“So if you keep overcoming death, you can live forever?”
“No.
Every soul has a predetermined lifespan.
For example… Humans live 80 years, demons 1,000.
Within that span, you cycle through life and death multiple times.
Occasionally, there are freaks like you who escape lesser deaths, but you still die at 80.”
Valen’s pupils dilated.
A ledger revealing lifespans?
Then Leto’s remaining years must be recorded too.
“Could you tell me someone else’s lifespan…?”
“That’s out of the question.
I can’t even tell you your own lifespan, you understand?
If the ledger were revealed to others, that very day our guides—”Lester held her palm flat, mimicking a throat-slitting gesture.
“Kiiik.
We’d all be cut down.
You know about collective responsibility?
So don’t even dream about it.
Let’s just focus on resolving this situation.”
Lester placed her hands on her hips like a person facing a major crisis.
Then she turned to look up at Chasguto.
The toad still had its head turned away, clearly disgusted at the sight of Valen.
The other two guides stood on either side of Chasguto, showering it with flattery.“Lord Chasguto, are you feeling unwell?
Shall I fetch some digestive medicine?”
“You said yesterday you were done with dieting.
Besides, today you only consumed the souls of a mere ten thousand… That won’t make you gain weight.”
“Perhaps the human you consumed earlier ruined your appetite?
Shall I rinse your tongue for you?
Show me.
I’ll fetch a toothbrush immediately.”
Despite the escorts’ desperate pleas, Chasguto paid them no mind.
They shook their heads at Lester.
“No choice, then.” Lester said grimly, then looked at Valen.
Valen sensed an inexplicable sense of danger in her eyes.
“What are you doing?!
Let go!
Let go of me!”
“Ugh—!
What kind of strength…!” The two leaders lunged forward, trying to rip Valen’s clothes off.
Though they looked like childern, Valen was giving them more trouble than any of the brutes they’d ever wrestled with.
Finally, the tightly stretched fabric ripped with a loud tear.
In an instant, his bare skin was exposed.
They seized the moment.
This time, chocolate poured down from above.
Splash-.
He was drenched, his natural skin tone completely obscured.
Finally, Lester sprinkled finely crushed candy powder over him.
“We added the toppings Lord Chasguto likes.
Please don’t be like that.
Eat it.
Okay?”
Chasguto shifted his eyes slightly to glance at Valen.
His mouth opened a little, and his tongue timidly poked out.
Then it swept up long and slow, from Valen’s lower body all the way to his head.
Valen’s cheek was pressed against the tongue and pulled upward.
Chasguto merely smacked his lips and turned his head away again.
It meant he wouldn’t eat it.
“He’s not sick, so why is he acting like this?” After a moment’s thought, Lester ordered another spirit to be brought.
Presented before Chasguto, it swallowed it whole in one gulp, even without chocolate.
That spirit flew away, becoming light.
“It wasn’t Chasguto, but you, Valen Rudwick.
You were the problem.”
The halted judgment resumed, and Valen was transported to another space.
It was a place where a river as wide as the sea flowed.
The emerald surface churned violently.
Valen was nearly dying from the sticky, clammy feeling all over his body, caused by the chocolate and Chasguto’s saliva.
As he shuffled forward, trying to dip his hand into the river, a brutal force grabbed his arm and yanked him backward.
Then, cold water splashed violently over his face.
Suddenly looking like a drenched wet rat, Valen wiped the water from his face with his palm.
Lester flipped an empty bucket upside down on the ground and slumped down on it.
“That’s the river that connects the world of the living and the Underworld.
If you slip too deep, you’ll die without reincarnation.
Your very existence will vanish without a trace.
You’ll be erased from the memories of everyone who knew you.”
Valen stared across the river stretching endlessly before him.
“How can one cross that river?”
“You must take the ferryboat steered by the ferryman.
One is coming now.” Lester sprang up as if leaping from a bucket.
A man struggled to steer a shabby ferryboat along the river’s currents.
