Episode 4 – Their 20 Years

*

Lara grabbed my shoulder and shook it gently.

,Ed, are you okay?

,…Twenty years…?

20 years.

My skin might be rotting, making it hard to guess my age, but I was 21 when I died.

That means almost as much time has passed since I died as I lived.

Mela, who was twenty… could she be forty now?

If I met Mela, would I even recognize her?

Lara had only changed her hairstyle and gained a slightly more mature vibe, so it was even harder to accept the passage of time.

But, if you think about it the other way around, even elves, who live with the blessing of youth, change over time.

How much more would humans change?

Even if her appearance has changed, would her inner self still be the same as Mela’s back then?

The chances of that seemed infinitely slim.

Mela is at an age where it wouldn’t be strange if she were already married with children.

I looked at Lara’s daughter, Lily.

,Lily… that’s what you said her name was.

,Yeah.

,Who’s her father?

Lara’s expression darkened.

Lily, who was putting potatoes in a pot, turned to look when her name was mentioned.

Lily’s blue eyes look familiar somehow.

,No way.

,Where should I even start…

,Is it… Robin?

I pushed her away and jumped up.

Lara’s sturdy body didn’t budge, but her heart seemed to be pushed away powerlessly, and she grabbed me with a fearful expression.

Lily picked up a poker from beside the campfire, just in case.

Lara shouted at Lily.

,Lily! Put that down!

,Mom… but!

,Ed, sit down. I can explain.

,Explain? What is there to explain? That you hooked up with the bastard who killed me and had his kid?

,I only found out that Robin killed you when Lily was four years old!

,Ha,

How funny.

Just an hour ago, I was desperately trying to convince Lara to listen to me, and now she’s begging me.

I tried to take a deep breath, forgetting that I couldn’t breathe.

I’m angry, but my heart rate doesn’t go up, and my breathing doesn’t get messed up. It’s disgusting.

Even if I get hit by an arrow filled with the rage of an archer from the Hero’s party and get a huge hole in me, this terrible and unfamiliar body that eventually recovers fuels my anger.

,I had to take your arrow to get a chance to explain myself, and you’re just going to explain?

[Yeah, isn’t that unfair?]

[Please listen to her. Please.]

I hear a voice speaking directly to me in my head.

It’s the same voice I heard when I first opened my eyes in the Demon King’s castle.

Am I hearing an inner voice?

Or am I just going crazy?

[I’m not saying don’t listen to her. I’m just letting you know that you’re not thinking about this matter very pleasantly.]

[Please ignore that. You’re a rational person. You can lead the conversation without anger.]

[Thief. As long as there is night, there is no truth that can escape your eyes, and no being that can escape your anger. I will help you.]

At that moment, I felt something cold spreading throughout my body from my stomach.

The sudden temperature felt unfamiliar yet welcome, so I focused on the sensation.

Soon, the coldness gathered in my right hand and took the form of a black chain wrapped around it.

Even in my numb body, the cold sensation of the chain touching my skin sent shivers down my spine.

,Ed… you…

,Wh… What is this?

,Ed… why do I feel the Demon King’s magic power from you?

,Magic power…?

,Mom!

At Lily’s shout, Lara quickly moved away from me.

I just gaped with a bewildered expression, and Lily ran to grab her bow.

[Now, watch carefully.]

What? Watch what?

The chain on my right hand twitches. Sensing that something was about to happen, I gripped my right arm tightly.

,Lily, stop!

,Ugh!

At Lara’s shout, Lily stopped moving.

At that moment, a jet-black chain with a sharp blade extended from my right wrist and instantly shattered Lily’s bow.

It was the spot where Lily’s shoulder would have been pierced if she had grabbed the bow.

The chain moved around, breaking flower vases and overturning the pot of boiling potatoes, wreaking havoc.

I struggled to stop the chain that was moving on its own.

,Goddammit! How the hell does this thing move!

,Lily, get down!

Lily narrowly avoided the chain and slipped under the table.

Unable to hurt them, I shouted at Lara.

,Lara! Cut off my arm!

[There’s no need to do that!]

