Chapter: 139
“It’s not late, is it?”
“No way, how… wasn’t I reincarnated?”
The hero was incredibly flustered to see his deceased wife right in front of him, and I couldn’t help but chuckle softly at his reaction.
Well, I mean, it’s only natural, isn’t it? To see the person you thought had already died and been reincarnated standing right there? If he wasn’t puzzled, he wouldn’t be human after all. Obviously.
I gave the hero a light pat on the shoulder and said,
“To be precise, your wife has already been reincarnated.”
“Huh? But what’s standing in front of me is…”
“It’s a doppelganger pieced together from the remnants of her soul that lingered in the Afterlife, using your memories of her. Of course, it doesn’t have a soul, and since it was recreated based on your memories, it can’t really move without you.”
During the time I was creating paradise and connecting it to the Afterlife, I just happened to discover the fragments of her soul she left behind after reincarnation.
Normally, such remnants would disappear within days, but the fact that some of her soul, which had reincarnated years ago, still remained is truly a miracle.
“Well, even for me, reassembling a fragmented soul wasn’t an easy task. The process took about half of the 49 days since your death.”
Creating the paradise itself wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be. Since it’s an immaterial space, I didn’t need to create everything all over again, and I just had a little trouble with applying changes that respond to the souls.
If I’d just made it a space purely for storing souls, I could’ve wrapped it up in about three days. Hmmm.
After I finished the basic structure, I spent the remaining time working on functions like letting souls transform into their desired forms, separating them, and allowing only the souls to reincarnate.
Honestly, creating a world from scratch is way easier than tweaking an existing one. It’s just wild.
Plus, this world, created this way, is far easier to modify compared to pre-existing worlds.
It’s like I should have started it this way from the get-go.
“Impressive… I don’t really get it, but…”
The hero began to inspect his wife from every angle. From the outside, she didn’t seem too different from her living days!
But due to the absence of a soul… there are some issues like a slight lack of emotion and some spaced-out moments.
But that part is due to the lack of a soul, so there’s not much I can do about it. Hmmm.
“Honestly, I don’t quite grasp this soul-less thing, but anyway, dear, it’s nice to see you looking young again.”
It seemed the hero realized that his body had reverted to its youthful form.
Even the sword he was carrying on his back looked the same.
Of course, it’s not the real one! The real hero’s sword is tucked away with me!
“In this place, your body is restored to its prime. You’re basically in the form you think of as your prime. The sword on your back isn’t the real deal, but it’ll perform just like the original.”
The hero grabbed the sword in his hand.
Seeing the hero like this brings back memories of his younger adventures when he fearlessly took down monsters alongside me.
Ah, what a nice sight to see again after so long.
“So, what am I supposed to do here?”
“I didn’t really expect you to do anything in particular while you’re here.”
“Huh?”
Seeing the hero’s slightly shocked face made me snicker.
“All you need to do is live here at your leisure. Just spend your time doing whatever you want, and every now and then, it’d be great if you could share your knowledge of this place with the newcomers.”
Of course, I’m not saying it’s mandatory or anything.
I just hope that those who deserve to be happy find happiness here.
“As a senior…”
“Just explaining things is enough; you don’t need to feel any burden there.”
Honestly, there’s not much to explain anyway.
At my words, the hero nodded.
“Got it. I’ve never explained things before, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“Great! Then just live comfortably here. I have a little business to take care of.”
“Wait, business?”
“Yeah, just a quick errand.”
Leaving the hero behind, I stepped out of paradise.
And the gods of the Afterlife received three skulls.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“No, I didn’t ask you to do so much! I told you to wrap up that child’s soul judgment quickly and send him on his way, but you charged him with a crime?! An absurd one at that?!”
“No, that’s not it…”
“A mere mortal monopolizing the goddess? Monopolizing the goddess?! That kid?! Sure, it started as my request, but he was the one who made the final call! You should have talked to me first!!! You idiot! And what’s even more infuriating is that you tried to pin a nonexistent crime, an innocent one, on that child!”
My punches shattered Yama’s crown, leaving a sizable dent in his head.
Well, even after a beating like this, he won’t die! He’s a god, after all!
“Ugh!!”
“Count yourself lucky you’re still alive thanks to the others. If I had let that crime stick, my rage would’ve torn apart the Afterlife. If the Afterlife designed to judge the dead correctly isn’t functioning, then there’s no reason for its existence!”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Yama crawled on the ground, with two others standing silently on either side of him.
As they watched Yama get pummeled, one of them trembled slightly.
They probably realized that if they had backed him up, they would have been smashed too.
“But… it’s true that the Goddess’s time was wasted because of that human…”
“Shut up!”
With a solid uppercut, Yama’s body went flying, tracing a perfect parabola as it fell.
“From now on, don’t let something like this happen again. Understood?”
“Y-Yes, understood…”
Leaving the thoroughly beaten Yama behind, I turned to Thanatos and Keres and said,
“You two too. Be more careful about making erroneous judgments.”
“Yes, we will keep that in mind.”
“Yes! I warned them so many times that it wouldn’t work. You brought this upon yourself, Yama.”
I can understand Yama’s line of thought, but the crime he committed was completely outrageous.
Still, I’ve given him a good thrashing… From now on, they shouldn’t pin any innocent charges on anyone or anything like that again.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Paradise.
Heaven. Utopia. Elysium. It’s known by many names.
A world filled with only satisfaction, completely devoid of suffering.
A realm one can escape to, leaving behind the struggles and anguish of the mortal coil, diving into eternal happiness.
Only a select few who’ve passed the strict judgment of the Afterlife are said to enter this blissful world.
The right way to reach this realm is to pass the Afterlife’s trial, but that’s no easy feat.
Hence, some mages, especially necromancers who summon the souls of the dead to assist them, devised a unique method.
They would summon the souls of heroes who had clearly entered paradise, bring them back to the mortal realm, and then trace their route back to paradise to create a gateway.
However, that task wasn’t simple at all.
The souls of heroes are inherently noble beings; they cannot be controlled by ordinary humans. To utilize them for creating a path to paradise requires an immense amount of magic.
This prompted many powerful mages to gather.
The assembled mages united their powers to create a ritual.
Utilizing the vast magical energies flowing through the ley lines to fuel the ritual.
Creating false physical bodies to temporarily hold the heroes’ souls and prevent them from escaping.
In case the heroes wouldn’t comply with their control, they forged powerful contracts.
Finally, they constructed a massive soul vessel to tether the heroes’ spirits for a while, preventing them from returning to paradise after losing their fake bodies.
It’s been said that through this method, seven heroes who had entered paradise were summoned and given physical forms.
Yet, there was an issue.
To create the gateway to paradise, six of the seven summoned heroes’ souls were necessary.
Additionally, it became known that the gateway leading to paradise could only accommodate one person at a time.
Thus, the mages waged a war for control over the gateway to paradise, whilst the heroes, now in physical forms, sought to enjoy life once more.
“That’s the story! What do you think?”
“Whoa…”
The sleepy-eyed girl gazed at the book her friend held, sporting a slightly more alert look.
“A story about past heroes being summoned and fighting alongside mages! What mage wouldn’t get excited about that?!”
“Yeah, that might be true, but… hmmm… I’m not sure it’ll work out.”
The sleepy-eyed girl had a tangle of mixed feelings about it all.
“Oh, and by the way, this is based on a true story. Supposedly, it’s inspired by an old serial killer case involving mages.”
“Based on a true story, huh…”
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