Chapter 270 – Epilogue (3)

The Hero and the Saintess.

In any story, they are always companions.

The Saintess’s holy power invigorates the Hero, and the Hero’s valor protects the Saintess.

You could call it a relationship like teeth and gums.

In every story, the Hero and the Saintess had a picture-perfect relationship.

But what about the relationship between a Hero and a succubus?

Their role is to lure the Hero into a trap, or to be little more than experience points for him. In any story, the one who ends up with the Hero is the Saintess.

‘I must be crazy.’

Olivier returned to her home. But she wasn’t alone.

She glanced back.

“What?”

Hyunbin, now clean and with a fresh haircut, asked nonchalantly.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Olivier replied awkwardly and shut the front door.

“What’s wrong? Why’d you close the door? I’m not even inside yet.”

“J-Just a moment! It’ll only take a second!”

Olivier quickly entered her room. Just as she’d feared, her underwear and blouses were strewn all over the bed.

In truth, bringing Hyunbin home hadn’t been planned. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. A mistake, you could say.

It wasn’t that Hyunbin had no home to return to. The fact that he wasn’t going back meant there was a reason.

He might seem to act without thinking, but that wasn’t the case on the inside. He thought things through and acted with purpose.

The Saintess was always by the Hero’s side, yet the Hero wasn’t returning for her.

She must be waiting desperately.

After Hyunbin was caught in the explosion, Katrinne had been like someone who’d lost her mind. Olivier could understand how she felt, living in a daze. She herself had felt the shock of losing everything.

For Katrinne especially, Hyunbin was like her only family.

He had always been by her side, always with her. That’s why Katrinne must have felt a sense of loss as if she’d lost the entire world.

There was no way Hyunbin didn’t know that. He might look like a bear, but he was as cunning as a fox.

Hyunbin, not returning home, had nowhere else to go. If he did, he wouldn’t have been wandering around looking like a beggar.

For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to leave him alone, so she had asked, “Would you like to come to my place?”

She thought he would refuse, but surprisingly, Hyunbin had followed her. And now, here they were.

‘What was I thinking?’

She lamented inwardly.

She had a strange, ominous feeling that if they parted now, she would never see him again.

That’s why Olivier had invited Hyunbin to her home.

‘What am I going to do with all this?’

Of course, the place was a complete mess.

She hurriedly swept up the clothes scattered on her bed.

And the moment she turned around, her eyes met Hyunbin’s.

“…Ah, I told you not to come in yet…”

“…”

There was something strange in Hyunbin’s eyes.

Faced with his unfamiliar reaction, Olivier unknowingly took a step back.

‘D-Don’t tell me…’

She might have never dated, but Hyunbin was still a man.

Especially in a house with a beautiful woman like herself.

It was a situation where a little something could happen.

‘As expected of my beauty.’

And so, Olivier savored the lecherous shift she saw in Hyunbin’s gaze.

“A mask.”

“…Pardon?”

Hearing Hyunbin’s sudden, low mutter, Olivier tilted her head.

“A mask!”

“Ah, just a moment.”

Overwhelmed by Hyunbin’s intimidating presence, Olivier instinctively brought him a mask.

“A duster.”

“What…?”

“A duster!”

“…Ah.”

Something was going very wrong.

“A broom.”

“Yes.”

“A mop!”

Hyunbin, now wearing the mask, suddenly started cleaning.

‘Ah, right, this guy…’

Hyunbin was a notorious neat freak.

He threw open the windows, dusted everything in the house, and began sweeping it all up.

“Get a trash bag.”

“Th-That hasn’t expired yet…”

“Trash bag.”

“Yes…”

Following Hyunbin’s orders, Olivier carried things around and, before she knew it, found herself mopping the floor.

‘This isn’t how it was supposed to go.’

Olivier watched as her home was gradually reborn.

Hyunbin took all the books from the bookshelf and began arranging them in alphabetical order.

The cosmetics on her vanity were all lined up by size.

“Phew, that’s refreshing.”

After finishing the cleaning, Hyunbin placed his hands on his hips and smiled with satisfaction.

‘If he loves cleaning so much, why was he wandering around without even washing up!’

