Zich’s hands unconsciously reached over his sword’s pommel and stopped. 

‘Stay 

c

alm. She is not my enemy, at least right now.’

Zich had fought the 

S

aint before he regressed, but this was t

heir first meeting

. However, because the memories of what

happened before h

is regression

 were still so fresh, Zich couldn’t erase the discomfort he felt inside his heart.

The Holy Knight closest to her said in a worried voice, 

“Lady Lubella. You don’t have to get out personally.”

However, 

Aine

 Lubella shook her head.

“We are the ones who have to ask them a favor. It’s only right that I, the representative of this company, ha

ve

 to come forward.”

“But we don’t even know the statuses of these men.”

“Karuna’s benevolence doesn’t discern between ranks and status.”

As if she was giving a lecture, Lubella talked strictly and smiled again.

“Furthermore, aren’t all of you going to protect me?”

At her words, all the 

H

oly 

K

nights seemed touched and overwhelmed by emotions

,

 but that also made the Holy Knights more protective over her.

“Stop this. You all have lost. Let her do what she wants.”

A strong, low voice seeped out of the carriage. Then, another person came out of the carriage after the 

S

aint.

‘That guy is!’

Zich

had let down his guard after hearing the conversation between the 

S

aint and her knights, but after seeing this man, 

Zich

 heightened his alertness to the maximum in an instant. 

The man

 was also someone 

who

 Zich knew. 

With amiable eyes

, 

silver hair, and a beard, he was a kind-looking old man who looked like he had lived a peaceful life. However, he was definitely not the chuckling, next-door grandpa type like his external appearance suggested. He had numerous nicknames such as Karuna’s 

S

word, the idol of all Holy Knights, 

G

uardian of the 

D

ivinity, and so on, but to Zich, he was more familiar with the man’s other nickname.

‘Tasnia’s 

K

illing 

M

achine!’

Before Zich was called the Demo

n Lord, 

there was a large group of people 

called the ‘Demon People.’ Demon People 

did whatever they felt like

, refused to 

abide by their countries

’ 

rules

, 

brought chaos to the world

,

 and generally inconvenienced others 

with their careless attitudes. 

Before he was called the Demon Lord, Zich 

had also been

a part of those ‘

Demon People.’

However, as these Demon People collided with each other or were removed by an outside force, their numbers decreased. Those who slowly buil

t

 their strength among them and survived later gained the title of the Demon Lord; and before a Hero Party eradicated them, they reigned with fear.

In that time of chaos, this old man minced many Demon People

. Currently, he 

was standing in front of Zich right now and was laughing, ‘

H

o ho!’ Many evildoers and Demon People died under his hands, but the old man was most known for the incident that 

gave

 him the title, ‘Tasnia’s Killing Machine.’

‘

On

 the Tasnia 

P

lains, he killed 

six

 Demon People and their followers in one swing.’

During the time that the 

story 

spread, 

Demon People 

had run

 so rampant that people called the period, ‘The Demon People Age.’ Of course, because the ‘Tasnia Plains Incident’ had happened at the beginning of this age, the Demon People were comparatively weak. But they 

were

still called

 the Demon People

, and it

 was shocking that the old man managed to not only kill the 

six

 Demon People but also their followers in one swing. 

‘Killing Machine

—

I didn’t know who 

came up with

 th

at

 nickname, but it’s a good one.’

It might be a chilling nickname for someone serving a god, but for those who 

were 

against Karuwiman, they thought there wasn’t a better fitting nickname.

‘

In my current state

, I probably won’t even be able to give him a single scratch.’

Although Zich was getting stronger at an exponentially fast pace, he had regressed only recently. 

As if they were done talking, the 

S

aint and the 

K

illing 

M

achine approached Zich.

‘Damn it! Their energies are off the charts!’

One of them was the 

K

illing 

M

achine, who Zich had no chance of sticking a single tooth in, and the other was the 

Z

ombie 

M

aker, who 

could

 erase all traces even if she was bitten. Of course, like how Zich was weak at the moment, Lubella probably couldn’t use her incredible blessing as she did before the regression. But even now, it was enough to make Zich’s heart beat.

“How are you doing?”

“Good, what about you?”

However, Zich had also gone through his fair share of messes. He was in shock for only a moment and instantly regained his composure to respond to the 

S

aint with a gentle greeting.

“Excuse us at such a late time. I am the servant of Karuna, 

Ai

ne Lubella.”

‘Is she not a 

S

aint yet?’

From what he knew, he had heard th

at the Saint’s 

middle name 

was

 Pr

imel

. When Zich first met her

—

no, fought her, her full name was ‘

Ai

ne Prim

e

l Lubella.’

‘She must still be a 

S

aint candidate.’

Zich knew that 

Karuwiman

 elected several 

S

aint candidates and awarded one of them with the title of 

S

aint. Seeing that she 

didn't mention

 her middle name, Primal, it seemed that she wasn’t the 

S

aint yet.

After Lubella finished her self-introduction, the 

K

illing 

M

achine came forward. His benign smile was like that of a predator, wearing the skins of an herbivore and growling deceitfully.

“I am Karuna’s humble servant and swordsman, Bel

ri

 Weig. And the men over there are swordsmen like me who serve Karuna.”

The Holy Knights 

nodded 

slight

ly

 at Zich.

“I am Zich.”

