kscans

Chapter 127 - Robele's Tears, Ares's Resolve

The Village of the Dead, Vastillier, was the village where Robele had once grown up with embroidery and love. But now, it was a scorched land enveloped in flames, with the smell of black smoke and burnt cloth hanging in the air.

At its center stood a man clad in madness.

"Kuha… kuhuhu, a’aaah~~!"

"I’m the messenger of justice, Drunkard-sama! God told me to kill and burn all the monsters!!"

Heavy Drunkard, commander of the human anti-Demon Lord remnant extermination squad. He had made a name for himself on the battlefield, but his mind had broken in the midst of the fighting. Now, controlled by drugs, alcohol, and the voice of a "god only he could hear," he had become a tyrant who brandished a madness called justice.

"A zombie is talking… guhehe… hahahahaha! Stinking corpses gotta be burned, turn 'em to ash and mix 'em with the air… breathe it in and you become justice…!"

Heavy Drunkard wrapped a bandage around his own arm, then licked the countless injection marks exposed beneath it with his finger, grinning.

"To get strong, ya know, ya gotta drink. All sorts of things… like zombie bone powder!"

"You’re a zombie, ain’t ya!? You’re dead, ain’t ya!? Don’t come back to life!? Don’t you wear a dresssss!!!"

His greatsword casually tore through the tattered remnants of a zombie’s embroidery.

"S-stooooooopppp!!"

Robele shrieked.

"That lace… one of the children of this village sewed that!!" But Heavy Drunkard wouldn’t listen. He foamed at the mouth as he raved, swinging a liquor bottle while humming a nonsensical song.

"You’re the hero, ain’t ya? Do somethin’ about it, yaaaaa!!"

Ares’s eyes quietly burned with anger.

"Stop itttttttttt!!" Robele screamed. His voice trembled with tears.

"Give me back my birthplace! My home! My dresses! My familyyyyyy!!"

Ares gripped her sword tightly.

Anger was in the depths of her eyes. Within the girl who had always been crying, a definite "flame" had been lit.

"I won’t let someone like you laugh at the dead!!"

And she swung her sword.

Heavy Drunkard was laughing.

"Ooh, scary, little missy. The girl hero is angry~"

Their swords clashed. But the drugged man’s movements were fast. The drugs had pushed his body beyond its limits.

But Ares shouted.

"For Robele-san!"

"For my comrades!"

"I will become a ‘hero who fights’!!"

A full-force slash!

The sword sent sparks flying and blew Heavy Drunkard’s shield away!

"Gah…!"

His crazed laughter stopped.

"You… for a hero, you actually… gh, ugh… uwaah…!"

Stumbling and collapsing, Heavy Drunkard fell unconscious.

Silence spread through the area.

After the battle, Robele stood alone in the center of the burnt village. Where his embroidery classroom once stood. The floral curtains, the silk practice cloths, nothing remained.

"…Will I… be able to do embroidery again…?"

His murmur was so quiet it seemed to vanish on the wind.

Just then. Something was gently offered to him from behind.

A small piece of thread and cloth. It was Ares.

With her dirt-covered hands, she had taken it from her tattered pouch and gently handed it over.

"Robele-san. I’m not very good at sewing, but…"

"But let’s… make something together again."

Tears once again welled in Robele’s eyes.

"…I shouldn’t cry. My makeup will run…"

Robele was speechless, just staring at the cloth. Then, he clutched it to his chest and gave a small laugh.

"Fufu… this is… the second time a hero has made me cry, ohohoho."

And far away, Mamoru, who had been watching from the shade of a tree, muttered.

"…Hmph, not bad, ‘hero’."

The Hobgoblin coach teared up as he watched his disciple grow with certainty.