Chapter 107 – The Tale of Those Outside the World

These days, Deus was wrestling with an unprecedented predicament.

Had a stronger enemy appeared? No. Had he stopped exercising and lost muscle mass? Also no.

It was something more urgent, more embarrassing than either of those. Something he had never encountered before.

Which meant he had no clue how to handle the current situation.

“Hey, junior. Er, I was just suddenly curious. Do you have an ideal type?”

It all started there. At first, he thought it was just curiosity.

Wouldn’t young men and women his age secretly ponder such things seriously?

So, without much thought, he answered, “Someone who isn’t afraid of me.”

Of course, he added some personal preferences to that.

Someone who would work out with him. And, to include what every man wanted, someone who was pretty.

He even considered his reply a normal response, and felt pleased with his own answer.

Until those words came out, that is.

“Ahem. Junior. Would you care to have a cup of tea with this student council president?”

“Deus, my junior. I would like to meet you privately this weekend. Ah, it’s nothing special. I just want to discuss some points about swordsmanship in further detail.”

Neferti and Luciel. Right. He could still understand these two, somehow.

Indeed, I had often shared tea with one, and spent many moments discussing romance with another.

But then, Yurisia’s single declaration allowed Deus to grasp the situation.

“Me, marry me! Marry me, Deus!!”

“…??”

Yurisia, uttering those words out of the blue, rushing over, eyes sparkling.

For a moment, he almost blurted out, just like when they first met, “What nonsense are you spouting, Pingduk?”

Several days he observed the strangely focused gazes and odd pronouncements of these three women.

Deus arrived at a conclusion he hadn’t foreseen in the slightest.

Namely, that the ‘Harem’ tag was about to be added to the genre of his life.

‘This is insane. Are you telling me this part is only just now kicking in!’

He’d had interactions with these three women, so it wasn’t entirely impossible, but still.

For over a year, nothing even remotely resembling such an event had occurred.

So Deus had, quite naturally, assumed that possibility was precisely zero.

Moreover, he himself was more focused on growth than on a harem situation.

He’d been thinking that the story wasn’t ending, merely that Part 1 was concluding, with a Part 2 to follow.

For all these reasons, he had let his guard down, and now this had happened.

“No. Just a moment. Why are you all acting like this, exactly?”

“No need to fret, junior. I really just want to share a cup of tea, that’s all.”

“I simply wish to continue our discussions about romance, that’s all.”

“Deus! Do, do you perhaps dislike me?”

It felt like the conversation was getting nowhere. At the same time, a chill ran down his spine.

He needed to answer carefully. One wrong move here and a situation far more troublesome and head-splitting than anything before would unfold.

You know what’s scarier? The fact he wouldn’t be able to get out of it by his own means.

Not with his overwhelming power. Not with his fraudulent oaths. Even if he was this overpowered character who was practically cheating to begin with.

If not one, not two, but three women were like this, the best course of action was to flee.

No. Wait. Before that. He wanted to know at least one thing.

“Ladies. Just one question. Am I really not scary to you?”

He could instinctively tell whether what they were saying was a lie or not.

Perhaps it was due to the oath that allowed him to distinguish those with good intentions.

Or perhaps it was due to the destiny that would have made him the King of Hell.

Whatever it was, he could feel which side of the spectrum their words fell upon.

“Oh, well. To be honest, it’s not like you’re not scary at all.”

“Sometimes when you push, you’re scarier than the devil.”

“I’m alright! I can overcome even this!”

“….”

So, you’re not completely, absolutely not scared of me, then. Deus found that fact deeply sad.

It wasn’t like he had a gentle face to begin with, on top of which he was radiating the aura of the King of Hell.

The fact that he was even getting these kinds of responses was a blessing from their perspective.

“But, junior. Being beside you gives me the feeling of the freshest, coolest breeze in the world. At first, I thought maybe it was simply because you helped me, but what if that wasn’t the case? So I want to find out. You know my personality. I absolutely have to investigate anything I’m curious about, and draw a conclusion.”

Perhaps if Deus hadn’t been there, she would still be lost in incorrect answers.

Waiting for a wind that would never blow. The thought of becoming the wind oneself? Never even grazed his mind.

