Chapter 191
“That’s not right… right… There’s no way Your Highness’s dead…”
“Your body feels cold, so I’ll help Your Highness…”
“O-our kin are waiting only for Your Highness… So please, wake up…!”
The three desperately denied reality. Even if their heads understood the fact that Franz was dead, their hearts could not accept it.
It felt as though he would get up at any moment and grumble about how hard it was. Just like usual, just like always.
But his coldly stiffened body showed no signs of moving.
As time passed and the gruesome reality gradually dug into their hearts, the first emotion they felt was anger.
“No, I said no-! Why does Your Highness have to be the one to sacrifice Yourself-! Why-!”
Yuna screamed with a tear-filled voice and struck the ground with her fist. But it only kicked up a cloud of dirt, even with all her might.
“This kind of world really should have disappeared - a world that forces sacrifices on innocent people!”
Yusti-ah’s sorrowful cry echoed through the world.
Her hands, clutching the dirt, trembled uncontrollably, because she was unable to overcome her anger.
“If anyone is listening, please answer me… Just why did we have to sacrifice for the world… For what purpose…! Please…!”
Hera cried out to the world, tearing at her hair. Her green hair was covered in dirt and tangled, having long since lost its beauty.
After pouring out their anger like that, the next thing they did was compromise with the world.
“I don’t need the hero’s power or anything, so take it all away…! Just give Franz back…! Please…”
“G-Goddess, I worked hard. I did everything Your Highness told me to. So please, just help me this once. Please. I’ll die without this person-!”
“I will offer up whatever little lifespan I have left. It doesn’t matter if I die, so please save him…”
The three earnestly pleaded to the god who might be watching this situation from somewhere in this world.
The only thing they wished for was for Franz to come back to life.
However, naturally, there was no way the world would grant such a request. More accurately, it couldn’t grant it.
Because even the Creator, Luan, could not turn his death into nothingness.
He was a transmigrator, a stranger to this world.
In fact, his ability to use divine power was only possible because Luan had exerted an immense amount of effort.
The tears of the three soaked the dirt.
They didn’t even have the strength to twitch their bodies, yet their tears flowed endlessly without restraint.
“Franz, I’m sorry… It’s all my fault… If only I had been a little stronger, Your Highness wouldn’t have ended up like this…”
“I’m sorry… Just like Your Highness said, I was an incompetent person… That’s why I couldn’t even save Your Highness…”
“I am sorry… If I had resolved myself to die instead, I might have been able to save Your Highness…”
In the end, the three fully accepted Franz’s death.
And at the same time, they thought that they would follow him before long.
They couldn’t destroy the world he had saved, so they chose death instead.
Had Tiamat said he would teach them despair? The three were feeling despair to their very bones.
It was then.
The bizarre staff he was holding began to emit a faint light.
The three stared at it powerlessly.
No matter what happened, it didn’t seem like he would return, so they didn’t even harbor any hope.
The 9 leaves attached to Mistilteinn lost their freshness one by one and withered away.
One, two, three… eight, and nine.
The sight of the final leaf withering at the end seemed to announce Franz’s death.
Thus, tears once again began to flow from the eyes of the three.
In the Eastern Continent, within the giant pit that had been the cult’s hideout, the crying of the three echoed.
That was the moment when everyone was about to give up.
Twitch-.
Franz’s finger moved.
“Huh…?”
“D-did he just move…?”
“Am I seeing hallucinations now…”
They say that where there is hope, there is despair, and where there is despair, there is hope?
A small ember of hope bloomed within their hearts, which had been filled with despair.
Soon, that hope gradually grew in size until…
“Ah… I’m dying…”
Franz’s voice was heard, and at the same time, it filled their hearts.
* * *
“Is this my life flashing before my eyes?”
Right after taking down the Demon God, Franz had a fascinating experience.
His past experiences slowly flashed before his eyes, one after another.
He progressed from his school days in the modern 21st century to rolling around like a dog and getting a job at a small-to-medium enterprise.
While playing a game where the protagonist was a Mage and preparing to change jobs, he was dragged into this world to become a 7-year-old child.
The moment he first learned magic, the journey to subjugate the Demon Lord, and the moment he collapsed after using 10th Circle Magic for the first time.
