#When I returned, my family was ruined (1)
Pugh!
A huge hand was stuck in my heart.
Red blood flowed from the corner of Ethan’s mouth.
My gaze turned upward.
There was a huge monster sitting there.
Dragonlord Draksis.
A giant monster that is well over 6 meters tall and a terrible disaster that has appeared on the continent.
In order to stop this monster, even though we formed a deadly force with the most elite talents on the continent…
‘We lost.’
The best thing to do was to cut off one of his arms.
Huh!
A huge tail struck the body.
The body flew away as if it were the wind.
puck!
The body fell to the floor with a tremendous noise.
“Cough!”
A lot of blood flowed from the corner of the mouth.
“It’s really dirty… it’s strong…”
Even though this monster was strong, it was too strong.
An empty left arm.
My one and only heart was pouring out blood, and my five senses were cursed by the bastard and were unable to convey proper information.
Moreover, the accident did not proceed properly, perhaps because he was covered in a lot of dragon’s blood, which was almost extremely poisonous, when he cut off the dragonlord’s arm.
A state closer to being dead than being alive.
If he had not become a 10-star knight and ascended to the rank of transcendental, he would have died a long time ago.
A vast plain came into view.
This place was full of corpses from the death squad. Among them, there were corpses that caught Ethan’s attention.
The third child always followed him playfully. And even the youngest, who swung the sword by his side until the last moment.
The bodies of the two brothers were being chewed in the mouths of the dragons.
‘Yongin people.’
They were truly disgusting people.
Not only did they have a body much stronger than that of a human, but they also had countless abilities, and their numbers were like cockroaches.
It would not be strange to call this a race that is perfectly compatible with humans.
With these guys popping up on the continent, it was no wonder that humanity suffered damage that was close to extinction.
There were already a lot of dragons around.
Ethan exploded the potential power within his body. Mana was engulfing the sword body like flames, perhaps thanks to the fact that the very source of life had been scraped away.
“Just try to stop it! “You bastards!”
The two-handed sword began to vibrate. He swung his sword at the dragons blocking his path.
A huge slash split the group.
I cut again and again.
How much time has passed?
Ethan suddenly felt tired.
The corpses of the dragon clan were already piled up like a mountain nearby. Nevertheless, there was no end to the flock of dragons.
My body felt extremely heavy.
We fought for a very long time.
He held out longer than anyone else in the death squad.
It was the moment when the grip on the sword loosened.
Sigh! Sigh!
Dozens of tails were stuck inside the body.
Even if you are a transcendental person, you are still human. And there was always an end to human life.
Ethan sensed that his life was nearing its end.
Life passed by like a flash of light.
The eldest son of a famous swordsman.
The best equipment in the West Continent.
The youngest transcendental person.
Dragon Slayer.
The head of the Ardan duchy.
The last hero of the Kingdom of Heidern.
‘Damn it. What is a hero…’
Ethan laughed bitterly.
My once prosperous life collapsed because of those damn dragon-headed bastards. If you’re a hero, shouldn’t you live a happy life and enjoy everything to the fullest?
However, all that remained in his memory was the disgusting face of the Yongin tribe.
For over 13 years, I went from battle to battle, cutting down those bastards.
It wasn’t strange that these kinds of memories came to mind.
‘They’re such dogs…’
When it was time to die, I felt so wronged. If it’s going to pop out, it might come out in a hundred years or so!
Thanks to this, I couldn’t even dream of dating until I turned 32.
‘I lived like a real flame…’
In reality, all that remains is a corpse.
Without even having time to feel emptiness, my breathing slowly began to fade.
“Make sure you survive.”
Suddenly, the last words of the previous Duke came to mind.
‘I’m sorry for not being able to keep my father’s will….’
Ethan Ardan.
His eyes slowly closed.
* * *
―I just… turned over…
―Ethan! Ethan!
Someone was shaking their body violently. My eyes suddenly opened.
A musty smell lingers in the room.
For some reason, a woman was looking at herself with tears streaming down her face.
‘Who is it?’
I tilted my head for a moment.
I widened my eyes.
It was because the woman’s face was so familiar.
“…sister? “Is it really your sister?”
“Ethan? “Are you awake?”
In addition to being scruffy, his face is also skinny. And even ordinary clothes that only commoners would wear.
It was because of this sense of disconnect that I could not recognize my older sister, Elena, at a glance. The Yongin tribe’s attacks did not discriminate against men, women and children.
Elena was also one of the victims in their attack.
It was clear that he had come to the afterlife after being killed by the dragon people.
Otherwise, my sister wouldn’t be looking at me so calmly.
Ethan, who was looking at Elena, sighed.
“That’s why I told you to give a lot. I always said it would all come back later. “What on earth is this, sister?”
“…Yes?”
“I donated money to buy jewelry or dresses. “At least you weren’t wearing such shabby clothes.”
