I stared blankly at the silver sword in my hand. The silver sword, which had held a faint light despite its excessively great power... was cleanly broken in two.

[It's cleanly gone.]

"...."

I stared at the hopelessly broken silver sword... and then glared at the leader who was standing nonchalantly opposite me.

"You bastard. Do you know what kind of sword this is...!"

The leader scratched his cheek and asked.

"Was it a sword with a story?"

"Do you know what kind of sword this is? It was the one and only silver sword made for me by Ophosis's last disciple, Hans!"

The leader, who was leaning against the black greatsword, answered roughly.

"I'm sorry. Who would have known it would break with such a clang?"

"Is that all? It was a very glorious sword that the rightful owner of the one and only throne of Blake bestowed upon his knight!"

In fact, it wasn't that glorious, but I exaggerated to make this ignorant magical beast feel guilty.

To my dismay, the leader let out a small laugh.

"...You're laughing?"

"I can believe everything else, but I just can't believe that. You're the king's knight? A passing bell would laugh."

"Shut up! You damn magical beast."

The magical beast shrugged.

"I'll believe everything except that you became the king's knight. It was a worthy sword strike. No, I should say I have no choice but to believe it. It was a pretty heavy blow. Did you really go to the afterlife? You've become unbelievably strong."

It was a compliment I hadn't heard from the leader in a very long time, but it didn't really register in my ears.

I hugged the broken silver sword and shouted.

"Give me back my sword, you bastard!"

"...."

It was a blow with all my might, but it was not enough to defeat that monster. Does it mean that even a tiger without teeth is still a tiger?

"Master. Was my attack that pathetic? To the point where the sword shattered?"

[It wasn't that pathetic.]

"Then why did it break so miserably?"

[It must be because of the large gap.]

"Keuk... Joy, the captain of the assassins. I have no face to see you."

The tiger looked at me and said.

"Anyway, as promised, you'll have to be a waiter for the next few days. A promise is a promise."

"The world-famous Devil of the Red Eyes is a restaurant waiter in some backwater village? What would Fluffy say if he heard?"

"Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep. You have to wake up early to start business in the morning."

It was then.

Rustle—

At the sound of a presence, I turned around and saw a pure white fox staring at me under the moonlight. The red around its eyes gave the beast a strange atmosphere.

The fox stared at me blankly, and then muttered softly.

"...Ashuban?"

To think that a beast could speak. I was able to recognize its identity as soon as I saw it.

"A real magical beast is here. It's been a while, you magical beast."

[A magical beast? Is that little thing a magical beast?]

Just as I was about to answer the Heavenly Demon, a white ball of fur rushed at me in an instant.

"Ashuban!"

"Ugh."

The ball of fur that had rushed at my face sniffed me for a long time as I lay on the ground, hugging the broken silver sword.

I pushed away the guy who was sticking his nose in my face and said.

"Stop sniffing. It's me."

"What?"

The fox was startled and looked at me from a little distance away as if I were a ghost.

"Ashuban. You weren't dead?"

I got up and replied.

"Do I look dead?"

The fox cautiously approached again and said, sniffing.

"The smell of blood has gotten stronger than before, but there's no way I wouldn't recognize your smell. It's the weak Ashuban. You have the vitality of a cockroach. To survive even after falling from a cliff. But why are your eyes red?"

"How should I know?"

"...If you don't know, who does?"

"Ah, I don't know."

I was in a state where my body, mind, and sword were all hurt, so I didn't feel like answering every single thing.

Since I had to be a waiter for a while anyway, I decided to pick up the remains of the broken silver sword and go down the mountain.

The leader was standing there blankly, so I said.

"You damn magical beast. The enemy of the silver sword. Aren't you going?"

"You go first with Miho. I'm going to warm up a bit before I go."

"...Tsk."

I passed the leader and headed for the village. On the way, this little fox kept following me and talking to me.

"Hey. Ashuban. What on earth happened? Explain it to me."

"Be quiet. My head hurts, so I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Don't be like that."

"Do you think you'll understand even if I tell you? You magical beast."

"I said I'm not a magical beast. I'm a spirit beast."

"You're funny."

