Rose of Hell [1-2] Snow guest

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The lights were beginning to fade and I could see the night scene from my office window.

There was only one person in the office filled with desks and computers.

Or perhaps I should call it “what used to be a person. Chojiro Sato, who was working overtime alone in the office late at night, had just died.

His body, propped up on his desk with his back arched, was of medium height with a worn-out look. A single spotlight shone on his shaggy head, which had been shaved with clippers since he didn’t have time to go to the barber. On his computer display, he was working on a presentation.

Choujiro was sitting behind it.

I couldn’t grasp the situation. I was definitely standing, but I was also sitting here.

“Is this some kind of astral projection? So, I’m dead?”

“That’s correct.”

A voice echoed from close by.

Suddenly, I noticed someone standing beside Chojiro.

He was dressed in an ancient Roman toga with a beard that looked like rough rope. He looked like “The God”.

It didn’t seem particularly solemn, though, because it was so template-like and I was standing in an office late at night. It’s only when they’re slumped on their thrones at the far end of a white temple that they seem divine, Chojiro thought.

“It’s a trespasser. …… What’s the security company doing?”

“You’re not surprised. You’ll find a lot of things to look at.”

The sharp eyes of the presumed god looked at Chojiro and smiled just a little.

“Who are you? Are you sure you’re not a god?”

“Yes. But I am not a god of Earth. I am the ruler of another world not far from Earth.”

With these words, the presumed god was upgraded to a self-proclaimed god.

“Your life has already expired. But if you wish, I can reincarnate you into my world and give you a second life.

“I see. What’s in it for me, and what’s in it for you?”

He’s not going to do any good deeds for free, no matter how much of a god he is, is what Chojiro thinks.

In addition, if the self-proclaimed god is right and this guy is from another world, then he has no duty or connection to the earth’s human race.

The self-proclaimed god nodded as if he had anticipated Choujiro’s words, and then responded.

“I seek power. I seek the souls of heroes who will fight the forces of darkness.”

“The souls I call forth from earth will be a great power, for they can carry blessings that are stronger than what other mortals can bear.”

“You are promised the honor of being a warrior with the blessings of God.”

“Do I get a cheat or something like that?”

“First of all, I give you the blessing of good luck for your life. You can enjoy a peaceful life until the time to fight comes.”

“Then, if necessary, I will bestow more blessings. Your life as a god-blessed hero beyond human understanding awaits you. You will be the hope of the people, and you will have wealth and honor.”

“I see.”

I felt it was not a bad story.

I’m not proud of it, but Choujiro’s life has been a straight line of bad luck. If God himself were to grant him good fortune, he wouldn’t be working overtime at the office late at night and dying of exhaustion in such a boring way.

And in some cases, I might even get a few more cheat blessings and live as a hero. I’m afraid of fighting, but if God himself is going to give me a blessing, I can handle it. You can run away from a battle that is impossible.

What would happen if I refused this offer? Will I go to the heaven of a religion I don’t believe in, or will I be reborn on the dark earth again, or will I return to nothingness?

Either way, I had no desire to return to earth.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

As soon as he answered, Chojiro’s vision was enveloped in light.

****

“What kind of luck is this?!”

Perhaps it was because my memories came back so quickly, but I felt as if both the torment of the living hell I suffered as Renée and my overworked death as Chojiro had happened just yesterday.

I’m sure you understand that I’m not the only one who has a problem with this.

After I said it, I realized that it was weird that I could make a voice.

I’m not sure if time has really stopped, but that’s the only way I can describe it. I couldn’t hear a single sound, people were rigid in uncomfortable positions, and even snowflakes on their way down and jumping children were still in the air.

“What the heck is this?”

As I was wondering what had happened, a voice suddenly called out to me.

“Good day, reincarnator.”

Without any preamble, there was something next to Renée.

It was the voice of a lustrous woman. It’s a great way to make sure you’re getting the most out of your vacation.

Her hair was tied up in a wet feather-black knot, and she wore black-rimmed glasses, a black striped suit, a tight skirt, black tights, and even her high heels were black.

In contrast to her attire, her skin was lifelessly white, and her eyes were the color of dark matter that absorbed all light, rather than black.

Although her appearance was completely different, I remembered this way of appearing.

“Do you know God or something?”

“God is a god, but she is an evil god. I’ll fill you in.”

“… About what?”

