“Hmm.”
Gazing diagonally upward, I looked at the sky of the Spirit Realm. The paths of light that used to flood down had long since settled and been devoured by the darkness of the realm.
“Is today the last day I’ll see the sky of the Spirit Realm?”
It felt strange to refer to today when there was no concept of time here. By the way, I was somewhat surprised to hear from the Grand Witch that it had already been three years since I died.
I never realized that so much time had passed.
‘Then everyone must have graduated from the Academy.’
I felt a bit bitter, but I still had something to do.
Deciding what to do about the fainted God of Life.
Honestly, it seemed easier just to kill him, but since he was a god, I worried that if I casually offed him, there might be some weird consequences on the continent.
“Hold on a second!”
And just as I expected, the Goddess of Death shot her hand up and blocked the space between me and the God of Life.
“C-can’t you give me one more chance?”
As I nodded for her to try and convince me, the Goddess of Death took a long deep breath. Just watching her struggle to gather her thoughts made me wait a bit.
“Huff.”
“……”
“Hoo.”
“……”
“Hooo!”
“Are you kidding me?”
She should be dragging this out, not practicing her breathing exercises.
I poked her puffed cheeks with my finger, and she squirmed, unable to find the words.
It felt like she had things to say but couldn’t just say them.
I scratched at my hair that had grown long since I turned 18, feeling annoyed.
“I need to go back to the continent, so I have to either kill him or—”
“……”
“Someone should properly reform him, right? If you can’t confidently say you can do that, how can I trust you?”
“Ah…”
Honestly, dealing with goddesses was exhausting.
Realizing my intention, the Goddess of Death awkwardly apologized. It seemed she didn’t expect me to be so understanding.
But that didn’t mean I was just going to let it slide.
“The God of Life has to lose his power as a condition.”
“Don’t worry about that! Hey! Don’t pretend to be asleep!”
With that, the Goddess of Death kicked him awake. The God of Life, acting like he just woke up, seemed a bit unsteady.
“Do you mean… to give up your power?”
“Stop with the strange god-drama. Are you in or out?”
I marched right up to him, holding my sword.
“If you don’t want to, just die here. I’d prefer that.”
“……What’s your intention?”
“Ugh. Let’s just die.”
Feeding him with baby steps was enough from the Goddess of Death.
I wasn’t about to spoon-feed the God of Life, so when I raised my sword, he panicingly agreed.
“Is there a way to give up power?”
The Grand Witch was completely right.
Both the God of Life and the Goddess of Death were making faces that indicated they were in a bit of a bind.
The Goddess of Death had lost her power after trying to forcibly awaken Rin by repeatedly reviving the Priestess.
The Goddess of Time had lost her power in the process of returning all the memories that the continent dwellers had lost while going through three cycles.
Like this, their powers were not easily given up.
But I had just the right idea for the God of Life.
“There are people sleeping in the Spirit Realm, right? Let’s wake them all up.”
“W-wake them up? That’s absolutely impossible!”
The Goddess of Death exclaimed, but I shook my head.
“No, I’m saying just wake them up like the Grand Witch did. It’d be nice if the departed could let go of some regrets before reincarnating.”
“……”
Glancing at the God of Life, he looked at me with a peculiar expression.
“So that’s why you’re helping me?”
Unlike the goddesses, he had a bit of understanding, huh?
“If you come back to life, the Goddess of Death will be left alone in the Spirit Realm, so you’re helping me as a condition to wake the dead, right?”
“R-really?”
The Goddess of Death looked shocked, not having thought about that. She looked oddly shy as if she were caught in a surprise party.
“Not really, that’s not the only reason.”
“……”
The Goddess of Death approached me blankly. As I tried to step back, I felt like there was no need to, so I awkwardly stood still.
Eventually, giving up on denying it, she sighed on the ground.
“I might be able to find a workout partner among the dead. Don’t just rest, work hard. That’ll make life richer.”
When I said this, May grumped about how I should stop nagging. Normally, the Goddess of Death would have replied in a similar manner, but now she nodded slightly.
“There must be many who can play chess much better than me. The Grand Witch is probably good at it, too. There are lots of other fun games.”
“……Yeah.”
“Ah, get along well with life too. You’ve not regressed into humans but have grown to empathize. He’ll be changed a bit if he loses his power and gets to mingle with people in the Spirit Realm.”
“I’ll do that; because I did.”
The Goddess of Death had tears gathering in her eyes.
As I reached out to wipe them, she gently placed her hand over mine.
“Daniel McLean, I never thought I would say something like this to you.”
“……”
Carefully, she placed my hand against her cheek and began to feel the warmth of my body growing. It was a signal that I was being called back to the continent.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, I had fun too.”