I escaped the forest at night with the fox that kept bothering me.

***

Only after Miho and Ashuban had left did Gustan take a deep breath and look around. The area was completely destroyed. The sword ki that had escaped to the side just before blocking Ashuban's sword strike had cut down dozens of trees, creating a path. And the ground around where the swords had clashed had sunk in a hemispherical shape.

Of course, the surrounding area had been devastated by the aftermath of the explosion. It means the impact was that great.

Gustan slightly lifted the arm that had been leaning on the greatsword. It was still trembling slightly from the aftermath of the impact.

Gustan looked at his tingling hand and muttered, as if he were dumbfounded.

"...You crazy bastard. How did you get so strong in that short time?"

***

As soon as the day broke, the leader, as expected, woke me up mercilessly early in the morning and made me clean the restaurant. The Devil of the Red Eyes cleaning a restaurant.

But the Red Witch was also preparing to open the shop without a word, so I couldn't complain.

In the end, I decided to delegate the work to the other girls.

Shushruta, who was coming down the stairs with a slightly staggering gait as if she were still drunk, was the first target.

"Hey, thieving cat."

"Hmm?"

"Come here and help."

Shushruta's eyes widened and she looked at me. To be precise, she looked at the one at my feet.

Until then, Miho had been following me, and when the cat and the fox met eyes, they became very wary of each other.

Shushruta cautiously came down the stairs and stared at the fox. The fox did not avoid her gaze.

The cat and the fox, at their first meeting, circled each other with their eyes fixed on each other.

A little later, Linda came down and joined the circle.

Spin, spin.

"...."

A sigh escaped me as I saw the thieving cat, the mutt, and the fox circling.

I leaned against the broom I was using to sweep the floor and watched the scene.

"What are those guys doing?"

The Heavenly Demon laughed lowly.

[It seems the beasts are greeting each other.]

The important thing is that two of them are people.

Scarlet, who was wiping the table, saw the scene and laughed.

"How cute."

"...Where."

After finishing all the cleaning, we opened the shop. As expected, there were customers. Customers in this backwater village?

There weren't that many, but there were quite a few who seemed to be regulars.

People would greet the leader and Scarlet warmly, but then they would meet my eyes and become very flustered. Because I had been beaten up by the leader the day before, and my precious sword had been broken, so I wasn't in a very good mood.

I couldn't be a kind waiter. My mind was twisted here and there. I couldn't help but speak bluntly.

"What are you looking at?"

As I stood crookedly and served, I was hit again by the leader.

Since I couldn't be the only one to suffer, I also gave Linda and Shushruta the duties of a waiter... Linda kept tripping over something invisible and throwing food in the customers' faces, and Shushruta greeted the customers with such a high-handed tone that the number of unkind waiters just increased to three.

I was cursed out by the leader again. A situation where Linda and Shushruta made the mistake, but I was the one who got cursed out. I'm so frustrated.

In the meantime, Miho kept following me. I don't know why she was following me so closely when we weren't even that close.

Although customers came, the shop wasn't so full that it was crowded, so whenever I had a chance, I would sit in a chair and chat with my sister.

How I had lived, where the other guys were, what they were doing...

"I don't know either."

Scarlet said in a languid tone, puffing smoke from her long pipe.

"Aren't you curious, sis?"

"I don't know. Is there a need to be curious? I'm busy with my research."

Are all magicians like that? Scarlet was so indifferent to things that were not in her field of interest that it was ruthless. It wasn't that strange, as she often stayed cooped up in her room, researching.

"Sis. I don't know if you know. The mercenary corps has been disbanded."

Scarlet smiled faintly at me.

"Come to think of it, they weren't kicked out, and anyway, they were the ones who left after a big fight. I'm not worried."

"You said you had a big fight."

"Yes, we fought a lot."

My sister exhaled smoke.

"They all implicitly didn't mention your name, but they all knew why. They're all clumsy guys. It was hard for them to accept your death. Since they were guys who only knew how to fight, they could only express it in that way."

"...."

I was silent for a moment, and then I brought up my plan.

"Sis."

"Hmm?"

"The mercenary corps. Let's rebuild it."

Scarlet looked at me with the pipe in her mouth.

