Eugene didn’t stop to look back. He walked straight out of the shrine, approaching Doynes, who was standing in front of the statue of Vermouth.
“If I want to get out of here, what do I need to do?” Eugene asked.
Doynes put on a puzzled expression at these abrupt words. He shot a gaze towards the shrine, searching for Gilead and Kristina, who had yet to appear, and then turned back to face Eugene.
“...What about Sir Hamel’s statue?” Doynes eventually asked.
“There’s no longer any need to leave it here,” Eugene answered.
“...Hah…?” Doynes’ expression froze as he heard this, unable to tell what Eugene meant by this. Unsure of what to say, he hesitated for a few moments before letting out a long sigh and acquiescing. “...Just keep heading straight. If you do that, you’ll naturally be able to make your way outside.
Eugene nodded, “Got it, thank you very much. Then I’ll be heading out first.”
“Could you tell me why you’re so angry?” Doynes’s words caught Eugene just before he could leave.
The coffin was missing their ancestor’s remains. Doynes could at least figure out that much, but he did not fully understand why Eugene would be so angry. Under normal circumstances, Eugene would have reacted to these words more calmly, but right now, he was in a state of such heightened emotion that he couldn’t find the patience for that.
“I don’t think I have an obligation to explain the reason for my anger, now do I?” Eugene replied insolently.
He didn’t even wait for a reply — he simply walked straight past Doynes and through the flower field. Doynes’s eyes blinked in shock as he looked at Eugene’s back, then he shook his head as he let out a long sigh.
Eugene felt like dogshit.
Lately, he’d been encountering a whole lot of things that made him feel this way. Like in the underground grave in Nahama, when he had discovered that Hamel’s corpse had been made into a Death Knight. Or when Amelia Merwin had been about to kill him. There was also the whole thing where the Demon King of Incarceration had shown up in person.
When the Demon King had spoke of his fondness for Vermouth, and when he had snidely called Eugene a stupid lion, revealing that the Demon King was aware of his reincarnation.
But even compared to back then, his current state was even more dogshit awful, motherfucking dogshit awful. Eugene bit down hard on his lower lip and chewed angrily. He could taste blood coming from his shredded lip, but the throbbing pain wasn’t nearly enough to shake off this dogshit feeling.
He wanted to run off into the woods like a madman. To find a monster or a demonic beast, no, anything would do. If he beat something to death with just his bare hands, would it make this mood of his feel a little better?
‘No.”
He didn’t even need to try something like that to know that it wouldn’t be any fun at all, and that it wouldn’t make him feel any better either. In the end, it would only vent his rage for a short while. Unless he could somehow address the root of the problem that was souring his emotions, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of this damn feeling.
As such, he just kept recklessly walking ahead. Although the body he had been reincarnated to was still only nineteen years old, Eugene still perfectly retained the memories of his previous self, which had gone through all kinds of experiences. Thanks to that, he didn’t want to pointlessly take his anger out on anyone, and he was able to exert control over his boiling emotions all by himself.
It was just like Doynes had said. After passing through the flower fields and then walking across the field, at some point, Eugene found himself standing in the middle of a dark forest.
The cold wind blew around him. Eugene slowly raised his head and looked up at the heavens. He could see the night sky through the lush foliage. The night sky over the Uklas Mountains was full of stars.
It was such a beautiful night sky that it made the fact that he still felt like shit even more of a shame. As Eugene glared up at the heavens, his boiling emotions began to slowly cool. However, he was still panting in rage.
Just as he was about to shout or scream loud enough to tear apart his own throat, he stopped himself and settled for the understatement of the century.
“This stinks.”
Eugene took a deep breath and then raised his fists. His fists were still covered in blood. When he spread his fingers, he saw that his palms were covered in ragged cuts. Eugene began taking large strides as he tore off the places where the blood had scabbed against his skin.
After walking for a bit, he started to resent the fact that this forest had far too many trees. Although it was only natural that a forest would have many trees, right now, Eugene couldn’t accept such a natural fact.
As such, he struck at one of the trees with his bloodstained fists. He didn’t use any mana and simply struck the tree with only his strength, but the tree was knocked down. Eugene glanced down at his stiff fist. The blood that had just finished clotting was starting to slowly pour down once more.
