Let's Sleep Together
The face was right in front of me. The flow of the soul came through with vivid clarity.
…Ugh, I really hope her condition is intact.
I cracked my eyes open just a little. The state of the body was… in a word, utterly horrific. The lower half was completely gone, and most of the upper body, slick with viscous fluid, had melted away, leaving only the portion above the chest. I couldn’t even breathe properly in front of such a gruesome sight. Nausea surged up again, but I clenched my lips tight and forced it down. The thought that I couldn’t collapse in front of a soul made me grit my teeth.
After taking a long, steadying breath, I reached out toward the body.
“…Mr. Death?”
“Shh.”
In this moment, I was grateful I was a Sashin and not a regular reaper. If I had been an ordinary Jeoseong-saja, I wouldn’t have been able to use this method.
I closed my eyes and poured my divine authority into the body. A Sashin was death itself. And death was the inevitable destination every living thing must reach. Death ruled over the final moments of life and everything that came after. Therefore, the end of life belonged entirely to death. Every trace a life left behind as well.
Slowly, fragments of memory remaining in the body began to seep into my consciousness. Her name. Her memories. The things she had loved. Emotions and scenes rose clearly in my mind. Pieces of a time when everything had been peaceful. Soon after, her final moments unfolded before my eyes.
A monster that had appeared without warning. Her throwing herself forward to protect her son. Her lower body torn apart and devoured by the creature.
…Normally the memories should cut off here, right?
But the memories continued. The countless people who had rushed to save her. Her screams of agony. Her son wailing, begging for his mother to be saved. And….
The Saint, her bangs soaked with sweat, pouring every ounce of her strength into healing magic.
The Saint kept using healing spells without pause. Even as she staggered, she desperately reached out, trying to preserve the life. In the end, the Saint collapsed to the ground, sobbing and screaming.
The Saint continued attempting healing magic even while fallen. But it was like pouring water into a bottomless bucket. The woman’s wounds showed no sign of recovery, only her agonizing screams echoing.
The sight of the Saint drowning in despair made my eyes snap open. I gasped for breath as I returned to reality. The Saint, who had been crying just moments ago, was now looking at me with worry.
“M-Mr. Death?”
“…Ah.”
A horrific scene lay right before my eyes, yet none of it registered. The Saint’s desperate cry kept echoing in my head.
That urgent plea refused to leave my ears. I almost asked if she was okay without thinking. I hurriedly covered my mouth with my hand and turned my head away.
“…What’s wrong, Mr. Death? Are you alright?”
“Eilynn.”
The hand that had been tugging at my sleeve froze in place. At the same time, the soul’s unfocused gaze, which had been staring at the ceiling, slowly turned toward me.
I quietly steadied my breathing and shared the memories I had stored in my consciousness with the soul. The fragments of memory flowed along my authority and seeped into her. The soul’s eyes trembled faintly. The lifeless pupils gradually regained their light.
[Nice to meet you, Eilynn.]
[You are…]
[Are you perhaps the God of Death? Is it really you?]
[Yes. I’ve come to take you with me.]
I could feel the soul’s breath trembling. Transparent tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and sparkled.
[Ah, oh God. Thank you. This world has finally been freed from its curse.]
[The Saintess will also be released from her long suffering. I’m truly glad.]
My expression cracked for a moment. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead, but I desperately kept my face blank.
The guilt was making it harder and harder to maintain my composure.
…Let’s just get this over with quickly.
I took out a bottle for containing souls from my subspace.
[I will definitely escort you to the Underworld. Please rest comfortably inside here until then.]
[…Um, Lord Death.]
[Yes?]
[Can my voice reach the Saintess?]
I hesitated for a moment but silently shook my head. The soul, who had been about to enter the bottle, stopped and said something. I slowly nodded.
[I will make sure to deliver it.]
[Thank you, kind Lord Death.]
A faint smile rose on the soul’s face. With that smile as her last, the soul entered the bottle and disappeared.
This much should be fine.
I put the soul-containing bottle back into my subspace and spoke to the Saint.
“Eilynn asked me to tell you something. The bouquet you made for her at the wedding. She said it was really beautiful.”
The Saint’s eyes shook violently.
“…The bouquet?”
“Yes. She said you made it yourself.”
The Saint bit her lip hard. She lowered her head for a moment without saying anything, then forced a smile and answered.
“…She’s still the same, Eilynn. She used to bring that up every chance she got.”