Renée wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Even a child knows the general framework of mythology, having been taught it in church.

A long time ago, there existed only one person in the empty universe, the “Mediocre One”.

He (also she) shared himself and created all the conflicting entities: heaven and earth, heat and cold, life and death.

And the last two pillars that “The Moderate One” created were the Great God and the Evil God.

The Great God (whose name should not be called without reason) created humans, elves, dwarves, and other races, followed by birds, beasts, fish, plants, and everything else that lives in this world.

But the evil god didn’t like it. In order to threaten the world, he distorted the creatures created by the Great God to create demons, turned the dead into pawns as undead, and brought plagues and natural disasters to fight against them.

In this world, the great gods and the evil gods are still fighting today.

And the career woman in front of me is the enemy of the living human race. She says she is an evil god.

“Evil God?　So it’s your fault that I’m in this mess?”

“Oh! I’m grateful as an evil god to get credit for anything bad that happens, but this is the only time it’s troublesome!”

However, the evil god exaggeratedly looked up to the heavens and lamented when she received a shooting glare.

“To be honest, I can’t intervene to that extent. You can’t do anything but give blessings and oracles or cause natural disasters. I, and that rotten bastard.”

You can use an oracle to give instructions to the demon king’s army and have them work on it, but you can’t give detailed instructions like that, and after all, the demon king’s army doesn’t have the capacity to do something like this right now.

“So this is something I have absolutely no control over. I ask that you hear me out calmly.”

The self-proclaimed Evil God speaks somewhat quickly in her defense.

“That… Evil God? What can I do for you?”

She believed that the woman in front of her was an evil god.

In any case, Renée was able to talk normally even though her head had separated from her body.

“I’ve come to recruit you today.” The evil God said with a salesman’s smile that didn’t seem genuine.

****

At first, Renée had to explain the circumstances of her reincarnation (with only her head lying on the execution table, which was surreal in a way), but when the evil god heard Renée’s story, she shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “I can’t help it at all.”

“Ah, Good luck.”

“It’s a charm-level blessing cheat that manipulates coincidences, like accidentally getting run over by a carriage, or making it easier to win the lottery.”

“It doesn’t work very well in a situation where a lot of people are doing everything they can to kill you.”

“What the hell?!”

“It does, however, improve the survival rate somewhat. In order to preserve your pieces at a low cost, it would be useful to distribute them to everyone at first.”

There was something strange mixed in with the evil god’s words that sounded like she was talking to herself.

“… cost?”

“I think it’s best to start there. As an evil god myself, I will teach you the depths of mythology.”

Before I knew it, the evil god had a pointing stick in her hand that looked like one I wanted in a classroom.

The black suit made her look like a career woman, but with just a few props she looked like a schoolteacher.

“You know that in this world, I have been fighting against the Great God or something like that, right?”

“But this world, created by the primordial Moderate, is designed to maintain a balance between conflicting elements. If the demon race wins too much, the power of the human race will increase… This seesaw game, like a swinging balance, will continue until it is settled by some chance.”

“In concrete terms, the more the human race is pushed, the more powerful the blessing cheats the Great God will be able to unleash. If he was saying that he would cheat depending on the situation, that’s what he meant. He probably wanted to keep the reincarnated people and use them when the time came to unload the blessing cheat.”

“Right now, the human race is doing so well that the Great God can’t give out enough blessing cheats.”

“It’s going well? This? This is it?”

Hearing the evil god’s words, Renée couldn’t help but scream.

The anger, fear, and disgust suddenly came back to her, and she burst into tears in a quantity that surprised even herself, and even felt nauseous even though she should have already been out of her body and head.

I felt nauseous, even though I was already out of my body and head. They had committed such a blasphemous act and put on such a show of execution. I couldn’t believe that such a world was going well at all.

Seeing Renée like that, the evil god narrowed his dark-matter-colored eyes with a smirk.

“You can afford to kill each other among the human race.”

“That’s…”

Renée was speechless. If that’s the case, then the gods not only can’t do anything about this mess, but they don’t even want to do anything about it in the first place.

At this very moment, God is like a happy cat owner watching over a cat fight, saying, “Oh, the humans are doing well.”

If he can give an oracle, he can intercede in a battle. If he can bring about a natural disaster, he should show his anger at the atrocities. If the gods had that kind of spirit, Renée wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.

