Book 1 Chapter 769

769.

"I'm speechless. Don't you guys have anything better to do?"

Celia, with her arms crossed and an incredulous look on her face, watched her friends avoid her gaze.

Among them, Chen Shia, the only one who met her eyes brightly and boldly, replied.

"But it looked fun?"

Celia, raising an eyebrow, pinched Chen Shia's cheeks.

"Aren't you showing your twisted personality too much these days?"

"It hurts."

"It's supposed to hurt!"

Celia, having made her point, sighed and let go.

Chen Shia covered her reddened cheeks, blinking her large eyes.

"So? Why were you following me?"

"I had a feeling Garin might confess to Lady Celia today."

"Huh? What? What are you talking about?"

"Well, I think we should get out of here now, don't you?"

Chen Shia smiled brightly and pushed the others away.

"I wanted to see that idiot get rejected… *muffled*?"

"Yes, yes. Let's go, we're being a nuisance."

Chen Shia clapped her hand over Aris's mouth and dragged her away.

While Celia was confused, not knowing what was going on, Garin covered his face.

Soon, only the two of them remained, and Celia looked at Garin.

"What was that all about?"

"Well… *Ahem!*"

Garin cleared his throat a few times, then put on a serious expression.

"Celia Zerdinger."

"Yes?"

"I seem to have fallen for your beautiful self."

At his words, Celia's red eyes widened.

"I want to be more than just friends with you. If it's difficult right now, I'd like to get to know you as a person, gradually."

Celia was flustered by the completely unexpected situation.

But she quickly regained her composure.

And with a serious expression, she began to ponder deeply.

Garin silently watched Celia.

Soon, Celia spoke.

"I'm sorry, Garin. I've thought about it deeply, and it seems I already have someone in my heart. So, I don't think I can reciprocate your feelings."

Celia, with an utterly serious face and genuine sincerity, bowed her head.

Watching Celia, Garin smiled wryly.

"Thank you for answering honestly. I still hope we can remain good friends."

"Yes, me too."

Celia held out her hand.

Garin looked at her hand, then took it and shook hands.

"What?! I expected some crying!"

At that moment, Aris's indignant voice was heard from behind.

At this, a vein popped out on Celia's forehead.

"These guys…! Do they think this is a joke…?"

"I'll take care of my foolish younger sibling."

Garin immediately pounced on Aris.

"Aaah! Oh, oppa! No! Brother! Let me go! I was wrong! Aaah!"

Aris's desperate scream echoed as her arm was twisted.

***

Darkness fell, and lights began to turn on one by one in the streets.

Among them was a shabby tavern, a popular spot.

It was a tavern frequented by many regular customers who enjoyed drinking after a day's work.

In a corner of the tavern, Leo and Risinas were sitting, drinking.

"There are so many good places, not just ones like this."

"What's wrong with it? I like familiar places like this."

At Leo's words, Risinas smiled brightly and drank her beer.

Risinas chugged her beer coolly, wiped her mouth with a quick gesture, picked up a snack, and put it in her mouth.

Normally, if there was a beauty like Risinas, people's attention would be drawn to her, but Risinas, well aware of this, had erased her presence with magic, allowing them to drink comfortably.

Risinas clinked glasses with Leo once more and poured all the beer from her glass into her mouth.

"Mister owner, another round."

"Yes~!"

The owner replied cheerfully, then approached and placed a beer glass down.

"Young lady, you seem to be in a good mood?"

"I'm feeling a bit good today."

Risinas rested her chin in her hand, giggled, and raised her beer glass.

Then she scanned the bustling tavern and murmured.

"It's like a hero's resting place."

"It's called a hero's resting place, but if you think about it, it was just a common tavern."

"A tavern that accepted you and me, symbols of misfortune, was common?"

"Indeed."

Leo recalled his regular tavern in Gardsron.

A shabby tavern run by an elf.

When Kyle joined Risinas's party.

It was the only tavern at the time that accepted the surviving hero, a symbol of misfortune, and the foolish one.

Even after the Arhi party became active, and Luna, Arion… and Dweno joined, and the two were no longer symbols of misfortune, they continued to frequent the place.

