Life in Another World With Narration chapter 54

54 – Return

The interior of the dungeon where the Holy Sword sleeps.

Instead of forming a party of warriors, Cain came here with only one person, Mireia.

Cain himself didn’t even fight, and mostly relied on Mireia to eliminate the guardians protecting the dungeon.

“hehehehe… It’s so easy. The previous generation of warriors were all hot-headed fools. Adventurers who leave on a journey, meet comrades, and slowly grow stronger? It’s a problem that can be solved by just having the strongest subordinate from the beginning.”

“……”

Mireia looked at Cain expressionlessly and silently.

Such a guy calling himself a warrior, it was truly pathetic, although she was using him as bait for the demons, but still.

“But why on earth do they keep the Holy Sword in a place like this? After killing the Demon King, they should just keep it stored safely in the kingdom. It’s annoying to come all the way here.”

Cain grumbled as he spat on the remains of the guardians protecting the dungeon.

The reason for his complaint was something that anyone who knows the old stories about warriors and Demon Kings spread throughout the continent would understand.

Even though they have been passed down through oral tradition and there are several books, the main content remains the same.

The Demon King appears, and the power of demons and monsters is strengthened by the Demon King’s power.

And the Holy Maiden receives a prophecy from the goddess and selects a warrior.

The warrior realizes his own power and sets off on an adventure to find the Holy Sword with like-minded companions.

The warrior party goes to the Demon King’s castle and fights the final battle with the Demon King, defeating him.

The warrior who defeats the Demon King loses his power, and the Holy Sword becomes light and appears in its original place when the next warrior appears.

For those born and raised in the kingdom, including Mireia, it was a story that most people knew.

But Cain, who had no interest in warrior stories, especially coming from a back alley, didn’t know about it.

It was a part that showed just how little interest he had in the warriors of this world.

“Four years… You’re more useful than I thought.”

Cain approached Mireia, who had dealt with all the dungeon guardians, and reached out his hand on her shoulder.

But in that moment, Mireia turned around and glared at Cain.

“……”

“Hey, why do you keep looking at me like that? I’m a hero. Without me, humans would be doomed to the Demon King.”

Mireia knew it too.

Every hero that had appeared so far had successfully defeated the Demon King, and there had never been a hero who had been defeated.

But if a hero were to die, there was no guarantee that the next hero would appear.

No one knew what would happen if the hero was killed.

Without a hero, it was impossible to overthrow the Demon King.

Killing the current hero to bring forth a new hero was a gamble that risked the fate of humanity.

That’s why this man could act so recklessly and still be forgiven.

But Mireia didn’t want this worthless hero to lay a hand on her.

To Mireia, this foolish hero was nothing more than bait to lure demons, especially Bloodstain.

She knew well that it was an obvious fact that only a hero could defeat the Demon King.

Moreover, her goal was not to subdue the Demon King like a hero.

It was to kill Bloodstain, who had burned down her hometown and taken Yunoa away from her.

And to kill as many demons and monsters as possible.

That was all that was in her mind.

“……”

“Ugh, stop acting so high and mighty.”

Cain felt an inexplicable threat in Milaia’s cold gaze and reluctantly stepped back.

Having lived in the back alleys, Cain had a keen ability to sense threats, more than anyone else.

That’s why Milaia’s gaze, which seemed to have let go of something, made him think that she might unleash her warrior-like self and cut him to pieces.

Cain averted his gaze from Milaia’s eyes staring at him and blurted out.

“Alright, let’s go grab the Holy Sword or whatever.”

* * *

It had been a few days since leaving Shari’s hometown, Ainblad.

Queen Rudmilla of Ainblad used teleportation magic to transport me straight to the eastern border of the Demon Realm.

It was a powerful magic, but it was impossible to transport beyond the Demon Realm, so I had to go the rest of the way myself.

『Yunoa felt grateful for being able to survive and come out of the Demon Realm thanks to Rudmilla’s merciful act, but she couldn’t help feeling regretful, thinking it would have been nice if they could have sent Kuber as well, since they were already teleporting.』

I could also feel regret.

It has been quite a while since leaving Kuber, and I am starting to miss human society.

Still, once I left the land called the Demon Realm, the visible landscape definitely changed.

It’s somewhat desolate, but it’s a familiar landscape.

It’s an untamed land that hasn’t been occupied by anyone, dividing the land of demons and humans.

