*********

Far north-west of the Glacia continent

********

“Urgh, I’m getting chills.” Playfully shaking her body, Yelna chuckled at Markus’ suggestion. “Another world? Don’t tell me,” Suddenly taking on a serious expression the girl pretended to be serious. Unfortunately, the sparks of fun in her eyes betrayed the girl’s intent. “You really believe we were transported to some kind of isekai world?”

Ignoring Yelna’s clear attempts at rilling him up, Markus looked at the city in the distance.

“This is definitely not our world… Or at least, not our time.” Biting on his lips, the former – or future? – saint stared at the distant town. There was something bothering him about that place as if it wasn’t the first time he saw it… But it was the first time he saw it nevertheless.

‘Just what is this feeling?’ As a former member of the hero party with the position of Saint, his role was far from acting like a noble priest representing some kind of church. As a specialist of nothing but a veteran in everything, his sole job was to create miracles when traditional means failed.

And now, this jack of all trades, unfazed by anything the hero party met on their way to slay the demon lord… Was lost.

“Yeah, yeah. The more you speak about magic, the less I understand. Can’t we just each stick to our speciality?” Shaking her head in denial, Yelna refused to listen to Markus’ lecture once again. For someone speaking as little as she did, elaborating on this conviction only reinforced the message behind her words.

“Eh…” Sighing deeply in reaction to Yelna’s words, Markus sent her a look of disbelief. “You do realise that we are in a foreign place, maybe in a foreign world. If you were to stick to your speciality, wouldn’t you go on a rampage, slaughtering several cities and then live the life of a fugitive?”

Even though the two of them ended up together, it was still quite a quirky pairing. Quoting the words of the mage that accompanied them during their heroics, they were like water and fire. While not suitable for each other, only great fires could withhold the pressure of water and only water could pacify the flames.

To a degree, one could say that they ended together because there simply wasn’t anyone else that either of them could stick to!

‘Why am I having those thoughts again…’ In the end, Markus was unable to get the wise words of his friend from the past out of his mind. Stuck like some kind of parasite, this thought constantly soured his otherwise enjoyable retirement with the former hero herself.

“I do realise it. But in this place, we don’t know any laws. Following the rule of strength seems to be the best option for us.” Not seeing anything wrong with what she was saying, Yelna continued to walk forward without the slightest care in the world.

What others would find stupid, reckless and naive, was actually a norm for the girl. With her senses tuned up to the absolute human limits, with her strength on par with some of the greatest monsters in the entire world…

For a predator like her, what there was to worry about in a random, punny forest?

“How about we get to the city first? For now, we know nothing. What’s the culture, currency… Heck, even language may be a huge problem. If you just go with the intention of wreaking havoc, even your strength may be insufficient to get us out of the city safely.” Once again attempting to curb the enthusiasm of his girl, Markus’ lips twitched. In terms of their daily life, Yelna was the best woman he could ever ask for. Only when it came to adventuring…

At this moment, Markus once again remembered what was the reason behind the disbanding of the hero party. And that reason was walking right beside him.

“Thinking about it,” attempting to change the topic to get the girl immersed in it, Markus spoke, “do you have any ideas who might be behind this entire thing?”

“No idea.” Not hesitating at all before giving her answer, Yelna returned to her usual, silent self. Markus efforts, on the other hand, failed even before they had even a chance of success. Seeing the empty expression on the woman’s face, Markus could only sigh.

‘So she already made up her mind… Eh, this is going to be tough.’ As a self-proclaimed saint and the overseer of the hero herself, Markus was mostly used to Yelna’s antics…

But when it came to stopping her, he could only have any hopes of doing so before she would set her mind to something. Because once Yelna would make a decision, there would be no stopping her anymore.

“From the bad options, I believe it’s doing of the demon lord.” Ignoring Yelna’s clear refusal to join this discussion, Markus continued. “I know that we managed to kill it… But didn’t you find it strange how easy it turned out to be? What if that hydra was actually an offering for the spell that I protected us from?” Letting his mind roam free while attempting to bite the problem, Markus focused.

“No way. I killed it and I killed it good. Don’t act like Layn!” Bringing up the painful memories of the day when their team disbanded, even Yelna managed to realise that she wasn’t supposed to do it. Raising her head only to see Markus face souring, she quickly rushed forward to grab his hand before lowering her head.

“I’m sorry. Even though I already know he was right… He could’ve been a little bit more gentle about it, didn’t he?!” Despite all those years that have passed ever since the disbanding, Yelna clearly still couldn’t move on from that major argument. But rather than comforting the girl, Markus’ suddenly stood on the spot with his face filled with terror.

“Wait, if it’s not the demon lord… Yelna, do tell, do you know what Layn went through after we split our ways?” Asking out of nowhere, Markus remained in place even after the girl already moved several steps to the front. Only when Yelna realised that her partner stood behind did she take his question seriously.

“No, not really. Why asking?” Turning around on her heel, Yelna looked at her man’s face.

“You see, while it wasn’t my priority, I actually gathered a bit of information about his life, just like I did with everyone else. And from what I knew, he married one hell of a slut. If he learned about her true nature afterwards…”

Just thinking about the possibility was enough to send a shiver down Markus’ spine.

“Then I might have a guess who is responsible for what happened.”