A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Once back at his lodgings, Bray's tense nerves finally relaxed.

His hands could no longer hold the two swords.

The path was strewn with bloody footprints.

Can I say you deserved it?

While complaining about Bray, Naruko walked up to him and reached into his fanny pack.

Bray's fanny pack was full of things.

However, all Naruko could find in her fanny pack was a pile of fragments.

The potions Bray was carrying were all broken.

That's understandable, considering it was a battle with a white-faced man. It would be a miracle if the contents of the pouch remained intact during that intense fight.

"Well, I knew it." If the Brei potion were usable, he wouldn't look so miserable.

Bray isn't the kind of guy who forgets to take steroids after getting injured.

Naruko turned and plunged into the luggage of the group of people, pulling out some medicine.

Adventurers always carry healing potions when they go out, because no one can guarantee they won't get hurt.

"Eh, here we go... never mind." Naruko originally wanted to throw the potion to Bray.

But seeing Bray's injuries, Naruko lowered her raised hand.

It looks like Bray can't handle it now.

Naruko opened the potion, squatted down in front of Bray, and fed it to him.

Bray was unusually cooperative with Naruko and drank the medicine.

"Cough cough... Why is it apple flavored..." Bray's face looked a little ugly.

“Because this is for my own use.” Naruko shrugged.

“I want to sleep…to get a good night’s sleep.” Bray closed his right eye.

Although I've had some sleep on and off during this period.

But I still stayed up too late.

For the first time, Bray felt that being able to sleep was such a wonderful thing.

"Alright, alright, Uncle Bree, you can go to sleep now," Naruko said.

However, Bray did not answer Naruko, nor did he open his eyes.

“Naruko…” Levy looked at Naruko timidly, her eyes filled with doubt.

"Shh—" Naruko made a shushing gesture.

“This guy has fallen asleep,” Naruko said to Levy.

“Oh…” Levy lowered her voice and responded softly.

Naruko went into the house, took out a bandage, and gently bandaged Bray's wound.

We can't let Bray's blood continue to flow like this.

It wouldn't be fun if Bray woke up to find himself dried up.

"Naruko, Naruko, the blanket." Levy carried the blanket to Naruko's side.

Naruko did not carry Bray to bed to rest.

Bray's injury made it difficult for him to move.

But it wouldn't be fair to make this guy sleep on the floor, so we decided to prepare everything for Bray.

Let him sleep here like this.

"Meow... Mmm..." Fireball, who had just woken up, was about to let out a sound, but Levy covered his mouth.

"Fireball, you can't make that sound now," Levy said seriously to Fireball.

Naruko found a small stool and sat down next to Bree. Green grass, blue sky—a scene many people had seen before.

But no matter when, this scenery always makes people feel inexplicably relaxed.

The ordinary wooden house is built on the lawn, next to the fields.

Looking out, the rice paddies swaying in the wind in the fields resemble ocean waves.

Birds fly everywhere, their songs echoing through the fields.

However, with a scarecrow standing in the field, the birds didn't dare to be too unrestrained and could only circle around it.

Next to the wooden house stood a large tree, whose lush foliage provided excellent shade for the people beneath it.

Under the shade of this large tree, a girl wearing a wide-brimmed soft hat yawned.

Wearing a white dress, she gives off the vibe of a shy, literary young girl.

If it weren't for her penchant for sharp tongues, she would indeed fit the image of a shy, literary young woman.

Well, of course, she wasn't shy at all, after all, she was a "swan song".

Watching the chirping birds, the girl rubbed her sleepy eyes.

She took the book off her chest and looked up at the person in front of her.

"Welcome back to your world, useless Master," the girl said to Bray, who had dead fish eyes.

"So, you idiot Master, how long are you going to stand in front of me?" "Echo" said to Bray in an annoyed tone.

Bray had walked along the path and arrived at the cabin long ago.

However, Bray saw that "The Last Echo" was dozing off, so he didn't wake her.