I looked at her green eyes and said.

"Like before."

Scarlet stared at me blankly.

"How are you going to bring the other guys back?"

"I have to find them somehow. Even if I have to kidnap them."

Scarlet, who had been staring at the ceiling while deeply inhaling the smoke, smiled faintly.

"That sounds fun."

With her answer, smoke billowed from her mouth like fog.

"Will you join me? The Sherwood Kidnapping Corps."

Scarlet shook her head.

"Unfortunately, I'm busy with my research. I won't be able to help."

"...Research?"

"Yes. It's research that's related to you, so when you create the mercenary corps later, I can formally put in a request."

"Is it related to me?"

Didn't she think I was dead? Was she trying to resurrect a lion or something? ...Isn't that forbidden magic?

At my questioning expression, Scarlet playfully poked my nose and laughed, just as she did when I was a child.

"This is a secret, but I knew you would come back with red eyes."

"What?"

"I saw the future for you."

"...When?"

"In the distant past."

"What is that..."

You saw the future me in the distant past? What on earth is she talking about?

If the person talking wasn't my sister, I would have hit her on the back of the head and told her to stop talking nonsense.

Even if that were the case, why was she so surprised that she shed tears when we met?

As if she had guessed my thoughts, my sister put the pipe to her mouth again and muttered.

"How can knowing and it actually happening be the same? I was also very confused when you fell from the Mist Cliff. No matter how much I thought about it, it didn't seem like you could survive after falling from there. I don't know how many times I wondered if I had seen it wrong."

"...."

"But seeing you come back alive like this, it means that what I saw was right. The research will be successful. In the near future."

I feel like my head is getting tangled. I often feel this way when I talk to my sister. Are all magicians like this? Is this why I treat my sister with such respect?

I'm more scared of my sister's mental attacks than the leader's physical attacks.

I hurriedly changed the subject before my head got any more tangled.

"Then what about the leader? It doesn't make sense for the Sherwood Mercenary Corps to not have a leader."

Scarlet opened her mouth with the acrid cigarette smoke.

"Ashuban. Did you see the village?"

"I did."

"Hasn't it gotten bigger than when you came before?"

Definitely. When I came before, it was a very small village with only a few adults. Now, the houses have increased, and there are quite a few people walking around. It has now taken on the appearance of a village where people live.

"They gathered because of the leader."

"Because of the leader?"

"After you fell from the cliff, the leader stayed in this village for a while and went around killing all the magical beasts in this area like a madman. After the mercenary corps was disbanded, he opened a shop. People heard the rumor that Gustan of the Greatsword was staying here and gathered like this. He's become a kind of village guardian, you could say."

"...."

"What do you think will happen if the leader suddenly leaves the village? Won't people be anxious? They came here because they heard that Gustan of the Greatsword was here, but if he's not here, there's no point in coming all this way."

I thought for a moment and then asked.

"Then... he won't come back even if I rebuild Sherwood?"

Scarlet smiled gently.

"Ashuban. What is Sherwood to you?"

"...Family."

"Yes, it's the same for me. Do we have to be in the mercenary corps to be family? I think differently. No matter where we are, we are connected by the name Sherwood. Just like your second name."

"...."

I was at a loss for words. In front of my sister, I always become a childish kid.

I muttered, as if complaining.

"But I don't even know where they all went."

Scarlet let out a small laugh.

"Ashuban. Even if you rebuild the mercenary corps, you can't go back to the way it was before. Because many things have already changed. That's just how the world works."

"...."

"You know that too, don't you? Everything is bound to change. That's why it's all the more precious."

"Then... are you telling me not to do it?"

"It means not to cling to the past that has already passed."

Scarlet playfully blew the cigarette smoke she had inhaled in my face.

"But, there's nothing as enjoyable as meeting an old friend. Especially if it's an old friend you thought was dead who comes back alive."

I could see my sister's smile through the acrid smoke.

"Do you know how happy I was when I saw you again? I was so happy that I even shed tears."

I also smiled back and said.

"Me too."

"I didn't see any tears."

"I held them back. I'm an adult now too."

My sister smiled and placed her hand on my head.

"You've grown up."

(End of Chapter)