novelraw Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Ch.92 Burn myself
“Cecilia?! What are you talking about?! Master’s going to die?!”
Leah, clearly sharing my thoughts, demanded an answer with a pale face.
Cecilia, still wearing her calm smile, gave an almost mature-looking grin.
“A prophecy is just a prophecy. Its meaning is more likely indirect than literal.”
Scarlet slammed her hand on the desk and shouted,
“Exactly! Then explain it in a way we can actually understand!”
I, too, was burning with curiosity and blurted out urgently,
“Yes! Give us a proper explanation!”
“It’s a metaphor—plain and simple,” Cecilia replied. “‘The adversary shall rise. I shall burn myself.’ That doesn’t mean Father Hans will literally set himself on fire to save the world.”
Ah… So it’s like those cryptic prophecies from Greek and Roman myths?
But even so, doesn’t it blatantly hint at my death?
Is there any other way to interpret this prophecy besides my own demise?
“That’s ridiculous! ‘Burn myself’ can only mean sacrifice—what other meaning could it possibly have?”
Even Mia chimed in.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking this way.
Cecilia sighed in exasperation.
“The more a prophecy seems straightforward, the more tangled it becomes when you try to prevent it. The moment you fixate on Father Hans’s sacrifice as inevitable, the prophecy fulfills itself.”
Ah… Could this be like the Oedipus prophecy?
In Greek myth, Oedipus was foretold at birth that he would kill his father, Laius, and marry his mother.
Naturally, Laius tried to prevent it by abandoning baby Oedipus—but that very act set the prophecy in motion.
Wait a minute… Could I use this to my advantage?
In the game ‘Destiny’, there were several prophecies about heroes—prophecies of despair, prophecies of victory.
But players could sometimes intervene and break them.
Of course, there were safeguards to prevent players from acting completely freely—but if you outmaneuvered those, you could change the outcome.
Heh heh… This might actually work out for me.
Judging from the prophecy, the key point seems to be:
—He shall burn himself, and light shall shine upon the world from darkness.
If I handle this part carefully…
“So you’re saying we should just ignore Master’s death?”
“That’s absurd! What kind of irresponsible prophecy is that?”
“Even if it’s from a god, I won’t allow such cruelty!”
“Exactly! Even if Hans is a shameless flirt, he doesn’t deserve to die!”
“Let him live or die—we don’t care, right, Nekhuf?”
Their noisy arguing must have gotten to her—Cecilia’s smooth forehead furrowed in frustration.
“Ugh! Stop taking the prophecy so literally! It’s a metaphor! But if you insist it’s true and fight against it, you’ll make it come true!”
Heh heh… If I play this right, I might just get rid of these troublesome girls.
Officially, I’m dating three of them right now.
They don’t seem to realize it yet—but since it’s not public knowledge, maybe I can fake my death and escape?
After all, the prophecy says I’ll sacrifice myself.
They’d have no choice but to believe it this time.
And while I’m at it, I’ll get Leah to remove that tracking spell she put on me.
As this plan formed in my mind…
‘Gotta keep my expression under control. Don’t give anything away.’
“Then, does the Sage have any guarantee he won’t die completely?”
Mia’s sharp question made Cecilia snap.
“Not a perfect guarantee… but I believe the gods wouldn’t let Father Hans die! Prophecies rarely come true literally—they usually unfold metaphorically! In fact, the more you resist a divine prophecy, the more literally it tends to happen!”
Watching the girls grow louder, I forced a solemn expression.
“Listen, everyone… If sacrificing my life means all of you can be happy… then this life of mine isn’t worth clinging to.”
‘In reality, it’s incredibly precious.’
‘Why wouldn’t it be? I’m living here as an absurdly wealthy man!’
“Master, no!”
“Hans, it’s me—Leah! There must be another way, just like Cecilia said!”
The women tried to stop me.
“If this is the mission the gods have given me… then what’s one life compared to saving the world?”
“Exactly! Father Hans! With that kind of resolve, you’ll surely survive!”
Cecilia cheered at my words—
Zzrit.
Zzrit.
—but the other girls’ glares at her were anything but friendly.
“Is this really the time to be happy?”
“Yeah! Master’s about to sacrifice himself because of your cursed prophecy?!”
Mia and Leah scolded her fiercely.
“You’re right! Cecilia, I never thought you’d be this shallow!”
“Saintess! How can you say something like that?!”
“Let Hans live or die—we don’t care, right, Nekhuf?”
Even Scarlet and Nekhuf joined in berating her.
“W-why is everyone so mad at me?”
Cecilia pouted, on the verge of tears.
Satisfied to see her cornered, I quietly began sketching out the bigger picture.
***
Once the prophecy discussion settled down, the Hero Party’s women gathered in the room, silently sizing each other up.
