Chapter 288
The Game Difficulty Is Insane
Epilogue
Bang-!
A stamp slammed down onto the sheet of paper on the desk with tremendous force.
“I-It’s finally over……”
“Good work, Saintess.”
When Bishop Roderick, her assistant, took the final document away, Luceria, with her pure-white hair, collapsed over the desk as if her entire body had melted.
Looking at Luceria, Roderick smiled faintly.
“There is still some time before your appointment with His Holiness the Pope.
You should rest until then, at least.”
Luceria gave him a half-hearted answer.
Even until the moment Roderick left, she kept her head buried against the desk.
Chirp- Chirp-
“……”
Hearing the birds singing outside, Luceria raised her head and looked out the window.
“You guys are really free.”
Her hair was tangled around her face.
Her once-brilliant purple eyes were filled with exhaustion from her endless workload.
“I’m… stuck here like this……”
“Should I just run away?”
It had been one year since the Paradise War.
The situation in the Papal Holy State, which had fallen into chaos due to the sudden appearance of a god… a transcendent being, had finally begun to stabilize.
Even after the disappearance of Yuellos, the God of Fate, lower gods would occasionally invade the Papal Holy State with their followers, declaring that they would rule the continent.
The damage itself was not particularly severe.
However, the fact that even Cardinal Gracia, one of the strongest people in the Papal Holy State, and Commander Ignat of the Knights, who had recently reached the Ninth Star, could not do anything against them had shocked everyone.
Eventually, beings capable of resisting transcendent beings naturally rose as heroes of their nations.
Luceria was one of them.
After becoming known as a national hero, her status skyrocketed.
The woman who had previously lived a life where she was little more than a figurehead was now considered one of the leading candidates to become the next Pope, discussing major national affairs alongside the current Pope.
Of course, this meant that whenever she went out, she had to suppress lower gods, and whenever she returned, she had to run the country.
She had been buried under an insane workload.
“I envy Brother Ridenhall.”
Minis had disappeared, but because the religious order itself still remained for the sake of the country, Ridenhall could not appear publicly yet.
Therefore, he secretly traveled around the country, suppressing lower gods who were building up their forces while helping the poor.
At first, because Luceria had so much work to handle, he often dealt with the lower gods in her place.
But recently, he had been helping more and more citizens who had suffered from the growing number of heretics.
As a result, the amount of time he could spend helping Luceria with her work had noticeably decreased.
“Uwaaang……”
Thinking about it made Luceria even more frustrated.
She lightly punched the innocent desk.
Sometimes she wished the religious order without a god would simply be dissolved.
But if that happened, the country would fall into irreversible chaos.
If those who did not know the truth learned that Minis had disappeared, the situation would become completely uncontrollable.
-**Are you crazy?
Do you want to see a religious civil war break out in the country after you pull something like that?**
“I know that, Brother……
I know, but……”
The organization was simply too small to maintain the country and peace.
She had even asked through Cardinal Gracia whether they could at least reveal the truth to the Inquisition and bring them into their side.
But the answer she received was—
“No, because of some crazy bastard.”
“……Sigh.”
It had been a month since she had been venting her frustrations to someone who couldn't even hear her.
“At this rate, I’m going to die from overwork before anyone else……”
Knock knock-
Someone knocked on the door.
Luceria hurriedly straightened her posture.
“P-Please come in.”
“Excuse me, Lady Luceria.”
“Oh, Sister Tasha.”
Tasha Pelevin.
With her emotionless expression, she was the woman who connected Luceria with him.
“Welcome… huh?
It isn't the day for our regular contact.
What brings you here today?”
“I have a message from the young master.”
With that, Tasha took a letter from inside her clothes and handed it to Luceria.
“Brother?
That's unusual.”
He rarely contacted her unless it was for something related to work.
Luceria began reading the letter.
Soon, a puzzled expression appeared in her eyes.
“A party?”
At the same time.
Tris, who had received the same letter at Wordsworth, jumped up from her seat.
“Ah, Miss?!
What’s wrong?”
“Lucy.”
Tris's back as she left the office looked extremely excited.
“A party.”
“A party…?”
“Yes.
A party.”
Her maid, Lucy, tilted her head.
It had been three months since the family's influence had risen dramatically and Tris had been appointed as the Margrave overseeing the border region connected to the Demon Lands.
Because of her endless workload, she had looked like a walking corpse.
For Lucy, who was always by her side, it had been a very long time since she had seen her look this bright.
“Should I… prepare?”
“That's not it, Lucy.