At that moment, this time, something hot spread throughout my body from my stomach.

[Are you going to interfere?]

[I won’t let you do as you please.]

The hot energy spread throughout my body and eventually concentrated on my left hand, turning into a golden mist and rising up.

The mist that enveloped my left hand wrapped around the chain I was holding.

The chain melted and disappeared as soon as it touched the mist.

Lara watched the slowly disappearing mist and hid Lily behind her, speaking in a trembling voice.

,Ed, what… what did you just do…?

,…I don’t know either.

I looked at my left hand.

,This is…

As the mist on my left hand slowly disappeared, my withered and rotting left hand returned to a normal human hand.

It wasn’t quite like it was when I was alive, but I even felt a slight warmth in my left hand as I picked up the cup I had dropped.

It was warm.

I knelt down and prostrated myself, holding my left hand.

Tears didn’t come out, but I was definitely crying then.

The golden light emanating from the mist was familiar.

I definitely remembered seeing that heart-warming color. It was a light I had seen dozens, hundreds of times.

It was Mela’s divine power.

*

The night was completely dark.

I was sitting on a bench outside the cabin, looking up at the sky.

The navy blue night sky was brighter than the dark forest, where you couldn’t see an inch in front of you.

The starlight shining through the branches sparkled just like it did before I died.

,Aren’t you cold?

I hear Lara’s voice from behind.

She came out after cleaning up the cabin I had messed up and sat next to me.

I stroked my left hand.

It was still a normal human hand, but I couldn’t feel the temperature anymore.

,Yeah…

,…

,…

,”…You know.”

Our voices overlapped, so she chuckled and gestured for me to speak first.

,I’m sorry.

,It’s okay. Considering what happened to you, it’s only natural.

,…

,Besides, you didn’t put a hole in my stomach.

,Ha. Yeah, you were worse.

,…I’m sorry too,

Lara looked at me, then looked up at the sky like I did.

There were so many things we needed to say, but both of us were choosing our words, not knowing how to start.

I decided to start with the story about my left hand that I kept touching.

,Look at this.

,It’s your hand. The scar here is the same as it used to be.

,I know. How did I get this again?

,”……”

,…Ed, you know too, right?

,Yeah, it was definitely divine power.

,It was Mela’s divine power, Ed.

,I know… Before I went into the Demon King’s castle, she poured prayers and blessings on me for almost an hour. I never thought it would stay in my body,

Lara listened to me and fell into deep thought.

She looked straight at me again and asked.

,…Ed, weren’t you definitely cut by the Holy Sword?

,Yeah, Robin cut me along with the Demon King.

,I see… Is that why…

,Why? Is there something bothering you?

,Actually, after the day we caught the Demon King 20 years ago, all the divine power disappeared from the Holy Sword.

,What?

,The Holy Sword is a symbol of the hero and the most certain weapon to destroy evil, but it actually has several limitations.

,Limitations?

,Yeah, the main one is that it can’t cut humans.

I was killed by the Holy Sword, so I looked at her, wondering what she was talking about.

Lara continued to explain.

,Originally, the Holy Sword would immediately pass through a human if it tried to cut them, but because it was cut along with the Demon King, it couldn’t pass through you.

,You’re saying the divine power disappeared because it cut me?

,There’s never been a case recorded in any literature where the divine power disappeared from the Holy Sword. But…

Her words were flawless, as she had definitely seen a lot of literature, having a lifespan far longer than humans.

How old is Lara? She was one hundred and thirty-something, so 20 years have passed, so she’s one hundred and fifty-something.

I waited for her to speak, guessing Lara’s age in my head.

Lara pondered for a while, then nodded as if she had grasped something, looking at my left hand.

,There are records of absorbing the divine power of the Holy Sword and transferring it to another sword.

,Transfer divine power…?

,Since the Holy Sword is also a sword, it can wear out, chip, or break to the point where it can’t be repaired.

,So…?

Lara brought her index finger to my chest and said.

,You absorbed it. Even the divine power of the Holy Sword.

,…? Is that possible?

