The Second Death and Rebirth
It was only after a considerable amount of time had passed since Dullahan had left the tavern that Karl finally came to his senses. Following the heroines’ instructions, he slowly examined the note left behind by Dullahan.
To his eyes, it was a letter written in an unfamiliar, hastily scrawled script that seemed distinctly like Dullahan’s style.
When he recognized the familiar hand, Karl’s expression—originally bright with surprise—grew progressively darker as his gaze dropped lower and lower, until it became utterly gloomy.
The heroines, sensing something strange, clung to him with puzzled looks, attempting to read the note for themselves.
“What on earth could be in that note to make your face so gloomy? Let me see….”
Starting with Alice’s question, the three women began to read the note together, as if acting in unison.
[When you’re reading this note, … I’ll probably already be far away. I used teleportation, so don’t even think about chasing me.]
“Seriously… who exactly is chasing whom? …This is ridiculous. Don’t you agree, Karl-nim?”
“….”
“…..Karl-nim?”
Yet Karl did not seem to hear her words. He set the note down on the table and, lowering his head completely, began to weep.
“Ugh… Dullahan…!!”
At his reaction, the women sensed something amiss and hurriedly continued reading the note.
[I told you before, right? If I use my physical attack ability… it will inflict the exact same amount of damage on me.]
‘What…? What the hell is this….’
The other two women, seeing the same words, looked just as bewildered and stunned.
There was a reason… this was not a power that only harmed the user, but one that damaged the user as well.
Thinking that way, she began to read the rest of the note.
[Of course, the destructive power is enormous. I tried it once just for fun in the past and it was incredibly effective… though it hurt like hell…]
[So… to put it simply, if I use an attack containing my power, even the Demon God can be defeated.]
[In exchange, I’ll be pulled into that shock and die as well… but honestly, I have no attachment to this world at all.]
The heroines’ expressions darkened as they read those words—no attachment to the world.
It was because they had experienced the same thing themselves: misjudging Dullahan, who possessed such a fatal authority, and blindly attacking him without mercy.
“Ah… what have I done…?”
The words were spoken by Dia, who had mercilessly struck his body countless times during their sparring matches.
**
Dia recalled the first time she had seen Dullahan’s face: he was simply an incompetent person who did not fit in with the academy.
From childhood, she had often heard others compare her and Franz to Dullahan and herself.
“Have you heard about the young lady of the Franz family? Even at just ten years old, she’s already defeated a full-fledged adult knight in a duel.”
“I know, right? Even a count’s young lady has that kind of skill… our Lady of the Grillite family must have even more.”
“Haha, of course. Just imagine how amazing our young lady is. Hahaha!!”
“…A kid of our age already defeating an adult…?”
No matter how talented she was herself, no matter how hard she tried, Dullahan stood in a position far beyond her own.
Because they were the same age, the adults around them always spoke of him whenever they saw her, and each time she heard, she felt something inside her breaking.
“Why… why are you so strong?!”
Why had the heavens created someone as ordinary as her… and a genius like Dullahan in the same world?
Why did she have to be compared to a child whose face she didn’t even know, no matter how hard she worked?
“…I hate him.”
Even then, as a child, whenever she heard the name Dullahan, she clenched her teeth and covered her ears. Eventually, she began to hate him with all her heart.
Later, when she entered the academy, she finally confronted the being she hated just for hearing the name—Dullahan.
Even in a duel, she poured everything she had into beating him to death.
**
With those memories in mind, the other two women also recalled the actions they had taken against him and began to speak.
“I knew Dullahan had come to the academy through the swordsmanship test. Even so, he chose the magic department instead of swordsmanship.”
“…I thought he looked down on this academy. It was an insult to the prestigious Palette Academy founded by the empire…”
Yet the truth was different. In this structure where sparring with people was unavoidable, simply attending the swordsmanship class would have been painful for him.
Perhaps, even after entering this academy, he had wanted to come here despite everything… so he had been able to enter by demonstrating excellent swordsmanship.
But Alice, who knew nothing of this, had not hesitated to insult him harshly, saying he should just quit if he was going to act like that.
“I was the same… Karl-nim has worked so hard since being reincarnated into this body, but Dullahan just wasted his time.”
The words came from the saint, Riviene. She continued, her voice trembling with sobs.
“I thought Dullahan was just some person who stole someone else’s body and lived so carelessly… so I was angry at him.”
Why are you living so sloppily even after stealing someone else’s body?
As she listened to his question, he had recalled Dullahan’s bitter smile, and finally realizing the truth, he broke down in tears with overwhelming guilt.
