End of the Trial
"...Hoo."
A few days before Clana visited Frey's tombstone, a girl trudged through a snow-covered path, wrapped in a thick coat.
"It's cold."
As the biting wind that had tormented Clana whipped up, the girl frowned and muttered to herself, unconsciously tensing her whole body.
"...Oh right, it doesn't come out anymore?"
But nothing happened. The brilliant light that had once been created by a miracle had vanished like a lie with the hero's death.
—Whooo...
Battered by the icy wind all over her body, the girl gritted her teeth and kept pressing forward anyway.
"Excuse me... Is anyone there?"
After walking on like that for a while, she noticed a light on in a tavern and poked her head in.
"Oh, a little miss?"
"...Hello."
When a woman finally emerged from inside and spoke, the little girl greeted her with a dark expression.
"...What are you doing right now?"
The girl, fiddling with the last gold coin left from those her savior had given her years ago as she scanned the menu, soon spotted the woman busily doing something behind the counter.
"What else? Packing up."
"Are you leaving the empire too?"
When the girl asked with a complicated look, the woman sighed and replied.
"Yeah, I have to. The hero who killed the Demon King is gone, and the Demon King's army is advancing... Staying here means dying like a dog, right?"
".......Yeah."
The girl nodded quietly at her words, then began peering at a broken photo next to the counter.
"Curious about that?"
"Oh, um..."
"It's a family photo."
The woman, gazing quietly at the photo, murmured with a sad expression.
"...A year ago, when I heard my husband and son in this picture had died in the war, I threw the whole album and it ended up like this."
"Ah..."
Watching the woman recount such a heartbreaking story so calmly, the girl quietly bowed her head.
"...You're a good kid, grieving for others."
Perhaps finding the girl endearing as she stroked her hair, the woman picked up her luggage and headed for the exit.
"Take whatever you want from the shop."
"But..."
"I'm leaving the empire today anyway, so it's fine."
As the woman opened the door to the outside, the girl pointed at the photo and said,
"Aren't you taking that?"
The woman gave a sad smile in response.
"I don't really want to carry sad memories with me."
With that, the woman left the tavern and slowly walked down the snow-piled street.
"........."
The girl watched her receding figure for a long time, then cautiously took a loaf of bread from the shelf and took a bite.
"Ptooey..."
The bread was frozen solid.
"Ugh..."
Rubbing her jaw for a while as she warmed up inside the shop, once warmth returned to her body, the girl inevitably stepped back out into the cold.
—Crunch, crunch.
After walking silently for a long stretch afterward, the place the girl arrived at was, surprisingly, Frey's birthplace.
"You clearly said..."
Glancing around briefly before spotting Frey's tombstone, the girl began speaking in a dark voice.
"...that the world would soon praise the hero."
The world did not praise the hero. It merely pitied his noble deeds, lamented them, and drowned in sorrow.
"........."
After staring at Frey's tombstone—which now saw fewer and fewer visitors—for a long time, the girl quietly slipped off the ring from her left ring finger and whispered,
"...Goodnight, hero."
With those words, Glare placed the sparkling ring beneath the hero's tombstone, shed a single tear, and left.
It was the moment when the variable that could have changed everything—a factor even the system's trial had failed to detect, which Frey couldn't see—vanished completely.
"...Haa, it's finally over."
As Clana vanished from before my eyes, darkness enveloped me. And at that instant, the number floating in my vision changed to 0.
You have cleared the 2nd Trial!
"...Sigh."
I scowled and tried to wave away the system window, but it wouldn't budge anymore.
'Fucking piece-of-shit system.'
I inwardly cursed at the system that kept following me no matter how I shook my head, then sighed and flopped onto the floor.
"I miss Yaong..."
Whenever I was mentally exhausted, the cat doll that would lick my face came to mind. At first, it had this haughty expression and wouldn't even let me touch its belly, but once we got close, things changed. I'd wake up to a wet feeling on my face to find it carefully licking me before meowing. If I had a nightmare, it'd punch me awake with its tiny paws. Sometimes it'd let out a long meow, burrow into my clothes, curl up, and fall asleep breathing softly. When I looked depressed, it'd flop onto its back, belly up, staring at me expectantly.
