Chapter 05

Category: Fantasy  No. 14

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Category: Fantasy  No. 14

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing resonated across the rooftop of the 30-story building.

On one side stood the celestial demon of the martial world.

On the other side, a disciple from a foreign sanctuary.

Originally, these individuals from two different realms would never have crossed paths. Yet, under the title of "returnees," they now faced each other with drawn swords.

In a battle so intense that each move is nerve-wracking.

What bothered Orjia, the Apostle of Foreign God Aulus, the most, was not the Celestial Demon in front of her.

“Ayu! This time it's a mental confusion enchantment! You should avoid the flying sword, your thinking will be distorted, you'll doubt your actions for three minutes so focus on defense!”

“That's Aulus's fingernail! The moment it touches, there's a curse of corrosion, so don't confront it with a sword, avoid it at all costs, it'll corrode her too if she uses it, so it won't last long!"

Due to the man who effortlessly penetrated every move she intended to use and exposed all weaknesses and countermeasures, Orjia, the Apostle of Foreign God Aulus, was frustrated to the point of insanity.

The celestial demon before her was already a formidable opponent, even when she exerted all her strength.

Having such an opponent scrutinize and reveal all her information only made her increasingly disadvantaged.

'How on earth...'

The fact that he knew this much, despite not being a disciple of Aulus.

'Aegis Seiya.'

It was certain.

That bastard must have spilled all the information about Serenity.

Anticipating the day when someone seeking revenge would come for him.

"Do you have time for daydreaming?"

In that moment, Orjia, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp blade that seemed to pierce her throat, took a sharp breath.

Sweat dampened her senses through the black blindfold, leaving her feeling disoriented.

Her breath was labored.

The wound on her side, which was stabbed earlier, strangely did not heal even with Aulus' power.

Certainly, there must be some special force imbued in that woman's sword.

The dimensional bells released to find Seiya also continued to disappear from her  senses.

Clearly, someone else was taking care of them.

'I'm just...'

Orjia bit her tightly pressed lips.

Seiya came to mind.

She had to deliver a punch filled with resentment to that damn face of his.

"Finish it."

Swish.

A crimson aura began to emanate from Chun Hong-ryeon's sword, scattering a sinister energy.

Realizing the danger, Orjia raised her cruciform greatsword.

Buying time to escape was not difficult.

She already knew who she must prioritize protecting.

And then, the holy sword of Aulus wielded by her expelled a pitch-black aura.

Like a falling star.

Her sword descended towards the rooftop floor.

Bringing down the building to buy time for Chun Hong-ryeon to rescue the man was her plan.

"Futile."

However, at that moment, she had to wear a vacant expression beyond the blindfold.

The sword, infused with full power and accompanied by a released aura, was halted by Chun Hong-ryeon's sword.

Certainly, compared to her own sword, it was thin enough to be called a twig.

But the moment the holy sword touched it, it didn't budge an inch.

"I told you. Touching my partner in front of me is..."

As Chun Hong-ryeon's voice flowed from her lips, Orjia realized.

She had never once unleashed her full power while facing her until now.

"Ah."

A sigh-mingled voice escaped her lips.

The moment she saw that face tainted with malice, she felt the presence of death, and around Chun Hong-ryeon, crimson camellias bloomed.

As the camellias, blooming like a disturbance in winter, traced Chun Hong-ryeon's movements for a moment.

Every sinew of Orjia's strength unraveled.

With the splatter of vibrant blood, she found herself unable to resist, forced to bow her head to the ground.

The wounds etched upon her were not healing even with the power of Aulus.

With Orjia rendered helpless, unable to stand on her own feet, Chun Hong-ryeon, breathing heavily, mercilessly stepped on her head.

"Are you ready to pay the price?"

I'm going to die here.

Unable to exact revenge on that person.

I have to die in this world I so desperately wanted to return to.

Tears of blood streamed down through the blindfold.

In her mind, a vivid image of a man with a bright smile appeared.

「...Seiya, our attempt at dimensional travel failed. Unless we find a way to connect the world lines, we won't get far before dying from dimensional explosion.」

No matter how much research they conducted, they couldn't find a solution to dimensional travel.

In moments of despair over that fact, Seiya, as always, was smiling brightly.

"It's okay, Orjia. I promise I'll definitely rescue you from this messed-up world."

And the next day, Seiya disappeared.

After they had jointly used the dimensional travel we had painstakingly created.

And sometime later, she realized that the world lines had indeed connected.

However, now even that meant nothing.

"Just a moment."

At that moment, once again, the man's voice echoed.

"Let's have a talk."

And for some reason, his voice carried a hint of regret.

5

Looking down at the nun who collapsed onto the blood-splattered rooftop, I sighed.

A sword technique that severs all sinews with a single strike—truly, a terrifying swordsmanship.

'At this level, she could have handled it alone even if I hadn't intervened.'

I never thought that Chun Hong-ryeon, being a returnee, would be weak, but I didn't expect her to overwhelm another returnee like this.

She might be quite high-ranked among the returnees.

But thankfully, she is on my side now.

Moreover, she trusts me enough to release the opponent she was just about to kill with just a word from me.

“I don’t know what to do when you trust me this much.”

"After all, there's no way that she can make any futile attempts against me."

"Yeah, it's reassuring and nice."

While chuckling and fist-bumping, Chun Hong-ryeon turned her head, but there was a slight upward curve at the corner of her mouth.

"So, Sister, the process may have gotten a bit intense, but I'd like to have a talk."

"..."

"Of course, you don't have to say anything. The Returnee Specialist Association will arrive soon, and you'll be transferred to the association."

With that, I knelt in front of her.

Blood had stained my pants, but I paid little attention to such matters.