Zich 

threw

 away his Steelwall last name, and he felt hesitant to use the name, Moore, which he had used as the Demon Lord. Since he was planning to live a kind life, he didn’t add a last name, and both Lubella and Weig didn’t point out the matter either. They weren’t that interested in Zich.

‘Anyways, I didn’t think that I would be greeting them like this.’

It was one of the exciting things about regressing. He didn’t know what would happen in the future, but at least for now, Zich and the two were meeting 

in

 completely different circumstances than they had before Zich regressed.

‘Since I 

swore

 to live a kind life, this might be good.’

“Hey, you should also greet…”

Zich turned towards Hans and stopped.

‘This is a surprise.’

Hans’ eyes were staring at Lubella, and his face was ridiculous. He didn’t blink, and his pupils were at a standstill; and in his gaping mouth, it looked like saliva was going to drip out at any moment.

‘Well, I guess it’s understandable…?’

The 

S

aint was unrealistically beautiful.

‘Now that I think about it, including that Glen Zenard guy, everyone in the Hero Party was beautiful and handsome. It was as if they picked their party members by their looks.’

Of course, that couldn’t have been the case since Glen Zenard’s companions also had skills that matched them.

‘It’s not like they are playing dollhouse.’

Zich tilted his head and focused his attention on Hans again.

‘I should take care of him first.’

Hans was still staring at Lubella. Thankfully, she was smiling, looking slightly embarrassed, while everyone else, including Weig, seemed like they understood and were used to it. But Zich couldn’t just let it be. Although they understood, it didn’t mean that they thought well of this situation. Actually, some knights were starting to look uncomfortable.

“Gather your senses!”

Punch!

“Ah!”

After getting hit on the back of his head, Hans gathered his hands around his head and crouched.

“This guy’s name is Hans. He is my servant.”

“I-I see.”

With a worried look on her face, Lubella looked at Hans squirming in pain.

“Anyways, what did you come here for?”

“Ah, we are also planning to stay the night and camp around here. We wanted to ask for your understanding.”

The place where Zich and Hans were camping was a wide open area. Unlike the other areas that were filled to the brim with trees, the area they were 

in

 only had a bit of weed. 

It felt like

 a place where people usually camped

 with the

 traces of an extinguished bonfire and trash.

‘Did they come out in person to say that? A person who is the 

S

aint candidate?’

Zich was impressed. No, he was beyond impressed and couldn’t understand. It almost seemed like she wasn’t human like him.

‘I guess this is what they mean by a kind person.’

Zich couldn’t imagine himself doing something like this.

“Of course.”

Zich nodded.

                                                                          *     *     *

The people from Karuwiman prepared to camp for the night instantly. With the carriage that Lubella would sleep in, a huge tent was set up.

“What are you staring at?”

“Y

-

yes, sir?”

Hans looked as if he was caught stealing a treasure. H

is gaze hadn’t left

 the carriage for some time.

“Wake up!”

“Yes sir!”

‘He is only good at answering.’

Hans’ actions didn’t follow his answer, and Zich shrugged his shoulders when he saw Hans’ eyes edge towards the carriage once again.

‘If I drag him around so that he will be too tired to think of useless thoughts, he will gather his senses.’

And it was also very easy to make Hans tired. Zich 

smiled wide

 with his teeth showing as he looked at Hans. But unfortunately, Hans didn’t see what Zich was doing and couldn’t predict the 

h

ell that he would soon jump into.

‘But this is fate. Now that I have the chance, should I ask about that?’

Zich suddenly thought and walked towards Karuwiman. Hans got up to follow him, but Zich blocked Hans with his hands, so Hans slumped down to the ground. 

"What is the matter?"

A Holy Knight on guard blocked Zich's path.

"Can I talk to the Sa

—

no, with Lady Lubella, sir? I have something to ask her."

Seeing the knight's annoyed expression, it didn't seem like he would let Zich pass. 

'Well, I have nothing to really lose from this.'

Zich also had no thoughts to keep pushing

 if they

 denied his ent

ry

.

"I'm sorry, but you can't

—

"

"It's alright."

Th

is surprised the

 Holy Knight, as well as Zich who was about to walk away. Lubella 

popped her head out 

from the carriage.

"Please come in."

As she smiled warmly and even gestured towards Zich, the Holy Knight could not help but protest.

"But Lady Lubella!"

"I have a duty to listen to as many people as I can. Isn’t the purpose of this journey for me to gain a lot of experience?"

"He might be dangerous!"

"Sir Weig is next to me. And I also have all of you. With this, my protection is more than enough."

'True. Having Tasnia's 

K

illing 

M

achine as a bodyguard is more than enough.'

The Holy Knight looked conflicted by Lubella's firm resolve, but Weig

agreed with Lubella as he was watching from the carriage.

"It's alright. I will be next to Lady Lubella."

"...

Y

es, sir."

The Holy Knight let Zich pass. However, the knight did not hide his disapproval; he looked at Zich as if Zich had caused an unnecessary interruption. But Zich did not pay any attention to the knight and Lubella led him inside the carriage.

The inside of the carriage was clean. There were some religious decorations, but 

they were

n't extravagant. Zich sat 

opposite Lubella

. Weig followed behind Zich, took his seat next to Lubella, and they both looked at Zich.

"You have something you want to ask me?"

"Yes. Lady Lubella, I think you are probably the best person to ask."

"What is it?"

"What should I do to live a kind life?"

"What?"