It helped my mental recovery so much that now the cat and I were inseparable.
'I wish Kania could've played with it too.'
I got that cute cat as a gift from my little sister for Kania—she must like cats a lot. But two grown adults playing with dolls felt a bit off, and lately, once Kania falls asleep, she won't wake up easily. Of course, when I try to wake her, the cat bites my ankle like it's jealous, so I haven't tried much.
The first clear reward begins now.
"...Yeah, that's more like it."
Because of this insane trial, I'd spent months in this trial world. Of course, the message said time here differs from reality, so I wouldn't wake up to find months had passed like last time... but drifting around as a soul for months in this mad world was pure hell.
'Well, at least it ended in months?'
From the point where I died to the time with Clana earlier, years had passed. I jumped across that gap, lifting the emotional burdens from the people precious to me.
Yes. The system's 2nd Trial was experiencing a bad ending firsthand while saving the heroines broken by it.
Thanks to that, I roamed the empire... even visiting the Western and Eastern Continents to find the heroines.
Visiting Kania, who went berserk without needing more life force after the branching point, stopped only by Serena's sacrifice, then became a shut-in drowned in grief.
Visiting Irina, who had lost her ego, pride, and even spirit, driven mad.
Visiting Perloché, crushed by guilt for failing to save me, on the verge of corruption.
Visiting Isolet, who quit teaching at the academy, drowned in alcohol day by day, passing time staring at the sword and letter I'd given her.
And others: Lulu enduring repeated failed suicide attempts; Aris half-mad; Ariane nursing Irina while drowning in guilt.
Among them, meeting Aria and soul-state Serena was... even as a trial...
"Snap out of it. This didn't actually happen."
In the end, this was just the system's trial. It showed one possibility that could have happened, but once it ends, I'd return to a world where I can still give everyone a happy ending.
So...
—Whooo...
"...Hm?"
The darkness around me suddenly lightened. Wondering what was up, I looked around—and scenes began flashing by rapidly.
"...Huh?"
Frowning at the anomaly, a massive crowd suddenly filled my view.
"The Demon King's army..."
The Demon King's army from the previous loop advanced—the sight alone made my teeth chatter.
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
—Boom boom boom!!!
At the forefront of the relentlessly advancing Demon King's army, a fierce battle raged.
"If even we fall, there's no hope left! We must stop that damned bitch..."
—Crunch!
"C-Captain!!"
The martial artist from the Eastern Continent, unleashing aura from his whole body and raining punches on the Demon King's army, was bisected in an instant.
"........Yawn."
The Demon King, who dispatched the captain of the continental coalition with a flick of her finger, yawned with a bored expression.
"I wanted a blazing fight. But seeing the leader of this 'coalition' so pathetically weak... looks like it's hopeless."
As the Demon King swung her finger like a conductor, horrific screams began echoing.
""............""
Blood and guts flew, mingling; bones and flesh burst everywhere—the brutality left even the Demon King's army speechless.
".......Could that be your ultimate technique?"
"Ultimate? I just wiggled my fingers quickly."
Replying calmly to Drimirkan's question, the Demon King smirked.
"If I used my ultimate here, the Demon King's army behind me would be annihilated too. You still want that?"
"No."
Drimirkan paled and answered swiftly; the Demon King burst into laughter, finding it hilarious.
"Just kidding."
"R-right? Even you, Demon King..."
"If you fled with full-power spatial magic, maybe not total annihilation."
As the Demon King swung her finger wide—perhaps her arm ached—the screams cut off abruptly.
"......Impressive, truly."
Drimirkan murmured in a trembling voice, staring blankly at the carnage before him; the Demon King pouted.
"I said it again: I wanted a blazing fight. Not this lukewarm one."
Yawning once more, she began speaking in a low voice.
"Frey could've given me a fun fight."
"I-is that so...?"
"Yes. His strength exceeded my imagination."
"To what degree...?"
"Probably the strongest on the continent, excluding me."
Grumbling irritably, the Demon King added,
"Tch... if not for the restrictions on fighting."
'What the hell is that bastard saying now?'
Listening intently to their conversation, I started panicking at the unexpected words.
'She... saw me?'