Leaping over the fallen tree, Eugene walked deeper into the forest. This forest was usually infested with monsters. However, none of the monsters living in this forest dared to draw closer to Eugene. The killing intent flowing off of Eugene was something that he had developed during his life as Hamel, and the monsters didn’t dare to enter the reach of that vicious killing intent.
After he had walked for quite a while, Eugene turned to look at his surroundings. Even though he was in the middle of a forest, he couldn’t hear the sound of even a single insect chirping. Even the insects had been silenced by his killing intent. Eugene extended his senses a little further beyond the silence that was surrounding him.
The only things detected in his immediate vicinity were monsters. There weren’t any traces of spells either. After Eugene dried his hands that were still dripping with blood by rubbing them clean on his cloak, he pulled out Wynnyd.
“Tempest,” Eugene called out.
The cold wind subsided.
As Eugene began operating the Ring Flame Formula, he glared down at Wynnyd.
“I know that you’re listening to me. At the moment, I’m a little bit royally pissed off. I’m not sure what I should do with all this rage, but right now, I just so happen to be holding in my hand a sword that looks like it would break pretty easily.” As Eugene muttered this, he lowered his face close to the reflective surface of Wynnyd’s blade.
“Six years ago, my mana was insufficient, so I highly valued Wynnyd’s ability to easily summon spirits. But as you should already know, there’s no longer any reason for me to treasure Wynnyd, right? During this past six years, I’m accumulated a whole lot of mana, and I’m able to manifest sword-force even without using Wynnyd.”
The wind had completely died down. Eugene stroked Wynnyd’s faintly trembling blade with his blood-stained fingers.
“Of course, Wynnyd is a good sword. A magic sword with such a convenient ability is one of the most useful weapons in the entire continent. But what can I do? Right now, my mood really feels like the fucking shit, and Wynnyd keeps looking more and more fun to break.”
Whooosh….
As the blade trembled it let out a gust of air. Eugene hadn’t called for this wind. Oddly enough, the wind flowing from Wynnyd was a refreshingly warm breeze.
In response Eugene just slammed down on the flat of Wynnyd’s blade with his clenched fist.
Clang!
Wynnyd’s blade vibrated with a ringing peal, and the wind was cut off immediately.
“You should know this since you’ve been watching me, but apart from Wynnyd, I now also have the Moonlight Sword. That means that I won’t feel any regret even if I do have to break your sword. However, Tempest, I’m sure that you’ll find it a pity. Since you know me so well, you should also be familiar with my personality, right? I’m one bad motherfucker. Now then, you’ve got until I count to three.”
This wasn’t just talk. Operating the Ring Flame Formula, Eugene raised his fist. White flames engulfed this fist.
“One, two….”
A voice rang out in his head, just as he was about to count to three and slam his fist down.
[Hold on.]
Whoooosh!
A surge of mana flowed out of his resonating and rotating Cores. Six years ago, his mana had been completely depleted after summoning Tempest for just a short time. However, that was no longer the case as he was now. Although his head felt a bit dizzy for a moment, that was just because of how suddenly his mana had been drained. Eugene first settled his agitated mana, then glared down at Wynnyd.
Eugene cursed, “You motherfucker. Do I really need to raise my fist just to get you to come out?”
[You really are as barbaric as ever…!]
“The foundations are the same, so why would you expect anything different?”
The wind blew wildly. The surrounding trees swayed as if they were about to be swept away by a storm, and the ground beneath was shaking as their roots were pulled ups.
Eugene narrowed his eyes and spat out, “Do you really need to kick up such a fuss just to appear for a short amount of time.”
[...It can’t be helped as my presence is so huge.] Tempest claimed.
“A bastard who calls himself the Spirit King of the Wind can’t even calm a single gust of wind?”
As Eguene raised his fist once more, the swirling winds calmly subsided.
[...Just what in the world is going on?] Tempest asked after letting out a long sigh.