,I don’t know either, but wouldn’t the sword that accepts the divine power of the Holy Sword be a sword purified with blessings and prayers?

,So, thanks to the blessings and prayers Mela gave me, I absorbed the divine power of the Holy Sword?

,That’s right.

I was speechless for a moment.

Isn’t my body the Holy Sword?

I closed my eyes and focused my mind.

But I couldn’t feel the white divine power of the Holy Sword that Robin wielded at all in my body.

Rather, the more I focused, the more I felt Mela’s golden divine power and something huge and black behind it.

,I don’t feel the divine power of the Holy Sword.

,You may have already used the divine power of the Holy Sword.

,Me?

,To be exact, isn’t your resurrection the power of the Holy Sword? That’s what I think.

,…Eh, that’s not it. If I had been resurrected with such sacred power, I wouldn’t have become an undead.

,There’s a clear reason for that.

,…?

,Ed, that black chain that almost attacked us earlier.

,…Ah.

,I definitely felt the Demon King’s magic power from that chain.

I was speechless again.

That cold, jet-black chain with a blade that sprouted from my right arm.

I vaguely remembered seeing something similar on the day I assassinated the Demon King.

I remembered the two voices that rang in my head.

One was the voice of a woman who resembled Mela.

The other one was definitely… Oh my god.

,Is the Demon King… inside my head?

Lara looked at me and nodded.

,Maybe.

,Oh my god…

,If my guess is correct, what happened to you is probably… something like this…

She explained to me, unfolding her fingers in order.

1.

I absorbed all the divine power of the Holy Sword the moment I was cut by the hero.

2.

I was resurrected by the power of the Holy Sword, but became an undead due to the influence of the magic power flowing from the Demon King’s corpse.

3.

I was able to regain my reason after tearing apart and eating the Demon King’s corpse, but the Demon King’s consciousness and magic power resided within me.

4.

However, Mela’s remaining divine power is preventing the Demon King, who is trying to take over my body.

,So, you’re saying I’m a Holy Sword and an undead that simultaneously possesses the ‘Demon King’s consciousness’ and the ‘Saint’s divine power’…?

,Like I said, it’s a really ridiculous story.

,…Haha, damn it.

I covered my face with both hands and lowered my head.

I feel like I can still hear them whispering in my head.

Now that I know what happened to me, I have a new problem: I don’t know what I’ve become.

The possibility that all the efforts of our party will be in vain is breathing hotly in my head and glaring at me.

I vowed to inflict a just punishment on the hero’s betrayal, which still makes me feel sick to my stomach, but my immediate problem seemed even bigger and more serious.

,Ed.

,…

,Ed, look at me.

Lara grabbed my rotten face and made eye contact with me.

My hideous appearance reflected in her eyes.

But she didn’t care at all.

,My face is very hideous, so don’t stare at it like that.

,If I cared about appearance, I wouldn’t be able to live with humans in the first place.

,It’s more hideous than the me in your memory. This corpse-like…

,You are Edward.

,…Am I still Edward…? Will I still be Edward in the future?

,Then are you the Demon King?

,No,

,Right, you’re not the Demon King, you’re not the Holy Sword, and the Saint? No way, absolutely not.

,Haha,

,No matter what happens in the future, to me, you’ll just be ‘Edward’.

,…

I was speechless at her confident expression.

I could desperately feel that her words and actions were true, so I was sincerely grateful that I had such a friend.

But what happened to me wouldn’t be solved so simply.

We even had stories left to share.

*

The night grew deeper.

Before continuing the story, Lara went inside the cabin to get a blanket.

Lily, who had cleaned up the house that the black chain had messed up and was wringing out the mop, looked at Lara, who opened the door and came in, with concern.

,Mom…

,Lily. Thank you for cleaning the room.

,Don’t worry about that. More than that, can’t we go inside and talk? It must be cold.

Lily put down the mop and asked carefully.

The story they were about to share would be very harsh on the thief who was her mother’s old comrade.

Lily was worried that Ed’s anger would harm Lara.

Lara wrapped herself in a blanket that had been warmly heated by the campfire and replied.

,I can’t do that. Ed would be uncomfortable.