“What is that…”
“Still, it’s nice to see you again. What’s the afterlife like? “Is it worth living on your own?”
Elena, who was looking at Ethan, sighed at those words.
“For now, get some rest. “I said you need absolute stability when you wake up.”
“Rest?”
“My sister, I will ask you this. huh?”
“…I’m going to rest. So stop crying like that. “Why on earth are you doing this?”
“I don’t want you to sacrifice anymore… Ethan. “It’s not your fault, it’s just that I was stupid… so don’t do such a dangerous thing again.”
“…?”
It was a conversation I couldn’t understand.
While I was tilting my head.
Elena, who was sobbing, wiped her tears with an old handkerchief. Blowing my nose was a bonus.
When there was a moment of silence like that.
Growling.
A loud sound rang out.
Elena asked, looking at Ethan intently.
“Are you hungry by any chance?”
“…a little.”
“hang on. “I’ll make porridge.”
“…Sister herself?”
“Then you have to make it yourself. You should lie in bed without moving. Understand?”
“…okay.”
The person who didn’t even know the basics of cooking was his older sister.
But you said you would cook food so calmly.
I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Elena opened the wooden door and went out.
‘In the afterlife, not only your status but also your personality will change?’
That’s how shocking the sight of Elena I saw today was.
Not only was she dressed in shabby clothes that resembled those of a maid, but she also had a pale face as if she had starved for several days.
Even when she entered the coffin, she looked very different from when she had a plump face and a fancy dress.
And where on earth did the personality that was called a tomboy go?
The older sister I saw in the afterlife truly felt like a loving mother.
Ethan got up.
Even though his older sister told him to, he lived his whole life more intensely than anyone else. Lying like a sick person like this was not my aptitude.
It was then.
‘huh?’
I saw tubes hanging all over my body. It was one of the familiar items to him.
‘Is this… the fountain of life?’
It was one of the magic tools developed by wizards and was mainly used on people who were in a coma.
In addition to supplying mana, which is the source of life for humans, it also had the effect of stimulating muscles through tubes attached to the entire body or turning food into liquid and injecting nutrients directly into the body.
Because the price was considerable, it was usually an item only used by high-ranking nobles when they couldn’t come to their senses.
‘Why is this stuck to my body?’
Did you faint for a while in the afterlife?
He frowned and removed the coffin. To him who was fighting against the dragonlord just a moment ago, these were just cumbersome items.
Tuk.
Tuk.
There was a slight stinging sensation every time the dozens of tubes were removed one by one, but compared to being covered in the dragonlord’s blood, it was embarrassing to even call it pain.
By removing the tube like that, Ethan was able to find out one thing.
‘Your body… is a mess, isn’t it?’
Not only was his limbs twitching as if he were sick, but his body could only feel the mana that had been injected with a magic tool just moments ago.
“…Did you experience a mana surge?”
It is normal to feel mana unless the ‘Mana Hall’, an organ that collects mana, is shattered due to an explosion.
I thought I knew why he had magic tools attached to his entire body.
‘If I hadn’t been wearing it, I would have closed my eyes without even knowing what was happening.’
Mana, the source of life, has dried up and become distorted. If it weren’t for the help of magic tools, I wouldn’t have been able to survive until my whole body was so dry.
If things continue like this, I won’t be able to walk properly.
Right now, reviving my half-dead body was the priority.
‘For that, you need mana.’
It’s also high quality mana that can correct the body to some extent.
Fortunately, a way existed.
He reached for the tube of life and began to suck in mana. As magic tools were not living things, there was no being that could be called the master of mana.
This means that if you put your mind to it, you can easily absorb mana even with this body. The light of the magic tool gradually became fainter.
‘At this level, we can proceed with at least some correction.’
As it was an item made for the purpose of living a long and thin life, it did not have great quality mana, but for Ethan, this was enough.
A person who transcends the highest level.
Just before I opened my eyes, Ethan was a knight who was directly stepping into that area.
The unimaginable mana control was equally applied to the changed body. Mana began to move according to his will.
Wow!
Wow!
The moment when mana enveloped the entire body.
The curved spine straightened properly and the stiff bones and muscles gradually began to loosen. Life force was slowly being replenished, and the distorted skeleton was being put back together properly.
‘I did roughly provide first aid.’
My body, which seemed like I couldn’t move even a single step properly, has now recovered to the point where I can move at some level.
‘The mirror…’
He got off the bed and walked towards the window.
Soon he opened his eyes.
A skinny face.
Even with his skinny cheeks, it wasn’t difficult to guess his age.
‘No matter how I look at it, I don’t think I’m thirty-two…?’
Does this mean that you become younger when you die?
He tilted his head at the youthful appearance that made him look like he was in his twenties at best.
After looking at the reflection in the window, for a moment, my eyes naturally turned to look outside the window.
The scenery outside was quite familiar.
“Villa?”
