Ch.399Chapter 399 – The Repairman’s Final Tale

After becoming a family with seven children, I’ve been truly busy.

First, I met with Elena and Mina’s parents to obtain formal permission for marriage.

“Please take good care of our daughter, Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

Mina’s parents repeatedly emphasized entrusting Mina to me.

“Don’t worry. I won’t neglect her.”

“We’re grateful for just that.”

Perhaps due to the enormous gap between commoners and nobility, they seemed incredibly thankful just for my promise not to neglect her.

Anyway, I needed to meet the parents of Elena, Mina, and Aisen, excluding Regina, Etherna, Emelda, and Cheon Hyeryeong who didn’t need parental permission.

“I wouldn’t trust anyone else, but with you, it’s different. Please take care of my daughter, Grand Duke.”

“I’d appreciate if you could inform me of the wedding date in advance. The Chancellor’s duties are busier than I expected.”

After obtaining permission from Margrave Beventus and Marquis Sandrios, I held an unprecedented wedding ceremony with seven brides simultaneously.

“Do you, the groom, love the brides?”

“Yes!”

“Do the brides love the groom?”

“Yes!”

“Then that’s all. What’s the point of a long ceremony? Live well and love each other. That’s all there is to it.”

Not only was it shocking to marry seven brides at once, but the ceremony reportedly made history by lasting less than three minutes!

Anyway, through this wedding, I officially gained eight wives.

Only Karen received the title of First Wife and Grand Duchess.

The others would simply be called Grand Duke’s Wives.

After the wedding, they practically stayed with me every day.

This isn’t just a figure of speech—they literally stayed physically attached to me.

“Hurry up. We’re not done yet.”

“Wait, let me rest for about 10 minutes.”

“Oh, why are you like this? 10 minutes is too long. Come quickly.”

…I mean literally physically attached.

Remarkably, within a year, everyone except the three who were already pregnant became with child.

Fortunately, there were no twins this time.

If there had been… we would have fourteen babies in our house.

Having many babies making the house lively would be nice, but it would be hard on the caretakers.

Of course, my wives were all extraordinary people, so they were managing somehow.

Thanks to my abilities, the children grew up healthy without any minor illnesses.

“Dada!”

“Papa!”

“Oh my, yes. Daddy’s home.”

Seeing fourteen babies smiling at me and calling me daddy at once gave me a surge of strength.

With all dangers gone, seeing the innocent smiles of the children made me feel that peace had truly arrived.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Oh dear. Your toy broke? But daddy can fix it!”

Sometimes when the children break toys with their strength, I fix them with my ability.

“Hehehe!”

They clap and laugh happily, which makes using my ability worthwhile.

It’s true that children’s smiles are the best medicine for parents.

As time passed, the children grew, and my wives became even more mature.

“Huff… huff…”

“You seem a bit weak these days.”

“Maybe we should prepare some herbal medicine…”

They say men’s testosterone decreases with age while women produce more male hormones.

Perhaps that’s why my wives’ sexual desires seemed to multiply after giving birth.

As a result, I was squeezed dry night after night until I passed out.

“Mom, why does daddy always look tired?”

“Yes, I want to ask him to play with me, but he always looks so exhausted.”

Thanks to our adorable children saying they couldn’t ask me to play because I looked tired, things eased up a bit.

Such filial children at such a young age! How admirable.

As more time passed, the children grew up and started attending the academy.

“Dad, everyone at the academy knows you?”

“Some professors even said they received a lot of help from you, and told us not to worry about grades.”

Perhaps enough time had passed that students who were my age were now professors.

The juniors who remembered me had become my children’s teachers.

Perhaps because I had helped many people during my academy days, my children could attend without difficulties.

With children born in consecutive years all entering school at once, the house felt empty.

“Shall we work on making a second batch?”

“H-help! Someone save me!”

And because the children were gone, I started getting squeezed dry again.

As a result, my wives became pregnant again, and our family grew by eight more members.

Twenty-two children! At this rate, I might be recorded in history books again as the person with the most children in the world.

More time passed as we raised eight more children.

We experienced so many things while raising them.

Before we knew it, all our grown children found partners and brought them home, saying they wanted to get married.

“I’ll respect your decisions. Just live happily.”

Whether they dreamed of leading the Grand Duke’s family or becoming top mages or priests in their fields, all the children married and built their own families.

And so our family grew, and grew, and grew.

Of course, we had occasional arguments with my wives, but they were just light disagreements about what to have for dinner, and all problems were resolved through nighttime conversations.

But where there are meetings, there must also be partings.

“All the time I spent with you, Lord Pathos… was happy.”

Mina, the only commoner among us, was the first to leave my embrace.

With magical talent, she lived quite long for a commoner.

Next was Emelda.

“Every day was happy because you loved someone as insignificant as me.”

Then Elena and Aisen left my side.

To be honest, I wished they wouldn’t leave me.

But since the time allowed to humans is inevitably short, I loved them to the fullest every moment.

“Thank you. For freeing me from the painful loop that seemed endless.”

Karen. My first wife. She too left my side when her time was up.

Karen’s funeral was held as a royal ceremony.

Not only was she the Grand Duchess, but she remained a member of the imperial family and the grandmother of royalty.

After Karen’s departure, I officially retired from my position as Repairman.

“No, Grand Duke. If you step down from the Repairman position…”

“It’s time for me to go. Now the Emperor and new talents must lead the way.”

Ignoring the Emperor’s pleas to reconsider my retirement, I passed everything to my children, took only my hammer and gun, and set off on a long journey with Regina, Cheon Hyeryeong, and Etherna.

After leaving the Gelebrio Empire, we traveled the world, sharing stories we hadn’t told before.

“Ugh.”

And finally, I felt that my time had come.

“Darling? Darling? Are you alright?”

“It seems… it’s time for me to go.”

At ninety years old, it was indeed time.

Thanks to my ability, I still looked like I was in my forties, but no matter how healthy the body, one cannot defy the allotted time.

“Welcome, benefactor of the elves.”

I departed for the elven lands with the three of them to prepare for my end.

It was to ensure that others couldn’t find me.

“It’s really time to go now.”

Was it truly time to depart?

Strength gradually left my body and my eyes began to close.

“Regina, Cheon Hyeryeong, Etherna. Meeting you three was the most important time of my life.”

“Meeting you was also the most unforgettable and important day of my life.”

“My dear, if there is another life, let us surely meet again. Without fail.”

“Meeting you, Lord Pathos, was the most rewarding experience of my life.”

As I felt consciousness slipping away, I uttered my final words.

“I love you. All of you.”

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

When I opened my eyes again, I saw someone.

“So, were you satisfied with your second life?”

The blonde goddess.

Epitrina.

She was standing before me.

“Am I… dead?”

“Yes. All the time granted for your second life has ended.”

Epitrina approached me and leaned in close.

“How was your second life?”

“It was good. Beyond what any words could express.”

At those words, Epitrina smiled.

“Really? I’m glad then. I’m happy you were satisfied with your second life.”

She twirled once in place and leaned toward me again.

“But… isn’t it a bit disappointing to end here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look over there.”

Looking where Epitrina pointed, I saw a modern city.

“I asked you before, didn’t I? Whether you’d like to return to modern society.”

Then Epitrina came closer to me.

“This is the last gift I can give you. Live your final life properly in modern society.”

With that, she pushed me through the portal.

“I hope you live well there too. And…”

As I fell through the portal, I could see her lips.

But I couldn’t make out her final words.

And so I lost consciousness once more.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

“See you again in that world. My hero.”