I Quit the Hero’s Party Chapter 536

* * *

* * *

A tavern located on the outskirts of the imperial capital.

In the middle of a moonlit night, the bartender glanced inside the store while wiping his glass. This is his own store that became famous through word of mouth. Normally, at this time, the seats would have been full, but…

There are only two customers in the store today.

This was because those two customers rented out the store.

A regular customer who has been renting out the store in this way once a month for about two years. Although time passed and I got used to it, I was still a bartender who felt sad when I thought about the status of those customers.

That’s because he was an untouchable giant.

The moment the powerful figures of the empire, who are said to fly long and long, enter this tavern and spot those two people drinking in the tavern… they will immediately put their heads down on the ground. In a physical sense, not a metaphor.

The bartender glanced at the two customers who were drinking and pondered their names. There was no one in the empire who did not know their names. Because their names were included in the first page of the recently revised history of the empire.

Empire’s First Corner, Rania Van Trias.

Imperial First Sword, Kyle Torben.

A hero of humanity who put an end to a great war that had lasted for over a thousand years. No matter how many times I saw such big people drinking and chatting like ordinary people, it was not a scene I could get used to.

Phew…

The bartender took a deep breath and poured drinks into polished glasses and walked over to the two people.

widely.

Even as he put down his drink, the two did not stop talking, which made the bartender coincidentally listen to their story. Even though he knew it was rude, the bartender could not suppress his curiosity.

What do the heroes who protected the empire and, by extension, humanity, usually talk about?

The future of the empire? The future of humanity?

It was clear that a huge and lengthy story was being exchanged that would have been unimaginable to the criminal. Because he is the hero of the empire. With that in mind, the bartender was listening.

Bang!

At that moment, the table shook violently.

When the bartender turned his gaze in surprise, there was the Empire’s best man with wide eyes and a blood clot in his neck, shouting. Her hand was shaking as she hit the table.

“Damn it, who else is getting married?”

So the first words uttered by the Empire’s greatest hero, the hero of mankind, were indeed surprising. So much so that it made the bartender question whether the person sitting in front of him was a hero of the Empire.

“No, shit… how many times has it been already? I’ve been to seven weddings in the past four years. That’s seven! I’ve attended seven weddings!”

The bartender blinked for a moment.

It was quite a bold conversation. Did she mishear? And, so that the bartender would not be mistaken, Rania Van Trias shouted loudly once more.

“Please, please tell me to stop holding weddings…!”

“Voice low…”

“Do you look humbled now? f*ck, man, do you know how I feel? You, a married man, don’t know. Whenever I go to a wedding, what do people look like…”

hmm.

The bartender stepped back without saying a word.

He was a small-time citizen, and he was not someone whose liver was so protruding as to spread a rumor that the hero of the empire had come to his store and cried, ‘Please stop getting married.’

So, like always, the bartender decided to forget what he heard today, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

“Marriage. That damn marriage.”

Rania groaned, frowning.

The great wizard who once defeated the Demon King and dropped the star has now reached a point where he sighs just by hearing the word ‘marriage’. It was because I suffered from bone disease for the past four years.

Gulp, gulp.

Rania opened her mouth, pouring strong alcohol into her bitter stomach.

“So who is it this time?”

“Have you received the wedding invitation yet?”

“I received it, but I didn’t open it. I thought I would just get annoyed the moment I opened it.”

“But you should have checked.”

Kyle smiled bitterly and opened his mouth.

“It’s Belnoir and Chloe’s wedding.”

“Oh, was it their wedding?”

Yeah, that’s about as good as they are…

Belnoir and Chloe were two people who had been talking for several years about when they would have a wedding. The ceremony, which had been postponed for several years under the pretext of work as a magic tower lord, was being held, so even Rania could congratulate her with a pure heart.

After all, they are also his favorite disciples.

It was purely something worth celebrating.

It’s something worth celebrating, but what is this feeling?

Those kids didn’t do anything wrong, but I felt sick to my stomach without knowing why. Rania sighed and poured her drink into her mouth. She felt like her stomach was sinking a bit after drinking alcohol.

“Yeah, they… they’re okay.”

“You don’t look good at all.”

It looked more like he was enduring it rather than being okay, but that was it. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Rania’s feelings, so Kyle burst into laughter and broke her complacency.

“There have been a lot of weddings recently.”

“What are you going to say?”

“If you say that, there’s nothing more to say.”

Rania opened her eyes and glared at Kyle.

There were seven weddings she had to attend over the past four years, three of which were of people close to her… two of which were Kyle’s weddings.

