Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Consolation
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“Damn you bastard!”
A hideous demon horn sprouting above my forehead. A foul-mouthed tone and a suddenly shifted rough accent.
“Belica, huh.”
True to her name as the Archdemon of Mutation. The great demon Belica, whose demonic instincts had even mutated abnormally, now sharing space with Stella.
Back when she had put Stella to sleep inside me, she had been unconscious due to the Holy Grail’s flames, but now she seemed perfectly fine.
“Full of energy, I see.”
“After dying and sleeping my ass off, of course I am.”
Right. I had to remind myself not to get the wrong idea.
Stella too.
Belica too.
In the end, they were merely the departed.
They were merely borrowing my body for repose. In truth, their lives had already reached their finale.
“You planning to fight Magan? Ugh, you pathetic little shit.”
“Perfect timing, then.”
“What is?”
“Got any info on Magan?”
When I thought about it, Belica, being another great demon, should know the most about Magan.
I had tried mutual destruction using Remegaton, but I didn’t think Magan would die that easily.
If he could, the other great demons would have targeted his position long ago.
Just as I was thinking I’d gained a capable informant, Belica bared her savage fangs grown alongside her horns and shouted.
“Hey, you sick fu—... S-stop it. Belica, cut it out.”
But instead of the torrent of profanity, a calm, settling voice rang out once more.
“No, Stella! Didn’t you hear what this idiot just said? He’s talking about fighting again! Even after losing an arm, you moron!”
“B-but! Swearing isn’t allowed. The gods wished mercy upon the foolish, not judgment.”
“...Those damn gods. Maybe I should kill them all someday.”
Was this what watching a one-man play felt like? Though the two conversed through Stella’s mouth, their tones and accents were polar opposites, making it easy enough to distinguish.
“You didn’t call him here just to say one word to him in the first place.”
“Still, I have to say it! You won’t, so I will! I get that you were looking forward to seeing him after so long, but...!”
“W-whoa! Whoa! B-Belica!”
Stella clamped both hands over her own mouth. Her face flushed as she glanced at me surreptitiously. I pretended not to notice.
One of Stella’s hands pulled the other away as she shouted.
“I was just a little exc—”
Thump.
She clamped both hands back over her mouth.
Truly angry now, she furrowed her brow, and the horn sprouting from her forehead vanished.
After pressing her hands firmly over her mouth for a long while, staring only at the ground, Stella peeked up at me with just her eyes and made an excuse.
“Belica’s a demon, so she says weird stuff.”
“Yeah.”
“She absolutely doesn’t share my feelings or anything just because she’s with me.”
“Didn’t think that at all.”
“Really.”
“...Yeah.”
More than that, something from my earlier exchange with Belica had caught my attention.
“I heard you called me here for a reason.”
“Oh, right.”
Composing herself, Stella slowly turned her body and extended a hand ahead like a guide.
At that, the blank canvas of a landscape began to shift. A moon and stars rose, fluffy clouds settled in, forming an ordinary night sky.
And we were now floating amid that sky.
Thud thud.
I tapped the ground with my toes. It wasn’t that we had actually moved to such a scene—it was more like wallpaper or an illusion.
A kind of optical illusion.
“Pretty amazing, right? I figured it out after trying it a few times.”
Stella began walking slowly across the sky. I followed behind.
“There’s a village over there.”
“...”
At the end of where Stella pointed, a village scene truly unfolded. Was there a festival going on?
Even in the dead of night, it bustled with activity, lanterns blazing brightly.
Of course, it wasn’t a real village.
Probably just Stella’s imagination made manifest.
But it was a rather pleasant atmosphere.
“Do you think the gods watch over us from a view like this?”
“Probably.”
A village seen from high in the sky.
In a continent without advanced internet, aircraft, or satellites, it was certainly a rare sight.
“Hee hee hee.”
Stella covered her mouth with her hand, smiling as if something was endlessly amusing.
Our reunion after so long was a joy.
Even if I had interrupted her deep slumber, being able to talk with her again was delightful.
“Sorry, Stella, but I don’t have much time.”
“...”
