Zich’s hands unconsciously reached over his sword’s pommel and stopped.
‘Stay calm. She is not my enemy, at least right now.’
Zich had fought the Saint before he regressed, but this was their first meeting. However, because the memories of what happened before his regression were still so fresh, Zich couldn’t erase the discomfort he felt inside his heart.
The Holy Knight closest to her said in a worried voice, “Lady Lubella. You don’t have to get out personally.”
However, Aine Lubella shook her head.
“We are the ones who have to ask them a favor. It’s only right that I, the representative of this company, have to come forward.”
“But we don’t even know the statuses of these men.”
“Karuna’s benevolence doesn’t discern between ranks and status.”
As if she was giving a lecture, Lubella talked strictly and smiled again.
“Furthermore, aren’t all of you going to protect me?”
At her words, all the Holy Knights seemed touched and overwhelmed by emotions, but that also made the Holy Knights more protective over her.
“Stop this. You all have lost. Let her do what she wants.”
A strong, low voice seeped out of the carriage. Then, another person came out of the carriage after the Saint.
‘That guy is!’
Zich had let down his guard after hearing the conversation between the Saint and her knights, but after seeing this man, Zich heightened his alertness to the maximum in an instant. The man was also someone who Zich knew.
With amiable eyes, silver hair, and a beard, he was a kind-looking old man who looked like he had lived a peaceful life. However, he was definitely not the chuckling, next-door grandpa type like his external appearance suggested. He had numerous nicknames such as Karuna’s Sword, the idol of all Holy Knights, Guardian of the Divinity, and so on, but to Zich, he was more familiar with the man’s other nickname.
‘Tasnia’s Killing Machine!’
Before Zich was called the Demon Lord, there was a large group of people called the ‘Demon People.’ Demon People did whatever they felt like, refused to abide by their countries’ rules, brought chaos to the world, and generally inconvenienced others with their careless attitudes. Before he was called the Demon Lord, Zich had also been a part of those ‘Demon People.’
However, as these Demon People collided with each other or were removed by an outside force, their numbers decreased. Those who slowly built their strength among them and survived later gained the title of the Demon Lord; and before a Hero Party eradicated them, they reigned with fear.
In that time of chaos, this old man minced many Demon People. Currently, he was standing in front of Zich right now and was laughing, ‘Ho ho!’ Many evildoers and Demon People died under his hands, but the old man was most known for the incident that gave him the title, ‘Tasnia’s Killing Machine.’
‘On the Tasnia Plains, he killed six Demon People and their followers in one swing.’
During the time that the story spread, Demon People had run so rampant that people called the period, ‘The Demon People Age.’ Of course, because the ‘Tasnia Plains Incident’ had happened at the beginning of this age, the Demon People were comparatively weak. But they were still called the Demon People, and it was shocking that the old man managed to not only kill the six Demon People but also their followers in one swing.
‘Killing Machine—I didn’t know who came up with that nickname, but it’s a good one.’
It might be a chilling nickname for someone serving a god, but for those who were against Karuwiman, they thought there wasn’t a better fitting nickname.
‘In my current state, I probably won’t even be able to give him a single scratch.’
Although Zich was getting stronger at an exponentially fast pace, he had regressed only recently.
As if they were done talking, the Saint and the Killing Machine approached Zich.
‘Damn it! Their energies are off the charts!’
One of them was the Killing Machine, who Zich had no chance of sticking a single tooth in, and the other was the Zombie Maker, who could erase all traces even if she was bitten. Of course, like how Zich was weak at the moment, Lubella probably couldn’t use her incredible blessing as she did before the regression. But even now, it was enough to make Zich’s heart beat.
“How are you doing?”
“Good, what about you?”
However, Zich had also gone through his fair share of messes. He was in shock for only a moment and instantly regained his composure to respond to the Saint with a gentle greeting.
“Excuse us at such a late time. I am the servant of Karuna, Aine Lubella.”
‘Is she not a Saint yet?’
From what he knew, he had heard that the Saint’s middle name was Primel. When Zich first met her—no, fought her, her full name was ‘Aine Primel Lubella.’
‘She must still be a Saint candidate.’
Zich knew that Karuwiman elected several Saint candidates and awarded one of them with the title of Saint. Seeing that she didn’t mention her middle name, Primal, it seemed that she wasn’t the Saint yet.
After Lubella finished her self-introduction, the Killing Machine came forward. His benign smile was like that of a predator, wearing the skins of an herbivore and growling deceitfully.
“I am Karuna’s humble servant and swordsman, Belri Weig. And the men over there are swordsmen like me who serve Karuna.”
The Holy Knights nodded slightly at Zich.
“I am Zich.”
Zich threw away his Steelwall last name, and he felt hesitant to use the name, Moore, which he had used as the Demon Lord. Since he was planning to live a kind life, he didn’t add a last name, and both Lubella and Weig didn’t point out the matter either. They weren’t that interested in Zich.