"I just wanted to talk about whatever you might be curious about."

I am neither a hunter nor a returnee.

I didn't graduate from college, so I'm not an industry professional. I don't have any authority like the police.

I only took action because people were in danger, and there were returnees.

Chun Hong-ryeon, conveniently nearby, just assisted in subduing the returnee.

In reality, I did almost nothing.

And it will probably be the same after this.

But at least until the Returnee Association arrives, I can answer some of the nun's questions.

Whether it holds some value for her or not, it might provide answers to a few long-standing questions for a returnee bewildered by the confusion of being ignored and scorned, despite returning to their hometown on Earth.

"As a side note, it would be nice if you could close the dimensional door a bit."

As I spoke, the nun slowly raised her head.

After staring at me for quite some time through the blindfold, she slightly opened her mouth and asked me a question.

"Is, is Seiya alive?"

As she threw the question, a breeze brushed through her hair.

Even with the blindfold, I felt her eyes, filled with sadness, looking at me.

Therefore, I decided to answer the questions she had wanted to ask since her return.

I relieved her of that burden right there.

"He is dead."

Genre: Fantasy · Episode 14

Serenitium.

The last entry in that place concludes with the death of the returnee Seiho-ram, Aegis Seiya, due to a dimensional explosion.

And his last words recorded in that report were,

「Please, when my lover Orjia returns, be sure not to let her suffer too much.」

Normally, a lot of a returnee's information is kept private.

Only the classification world is displayed, and there is no information about which returnee came from which world.

As evidence, I hardly know anything about Chun Hong-ryeon, the celestial demon.

However, in Fantasy · Episode 14, the name and information of the returnee were both made public.

The reason for this was because it was written for his lover, Orjia, who he hoped would return someday.

"I, a bad bastard, should have stayed alive. To the end, I should have lived. Bad, bad guy."

In the scattering blood, carried by the summoned wind, there seemed to be a hint of her tears.

However, I couldn't completely understand the sorrow she harbored.

It was their story, not mine.

On the rooftop, only the quiet echo of a woman's sorrow, who had returned just to confirm the death of her beloved lover, resonated.

I say it again, they were just caught up in dimensional travel.

There is no reason for them to suffer and be tormented just because they returned.

I think.

On that day, there was not a single death caused by the dimension beast brought by the returnee Orjia.

It was determined that the dimension beast she handled had simply roamed around in search of the returnee Seiya.

6

Afterwards, Orjia closed the dimensional portal, and she was transferred by the Returnee Association.

Although there were property damages caused by the dimension beast, it seemed that the Returnee Association would handle that part.

During the process, Chun Hong-ryeon had a brief conversation with someone from the Returnee Association, and as an outsider, I had nothing much to do other than answer a few of their questions.

I only saw Orjia briefly bowing her head to me as she was being transferred.

"Did you handle it well?"

"Yeah, haah, those association people just seemed to have come out because a returnee appeared, but I don't know why they are making such a fuss."

When Chun Hong-ryeon returned, she had the appearance of Ayu, whom I had met during the day.

I heard that when Chun Hong-ryeon is in her true form, she intentionally adjusts her magic, so it's tiring. That's why she usually prefers this appearance.

"Came out to have dinner with my hyung, and things turned into a mess."

"I got caught up in it too."

After hearing my response, Ayu let out a little chuckle and stretched her body.

"It feels sore here and there after using my powers after a long time. Maybe I should start moving around more often in advance."

"Thinking of becoming a hunter?"

"Support funds from the Returnee Association have been coming in steadily, but after turning 20, they cut down the support saying I'm not a minor anymore. So, it's getting a bit tight."

While saying that, Ayu glanced at me.

"How about having some money if you want to treat someone to a meal?"

"I'll pay next time."

"Alright then. Don't splurge on coins. Domi, you're sometimes impulsive, and that's a problem."

"Ah, I went down the coin drain."

I had momentarily forgotten about that fact and once again felt discouraged.

What about the rent?

"Hey, hyung, how about I earn money and buy a house, and you can live there too?"

As she mentioned that, Ayu slightly twisted her hair with her hand and said,

Buying a house, huh? Surely, earning money through hunter work brings in a decent amount. But I could see through Ayu's intentions.

"How much are you trying to show off to me?"

"Uh, yes, right! Because I want to go to Diamond with my brother. If we live together, Wouldn't it be great to duo and play it every day?"

"Wow."

"Look at that admiration. I'll kill you."

"No, I'm sorry."

Since Ayu can really kill me if she's in Chun Hong-ryeon's form, I immediately apologized.

My life almost flashed before my eyes for a moment.

"Well, I'll be going now. It's getting late."

Somehow, we ended up meeting at lunch, and it was already past dinner time.

As I looked up at the darkening sky, Ayu stared at me for a moment and then poked my shoulder.

"If you quit the game, I'll come find you."

"Really? Huh? Find me?"

"We don't need to hide it in real life, right? Actually, all the other guild members probably noticed a long time ago, except you."

What the heck, was I really that oblivious?

Anyway, it seems like today I've seen various sides of Ayu, who I've spent the most time with in the game.

"Well, relationships formed in games naturally have their limits."

Meeting someone in real life often reveals different aspects of that person, so it was natural.

"Then, see you in the game."

Parting ways with Ayu like that, I returned home and opened the door to my one-room apartment.

Looking at my small room, the events of the day made me feel like I was descending once again from the fantasy world to reality.

'In the end, it's the rent.'

Wondering what to do, I scratched my head and opened the letters I had retrieved from the mailbox on my way up.

It seemed likely that there would be a rent payment notice, but I needed to confirm it anyway.

"Huh?"

It was in that moment.

Inside the letter I had opened, there was something I hadn't expected to see.