“People will be worrying about me after I got done in by Magan. And my body’s probably in critical condition too.”
“It got pretty wrecked, yeah.”
“Yeah. I need to head back right away.”
At my demand to get to the point, Stella scratched her cheek and sighed before answering.
“You don’t need to worry about your body. Well, you probably have a rough idea of its state right now, which is why you’re in such a hurry, right?”
“...Dead, or on the brink.”
“Exactly. Magan even judged you dead. Meaning he really went all out on your body.”
“I see.”
It was shocking information, but my reaction was inevitably subdued.
Having witnessed the boundary between life and death so many times, it wasn’t as surprising as it might have been, and I had always anticipated something like this eventually.
“But don’t worry. Someone’s guarding your body well.”
“Guard...ing?”
“Yes, so no need to rush. Strictly speaking, you haven’t ‘died’ yet, and going back now would just mean repeating the same thing.”
Her words were hard to follow—what did she mean? It felt like she was unpacking the dense verses of a gospel into plain language.
But Stella smiled gently, as if my confusion was only natural.
“No need to worry. You’ll definitely be able to return.”
“...”
If Stella said it this firmly, there had to be a reason.
A reason she was holding me back despite knowing I could return.
Now I was curious about that.
“By the way. How long do you plan on keeping up the act?”
“...”
“Look at yourself right now.”
At her words, I slowly lowered my head. There, instead of the noble coat Deus usually wore, was the modern suit from my days as an office worker.
“Oh.”
I hadn’t noticed at all.
Now I understood why Stella had been calling me “you” or “this person” instead of “Deus” all this time.
“Hee hee, so that’s what you looked like?”
Before I knew it, I had become Kim Shin-woo.
“Even while dormant inside you, I heard and saw so much. The inside of a person isn’t as restful a bed as you’d think.”
“Sorry.”
Stella shook her head with a smile at my honest apology.
“No, it was good. I could listen to your stories like lullabies.”
“...”
Stella didn’t stop there and pressed on.
“Is that why? I followed your footsteps closely. Comforting the dead, guiding a broken disciple back to the right path, giving value to yokai who were wronged.”
“...”
“You nearly strayed once, but you came back.”
“...”
“And this time, you nearly killed a republic’s great demon who saw humans only as food. Truly heroic.”
Listing my past deeds wasn’t just to praise me.
Because the more she spoke, the darker Stella’s expression grew.
And then.
“Why?”
She tossed a question at me like hurling a massive stone into a still pond.
“What?”
“Why go that far?”
Kim Shin-woo.
The name she appended felt like it sharply redrew the clear line between me and this continent.
“I’ve been curious, actually.”
Stella slowly crouched down and sat as if straddling a cloud in the night sky.
Her teal eyes traced the distant horizon before finally settling on me.
“You’ve been wrapping it up as ‘to survive,’ haven’t you?”
“...”
“To prevent the continent’s destruction just for survival... you’re shouldering way too much responsibility for that.”
She wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t deny it.
“Truth is, you’re not all that attached to your own life.”
Her every word pierced me, yet a soft smile played on Stella’s lips.
After a brief silence, giving me time to collect my thoughts,
Stella reminisced about the past.
“Do you remember the time we talked at the convent?”
“...Yeah, I do.”
“It’s just like that. I only want to hear.”
Tap tap.
Stella patted the spot beside her, inviting me to sit.
As if entranced, I naturally sat next to her.
“To console souls, you’ve listened to countless stories. But no one on this continent has ever listened to yours.”
Unbidden, my eyes trembled. Meeting my gaze, Stella gently cradled my head in both hands.
“What’s the real reason you serve this world?”
“...”
Though she was a soul and I felt nothing physically,
Strangely, Stella’s embrace was warm, that warmth rapidly spreading through me.
“It’s okay. Take your time. A short break won’t hurt.”
“Ah.”
My rigid body began to relax under the piercing question.
“You’ve worked so hard.”
Warmth enveloped my whole body, and as I slowly closed my eyes, her whisper tickled my ear.
“You, who consoled the continent.”
I’ll console you.