Published: March 21, 2026
I stepped away from the heroes who were hauling up anyone they noticed and approached the white-haired old man who lay motionless beside a pile of bodies. At first glance he looked like one of the corpses next to him, but he was still alive.
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Kagami Kaminari (starving, memory impairment)
Race: Human race Profession: priest prayer master lv.32
HP: 1/600 Attack: 30 Defense: 300
MP: 0/3600
Skill: prayer prayer level 6
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All his magic power had been converted into life force, and even then his life force was blinking at 1 — it was more accurate to say he was barely clinging to life.
He would probably be cold by tomorrow. Even if the heroes gave him water or food now, even if someone cast a healing spell, it would be too late. Given his age and frailty, it was a miracle he was alive at all.
"...I... want to go home."
I bent close to the old man to catch the muttered words.
"I want to go home. I want to go home, to my house."
I caught those words only faintly and swallowed.
With vacant eyes he kept repeating that one thing.
"I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, to my house..."
"Where is your house? Where do you want to go back to?"
I couldn't help asking. The old man's eyes flicked left and right, then returned to their vacant stare.
"I don't know. We had a promise. I want to go home... I have to go back, I have to return it."
His memory must have been damaged so badly he didn't even remember where his home was. All that remained in him was the single wish to "go home."
Looking more closely, there was dried blood on his forehead. He had probably been injured in the head before he reached this place, which caused the memory impairment.
A tear slipped from the corner of his eye as he kept repeating "I want to go home."
Seeing that, I made up my mind.
"Yeah. You want to go home, don't you? ...Shall I get you home?"
At that moment, a light sparked in his previously vacant, hazy eyes. The stream of muttered words stopped and his mouth opened and closed in shallow breaths.
"I want to go home."
The first time the idea occurred to me was when I heard Night's story about the demon king's wife's soul. Unlike our world, this world has magic, demonic beasts, Elf race and Beastmen. Souls — which in our world are uncertain in existence — apparently truly exist here.
I thought back to a story from a textbook, perhaps modern or classical literature. It was about someone who promised to return but killed themselves in a distant land and came back as a ghost. The line "a person cannot travel a thousand ri in a day, but a soul can" stuck with me.
In this world, I figured that if someone discarded their frail, aging body and became nothing but a soul, they might be able to return.
"Even without a body, do you still want to go home?"
"Yes... I want to go home. I want to go home."
"Listen, do you know? The soul is free. As a soul, you might be able to cross the sea and go wherever you want. But if it fails you might wander forever. There's no guarantee you'll make it back. Still want to do it?"
Silently, I drew Night Blade God.
My assassination technique level is nine. It lets me kill someone so gently they won't notice they've died — no blood, like falling asleep. But it takes concentration like threading a needle, so it's hard to use during battle.
"I want to go home. To my house."
"All right. I'll get you home. No matter what form it takes. So rest easy."
No one had probably ever told this man, who couldn't even remember his homeland, that he could still go back.
Relief washed over his face and, as if understanding everything, he closed his eyes. His trembling hand found mine, which was holding Night Blade God.
"Please..."
Quickly, but surely, his heart stopped. His arm went limp and collapsed to the ground.
He must have gone without pain.
"...Leave it to me."
In the end, this was the same as when I'd been tasked with rescuing the Elf race kidnapped in Elf territory.