Chapter 258
The Goddess, having just woken up, was staring at Franz with wide eyes. Her terrified appearance made it seem as if she had encountered a burglar who had sneaked into her house.
Then again, who would have expected anyone to visit? Since the creation of the world, Franz was the only one capable of such a feat, so it was natural for him to be surprised.
Anyway, to think that the Goddess actually slept.
It felt like watching a cat catch a mouse. He knew it as a matter of fact, but seeing it in person was a novel experience.
It was then. Had she belatedly come to her senses? The terrified expression on the Goddess’s face gradually softened.
“F-Franz?”
“I apologize for waking you. If you plan to sleep more, I will take my leave.”
“N-No. More importantly, what brings you here…?”
“Well… I think it would be best if you pulled up your clothes first.”
“My clothes? What do you mean…”
The Goddess trailed off and lowered her gaze. And then she saw it. One of the shoulder straps of the thin dress she was wearing had slipped down.
“T-This is, I mean, that’s not it…!”
Her face flushing red, the Goddess flusteredly pulled up her shoulder strap.
Her reaction struck Franz as quite intriguing.
To an omnipotent and omniscient God, a human would be nothing more than a lowly creature, so it was truly fascinating that she felt embarrassment before such a being.
“W-Wait just a moment. I’ll be ready soon.”
“Please take your time.”
The moment the Goddess stepped down from the bed and planted her feet on the ground, a bright light enveloped her body, and a pure white dress materialized. It was the outfit she usually wore, one that was familiar to Franz as well.
At the same time, the bed was also bathed in a bright light and vanished without a trace in an instant, as if it had never existed there in the first place.
Soon, the Goddess, having regained her composure, stood facing Franz.
“I’m sorry. I showed you an unsightly appearance.”
“Not at all. It wasn’t exactly to that extent…”
“E-Even if you praise me like that, nothing will come out of it, you know…?”
Is that how it works…?
Franz felt a momentary doubt, but decided not to think too deeply about it. There was nothing more exhausting than trying to understand the incomprehensible.
“Anyway, the reason I came to see you today is this.”
Franz took out a key from the bag at his waist. Then, a door made of light appeared in a place where there had clearly been nothing.
A door had been created even though no one had used divine power. That fact was enough to shock the Goddess.
“H-How did this happen…?”
“It will be a somewhat long story to explain, but would that be alright?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Then let’s have a cup of tea.”
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, a teapot and teacups materialized on a round table.
Steaming tea filled the two teacups, and Franz, sitting across from the Goddess, slowly began his story.
“You already know that I am not from this world, don’t you?”
“Yes, I knew, because your soul was different from other people’s.”
That was probably why he hadn’t been able to use divine power even after becoming a Saint, though he had somehow managed to resolve it with the Goddess’s help.
Anyway, if she knew that, the explanation would be quick.
“To be honest, I don’t really know how it happened either. It truly just occurred at some point.”
“That’s a bit unexpected. I naturally thought someone had sent you.”
“…Is there a reason you thought so?”
Franz felt as if he had been struck in the head for a moment. He had the awareness of being transmigrated, but he had never considered that someone might have caused it.
If so, who in the world could that someone be…?
“Actually, it’s half guesswork. You appeared at a time when a great threat was approaching the world. The fact that I didn’t know you were coming can be understood if we assume there is another being of equal standing to me.”
“When you say equal standing…”
“There is a god. Just as I exist in this world, and the Demon God existed, there is another god in a different dimension. Of course, it’s strictly a hypothesis.”
As she said, it was merely a hypothesis. There were surely many other possibilities besides that.
However, the ripple that hypothesis caused in Franz was not small. It felt as though he had taken a step closer to understanding his own existence for the first time.
He couldn’t be certain of anything right now, but as time passed, it would eventually be revealed. Yes, it surely would.
Having organized his thoughts in that manner, Franz continued his story once more.
“The door you just saw is likely the door that returns to the world I originally lived in.”
“The key you have must be the key that opens that door.”