She'd said my strength was beyond imagination. And that excluding herself, I'd have been the continent's strongest—spoken with conviction, not vaguely.
And "in my eyes" implied she'd met me.
'But... does that make sense?'
As far as I knew, the Demon King couldn't leave the Demon King Castle unless the 'Sacrifice Magic Circle' ritual succeeded and unsealed her.
Thus, the Villain's Path strategy was preventing advantages to the Demon King via main quests, blocking the circle to keep her in, while awakening the Hero's Armament to storm the castle.
So how had she seen me? My face might've been shown in a photo by the second-in-command when I was a Demon King's lackey, but knowing my strength specifically changed things.
'No way... she succeeded with the circle and came out?'
I considered it briefly but shook my head. If she'd escaped, the continent would be in flames already. Even all main heroines plus me at full strength couldn't beat her—she wouldn't hide outside.
'Come to think of it, she declared war right when I died.'
But piecing evidence together... she seemed out now. Otherwise, how could she in the castle sense my death and declare war immediately?
'Damn... already a headache.'
I wondered why the scene of the Demon King ending the world was the reward—turns out it revealed much new info on her.
'And not just that... I gained plenty from this trial.'
As a soul, sometimes the world appeared in third-person view. From Kania to Irina, Aria to Isolet—chaotic but patterned shifts. After Serena appeared, it fixed on her for a long time.
More surprisingly... I could feel their inner thoughts during shifts.
Of course, key lines or thoughts were muddled, hard to grasp.
But... one line was clear enough to infer completely from the mush.
— ...The God... the God will awaken.
'No matter how I think, Perloché's words then were [The Demon God will awaken.]'
The system seemed reluctant to give helpful info, but Perloché's diary code 'half Demon God' let me infer it from the trial.
Feels good—like I got one over on the annoying system.
Second Trial Ended.
"Sheesh."
As I thought that, the system popped a curt message like it was sulking.
The system's pettiness wasn't new, but this crossed a line. Even if it's the 'first' reward, ending on such short talk?
Truly, as the ancestor said, a total shit game...
—Crackle crackle zap!
"Wh-what?"
Suddenly, the world shook.
"...Hm?"
At the same time, something in the Demon King's bosom began glowing.
"Demon King? What's that?"
"This... an old scroll I bought."
"...Pardon?"
Drimirkan looked flustered; the Demon King intrigued.
"Why keep something like that?"
"First scroll I couldn't decipher—got curious."
"Even you, Demon King, couldn't read that worn-out thing?"
Drimirkan frowned; the Demon King spoke excitedly.
"Oh, it's finally activating. Spent years trying, nothing."
That's when I sensed something off.
'Why isn't the trial ending?'
The system declared the second trial over. So why...?
Critical Error Occurred!
System Updating...
"Huh?"
A red system window appeared before my eyes.
—Crackle zap zap!
"...Huh?"
Only then did I realize the Demon King's figure was somehow invisible.
'Why didn't I notice?'
In the previous loop, when I finally met her and charged for mutual destruction, I hadn't perceived her form. Some perception-blocking magic? Then why notice now?
—Fzzzzzzt!!
As I pondered, a sparkling flash erupted from the scroll.
"......Ah?"
And that moment, I saw it. The Demon King's ruby-red eyes, gazing intrigued at the scroll.
System error fixed! Ending trial.
But the next instant, a red window appeared, and everything went black.
"...What? That's...?"
The last thing I saw before consciousness faded: the sun stained black.
"Mm..."
Slowly opening my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling.
'Been a while.'
Seems I'm lying in my room at the Starlight Mansion.
"Up we go..."
Gazing fondly at my clean room—no poison gas, no fire—I sensed a presence and stiffened, looking aside.
—Pop! Boom!!
"Eek!"
Fireworks burst. Startled and flinching, someone offered me a cake.
".....What are you two doing?"
Staring blankly at the cake with a familiar cat decoration, I spotted Kania and Irina—birthday hats on, holding fireworks—and asked puzzled.
"Well, um, today is..."
"It's Young Master's birthday today."
"What?"
Irina stammered, glancing at me; Kania smiled softly.
"Happy birthday, Young Master."
The day the second trial ended was one week after the Starlight Mansion attack.