The Returner - Chapter 21: The price for disrupting my leisure time will be huge (3)

The strongest wizard Alfred, in a hero’s party, subdued the Maou and in the process took a cursed arrow to the knee.

Even with the hurt knee, Alfred’s still the strongest wizard ever. So…

「We need a chief for our newly created knight squad!」 「Could you help us as our guild manager?」「We need someone to rid us of the dragon that resides in the North Mountain!!」

Alfred just wanted some time to rest and recover, but no one would LEAVE HIM ALONE!

Because of that, Alfred wished to spend time recovering in a small country village that no one knew about.

『Need a guard in Mulg Village. Wolves and boars attacking the village. Payment is food and board. *Village has a hot spring.』

「THAT’S THE ONE!」

So, the strongest wizard in the kingdom…decided on living the slow life in the country.

Rex was an ordinary salaryman, resigned to a dull life of monotony in a towering megacity. But his world shatters when he’s conscripted by Nexum Dynamics, a ruthless megacorporation, and thrust into a brutal war for a barren, alien world. The planet holds unimaginable riches, but it’s also swarming with the Krhyssari, an insectoid race that dominates the surface with their hive-mind precision and relentless aggression. Amid the carnage, Rex had an extraordinary encounter with Cleo, an ancient AI, a survivor of a long-extinct civilization. Cleo isn’t just an artificial intelligence; she’s a consciousness imbued with memories of her people’s interstellar empire and equipped with advanced bio-nanotechnology. Offering Rex a new purpose and unmatched power, she transforms his fragile human body into a hybrid of living metal and flesh, making him the ultimate weapon. But Cleo is more than a tool of war. As she journeys alongside Rex, her cold, logical algorithms evolve, shaped by his humanity. Together, they form a bond that transcends the boundaries of man and machine, discovering love in the midst of chaos. As Rex and Cleo fight for survival, they uncover a shared ambition, to rise as intergalactic overlords, uniting or conquering the galaxy.

Lily Harper’s world is shattered when she discovers her husband, Daniel, has been cheating on her with a woman named Cassandra. Betrayed and heartbroken, Lily vows to make both of them pay for ruining her life. But as she sets her sights on destroying Cassandra, she unexpectedly crosses paths with Ethan Blake, Cassandra’s protective older brother.What begins as a fiery confrontation soon transforms into an unlikely partnership as Lily and Ethan uncover the dark secrets Daniel has been hiding. As they delve deeper into his web of lies and deceit, their chemistry ignites, leading to a passionate connection that neither of them anticipated.In a race against time, Lily must decide whether revenge is worth the cost of her own heart. As the stakes rise, the line between vengeance and forgiveness blurs, and Lily must choose—will she destroy the people who betrayed her or find a way to heal and embrace the love that’s blossomed with Ethan?Sweet Vengeance is a tale of betrayal, redemption, and the unexpected power of love. With suspense, drama, and a heart-pounding twist, this is a story of how a woman learns that sometimes the sweetest revenge is letting go of the past and embracing the future.

Mary was an only child. She came from an ordinary family and worked at a publishing house. She worked diligently every day but was always harassed by her manager.