novelraw Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Ch.87 Was this… a silent battle of wills?
“Ugh…!”
My throat burned with unbearable thirst.
“Water… please…”
“Here. I’ve got it.”
At the clear, gentle voice, I barely opened my eyes to see a cup brimming with water shimmering before me. I snatched it roughly.
—Gulp, gulp.
The cool liquid sliding down my esophagus refreshed me instantly—my mind cleared, consciousness returning.
Before me stood Cecilia…
and…
“C-Could it be… I died and went to hell?”
After all, there was no way the Hero Party would be standing right in front of me unless this was damnation itself.
“Hell?! Why would you say something so frightening?”
A vein visibly throbbed on Cecilia’s forehead.
“Well… it’s just that…”
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The four women before my eyes.
All of them—the worst characters in the original story.
Scarlet, the broken Hero—traumatized, self-harming, and emotionally unstable.
Leah—the male-hating pyromaniac with borderline personality disorder.
Cecilia—the so-called saint whose devotion had spiraled into full-blown yandere obsession.
Mia—the elf queen who despised humans so deeply she collected their flayed skins.
If these women were here with me…
“This can’t possibly be heaven, right? Not with you lot around.”
At my words, all four wore expressions of utter shock.
“What?! Father Hans?! How can you—?!”
“Master?! How could you say such a thing to us?!”
“Patron!”
“Sage! Isn’t that a bit too harsh?!”
Huh? But hell shouldn’t feel this vivid…
Still bewildered, I heard—
—Creak!
The door opened, revealing Nekhuf and Nephert.
“Thank you, Saintess. Nekhuf has safely woken up…
“Is Brother Hans… okay?”
Wait… why are they here?
Only then did I realize—this wasn’t heaven or hell.
And if that was true…
“Whoa! How did you all get here?!”
—Thwack!
“Finally awake, huh?! You damn master! Do you have any idea how long we’ve been chasing you?!”
Leah grabbed me by the collar and shook me violently.
Thanks to that, I fully grasped: this was reality—my cabin aboard the passenger liner.
…Please, just send me to hell instead.
“Whoa!”
“Leah! Let go! Hans is still a patient—he needs rest, not your rage!”
Cecilia tried to pull Leah away, but her eyes weren’t exactly kind either.
Was that her way of saying, ‘I’d kill you right now if it weren’t for basic human decency?’
Either way, escaping this situation was clearly the best move.
But how?
In that split second, I desperately searched for a way out.
And I found it…
“Ahh…! My head—suddenly dizzy!”
I flopped dramatically onto the bed—only to feel four pairs of sharp, suspicious glares.
“Oh dear! Does Father Hans have a headache? Then I’ll make sure you never get one again! Leah, where’s my mace?!”
She meant to smash my skull in, didn’t she?
Though smiling sweetly, her tone promised to ‘ensure’ I’d never suffer headaches again—by destroying my head entirely.
I immediately dropped to my knees on the bed.
“No, Saintess Cecilia! Your concern alone has cured my headache. Thank you!”
And perhaps because of those words…
the eyes of everyone except Cecilia turned icy cold.
“Wow… So Brother Hans is a playboy?”
“Nekhuf, don’t look. You’ll catch his flirtatiousness.”
Nephert’s offhand remark made the room’s atmosphere deeply awkward.
Leah and Cecilia trembled with suppressed fury, while Scarlet and Mia radiated chilling calm.
It was a bizarre contradiction—scorching rage and glacial cold coexisting in one room.
Then, in perfect unison, they all shouted:
“Explain yourself!”
***
Selena teleported back to her mansion.
She collapsed limply onto the floor.
—Clatter…
Altarion’s Staff rolled away, forgotten.
She didn’t care. She just wept.
She’d shoved Hans deep into the ocean…
His life would end soon.
Every time she closed her eyes, his face appeared vividly:
Their first meeting outside a village in the New Continent.
Bickering over a bed in a stranger’s home.
Ambushing him as he retrieved Altarion’s Staff.
Receiving her first gift from him—and watching the night sea from the lighthouse roof.
The journey to the Arctic… and the memories made there.
Even dancing together on the ship.
To Selena, those moments were true happiness—she could say that without hesitation.
But now, guilt over betraying him—and fury at the false god who forced her hand—consumed her.
(Though she believed that once the Final Day ended, they’d be together again.)
“Ahh… the comb.”
She stared blankly at her empty palm, then burst into tears again.
“I’m sorry… Huhh… Hans, I’m so sorry!”
She deeply regretted not taking the comb he’d given her when she’d abruptly left.
It was the first gift she’d ever received from someone outside the Order or the Organization.
As Selena sobbed in her room—
—Click!
“Lady Selena?! You’re back—wait, why are you crying?!”
Old butler Alex had sensed a surge of immense magic and a woman’s weeping from her empty room and rushed in.
Seeing Selena—whom he hadn’t seen in so long—crying brokenly, he hurried to her side.
“Alex… Huhh…”
Even seeing him again didn’t stop her tears.
“I… I…”
Unable to speak, Selena choked on her words.
Alex knelt before her and gently offered a handkerchief.
“Calm yourself. Why are you crying so bitterly?”
She wiped her eyes with the handkerchief and whispered weakly,
“I traveled… made friends… and then… he tried to stop us… Huhh…”
She broke down again at the thought of Hans.