I never imagined I would have this kind of relationship with the Goddess of Death.
Back when I first came to the Spirit Realm, I was panicking from having a collar suddenly put on me. The time I spent with the Goddess of Death wasn’t excessively stimulating, but it wasn’t boring either.
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Well, that means I’ll be dying.”
“Aren’t you coming back right away?”
“……Don’t say that even as a joke.”
When I heard the chilling voice of Rin, I froze, wondering if it might actually be possible. I stiffly looked around, thinking maybe she was watching from somewhere.
Whether she heard me or not, my body began to slowly dissolve into strands of light.
The Goddess of Death smiled, trying to hide her tears as she watched me disappear.
“I hope you come back late, I’ll be waiting.”
With that last message, my vision hazily transformed and was engulfed by darkness.
*
“He’s gone.”
Watching Daniel McLean disappear, the Grand Witch smiled slightly. From a distance, the voices of the departed, awakened by the God of Life, reached her ears.
“It’s going to be quite a ruckus for a while.”
I thought I’d have a bit of rest after dying, but it seemed like it would take some time for the Spirit Realm to stabilize.
But that wasn’t just to organize the confusion; it was the act of blooming flowers in a barren land called the Spirit Realm.
Thinking of it this way, the Grand Witch didn’t feel too bad.
“……”
With Daniel gone, the Goddess of Death was weeping heavily. But she wasn’t wailing and pounding the ground. That was her last shred of dignity as a goddess.
And besides, she knew she would eventually meet him again.
“The time spent with that guy passed quicker than I expected.”
“Hmm?”
Peeking at the Grand Witch, the Goddess of Death asked.
“Old lady, do you know how to play chess?”
“Goodness, how old do you think I am to not know that?”
“Are you talking age in front of me? Whatever, let’s go play chess together. Getting some exercise and having fun will make time fly.”
And when that time comes, if he returns, she vowed to proudly showcase her skills.
Imagining the annoyed expression of him scratching his head about how she became so good at chess made her smile.
“Pfft.”
She started to look forward to that day already.
*
Blinking.
I couldn’t quite open my eyes.
I felt like I was in some incredibly bright place, but the bright light was making me squint.
“What, what is this?”
My throat felt choked as if I hadn’t spoken for a long time. My voice didn’t even sound like mine. I rubbed my eyes a little.
“Stop! Please everyone stop!”
“Is, is that Eve?”
As I shook my head and forced myself to focus, I saw some familiar faces; my lips involuntarily curled up.
The important thing was that everyone was trying to pounce on me, and Eve and Tana were blocking them.
“First! First, getting Daniel back to his senses is the priority! Let’s be a little considerate!”
“Exactly! Let’s calm down!”
Those two had transformed into the position of the rational ones.
It was heartwarming enough to make my nose tingle.
“I-I’m family, you know?”
Although she wasn’t very tall, Sen’s atmosphere was much more relaxed than before. I liked feeling like a child again.
“Have you prepared an excuse?”
Rin was watching me from behind, laughing without joining the group. Caught up in the moment, I kneeled down without realizing it.
“Wait! I’m just going to strike him once! You all know what he did to me before he left!”
May, with her eyes brimming with tears, clenched her fist and was about to charge. I recalled how I had frozen time just before the final showdown.
She had cried so sorrowfully.
“Has the Grand Witch been doing well?”
Adriana casually asked about the Grand Witch from the back. She was probably having a good time with the Goddess of Death.
“He’s really still 18 years old.”
Hayun had changed the most; she wasn’t the girl shaken by her family anymore but was a woman with a strong belief, ready to take responsibility in the Len family.
“……Sherpa.”
The one who cried the most was her.
Elf Eris.
I thought Eris would never call me Sherpa again. Honestly, just hearing that made the tears spill down my cheeks.
“Everyone, calm down! Let’s do this one by one! After all, Daniel has plenty of time now!”
Eve raised her voice. Feeling awkward about speaking, I nodded actively, and everyone reluctantly tried to suppress their excitement.
I was happy to see them, but their overwhelming welcome felt a little burdensome.
“Is Daniel okay?”
“Ugh, thanks Eve.”
Eve sidled over to me, looking more mature than before; she was now a charming young woman who exuded both sexiness and purity.
And the grown Eve grabbed my chin and immediately pressed her lips to mine.
“Yup?!”
In that fleeting moment,
When she pulled away, she had a victorious smile on her face.
“Ha! Looks like you’ve done quite a bit without me!”
She was holding my chin pretty firmly. Wow, Eve had grown. She was able to hide her anger like this now.
And, of course, the women sprinted toward Eve like leashes were taken off.
The backlash that followed was so powerful it swept me off my feet.
I was devoured.
