LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 88
Chapter 88 The Bitterly Blooming Flower of Paradise 1
“It’s over.”
At Yujin’s words, Shia lifted her head.
“If it’s over, send me back. I don’t want to stay here long.”
Yujin was a false hero.
A twisted hero with the ability to turn lies into reality.
Just like how I summoned Yujin to the Great Forest of the Elves, breaking through the limitations of time and space, returning was not as simple as catching a flight or walking back home.
In the end, she would need my help.
“Yu, Yujin…! Are you leaving already?!”
“……….”
But Olgania, sensing that Yujin was already preparing to leave, urgently called out to him.
He must be exhausted, but wouldn’t it be fine to relax for a bit, maybe stay the night?
“Why are you trying to leave so quickly?”
“I don’t need to explain my circumstances, do I?”
“Well… that’s true…”
Yujin, showing no regret, turned his back on Olgania.
However, through the illusion masking him, I could see Yujin’s shoulders trembling slightly.
“…Yujin…”
“I’m sorry, Olgania. But I… I am not worthy. I’m not worthy to talk to you, not even to apologize to you.”
“No, I don’t think that at all!”
“But I can’t bear it. Olgania… I’m sorry. Let’s talk again someday.”
“………..”
So many things happened all at once today…
Setting everything else aside, I knew I needed to apologize to Olgania as well.
Even though I had good intentions, in the end, didn’t I use Olgania and toy with her feelings?
The wounds Olgania received in the process were not light.
Moreover, Yujin, who seemed to have a deep connection with Olgania, was now refusing to talk to her and preparing to leave, bringing tears to Olgania’s eyes in an instant.
“I’m really sorry, Olgania. It must have been terrifying, right?”
Before letting Yujin leave, I knelt down on one knee in front of Olgania.
“…Yes.”
“Even though it was to give Entamia a chance… the fact that I didn’t tell you anything and used you—an apology might not be enough.”
I took Olgania’s hand.
“I swear as a saintess.”
A faint white holy power seemed to connect me and Olgania.
“The Saintess of the Dead, Shia, will always stand by your side, as long as you do not walk the path of malice. And within the limits of what I can do, I will grant your wishes.”
“……!”
Hearing that, Olgania’s expression brightened a little.
A saintess’s vow was absolute, and as long as I retained my humanity and the will to protect it, I was bound to keep it unconditionally.
Olgania, having come from the previous world, likely knew how absolute a saintess’s vow was.
“Thank you. I’m sorry, my sweet Dead Titty Squad.”
“If you hadn’t used the term ‘Dead Titty Squad,’ I might have been a little happier.”
Still, seeing her naturally smile like a child again, it seemed her anger had subsided.
“Really, will you do what I want…?”
“Yes, as long as it’s within my ability, I’ll do my best.”
“…Then I’ll tell you right away.”
“Right away?”
“Don’t let Yujin leave.”
“What, Olgania!?”
Yujin’s face stiffened, clearly not expecting Olgania to say that.
Unexpectedly sharp, wasn’t he?
After all, Yujin descended into this world because of me, and if Yujin wanted to return home to his house on Earth, my prayer and the miracle of reverse summoning would be required again.
If I didn’t pray?
Well, what else?
He’d be stuck here indefinitely.
“O-Olgania! Don’t be unreasonable. I…!”
“You’re the unreasonable one, Yujin! I’ve told you again and again, but you always run away! Aren’t you tired of it?!”
“…….That’s…”
“I’m going to settle this today! Both Yujin’s weakness and mine, we’ll expose everything in front of Shia and resolve it once and for all!”
“……….”
Surprisingly bold, wasn’t she, Olgania?
○○○○
With that in mind, I had successfully kept the vow I made in the Elves’ Grand Hall.
No one—neither the elves, Olgania, the elders, the doppelgängers, nor even Entamia—had died, so the vow was thoroughly kept.
Of course, everyone knew about the unpleasant incident that had occurred there, but the important thing was that no lives were lost.
For the record, Entamia was still alive.
Yes, she was alive.
I won’t go into detail about what happened to Entamia at the hands of the elves in the Grand Hall.
Well… some elves might have realized that someone they thought was family, lover, or friend was actually a doppelgänger planted by Entamia.