I was invited to a party!
Me!”
“……By whom?”
“Who else could it be?
That boy!”
“Ah.”
Only then did Lucy nod.
Her younger brother, whom she would finally meet again after almost half a year.
Considering how much Miss Tris adored him, it made perfect sense.
“I understand, Miss.
I'll make you the most beautiful woman at the party!”
“Yes!
I'm counting on you!”
“Yes!
Please look forward to it!”
After understanding the situation, Lucy grabbed the hem of her skirt and bowed with a determined expression.
Tris nodded proudly at her.
“What an embarrassingly affectionate family.”
The Banshee Queen, Septerien, who had become a guardian spirit, watched the two of them from one side of the office and shook her head.
The sun was slowly setting.
The vivid blue summer sky was gradually turning bright red like a ripe apple.
It was a beautiful and emotional sunset, completely different from the ominous sky he had seen countless times before.
“Ah!
Hey!
What are you doing?!”
“Hahahaha!”
“Colin!
I told you to stop messing around!”
“I don't wanna~!”
The noisy voices of children filled the air.
Under the sunset sky, black figures busily ran around the hill.
They had nothing particularly interesting to play with, yet they were happily playing together.
Glenn smiled warmly as he watched them.
“Snacks are ready.”
Behind the reclining chair where Glenn was sitting, the closed front door opened.
Romina stepped outside, openly displaying the pair of horns and wings that symbolized a high-ranking demon.
“……”
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.
It's just that the apron looks terrible on you.”
“What kind of compliment is that…?
Go call the children.”
Not knowing how to give a compliment.
Romina threw the words at him and stomped irritably back into the house.
“What’s so fun about watching her get all proud after receiving a compliment?”
Glenn chuckled.
He placed the book he had been reading upside down beside the tray of drinks.
Then he stood up from the reclining chair where he had been sitting all day.
“Ahh!
My body’s stiff……
Kids!
Come inside!
It's snack time!”
There was no response.
They were too busy playing and laughing to even hear him.
“Aina!
Can you bring the kids inside?!”
“Yes, Teacher!
Kids, let's go eat snacks.”
“Can’t we play a little longer?”
“Teacher is waiting.
Let's go.”
Soon, the oldest demon girl, Aina, brought the children back.
The four children had gloomy expressions as they returned.
Each child belonged to a different race.
There was Aina, a demon.
Renne, a spirit.
Tethys, an elf.
Colin, a human.
And Ellie, a spirit of the dead.
They were the children of Vanum, the God of Death and Annihilation, whom Glenn had left in the village of Linz in the Demon Lands half a year ago.
“Alright, wash your hands before eating snacks.”
This place was a school and orphanage Glenn had built to raise the children.
Of course, since the building had only recently been completed, the only teachers were Glenn and Romina.
“Who made today's snacks?”
“Teacher Romina.”
“……Can I not eat them?”
“Teacher Romina's food doesn't taste good……”
“K-Kids……”
Glenn placed a hand on Aina's troubled shoulder and shook his head.
“Leave them alone.
She needs to know.”
“Umm… I think they're delicious……”
“Don't lie.”
“I'm sorry……”
Aina avoided his gaze.
Although Romina's cooking skills had improved recently, she still had a long way to go.
“Still, just endure it a little.
Today we're only having snacks.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes.
Teacher's friends are bringing all kinds of delicious food.
Look forward to it.”
They only had to endure a little longer before dinner arrived.
Until then, Glenn would take care of the children and somehow endure Romina's snacks.
With that thought, Glenn deliberately ignored the gaze stabbing him in the back through the window.
At the final moment, he had chosen both the life of Glenn and the life of Seong Yohan.
Then he opened his eyes as Glenn Wordsworth.
‘I thought I was screwed.’
At first, he could not understand what had happened.
But he soon realized that he had been given two lives.
Knowledge had naturally been engraved into his mind.
It meant that once the life of Glenn Wordsworth ended, the life of Seong Yohan would begin again.
More precisely, he would return to the age of twenty, when he first encountered Gray Eden.
That was five years before he had possessed Glenn's body.
Glenn nodded at that realization.
The experiences and knowledge he had accumulated as Glenn Wordsworth would remain with him.
Considering that, he thought the result wasn't bad.
‘Then I'll work hard on this side first.’
Satisfied with his reward, Glenn returned to Wordsworth and rested first.
Just as he had told Knox, there were days when he did nothing but take long afternoon naps.
There were also days when he took the party members around the continent on food tours.
‘Of course, there were plenty of incidents too.