It was one of the hunting lodges where the family rested for a day or two every time they went hunting.
In fact, it was a space that could hardly be called a villa. It was just a slightly larger two-story log cabin.
While he was looking outside, Elena opened the door and came in. There was thin porridge on the tray she was holding.
Soon she saw Ethan standing next to the window and her eyes widened.
Coffins scattered on the floor of the bed.
It wasn’t difficult to understand the situation. Elena shouted in horror.
“Ethan! “Did you really remove the magic tool and move?”
“uh.”
“What on earth are we going to do! Do you know how your body is feeling right now?”
“How is it?”
“Move properly… huh?”
She tilted her head.
If he couldn’t even move, how did he get to the window?
Ethan smiled and said to Elena, who was dumbfounded.
“My body has recovered to some extent. look. “You’re moving well.”
“How… the doctor said that even if I wake up, I will have to recuperate for more than half a year before I can move…”
“How long have I been down?”
“Ten years.”
“…Ten years?”
He was said to be the best engineer on the continent.
I’ve never even caught a common cold in my life.
‘He’s been down for ten years?’
Ethan was inwardly shocked at the length of time that was much longer than he expected.
“Let’s sit on the bed first. “You shouldn’t overdo it even though you’ve only just woken up.”
“It’s okay….”
“Use it! hurry!”
“…uh.”
Now that I look at it, it looks like some of my old personality still remains. Whenever his older sister behaved like that, Ethan always became the obedient younger brother.
He quickly sat down on the bed.
“I have to eat porridge. Would you like your sister to help you?”
“no. I’ll eat it. By the way, sister.”
“huh?”
“How does the afterlife work? “My sister came first, so let me know…”
He was confused as he looked at Elena.
Grumble.
Because tears formed in her eyes again. She was crying and looked at Ethan.
“Why do you keep doing this! The afterlife! Are you going to just spew out such unfortunate stories? “You’re alive and well like this now!”
“What are you talking about. Your sister is dead. Same goes for me. The third and youngest also…”
That was then.
Elena lightly pinched Ethan’s thigh. He frowned slightly at the tingling pain.
“Ethan. “It hurts right now, doesn’t it?”
“It hurts.”
“Do you think dead people can feel pain?”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“Whew. Listen carefully Ethan. This is absolutely not the afterlife. And the third and youngest did not die and are alive and well. “Me too.”
This place is real?
It was a story that was hard to believe.
But what if…
what if this is really real?
Ethan swallowed.
“…sister.”
“huh.”
“How old are you now?”
“Twenty.”
“How old am I?”
“nineteen.”
Ethan flinched.
‘At that time…’
It was the time when the Dragon People appeared on the continent in earnest and the First Continental War broke out.
he asked urgently.
“How is the war going? My father? “Have you already gone to war?”
“Ethan? “What are you talking about?”
“First Continental War! How is it going now….”
“First Continental War?”
Elena tilted her head.
With a look in your eyes that says you really don’t know anything.
“Don’t you know the Yongin tribe?”
“Yongin people? Ah, those monsters?”
“okay! Those guys! Those guys and the countries on the continent had a big fight. “How is it going?”
“That was fifteen years ago. My father passed away at that time. “Thanks to our family’s great sacrifice, we were able to sign a non-aggression pact with those monsters.”
‘Not now, but fifteen years ago?’
And there’s a non-aggression pact?
What kind of dog-eating story is this?
If it weren’t for my sister, I might have yelled out loud to stop talking nonsense.
“…what on earth do you mean?”
“Ethan, is your memory vague? I heard that those symptoms appear when you’re in a coma for a long time…”
It was strange.
It felt like something kept being off.
‘Let’s stay calm.’
I felt like I needed to calmly sort out the situation.
dead.
So I thought I had come to the afterlife.
But no matter how I look at it…
‘I think this is reality.’
Then there is only one answer.
That he had returned to the past thirteen years ago.
However, there was one problem: the past seemed to have changed significantly from the original memory.
Once I recognized that fact, everything started to seem strange.
“sister.”
“huh.”
“Where are the servants?”
“…doesn’t exist.”
“No? why?”
Even if it was a hunting lodge, it was bound to have at least a few attendants.
But there is no one?
Elena’s face darkened at Ethan’s question.
“I… I don’t have any money.”
“You don’t have any money?”
A family called the greatest swordsman on the continent, and one of only four dukes in the Kingdom of Heidern?
“What happened to the items in the main house? Even if I just sell that…”
“This is my house? Nothing that expensive anymore.”
“huh?”
It’s a villa that you can’t even call a mansion.
That was the two-story log cabin right here.
But is this really our home?
“You’re lying, right?”
“…It’s not a lie.”
Ethan was speechless.
Now I’m starting to understand why Elena’s clothes were so shabby and why I didn’t see Hana, the usual attendant.
When he returned, his family was ruined.
A lot of that too.