All wore serious expressions—except Cecilia, whose face remained calm.
“Explain the prophecy a bit more,” Leah said, speaking for everyone.
Cecilia just shrugged.
“I already told you everything.”
Leah flared her nostrils, baring her teeth with a fierce glare.
“So it’s true—Master won’t die?”
“Not if we don’t obsess over the prophecy.”
The Papal Archives held many prophecies—not just about the God of Death.
Most prophecies came true.
Those with tragic endings became even more tragic the harder people tried to avoid them.
But Cecilia knew that submitting to divine prophecy often led to better outcomes—which was why she was so certain.
‘Father Hans isn’t evil. He’s a figure personally chosen by the gods. They wouldn’t abandon someone like him.’
It was a deeply subjective belief—but Cecilia truly believed it, and her eyes shone with unwavering conviction.
“Sigh… You probably understand prophecies better than we do. If you say so, then it must be true.”
Mia’s words briefly quieted the room.
Glancing between Scarlet and Leah’s anxious faces and Cecilia’s serene one, Mia cautiously continued,
“Then… what should we do about the Sage—no, about Hans from now on?”
Though softly spoken, everyone present understood the weight behind her question.
‘Now’s the time. I need to turn everyone against Father Hans. That way, I can get rid of unnecessary rivals.’
‘I have to make them all give up on Master.’
Mia, Cecilia, and Leah all believed Hans was already dating them.
Even though the game was technically over, they worried he might still take someone with him.
Mia, in particular, was deeply uneasy.
‘He actually rejected a High Elf? Now’s my chance to show the Sage exactly what it means to be an elf—the race of pure love.’
Each of the three women thought that if the others left, Hans would focus solely on her—and so they began weaving invisible strategies, laying intricate traps.
Then Leah opened the attack.
“In the end, Master was just using us, wasn’t he?”
“Exactly! Even if it was to defeat the Demon King, there was no reason to hide this from us!”
Telling complete strangers, ‘I’m from another world, and I’ll help you defeat the Demon King,’ might not be believable—but that wasn’t Cecilia’s concern right now.
She needed to manipulate opinion against Hans through relentless provocation and lies, eliminating her rivals.
“Once we defeat the King of the Dead and the God of Death, we must cut all ties with that human trash!”
Hiding her sinister intentions behind a performance of rage and hatred, she pressed on:
“Think about it! What he did may have been right in hindsight—but he played with our hearts!”
In truth, Hans never intended to toy with anyone’s feelings.
Doing so would’ve been foolish—these girls were already emotionally unstable enough as it was.
He’d simply tried to help, unaware that his actions would be seen as flirting in this world.
Still, Mia stood up from her chair, clapping with tearful admiration at Cecilia’s passionate speech.
“Cecilia, you’re absolutely right. I feel like a fool for holding onto hope that the Sage might have had unavoidable reasons.”
‘Mia’s inner thoughts:’
‘Perfect! Now Cecilia’s given up on him!’
“Exactly! Let’s completely ignore Master from now on!”
Even clever Leah joined in.
‘If I do this, the girls will naturally drift away…’
—all while hiding her devious intentions.
Scarlet, watching this unfold, thought:
‘But… did Hans really do something so unforgivable?’
She’d first met him through letters, then fought the Mage Tower’s golem together.
He’d consistently helped her ever since—and she was grateful.
Sure, his overprotectiveness made her mistakenly think he liked her—but…
‘He did say that in his world, men and women can be just friends…’
The other three were utterly convinced they alone were Hans’s true love.
They believed that if they turned public opinion against him, the others would naturally leave.
But then Scarlet spoke firmly:
“I don’t think that way. No matter what, he did help us, didn’t he?”
Her words rang like an alarm bell for the other three.
‘That airhead and old hag aren’t threats—but Scarlet…’
‘She’s a formidable rival.’
‘Still, my love won’t lose!’
To them—each convinced she was the best of the three—Scarlet seemed like a rival without weaknesses.
Scarlet’s words were perfectly reasonable…
but the three couldn’t accept them.
“What?! Can you really swear that not even for a single moment did he have ulterior motives beneath that ‘helpful’ attitude?!”
“Yeah! And didn’t Master sneak into the convent just to see you, Cecilia?!”
“You’re both right! He’s a shameless man!”
Blinking in surprise, Scarlet replied,
“Cecilia, he took the blame and entered the convent just to save you—how can you say that? And didn’t Hans say it himself? In his world, men and women can be friends.”
By the conservative standards of this world, Hans’s actions were indeed scandalous—but his world was different.
Scarlet had chosen to understand him on those terms.
At her words, the three exchanged uneasy glances.
‘This won’t be easy.’
‘Miss Scarlet?! You dare try to steal my Father Hans?!’
‘You insolent wretch!’
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