,Because I might hear? Mom, you know, I already know what that hero did and what happened to Aunt Mela.

,…Still, I can’t.

,Why?

,If Ed hears this story, something like what happened earlier might happen again.

,Mom…

,Don’t worry, I’ve never lost a fight with Ed.

Lara carefully closed the door and went out. Lily looked at Ed sitting on the bench through the window.

‘Poor guy.’

Thinking about the story he was about to hear, Lily felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Lily decided not to take her eyes off Ed until the two of them finished talking.

*

,Yeah. Lily is the daughter I had with Robin.

She started talking as soon as she came up to me.

Even though she was covered in a blanket, Lara’s body was trembling slightly.

It probably wasn’t just because of the cold.

,Back then… I didn’t know Robin had killed you. I didn’t want to go back to my hometown, so I wanted to have a family. Robin was a decent groom, too…

,…But Robin was close to Jennifer.

,Well, of course Jennifer married Robin too. It’s not strange for a hero to have two or three wives.

Two or three wives.

At that time, an ominous feeling flashed through my head.

I clenched my fist tightly and trembled.

,Please. I wish you would say it’s not true.

,…

,Lara, please.

,…Yeah. Mela married Robin too.

,Ah, fuck.

The curse words that I had completely cut off in the past because Mela hated them came out naturally before I could even stop them.

Was it because even the faint hope I had when I found out that 20 years had already passed had completely left my hands?

Mela.

Something cold in my body twitched again, so I barely suppressed my anger.

,Mela had a really hard time after you died. She ignored the party hosted by the king and the call from the Vatican and spent every day crying at home.

,…

,Because the huge amount of magic power that the Demon King spewed out as he died completely covered the castle and its surroundings, we couldn’t even take out your corpse, so we held a funeral without a body.

,…Ha, Mela had a reason to care.

,Yeah… When we buried the empty coffin, Mela screamed, choking herself, asking us to bury her instead.

,According to the doctrine, only souls that have had a proper funeral can return to the goddess…

In the end, seeing that I became an undead, it’s kind of credible.

,…Robin did everything he could to comfort her. I didn’t want to see Mela sad either, and I thought it was the right thing to do at the time.

Gritting,

,It took time, but eventually Mela gave up her position and abilities as a saint and accepted the hero’s courtship.

Cracking

She gave up her abilities as a saint.

I can understand what that means so clearly.

I couldn’t even kiss her because I was afraid it would harm her divine power.

Cold, black anger churns in my stomach.

Crack!

My tightly clenched molars made a cracking sound and shattered.

,From the beginning, Robin was aiming for Mela. No, to be exact, he was aiming for all the female members of our party.

,Asshole

,He’s a real asshole. He killed you and then Mela…

,Ptooey,

I spat out the pieces of my molars on the ground, interrupting her.

Lara looked at me and immediately stopped talking.

I felt my molars growing back and moved on to the story.

,How did you know?

,…Thanks to Lily.

Lily?

Why is her daughter coming out here?

,Elves have a unique ability that humans don’t know about.

,What is it?

,It’s an ability that elves, who live in harsh and difficult environments, have for survival.

She looked at the cabin.

Lily was looking at us worriedly from the window.

,We inherit our parents’ memories at birth.

,…What?

,I told you before that elves must stay away from evil deeds. That’s because their children will definitely know the evil deeds they have committed.

,Then, your daughter…

,My daughter remembered the hero’s memories when she was 4 years old. The emotions I felt when Lily told me the truth, trembling like a kitten that day… really… ha… fuck.

Lara hugged herself and lowered her head.

I thought she was trembling all over, but when I looked closely, she was shuddering.

Of course, she was married to Robin.

Lara isn’t the type to live without thinking, deciding to get married simply because it’s advantageous to live with people.

She must have had feelings for Robin, and his betrayal must have been painful for her.

I was Mela’s lover and

I was also Lara’s best friend.

The terrible truth that her best friend was killed by her husband still seemed to haunt her, and she curled up even more, but she didn’t stop talking.

,I worried and worried for a year after that.

