Looking back now, the decision I made when I remembered my past life was like a magic spell.
My life ended at the hands of a demon known as the Demon King's right hand. Remembering this and thinking that I might have to face the demon again, I resolved to live quietly until I had gathered the necessary strength.
"I alone cannot match up to the Demon King's right-hand, so I'll keep the fact that I'm a saint a secret until I can find three swordsmen at the level of my older brother from my previous life to join my side," I said previously.
Looking back at it again, I couldn't help but scratched my head and wondered why I came up with such an ineffective decision. This was because, in this life, I no longer had a contract with the spirits, and I could only use about 10% of the healing magic I could in my previous life, so my abilities as a healer were significantly inferior.
Even if I teamed up with a swordsman on the same level as my older brother from my previous life, there was no way I would be able to compete with the Demon King's right-hand, but at the time I was convinced that I was making the right decision.
Even though I felt such fear towards the Demon King's right-hand, I thought I could face him with the same fighting power as when I was fighting the Demon King, and with only 10% of my recovery ability.
This idea could only be interpreted as meaning that "The Demon King's right-hand is far weaker than the Demon King."
Either I had not correctly recalled the strength of the demons at that time, or I had pinned my hopes on a possible future—that if I could gather together a swordsman on the level of my big brother from my previous life, then I would be saved. Otherwise I wouldn't come to that conclusion.
Either way, it was hard for me to believe as I did before that simply gathering strong swordsmen would save us.
When I realized this, I seemed to wake up completely and slowly raised my body out of bed. I glanced next to me and saw my sister sleeping comfortably.
Keeping my eyes on my sister, I carefully got off the bed so as not to wake her, and walked to the window, trying not to make any noise. Looking out the window, I saw the moon illuminating the dark night.
...Ah, the moonlight remains the same even after 300 years, right? Thinking about it like that, I felt my heart gradually calm down as I saw things that never changed.
As I gazed upon the shining moon in the silence of the night, my thoughts returned to where I had left off.
...I wonder what I've been missing out on.
Even when my memories of my previous life came back to me, I clearly remembered that 300 years ago, instead of putting an end to the Demon King's life, I had "sealed" him. But I didn't think about the impact it would have.
—— Normally, the "box" that sealed the Demon King would be locked away deep within the cathedral, never to be released again.
However, it was likely that the Demon King's right-hand retrieved the Demon King's box before my past brothers left the Demon King Castle. He certainly didn't seem like the type of careless person who would let his beloved king be kidnapped from the Demon King castle.
That's why, I was sure that the demon took back the Demon King box from my brothers... And the seal must have been broken during these 300 years.
Because the Demon King's right-hand was definitely not the type to reign as a king. He seemed to be the type of person who would personally select the king he served and put him on the throne.
That's why, when I faced them again, what I saw was a replay of what happened 300 years ago.
I would fight the Demon King first. And after I had given it my all and defeated the Demon King, leaving him completely exhausted —— the Demon King's right-hand would appear once again. The demon who killed me was that kind of opponent.
Without a doubt —— that cunning and shrewd demon existed somewhere in this world. ——Because there's no reason for him not to exist.
I clenched my hands tightly, as they began to visibly shake. A single question kept popping up and disappearing in my head.
What if...
If I were able to use the power of the great saint with a spirit, just like in my previous life. So, what if three people with attack skills similar to my older brothers from my previous life joined my group? Then, will I be able to defeat both the Demon King and his right-hand man?
...That was merely a hypothetical question, with many uncertainties and no way to know a definite answer, but every fiber of my being immediately declared, "It's impossible!" This was not a conclusion I had reached out of sheer fear due to the terrible experiences I had in my previous life, but rather a result of calm judgment.
Before I knew it, my body was once again in an extraordinary state of tension. My heart began to beat faster than I had ever experienced before, and my legs began to shake so much that I could no longer stand.
...Ahh, as long as that demon exists, the anxiety that haunts me will never go away. And the cause of his anxiety was probably that he couldn't find any plan to defeat that demon.
Anything is fine, anyone is fine, that demon...
The moment I thought that, I suddenly felt like my consciousness was falling apart. My field of vision began to narrow incredibly quickly, and realizing this wasn't good, I hurried over to the bed and collapsed onto the blanket.
——Perhaps it was a kind of defensive reaction. My body, which had been under extreme tension, was telling me to stop and relax... and was inviting me into the world of sleep.
Without resisting my own instincts, I let my whole body collapse onto the bed, as if I had lost my core. And then, my consciousness fell straight down into the darkness.
I was enveloped in a floating dream world... At that point, I was no longer in a state where I could do anything of my own volition, ——but for some reason, one name slipped out of my mouth.
"...Rius." (Fia)
As if the name was going to help me.
Perhaps it was because I was almost unconscious and in a half-asleep state. The name that came out of my mouth was that of someone who no longer existed...
It was, ——the name of the strongest knight, who had been my Captain of the Royal Guards in my previous life.