“Why are they acting all shocked again?”
I stepped outside because the living room was noisy since morning, and there was Emilia, frowning with a newspaper in her hand.
I immediately hugged Emilia from behind and stretched her cheeks.
“Smile. Then you’ll look pretty.”
“Uuuu… Look at this, big bro.”
“What is it?”
– Is it really okay to leave a superhuman with no countermeasures?
That was the headline of the newspaper Emilia handed me.
It wasn’t some corner article, but the headline.
It definitely seemed that many people were showing resentment towards me lately, centered around the Aigis cult, but I didn’t expect the media to take a side against me so quickly.
“Why are they targeting you? I’m just going to school like a normal person and coming home to loaf around.”
“Wait, are you defending me…?”
“Look at this paragraph. Schlus is omnipotent but not a god. He is human with both reason and emotion, and we must never forget that he could turn the blade at any moment.”
“Well, it’s not wrong, is it?”
“Big bro!”
I couldn’t refute since it was painfully true.
I remember this sort of discussion happening in a superhero movie.
Similar stuff came up in another movie too.
Should we let individuals with superhuman powers operate outside the boundaries of the law?
It was that sort of thing.
“These people are treating you as a potential threat.”
“That can’t be helped. No matter how much I shout that I’m good and harmless, it won’t reach the ears of people already terrified.”
“So what do we do?”
“What do we do? We just have to slowly build trust.”
I gently patted Emilia’s head as she looked up at me with worried eyes.
There was really no need to worry.
In the case of superheroes, there was a critical weakness like kryptonite, but I didn’t have any such weakness at all.
Honestly, even if a nuclear bomb dropped on my sleeping head, I wouldn’t die.
Anyone who tried to mess with me knowing it could obliterate their country would be unlikely to show up.
It was impossible to completely eliminate people’s fear and grievances.
But to reduce it, all I could do was slowly give them reasons to trust me.
If I managed to prevent disasters on the continent for decades, centuries, even thousands of years, wouldn’t I be seen as a sort of guardian spirit?
By then, Shlus’s faith would probably crush Aigis’s faith and become the dominant religion.
Deciding to have a relaxed mindset.
After all, most problems would be resolved by time.
“What about Aria?”
“She went to work at the Imperial Palace.”
“What? Already?”
“Yeah. It’s almost New Year, so she must be busy.”
“And Pelaine?”
“She’s with Trie at Edengard. They’re taking the mercenary recruitment exam.”
“Huh. An exam…”
Pelaine used to complain about lazing around at home all day, so she was trying to join the Schulzenburg Mercenaries…
But I couldn’t help but be curious about how Pelaine’s recruitment exam would be conducted.
There wouldn’t be anyone in the mercenaries capable of properly assessing her abilities.
Ah, so that’s why Trie went with her.
If the Sword God was her opponent, Pelaine wouldn’t fare well.
“What about Erica?”
“She’s in the underground laboratory working on research—”
“AAAAAH!!!”
“Um… It seems like that.”
Before Emilia could finish her sentence, a lively shout echoed from the basement.
It seemed today’s research had hit a dead end again.
Erica had finally graduated from the Imperial University after two years and was now pursuing a combined master’s and doctoral program in elemental magic.
The problem was that her understanding of elemental magic had far surpassed that of the professors before she had even completed the program, and she had unexpectedly become the one leading almost all the research at the Imperial University.
At one point, she had been helping Relic as an assistant in a lecture, but feeling rather frustrated, she had pulled Relic down and conducted the lecture herself…
When I heard that, I felt a bit sorry for Relic.
It had also reached the point where the top-ranking mages were quarrelling over the position of council member in the magic society after Erica had just reached the highest tier, Elstet.
But the biggest problem was…
“Schlus, PLEASE stop interfering with my research!!!”
“Uh…”
Coincidentally, it turned out that in every paper I recently published, I was inadvertently disrupting Erica’s research.
How did this happen? Coincidentally, every research method I had undertaken led to phenomena that contradicted existing magical mechanics, resulting in almost daily occurrences where principles of magic were being abolished or replaced.
Since the changed principles were mostly related to elemental magic, Erica’s research was being shaken from the very foundation.
“I think she’s fine, right? When I went to her lab, there were strands of hair everywhere.”
“It is said that creation begins from destruction, so I think she’ll be fine. Probably…”
If it were Erica, she could definitely overcome it.
I’m sure she’d quickly complete the magical mechanics model to explain the newly discovered phenomena perfectly.
I fully believe she can do it.
…Maybe I should lend a bit of support for developing a drug for female hair loss, just in case.
“What about Iris?”
