Chapter 16 – The One Who Salvages Souls

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Another attack ended.

174 people.

They were the last remaining survivors in a city that was once bustling with people. Originally it was well over thousands, but the number of survivors always dwindled every time the Black Sun rose and set.

However, this time it was different.

Until the Black Sun set, everyone survived without anyone dying. Even Bartol, who was almost the sole casualty, was able to revive right before dying.

As a person who came to know what happens to a human’s destiny after death, that was.

Death faced due to an aged body and a sudden shock.

Bartol’s two hands were still trembling, unable to recover from the shock.

“Old man, you didn’t get a stroke, did you?”

“…Star Creation took care of me. Hwen, there is no problem even if you do not worry so much.”

“Then why are you trembling your hands like this.”

Hwen stirred the thin cabbage soup she had thoroughly boiled with a spoon.

When Bartol’s hand tremors showed no sign of healing, she had made time separately and came looking to take care of him.

However, it was a truth too cruel to subside just by the fact that someone was by his side.

Bartol was not a man to gain comfort just because there were many people in the same situation as him.

Rather, he was trembling his hands at the fact that there was not a single exception.

“Hwen….”

“Do not call me with that weak-spirited voice.”

“I learned the reason why the stars Star Creation makes stay only in the sky.”

“What is so great about that?”

Taking a spoonful of soup, Hwen added her next words.

“It is true that it is great, but they can just stay only in the sky. That is how stars originally are. Here, open your mouth.”

Chomp. Bartol bit into the spoon offered to him in one bite.

As was usually the case with thin cabbage soup, it tasted like drinking a bitter lye.

Deep wrinkles formed on Bartol’s forehead.

There was always a good reason why people picked at their food.

“Geez, since you were a knight, you should build up some culture and so on for us to converse.”

“Consider yourself lucky to have preserved your life by holding a sword during the time you would have turned book pages.”

The reason Bartol was hale and hearty compared to his peers was also because Hwen took care of him.

At the answer returning right after he grumbled, Bartol lost his words and dropped his gaze downwards in sullen silence.

“Are you sulking over that? Huh, truly. You are becoming more childish as time goes by.”

“Ahem.”

“A, alright, so keep talking! I will listen!”

Hwen shook her head as if fed up with it.

Watching that figure, Bartol soon scanned the inside of the mill thoroughly.

Wheeze-, wheeze-.

People covered with straw bundles that were embarrassing to even call mattresses could be seen huddled closely together, warming their bodies with body heat. Even if it was shabby and a mess, it was a sweet rest that found them after a long time.

There were people trying to fall asleep, collapsing as soon as the attack ended.

Mixed in were also people stirring their thin cabbage soup, taking a spoonful, and putting the spoon down again with a sour expression.

Relieved by that sight, feeling a mix of emotions, Bartol let out a heavy sigh.

“I saw where the dead are dragged to.”

“…It is always like that. Seeing illusions before dying is not strange.”

“Star Creation bestowed divine power upon me. Do you think I, a priest, cannot distinguish between an illusion and reality?”

Where did humans go after death?

Ordinarily, they were ones who should have been guided to Elysium, the paradise promised by the god they believed in.

However, it was a night sky dyed pitch-black with all the stars fallen.

What waited for the souls that lost the place they had to go to were starving demons.

“The ones captured by the Dark Light were eaten just like that.”

It was something he had guessed from the time all sorts of monsters popped out from within the Dark Light.

Also the fact that the Dark Light was not a common phenomenon, but a theologically highly important one.

No matter what happened, death had to be avoided.

‘Even though she has only suffered until now. Even though I separated her from me so she would suffer less emotionally.’

What Bartol worried about the most was exactly the remaining lifespan of his companion, Hwen.

“Hwen, do not ever leave Star Creation’s side. Absolutely, no matter what happens.”

“Of course I will…”

“Definitively. You should say definitively, not of course.”

It was a steadfast attitude of Bartol shown for the first time in a while.

Hwen snorted and scooped up the cabbage soup one more time.

“…Geez. Old man, to think you barely play the role of a real man only after almost dying once. How about trying it two more times?”

Hwen was someone who had closely watched death for a long time.

She hoped Bartol would not obsess too much over topics related to death.

However, since he had already realized the afterlife, and the truth of the Dark Light, Heaven, and stars, it was impossible.

Bartol closed his eyes to chew over the sight he had witnessed.

‘The stars Star Creation makes were not gods or angels.’

He knew the fact that Godfather of Stars, Star Creation was a god extremely friendly toward humans.

Ever since going around with him in the form of a human, Star Creation never lost his kind attitude.

However, even when heaven was intact, there was no god that created stars rivaling divine seats as they pleased.

Naturally, the stars Star Creation made were different from before.

‘Star Creation was in the midst of sending human souls destined to be eaten by demons to the sky.’

The Elysium of ordinary gods was the flesh itself.

Star Creation was an exception.

Godfather of Stars, Star Creation was a god shooting his own Elysium up to the sky, creating it over and over again.

***

Unlike gods, humans had to sleep.

It was the reason I could not make them march a thousand miles even if I wanted to. We were doing all this to eat and live, so it was right to at least take a short nap.

Sweeping away puddles of water gathered here and there with my golden hands, I made fruitful use of the barely found rest.

Thanks to fighting hard, there was no one gravely injured, and I also revived Bartol who had almost died.

Furthermore, the rewards obtained by landing the last hit on Surging River were considerable.

Not only were new miracles unlocked, but I also gained dominance limited to freshwater. It meant securing drinking water, which was the biggest problem, became extremely easy.