Kyle and Sarah’s wedding.

Rak and Natida’s wedding.

And again, Kyle and Remia’s wedding.

Remia, who had postponed the wedding saying she was embarrassed, also soon got off her feet after seeing the brides in their wedding dresses and Rania with a frown on her face next to her. What on earth prompted you?

“Why did you suddenly decide?”

“I thought if I postponed it any longer, I would end up like that.”

Later, over drinks, he said he felt like he would end up like Rania if he put it off any longer. Unfortunately, Rania was also present at the drinking party. Rania’s hand was a little faster than Kyle’s cold-blooded move to separate the two.

“This crazy bitch?”

There was a very minor accident, such as the fist of the wizard who dropped the god and landed in the face of the elf bride who was about to go on her honeymoon, but that is now a thing of the past. Recalling the past, Kyle laughed and Rania wrinkled her expression.

“Now I’m sick of just hearing about marriage. More accurately, love stories.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s not that I can’t date, it’s that I don’t, right? I don’t really have any intention of doing it, right? But every time they see me at a wedding, I feel some pity on their eyes. I don’t like that.”

Honestly, it was a bit unfair.

Rania put down her drink and cried.

“No… I’m really okay? My side doesn’t hurt and I’m not lonely? I’m really okay? But people around me look at me like I’m not okay. I say I’m okay, but why on earth do you do that?”

There was moisture in his voice.

It was a voice that seemed to have accumulated quite a lot.

“I’m comfortable being single. It’s not that I can’t date, it’s that I don’t. What on earth do I regret?”

“Speak without crying.”

“Don’t cry, you bitch. Ha, life….”

Kyle smiled bitterly as he looked at Rania, who was drinking without any snacks. They say wizards don’t get drunk easily, but if you drink strong alcohol like him without resting, you’ll end up getting drunk.

Just once, Kyle had seen Rania drunk. It was then that she first discovered this guy’s drinking habit… that guy had an unimaginable drinking habit.

When that guy gets drunk, he cries and drinks.

It’s not like he’s crying bitterly, but he’s drinking while complaining, ‘Why are you doing this to me?’ Kyle recalled that time and glanced at Rania in front of her. When she started crying, it seemed like she was starting to get drunk.

‘If I leave it alone, it’ll be another four months.’

Although it was fun to see him crying and drinking, Kyle didn’t have the confidence to handle it.

“That ends the story.”

Kyle took the glass from Rania.

Kyle pushed the snacks in front of Rania, put a fork in her hand instead of a glass, and quickly changed the subject.

“Well, so how are you doing these days?”

“I’m doing just fine. The academy has grown a bit, so there’s a lot of work to do, but I’ve also brought in assistants, so there isn’t that much for me to do.”

Rania tilted her head while chewing on the french fries that were served as a snack. Rania asked, glancing at her Kyle.

“And you? How about Galatric?”

“I’m not busy. It’s that guy, Kalt, who is busy.”

Kyle shrugged.

Although Kyle belonged to Galatric in the rebuilt Sword Canyon, he didn’t actually do much. In fact, he once held a sword to teach the cadets…

“Senior Kyle.”

“I think it would be better for you to just demonstrate. Just come here once a week, not too often, and swing your sword a few times.”

“Please, ‘I did it and it’s done.’ Same thing, ‘If you work hard, anything will happen.’ “Please don’t say what I said.”

“Not usually, usually…!”

The results weren’t very good.

As most of the students who took his lessons quit swordsmanship, Kyle had to painfully realize that he did not have the qualities to be a teacher.

“I didn’t know.”

“uh.”

“Actually, I’m similar to you.”

“What do you mean?”

Kyle said with a bitter smile.

“It works because you do it? I can’t explain it any better than that. It’s not easy to teach someone.”

“I told you it wasn’t easy.”

Rania burst out laughing, saying she knew I would do that.

“It took me a long time to figure it out, too. Well, later, watch and learn how Kalt teaches. You’ll get the idea after watching.”

“I guess it has to be that way.”

After talking for a while, the two raised what would be their last cups. The sound of glasses clinking together resonated clearly in a quiet bar.

“For tomorrow.”

The two of them drank while raising a toast, which had now become a kind of unwritten rule between them, as Destel had shouted at them at every drinking party.

A lot has changed, but the two still often clink their glasses like this.

Four years have passed since the warrior’s retirement ceremony.

Over the course of four years, the kingdom became an empire, Aplia continued to expand and branch out to become even larger, the collapsed Canyon of the Sword was rebuilt, and humanity’s territory expanded. Although the world has changed like this…

Rania Van Trias’ life hasn’t changed much.

