The Blind Love Life of the Returning Hero: The Companions I Lost in Another World Resurrect in the Modern Era and Indulge Me - Episode 5

Held tightly by the girl who called herself Lilia, Hayato desperately tried to organize his chaotic thoughts. Her warm body temperature and the faint scent of shampoo conveyed a tangible sense of reality. This Lilia here was a physical being, not an illusion or anything else.

Back then, Lilia should have met her end. He’d witnessed it himself; there was no mistake. Hayato still remembered it vividly. Surrounded by the enemy’s vast army, Lilia had continuously chanted her most powerful spell to buy time for their companions to escape. He remembered her figure, enduring enemy attacks all over her body yet never letting her chant falter until the very end. That image was deeply etched into Hayato’s heart as the Hero.

So why was she here? And in a form even younger than before?

Her long, golden hair shimmered, her clear blue eyes sparkled. She was a girl whose school uniform suited her well, still carrying an air of innocence. Why was Lilia, who had been an adult in the other world, standing before him as a schoolgirl? The nostalgic feeling was unmistakable, yet she seemed like a completely different person.

After holding each other for a while, Hayato suddenly snapped back to reality. He took in his surroundings. They were at the entrance to his second-floor apartment. A place visible from the street. An adult man embracing a schoolgirl was bound to cause misunderstandings if seen.

“Lilia, could you let go for now? Please, tell me what’s going on,” Hayato said hurriedly to the girl clinging to him. She lifted her face and looked at him with tear-moistened eyes.

“No. It’s not enough yet. I want to be closer. I don’t want to let go. We can talk later. So please, let me into your room, Lord Hayato.”
“Uh…”

Lilia’s voice held a desperate plea; if anything, her embrace tightened. This was troublesome. Seeing her trembling shoulders painfully conveyed just how precious this moment was to her.

Considering appearances, he should push her away immediately. Yet, he couldn’t coldly dismiss the joy of this reunion. Hayato himself felt his chest burn with a painful heat at reuniting with someone he thought he’d lost forever. Ultimately, the only option was to hear her out inside his room. Inviting her in would undoubtedly invite even more misunderstanding if discovered. But he had to hear the truth from her.

“Alright. Let’s go inside. But you have to tell me everything properly.”
“Yes!” Lilia replied brightly, showing a smile. Seeing her pure joy, Hayato couldn’t help but smile back.

Hayato walked backwards into his room, the schoolgirl still wrapped around him. After closing the door, he moved to the center of the room and sat down on the floor. Throughout this, Lilia showed no intention of letting go. Instead, she sat down on his lap like a child and gazed at him with a sincere, earnest look.

The extreme closeness left Hayato unable to hide his confusion. The Lilia from the other world was the great Sage who always maintained a certain distance and propriety. The girl before him was clearly different. Even if she possessed the same soul, did that mean her personality and behavior weren’t necessarily identical?

“Lord Hayato, you look younger. In the other world, you had such a gallant, adult face. Now, you look very young.”
“Lilia, you’re too close.”

Lilia brought her face so near they were almost touching. She stared intently at Hayato’s expression, as if observing a precious gem. The intensity of her gaze made him want to turn away.

“Well, you look much younger too. And your personality seems a bit different as well.”

The words slipped out unintentionally. Lilia smiled at them. Her smile held a hint of pride.

“Yes. I was reborn into this world 16 years ago. It seems the flow of time and the laws governing things differ quite a bit between that world and this one.”
“16 years ago? Reborn?”

Hayato frowned at her words. He tried to grasp the situation, but his mind couldn’t keep up. It was too surreal. Honestly, the whole idea of another world was unreal enough.

“Correct. In this world, I was reborn as Takahashi Riria.”
“‘Riria’ and ‘Lilia’… The names are somewhat similar.”
“Yes, they are,” she chuckled softly.

“Wait a minute. Did you have your memories? From the start?”

Questions flooded in. Hayato felt the timeline didn’t make sense. He had gone to the other world only one month ago. And he’d returned to this world also just one month ago. Had she known about the other world before that? Lilia shook her head.

“No. The memories from our world—your other world—weren’t accessible. I grew up as an ordinary human being. But… I always felt something deep inside my chest. An awareness that I carried something important, even though I couldn’t remember what it was.”
“Something important?”

At Hayato’s question, Lilia’s expression softened.

“Yes. What that important thing was... became clear about a month ago.”
“A month ago… The day I went to the other world and came back?”
“So it was the day you returned from the other world, Lord Hayato? It seems that was the trigger. That’s when we regained our memories.”

Hayato gasped at her words. The timing matched perfectly.

“That day, I suddenly got a splitting headache and recalled a flood of memories completely different from the life I’d lived until then. The battles in the other world, the bonds with my companions, the precious promise I made with you, Lord Hayato. I remembered everything. And we—we remembered. Remembered journeying with the Hero, remembered staking our lives to defeat the Demon Lord. Remembered watching over you, Lord Hayato, right until your final battle.”

Lilia revealed an astonishing fact. Even after her death, her soul had remained by Hayato’s side. Along with Celestia, Garet, and John, she had watched over his final battle against the Demon Lord.

“All of us, even after losing our lives, never left your side, Lord Hayato. Because we promised, didn’t we? That no matter what, we would fight together until the very end.”

Her words brought Hayato’s own memories flooding back. Indeed, during their journey, they had all made that promise together. A vow to save the world, no matter the cost. That even if they lost their lives, their souls would remain by the Hero’s side. He’d thought it was just comforting words back then. But they had truly done it. They had kept their promise.

“And then, when you, Lord Hayato—victorious but exhausted—were enveloped in light and returned to your original world, it seems our souls, your companions, crossed over to this world along with you. By the time we realized, we were already living different lives. We had been reborn.”

Lilia’s explanation sounded utterly fantastical. Yet, faced with her sincere expression and the reality before him, he couldn’t deny it.

“So that means… the other companions…?” Hayato asked, his voice a mix of hope and anxiety.

“Yes. Celestia, Garet, John—they’re all here in this world. They’ve all regained their memories and are eagerly waiting to reunite with you, Lord Hayato.”

At Lilia’s answer, Hayato’s chest grew hot. His companions, whom he thought were dead, were alive in this world. And they remembered him.

“Have they regained their memories, like you?”
“Yes. Everyone’s memories returned at the same time.”
“…I see. They’re all alive. That’s… that’s good.”

His voice held heartfelt relief. Though reborn, the companions he thought he’d lost were alive now. That fact, more than anything, was the greatest comfort.

“So, to summarize,” she said, looking at him with earnest eyes, “I am Takahashi Riria, and I was once Lilia. Do you understand?”

Within the depths of her eyes resided the intelligence and strength of the Sage Lilia of old. Yet, she also possessed the straightforwardness and purity of a modern girl. She was an existence that felt strangely dual in nature.

“Yeah, I get it. I can’t say I understand everything… but I believe it’s certain that you truly are Lilia.”

Though not fully comprehending it all, Hayato nodded. The simple fact that his precious companions were alive in this peaceful modern era spread through his chest as the greatest joy imaginable.

The bonds he thought he’d lost had miraculously reconnected, transcending worlds. After overcoming the monumental task of defeating the Demon Lord and saving the world, Hayato had never imagined he could reunite with his companions like this.