,Lara…

,In the end, I took Lily and decided to live in this ‘Vortex Forest’ in front of the Demon King’s castle.

,…Why in such a dangerous place?

Lara is strong enough to deal with the monsters in this forest, but even so, this place was too dangerous to raise a 5-year-old child.

Lara smiled weakly and vaguely, looked at me, and finally burst into tears.

,…To bury even your… corpse someday.

,…Ah… Lara.

I quietly hugged Lara.

Lara kept repeating the words ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘Please forgive me.’

I patted her head and comforted her, but I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘It’s okay.’

There was still a lot of night and questions left.

After she calmed down after crying for a long time, I continued the question.

,…Didn’t you tell Mela?

,I couldn’t tell her.

,Why?

,…

,You can tell me. I won’t get angry.

,She… looked happy.

Wow. Fuck.

,Ha…

,You didn’t see it. The three years from when you died until she married Robin.

,3 years… Yeah, she waited a long time.

I bit my lip.

The lips torn by my incisors and canines bled and quickly healed.

So I bit my lip again as if I were chewing it.

Lara looked at my lips and continued to speak like a machine gun.

,Do you know how many times Mela tried to commit suicide? When I found out the truth, Mela had only been married for a year. I didn’t have the confidence to throw Mela, who had barely gotten better, back into that sadness… No, it’s all excuses, Ed…

,…

,You don’t have to forgive me.

,…You didn’t go back to your hometown to take care of Mela, right.

,…Ed, you don’t have to understand me.

,…

,I’m sorry, really…

Why are you sorry?

The guys who should apologize to me are somewhere else.

Like a huge weight hanging down.

I don’t have the strength to even move a finger on my body.

But my head was boiling with anger, sadness, resentment, and pity mixed together.

I closed my eyes tightly.

‘Hey.’

[…Edward?]

[Hoo, now you’re fully aware of us.]

‘Shut up. You two,’

[To think that I gave a part of my power to the ruffian who slit my throat from behind, chewed on my corpse, and humiliated me, and you still have this attitude. I’m so upset that I can’t even speak.]

[That’s all your fault!]

‘Hey, shut up’

[Ah, yes…]

[So what do you want to say that you called us for.]

‘Don’t judge me for what I did when I was alive, I’m already a person who died and came back to life.’

[Hehe, you’re being unreasonable.]

‘Since you guys are living in my body without permission right now, you have to help me.’

[Help… you?]

‘I’m going to kill the hero. I’m going to kill the wizard, and if necessary, I’m going to kill all their children.’

[Oh, dear, you’re trying to harm the family that your lover made with someone else. Are you too jealous?]

[…I’m sorry, but I can’t help with that.]

‘This isn’t asking for permission.’

[Kyaa!]

I found the divine power in my body and forcibly spread it throughout my body.

,Ed…? What are you doing?

Golden mist emanates from my whole body and glows faintly.

Lara just stared at me blankly, because I looked so noble surrounded by gold in the dark night.

In the mist of light, my skin returns to its original appearance.

Moisture rises in the dry flesh, and the rotten flesh heals quickly.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at Lara.

,Ed…

,Lara. I’m going to get revenge. Terribly.

,…Yeah

,Help me.

She nodded before he could even finish speaking.

She spent 15 years in this forest just hoping to retrieve his corpse.

She was sorry to Lily, who didn’t say a word of complaint even though she had lost her glamorous life in the capital, but she couldn’t give up.

Robin and herself making love, and Edward looking at her resentfully, appeared in her dreams every night and drove her crazy.

And miraculously, Edward came back alive.

Even though he was in the body of a corpse-like undead, she laughed while sharing trivial stories with him again.

She thought she was more than happy with just that, but this time, Edward asked her for help in his former appearance.

Right now, Lara could die if he asked her to.

Ed touched his face. He could feel smooth skin and some scars.

I stroked my face with satisfaction and enjoyed the feeling.

‘Robin, I don’t know if you enjoyed the 20 years of life you gained after killing me.’

,Wait, Robin.

The undead’s revenge is never too late, even after 20 years.

.