An Unexpected Reunion

This damn nuisance of a Hero!!!

I was absolutely furious to find out that the person causing all this trouble was none other than the Hero. Seriously, he was from Earth, so why did he have zero common courtesy?

The guard watching this scene looked utterly bewildered. "U-Um, do you two know each other?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

I wanted to say I had no idea who he was, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to the Hero. When on earth did he get back? Considering the sheer scale of his power, I should have sensed him... A massive, formidable power still slumbered deep within him. In fact, it felt even more refined and potent than the power I remembered.

It had been over a year since I returned to Earth. Time must have passed in the other world as well, so it wasn't surprising that he'd grown stronger. What kind of life had he been living? I was curious, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"Alright, leave this man to me and get back to your work."

I dismissed the guard. Looking highly skeptical, he backed off out of respect for me, though his eyes remained filled with suspicion. Sigh, just how much of a nuisance was he that the guards are reacting like this?

"You damn Hero!"

If I had a whip on me, I would have lashed him right then and there.

"Haha!"

This crazy Hero was actually laughing while I was fuming.

"Saintess, I'm... I'm so glad. Truly..."

Yu Jin's intense, emotional reaction made me shut my mouth. I was about to unleash a torrent of nagging, but I just couldn't. Ah. I realized why this idiot of a Hero was reacting this way, which left me with no choice but to stay quiet.

I had died right in front of the Hero and our comrades. Perhaps the Goddess had told them of my resurrection afterward, or perhaps not. Either way, seeing me—whom he thought was dead—alive and well on Earth must have been an overwhelming shock and joy for him.

"Ugh, get a grip already."

I kept pushing away the Hero as he tried to cling to me. It seemed one smack wasn't enough to snap him out of it. Since he kept crawling toward me... I lost my patience and kicked him right in the head.

"I said, snap out of it!"

"Ack!"

The Hero finally tumbled backward onto the ground.

"Good grief."

He didn't used to be this pathetic...

"I-I'm sorry."

"Are you finally back to your senses?"

I understood why he was acting like this, but his pitiful display still made me sigh.

"Yeah..."

"First of all, when did you get back?"

"About two months ago, I think?"

Two months... Wait, so he found me just a month after returning?

"How did you find me?"

"Well..."

Apparently, the Hero used to be a baseball player on Earth. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠So, while watching a baseball game, he happened to see me throwing the ceremonial first pitch.

"Your appearance was exactly the same, so I recognized you instantly."

Well, yeah. Anyone who knew me would recognize this face immediately.

"But how did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you end up on Earth, Saintess?"

I was momentarily at a loss for words. How was I supposed to explain this? My summoning to the other world had been different from the Hero's. The Hero had been summoned with his original physical body intact, whereas only my soul had been pulled over to possess a new body. To explain all of that, I would also have to reveal that I was originally a man... and for some reason, I really didn't want to do that.

"I don't really know either. I only have theories."

The Goddess was the only one who knew the whole truth, but since I couldn't connect to her on Earth, I couldn't ask. So, I gave him a slightly twisted version of my theory. I told him that after I died, my soul was taken and placed into a body. And since I didn't have my original body when it was time to send me back, a new one was created for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me. In that process, they probably just recreated the Saintess's body I had been using.

"Ah, so that's what happened..."

He didn't seem particularly shocked.

"You're not surprised?"

"Well..."

He said he had already suspected I was from Earth—specifically South Korea—based on the way I cursed.

"Then why didn't you say anything back then?"

"I wasn't entirely sure..."

Hmm... Still, I had hoped our reunion would be a bit more dignified than this. I let out a deep sigh.

"Sister!"

Just then, my younger sister appeared from behind. Seohui immediately stepped in front of me, glaring threateningly at the Hero.

"This guy! He's a stalker!"

Ah... It seemed she had brought the car around in the meantime. But when she saw me standing with a strange man, she must have gotten worried and stepped out. She even seemed to know about the scene the Hero had caused earlier.

"U-Um, Seohui?"

"Get away from my sister right now!"

My sister looked ready to draw her weapon at any second. The Hero backed away with an awkward, sheepish expression.

I couldn't stop sighing. I had to explain the situation to my sister, and I had to explain things to the Hero too...

"Ugh, let's just go to a nearby cafe first. I'll explain everything there."

I needed to get out of here before more people from the guild started staring. Though it felt like plenty of people had already seen us...

My sister looked suspicious, while the Hero just offered a helpless smile.

In any case, we drove to a nearby cafe. Seohui flatly refused to let the Hero in the car, so he had to run alongside us...

"Don't worry, I can keep up easily."

Well, considering he still possessed all his power as the Hero, keeping up with a car wouldn't be an issue.

Once we arrived at the cafe, I gave a brief explanation.

"So... this guy is the 'Hero' you fought alongside in that other world?"

"Yeah, exactly. So you don't have to worry."

As for the Hero...

"Ah, so she's your younger sister? That makes sense."

He was surprisingly understanding.

"And, Mr. Hero?"

"Ahem. Since we're on Earth and I'm not a Hero here, I'd prefer if you called me by my name..."

