses and returning home with Jagayong, who'd been circling the sky waiting for my orders, I had Asilie hold Laika as a precaution against any potential mental shock, and only then did I tell her how I had come to be reincarnated.

Asilie, missing several of the cliché reactions that should have been there, was extremely calm. She listened to my words exactly as they were, and rather than reacting with disbelief or questioning my mental state, she merely voiced a few pure questions about a world that had developed in a different form than this one.

"So... there's a possibility you're from the same world as Siegfried?"

"Rather than a possibility, it's a certainty. Parallel worlds... ah, it's the idea that two worlds nearly identical in everything exist. Anyway, unless it's something like that, and Siegfried and I aren't from extremely similar but different worlds, it has to be the case."

Still, that didn't mean she showed no surprise at all. Her hands, just like when she'd first heard I was a Hero, ceaselessly stroked Laika from head to tail, and her ears twitched unsteadily.

Just when I was feeling grateful, thinking even that demeanor was her restraining her shock as much as possible for my sake.

Once she'd regained a measure of calm, she suddenly wore a playful smile and opened her mouth, and I had no choice but to squeeze my eyes shut and seriously ponder whether it was now my turn to receive Laika into my arms.

"So Eldi, with a mental age around thirty, was the one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shouting 'Eldmia Chance'?"

What came out of her mouth was my goddamn karma.