“But… no. He was always… doing the best he could.”
In fact, Karl had said that the only one who could save them in their direst moments was Dullahan’s help.
In other words, Dullahan, like him a reincarnator, had been using every piece of knowledge he knew to survive in this world and help those around him.
“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry!!”
With her apology, the quiet tavern suddenly erupted into noise.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s a special report! The Demon God is dead!!”
“What?! The Demon God is dead? Is that true?!”
“Yes! When we went to the plains where the Demon God had been, the Demon Army had disappeared, and there was a man’s corpse lying next to his body.”
And hearing that, Karl and the women stood frozen, staring at the note in silence.
They could no longer seek forgiveness. They wept as they looked at the final words of the man who had left this world forever.
**
Only when I had been reincarnated did I think that if I just ate well and lived well by myself, I would be happy.
…But reality was nothing like my ideal. I no longer found joy in living alone.
“Hah, I should just train…”
Living alone and lonely, I ended up focusing on training things I would never use—swordsmanship and basic physical stats.
At least when swinging the sword, I didn’t have to think about those dark things.
After spending time that way, I grew stronger than Karl, who had been wiping out the Demon race.
I knew Dullahan was talented, but I never imagined he was better than the original protagonist, Karl.
But that didn’t matter much to me. What did matter was that I was lonelier than I had thought.
So I actively helped Karl the most, secretly satisfied with watching his success from afar.
But suddenly Karl had been defeated by someone. They had stolen even a little of my joy.
“…Fucking hell… how fun it was to watch the protagonist reincarnated… how dare they steal my happiness?”
Was I supposed to care about the empire’s people being hunted by the Demon God? Honestly, none of my business. I didn’t need to save those cursing me right after the hero lost.
Rather, it was more accurate to say I had defeated the Demon God for my only friend.
So I decided to finally use my unique ability, which I had never used in the academy, even after taking harsh abuse from the heroines, or suffering humiliation at their hands—against the Demon God.
After all, if I was going to die anyway, I had no attachment to life, and no one but Karl would mourn my death.
Ultimately, it was better for only me to die than for everyone to perish without being able to stop the Demon God…
Thinking that, I delivered the note containing my resolve to Karl and headed to where the Demon God was.
As I entered the Demon God’s territory, she assembled her army and faced me in a life-or-death battle.
“Everyone, step aside. This time… he seems different from the little shits who came before.”
Finally facing the Demon God, she approached slowly with overwhelming demonic energy radiating from her body, holding a pitch-black greatsword in one hand that emitted not a single ray of light.
“A clean aura… so it was only one person. Would you be enough to satisfy me, Pelican?”
“What the hell did you just say, you bitch who’s about to die from one punch.”
“Hahaha! What a fun human. You even know how to make such witty jokes… I think you’ll have to become my slave after being captured….”
“Hah… just die.”
Hearing those words, she laughed bitterly, and at the same time felt something eerie. In an instant, Dullahan vanished before her eyes, and she turned back.
“You’re late, kid.”
With a look that was almost mocking the heroines for calling her a “kid,” she laughed mockingly at the man in front of her, took his fist, and fell.
“What… was that just now?”
The woman who had been so proud until now looked up at the unknown man with eyes full of shock, clearly unable to believe the speed and power she had just witnessed.
“Why, surprised? You got knocked out cold by a surprise attack from a power-hiding bastard?”
“You… what the hell are you… I’ve never seen someone like you before…!!”
“That’s right, because I’ve never shown it to anyone. Ah, thinking about it makes me angry… does it make sense that I feel pain from physical damage too?”
So I had to hide my power, and I expected her to fall into despair and look at me with eyes full of hatred.
“So, how does it feel? Being defeated by a human you looked down on so much? Does it feel like you’re cursed enough to want to kill me?”
“…Yeah. Really, it feels…”
The being who had come to steal peace from this world and my happiness was supposed to die in agony to the very end.
That was the best revenge I could offer to the woman who had taken my life. But…
“Kuk… hahaha… ah, I’m having fun.”
Even as she died, she laughed like a madwoman. Unpleasant and confused, I scowled at her and asked.
“What’s so funny? You’re going to die soon, you bitch.”
She looked up at me with a face full of genuine joy and said,
“I’m really… having fun.”
And after exchanging meaningless words with her, we both fell dead right there on the spot.
“….”
“Master, it’s time to wake up.”
“…?”
“Master?”
“Explain.”
“What?”
Why the hell did I die and end up here? And why is that bitch here?! Explain!!”
…And I had regressed.
Together with the mad masochistic Demon God.