“And I have safely retrieved Eilynn’s soul.”
“…Really?”
The Saint placed a trembling hand over Eilynn’s chest. Then her hand slowly moved up to Eilynn’s peaceful face.
“…It’s true. Her heart isn’t beating. She isn’t breathing either.”
While stroking the cold skin that held no warmth, the Saint murmured in a shaking voice.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Eilynn.”
The Saint’s fingertips gently brushed down Eilynn’s forehead. As if trying to convey her affection one last time, she couldn’t seem to pull her hand away for a long time.
“Because of me, you… If only I had to stay in this world alone forever…”
Tears flowed endlessly down the Saint’s cheeks. I stood quietly beside her without saying a word. That was all I could do for her right now.
After letting out one final sob, the Saint wiped her tears.
“Let’s go quickly. There are fourteen left now, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Sorry. I held us up because of me. I’ll save the rest of my crying for after we’re done.”
The Saint held out her hand again. I deliberately gripped it with strength. So that I could lend her even a little support.
We collected all fifteen souls. Thankfully, the Saint didn’t cry anymore. She simply offered quiet prayers whenever I stopped moving, and when I started again, she would silently watch each one off with her eyes.
Her gaze held both sorrow and relief at the same time.
After finishing everything, we quietly left the room where so many people lay.
“…It looks like the number of souls to retrieve didn’t increase any further.”
“Yeah.”
There was a faint note of disappointment in the Saint’s voice. That enormous room wasn’t the only one. There were similar-sized rooms in the basement and on the upper floors, all packed full of countless people lying there.
At the very least, there must be several thousand.
Only fifteen out of so many. It was natural to feel disappointed. I felt the same, but right now I was relieved there weren’t any more.
…I feel dizzy.
I was starting to reach my limit. Using the Death Register to collect souls wasn’t particularly difficult, but directly reading and sharing memories like this using my own authority was quite taxing.
Suddenly the world spun before my eyes.
It feels especially hard today.
It was clearly because the connection to the Underworld had been severed. Since I couldn’t borrow my father’s power, I had to recover entirely on my own strength.
Most Sashin like me who handled fieldwork were split bodies of high-ranking gods. Since the high gods couldn’t handle everything themselves, we took their place. I was no exception. No, it would be rude to compare myself to the other seniors.
…Because I had lost a portion of my power.
“Mr. Death?”
“…Ah.”
I had tried not to show it, but it seemed I’d been caught. The Saint must have noticed my condition, because she gently reached out to touch my cheek.
“Are you okay, Mr. Death?”
“…Yes, I’m fine. I just need to rest a little.”
At that moment, the dizziness intensified. Before I could even steady my swaying body, I collapsed straight onto the floor. The chill rising from the cold marble floor crept up my spine.
“Mr. Death!”
The Saint hurriedly knelt and supported me. I could feel her fingertips trembling. But…
“Ugh, my head is ringing. Please be quiet…”
Support or not, her voice echoed down the hallway like a bell, making my head throb even worse. The coldness of the marble floor was the only thing keeping me somewhat conscious. But even that quickly lost its effect.
…I’m done for. I can’t tell what’s what anymore.
My mind grew increasingly hazy. Strength slowly drained from my entire body, and my head became as foggy as if thick mist had settled over it.
“…I want to sleep right here on the hallway floor.”
“What? N-no! It’s snowing outside! You can’t sleep out here in this winter weather!”
It’s fine since I won’t die from something like that anyway. …I didn’t even have the energy to say it. I should just close my eyes like this.
As soon as I closed my eyes, the Saint’s voice grew even louder. It sounded like she might be crying.
“W-what should I do? Where can I put him to sleep… But the other rooms are too dirty…”
…That’s a relief. So you do understand the concept of cleanliness.
When I recover, I’ll have to ask her to clean the kitchen with me.
“…I guess there’s only one way.”
Along with the Saint’s murmured words, I felt my body float into the air. It looked like I was about to lose consciousness.
“Let’s sleep together in my room!”
“…Pardon?!”
At the sudden statement, my eyes flew open even though my mind was still foggy. Looking around, my body really was floating. To be precise, the Saint was holding me in a princess carry.
“S-Saintess?!”
“Just hold on a little longer! Okay? You absolutely cannot lose consciousness!”
I feel like I’m about to lose something else entirely?!
“Wait a sec…”
Having used up the last of my strength, I passed out completely.