“When I checked earlier, she was still asleep.”
“She’s able to sleep through all this noise…”
“Right? She really sleeps a lot.”
Emilia and I cautiously headed towards Iris’s room.
Our house was so spacious that it took quite a while to move from the living room to the rooms.
Technically, the rooms were big enough to accommodate five-person households since they were built for each of my wives.
Each room would, later on, become a real family.
“Saintess, may we enter?”
“Hehe, of course. I just woke up. And you can call me comfortably, Emilia.”
“But if the saintess is being polite, how can I call her comfortably…?”
“How are you feeling, Iris?”
“Aside from feeling sleepy and tired all the time, I’m fine.”
Iris rubbed her eyes and sat up, as if she had just awakened.
It might be a bit disconcerting to mention, but Iris was pregnant.
Yeah. It’s my fault.
I had promised not to get her pregnant before graduation, yet…
I was somewhat surprised by the unexpected timing of the pregnancy, but this child was definitely not unwelcome.
Everyone, including me and my wives, welcomed Iris’s pregnancy.
But taking a year off from studies couldn’t be avoided.
“Is it okay if I check if I can hear the heartbeat, Saintess?”
“Of course, you can, but… It’s still week six, so you probably won’t hear it.”
“Iris, would you prefer a son or a daughter?”
“Hmm. I would really like to have a strong son first. I feel like he’d be just like Schlus.”
“Oh. Should I make him a son? With some adjustments to the chromosomes and hormones, it should be possible—”
“Don’t you even think about touching my belly, Schlus.”
“Of course, that was just a joke!”
Half-serious but still…
Seeing Iris look stern, I laughed it off.
It seems my wives were not too keen on the idea of me using superhuman strength in daily life.
I also prefer it that way.
It gives me the feeling of living as an ordinary human…
“Since it’s the Saintess’s child, it must be super cute, right? But originally, I was supposed to get pregnant first…”
“Ohhh. Emilia, your eyes look scary.”
“What? My eyes are scary? Oh right, by the way, big bro, why are you dodging questions lately?”
“Dodging questions?”
“You haven’t answered whether you’ll remarry after we all die.”
*Gack.*
I suddenly felt awkward.
That’s the second most embarrassing question to hear directly.
The first is “Who do you love the most among us?”
Of course, the answer is, “I’m not marrying any woman other than you,” but knowing full well my weak will, and considering how terrible I am at lying, it wouldn’t be easy to answer.
“Um, well…”
“If it’s Schlus, then of course he would.”
“That would be the case, right? Still, bro, no matter how much you like us, you shouldn’t touch your own daughter or granddaughter, okay?”
“Hey! No way would I do that!”
What on earth do they think of me?
Do they think I’m some kind of lecher who touches anything that catches his fancy?
Not entirely wrong, but still…
By the way, I should really keep the family tree well recorded.
Shouldn’t get too caught up with my preferences, especially since this might be my own descendants…
Just imagining it is a bit tricky.
*Bing!*
“What’s that?”
Just then, the emergency line rang with an intense mana ripple passing through.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one to sense it; Emilia and Iris looked surprised too.
When I decoded the brief received message, the content was as follows.
– To the east of the continent, a new continent has been discovered. It is believed to be inhabited by civilized beings.
Finally, the moment I expected had come.
It was time to witness the moment when this world’s paradigm shifted.
*
The world was even noisier now.
Recently, advancements in navigation tools allowed us to traverse the ocean, and in the process, fishermen discovered a new continent.
There, a new species with appearances unlike any of the continent’s races had established civilizations.
“You don’t seem surprised at all.”
“Wow. Wow. What are you talking about? I’m completely shocked.”
“….”
Of course, I had already known.
Even before sensing it with the Majin’s sense.
The appearance of the new continent and species had been a setting from the original story.
It was set to be a race called ‘Oni’, described as having horns on their foreheads in a culture with an Eastern influence.
The setting I had come up with back when I was deeply into Japanese manga completely aligned with this.
“So what are they doing now?”
“A meeting among the world leaders discussing contact methods with the Oni tribe…”
Aria sighed deeply and murmured.
A leaders’ meeting.
But the scene unfolding before my eyes was no different from an elementary school debate.
There was nobody mediating, just a cacophony of continuous chatter and a chaotic argument.
“We should select a representative of humanity to send.”
“What’s with a human representative when the species is so different! We should select representatives by species!”
“The Trud Kingdom opposes that. We cannot allow a representative from the Freya Empire to be selected.”
“Then let’s go by each country—”
“That won’t do either! What kind of country is the Monarch Principality? It’s just a puppet of the Empire!”