And some doppelgängers, who wanted to live as elves rather than ants, probably gave Entamia a slightly ‘painful’ experience.
When I checked on her later, she didn’t seem to have suffered any life-threatening harm.
“Locking her up isn’t much of a punishment. Killing her would only open a path for the criminal to escape from their sins. To die before properly atoning is a cowardly act, and true atonement doesn’t come so easily.”
In that sense, I hadn’t properly atoned for my own sins yet…
Anyway, Entamia, with her limbs sealed, was captured by the elves and imprisoned in their deepest dungeon.
There would be no execution.
Death is mercy—that’s my fundamental belief.
Besides, I myself was an existence exiled from death, wasn’t I?
Death is peaceful and painless.
It’s like falling asleep, closing your eyes to the quiet, and returning to the earth.
That’s what death allows.
It’s natural for the living to fear that endless darkness, but compared to the pain and suffering of life, death seems merciful.
Anyway, Entamia was now imprisoned with sealing spells covering her entire body, cast by me.
Unless I allowed it, the seals would never be broken.
They were sealing miracles imbued with my heartfelt holy power, and I made them especially thorough because there was always the risk that the Demon King’s fragment could re-emerge.
I placed sealing miracles on each of Entamia’s limbs, so aside from basic metabolism and movement, she would no longer be able to exert any power, nor would she be able to show malice or murderous intent toward anyone.
Once the elves finished cleaning up the mountain of Chaos Ant corpses and repairing the damage from the beating Yujin and I gave Entamia, they would decide how to deal with the princess ant who had absorbed the Demon King’s fragment.
“She’ll probably be sentenced to labor to pay for her crimes rather than being locked in the elves’ prison or executed.”
That was Yujin’s take.
Since no other elves were around, Yujin had dropped his illusion.
His true form was worth seeing.
With black hair and a petite figure, she had small muscles scattered across her body, though her overall appearance, including her chest, made her look quite young.
If I didn’t know her age, she could barely pass as a high school girl.
Then again, with that slim figure, she looked more like a kid, not even out of place being treated as one.
“Hehe, Yujin, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this… No, this is my first time seeing you like this.”
“…I see.”
“But what’s going to happen to Entamia now?”
“She’ll be monitored around the clock. And since she can no longer control any doppelgängers or ants, she’s nothing more than an ant herself now.”
By the way, after Yujin and I attacked her, the Demon King’s fragment in Entamia had completely disappeared as if it had never been there.
The fragment must have abandoned her first.
Even though it was just a fragment, it was still part of the Demon King, and since the Demon King could think, it must have deemed it impossible to fight a hero and a saintess in that state and fled.
“The doppelgängers said they want to live as elves rather than return to being ants, so unless something happens, they’ll probably be the ones to monitor Entamia.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy for the elves to accept the doppelgängers as members of their group again, but everyone had agreed to forget what had happened in the Grand Hall.
As if nothing had happened, the elves would continue to treat their comrades, family, and friends just as they always had.
“A life where you’re watched over by those you once ruled… how ironic.”
“If it were the original elves, they would have just killed Entamia and been done with it.”
Come to think of it, that would’ve been fitting.
The elves hate and despise intruders in the Great Forest more than anything.
Didn’t Shia herself sense the hostility and territorialism of the elves when she first arrived here?
Considering that, the elves’ handling of this matter was unusually lenient.
“The reason the elves didn’t kill Entamia or the doppelgängers is probably thanks to you.”
“Me? You were here too.”
“I didn’t do much. You could’ve stopped Entamia on your own. Didn’t I tell you before? I get tired easily.”
Yujin waved her hand as if to confirm that.
A grotesque monster-like illusion appeared attached to Yujin’s arm before shattering away.
It was because her mana, the foundation of her power, was running out.
“Entamia’s plan was doomed from the moment the doppelgängers expressed a desire to live as elves rather than return to being ants. The fact that the soldier ants, who should have obeyed the queen unconditionally, defied her under rational judgment already meant the situation was turning against her. All I did was offer the doppelgängers a choice other than returning to being ants.”
“A surprisingly humble fake hero, aren’t you?”
“Don’t call me a fake hero. Please, I really hate the sound of it. I’m genuinely asking—are you really a saintess?”