Some lower gods would try to take advantage of the fact that the house was empty, while the Black Church would revive in the shadows.’
Although Glenn had wished for the unknown power to disappear as part of his clear reward, his holy-demoniac power had not disappeared.
Because of that, the problems occurring throughout the continent were easily resolved by Glenn.
After spending three months resting, Glenn had recovered enough and began thinking about the problems within the continent.
Although the major gods had disappeared, the continent was still divided between humans and demons, who remained in conflict.
At first, Glenn considered revealing the truth to both humans and demons, uniting the two races and bringing peace.
But realistically speaking, hatred that had continued for hundreds of years would not disappear easily.
No matter how much of a savior Glenn was, there was no chance humans would suddenly decide to live together with demons just because he said so.
‘The demons would be the same.’
Therefore, Glenn decided to take a longer view of his plan.
Before trying to reconcile humans and demons, he would first break the endless cycle of war between them.
‘And I'll do it secretly.’
First, Glenn placed people close to him in leadership positions among each faction.
Luceria took charge of the Papal Holy State.
Rowen became the Demon King.
Of course, one person could not handle everything alone.
Therefore, Glenn first had Tris and Ridenhall assist Luceria, while Penelope assisted Rowen.
That way, humans and demons could gradually establish peace within their respective territories.
And as enough time passed, their deep hatred toward one another could slowly fade.
That day might not come while Glenn was still alive.
But he believed it would come someday.
So Glenn prepared for it.
‘That's why I built this school.’
As the sun descended into twilight, Glenn smiled while looking at the school glowing bright yellow in the distance.
A school where humans and demons, spirits and elementals, elves and orcs could all attend together.
Right now, none of the races would be able to truly live in harmony.
But when the students who graduated from this school grew up and gained influence comparable to his own, the world would begin to change.
Just like Colin, the human, pulling Renne, the spirit, by the hair before running away and then getting caught and beaten up.
Just like Tethys, the elf, falling off the swing while playing with Ellie, the spirit of the dead, and crying.
Just like Aina, the demon, acting maturely as she comforted the children and took responsibility for them.
This school, which had begun with only five children, would gradually grow in size.
Eventually, it would become a massive academy where all the races commonly seen in the fictional works of his original world could come together.
“Isn't this enough?”
Speaking to the countless gods who had disappeared, Glenn smiled bitterly.
“Uh, Brother!!”
At the happy voice coming from far away, Glenn turned his head.
There, Luceria, who had returned as the Saintess of the Minis Church, was approaching with a bright smile.
“Well, well…
Isn't this the future Pope?
I'm honored that you have traveled all the way from the Istirenne Cathedral to this remote place.”
“Hahaha… Please don't say things like that.
Every time I hear it, I feel like I'm deceiving the entire nation, and it makes me uncomfortable.”
“Well, it's only temporary, so hang in there.
You must be tired from coming all this way.
Go inside.
Go play with the kids.
Romina seems to be having a hard time handling them alone.”
“Hahaha… Honestly, Sister Romina and I don't really get along.
I'll go inside, so Brother, come quickly too.”
And so, the first guest arrived.
After waiting a little longer, the next guest arrived.
“Haha… It's been a long time.”
“You've worked hard, Ridenhall.”
“Worked hard?
Not at all.
Saving people who are suffering is the only pleasure I can enjoy.”
“Still, take it easy sometimes.
You'll wear yourself out.”
“Haha, my bones……”
“……Just go inside, you idiot.
You're embarrassing me.”
The second guest had arrived.
“Eldeeer!!”
No sooner had the second guest arrived than the third appeared.
They should have taken different amounts of time to get there, but somehow they were all arriving as if they had supernatural abilities.
“You're here, Penelope.”
“Of course!
Actually, I arrived at noon, but I waited until the proper time.”
Glenn narrowed his eyes.
Why did this woman become stranger as time went on?
Recently, whenever he looked at her, he was reminded of some fanatic who had gone completely insane over Minis, and it sent chills down his spine.
“Ahem……”
“Oh, Rowen is here too.
Did you come together?”
“Of course not.
Penelope Ogma arrived much earlier.”
“Right.
If you said you waited together, I'd have thought you were both crazy.”
One crazy person per gender was more than enough.
“You worked hard coming here.
Go inside for now.”
“Ah, Elder!
Could you spare me a moment?
I prepared some food for you.
The moment you taste it, I'm sure……”
“I'll take her.”
“Uh.
Thanks.”
And so, the third and fourth guests arrived without incident.