There were many familiar faces I hadn’t seen in a while.
Atatürk of the Elf Alliance, the Priestess of the Great Forest, Damien from the Southern Colony, and Cain from the Desert Colony—all were there.
Despite everyone having veins bulging on their faces and yelling something or other, it was still good to see them.
“Schlus. Don’t you have any opinions?”
“….”
The moment Aria looked at me and spoke, the entire meeting chamber went silent.
Even Atatürk and Damien, who were ready to pull each other’s collars, shut their mouths and gazed at me.
“Well, I don’t really have anything to say. I don’t intend to get involved, so you all figure it out.”
“….”
“….”
Having simply expressed my opinion and comfortably sat back down, a three-second silence passed.
After exactly three seconds, sounds of shouting erupted once more as if the previous silence had never happened.
‘They will handle it on their own.’
I had nothing to worry about.
If the Oni tribe had been implemented according to my setting, they would possess a civilization level comparable to that of the continent, so they wouldn’t end up being invaded and turned into a colony.
Moreover, I was quite eager to see the process of how the world I created changed without my direct influence.
From now on, my role was just that of an observer.
To step back and watch—only to intervene if a serious crisis arose before fading back away, much like a guardian spirit.
“Haah…”
I snuck out from the noisy meeting chamber into the garden behind and took a puff from my cigarette.
The sky was overcast, almost like it would burst into a thunderstorm at any moment.
Religious conflicts, inter-species disputes, the collapse of magical paradigms, and now the discovery of a new continent.
This world was currently entering a completely new phase.
Even as the creator, I had no clue what lay ahead.
Though a bit anxious, my anticipation far outweighed it.
“I wish you could see this with me…”
Today, I missed Julia all the more.
I missed her terribly, a woman I would never see again.
I thought a lot about my immortality.
Just before humanity’s extinction, if I were to give the powers of the Majin to the last human, I could prevent Julia’s reincarnation while simultaneously relinquishing my own immortality, but…
It wouldn’t be right to bestow such an irresponsible fate on one person who would receive a lifespan close to eternity.
This responsibility was solely mine.
It was the duty of the one who created this world, who revived Julia by taking her heart and slaughtered all the Majins.
Yet reflecting on the parallel self who lost his mind after living alone for over a hundred thousand years…
“Feels distant.”
My vision began to fade.
But unlike that guy, I was prepared.
I was ready to let go of everyone and remain alone.
I still had the Ring of Miracles, so I could summon a partner once every hundred years.
Of course, before that, I had to see my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren…
There was still plenty of time left and much to do.
As I sat there like a fool, chuckling to myself, a loud shout came from behind.
“Hey you! This is a restricted area! Who the hell are you?!”
“Me?”
It turned out to be the guards of this place.
I turned around and contemplated what to say.
I had an answer in mind, but it was too embarrassing to say out loud.
The one who witnesses the end of this world.
The one who closes his eyes only after this world has perished.
The end of everything.
I am Schlus.
.
.
.
“Ugh…?!”
In a dark room where not even a sliver of sunlight could enter, a man awakened, instantly feeling a sensation of falling backward.
And then, crashing down, the chair fell over, sending the man tumbling.
“Ugh…”
Grabbing the back of his head, he struggled to rise and looked around, astonished by the familiar yet strange scenery.
It was a sight from a long-forgotten memory.
The man’s gaze naturally settled on the desk, where he checked the year and date displayed on the glowing monitor.
His mouth, which had slightly opened in surprise, gradually closed.
“Huh.”
The man chuckled softly, straightened the chair, and sat down.
He clicked on the ‘Academy Male Spy’ folder and scrolled down to the latest file, revealing a document filled with traces of agony, stress, and a slump.
He dragged and deleted all of it, and as his fingers hovered over the keyboard to strike the first key…
“No, wait. That won’t do.”
He closed the file and created a new folder and file altogether.
First things first, he needed to get organized.
He began to record the world he had previously reached an end with.
As he summoned distant memories, a warm smile spread across the man’s face.
The faces and voices of the people he loved flitted through his mind.
Just when the man was about to input a name for the new folder.
“It took a while.”
“…?!”
The man’s hand froze at the gentle voice.
A pair of white arms wrapped around his neck in a loving embrace.
It was a familiar voice and a familiar touch.
Before he could dare to turn around, tightening in place, warm breath brushed against his ear, followed by a soft voice.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“….”
With a ticklish sensation, tears welled up at the corners of the man’s eyes.
Tap. Tap.
As if entranced, his fingers began moving and typing away.
The folder name entered was as follows.
– I Got Possessed in an Academy without a Protagonist
