Ch.115115. A Day in Nosweden

The next day, after finishing breakfast and stepping outside, I saw a blonde girl wearing a white beret sitting on the entrance steps, moving her pen across a piece of paper.

She was drawing the small garden outside the mansion, but her skill didn’t seem particularly good, suggesting she had only recently started.

Perhaps she had developed a taste for drawing since that time she tried to copy what I told her about knowledge from my previous world.

“Good morning.”

“Ah, Deus… P-Professor.”

“We’re outside the academy, and it’s vacation, so you can address me casually.”

Elenoa beams at my response.

“Deus! Yes, that’s it. Calling you Professor feels so distant.”

Well, I’m not so sure about that.

“I see you’re drawing.”

According to her, she came on vacation by coincidence, but it was obvious she had followed me here.

I felt sorry for King Orpheus who had been waiting for his sister’s return.

“Oh, yes! I’ve been drawing various things you told me about. Here, take a look.”

Elenoa showed me her sketches one by one. Starting with the green dinosaur I had mentioned before, to a penguin wearing glasses.

She had enthusiastically drawn characters from children’s animations that had apparently left quite an impression on her.

Of course, since I had only drawn them roughly when explaining, they weren’t exactly the same, but it was interesting how she had mixed in her own creative touches.

“What do you think? Are they similar to the drawings you know?”

“Yes, they’re quite similar.”

“Heehee!”

Elenoa stomped her feet happily. I found myself continuing to look at her drawings, not because they were particularly captivating due to skill, but…

“…”

Memories sprouted fresh in my mind. Looking at those small, cute characters that once held no significance for me, I recalled a time that couldn’t even be called my past.

It was more accurately my previous life.

“Deus?”

Elenoa called me cautiously. I slowly collected myself and returned her sketches.

“Drawing is a good hobby.”

“Right? I think so too. It feels like a whole new world is unfolding.”

Perhaps she possessed not only talent as a ruler but also qualities as an artist.

With her abilities, her drawing skills would likely improve rapidly.

“There’s more in the back.”

Elenoa then showed me the magic wands and magical girls she had drawn.

I remember she was quite fond of magical girl stories back then, and they must have left a lasting impression as the back pages were filled with magical girls.

And the face was…

“…Is that Aria?”

She had drawn magical girls with Aria Rius as the protagonist. While it suited her, I was certain Aria would protest loudly if she saw herself dressed like that.

“Yes, I didn’t have a suitable model. It would be weird to draw myself.”

“…”

“But she’s pretty good-looking, so the drawings turned out decent, right?”

Indeed, the quality improved dramatically when she drew magical girls. While she was still inexperienced with landscapes, she seemed relatively comfortable drawing figures and characters.

“And…”

Elenoa hesitated, checking her last sketch nervously.

I wondered why, but she scratched the back of her head and asked:

“Hey, promise not to get angry when you see this.”

“…Did you draw me?”

“Eek?!”

Elenoa was surprised that I guessed correctly. The only thing I might get angry about would be a drawing of myself.

I didn’t really mind.

I should be grateful that a princess drew my portrait.

“T-then I’ll show you.”

Encouraged by my calm reaction, Elenoa swallowed hard and turned the drawing around.

And there…

A man was drawn. There were traces of erasing and redrawing, showing how much effort she had put into it.

Despite having only faint memories, she had tried her best to capture every detail.

A man wearing a black suit, as if heading to work.

Born in South Korea, able to see ghosts, trying his best to appear normal despite his tumultuous life.

It was Shinwoo Kim.

“…Ah.”

Had I ever been this confused and surprised?

My mouth fell open in astonishment. Now I understood why Elenoa had asked me not to get angry.

“I-it’s Deus’s original appearance, right? Since you showed me in a dream…”

Elenoa trailed off, hiding her face behind the sketch with only her eyes peeking out to gauge my reaction.

Come to think of it.

Come to think of it, that’s right.

I had told Deia directly.

I don’t know how Aria found out in my previous life, but from our conversations, she hadn’t shared the details.

The Dark Spiritmaster also naturally learned by being at my side.

Stella figured it out on her own.

But no one had actually seen my real face.

Except for the real Deus Verdi who was already asleep.

Elenoa was the only girl on this continent who had directly faced the man named Shinwoo Kim.

“Hah…”

My hot breath mixed with the cold morning air. My hands trembled, but I felt a lump in my throat.

‘This is what I looked like.’

Suddenly, I realized I had forgotten. When I hesitated for a moment upon seeing the portrait, I felt a wave of self-loathing.

Even I had forgotten, but the princess before me remembered and drew it exactly as it was.

She had left evidence.

Evidence that a being named Shinwoo Kim existed here.

“Sh-should I erase it?”

Sensing my unusual reaction, Elenoa hesitantly asked, but I shook my head.

Calmly and carefully, I placed my hand on the white beret she was wearing and closed my eyes for a moment.

Otherwise, I felt my emotions might surge up.

“Thank you.”

I suppressed my emotions and uttered a word of gratitude.

Not as Deus.

But as Shinwoo Kim.

“Ah…”

Elenoa stared at me blankly, her eyes widening before her expression gradually transformed into a bright smile.

It was like a sunflower blooming in Norsweden, where flowers were rare.

She fidgeted, trying to remove the beret from between my hand and her head, but I withdrew my hand first, causing her to pout in disappointment.

But that didn’t last long. She stood up from the steps, dusted off her bottom, and asked:

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m thinking of visiting a grave.”

“A grave?”

“Yes, I’ll go alone, so perhaps you could explore Norsweden a bit.”

“…I’ve already seen everything in the past two weeks.”

Elenoa grumbled, but I couldn’t let her come along, and she didn’t insist when she saw I wasn’t inviting her.