‘Anyways, I didn’t think that I would be greeting them like this.’
It was one of the exciting things about regressing. He didn’t know what would happen in the future, but at least for now, Zich and the two were meeting in completely different circumstances than they had before Zich regressed.
‘Since I swore to live a kind life, this might be good.’
“Hey, you should also greet…”
Zich turned towards Hans and stopped.
‘This is a surprise.’
Hans’ eyes were staring at Lubella, and his face was ridiculous. He didn’t blink, and his pupils were at a standstill; and in his gaping mouth, it looked like saliva was going to drip out at any moment.
‘Well, I guess it’s understandable…?’
The Saint was unrealistically beautiful.
‘Now that I think about it, including that Glen Zenard guy, everyone in the Hero Party was beautiful and handsome. It was as if they picked their party members by their looks.’
Of course, that couldn’t have been the case since Glen Zenard’s companions also had skills that matched them.
‘It’s not like they are playing dollhouse.’
Zich tilted his head and focused his attention on Hans again.
‘I should take care of him first.’
Hans was still staring at Lubella. Thankfully, she was smiling, looking slightly embarrassed, while everyone else, including Weig, seemed like they understood and were used to it. But Zich couldn’t just let it be. Although they understood, it didn’t mean that they thought well of this situation. Actually, some knights were starting to look uncomfortable.
“Gather your senses!”
Punch!
“Ah!”
After getting hit on the back of his head, Hans gathered his hands around his head and crouched.
“This guy’s name is Hans. He is my servant.”
“I-I see.”
With a worried look on her face, Lubella looked at Hans squirming in pain.
“Anyways, what did you come here for?”
“Ah, we are also planning to stay the night and camp around here. We wanted to ask for your understanding.”
The place where Zich and Hans were camping was a wide open area. Unlike the other areas that were filled to the brim with trees, the area they were in only had a bit of weed. It felt like a place where people usually camped with the traces of an extinguished bonfire and trash.
‘Did they come out in person to say that? A person who is the Saint candidate?’
Zich was impressed. No, he was beyond impressed and couldn’t understand. It almost seemed like she wasn’t human like him.
‘I guess this is what they mean by a kind person.’
Zich couldn’t imagine himself doing something like this.
“Of course.”
Zich nodded.
* * *
The people from Karuwiman prepared to camp for the night instantly. With the carriage that Lubella would sleep in, a huge tent was set up.
“What are you staring at?”
“Y-yes, sir?”
Hans looked as if he was caught stealing a treasure. His gaze hadn’t left the carriage for some time.
“Wake up!”
“Yes sir!”
‘He is only good at answering.’
Hans’ actions didn’t follow his answer, and Zich shrugged his shoulders when he saw Hans’ eyes edge towards the carriage once again.
‘If I drag him around so that he will be too tired to think of useless thoughts, he will gather his senses.’
And it was also very easy to make Hans tired. Zich smiled wide with his teeth showing as he looked at Hans. But unfortunately, Hans didn’t see what Zich was doing and couldn’t predict the hell that he would soon jump into.
‘But this is fate. Now that I have the chance, should I ask about that?’
Zich suddenly thought and walked towards Karuwiman. Hans got up to follow him, but Zich blocked Hans with his hands, so Hans slumped down to the ground.
“What is the matter?”
A Holy Knight on guard blocked Zich’s path.
“Can I talk to the Sa—no, with Lady Lubella, sir? I have something to ask her.”
Seeing the knight’s annoyed expression, it didn’t seem like he would let Zich pass.
‘Well, I have nothing to really lose from this.’
Zich also had no thoughts to keep pushing if they denied his entry.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t—”
“It’s alright.”
This surprised the Holy Knight, as well as Zich who was about to walk away. Lubella popped her head out from the carriage.
“Please come in.”
As she smiled warmly and even gestured towards Zich, the Holy Knight could not help but protest.
“But Lady Lubella!”
“I have a duty to listen to as many people as I can. Isn’t the purpose of this journey for me to gain a lot of experience?”
“He might be dangerous!”
“Sir Weig is next to me. And I also have all of you. With this, my protection is more than enough.”
‘True. Having Tasnia’s Killing Machine as a bodyguard is more than enough.’
The Holy Knight looked conflicted by Lubella’s firm resolve, but Weig agreed with Lubella as he was watching from the carriage.
“It’s alright. I will be next to Lady Lubella.”
“…Yes, sir.”
The Holy Knight let Zich pass. However, the knight did not hide his disapproval; he looked at Zich as if Zich had caused an unnecessary interruption. But Zich did not pay any attention to the knight and Lubella led him inside the carriage.
The inside of the carriage was clean. There were some religious decorations, but they weren’t extravagant. Zich sat opposite Lubella. Weig followed behind Zich, took his seat next to Lubella, and they both looked at Zich.
“You have something you want to ask me?”
“Yes. Lady Lubella, I think you are probably the best person to ask.”
“What is it?”
“What should I do to live a kind life?”
“What?”