Inn Overlord: Reincarnated with Enhancement Magic, Now Worshipped as a Divine Messenger! - Chapter 49

(Seraph’s Perspective)

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I was running alone through an empty grassland. Mom, Abigail, Sir David, Lady Laura, Luka, Jeanne, and Orma—none of them were there. I ran, searching for them.

“Mom!! Abby!!”

Only my voice echoed sadly across the grassland. I stopped running and put my hands on my knees. Then I heard a noise behind me.

—It’s Mom and the others!

I turned around with a smile. But what I saw were Imperial soldiers crawling out of the ground. Their arms and legs were broken, and their faces looked pale like zombies.

I stepped back. Then I heard another noise from behind. I turned around again. Around 2,000 Imperial soldiers were crawling out of the ground, surrounding me.

“How dare you…”

“You killed us, didn’t you?”

“We won’t forgive you.”

“After we kill you…”

“We’ll kill your family too.”

Stop it!! Please stop!!

With nowhere to run, I crouched down right where I stood. The Imperial soldiers, now zombies, swarmed over me.

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“Waaaaaaaah!!!”

I woke up. Mom was in the bed next to mine. I felt truly relieved. Even though I screamed loudly, she didn’t wake up—probably because she was mentally exhausted too. I got out of bed and looked at her sleeping face. Like me—or maybe I’m just assuming—she was sleeping with a pained expression.

I placed my hand on Mom’s forehead and tried to cast a mental strengthening spell to release her from the nightmare. I assumed she was having a bad dream just because I had one earlier. But as soon as I touched her, her painful expression softened.

I removed my hand.

Yesterday, I think Mom noticed something was wrong with me. But she didn’t know how to talk to me. She tried to act normal and said things like, “It’s okay” and “Sleep well.” Even though she must have been worried about what would happen to the village too…

Mom and I got into bed like we always did. I had a nightmare and woke up. As morning came, I went to the kitchen to prepare Orma’s breakfast. Then Abigail came out from the room downstairs.

“Good morning, Seraph.”

“Good morning, Abby.”

From her greeting, I could tell she hadn’t slept well either. She probably thought the same about me. It’s amazing how a simple morning greeting can show how someone feels just by the tone. We’ve been together for so long.

“Are you going to prepare breakfast for Orma?”

“Yeah…”

The conversation felt awkward. Then someone entered the Black Piglet Inn noisily. It was Sir David, who had stayed up all night on watch, worried the Imperial soldiers might attack again.

“The Imperial army has retreated!!”

Sir David said that and hugged us. Through the window, we could see the royal cavalry moving around, telling villagers that the Imperial army had retreated. As the village outside grew lively, Sir David left us and went to Lady Laura, who had been sleeping with Abigail in the room downstairs.

Freed from Sir David’s warm hug, I felt the cold morning air. Next to me, Abigail gently took my cold hand.

When I looked at Abigail, she said,

“Thank you, Seraph. And… I’m sorry…”

“Huh? Why are you apologizing?”

“Because I knew you’ve been feeling down since yesterday. But I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to you.”

I thought about what to say to her, but my own feelings and what I thought she felt were all mixed up, and I couldn’t find the words.

“You were hurting because you killed those Imperial soldiers, right?”

I nodded silently. I even hesitated to say yes. But I managed to speak.

“I-I killed them… by using Luka…”

“That’s right… I did it too…”

“Together… with you?”

“I used you to kill the Imperial soldiers too.”

“You’re not to blame, Abby!!”

“I am to blame!! We may not be related by bl00d, but we’re family, right!? I won’t let you carry it all alone!!”

When I heard Abigail’s words, for some reason, warm tears ran down my cheeks.

“Wh-what… why…”

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, confused about what was happening to my body.

Then Abigail hugged me—just like Sir David did earlier. Back when I was Tanaka Shusaku in my previous life, there wasn’t a single person who would speak to me like this.

Since coming to this world, I’d been so happy living with Mom, Sir David, and the others. But that happiness was starting to fade. I couldn’t go back to those days. I had killed too many people. But… was that really why I was sad? Did I not care at all about the Imperial soldiers I killed? Those thoughts had been spinning in my head since yesterday.

Even though I was scolded by Mom, I still felt her love since being reborn. That’s why I didn’t want to make my family carry my sins. But Abigail said that because we’re family, we should carry it together. And that made me really happy.

It’s strange to say that being a burden made me happy, right? But it felt so warm and reassuring.

I cried in Abigail’s arms. She knelt down and hugged me as if to protect me.

“Seraph!?”

Mom came running down from the second floor and joined our embrace.

“I’m sorry, Seraph. I misunderstood… I thought you were afraid of the Imperial army attacking… But that’s not it, right? You’re sad because you killed them…”

We held each other for a while. Mom said,

“Thank you too, Abby. For being there for Seraph…”

“Of course. We’re family.”

Hearing that, Mom also cried. Then Sir David, who was watching us with Lady Laura beside him, said,

“…Seraph, I don’t know if this will comfort you, but soldiers from any country are prepared to die. So I won’t say don’t worry about it. But they’re not so fragile that your sadness should crush you. Your sorrow might even insult them. So think about why those soldiers fought and died. Why did you fight, and bury them? Think about that.”

That’s a hard question for a ten-year-old, but I could tell Sir David wasn’t treating me like a child.

“I… to protect my family… to protect this village…”

“Then go outside. What you protected is out there. And be proud—of yourself, and of the soldiers who fell in battle. If you still feel sad, then you have a duty to understand what the ones you defeated were fighting for.”

With Abigail, Mom, and behind them Sir David and Lady Laura, I looked out at Noonan Village, where everyone was celebrating now that the Imperial army had retreated.

Villagers, adventurers, and the remaining cavalry all hugged each other and shouted with joy.

—These are the people I protected…

My sadness didn’t disappear, but something like hope—a feeling I couldn’t describe—stood quietly beside it.

“Seraph!?”

I saw Albert and Setsuna running toward the inn. Jeanne wasn’t with them.

I was about to ask what happened to her when—

“Seraph-samaaaa!!”

Jeanne descended from the sky at incredible speed and knelt in front of me. A strong wind followed her and slammed into the Black Piglet Inn’s front door.

Behind Jeanne, Albert and Setsuna also knelt on either side of her.

Jeanne spoke.

“We have identified the mastermind behind this invasion war. With that, I would like to speak with you immediately about our next steps…”

Jeanne raised her head and looked behind me at Mom, Abigail, Lady Laura, and Sir David. Then she looked around as if searching for someone.

Jeanne asked,

“Where is Luka?”

Luka was still asleep in the room downstairs.