As I left the mansion, I saw Darius approaching, sweating profusely.

“Oh! You’re here!”

Darius raised his hand and smiled brightly. I stepped back slightly due to the smell of sweat.

“You’re working hard.”

He seemed to have been training consistently, as his body looked more solid and larger than before.

“Of course! I am Norsweden’s barrier!”

He seemed to take pride in that title, but putting that aside…

“Thank you for your help with the bishop incident. Thanks to you, we resolved the case cleanly and also helped His Majesty.”

“Ah, you mean cracking down on the nobles?”

Though it was starting to fade a bit, King Orpheus’s disciplining of the nobles was still ongoing.

Beginning with the Zeronia family, one of the most powerful noble houses, confessing to the Saintess about their shameful past of inhumane massacres and torture of Septima citizens and erecting a memorial to lower their own influence as a declaration of surrender.

Many nobles who had held their heads high were naturally kneeling under the king’s authority.

I heard there were still a few nobles who resisted King Orpheus.

But that was merely fighting with a back-against-the-wall mentality because they knew they had skeletons in their closets.

The moment they bowed their heads, unforgivable crimes would be revealed, and they would die anyway.

They probably had engaged in major conspiracies like cooperation with other countries, espionage, or preparation for rebellion.

In the end, they were revealing themselves as criminals.

“It was fun in its own way, and if it helped His Majesty and you, that’s enough.”

“…”

Was he always this dependable?

“And… I got to hit you once too.”

Darius gently clenched his fist and smiled, recalling when he had to injure my face to demonstrate our bad relationship.

“If there’s ever a similar situation, make sure to call me.”

“That won’t happen.”

As I passed by him, he chuckled behind me, amused by something.

Anyway.

I headed straight for the Norsweden mountains. On the way, I encountered the Dark Spiritmaster I had assigned to Aria, who briefly informed me that Aria and Findenai were sparring before returning.

The mountain spirit wouldn’t accept the Dark Spiritmaster anyway.

Halfway up the mountain.

Though it was quite a difficult place to find, the grave was still well-maintained.

Perhaps Deia had visited occasionally?

– Emily, a girl who loved flowers.

Finding eternal rest here.

The inscription on the tombstone was still clear, and the flower called Seolhwa that I had left the first time had naturally been blown away by the wind.

But it didn’t matter.

I placed a single yellow flower that I had prepared before coming to Norsweden in front of the grave.

“This is a yellow flower you like.”

Though she couldn’t hear me, I hoped she would be a little happy.

I closed my eyes for a moment and shared a silence with the girl. With my eyes closed, memories flooded back, starting from when I met her connected to the bone worms underground.

The memory of holding the first memorial service in this world.

That was the turning point when the Verdi family began to change.

As I spent some time there…

Krung.

A deep growl that resonated through my entire body. While Darius declared himself Norsweden’s barrier…

The true master of the Norsweden mountains.

A tiger with a pure white body and blue eyes slowly appeared behind me.

“Mountain Spirit.”

I calmly bowed my head in greeting. Unlike before, I had no offerings, but we were in a contractual relationship, so minor matters could be overlooked.

[Deus Verdi, much has changed despite the brief passage of time.]

“For humans, it has been a relatively long time.”

For the Mountain Spirit, who lives an almost immortal life, it might not seem like much time at all.

[Normally, I would tear apart filthy beings who carry corpses and souls and make the mountains echo with screams…]

“…”

[But you are both like them and different.]

This reaction probably stems from the difference in how we handle souls. I don’t treat souls as mere consumables.

“Why have you sought me out?”

The Mountain Spirit coming to find me directly means there’s something it wants.

I agreed to protect the Norsweden mountains, but that was originally the duty of the Verdi family anyway.

As for offerings, I’ve asked Darius to present them once a month, as far as I know.

Moreover, the Mountain Spirit’s voice conveyed concern rather than anger or hostility toward me.

But what came out was a somewhat unexpected question.

[Do you know of the Marias Forest?]

“Yes, of course I do.”

The largest forest in the continent, located east of the kingdom. Beyond it lies the Sahar Desert.

The Sahar Desert, known as the Cursed Land.

The Marias Forest stood firmly against the expanding desertification.

That’s not to say it’s hostile to humans. While there are quite a few threatening magical beasts, proper roads have been established.

There are also natives who have created their own civilization and live there.

[The guardian spirit of Marias Forest, Horua, has begun to move for some reason.]

“…That means…”

[It means he has abandoned his nest. I don’t know the reason, but it’s not good news for humans.]

A guardian spirit who abandons its land naturally cannot live forever and will grow weaker over time.

It’s essentially suicide, but for Horua to make such a choice, something urgent must have happened.

“Do you want me to go and find out why?”

[No, that is his choice. I simply came to warn you.]

“…”

[Be careful, for you seem to be born with a fate that intersects with strange connections.]

As he said, I felt certain that I would meet Horua someday.

It was absurd, but I needed to be prepared.

[Also, I would prefer not to see the great evil within you the next time we meet.]

“…”

The Mountain Spirit had accurately perceived Stella and Vellica sleeping within me.

“They’re better than you might think.”

When I tried to defend them, the Mountain Spirit closed its mouth for a moment, then snorted with a “krung” and turned away with a sneer.

[Yes, if there are those like you who handle the souls of the dead without being defiled, perhaps there can also be benevolent great demons.]

I bowed my head briefly as the Mountain Spirit departed, then descended the mountain.

In town, Findenai was waiting for me with her arms crossed and boldly declared:

“I’m going to the Republic of Clark for a bit.”

My previously good mood instantly soured along with my expression, and Findenai shrugged her shoulders.

“Just for a little while, I said?”