Are you saying that humans should make mistakes and learn from their own… after piling up corpses? I’m not kidding. In a world where there is an absolute being like God, the sacrifices would be far less if he were to lead humanity properly.

Renée cursed God, though she was only half-angry.

It’s a good thing that you’re not the only one who has a problem with this. It would be like being half tricked, and Renée should have the right to hold a grudge.

The evil god stood up once and sat back down with her legs together in front of Rene, who only had a neck.

The snow, which was also hovering over the execution table, did not leave a single footprint, as if the evil god was an illusion.

“Now, I said I was a scout earlier, but I’m sure you’ve guessed why I’m here by now. The fact that the human race is predominant means that I can give you a strong blessing cheat.”

“I want you to be my pawn and make a mess of this world.”

“I’ve just had two of the leaders of the demon king’s army defeated, and I got a… good blessing cheat.”

The way she said it sounded like a salesman pushing a dubious product.

“Don’t you hate him? The god who half-tricked you into reincarnating?”

How could I not hate him?

It may have been Choujiro’s fault for not listening to the detailed explanation, but God’s explanation at that time was terribly insincere.

“Don’t you hate them? The people that sent you to your death for their own reasons?”

How could I not hate them?

The people who were running things in a world far away from Renée’s took away what should have been a modestly happy life, took away my mother, and even took away my life after suffering so much.

And to hell with the people who seem to relish such atrocities as a show!

“If you wish for revenge, I will grant you a special blessing.” The evil god said, smiling as she blessed Renée’s anger and resentment.

She smiled like a loving mother. But what she was saying was the very definition of an evil god.

“I wish I could, but… why me?” Renée asks cautiously.

I’ve just been tricked by a god. If the evil gods also deceive me, I won’t be able to look at myself.

“Well, it’s okay for me to go to Earth and scout my soul, but it’s a hassle, and I’m nasty because I’m an evil god.

Wouldn’t it be thrilling to take his pawns and return the favor?”

“Oh I see…”

The evil god sighed in ecstasy.

In short, she seems to be such a person, or rather, such a god.

“And you’re just the kind of reincarnator who has the motivation to fight the human race.”

“Also, the fact that it’s a girl is a high point. I’m tired of having all the tough monsters in my camp, so I’d like to have some flair.”

I thought, “I’m an old man inside, is that okay?” but Renée didn’t say anything.

I don’t want the evil god to change her mind here.

“So, what cheats are you going to give me exactly?”

“It’s hard to understand all of its power when it’s explained to you. But once you have it in your body, you will understand.”

“How about a cooling-off system, the Earth way? If you don’t like it, you can return the blessing cheat to me before midnight in 30 days. You can quit being undead and sleep in peace. There is a cost to collecting the blessing cheat, so this is a bleeding hot offer.”

“As long as the cheat doesn’t have a brainwashing function on it, that’s enough for me.”

“It doesn’t… The rest is up to you. Will you take it?”

My heart pulsed with heat.

No, weird to say that my heart is beating. My head and body have long been separated, and I’m supposed to be dead.

But Renée felt it like a heartbeat. It was as if his heart was pumping out hot blood like magma.

“You’ll learn how to use your powers naturally, so I’m sure you’ll get used to it after a few dozen or so random bloodbaths.”

The woman was speaking in a manner befitting an evil god, but Renée did not blame her for it.

She felt that it was easy for her to do so now, and she already felt no remorse for killing people.

This was revenge. This is revenge, ruthless and thorough revenge.

“I’ll give you one more piece of advice: it’s theoretically possible to be stronger than the Demon King, but be careful not to fight a strong enemy out of the blue.

I wish you good luck.”

As if she had said all she needed to say, the evil god disappeared without leaving a trace.

As soon as she did, time began to move.

The sound came back to Renée’s ears. The cheers of people rejoicing over her death.

Yes… she should have been dead a long time ago, but she could see things clearly and hear sounds.

Renée had heard of it. Why are silver-haired and silver-eyed people considered abominations in Ciel-Terra?

A hundred years ago, shortly after the founding of Ciel-Terra, a court astrologer had predicted that the silver-haired, silver-eyed girl would be cursed.

“The cursed silver-haired, silver-eyed destroyer will destroy the country.”

Renée’s body, which was supposed to be out of breath, twitched.

The shackles that held Renée to the execution table popped off.

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