I smiled. “I’ll miss you.”
“You’ll need to find a new sword. Is there one you have in mind?”
“I do, but it’s not just about the sword.” I bowed. “Thank you for staying with me all this time.”
Hwia smiled. It was a bright, pure smile. “Don’t make it sound like we’re not going to see each other again.”
“Well, you’re right, but still.”
“Then it’s fine. I am, after all, a protector.” The Goddess of Protection spread her wings like the goddess she was. “I’ll guard your home, Hero.”
Hwia slowly turned toward Kim Yul. Her wings slowly dimmed and no longer lit the whole world, only Kim Yul.
“It feels odd to say this again, but I look forward to working with you again, my first hero.”
Like an inexperienced actor suddenly finding himself under a spotlight, Kim Yul faltered. A mix of emotions flashed across his face for a moment.
He nodded. “The honor is mine.”
Kim Yul and Hwia would spend a long time talking, just as much time as Kim Yul spent with the orphanage director. Hwia and the director would also have a long chat. That could be done anytime, not necessarily now.
I turned to Estelle. “Advisor, I want to trust you with guarding this place, too.”
Estelle, who had been watching the materialized Hwia as much as Kim Yul’s, paused and looked at me.
“I…”
“What is it? Didn’t you want to be a gardener? In the sector of the garden you guard, you’d be stronger than me—”
“Upon reconsideration, that seems like a rather embarrassing idea,” Estelle answered quickly.
And so, the world’s light novel readership dropped by one. Estelle brushed off the part that the Viper had rubbed off on her, shaking her head like a wet Pomeranian.
She hesitated. “In many ways, I… with them…”
“I see.”
“Of course that’s how you see it, Patriarch. But please consider my view, too.”
She sighed. The former Demon King, who had become enemies with Lefanta Aegim’s empire and destroyed the Goddess of Protection’s world, was more desperate than a cat avoiding a bath.
“Please,” I said.
“Ugh.” Estelle sighed, her shoulders hunched. After a moment, she let her arms droop. “If you were to just order me to do that, it would at least put my mind at ease.”
“I trust you.”
“Understood… Yes, I’ll be a gardener. Now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem so embarrassing. Since I have a village to look after, I’ll take plenty of vacation time, but the clan headquarters would need its advisor too… Anyway.” Estelle took a deep breath. She then bowed toward Hwia and Kim Yul. “I’ll also be working with you.”
Hwia fluttered her wings with a warm smile; she truly was a bright goddess. “Welcome.”
When Lefanta Aegim first started his journey of the Constellation hunt, he spared Hwia, not just for her past favors. Perhaps that was why Kim Yul also nodded, welcoming Estelle. That only made her feel even more lost. After spending some time fidgeting like a snake on snow, Estelle spotted her target.
“You come too.”
Sylvia, who had been watching Estelle with a villianess smile, grimaced. “Eh, me too? For some reason I can’t fathom, my sanity seems to be eroding proportionally to the time I spend here. But you want me to stay in this place?”
“You’re the head steward. Where else are you going to be if not guarding the clan headquarters?”
“Uhhh… I have a mission of utmost importance to brew tea for Duke Silver Lily...”
“Shall I ask for her opinion? Should you brew tea for her or take care of the garden? Which do you think the duke would prefer? Actually, let me put it simply. Which one would she think will screw you more?”
Sylvia sighed.“Freaking hell…”
Estelle raised her chin, her greatsword slung over her shoulder. “Still, you’re a young lady named after a flower. Wouldn’t it suit you more to be in the garden?”
Sylvia grunted. “That’s old history.”
“On top of that, the garden is rotten, so there’s no more fitting place for you. Come.”
“Damn it...”
Sylvia finally gave in. As she walked over to stand by Estelle, she truly looked like one of the flowers that had grown in this world.
Only then did I turn back to the director. “As you can see, other people will use their swords, but everyone here needs help.”
I wasn’t just referring to the flowers. Kim Yul, Estelle, Sylvia, and the rest of the Death King Clan who would come here also needed help. Shadows grew darker with the depth of their wounds. Only those wounded by the world could carve the doctrine of shadows deep within themselves.
“I would like you to help us,” I said as the Young Heaven of the Heavenly Demon Cult. “That’s what you do best, Director.”
The director didn’t stay silent for long. His reply was brief, like his friend’s.
“I shall do my best.”
Like that, everything was set.
[Your agents have been assigned to your world.]
[The eighty-ninth floor has been cleared!]
A rusty sunset hung over a red sea. The flowers, tired from luring bees or having never been gifted with such skill, dropped their petals and leaves and fell asleep. The land was guarded by the Goddess of Protection and the Demon King of Autumn Rain. My old teacher, who had raised me, and his friend would tend the garden. This was also going to be my clan’s haven.
[The Garden of Withered Flowers is now the Scream-Gathering Sky’s holy ground.]
[May luck be with all of you.]
The path to the ninetieth floor was cast upon my world.