Since such heartbreak was all too common among his charges, Alex patted her shoulder gently and said carefully,
“Don’t grieve so deeply. On the Final Day, misunderstandings will be cleared. And… the King has returned.”
“R-Really?”
“He has declared that the time has come.”
Hearing the King had returned, her trembling subsided.
If the King of the Dead had returned…
then the God’s descent was imminent.
And that meant…
she’d soon meet Hans again—in death.
Wiping her tears with the handkerchief, she rose to her feet.
“Where is Cardinal Davinus?”
“He’s been searching for you for a long time.”
She nodded.
“Tell him I’ll bathe and come see him.”
At last, the Order and the Organization—long hidden in the shadows—were about to reveal themselves.
***
After the commotion, having lost the Trident of the Sea God and thus the power to move the massive passenger liner, Nekhuf’s group and I transferred to Scarlet’s ship.
Now, the Hero Party and the elf couple had dragged chairs into my cabin, surrounding me.
Their burning stares demanded an explanation—and my stomach twisted.
How did it come to this?
How long had it even been since Selena’s betrayal before I landed in this crisis?
Was this world’s god just out to get me?
Or did it want to see me torn into four pieces?
I truly didn’t understand how things got this bad.
Four women glared at me, silently screaming, ‘Explain. Now.’
Meanwhile, Nephert muttered beside me,
“How can someone surrounded by such stunning beauties chase after another woman? Humans really are hopeless… Tsk tsk.”
And Nekhuf added cheerfully,
“But Brother Hans is amazing! Among humans, the greatest men are said to gather many women…”
“Nekhuf wouldn’t do that, right?”
“Of course not. I’m a Sand Elf, after all.”
I wished someone would just remove this couple fanning the flames of a burning house.
But where should I even begin explaining?
They just demanded an explanation—but gave no starting point.
How was I supposed to explain ‘Destiny’?
“What’s with the hesitation, Sage?”
“Well… Lady Mia…”
—Thud!
Leah slammed her palm on the table, veins bulging in her neck.
“Master! Why do you speak casually to me but use honorifics with Mia?!”
“Well… Mia’s a high elf, isn’t she?”
Leah was my disciple; Mia was a high elf—equivalent to royalty among humans. Of course I used honorifics.
“But Mia and I are friends! Then you should use honorifics with me too!”
I didn’t get why she was upset over titles, but to lighten my guilt even slightly, I gave her a bright smile.
“Lady Leah?”
“Kyaaaah! Don’t! That’s so cringey!”
Leah’s over-the-top reaction left me unsure how to respond.
“So what do you want me to do, then?”
At my simple question, Leah’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“J-Just… call me by my name.”
What was she playing at?
She was my disciple, yet I couldn’t read her mind at all.
So this is how hard it is to understand a madman’s thoughts…
“Hmm… Sage, call me by name too, if you would.”
Mia shot Leah a sharp glance as she spoke.
I blinked in confusion.
“Huh? Right now?”
—Nod.
“Me too! Call me by name, Father Hans!”
“But Saintess, I couldn’t possibly…”
“Me too!”
Now even Cecilia and Scarlet joined in, demanding I use their names.
Something felt deeply off.
Was this… a silent battle of wills?
Were they sizing each other up, waiting to carve me into limbs?
The image of them smiling sweetly while dismembering me flashed in my mind—
—Gulp.
I swallowed hard.
But Leah, oblivious to my terror, tilted her head and sighed deeply.
“Anyway… just explain what’s going on.”
“Sigh… Fine. I’ll tell you everything.”
There was no turning back now.
Fighting them in the middle of the ocean would be disastrous.
One gesture from these monsters could sink this entire liner in seconds.
Best to tell the truth—and maybe even ask for their help.
“The thing is… I’m not actually from this world.”
I stated the secret I’d hidden so long—flatly, plainly.
“What?!”
“What do you mean?”
All four women’s eyes widened in shock.
Of course they’d be stunned—but as the one forced to explain, I could only offer an awkward smile.
“Hmph. So you’ve run out of lies and are resorting to fairy tales now?”
Nephert, ever tone-deaf, earned glares from the entire Hero Party.
She fell silent with a sheepish look.
“No third parties,” Scarlet snapped, eyes narrowed.
Cecilia added, “Exactly! We only let you sit here because you seem close to Father Hans—so don’t butt in!”
Good heavens… since when did a saint say ‘butt in’?
Seeing Cecilia radiate killing intent, the two elves simply nodded in alarm.
With the room quiet again, I carefully began.
“Where I’m from… is a world without magic, but with advanced science and technology. There, people play games—like ‘Destiny’—for entertainment…”
I started my story.
I spoke of how much I loved ‘Destiny’, how long I’d played it…
but their expressions remained rigid, unmoved.
“So what?” Scarlet asked coldly. “What does this ‘Destiny’ game have to do with you, Patron?”
I gave an embarrassed smile.
“Well… in that game, the Demon King appears. If the Hero is male, he’s Theo; if female, she’s Scarlet.”
—Flinch.
At that simple statement, all four stiffened.
“And the saintess… is a woman named Cecilia.”
“You can’t possibly mean…” Mia’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “That this world is merely a game, Sage?”
I responded with an ambiguous smile.
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