Home/The Reincarnated Hero Is Melancholic/ch11

Chapter 11

Deep in the forest, untouched by human footsteps.

The scent of raw, unrefined nature—which I hadn't experienced in so long—was wonderfully fragrant.

"Wow… It's been ages since I've been here."

I looked around with fresh eyes.

The trees, stretching thickly upward to nearly obscure the sky, the overgrown underbrush, and the wild animals that showed no fear of me.

"It's exactly the same as before."

If I went a little further in, I'd find the hut where I used to live… but over five hundred years had passed, so it had probably returned to the earth by now.

The trace Rani had found ended here. Yet instinctively, I knew that Isid was just ahead.

"Why would he hole up in a place like this? He has a perfectly good lair…"

Besides, Isid had always hated this area.

Ever since he'd once seen the villagers rummaging through the dense forest, intent on killing me.

My memories from my previous life began at the orphanage.

The orphanage, run by the director and his wife, housed over fifty children.

Not because they were kind-hearted people.

The couple ran the orphanage to pocket the government subsidies.

In that environment, where children were treated like livestock, the weak ones fell sick easily and died easily.

Yet the number of children remained steady—because orphans kept appearing.

The reason I managed to survive and stay healthy in that place was entirely thanks to my half-elf lineage and the spirits who protected me.

'Back then, I didn't even know what spirits or contracts were…'

That orphanage disappeared in the year I turned twelve. More precisely, everyone died—except me.

The cause was arson committed by the director.

He had fallen into gambling, lost all his assets, and racked up debts; he drank all day long. Naturally, his marriage soured, and he took his anger out on the children.

The culmination of that violence was arson.

When I sensed something wrong and woke up, my vision was filled with crimson flames.

It wasn't that I didn't think about saving my friends. It was simply too late.

When I emerged through the flames, I was met with shocked stares.

"A child survived!"

"Wait… that kid looks perfectly fine?"

"Really. How did she survive that blaze?"

In an era before spirit magic was widely known, a child walking out unscathed from devouring red flames—without a single scorch mark—was more than enough to inspire fear.

If it had been a city, they might have considered her a mage—but this town, though fairly large, was a rural farming village.

I barely escaped the hands of those trying to kill me and lived in hiding on the streets for a while.

But I couldn't live like that forever, and at barely fourteen or fifteen, I didn't have many options.

Fortunately, in the process of breaking through the flames, I had unconsciously contracted with two spirits—Kahn and Selly—so I managed to survive and flee into the mountains near the village.

Until I met Isid, my home was this very forest.

Anyway, once Isid learned all about my circumstances, he came to hate not only this forest but the entire region. Once, I had to exhaust myself stopping him from burning it all down.

"So why are you here?"

No wonder I couldn't find a single trace even after searching every possible place.

Who would have thought he'd be in the forest he'd once tried to incinerate?

Of course, there was another reason even Rani, a high-ranking wind spirit, hadn't been able to detect a trace.

"…A barrier."

Just a few steps ahead of where Rani had brought me lay an intricate barrier so refined that ordinary people couldn't even perceive its existence.

It was also evidence supporting my theory that Isid was asleep.

As I gently touched the barrier, a familiar, beloved magical energy tingled against my palm.

The same magic that had desperately surged toward me even in the moment I accepted death.

Tears suddenly welled up.

"Isid…"

The thought that I would soon see my one remaining friend in this world made my chest swell.

Fortunately, Isid's barrier was exactly as I remembered it—which meant it didn't repel me.

After passing through the barrier, I took a few steps forward.

Rustle—

I sensed a familiar presence.

I looked up without thinking and saw a figure standing as if treading on empty air.

Because clouds obscured the moon, I couldn't see his face.

But even without seeing it, I knew who he was.

Hair as black as the night sky, darker than midnight; languid yet somehow cold eyes; and—

"How did you get in here?"

A voice I had missed every single moment since gaining this new life.

I could feel my eyes trembling violently.

So much so that I failed to notice Isid's gaze growing steadily colder.

"I…"

My voice caught in my throat. I belatedly tried to call his name. I tried to.

"…I have a promise to keep, so I won't harm you."

As if to confirm that the sharp gaze I'd seen moments ago was no illusion, Isid murmured coldly and waved his hand.

The gale that rushed solely toward me was a clear dismissal—and hostility.

"W-wait just a—!"

The attack wasn't meant to kill.

The wind carried only enough force to push me outside the barrier.

Still, I couldn't help but be shocked by Isid's hostility—something I had never once received from him, except at our very first meeting.

I'd thought that if he saw Rani beside me, he'd realize who I was without needing words.

'…Surely he hasn't forgotten me.'

A worry I'd never entertained before suddenly crossed my mind. It was so plausible that I felt foolish for never having considered it.

I had been reincarnated immediately after death, but in practical terms, five hundred years had passed between my death and rebirth.

Anxiety slowly crept in.

The time I'd spent with Isid was considerable, but it seemed rather paltry compared to five hundred years.

Chirp—

As my mind wavered, Rani, who was beside me, called out.

"A bird? …A spirit mage, then."

Ah, so he hadn't seen Rani?

My hope was short-lived.

"…Damn."

For some reason, Isid's mood seemed even darker than before as he muttered lowly.

The way he furrowed his brow made him look almost pained.

Only then did I notice—aside from not recognizing me, Isid's condition was somehow off.

I couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but I was certain. This was the realm of intuition—something I could sense because I alone had held the place of his friend.

"Isid."

The moment I called his name urgently—

Whoosh—

The atmosphere surrounding Isid shifted completely.

As if his earlier demeanor had been a joke, a murderous intent so fierce it stung my skin now emanated from him.

"…Who are you?"

At that moment, the clouds parted, revealing Isid's face.

His features were unchanged from my memory. But the emotions written on his face were starkly different.

Compared to the palpable killing intent that made my skin prickle, his expression was utterly, profoundly listless.

His eyes, once as beautiful as rubies, had lost their luster and grown murky.

'This is the precursor to a rampage…'

Something surged in my chest. It wasn't anger or fear—it was a feeling of helplessness and dismay.

It hurt more than when he had shown hostility toward me, more than when he failed to recognize Rani.

'I thought he was doing well as the Empire's guardian dragon…'

If he looked this obviously unwell at first glance, his insides must be a complete mess.

'…You fool. Not even taking care of yourself—what are you doing?'

In the end, I drew on my power—perhaps more than was necessary.

After traveling such a distance in this young body, this would probably give me a pretty bad headache, but getting Isid to come to his senses was more important.

"…That power is—"

Isid, seeing the power gathering in my right hand, murmured with a stiff face.

I thought I vaguely heard my name—a muttering that was barely a call at all.

But I didn't mind. Even if he recognized me now, what mattered more was pulling his mind back together.

"Snap out of it, you idiot!"

Summoning every ounce of strength I had, I hurled the sphere of power I'd shaped.

Though he could have easily deflected it, Isid simply stared blankly at the orb flying toward him.

When it reached him, it burst with a flash of bright light—a purifying light.

That power was a bane to those tainted by evil, like dark mages—but for those who weren't, it merely dispelled fatigue and cleared the mind.

And for Isid the dragon—

"…Roel?"

It was the most effective sedative of all.

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