The Terminally-Ill Lord Desires Hospice Care

In the early dawn.
It was customary for the mountain bandits’ hideout to wake at such early hours. Amid the bustle of repairing weapons and scurrying about, the eyes of one standing sentry atop the hideout’s wooden palisade caught sight of a black figure approaching.
It looked like a young woman at times, and a young man at others. With delicate features but dressed in black robes like a monk, discerning the gender was difficult.

“Hey, what’s that?”
“Beats me, why’s a crazy person approaching the bandits’ hideout of all places?”
“Must be a vagrant. Clearly won’t get any money, so just kill ’em.”

As the two bandits briefly chatted, that black figure vanished from sight.

“What? It disappeared?”
“Probably fled after confirming there was a hideout here.”
But that was the wrong answer.

“…Not a bandit, but a mountain bandit since we’re in the mountains. For a makeshift hideout, it’s rather well constructed.”
“Wha, what the…? That person was clearly over there, but now…”

The figure had instantly closed a 300m gap and approached right next to the hideout.

“The gate seems properly made, but…”
He placed his index and middle fingers against the thick wooden palisade gate.
“That is all it amounts to.”

It was a sturdy gate made of doubly woven logs.
Without siege weapons, it couldn’t be broken, and even pushing it with normal strength was difficult.
Yet that gate was utterly smashed just by having fingers placed against it.

“An, an intruder!”
They frantically rang a bell to signal their comrades, but it was too late.
“Sounding the alarm after the gate is breached is meaningless, is it not?”
“When did this bastard climb up here…?”
“My name is not ‘bastard’.”

As soon as they saw Raul, they tried to draw their weapons, but before they could do anything, he had grabbed their shoulders.

“…One piece of advice – it’s better to keep your weapons drawn most of the time.”
But before they could heed that advice, their upper bodies exploded.
The headless corpses helplessly rolled on the ground, spurting blood.

“And it seems some have heeded that advice.”
When Raul turned around, the bandits who had heard the bell were glaring at him with weapons drawn to kill him.

“Who the hell are you, bastard!!!”
“…Do you not see these corpses? Then what meaning is there in further words?”
“You a soldier of the empire or what…?”
“By the way, I heard there were giants here, but not a trace in sight. Or considering the scale of this hideout exceeds a mere outpost…”

“I asked if you’re a soldier of the empire, asshole!!!”
“I wonder, does this hideout have any large buildings that giants could hide in? Unfortunately, none are visible to my eyes right now.”

Occasionally ignoring others’ words mid-conversation was one of Raul’s bad habits.
It was a defense mechanism he had developed to avoid being hurt by others’ words, but it had the opposite effect. His friends let this habit slide, saying it was better than being hurt by others’ words.
As a result, it often led to others being infuriated by Raul, but his friends thought it was better for others to be infuriated than Raul himself.

“This bastard’s mumbling, he’s gotta be a soldier! Let’s just kill him and scram!”
“…Ah, did you ask if I was a soldier?”

Even as the bandits charged at him with weapons, Raul simply cupped his chin in thought.
And he gave the bandits swinging weapons to kill him a light pat on their heads and chests.
Of course, whether head or chest, anything Raul’s hand touched spurted red blood and vanished.

“Hmm…”
After easily killing about thirty bandits, Raul, still cupping his chin, approached the first bandit who had spoken to him.
Seemingly frozen in terror, that bandit had soiled himself where he sat on the ground, but Raul paid no mind.

“I wonder, does the distinction of currently serving or formerly serving also impact that question?”
“Y, yes…?”
“I was a soldier of the empire in the past, but now I’m simply a patient.”
As Raul wiped the blood from his hands, the bandit who had addressed him trembled in terror he had never experienced before.
He knew it was futile since Raul was a madman who killed people without a care, but he mustered his courage to beg for his life.

“P, please spare me…! I was wrong…!”
“Very well, on the condition that you repent and pay for your crimes.”
“Yes…?”
“You asked me to spare you, did you not? So I’m sparing you, what’s the problem?”
“Th, then those guys who just died…?”
“Did I not say as much? And they came at me with weapons, so I consider this self-defense.”

The bandit could clearly see that Raul before him was not a normal human.
Raul, seemingly lacking an essential part of humanity, was focused on wiping the blood from his hands.

