“I’m looking forward to working with you again!”
I had no idea how to respond. My mind went blank.
Still, I had to say something, and I finally found some words, a phrase. Speaking it caused my voice to tremble.
“…I’m glad to be home.”
Amy.
I had nothing, but now I have a place to return to.
✦ ✦ ✦
The man made his way to an unnoteworthy town. In other words, to a normal town. It neither prospered nor suffered from poverty. It was as average as a place could be.
The Phantom Demon Lord Slayer had come to rest in this town and now worked as a guild staffer.
The man could not understand why such a person would bother with a life such as this.
He saw the slayer while passing by the guild once. The bespectacled legend seemed composed, almost at peace. It was as though he’d forgotten the many people he’d killed in secret.
And, just as the man had heard from others, the slayer had lost an arm.
At first, he’d meant to ask the slayer for help, but upon realizing the rumors were true, he determined that the former assassin was only a shadow of his past glory—hardly able to accomplish the necessary work.
The person the assassin lived with, the demon lord according to reports, had preserved the assassin’s arm with a spell.
Though learning that such magic existed was surprising initially, the man swiftly realized he could use the still-living arm as a substitute.
He found the woman walking along the road. He knew her from her features. Her conspicuous red hair and eyes. Such glowing beauty set her apart from the landscape.
If she was on the road, it meant the house was empty.
Once he reached the home on the outskirts of town, he confirmed there was truly no one around. He peered in through the window and easily spotted the limb set upon a living room table.
Surely, it was the slayer’s.
The door was unlocked when he tried it. It seemed they didn’t bother bolting it since the house could be entered by force regardless.
Perhaps they’d trusted there was nothing of value to steal here, but the man saw it differently. He snuck inside and squirreled away the arm into his bag.
The man left town after retrieving the guild worker’s limb while no one was the wiser.