Even so, I could not feel completely at ease.

The fate the eaten god faced, and the end of the believers who were with her flickered before my eyes.

If I suffered that, I felt like I would spend the rest of my life wailing until I died. No matter how splendid a hero may be, it would be a matter of time.

How long could one possibly hold out in the fear of slowly being eaten?

Looking down at the damp, wet ground under the faintly blinking sky, I felt anew that living here was tough.

At the very least, it should be fluffy without moisture.

It was time to actively utilize the new power I learned.

The starlights inside my flesh revolved, beginning to draw traces.

What remained at the end was a water drop-shaped form pointing slightly outward at the top.

-Exercise of rights, Freshwater

A god possessing a legitimate right could handle their domain as they pleased.

Its original owner, Surging River, was a god handling freshwater.

In a situation where all directions were polluted and dangerous, securing drinking water must have been a tremendous advantage.

Conversely speaking, as a god handling freshwater, it was highly likely she was targeted by demons right from the start. Since the drinking water problem was grave by all means, many survivors must have gathered at Surging River.

I inherited that power.

…Although it was quite forcible, there were no problems whatsoever in exercising the power.

The moisture in the wet soil began to seep out little by little.

It was forming roundly like water spilled on coated paper.

The waters formed like that squirmed and crawled around, merging one by one.

Eventually, at the very end, water drops large enough to refract the mill on the opposite side were standing firmly and plumply.

“O Great One. Wh-what is that?”

It was understandable to be surprised seeing something like transparent jelly shaking plumply right after opening one’s eyes.

It was a question thrown by Ad, who had been sleeping like the dead until just a moment ago, blinking his eyes.

“A water drop.”

“Water?”

Ad alternated looking between me and the water drop with an absentminded expression.

The only ones who believed my words right away were the innocent children.

“It’s cute! It looks like it will be squishy!”

“Waaah!”

Sticking closely next to the adults, they ran over eagerly with sparkling eyes as soon as my explanation ended.

Among them was also a familiar face, Debra.

“Debra! You cannot swim, no!”

The moment Ad, noticing Debra belatedly, urgently stood up.

The children who threw their bodies at the water drop did not fall inside, but were instead embraced by the soft and fluffy water drop cushion.

“Wow… It is soft and fluffy! It is smooth…!”

“Hehe, the very top is my spot!”

It deformed squirming according to the child’s weight and where hands pressed down, but it did not get dirty or collapse.

Staring at that sight blankly, Ad stealthily sat back down in his spot.

“Debra, if you have climbed on, you should go to the very top.”

“Yes, Uncle!”

On the water drops that became wide before they knew it, the children began to cheerfully play around and run about.

Ad slowly watched this sight with a faint smile on his face.

“It seems you are still a bit awkward with Sister-in-law.”

I chimed in to Ad’s rambling words.

“What kind of person was your brother?”

“He was a good person. He was cool… The fact that this drunkard Ad was able to live until meeting You is entirely thanks to my brother’s credit.”

With these words as his last, Ad shut his mouth.

Not because he did not want to talk anymore, but because he was busy missing the one who had already departed.

A smell like a nostalgic and warm bed sheet.

I stealthily moved away in case I disturbed Ad’s reminiscence.

Instead, I decided to actively utilize the water drop cushions the children were playing on. It was just when I was feeling sorry for the people lying on the already hard floor.

“You there. Try getting up.”

“Huh? …Ah, ah, no. W, what brings Star Creation here.”

The man who had been nodding off with his chin resting on his hand wiped the drool flowing by his mouth as soon as he saw me.

One action was better than a hundred words.

Just like the old proverb, I made the moisture remaining everywhere seep out and created water drops.

“Wh, what is this…?”

“A water drop.”

“Yes?”

“You can suck and drink it, or you can just lie down on it as it is.”

He looked unsure even after hearing the explanation.

The man tapped it a few times with his finger, and was gently stroking it.

Eventually, as if having made up his mind, he put his lips to it and sucked it in forcefully.

Only then was he seen widening his eyes.

“It… really is water?”

“When you are done sleeping using it as a bed, drink it just like that. After dusting off the dirt.”

“Th, thank you?”

The man, who offered words of gratitude in his bewilderment, kept poking the water drop.

It seemed to be quite fascinating.

Then, the moment he climbed onto the water drop and laid his body down, he let out a shout like a middle-aged man soaking in a hot bath.

“Eu-heo-eo-eo~.”

Confirming that sight, I gained certainty in my newly obtained power.

Hoping they would sleep comfortably even if it was just a short nap, I made water drop beds and distributed them to the people.

“O, oh my. What is this.”

“It is warm…”

“It is cool for me, though? Does the temperature differ for each person?”

The correct answer was a lukewarm water temperature.

Anyway, seeing as everyone who received them seemed greatly satisfied, a laugh leaked out along with them.

“This time I want to climb up!”

“You climbed up many times already! Come down!”

But as expected, the shrieks of the children playing in the tiny yard, on top of the widely formed water drop, left a particularly deep impression.

It was also a moment my worries deepened.

Even though drinking water was solved, it was a world where new lives could not be born.

Even plants were no exception.

A dying world where neither seeds nor fruits could bear.

Ultimately, we could not stay in one place for long.

If we wished not to starve, we had to leave the mill.

I already knew where we had to head.

The Lion Shield Legion, or the Fanatics.

If there was truly even one in ten thousand chances that they could become helpers… It was right to meet them.

However, prior to that, I resolved to provide the people with sufficient rest.

The road ahead was long.