Even if he was the Spirit King of the Wind, it was impossible for him to grasp what Eugene’s situation was like at all times, as Eugene had yet to sign a contract with him. Even the summoning catalyst, Wynnyd, had been placed inside the Cloak of Darkness, so Tempest couldn’t help but be ignorant of what had happened within Vermouth’s shrine.
“We opened Vermouth’s coffin just now,” Eugene revealed.
Tempest fell silent. [....]
“There was nothing inside.”
[...So it was true….]
Eugene’s face twisted into a scowl at these subtle words.
“You were expecting this?” Eugene demanded.
Tempest explained, [...It was impossible for something like what Vermouth had become to have died so quickly. From what I could tell, even though Vermouth still called himself a human, he was something that was free from the lifespan that every human being is supposed to have.]
“Then tell me why Vermouth faked his death.”
[Hamel. Though I know that you’ve been expecting me to be able to answer all your questions, I truly don’t know anything about Vermouth.]
“Stop with the bullshit and just tell me already.”
[I can swear on my very existence. I do not know what was in the promise sworn by Vermouth, nor the reason he faked his death, nor how Vermouth managed to reincarnate you.]
Eugene clenched his teeth as he heard the voice of Tempest echo inside his head. For the Spirit King to make an oath on its very existence, it had to be serious. Moreover, this wasn’t just any Spirit King, but the Spirit King of the Wind, who had made this oath.
[The only one who could truly understand what Vermouth was up to was Vermouth himself. Though perhaps… perhaps the Demon King of Incarceration may have also understood Vermouth.]
As Eugene stayed silent, Tempest released another sigh.
[However, it seems that Sienna, Molon, and Anise weren’t able to understand Vermouth…. What I can say for certain is that not only did they fail to understand him, but they even came to resent him.]
“...Resent him?” Eugene repeated.
[Just like how you can’t understand why Vermouth had to make that ‘promise’, they too harbored doubts about it and grew to resent his decision. Three hundred years ago, all three of them were unable to accept the arbitrary decision that Vermouth had reached.]
Eugene tightly squeezed his lips together as he glared down at Wynnyd.
With a calm breeze, Tempest’s voice continued speaking, [...The battle with the Demon King of Incarceration… was intense. The only reason why it was still considered a fight, was because Vermouth was there.]
It wasn’t too difficult to understand what Tempest meant by these words.
[The Demon King of Incarceration is one of the greater Demon Kings, ranked second in power. Hamel, you must know that he is such a terrible existence that the three Demon Kings you all managed to face and overcome together couldn’t even be compared to him. Just like this name suggests, he plunges all your hopes and chances for victory into the depths of the abyss, locking them away forever.]
“...,” Eugene stayed silent.
[Sienna’s magic couldn’t pierce the Demon King of Incarceration’s defenses. Anise’s divine power wasn’t able to illuminate the darkness that the Demon King of Incarceration summoned. Molon’s charge couldn’t even touch the Demon King of Incarceration.]
Eugene had only ever encountered the Demon King of Incarceration once during his previous life. He recalled a trembling darkness, the sound of creaking chains, and a red pair of eyes. The Demon King of Incarceration that he had personally faced at that time gave off a much different presence than when it had descended upon Hamel’s grave in Nahama by using the Death Knight as its vessel.
[If it hadn’t been for Vermouth, Sienna, Anise, and Molon wouldn’t have been able to survive for a second. It was only thanks to Vermouth that the battle with the Demon King of Incarceration was even viable. With Vermouth there, Sienna's magic managed to pierce the Demon King of Incarceration’s defenses, Anise’s divine power illuminated its darkness, and Molon’s charge actually hit its target.]
Tempest stopped speaking for a few moments before continuing, [...But that still wasn’t enough. The reason that their fierce battle instantly became a futile struggle was because everyone except for Vermouth couldn’t keep up with the pace of the fight. If… perhaps if you, Hamel, were there at that moment… things might have gone a little differently.]
At these words, Eugene couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “You’re right. Fuck. It’s all my fault that I died. I did something that I didn’t need to do, and I died even though I shouldn’t have. That’s why I’ve ended up in such a dogshit state of affairs. If I hadn’t died there, and had instead died after picking off the Demon Kings of Incarceration and Destruction, I wouldn’t have been forced to see things turn out like this.”