"Hmm~" "The Last Echo" stretched lazily without any regard for appearances, and then let out a soft moan.

“Good morning… no, good afternoon,” Bray said to “The Last Echo.”

"It is indeed morning outside, so it doesn't matter if you say good morning," the girl said casually.

"So, you're here to rest?" The girl wasn't surprised that Bray would enter this mental world.

She knew Bray would come in.

This is a pristine place owned by Bray.

“Hmm.” Bray didn’t deny it and nodded slightly.

"The lawn is all fixed." Bray looked around.

Previously, when I used this mental world to fight against "Purple Maiden", the whole world became dilapidated.

"Of course, I spent a long time fixing it." "The Last Echo" proudly puffed out its chest.

The girl would mow the lawn and build houses every day.

The dilapidated world of my heart, it doesn't look so bad now.

If the girl hadn't intervened, Bray would have found a complete mess when he came in.

But the girl wouldn't let that happen.

This should be a peaceful place, a place for the Master to rest when he is tired.

The last pure land—that is the meaning of this mental image.

However, the girl seemed to have thought of something, and she curled up into a ball again, covering her face with the book.

I'm so sorry I have a flat chest.

"If you're going to rest, you shouldn't be standing. Don't you even know such a simple thing?"

"You really are an idiot." "Last Echo" looked at Bray with a disappointed expression.

"Sit here." The girl shifted her position to make room for Bray.

After all, the shade of the tree is only so big, and if "The Last Echo" doesn't move down, Bray won't be able to sit down.

"Thank you." After a moment of hesitation, Bray thanked the girl.

Bray slowly sat down next to the girl.

However, "The Last Echo" immediately started flipping through the book, without even turning his face towards Bray.

"This place is really nice," Bray exclaimed, leaning on the grass.

“Of course.” The girl snorted. For “The Last Echo”, it was only natural for Bray to speak.

If this place isn't good, then what kind of place is it?

Every cloud, every blade of grass, is incredibly beautiful.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been back to my hometown,” Bray muttered to himself.

Bray had considered returning to his hometown.

But because of these things and those things, I haven't been able to go back to see it.

In the end, Bray didn't know what he had left to return to.

It seems that simply going back to see his hometown is no longer a reason for Bray to return.

“You can’t go back.” “The Last Echo” suddenly said, stopping the turning of the pages.

The sound of turning pages abruptly stopped, and then the sound of wind arose.

With her back to the wind, the girl's black hair was blown around.

Bray remained silent for a moment.

“Yes, we can’t go back.” Bray sighed.

Even if he went back to visit his hometown, it doesn't mean that Bray has returned.

For Bray, the meaning of "hometown" is more about "the past."

“This place is nice too,” the girl said again.

“It’s nice to lie down here when you’re tired,” “The Last Echo” said seriously, looking at Bray.

"Did all the things I did have any meaning?"

"Or rather, were the things I did right?"

"That's why I said you're so pretentious," the girl retorted.

The girl spared no effort in criticizing the dead-fish-eyed people around her.

"If you didn't even consider the answers before asking these questions, then don't ask them at all."

"You never expect anything in return for doing these things, do you?" the girl said.

"No, you're expecting a reward." After thinking for a moment, the girl added a blunt truth.

"Do you think that the town has become like this because you came here?" The girl could easily guess what Bray was thinking.

“…” Bray closed his right eye.

The girl guessed what he was thinking, but Bray didn't know how to answer.

"Some people died, some people went mad."

"The town is destroyed."

"Everything is a mess."

"It looks exactly the same as the one you've seen before."

"In the end, it was still a tragedy." The girl turned the pages of the book and said to Bray without turning her head.

"But, you incompetent Master, have you ever thought about a very simple principle?"

"Wouldn't things have been even worse if you hadn't come?" The girl's voice softened.

"Without your idiotic behavior, wouldn't the town have been completely destroyed?"

"More people are dying, and more people are going insane."

"The disaster could spread further."