He hadn’t realized it when he experienced them individually, but seeing them all together like this, it seemed his life had many ups and downs.
‘Well, not that it matters while I’m dead.’
Thinking that, Franz watched the world flowing past his eyes.
He wasn’t frustrated or scared by the fact that he was dead. It was just that he felt a bit hollow, perhaps.
He just wondered what it would have been like if he had mustered a little more courage.
He should have gotten angry at least once when his money was extorted in school, and he should have said no when his boss criticized him over ridiculous things.
And to them, too, a little…
Meanwhile, the sight of Tiamat dying, regeneration, and with that, the world began to be dyed in white.
It seemed it was finally time to go.
He hoped that, after death, he could live leisurely.
Wishing for that, Franz gently closed his eyes.
Eventually, when he opened his eyes, instead of a peaceful world, he was welcomed by an agonizing pain that felt like his entire body was being torn apart.
“Ah… I’m dying…”
Before he could even grasp reality, a voice popped out of his mouth.
“Franz…?”
“A-is Your Highness… alive…?”
“I-is it real? My eyes aren’t playing tricks on me?”
He turned his head at the voices coming from right next to him, but something obscured his vision, making it hard to see ahead.
<Warning!>
<You are on the verge of a bad ending! Your choices will greatly impact the fate of the world!>
Why were these damn holograms tormenting him even after he died?
It wasn’t even just one; dozens of them were filling his vision, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
Franz casually waved his finger around, swiping all the holograms away.
Then, he finally saw their figures.
“What’s with Your Highness’s appearance…?”
Dirt and blood were mixed and stuck all over their faces, and the rims of their eyes were red as if they had been crying. No, to be exact, they were still crying at that moment.
“Y-Your Highness is a bad guyyyy…!”
“I told Your Highness so many times not to overdo it…!”
“Is Your Highness planning to make me a debtor forever…!”
Saying that, the three buried their faces in Franz’s chest.
Soon, he felt his chest getting damp along with the sound of their sniffles, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
It was something he felt sorry for them, even if it was to save the world.
However, apart from that…
“Could Your Highness get off me for a bit…”
No joke, his body hurt so much he felt like he was going to die. It felt like every joint in his entire body was being severed.
In such a situation, with them burying their faces in his chest, it felt like his chest was collapsing, physically, of course.
“Is Your Highness really saying that right now…?! Does Your Highness know how much I… because of Your Highness…”
“Just bear with it for now…!”
“I am sorry, but I cannot move…”
In the end, they did not get off his chest.
Franz wasn’t in a condition to move his body either, so he ultimately had no choice but to endure the pain just like that.
Still, well, it was somewhat bearable.
Having almost died a whopping two times, he had gotten somewhat used to the pain, one could say.
How much time had passed since then? The girls, who had been sniffling for a long while, stopped crying.
Soon, they moved off Franz’s chest. Their bodies and minds had recovered to some extent.
However, Franz was still in a state where he couldn’t twitch a single finger.
But it wasn’t to the point of dying either, so it could be called truly bizarre.
“So how are we supposed to get back now…?”
It wasn’t a situation where he could use magic right away.
His mana core had recovered, but it was in such a precarious state that it would immediately run wild if he used magic.
And walking out was out of the question; with this body, attempting such a thing was impossible in itself.
The other three had also recovered to some extent, but it was equally impossible for them.
Then the only thing left to do was…
“Do we wait until my mana core stabilizes?”
However, he didn’t know how many days that would take. He was just confused since this was his first time in such a situation.
Still, it seemed like about half a month would be enough, but…
“Then do we have to stay stuck here until then?”
It was when Franz was inwardly worrying about various things.
“Franz, when we get back later, there’s something I want to tell Your Highness.”
Yuna suddenly spoke in a serious tone.
“Franz, I have something to say too. Will Your Highness listen to it later?”
Yusti-ah’s voice was also quite serious.
“I also have something to say, and if there is a chance, I wish to convey it to Your Highness.”
Hera was the same.
He could roughly guess what they were going to say. They were probably going to say that.
Just what should he answer them with?
Another worry was added to Franz’s mind.