Until Tenma heard those words, he hadn’t even realized he’d picked up a bowl and thrown it. Wanting to give it another try, he reached for a nearby cup and tried to pick it up. An elderly person who was near the cup witnessed this and was rather startled.
“Watch it, Tenma. Most people would call what you’re doing right now ‘poltergeist activity’!” Frantic, the light snatched the cup away from Tenma and set it back down.
The elderly person blinked a few times, then did a double take when he saw the cup back in its original position. He rubbed his eyes several times, then shrugged. Even though he was a little drunk and would probably forget it in the morning, this funeral was going to turn into an exorcism if Tenma wasn’t careful.
“So what are the pros and cons of me being sent to this other world?”
“Hey, don’t just change the subject and pretend it never came up. I’m serious—you have to be careful! Anyway, back to your question... I really don’t think there are any cons. At most, I’d say that since you’re going to be reborn, you’ll have to start from square one, as a baby. And as for the pros, I’m going to give you various abilities that will make your life much easier—cheats, basically. If you want, you can bring all the memories, experiences, and abilities you gained in this life over to your next one. And I can use magic for you—but only once, and it has to follow the rules of this world. The other condition is that it can’t do harm to anyone else.”
Tenma thought for a while about this single-use magic. If it has to follow the rules of this world, then it probably can’t be used on me. It might be interesting to wish for world peace...but I don’t really know what that entails. I was thinking that removing certain things from the world might make it peaceful, but the light said we’re not allowed to harm anyone...
And then, suddenly, he became very conscious of the voices all around him.
“Could you make all the memories of me in the world fade?”
“I could...but may I ask why you’d want me to do that?”
“So this village suffers from population decline, and pretty much only old people are left. But I want everyone to keep trying their best and gradually get the population up again.”
“Hmm, hmm...”
“My grandpa and his friends are the ones really leading that effort, and they all adored me. Everyone here looks so depressed that I wouldn’t be surprised if they all died tomorrow. It’s too much to bear, so I really wanna do something about it.”
Upon hearing Tenma’s answer, the light’s body—or what was probably its body, anyway—began to tremble. Tearfully it said, “What a wonderful boy you are! Well, that would be a piece of cake! But why don’t you want me to erase their memories completely?”
Tenma flushed slightly. In a quiet voice, he said, “Because it would make me sad if they forgot about me entirely.”
“Tenmaaaa!” The light sobbed and tried to hug him, but he deftly evaded it. “You meanie! Anyway, in order for your wish to be granted, you must first leave this world. Go ahead and touch my hand.” The light held out its hand, and reluctantly, Tenma took it. “Let’s go!”
“All right... See you, everyone. For my sake, I hope you live long, happy lives.”
The next moment, Tenma felt a floating sensation, then lost consciousness.
◊◊◊
“Tenma?”
Everyone in the room turned towards the casket at once. They were looking towards the spot Tenma’s soul had been, at the exact moment it had disappeared with the light which called itself a god. All at once, they began to say they could’ve sworn they’d just heard Tenma’s voice.
One old man who seemed perhaps to be grieving the most over Tenma’s death wiped his tears with his sleeve and peeked inside Tenma’s casket. Then he started to sob. Wondering what was going on, the old man’s friends came over and peeked inside the casket too. Then they realized why the old man was crying so.
“Tenma’s smiling...”
“That’s right... He must’ve gotten to heaven safely...”
As Tenma’s body lay in the casket, his face had been expressionless, but when the old man looked, he saw that the corners of Tenma’s mouth had turned upwards. It made him look like he was smiling.
◊◊◊
“Are you awake, Tenma?”
When I opened my eyes, I saw ten beams of light standing around me.
“Where am I?” I murmured. One of the lights approached me—well, actually it was more like it got shoved forwards by the other beams of light—and slid right onto its face.
“This one’s great! We’ve never had one like this before!” The voice that came from this light sounded like it was female, and it—she?—hugged me.
“I’m so glad he’s the one who came!” another light—this one seemed female too—said happily as it approached me.
“Never heard anyone say that before!” Yet another light, one which seemed like an old guy, whacked me on the back. Meanwhile, two other lights were quietly looking me up and down from a short distance away.
One more came up and started sniffing me—probably a pervert of some kind, if I had to guess. A second one wriggled around me as it patted me down. Judging by the way this pat down included the lower half of my body, this one was a real pervert, but I managed to block it from the goods just in time.
There was a light who was watching from behind the female-sounding lights, and then one last one standing beside it, watching me very hesitantly (this one seemed a little gloomy).
It seemed like they had pretty high opinions of me, but since I couldn’t see their faces, I wasn’t sure.
The very first light—the one who had hesitated, then been shoved by the others—spoke up. “You’re making Tenma uncomfortable, you guys! Give him some space!” At this, the other lights finally started to calm down.