The Returning Hero Summons an S-Class Companion
"Haa... Please give me some rest, Master."
Elysia showered me with tears and snot, her emotions crashing over me like a wave. After giving her a moment to calm down, we could finally talk.
"Ahaha... It's been a while, Elysia."
"K-kkuuk... Master... There's something I've always wanted to say..."
I stopped sniffling and slowly opened my mouth.
"...Actually, I've had you on my mind..."
The girl suddenly started confessing.
"I don't know exactly when it started... but I've been feeling something more than just respect for Master..."
Her words came out faster and faster once the floodgates opened.
"How much I suffered trying to hide my true feelings... Until I defeated the Demon King, I tried my hardest to keep it all locked away!"
So that was it. I hadn't known.
I had always seen Elysia as the blunt, cold type, but...
"...After defeating the Demon King, I planned to confess this feeling to you... and somehow spend the rest of my life by your side! But..."
She had been thinking all that.
Truthfully, I had only wanted to go back home.
I hadn't really thought about how Elysia felt about me.
"...The moment I defeated the Demon King, I left without a single backward glance to go home... It's just too... too much!"
Elysia burst into another round of rough sobs.
My clothes were completely soaked from her tears. I patted her back and tried to speak.
"Ah... I see. Haha. I didn't know you had been thinking such thoughts."
"...Still, I don't resent you. You had your own life..."
Elysia seemed to calm herself down again.
"...Even being able to talk to Master in my dreams is enough for me."
Dreams? This isn't a dream.
"Elysia."
"Yes, Master."
"This isn't a dream, is it?"
"?"
Elysia's sniffling stopped abruptly. She looked up at my face with wide, round eyes.
And she reached out to touch my face.
It was a subtle, intimate sensation.
She pinched my cheek with careful affection.
"Ouch! You meant to pinch my cheek, not mine."
I pinched her cheek in retaliation.
And only then did she realize she had crossed a line. Her face turned bright red in an instant.
"Kiiyaak---!!"
Elysia screamed at the top of her lungs, her eardrums practically shattering.
She immediately buried her face in the floor and couldn't raise it again.
***
After almost thirty minutes of Elysia writhing on the floor, she finally gathered the strength to speak.
"...Please pretend you didn't hear what I said earlier..."
"...Uh... okay."
If Elysia were to die right now, the cause would definitely be a heart attack from sheer embarrassment. Her entire body, from face to toes, was flushed crimson.
Now that I had a better grasp of the situation, we could finally have a proper conversation.
"...First off... how did you know I was Terdain? My appearance is different."
"...I couldn't possibly not recognize Master. I remember every single twitch of your facial muscles. Even if your looks change, my eyes can't be fooled."
There are some things about a person that never change, no matter what. Expressions, tone of voice, patterns of behavior. Those traits, shaped by a lifetime of memories, form the core of who we are. Elysia possessed the eyes to see right through them.
'Right... she was already being hailed as the Sword Saint of the continent.'
I knew that talent well because I had raised her myself. Elysia's talent as a swordswoman... her eyes that observed every detail. Those eyes had turned her into the pinnacle of swordsmanship. No exaggeration. Thanks to that gaze, she had recognized me immediately this time as well.
"...I see. Thank goodness. I was worried you might not recognize me."
"...This is the form you truly have as Master. It's so different."
"...Compared to your Terdain self, you're a bit... dull, aren't you?"
It was true. A two-meter-tall frame. The muscles supporting it. Platinum hair flowing in the wind. It was the classic chosen hero from my other world. Compared to that, I looked lean and ordinary now.
"...Not at all. This form of Master is still just Master."
"...Is that so? Haha."
Even so, Elysia liked the way I looked.
"...A little... cute... or maybe not..."
"?"
She had asked me to pretend I didn't hear her confession earlier, but now she was subtly fishing for compliments.
We kept chatting casually until she shifted the conversation.
"...So you entered my world, and monsters from our realm... plus people with mana appeared as well."
"...This side of the world has never seen anything like that."
Elysia looked grave as she considered the situation.
"...How is it over there? The remnants of the Demon King's army are still around."
"...We're almost finished here. Even the stragglers are weakened because they aren't getting the Demon King's mana..."
Then how were the monsters here so energetic? Only one person could have the answers. The Saintess, Irene.
"...I should just ask Irene."
"...Indeed, I'm sure the Saintess might know something."
"...Then I'll cancel the summoning. Why don't you ask her?"
Elysia paused briefly at my request. She opened her mouth with a slightly sullen expression.
"...Master... we've been apart for so long... Could you stay with me just a little longer?"
"...Ah... sure."
I was a bit taken aback. Elysia had always answered with the same stiff "Yes, I understand, Master." But now she was pouring out her feelings, even if it sounded like a petulant whine. It felt strangely novel.
"...Yeah, no rush. We can take our time."
Her expression softened at my words. Asking me to wait had been a bold move for Elysia.
'...I've watched her for ten years, and I've never seen her like this.'
The confession earlier... and this attitude now. Something had clearly changed in her during my absence.
While I comforted Elysia and continued talking, the voice of the news anchor from the TV suddenly caught my ear.
"[Breaking news! In the middle of fighting a flock of griffins descending from North Korea, another monster horde is heading south via an entirely different route.]"
My eyes and Elysia's locked onto the TV at the same time.
"[Satellite images confirm approximately thirty large creatures are moving south along the coast at 40 km/h. Their exact species is unknown, but they are estimated to be monsters that emerged from an A-class gate.]"
According to the report, countermeasures against the monsters approaching along the coast hadn't been prepared yet.
"If they're A-class or higher, they're pretty dangerous."
I rubbed my chin, worried. Elysia spoke up.
"...Master, are you really that worried?"
"...Right now my power is completely gone, so fighting those things would be tough."
Elysia stood up with a knowing look.
"...Then I'll handle it. Dangerous threats should be eliminated in advance."
Elysia suddenly radiated a lethal aura with murderous eyes.
"...But if you go, I have to go too."
The limitation of the **Dimension Summon** skill: summoned beings couldn't stray too far from the caster.
"...Don't worry. I'll keep Master safe."
With Elysia there, I didn't have to worry about danger. Plus, these were monsters from an A-class gate. Ordinary Awakened would only get hurt. Elysia going first was the smart choice.
'...And I'll pick up some magic stones for the trouble.'
It wasn't a lie that I wasn't greedy. Dealing with D-class goblins alone earned a hundred million. Sweeping A-class monsters could bring in who-knows-how-much. But there was a problem.
"...The distance is pretty far."
Thirty minutes by car. In my hero days I could have run there in ten, but now I was just an ordinary person. Plus, I had no license or car, so I had no choice but to use public transport. Buses didn't run at midnight.
"...Don't worry about that."
Elysia hesitated, then slowly approached me on tiptoes, turned around, and bent her knees.
"H-heh... Carry me... please..."
She looked at me with a strangely expectant expression and asked me to carry her. Obviously embarrassed, she was urging me to hurry up. She didn't even look at my face, just waved her hand behind her back as if to say "lean on me."
...We weren't the type to naturally do this level of skinship. But... I couldn't refuse.
We ended up piggybacking through the night sky. **Fwaa--!** Against the white moon in the black sky, a boy and girl wandered between the buildings. **Fwa-bak--!** "Ugh... Elysia... go a little slower..." "H-hehe, Master, please bear with me just a bit longer. We'll be there soon!" **Fwa-ba-ba-bat--!** Elysia's back was a bumpy ride.
Elysia kept glancing back at me with a faint, teasing smile. It felt like she was doing it on purpose. A small act of revenge against me for abandoning her and leaving for home.