“Haam…”

Rania sunk into the sofa in the professor’s office and yawned long. She was now using her own professor’s office instead of the same professor’s office as Roselle. This was why she received unconventional treatment when she was reinstated as Aplia.

She became a warrior after overthrowing Aplia from her position as an assistant professor, but the moment she retired from her position as a warrior and returned to Aplia, she became a full professor.

Where is that? Rania was told that starting with the position of head of the department, she could go to a higher position if she wanted, but Rania refused it all because it was too cumbersome. Because the position of being the best in the empire was enough for that.

The first corner of the empire.

A position that means the first pillar of the empire and the first star symbolizing the empire. It was a title received at the warrior’s retirement ceremony.

‘Thanks to this, I took care of all the annoying work.’

As soon as I announced my intention to return to Aplia about two years ago, I was able to defeat people from all over the world with just one medal symbolizing the best part of the empire. In this way, to Rania, the title meant just that much.

A way to get rid of annoying things without any problems.

However, in the face of troublesome matters, even the flashy title of being the best in the empire was of little use. So, that was the case for Chloe and Belnoir’s wedding in a few days.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuu….”

Rania let out a sigh as if the ground was sinking.

As her blue eyes became cloudy, Rania remembered the story she would hear from her teacher at the wedding. Master never said anything about dating and getting married… but he only asked this question at every wedding.

How old are you this year?

Even though you know, you ask that question.

To that question, this time, like last year, I answered, ‘I’m still in my 20s. ‘Master.’ You can’t answer that. Rania has finally reached the age of thirty.

thirty.

The first digit has only changed from 2 to 3, but the weight that comes from the word is no joke. Rania laughed as she remembered her age. Like most people who find themselves in a corner where they can no longer make excuses, she too has resigned herself to a certain degree.

“are you okay.”

Rania muttered.

“I’m still young.”

A mumbling that borders on self-hypnosis.

Actually, what she said is not wrong.

This is Rania, who experienced beyond the high sky and stepped into the state of transcendence. Although she voluntarily gave up her powers, her body is almost like a god, with overflowing mana.

His body always maintains that of his 20s in his prime, and his appearance leaves no doubt that he is a teenager. The skin is always pure white and smooth.

This means that, like elves who live a life close to eternal life, the normal passage of time has no meaning to her. Just as her elves do not care about her own age, Rania also has to do as she pleases…

“I’m still young…”

It was not easy for her, who recognized herself as a human being. While muttering that, Rania suddenly remembered her recent past. Proof that she is still young.

“Students over there, please join the ranks.”

A few months ago, during an experiential learning session, these are the words said to me by a driver who did not recognize himself as leading the students. How good did he feel when he heard that? He had clear evidence there that he was still not bowing down.

Rania, who smiled happily as she recalled that incident, sighed when she remembered what happened afterwards.

Rania was so happy about what happened that she brought up the story in front of her teacher and said, ‘Shall we wash our identity one more time and enter Aplia as a student?’ she had joked. It was really just a joke.

I swear to you, it was just a joke.

“You want to do whatever you want.”

“If it is your pleasure, I have no intention of stopping you.”

The moment Rania received the warm gaze of the Master who said those words, she could not come out of the room for a while.

“Fuuuuuuu….”

It was around this time that Rania was sighing as if thinking about the past. “Knock,” someone knocked on the professor’s office door. The beating was quite urgent.

Finally, it was Rania’s assistant who opened the door and came in. she cried out under her breath.

“Professor Rania!”

she shouted.

“Near Aplia, warlocks who believe in the ancient lich captured students and took them hostage…”

Rania couldn’t believe her ears.

Is today April Fool’s Day? Probably not. Who on earth would do something like that with a lump of liver sticking out of the stomach? Rania blinked her eyes and slowly raised her body.

“Really?”

“Yes, out there…”

Rania looked out the window.

The scene the teaching assistant had mentioned was visible from a distance. Rania smiled as she listened to the instructor’s muttering that the knights were currently responding with one ear and let it go with the other.

“Teacher Triana?”

“Yes, Professor Rania…”

“Please notify me that I will be 5 minutes late for next class.”

“Yes? Five minutes?”

That was the moment when Assistant Triana was about to ask, “What is that?” A ray of wind blew. The wind blew by her and the moment she closed her eyes and opened them, Rania was nowhere to be found.

Huiing, rattling.

The wide open window was shaking in the wind.

fantasy,