“Now, all that's left is……”
“Hey, Gleeen!”
No sooner had Glenn said that than Tris arrived.
Seeing Tris running toward him from afar while happily waving, Glenn smiled.
“Oh, Sister.
Welcome……”
Then he saw the extravagant dress she was wearing.
His brows furrowed.
“….”
“…….”
“I've missed you so much.
Have you been well?”
“Yes.
Well, but why are you dressed……”
She wasn't attending some royal wedding.
She had dressed so extravagantly that it almost hurt his eyes.
But Glenn had already been drained by the previous guests.
He didn't even have the energy to comment on it.
“No, it's fine.
Just go inside first.”
Perhaps disappointed by Glenn's plain reaction, Tris's lips drooped.
“That’s so mean……
I put so much effort into this, and you don't even notice……”
“Just act normally.
Please.”
“Our Glenn has changed……
You used to appreciate these things.
Waaah……”
“Go inside, Sister.”
“Okay.
I understand.
Aren't you coming in?”
“No.
There are still more guests.”
Tris tilted her head.
“It's noisy enough inside that it seems everyone is already there.
Alright, I understand.
See you later.”
“Yes.”
And so, even Tris went inside.
Glenn leaned his back against one of the pillars at the entrance and let out a deep sigh.
“Wow……
Why is this so exhausting?”
Perhaps because he had spent the past few months living a slow and peaceful life with the children, having this many people suddenly descend upon him had completely drained his energy.
Boom-!
Bang!
“Ah, I don't want to go inside……”
Glenn held his forehead.
It was already noisy inside.
It seemed Romina and Ridenhall had started something.
“Hmm……
I invited him, but is he really not coming?”
The party members and Tris had arrived today.
Tasha, Hawkney, and the others would be invited another time when he held a larger gathering, so they were not included this time.
Even so, Glenn was waiting outside the school for the final guest.
He had no idea whether that person would actually come.
Whoooooosh-!
A night breeze suddenly blew.
It was surprisingly cool for a summer night.
At that moment, Glenn raised his head.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching from afar.
The worn-out robe made the person look like a pilgrim.
But the moment Glenn saw the silver-gray hair flowing over it, a slow smile appeared on his lips.
**“Yeah.
You had to come.”**
The woman approached.
She slowly raised her silver-gray eyes, the same color as her hair, and looked at Glenn.
“It's been a long time.”
Her voice was clear and pure.
Deep down, Glenn had been worried that she might not come because of her guilt.
“Yeah.
It has been a long time.”
Looking at the woman who had given him another life, Glenn smiled.
Author's Note
Hello.
This is the author, Gori Tail.
With the completion of this work, I wanted to take this opportunity to greet all my readers.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who continued to enjoy this imperfect work, openly pointed out its shortcomings at times, and stayed with me all the way to the end.
Honestly, I am someone who loves communicating with people more than anyone.
I wanted to personally reply with sincerity to every comment from my readers.
However, I worried that interacting too much with readers might actually become harmful, so I held myself back and only regretted it privately.
Of course, I constantly refreshed the page to check for new comments, and I humbly accepted both criticism and praise, using them as motivation to keep going.
Through my work, I have personally experienced that the saddest thing is not hateful comments, but indifference.
Perhaps that is why I treasured every single comment from my readers even more.
As for the work itself, honestly, I had the most regrets.
I felt that I had failed to meet the needs of my readers as well as I had hoped compared to what I showed at the beginning.
There were probably many reasons for this, such as dissatisfaction with the income from the work and exhaustion from the long serialization.
But the most decisive reason was my lack of skill.
To be honest, there were many times when I wanted to simply rush through the ending and finish the story.
There were even quite a few people who told me that unless I was a major author, I could simply quickly finish a work that wasn't making money and then change my pen name.
But even though that would have been easier, I never truly wanted to do it.
Regardless of money or reader response, my attachment to the writing, the characters, and my readers was much stronger.
So even though many shortcomings remained, I decided to create the ending I wanted as best I could.
I am also happy that I managed to keep that resolve.
Since this was the first work I had ever presented to my readers, I painfully realized through the serialization just how many important things I had overlooked.
I will use those experiences as a stepping stone for my next work and do my best to present an even better story to my readers.
I don't know when or where I will meet you readers again.
But because this is something I love more than anything, I will return as soon as possible.
When that time comes, I promise to return with a more enjoyable story that has fewer of the weaknesses of this one.
With that, I will end my somewhat rambling words and say goodbye.
Once again, I sincerely thank you all.
THE END.............................
