Episode 1 – The Day I Died

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Her sacred prayer and blessing flow through her clasped hands.

,Can I let go now?

,Um… no, hold on a little longer.

I didn’t want to let go of her hand either, so I squeezed it gently.

Her brown eyes and my amber eyes met for a long time.

She stared at me as if engraving my image in her eyes, then suddenly came into my arms.

I stroked her hair and said,

,You don’t have to worry.

Her scent brushes past the tip of my nose.

As I gently stroked her orange hair, the scent became even stronger.

,Why is our Saintess-nim so anxious even after casting a double or triple layer of blessings and prayers?

Her name is Mella.

The Saintess-nim favored by the Goddess,

A member of the Hero’s party.

And my childhood friend and lover.

,I am anxious, I openly declared in front of everyone that we are going to get married. Now no one else can take me away from you-

,That was the day I heard the most thief bastard comments in my life. I thought I was really going to die that day.

I am her lover. Fiancé.

And this party’s thief and assassin.

I was a pretty famous thief in the past.

I was forcibly scouted by a violent group and did the job of stealing dangerous items through tight security,

Fortunately, it suited me very well.

However, tired of the unwanted life as a criminal, I reunited with my childhood friend, the Saintess-nim, and with her help, I was able to liquidate my criminal life.

After that, I was recognized for my skills as a thief through training and became a member of the Hero’s party,

In the dangerous adventures where we entrusted each other’s lives, she and I became lovers.

Of course… I haven’t even kissed her yet because there shouldn’t be any problems with the Saintess-nim’s divine power…

,I heard all sorts of curses that day, but I can’t die without kissing you, right?

,Oh my god, how can you say such embarrassing things so easily?

The face buried in my arms digs deeper into my embrace.

Looking at her red ears, I can clearly see that her face is also bright red.

I can’t even fathom how lucky I am that such a cute woman is my lover.

I hugged her tightly.

,Mella…

,I love you, Ed. So much.

,Just get through today. You just have to wait here without any worries. Just think about where to go for our honeymoon.

,How can I not worry when you don’t let me go with you?

,You know that’s unavoidable.

I let her out of my arms.

Today, I leave her here and infiltrate the Demon King’s castle.

,Because this is an assassination.

Hero Robin and

Thief Edward, that is, me.

Saintess-nim Mella.

Elf Archer Lara,

Wizard Jennifer.

The Hero’s party consists of these five people.

For the past three years, we have grown and successfully driven out monsters and demons.

There was even a vague conviction that we could defeat even the Demon King if we continued like this.

However, after suffering a major defeat in the battle with the Demon King, we realized that this thought was arrogance.

We were frustrated after barely surviving his overwhelming magic power and evil plans.

This was because I felt with my whole body that I could never beat the Demon King head-on.

The news of the Hero’s party’s defeat shattered people’s hopes, and the world became even more chaotic.

The world, where the collapse of society was imminent, no longer had the luxury to wait,

We decided to assassinate the Demon King.

Only I, the Hero, and the wizard in charge of support are deployed in the operation.

The Saintess-nim’s overflowing divine power is quickly detected by the Demon King, so she was excluded from this operation,

The archer is monitoring the surrounding forest and preparing for any possible attacks.

I fully understood Mella’s anxiety.

Because she can’t help her comrades fighting the Demon King from the side.

But I was more confident in infiltration and assassination than in combat.

The wizard approached us after we finished talking.

,Ed. Are you ready?

,Jennifer. Wait a moment.

I took out a silver coin from my pocket and handed it to Mella.

A coin with my profile on the front and my name engraved on the back.

It was a commemorative coin made by modeling the faces of each party member to pray for the Hero’s party’s success.

I, who can’t keep my hands still, used to roll this coin on my finger whenever I had the chance.

Mella stared at the coin in her hand and smiled.

,Giving me something like this makes it seem like you’re going to die.

,No, I’m leaving it with you because I’m afraid it will make a rattling sound. Give it back to me later. I cherish it.

I smiled too and gently stroked her cheek.

,I’ll be back, Mella.

Mella closed her eyes and felt my touch, then turned her head and lightly kissed my palm.

,Yes… you have to come back. Don’t get hurt, you have to come back in one piece. Ed.