“Don’t lecture me when you’re not even my hero.”
Well, given her recent performance, I’d say she was worthy of being called a hero…
“By the way, you know a lot about elven culture, don’t you? It seems like you know more than Olgania.”
“…….”
At that, both Olgania and Yujin went silent, staring at the ground.
Did I say something strange?
“Well… um… So, what kind of punishment do elves give for crimes?”
Time to change the subject…
“Elves are a long-lived species. Unless torture is involved, imprisonment isn’t a significant punishment… so labor would probably be the best option.”
“So, for example, they might sentence someone to 900 years of farming beans. Or maybe fetching water from the Lotus Lake?”
“I don’t know if they’d do exactly that, but… probably something similar.”
Sizzle, sizzle…
By the way, that sizzling sound was the sound of frying leaves from the World Tree into pancakes.
While the elves were busy cleaning up the chaos in the Great Forest, Yujin, Olgania, and I were secretly crouched in front of the fake World Tree, frying its leaves to eat like pancakes.
This time, I’d brought a proper frying pan, greased with rich, fragrant oil pressed from beans grown by the elves.
We dipped the World Tree’s leaves in pancake batter and sizzled them in the pan, the fragrant smell tingling my brain.
Of course, since Olgania was with us, I deliberately left out the wyvern egg yolk.
For the record, the more pancakes you fried with these leaves, the better they tasted as the scent and flavor soaked into the pan.
“…It’s not about pancakes or anything, but just the fact that you thought to eat this is impressive. If other elves saw this, they’d be horrified, lose their minds, and go berserk.”
“Are you disrespecting World Tree Leaf Pancakes?!”
“You’re crazy.”
A hero not trusting a saintess!
Such an irreverent person!
“Here, Olgania, it’s done.”
“Thank you.”
Seeing the child of the World Tree… Even if it was a fake World Tree, seeing Olgania happily munching on the pancakes made Yujin’s expression rather complicated.
“Want some?”
“I don’t need—ugh!?”
At times like this, you’ve got to eat together to share the crime!
I forcibly shoved the World Tree Leaf Pancake into Yujin’s mouth, and she glared at me with a menacing look, as if she wanted to fight me right then and there.
But her glare was as far as it went.
Yujin was currently out of mana, and without me, she couldn’t return home.
At this moment, I had the upper hand.
Also, seeing her chew and swallow the pancake, it seemed it suited her taste more than she expected.
Well, it was a World Tree leaf, after all.
In a Great Forest where even weeds were edible, it would be strange if the World Tree’s leaves didn’t taste good.
“…Olgania, isn’t this enough now?”
“No, not at all. All we’ve done is share a few pancakes!”
“…I have a complicated relationship with the elves. No matter how abnormal this situation may be, I shouldn’t set foot in this Great Forest.”
“Yujin, are you still holding onto that incident?”
“…How could I forget?”
Come to think of it, Yujin and Olgania seemed to know each other…
“What, what? Tell me too?”
Since I saw the request letter from Olgania in Yujin’s hand, I had already suspected it, but it seemed something had happened between Yujin and the elves in the previous world.
Sensing my curious gaze while flipping the pancakes, Yujin sighed quietly.
“…It’s nothing. I’m just the one who burned down the World Tree.”
“…What?”
I almost dropped the frying pan at the sudden bombshell.
“You burned what?”
“…The World Tree.”
I mean, I was just turning the fake World Tree’s leaves into pancakes…
Sure, even that could be considered sacrilegious from the elves’ perspective, but what Yujin was saying—burning the World Tree—was far beyond that.
“…….”
“Gulp.”
“Chomp, chomp…”
Oh no.
This is heavy.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Yujin, with a blank expression, quietly stuffed the pancake I handed her into her mouth.
Olgania, sitting next to her, looked as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
“…Will you tell me what happened?”
“…Where do I even start… There are so many things I did wrong…”
“It wasn’t your fault, Yujin!”
Yujin was about to speak but was cut off when Olgania suddenly jumped up and shouted.
“…The child of the World Tree isn’t exactly a biological elf but more like an incarnation of the World Tree.”
“I know that much. That’s why elves regard the child of the World Tree as sacred, right?”
