I remembered the despair of our first meeting. Then the reason he’d pressed me so hard must have been because he had seen right through me.
“It never occurred to me that you could become a hero. I thought of you
as an extra to the Three Heroes, a brittle soul, notably skilled due to training, but nothing more.”
In actual fact, that was what I was. If not for Mary’s scolding, if not for the grace of God, I would have folded in the face of the god of undeath and met my ruin.
“But you overturned all my expectations. You did not give in. You did not fold. In fact, you stood up, challenged me, and even defeated me.”
The god of undeath’s Herald-raven laughed cheerfully.
“Paradoxically, that is what will make you capable of becoming a hero,
feeble soul.”
“I never thought about ‘becoming a hero.’”
“Hahaha. Knowing the extent of your own weakness and because of it
refusing to give up, refusing to fold, being willing to die for what you believe in… “
As the elven music played in the distance, the god of undeath strung his words smoothly together with the melody.
“That is what people call a hero, William G. Maryblood, inheritor of all that defined the trio I once desired.”
I didn’t know how to reply to that. I only knew that for some reason, I felt strangely calm. I was talking to the evil god who had once thrown me into despair. He was my enemy, and I had risen up to oppose him and put my life on the line to fight him. And yet, my heart was as tranquil as it was when I prayed.
“Despite knowing it is in vain, I must say this once regardless. Join me. A seat on my right shall be prepared for you. You shall have eternal protection and armies of undead. We will kill the dragon, defeat heroes, bring down all
the other gods and conquer the world. You and I together.”
I probably felt so calm because I knew that the deity called Stagnate, with his ideals, schemes, mercy, and everything else that made him, was truly a being to be respected. But for that very reason, I placed my hand over my heart and, with the utmost respect—
“Thank you, Stagnate, god of undeath. But no.”
I turned him down.
“In vain, as I thought, then.”
The raven laughed as if he had known it all along.
“Yes.” I nodded. “After all, you don’t want to see the fall of a hero, do you?”
The instant I said that, the Herald-raven froze. For some strange reason, I had remembered all kinds of things. “If I lost my devotion to Gracefeel and became yours, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to remain the kind of being you’re looking for.”
“…”
Stagnate had told me once that he wanted to create an eternally kind world.
That he couldn’t bear to look at a soul that had been dragged down and lost its radiance among regret and suffering.
“Stagnate, god of undeath. You are my respected enemy, and a great deity.” I thought so from the bottom of my heart. “So I will not bow to your temptations.
I will carry on being your enemy. Because I respect you.”
I may not be able to sympathize with you; we may have been enemies since
we first met; but I know that you are great. I know that you are merciful in your own way. And so I want to pay you the greatest respect, by not becoming yours and continuing to be your enemy.
“What can I say?”
The god of undeath remained silent for a while and then spoke slowly, in a low tone.
“This is the first time that a human child has seen through me so completely. Despite how straightforward you appear, you are surprisingly sharp. You have understood the divine will of a god; you could rightly call
yourself a wise man.”
“I’m honored,” I said, unsure how to reply to his frank words of praise.
“But what a shame it is. You will die. Die torn apart by a dragon.”
The god of undeath’s Herald-raven laughed bitterly.
“If you ever change your mind, feel free to call me any time, won’t you,
hmm? I shall make you a high-level undead in the blink of an eye. Any time
is acceptable, even the instant of your death or after your head goes flying.
Oh, if you call me after your head has gone flying, would you settle for being a Dullahan Lord? Or would a No Life King be more to your taste?”
The god of undeath sounded as if he was enjoying himself. I shrugged. “I’m going against a dragon. If I lose, there won’t be a trace of me left.”
“Hahaha. How right you are!”
We both laughed.
“Then I shall take my leave. Gracefeel must be getting quite ticked.”
Although the warning revelation had certainly stopped ringing inside my head, I could somehow sense that her stress levels were building. Gracefeel was very godlike most of the time, but on matters concerning the god of undeath, I got the feeling that she seemed childish, maybe even human.
“Farewell, then, paladin of the flame, my wise and foolish foe!”
Leaving those words behind, the Herald-raven flew off and was quickly obscured by the darkness of night. As I watched it go, I was careless enough to allow a hint of a smile to creep onto my face.
“Owww!” The concept of a sharp, pinching sort of pain was sent into my head. I winced.
Th-That was mean, God!
The following morning after my unexpected chance encounter and dialog with the god of undeath, the post-party elven settlement was filled with the sounds of an argument.
Having made quite a lot of use of benediction the previous night in addition to my conversation with the god of undeath, I was just a little mentally fatigued.
Rubbing my eyes, I wandered out of the hut that had been provided for me and looked to see what was going on.
“Look, just let me go, goddammit!”
“You can’t seriously expect us to just let you go and do that!”
It was Menel and Dine who were arguing. My dozy brain considered this for a few seconds. “Oh, it’s just a lovers’ quarrel,” I concluded, and had just about started to head back into the hut to get some more sleep when I was gripped firmly on both of my shoulders.
“Hold it, you.”
“Would you care to repeat that?”
Their voices sounded pretty threatening. This was finally enough to wake me up completely, and at the same time, make me break out in a cold sweat. I laughed nervously in the hope it would get me out of this. Tell me, God, what’sthe right answer to that question?
Dine sighed. “It’s not exactly the time to abandon ourselves to romance.”
She had a point. This was a time of life and death for their village. Whichever way you sliced it, there were clearly matters that took precedence.
“Ya.” Menel nodded in agreement and shrugged. “If only it was, huh? Too bad.”
I didn’t miss Dine’s shoulders twitch and her composure falter. I couldn’t help seizing at the topic. “So if circumstances were different, you would have been saying something to her?”
“Hm? Well sure, she’s pretty, right?”
Dine knit her beautiful brow. She turned her cheek away from Menel and was about to say something back when he continued.