Olivier kept the complaint to herself.

A look at the clock showed it was already 10 PM.

“Ah, would you like something to eat? You must be hungry, right?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

Hyunbin said, showing her an energy bar, some chicken breast, and a protein shake.

“Are you crazy…? If you’ve been living on food like that, why have you lost so much muscle?”

“I know, right.”

He used to have a physique reminiscent of a brown bear, but now he looked so slim that you couldn’t see his muscles through his clothes.

There’s no way this man hadn’t been training.

“I can’t seem to put on any more muscle than necessary anymore.”

Hyunbin spoke with a bitter expression, as if he had lost his own identity.

Amidst this, Hyunbin offered her an energy bar.

Olivier hesitated for a moment before silently accepting the energy bar.

It was too late for a proper meal, so she had no choice but to eat one, and it was surprisingly tasty.

“It’s good, right?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Want another one?”

“No, thank you. Who do you think I am, the Saintess?”

“Is that so. Well then.”

“Don’t you know you’re supposed to offer something to a Korean at least three times?”

Olivier unwrapped another energy bar and began munching on it.

It was certainly a good feeling on an empty stomach. But now wasn’t the time to be contemplating her first impression of an energy bar.

‘I’m curious.’

She was dying to know what he had been doing all this time. But it felt awkward to ask.

“Still, this look suits you much better.”

“I pity you for not knowing the magnificence of muscles.”

“I’m not pitiful, you know…?”

Seeing Hyunbin’s expression, which genuinely seemed to pity her, made her feel a surge of frustration for some reason.

“So what in the world have you been doing all this time?”

In the end, Olivier couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked.

“All this time…”

Hyunbin obediently began to recount the story of the past three years.

Olivier listened quietly to his story.

Hearing the story, she understood.

The Hero had changed somehow. And it wasn’t just because of the muscles.

The magical energy around him was incredibly calm, yet densely packed as if it could explode at any moment.

“You got even stronger from there? You’re a real monster.”

Olivier scoffed.

It was an incredibly absurd story.

If what he said was true, then Hyunbin had become a godlike existence.

Seeing the Hero, who was already the strongest, suddenly ascend to a level without limits, felt completely baffling.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Even without the power of a god, it was hard to find anyone who could stand against the Hero.

It wasn’t as if the Hero harbored ambitions like world domination, either.

In truth, the reason he wielded a sword was simply to protect the people within his sight.

“Who knows.”

“The Saintess, your team members… they’re all waiting. You have to go back.”

“Do I have to?”

“Why?”

Olivier couldn’t understand Hyunbin’s reaction.

There was no reason why he couldn’t go back.

The Saintess and the team members he’d trained were all calling themselves his successors and missed him dearly.

He had once been listed as a Villain, but now he was revered as the hero of the century.

In other words, everyone would welcome his return.

“They’re all living well, so I’m sure we’ll meet again when the time is right.”

“The Saintess will be upset. That you met with me, but not with her.”

It would be more than just upset. She might become an incarnation of jealousy.

“You’re the one who found me.”

“Ah…”

Thinking about it, it wasn’t like he had sought her out specifically.

“Aren’t you going back to being a hunter?”

“Nope.”

“What?”

“I said I’m not going to be a hunter.”

Hyunbin’s words were so unexpected that Olivier blinked her eyes.

“Fine, do whatever you want. You won’t be a hunter, you won’t meet your old comrades… I’m sure you have your reasons.”

With that, Olivier huffed and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

“Well, I’m a working woman, so I’m going to sleep.”

“Your clones are the only ones who go to work anyway.”

“Do you think I only have one or two jobs? Aish, and whose fault is that…”

“Whose fault?”

“Whatever, forget it.”

She had distributed clones to all sorts of regions while searching for Hyunbin.

‘Should I have all my clones in other regions quit?’

Now that she had found him, the other clones were no longer necessary.

Her income would decrease, but she had already saved enough money to live comfortably without working anyway.

“Good night.”

“Yes. You too…”

As Olivier spoke, she began to grasp the situation.

Late at night.

A man and a woman, all alone.