Then, the group that had gone out to hunt their morning meal returned.

“We’re back! But why is the gate smashed…?!”
“I was about to tell them too – I’ll spare those who truly repent…”
But upon turning to confirm their identities, Raul swallowed his words.
“No, it seems there’s no need.”

What entered Raul’s sight were giants.
Those over 4m tall, who had been entering the hideout with hunched backs, made eye contact with Raul.

“Ah, ah…a demon!”
Despite their massive bodies, they were gripped by fear and frantically fled.

No, it was less fear and more an instinctive learned terror that manifested.
Even as they smashed through the palisade in their frantic escape, Raul easily caught up.

“…..Breathe.”
They struggled desperately to live, but it was a futile struggle in the end.
“Who said you could breathe?”
When Raul struck down with his cane, the giant exploded with a tremendous burst, spilling blood like a popped water balloon.

“How dare you lowly bandits…impersonate her name.”
“P, please spare me…! I only did it to survive…!”
“Don’t live.”
“What…?”
The other giants froze upon seeing Raul’s eyes.
“Unlike the others, my words to you are – don’t live.”
“What outrageous…!”
But the giant who tried to protest also met his end with his head bursting.

“Unfortunately, it seems I am stronger than you. So remember this well. The force of one stronger than you is not force.”
He readjusted his grip on his cane and slowly approached the remaining giants.
“It is called providence, you repulsive sacks of flesh.”

And the remaining giants too were struck down by Raul’s cane, becoming bloody puddles soaking the ground.
The giants’ impersonation of the name of the woman Raul loved had been the root cause.
Seeing the blood covering his hands and cane, Raul let out a sigh. No matter how quietly he tried to live, the blood never dried on his hands and cane.

“…..”
He knew his hatred was misguided as well. But he could not kill his feelings of rage and hatred towards the dragons and giants.
To kill those feelings felt like forgiving them, like letting go of those who had died, like erasing the self that they had created.
Such things terrified him, so Raul resolved never to forgive them, even in death. Even if he fell into hell when he died, he would take that hatred with him.

“Leila.”
Raul quietly uttered the name of the woman he loved.
“Leila Nevermore.”
He tried calling her full name in case it might change something, but there was no answer. Of course there would be no answer when calling a dead person’s name.
Yet despite knowing this, Raul’s heart felt gloomy.
He was vexed by the certainty that he would leave further regrets, the reality that the dead do not return, and the fresh blood soaking his hands.

Thus, Raul returned to the bandits’ hideout and faced the female leader who had impersonated his beloved’s name.
Though it was called ‘facing’, it was more akin to grabbing her throat after knocking down the other bandits guarding her.

“…Who gave you the right?”
“Par…? What are you suddenly saying, old man…?”
“Who gave you the right to defile her honor?”
There was no way she could answer.
From the beginning, that question was not one he expected a proper answer to.
Paradoxically, that question itself made answering the wrong response.

“No one has the right to impersonate her, do they?”
“Y, yes…!”
“I’ll give you one last chance. Abandon this banditry and live peacefully. Your personal circumstances are none of my concern. But if you insist on continuing as bandits…”

Raul quietly pulverized a nearby rock to dust with his cane.
“Just as you have defiled rights you never had, I too will have to deprive you of the lives you have that I do not.”
“Ah, I understand! From today, I’ll give up banditry and live as a tenant farmer or merchant…!”

Upon hearing her words, Raul quietly released her and took three gold coins from his pocket to toss to her.
“You’ll need money to settle down as a farmer or merchant. Use that. If I hear you’ve stolen again, I too will…”

Fearing whatever threat he might make, she preemptively cut off that possibility.
“I won’t, I promise! Thank you! Really, thank you so much!”
Leaving the woman groveling behind, Raul headed towards the prison where they had detained people.

Quite a diverse array of people were gathered there, from the company’s employees to adventurers, herb gatherers, hunters, and even a landscape painter.
Raul had forgotten to get the keys from the female leader, but his two arms were all the master keys needed to break the locks.

“…Be careful traveling these mountain paths from now on.”
As he went about freeing people, a familiar voice reached his ears.
“Big brother…?”
Raul turned towards that familiar voice and came face-to-face with an all-too-familiar person.
“Rizehl…?”