And it was also where the Arhi party had their last supper.

"I wonder how Enean is doing."

"Given that elf's personality, wouldn't he still be running the tavern in the same spot?"

"Ah, I suppose so."

Risinas nodded.

And sipping her beer, she murmured bitterly.

"Perhaps he was waiting for us all this time."

"…"

The reason "Hero's Resting Place" accepted Kyle and Risinas was simple.

A dying world.

It was Enean's philosophy that any hero fighting on a battlefield, unsure of when they would die, needed a place to rest.

Even if it was a shabby tavern, it was operated with the conviction that it would provide a temporary resting place for heroes.

In a way, it was also a sanctuary for the great heroes.

"He said the drinks would be free if we came back at the end."

"That elf. He never gave us anything for free."

"Right, right. Luna and Dweno were shouting that they'd ruin the place if they came back."

They laughed and chatted freely, sharing old stories.

By the time countless glasses had been emptied.

"…It felt like the blink of an eye to me, but it's been 5000 years…"

Risinas mumbled, gently shaking her nearly empty beer glass.

The golden beer sloshed.

"Kyle. How did you feel when you found out you were resurrected?"

"It sucked."

"Why?"

"Because I had to finally finish off that damned Erebus this time. I felt awful thinking I had to do it again."

"Ahahahahaha."

Risinas burst out laughing and poured alcohol into her mouth.

"A lie."

"…"

"Didn't you hope?"

Risinas met Leo's eyes.

"That other friends might have been resurrected too?"

Risinas put down her glass.

"I think I would have. And not just me."

The miracle of reincarnation with memories intact.

Perhaps, deep down, they might have hoped.

That others had also been reincarnated.

Even if they died without experiencing peace.

They would be reborn to enjoy peace.

"Or… perhaps you tried to find traces of others who might have been born earlier in history."

They were none other than great heroes.

If they had reincarnated, they would have left traces in history that anyone, especially other great heroes, would recognize.

"And when you realized that your other friends hadn't reincarnated, I imagine you felt an intense loneliness and sadness."

Leo just sipped his drink in silence.

'He won't speak honestly on purpose, lest I worry.'

He would only bury it in his heart.

"I miss everyone."

The faces of his fallen comrades came to mind.

They must have miraculously seen this peaceful world at least once through the Hero Records.

But…

'It would be hard to have times like these again.'

Times when they laughed and chatted, forgetting the difficult tomorrow, even for a moment.

Times that are absolutely unattainable now that the difficult tomorrow has disappeared.

"Let's cut out the gloomy talk."

"Yeah, you're right. Okay, Kyle. Tell me about your first love."

Risinas smiled sweetly.

Looking at Risinas, Leo said.

"I don't have one, I told you."

"Oh? You're not going to tell me willingly? Then I'll go first."

Risinas put on a serious expression and straightened her posture.

"My first love is you, Kyle."

"…"

"Surprising, isn't it? Right?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Yes."

Leo sighed, watching Risinas giggle.

"There's a poor me who died without ever fulfilling her first love, isn't there? So, tell me about your first love."

Under the table, Risinas poked Leo's foot with her toe.

Looking at Risinas, Leo said.

"I don't have one."

"Aw."

"Seriously, I don't."

Leo poured alcohol into his mouth and said.

"Everyone I could have loved died before I could love them."

"…"

At his words, Risinas closed her mouth, then sighed deeply and leaned her head on the table.

"Between Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, whose love interest died before his first love could even start, and the King of Wisdom, whose first love died without knowing her feelings, who is more unfortunate?"

"I reincarnated, so isn't it arguably you who is more unfortunate?"

At Leo's words, Risinas pouted.

"No. You have to exclude your life as Leo Flobe. You should only evaluate it purely as Kyle's life."

"…That's difficult."

"It's damn difficult! We were both so unfortunate!"

*Bang-!*

Risinas slammed the table once and suddenly sat upright.

"Bartender! Another round here!"

"Yes~!"

"So? Who was it that died before they could become your first love? Me? Luna?"

"Do you think you two are the only ones who liked me?"