‘Uh…’

On second thought, Olivier realized the current situation was flowing in a very favorable direction.

As stoic as the Hero was, in an atmosphere like this, he might just succumb to temptation.

“Where are you planning to sleep?”

“The sofa.”

“You’ll be uncomfortable sleeping there…”

Olivier lifted the blanket, a sly grin playing on her lips.

“It’s okay if you want to come sleep next to me.”

This was a fatal blow. He couldn’t possibly resist. Olivier felt a sense of satisfaction, feeling like she’d finally said a line worthy of a succubus.

An Elder Succubus.

The superior species of all succubi.

A simple smiling-eye gesture could tease a man.

A mere smile could make a man lovesick.

“Ah.”

Seeing Hyunbin slowly open his mouth, Olivier gave him a charming eye-smile.

“I’m not planning on making a Sia.”

“…”

Because of one slip of the tongue, she was doomed to suffer for the rest of her life.

Olivier pulled the covers over her head in shame and writhed in agony.

“Sia’s mom.”

“D-Don’t call me that!”

The damn Hero’s teasing voice made Olivier feel a heat rush up to the nape of her neck.

“But why did you want to name your daughter Cynthia?”

“That’s because… Cynthia means ‘moon’…”

Night and day. The moon, which is always there but only visible at night.

In the pitch-black darkness, the existence of the moon, the sole source of light, was always like a beacon of hope for Olivier.

“The place I used to live… it was a place where no light came in…”

Elder Succubi generally do not form families. Olivier, being an oddball, wanted a family.

In a way, she might have been a defective product as a succubus.

“I was just envious…”

Even when she saw low-level monsters forming families in villages, she felt a sense of envy.

Though the other succubi would laugh at them.

“So if I had a daughter… I’d name her Sia…”

She doesn’t exist now, but one day, she wants a Cynthia who will be by her side.

Perhaps because her heart had softened without her realizing it, a wave of drowsiness washed over her.

It might have been because the tension had finally dissipated after meeting a perfectly fine Hyunbin for the first time in a long while.

“But what if it’s a boy?”

“That’s…”

The Hero’s words struck at the core of the matter.

But Olivier, already dozing off, answered without thinking.

“You can name him, Hero…”

Without even realizing what she was saying, Olivier fell asleep.

In truth, the reason she had brought him home wasn’t anything complicated.

He doesn’t try to make a place for himself.

Possessing the power of an absolute being, he was just trying to wander and roam.

Having stalked the Hero for more than a day or two, Olivier could sense this intuitively.

That’s why she had semi-forcibly brought him to her home.

“Thank you.”

Olivier felt the Hero’s hand caressing her cheek.

“…”

The next morning, Olivier opened her eyes.

“…!”

A spotlessly clean room.

The bedding, folded with an unpleasantly sharp precision that spoke of Hyunbin’s touch.

“Hero…?”

Olivier, disheveled, sat up and tried to sense the Hero in the house. But she couldn’t feel him anywhere.

“What…”

This was what she had been afraid of.

Because the Hero had come home so willingly, she had been relieved, thinking he wouldn’t leave.

“What kind of Hero… ignores a plea for help…”

A being like a Hero doesn’t refuse someone who asks for help.

But it seemed that didn’t apply to her.

“You jerk. After I worked so hard to find you…!”

Olivier’s eyes grew moist, and soon, tears streamed down her cheeks, pooling at her chin.

‘Wait, why should I be crying?’

Olivier squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

Her life was dedicated to stalking the Hero anyway. If he ran, she just had to catch him.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and was about to use a wide-area search.

*Click.*

The sound of the front door opening was heard.

“Wh-What? Where did you go? You’re just coming back now?”

Olivier sniffled as she spoke to Hyunbin, who was walking into the house.

“What’s this? Why is your nose running?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not— *sniffle*.”

Embarrassed for crying over a misunderstanding, Olivier wiped her face with a tissue.

“So, where were you?”

Relieved to see the Hero had returned, Olivier asked.

“I went and got a job.”

“You… what?”

Olivier looked at the clock on her phone.

It was 7 AM.

She couldn’t understand how he’d gotten a job in such a short time, or rather, at such an early hour.