“Yes, but did you know that the current child of the World Tree inherits the memories and experiences of the previous one?”
“…That’s news to me.”
“This is my first time meeting the current Olgania Farseer, but I’m familiar with the previous child of the World Tree, Olgania Eirlanier Veld.”
Man, the elves’ names are hard to remember… Can’t they space them properly?
And they both have the name ‘Olgania’?
“I wasn’t just familiar with the previous Olgania; she was my companion.”
The word ‘companion’ for a hero isn’t something that can be defined simply.
Like my relationships with Menelapie or Teresa, a companion is more than family, lover, or friend; it’s a complex, soul-sharing bond that transcends definition.
“The previous world was pretty harsh on me. People called me a hero from another world, but the power structures in various countries and kingdoms only kept me in check and tried to use me. As a result, I had to fight the Demon King without proper support from the start.”
“…Oh dear.”
In my case, I was lucky enough to have the Empress of Menelapie, the greatest empire, reach out to me, but it seemed Yujin’s experience had been quite different.
“I barely managed to gather companions… but our relationships were far from ideal.”
“……”
I had thought I had suffered my own hardships, but Yujin’s story felt like she had lived through a completely different, more tragic narrative.
Of course, there’s no need to compare or diminish each other’s struggles.
My struggles are mine.
Yujin’s struggles are Yujin’s.
That’s all there is to it.
“Olgania… the previous child of the World Tree was hostile toward me from the start, treating me coldly because I was an outsider.”
“…I vaguely remember that.”
“Really… Well, I was frustrated and stressed out at first. The other kingdoms and even my companions only pressured me instead of offering comfort.”
Yujin pulled her knees up while chewing on the leaf pancake.
Seems she was enjoying the taste after all.
“But the truth was, Olgania knew I was from another world, and because I was so young, she pretended to be harsh on me to make me give up on being a hero and avoid suffering.”
“…A total tsundere. Is that true, Olgania?”
“Yes, and to add to that… the previous Olgania was even thinking about grandchildren with Yujin.”
“Huh…?”
Wait, Yujin’s a girl though… Oh, well, with her abilities, I guess it wouldn’t be impossible.
And since the previous Olgania was also not an ordinary elf, it made sense.
“But in the end… just look at me now. No matter how hard I fought, the Demon King’s army quickly took over the world, and I lost my place just as fast.”
Yujin laughed bitterly, as if remembering the painful past, her face twisted in agony.
“So as a last resort, I burned down the World Tree and absorbed its power to fight the Demon King.”
“…And then?”
“And then… I burned down the World Tree and still got pathetically defeated, driven back to Earth. I’m nothing but a false hero who couldn’t even keep her companions safe… That’s all there is to it.”
As Yujin continued speaking, the air grew heavier with every word.
Yes, a true hero wouldn’t become a twisted “false hero.”
Even giving myself the benefit of the doubt, I became the Saintess of the Dead because I was nothing more than a corpse to begin with. But for Yujin, her situation must have been even more complicated.
I was starting to understand why Yujin had been so reluctant since coming here, why she’d been walking around with her head down like a criminal.
“It wasn’t your fault! Yujin, you’re not a liar! You’re not a false hero!”
Olgania, with tears welling up in her eyes, looked at Yujin.
“…Olgania.”
“The World Tree in the previous world had already been tainted and corrupted by the Demon King! The one who asked you to burn it down was the previous child of the World Tree… someone like me, the previous Olgania! She was the one who asked you!”
“……….”
“Please, Yujin, don’t carry this burden alone anymore. That was an unavoidable disaster, not your fault…!”
“The fact that I burned the World Tree doesn’t change. And even after burning it down, I still pathetically lost to the Demon King.”
“…..”
Yujin’s words were firm.
She had already branded herself as a sinner and a liar, a false hero.
If I were in her shoes, if Menelapie or Teresa had died because of me or faced some great disaster, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself either.
“Please, Yujin. Don’t carry all of this by yourself.”
“…..”
“And it’s not over yet. Shia?”
“Yes?”
“Since Yujin has exposed her flaws… now it’s my turn to show mine.”
I know this isn’t the right time, but… when she said ‘flaws,’ it sounded a bit… sensual.