I turned my back on her and followed the wizard.

As I moved away from Mella, tension began to build in my body.

I judged that this level of tension would help me carry out the operation, so I didn’t look back.

Was the anxiety Mella felt at that time just a simple worry?

Or was it a feeling as a Saintess-nim, or a feeling as a lover?

I sometimes think I should have looked at her face one more time before leaving.

I couldn’t go back to her after all.

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To put it bluntly, the operation was successful.

Jennifer’s sound magic completely erased my already quiet footsteps, and the invisibility magic completely erased my presence along with my appearance.

The Demon King’s neck was cut so easily that it was absurd, as he didn’t notice the sharp dagger approaching from behind.

The Demon King felt that he had been cut only after the blood spurted out, and he grabbed his neck in embarrassment.

However, the Demon King was indeed the Demon King.

Even while blocking the blood gushing out with tremendous force, the Demon King fired magic in all directions.

The power of the magic was as frightening as the expression of glaring at me with eerie red eyes.

Flame storms that easily melt stone pillars and ice pillars that freeze those stone pillars again in an instant.

At the same time, the Demon King spewed out black chains from his arms and swung them wildly, as if trying to find the Hero who had hidden his appearance.

Even when magic of terrifying power brushed past Jennifer, she did not stop casting her spell.

I ran at the Demon King from behind and grabbed his arms to subdue him.

My insignificant strength held the Demon King for only about 1 second.

However, that was enough for the Hero, the hope of mankind, and his lover, the wizard.

When Jennifer’s spell ended, the Demon King stopped moving.

No matter how much of a Demon King he was, his body was tied up after already shedding more than a lethal amount of blood.

Even at this moment, black blood was gushing out of his neck.

The Demon King, whose whole body was bound by binding magic, stopped resisting and glared at me once.

Then, he rolled his barely moving red eyes here and there, and at some point, he watched the empty air with trembling pupils.

The Hero, who has released the invisibility magic, is approaching with the Holy Sword raised above his head in that empty air.

Looking at that figure, I was convinced.

,It’s really… over.

Robin swung the Holy Sword with force.

,Yeah. It’s over.

I always feel this, but the Hero’s swordsmanship is very clean and fast.

Sometimes it felt like the arm holding the sword was teleporting downwards.

Was that why?

I didn’t notice.

That my body was cut along with the Demon King.

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I fell as if overlapping on top of the fallen Demon King.

,Robin…? Why…

The Hero shook off the blood on the Holy Sword.

The Demon King’s black blood and my red blood flew away and soaked the floor.

Jennifer came to me, stepped on my wrist, and took the dagger from my hand.

My fingers, which had the sword taken away without any resistance, fell weakly from the handle.

,Jeni… fer…?

,It was fun. Edward. I mean it.

Jennifer’s dry voice made me understand.

I was betrayed.

Betrayed by the Hero, by the wizard, by my comrades. Me.

Why the hell…?

What did I do wrong to you?

I wanted to ask for a reason, but it was already impossible to even move my lips.

I tried to at least glare at them, but my eyes were already unfocused, and my vision was gradually sinking.

The reason for the betrayal?

I don’t know, I can’t know.

Did the other kids know?

Lara and… Mella

Maybe they also… Did Mella betray me too?

No, that’s absolutely not true.

We promised to go back and wait.

Will Mella keep waiting for me?

If she finds out I’m dead, she’ll definitely…

,Mella….

The Hero looked down at me and spat on my face.

The wizard no longer even looked at me and was cutting off the horns from the Demon King’s head.

I closed my eyes completely. Even the sounds I hear are getting smaller and smaller.

,Robin! We have to run away right now!

,Jennifer? What’s wrong?

,Suddenly, magic is spewing out from the Demon King’s corpse, the concentration and amount are no joke, we have to get out of here right now!

,What? Damn it, there’s no time to get the treasure…

,No! This entire area will be covered in magic within 1 minute!

,What a fucking mess!

And my consciousness completely sank.

That’s how I died.

At least, I certainly died as a human.

,Thief who cut off my neck and took my life. I will also take your body.

,No, I won’t let you do that.

And I woke up not as a human.

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