[Hamel.] Tempest’s voice rang out once more. [...The past is already over and done with. There’s no way that it can be reversed. If Vermouth really was behind your reincarnation, then it must be because there was a good reason for doing so. Vermouth choosing to make a promise with the Demon King of Incarceration must have been because he realized that he wouldn’t be able to defeat the Demon Kings of Incarceration and Destruction with what power he had left.]
“So what about it?” Eugene asked sulkily.
[Your comrades weren’t able to understand Vermouth, and Vermouth didn’t desire his comrade’s understanding. That unfathomable man plotted your reincarnation, even if it meant betraying his comrades, those who had crossed the line and followed him into danger even if they didn’t understand him. The Vermouth that I knew from that time was always lonely, right up until the end, and he derived no happiness from being praised as a hero.]
“...Those idiots,” Eugene lifted his head and glared up at the night sky.
Sienna had ended up the same way. From what Mer had said, Sienna had lived in solitude for all her life. She hadn’t found any lovers, never got married, didn’t go to any parties, and just isolated herself in her study, working tirelessly on Witch Craft.
[...The promise that he made with the Demon King of Incarceration, and the fact that the Demon King knows about your reincarnation… there must have been a reason that left Vermouth with no choice but to do this. Hamel, the fact that you resent Vermouth is—]
“It’s not resentment,” Eugene muttered as he lowered Wynnyd. “This is… I guess you could say… it’s betrayal. Yep. It’s betrayal. Like you said, that bastard was a prick and we could never tell what he was really thinking. But that wasn’t good enough. No matter what kind of incredible mission he was on, I should have… we should have…. We wandered the world together with Vermouth. We tore our way across Helmuth. Hell, we even killed three of the Demon Kings.”
Eugene’s voice shook as he continued, “There was no reason for me to die in place of Vermouth. Even if I hadn’t pushed him out of the way, Vermouth wouldn’t have been in any danger. However, I still died for Vermouth. Because I thought that dying like that was the best death that I could have.”
Even before a hole was pierced through his chest, Hamel’s body had already been dying. If he had tried to keep going together with them, then he would have just become a burden for them. Everyone had tried to convince Hamel that they should just retreat for the time being, but Hamel had refused to do so. Because he knew that even if he did go back, there was no way to heal that broken body of his.
They had just barely, with truly narrow odds, managed to make it all the way to the Demon King of Incarceration’s castle. Having threaded their way down such a dangerous path, their confrontation with the Demon King of Incarceration was right in front of their noses. If they retreated at that point, there was no way to be certain that they would ever be able to reach the Demon King of Incarceration again.
No. Even if they did somehow manage to somehow retreat, and then make it back to the Demon King of Incarceration once more, Hamel still wouldn’t have been able to be there with them. So he had willingly thrown himself in front of that final blow, and had died in Vermouth’s place. Hamel had been convinced that he needed to die with this honor. The honor of dying for a hero, for Vermouth, for his friend.
It was all just his own foolish self-satisfaction.
“...It wasn’t just me. Everyone there wouldn’t have hesitated to die if it meant saving Vermouth. Because we all came to understand the truth as we progressed through our journey. Even I, who was always so full of selfish pride, understood it. Even if I died, Vermouth was not allowed to die. Even if everyone else died, as long as Vermouth was still alive, there would still be another chance.” Eugene’s voice continued to tremble as he confessed what they had all been thinking.
His fingers holding on to Wynnyd seemed to be losing their strength as he continued. “...Tempest, if things were as you say they were… and Sienna, Anise, and Molon did truly resent Vermouth, it wasn’t because of Vermouth’s arbitrary decision-making. It was because they knew that they were too incompetent, and they had become a weight chained around Vermouth’s ankle. The guys and girls that I knew were just that type of people. They were the kind to resent themselves for their own incompetence, and resent Vermouth for not abandoning them when he should have.”
[...Hamel,] Tempest said in a melancholic voice. [Why should Vermouth have abandoned his comrades?]
“...,” Eugene couldn’t answer Tempest’s question.