Risinas's face crumpled.

"How did you know they liked you?"

"Unlike you, that guy didn't even try to hide his feelings."

"Don't tell me they confessed and you rejected them? Boo! Scum!"

As Risinas booed, Leo clicked his tongue.

"Do you only know if someone has feelings if they confess?"

"So? When did you meet this person?"

"My first comrade."

At his words, Risinas rested her chin in her hand.

"Was it a duo party?"

"There were five of us."

"Same as us?"

"It was a little different. It was a party purely made up of humans."

Leo looked out the window.

"Come to think of it, I met them around this time when I was 17."

It was summer then too.

Terribly hot… a summer in the days when the world was ending.

"Kyle at 17, fresh and lively. I can't imagine it."

Risinas shook her head, picking up a new beer glass.

"Did you have a goal back then?"

"Yes, I did."

"What was it?"

"I'm not telling you because I think you'll laugh."

"I won't laugh."

"Don't lie."

"I swear on my dragon heart."

Risinas placed her hand on her right chest and put on a serious expression.

Looking at Risinas, Leo said.

"A hero who saves the world."

"Pfft! Pffthhh! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahah! Got it! A hero who saves the world! Kyahahahaha! But it really doesn't suit you!"

Risinas, now completely drunk, clutched her stomach and laughed mockingly, finding it incredibly funny.

"You darn lizard! What about swearing on your dragon heart…!"

"I don't have a dragon heart anymore. Because I gave it to you!"

"You damned swindler!"

As they shared old stories, the night deepened.

Eventually, Leo and Risinas, the last customers in the tavern, rented a room on the second floor.

Leo carried Risinas over his shoulder and went upstairs.

"Kyle's dream was to be a hero who saves the world. Oh~ how embarrassing~"

Risinas, finding it so amusing, continued to tease Leo.

Leo, who had been thoroughly tormented by the drunken Risinas, opened Risinas's room door with a look of enlightenment.

And he tossed Risinas onto the bed like a piece of luggage and tried to leave the room.

*Grab-!*

Just then, Risinas reached out and grabbed Leo's clothing.

And with brutal strength, she pulled him, making him sit on the bed.

"Kyle."

"What."

Risinas sat beside Leo and immediately embraced his face.

Leo, unexpectedly embraced by Risinas, widened his eyes.

"…It was hard, wasn't it?"

Risinas, holding Leo in her arms, gently stroked his white hair.

"Fighting Erebus alone in the end…"

"…"

"Reincarnating alone and preparing to fight again…"

"…"

"It must have been very hard."

"You're drunk."

"Yes, I'm drunk."

Risinas pulled Leo away from her embrace.

Then she pressed her forehead against Leo's.

Their breaths met.

Soon, their lips met.

Risinas's arms wrapped around Leo's neck.

Just as the two were about to get closer.

*Thump-!*

Suddenly, a loud boom and a vibration echoed.

Leo and Risinas paused.

Risinas laughed.

"It's okay, it's nothing…"

*Thump! Kwagagagak!*

"Nothing…"

*Kwagagagagak! Kugagagak!*

A massive shockwave was felt hitting the building.

Leo, covering his face, got up from the bed.

Risinas silently stood up and straightened her disheveled clothes.

Leo burned off the alcohol with mana.

The impulse was suppressed, and composure was regained.

Along with that, senses that had been dulled by the alcohol were activated.

"First, let's get a handle on the situation…"

"…Kill…"

"Risinas?"

"…Kill."

As his senses returned, Risinas's murmuring became audible.

"Kill. Kill. Kill. Absolutely kill."

Leo involuntarily stepped back, watching Risinas grind her teeth with a voice full of resentment.

Soon, Risinas, who had returned her disheveled attire to her usual perfect state, kicked open the window.

"I'll tear them to pieces!"

Outside the window, a roar mixed with dragon fear echoed across the night sky of Deang.

The surrounding air cowered at the wrath of the king at the apex of the world.

It was a roar comparable to a hero's howling.

*Whoosh-!*

Leo urgently followed Risinas as she kicked off the window and flew out.

"Let's go together!"