That’s why there aren’t many demons or humans living here, but it’s an area where monsters thrive.

By passing through this land, I was able to reach the Horn Gorge where I fell into a hole.

After a long journey, I could finally step foot on the land I knew.

Even after the incident in Ainblad, Shari was still on my mind.

I carefully kept the sketchbook left by Shari’s mother, Porte, and some books.

Among the things I asked Rudmila, one of them was to make sure that I could take Porte’s memento for Shari.

“He was scary, but surprisingly a good person.”

I said, recalling Queen Rudmila’s appearance.

After that day, Shari seemed to calm down a bit, and now she was almost back to her usual self, able to smile again.

It had been a few days since Kubele had gone in the direction of the eastern room.

Finally, the sight of Horn Canyon started to appear in the distance.

From Noble mtl dot com

“Yunoa returned to Horn Canyon, where she had traveled a long way and fought fiercely against the demon army.

In this place where the traces of battle still remained, some new demons had awakened.

Unlike the demon army that attacked the canyon under the command of the previous demon, these demons did not have a clear purpose.”

As soon as Horn Canyon came into view, the narration provided information about the current state of the canyon.

New demons awakened? It was no longer surprising that demons were appearing.

As the power of the Demon King grew stronger in this world, demons were frequently appearing all over the land.

By the way, what happened to the battle in the canyon after I fell into the hole?

The last scene I saw was Mila blocking Bloodstain’s enormous axe with her longsword.

The cliffs and rocks in the canyon shattered from the shockwave, and both demons and adventurers were swept away in all directions.

I fell into the endless underground due to the wind that caused the ground to collapse.

“Mila…”

Since Narration didn’t tell me the result of the battle, I imagined it in my head.

Bloodstain, a subordinate of the Demon King, definitely looked incredibly strong.

A muscular monster with the head of a horse, with a brutal appearance that could be called a demon rather than a demon.

However, no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine Milaea losing.

Both sides seemed very strong, so I couldn’t predict the outcome with my imagination.

Well, I’ll find out when I arrive at Kubel.

First, should I stop by the Horn Canyon?

“The new demons awakened in the Horn Canyon were adventurers who had fought alongside Yunoa.

They were the corpses of adventurers who had been sacrificed in battle, awakened as undead creatures by the influence of the Demon King.

Undead creatures were demons who could inherit the abilities of their previous lives and become even stronger.

Although their numbers were small, they were by no means easy opponents.”

As I approached the canyon, Nareshe’s voice came again.

The corpses of adventurers sacrificed in the canyon had become demons.

I had seen some adventurers being fatally wounded by the demons’ attacks with my own eyes.

The battles must have continued even after I fell into the hole, so there must have been more casualties.

“Could it be… Milaea too?”

For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that Milaea might have fallen victim to Bluestain and turned into a demon.

If the narration was right about the way the abilities of the living were inherited by the undead, she would become a demon beyond imagination.

No, that’s not possible.

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like she would be easily defeated by demons like that.

As I entered the Horn Canyon, I drew the sword at my waist.

If the adventurers who had fought alongside me had become demons, I thought I should give them rest.

In truth, there was something I wanted to test.

When I was imprisoned in the Aynblad Magic Prison, I wanted to know just how strong my magic had become through the special magic conversion.

Though the magic conversion at that time was brief, it was quite successful, and I could feel that a different-colored magic had accumulated within my body.

The magic accumulated in the body through magic conversion is permanent.

And it strengthens various techniques that use physical abilities and magic.

Thanks to Shari, I was able to return alive from the deepest part of the demon realm.

I wonder if I have the ability to grant eternal rest to adventurers who have turned into demons as well.

As I entered the gorge, memories of the battles fought here in the past vividly came back to life.

The broken cliffs and defense structures that had been built by Milaea were still there, shattered.

And among the narrow passages of the gorge, there were demons that truly resembled adventurers, wandering around.

At first glance, they looked like living adventurers.

Their movements seemed intact, unlike zombies.

However, instead of eyeballs, there were blue flames that gave off an eerie feeling, burning brightly.

“Are those immortals…?”

As the narration said, there weren’t that many of them.

And indeed, I didn’t see any immortals that looked like Milaea.

But still, they were comrades who fought alongside me in the past.

Let’s let them rest peacefully.

With my sword drawn, I slowly began to approach the immortals head-on.

* * *