“Yes, it definitely is.”
“Hmm…”
Was she pondering something? The Goddess furrowed her brow and let out a low groan.
Eventually, her eyes shifted and fixed on Franz.
“Do you perhaps want to go back…?”
“I…”
“Tell me no. No, you can’t go back. I won’t let you.”
The Goddess’s eyes flashed.
She was definitely smiling, but the emotion beneath it was absolutely not positive. The fact that her expression felt eerie was surely for that reason.
Haa-.
Letting out a long sigh, Franz took a sip of his tea and set the teacup down soundlessly.
“I have no intention of going back right away, so please do not worry. That is the reason I came to see you in the first place.”
“What reason…?”
“I want to use that door freely, not so that it disappears after one use, but so that I can use it whenever I want.”
Before he knew it, it had been over 20 years since he started living in this world. Honestly, his longing for the other world was gradually fading by now.
Even so, there was only one reason he wanted to return to the other world: he wanted to show his women the other world. More accurately, he wanted to share those memories with them.
If someone were to ask if he was trying to pull off such a massive undertaking just for that, he wouldn’t really have anything to say. It was true that there were no particular hindrances to his life here.
But he wanted to do it. No, he would make it happen somehow, just as he had done so far.
“If that were the case, you should have said so from the beginning. I thought you were trying to run away to the other side without even getting my child pregnant.”
Is it okay then to get her pregnant and run away…?
Such a thought popped into Franz’s mind for a moment, but he immediately erased it. It wasn’t a thought a sane person would have.
“Anyway, if that’s the case, I’ll help you as much as you need, though it might take quite a long time.”
“I will also research it as much as possible.”
Still, it was a relief that things worked out well.
With the Goddess, an expert in this field, offering to help, he felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
It was then. A crack formed in the perfectly empty air, and someone suddenly poked their head out.
“You two are playing without me again…!”
With eye-catching green hair, the one who poked her head out was none other than the World Tree.
Upon spotting her, the Goddess, unusually, welcomed her gladly.
“World Tree, you’ve come at just the right time. Let’s work on something together.”
“It’s a little scary that you’re welcoming me…”
“Because it’s a request from my prospective son-in-law.”
“Franz? No, more importantly, who is your prospective son-in-law? He’s my prospective son-in-law, you know?”
The two bickered as soon as they met. It was always like this, so it almost felt like they were close friends by now.
Afterward, at the Goddess’s request, Franz showed them the bizarre door one more time.
The World Tree’s reaction upon seeing it was not much different from the reaction the Goddess had shown.
“Then I will head back first.”
With that farewell, Franz rose from his seat. There was no reason for him to remain there any longer.
All that was left was to wait for the World Tree and the Goddess to bring good results. Of course, he would be conducting his own personal research in the meantime.
Soon, when Franz opened his eyes, the sun was already rising over the mountain ridge.
No matter how many times he experienced it, he could never get used to this sensation of having skipped through time.
* * *
It happened one day, some time after that.
Franz headed to the Imperial Palace at the emperor’s summons.
Facing him in the office as usual, the emperor looked as though he had many worries, just like always.
“Franz, didn’t you propose establishing something called a guild before?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Surely many people will gather at the guild, from those seeking honor to those desperate for money. Among them, there will definitely be outstandingly skilled individuals.”
Certainly, as the emperor said, many people would gather at the guild. The guild would operate strictly on meritocracy, regardless of status. It would receive a lot of attention, especially from Commoners.
“Then shouldn’t the representative of the guild be someone capable of leading them? At the same time, it must be someone everyone can fully trust. However, I simply cannot think of such a person.”
“Certainly, such a person wouldn’t be common…”
Franz didn’t have anyone in particular in mind either. He had been crazy about magic in the first place, so his social circle wasn’t very wide.
While he continued to ponder, one person came to mind.
“I am not certain yet, but how about asking the Hero?”
Wouldn’t Yuna be perfectly suited for that position? With her skills and the trust she commanded, she was the perfect talent, without it even needing to be said.