His oar-gripping arms trembled pitifully.
He was skin and bones, his face so weary it looked like he wanted to jump into the water at any moment.
His hair, tied back in a single knot, was a tangled mess, as if it hadn’t been combed in ages.
“I’ve got a deep connection with that man.
I trained him myself.
You know who he respects most?
Well, me.
What’s so great about me, I wonder… Ah, hey!
Over here—!
Harjan!”
Lester flung her short arms up and waved them left and right.
She clearly made eye contact with the boatman, Harjan, but Harjan pretended not to see her and stared at the sky.
The oar’s direction was bending away from Lester.
“I’m wandering around again, unable to find my way.
Even though it’s already been over 100 years since I picked up the oar, I still have a lot to learn.”
“You’re dodging me.”
“Harjan!
Your monthly pay is here!” The oar’s direction changed abruptly.
Then it began rowing frantically toward Lester.
The movement was so intense it made his head feel like it was on fire, like the ship was belching steam.
“Huff, puff… Gurgle, choke….”
Harjan collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath as if he were vomiting.
His protruding hair clung horribly to his face.
“Pay, what about the pay?”
“Of course it was a joke, buddy.
You still have to wait eight more years before you get paid!” Lester chuckled, seemingly unable to contain her amusement at her own joke, while Harjan’s face darkened alarmingly.
Valen saw an abyss in his expression.
“I’ll be going now.
I’m busy.” Harjan rose, trembling like a quaking aspen.
It was hard to tell if it was from exhaustion or rage.
“Before you go, take this guy with you.” Lester gave Valen a sharp nudge in the back.
Harjan’s face twisted into a grimace more vicious than Valen had ever seen.
“You want me to take someone who’s already set foot in the Underworld back to the mortal realm?”
“You’re new, so you probably don’t know.
I’ll tell you, so open your ears and listen carefully.
It’s not common, but every 300 or 400 years, we get one like this.
Souls whose ties to the mortal realm are stubbornly tenacious.
When the Creator bestows life, He gives each soul a mission, big or small.
This one must have been given a rather significant one.
Just look at Lord Chasguto refusing to take him.”
Harjan, who had been hurling vicious curses with his eyes, showed surprise for the first time.
“Lord Chasguto… didn’t swallow it?”
“Yes.
On top of that, the spirit refuses to leave the body, and the energy yearning for that creature to be revived is immense.
There’s no choice but to return.”
This time, Valen was the one startled.
Lester shrugged her shoulders as if she’d anticipated Valen’s reaction.
“He’s not exactly someone who’s accumulated much merit.
Strange.
Must have made some new friends recently?” She asked playfully, and Valen absentmindedly thought of the Demon Realm.
Friends?
That was utterly preposterous.
“We can’t keep him on the judgment platform forever, so taking him is the right call.
Since this is an exceptional case, the compensation will be generous.
Just bear with it a little longer.”
At the mention of generous compensation, Harjan suddenly began brushing dust off the ferry.
Then, with his free hand not holding an oar, he guided Valen.
“Come aboard.
I’ll see you safely across.”
Just as Valen stepped one foot into the ferry, the bow began tilting sharply.
Water gushed in, and the boat listed dangerously, as if about to capsize.
Harjan panicked and fumbled.
Lester hurriedly pulled Valen’s body backward.
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Ah, this is a real headache…” Lester pressed her fingertips firmly against her temples.
“The weight of that man’s karma is too much for the boat to bear.”
“…What?
This boat can easily carry a thousand people.”
“It’s more than that.”
Harjan flapped his arms in horror.
“Th-then shouldn’t we send him back to the mortal world?
He’s the worst of the worst!”
“True.
But Lord Chasguto judged this man should be returned to the mortal world.
There are things we lesser beings cannot comprehend.”
“……Even if it is Lord Chasguto’s will, how can we send him back when the ship can’t bear it?”
“He must wash away his karma.”