[He didn’t want you to die.]
You didn’t have to die like this.
[He also didn’t want to see Sienna, Anise, or Molon die either. That’s why, when everyone else was defeated, Vermouth held back from delivering the killing blow with the Moonlight Sword. In that moment, the Demon King of Incarceration would still have been able to kill everyone except for Vermouth…. However, that didn’t happen, because the Demon King of Incarceration instead was forced to make a promise with Vermouth.]
“...,” Eugene listened silently.
[That promise wasn’t made for the sake of the world. It was to save the comrades who had stayed together with him until that final moment, and to reclaim your soul, which should by all rights have been annihilated.]
“I know,” Eugene acknowledged.
Betrayal, rage, and resentment.
Caught in the mix of these complex emotions, Eugene recalled a scene with Vermouth, right at the moment when they had first defeated a Demon King.
—W-we won. We won! Hamel, you son of a bitch! We’ve killed a Demon King!
—Did we really kill him? That fucking bastard, couldn’t he just be pretending to be dead? He won’t suddenly get up and attack us, right?
—How could someone like a Demon King use such a childish tactic?
—He might have been an enemy, but he sure was a great foe. I, Molon Ruhr, as one warrior to another, will recognise my match with the Demon King as one that will be remembered for the rest of my life—
—Fuck your great foe bullshit. Stop spouting nonsense and quickly hold your side together. Your internal organs are spilling out!
—Hamel, you fucker! We’ve killed a Demon KIng!
—Sienna, why do you keep calling out to me and cursing me when I’m just standing here quietly?
This had been the fifth-ranked Demon King — the Demon King of Carnage. Just as Vermouth was pulling out the Holy Sword that had been thrust into the Demon King’s chest, even though it was still clearly dusk with the sun setting on the horizon, Vermouth’s brilliance shone so brightly that it seemed like the dawn had come. Everyone had been overjoyed at the fact that they had defeated the Demon King, but seeing Vermouth standing there with his back to the light, they all felt so reverent that for a few moments they forgot how to even speak.
—...You fucker… You really… Um… I guess you already know how well you fought, so… yeah. We already know that it’s thanks to you that we managed to defeat that son of a bitch, but do you really need to stand there acting so cool?
—It wasn’t all because of me.
Vermouth had looked down at all of them as he said this.
—We… all of us together… we all fought well. It’s thanks to all of us working together that we managed to defeat the Demon King.
—...So long as you’re aware of that. I was pretty impressive in that fight, you know.
—Thank you.
Vermouth rarely smiled.
However, when he did, he smiled so brightly that it was hard to believe that this was the same person as the usual Vermouth.
—For not dying and for accompanying me here… thank you.
“I knew that already.” Eugene covered his face with his abused hand. “...It’s because I knew… that I didn’t want to know.”
[...You never know, perhaps we might find Vermouth still alive.]
“...If that’s the case, then I’m going to kill him for real,” Eugene promised.
[Let’s go to the north, Hamel.]
Just when Eugene was about to be overcome with emotion, what was this bastard talking about now?
[The mission that we weren’t able to accomplish three hundred years ago, now that you’ve been reincarnated, we can achieve it. Six years ago, you weren’t strong enough, but now things are different. Take me with you to the north. You and I together will defeat the Devildom in the north that no one, not even Vermouth, has been able to conquer….]
“Stop with the bullshit, and just head back for now,” Eugene ordered.
[Hamel, isn’t that what you want to do as well?]
“Not just yet,” Eugene said as he unfurled his cloak. “I’ll go there eventually, but the timing is up to me.”
[...,] Tempest’s silence was loud.
Eugene warned him. “So don’t try to swing me around any more.”
[...Hoho. That’s fine as well. Hamel, no, Eugene Lionheart, from this moment on, I will become the tailwind for your journey and, when you need it, the storm that protects you from your enemies.]
“Instead of just talking so big, can’t you try and consume less of my mana?”
[That’s…. It can’t be helped. It takes a lot of mana in order to manifest a Spirit King….]
“Fine, I get it, so just go back in already.”
After placing Wynnyd inside of his cloak, Tempest’s voice could no longer be heard.