“I doubt anyone understands my *romance* better than my junior here. Perhaps… forever. I may never meet such a person. That’s why I want to talk more. About the *romance* we dream of. And if fate smiles upon us, maybe even what comes after.”

Luciel, who saw her ability merely as an obstacle to her own *romance*.

But now, holding both in her grasp, she silently walks that path today as well.

For her, Deus was, without the slightest exaggeration, a single ray of light itself.

“I was able to overcome things thanks to Deus. I want to continue to do so. Even in scary moments, even when facing fear. If Deus is there, I can keep going.”

The timid, fearful version of her from before has almost completely vanished.

The very act of confidently saying such things means that she has changed so much.

Perhaps Yurisia has changed the most out of the three women.

“So, junior. It may seem like we’re doing this suddenly, but when you think about it, it’s not really ‘suddenly’ at all.”

“Let’s stop talking about us for now. I’d like to hear Junior Deus’ answer.”

—Nod, nod.

If suddenly isn’t suddenly, what is it? Really, I’m going mad.

Deus, who hadn’t even entertained the thought of a ‘h’ word harem, was stammering, “U-uh-uh,” in confusion.

Salvation came from an entirely unexpected source.

“Hey! Deus! Emergency! Emergency!”

“Deus-nim! Hell, Hell seems to be opening again!”

Two demons ran toward them, letting out almost screams from afar.

Thanks to them, Deus could breathe again and opened his mouth with a rather resolute voice.

“Chairman Nefertiti. Senior Luciel. And Yurisia. Let’s postpone the answer for a bit.”

“Eh? But…”

“This is a moment that requires a Helldiver. It absolutely must be!”

*I’m* not ready yet. So, I need a justification to buy time!

And that justification is, becoming the Helldiver charging into Hell!

If even one of the three women had a cynical side, they would have pointed that out.

But they all had an awareness of their abilities as espers, a sense of duty, and, of course, *romance*.

With lingering disappointment, they couldn’t hide their anger at the news brought by the two demons.

“So, it has finally come to this.”

“Junior. Let’s go together this time.”

“That’s right! I’ve been preparing so hard!”

“Of course we will. Did we name him Helldiver just for show?”

Previously, he swallowed his disappointment because there were still many missing pieces, but this time it was different.

He will bring the true descent of Hell by taking the protagonists who were originally meant to sortie!

“Astaroth. Jarvis. You two, find a way immediately.”

“You know it takes a bit, right?! Not all Hells are the same!”

“Astaroth-nim is right. It’s similar to the previous one, but definitely a different entity.”

“I know, so cut the local broadcasting and open the gate.”

Deus slowly loosened his body. It had stiffened quite a bit lately, and he felt like he should shake it all off this time.

“Don’t forget, junior. We’ll talk about it again later.”

“It looks like you think you’ve gotten away with it. Didn’t you tell *us*? Don’t even think about subtly skipping the training.”

“Right! That’s exactly what you said, Deus!”

“….”

Indeed, the demons are the problem. Must erase them all. That’s it, absolutely!

*

— *Nyaang*

The cat, far off, watched them go, opening the door and venturing beyond.

They who wished to be like the wind. Who chased after romance. Who fled from fear.

Then became wind, achieved romance, and instead of fleeing, triumphed.

And even the one exceptional individual who made all that possible.

— *Nyaaang*

It’s a relief. You all will live lives different from ours.

The world’s souls that Deus, in his madness, couldn’t grasp. Couldn’t protect.

Entangled, intertwined, they became a single being, then set foot in this world, a projection.

So, is it the same as them? Well. There, one must probably answer no.

Already, this cat is merely a cat, as it is. Only, those souls are deeply imprinted.

Clutching at fading things, it’s no more than a fleeting moment, lingering before vanishing.

Precisely because of that. It has, until now, indulged in whims and little irritations beside Deus.

To tell him, who lamented it was too late, that it understood, was a bit difficult.

But, in the end, it believed he would protect at least this world, and so it came to pass.

Wasn’t remaining beside Deus all this time a sort of vicarious satisfaction?

The cat imprinted its other selves, and the world it dreamt of, upon its eyes.

It was good. It would consider it fortunate to be able to protect it, even like this.

It could think that it had been compensated for everything with just this much.

— *Nyaang!*

So then. Get me some more Churu. You human, scarier than any demon!