My sister glared at him coldly. "No thanks."

Yu Jin, Yu Jin... Yeah, that sounds much better than 'Hero.'

"Then, should I just call you Yu Jin?"

"Y-Yeah..."

Since I had no reason to hesitate, I decided to use his name. His flustered reaction was quite amusing.

"For now, my name is Nix. Nix Hemera."

"I-I see. That's a unique name."

Ah, do I have to explain this part too? I went ahead and explained that I was officially registered as an amnesiac who had gone missing inside a Gate. Having already adjusted to Earth's Gate system, Yu Jin caught on quickly.

"So it's a new name."

"Yeah, this is my name now."

We had so much to catch up on that I felt a bit guilty toward the cafe owner. To make up for it, I ordered several desserts alongside our drinks as we talked. Eventually, the topic turned to what Yu Jin had been doing for a living.

"Manual labor? With your kind of power?"

Even I knew what that meant. Though, on second thought, maybe having that kind of strength made the work incredibly easy for him.

"Wouldn't it be better to just work as a Hunter?"

"Well, that might be true, but..."

Yu Jin cast an awkward glance toward my sister.

"So you're a Hunter, Saintess?"

"Yeah. I'm the country's eighth S-class Hunter."

Yu Jin nodded. "If you kept your holy powers, that makes perfect sense."

By that logic, Yu Jin could easily become an S-class Hunter whenever he wanted. The only hurdle would be his lack of a track record, but if he demonstrated overwhelming power, the Association wouldn't be in any position to argue.

"I'm glad to see you've been doing well."

Yu Jin looked at me with deeply affectionate, longing eyes.

"Well, yeah."

I answered casually, but Yu Jin seemed to feel much more deeply about it.

"After you died, Saintess... you have no idea how much I worried..."

When he put it like that, I didn't know what to say. Seohui watched him with a thoroughly displeased expression.

"How did our other comrades take it?"

"They managed to overcome it..."

I see...

"Did anything else happen over there?"

"Well... after we defeated the Demon King, the demons fell into a civil war. We took that opportunity to reclaim and expand our territory..."

Wow, so humanity actually turned the tables?

"That's a relief."

I had been incredibly annoyed when I was first summoned against my will, but after spending ten years there, I had grown attached to the place. That was why we had fought so hard to defeat the Demon King in the first place. Hearing that peace had finally returned genuinely made me happy.

"But the Succubi and Nightmares..."

To think that demons were actually being integrated into human society... especially the very races that had once threatened our lives... Hearing the details, it was almost comical. The very races that had tormented humanity so much were apparently treated like outcasts among their fellow demons. The more I heard, the more absurd it sounded.

Well, thanks to that, humanity had been able to go on the offensive and reclaim their lands. However, due to population shortages, they hadn't been able to take back everything, which was a bit of a shame.

"Was it too difficult to just wipe out all the demons?"

"If we pushed them that far, there was a high chance humanity would have been wiped out too..."

Ah... That made sense. If a single superhuman could change the course of a war, the reverse was also true. If pushed to the brink, the remaining powerful demons would have retaliated with merciless slaughter, leading to mutual destruction. Stopping at a reasonable line was the correct strategic decision.

"It's a complicated issue..."

"If you had been there, Saintess, a total eradication might have been possible..."

So my absence had left a massive void... "Sorry about that."

"N-No, if it weren't for your sacrifice back then, we would have lost the war entirely..."

Looking at this foolish Hero, I felt a slight pang of frustration.

"Sister, it's getting late..."

Huh? Hearing Seohui's voice, I checked my phone. It was indeed quite late. I noticed the cafe owner was busy tidying up the place. Ah, it was closing time.

"Ah! We should probably get going."

"Sorry for keeping you so long..."

Why had the Hero suddenly become so timid?

"Let's exchange numbers first."

We exchanged phone numbers. He was incredibly hesitant at first, but once the exchange was complete, a bright, beaming smile spread across his face.

"U-Um, call me if you ever need any help."

"Will do."

As we stepped out of the cafe and prepared to part ways, the Hero looked incredibly reluctant to leave.

"What's with that face? We're just saying goodbye."

"H-Huh?"

"We can always meet up again."

"R-Right?"

His eyes were filled with anxiety. Ah, I see... He was worried that I might suddenly vanish again. I let out a soft chuckle.

"Gosh, you're such an idiot."

The Hero offered an awkward scratch of his head.

"See you next time."

Honestly, I wanted to chat with him a bit longer, but with my sister nagging me, I had no choice.

"Let's go, hurry up."

Seohui still looked thoroughly displeased. Did she really dislike him that much? After a brief farewell, I got into the car, and Seohui immediately hit the gas, speeding away. What was her deal?

I couldn't understand what was wrong with either the Hero or my sister. Good grief...

To reassure the Hero that we could talk and meet up whenever he wanted, I pulled out my phone and sent him a quick text message.

Still, to think that the man who had been looking for me was actually the Hero... It was absolutely absurd. I had only thrown that ceremonial pitch for fun, but I suppose it had served its purpose after all. A faint smile played on my lips.