The family followed the nun through the hallway and arrived at the altar room. An elderly man wearing a white robe with gold trims, likely the priest, was waiting for them in front of the altar. Further inside the room were statues of the Seven Pillars. The statue at the center of the group was slightly larger. Sunlight shone through the stained-glass windows, creating a mystical glitter.
“My Lord, we have been waiting for your arrival. Now that everyone is here, I would like to begin Cain von Silford’s baptism ceremony. Please come forward, Master Cain.”
Encouraged forward by Garm, Cain knelt on one knee in front of the priest and clasped his hands together in front of his face.
“Cain von Silford. The Seven Pillars of Marineford celebrate the coming of your fifth year. Continue to extol the praises of the Seven Gods.”
The priest then faced towards the statues of the Gods, knelt down, and clasped his hands together.
“Hail unto the Gods, who in their wisdom didst create and doth protect this world. I stand before Ye to report that Cain von Silford hath attained the age of five. I humbly beseech Ye, reveal the path he shall tread in this world Ye hast fashioned.”
As he spoke, the statues of the Seven Pillars unleashed a blinding light that filled the altar room, blowing out Cain’s vision with pure white.
After his eyes adapted to the light, Cain took a look around him. He was no longer in the altar room of the church where he was being baptized. He was in an empty world that was gleaming white.
“What’s going on?!”
“Hoh, hoh, hoh. This is the Divine Realm. So, thou hast at last attained thy fifth year? Long have we awaited thy coming, Cain von Silford. Nay, should I rather call thee Shiina Kazuya?”
Cain turned around in surprise at the sudden voice. Behind him, he saw an elliptical table and chairs that could seat roughly ten people. An elderly man wearing a white robe was seated near the middle, flanked by six others.
“Since you know the name Kazuya, that means you know I reincarnated?” Cain asked the elderly man.
“That may well be spoken of. But come, tarry not where you stand—seat thyself.”
At the elderly man’s suggestion, Cain sat down in one of the empty chairs. The elderly man was seated directly across from him. There were three males and three females seated to the elderly man’s right and left.
“Lo, I shall make Myself known unto thee. I am called Zenom. You may know me as the god who didst forge this world.”
Cain was surprised to learn that the strange elderly man was actually the God of Creation.
“Know this—thy thoughts are laid bare before Me.” Zenom said with a laugh as he stroked the long beard that reached his chest.
Cain responded in a cold sweat, “After I reincarnated, I started going by the name of Cain. That’s what my mother and father named me. In this world, I am Cain von Silford. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Cain rose from his seat and offered a polite bow. Cain was naturally not bold enough to speak casually before the God of Creation, said to be the King of the Gods.
“Verily, let us now speak of your reincarnation. Rime, impart thy wisdom.”
The woman with long white hair that reached her knees seated to Zenom’s left twitched her shoulders. She had been looking downwards with a somewhat apologetic look, but raised her head when her name was called.
“I am Rime. I oversee the cycle of life and death. You were reincarnated to this world at the request of the God overseeing your former world. It appears you were not supposed to die that day. The cycle on earth could not reconcile such an event.”
The bombshell that “he was not supposed to die that day” shook Cain to his core.
“Wait, I stepped in front of a few girls in order to protect them. Was I not supposed to do that?” Cain asked.
“According to the God overseeing your former world, the man charging at you was supposed to trip and fall. Then, the people nearby would disarm and neutralize him.”
“…Did I die for nothing?” Cain asked as his shoulders slumped downwards. It took a significant amount of courage for Cain to do what he did, and now he was being told that it was all for naught.
“Yes. The perpetrator had not yet harmed anyone, so his crime was not supposed to be as serious. Because you passed away, he was charged with murder.”
“So not only did I die, but I also burdened the assailant with a more heinous punishment?”
“To quote the God overseeing your former world, ‘He sure made a mess of things.’”
“…Rime, perchance it would be wiser to veil thy words in greater subtlety,” Zenom said with concern after seeing Cain’s gloomy expression.
After such a devastating revelation, rather than regret, Cain simply felt sad. That was to be expected, since he had just learned that his death had actually made someone else’s life worse.
“It was not possible for you to reincarnate on Earth, so your soul was given to me instead. You technically passed away while attempting to accomplish good. After a discussion with the God overseeing your former world, I was informed that if I allowed you to reincarnate with your memories intact, that may result in this world developing further. Thus, I reincarnated you with your memories intact. However, awakening your memories at the moment of birth may have resulted in mental damage due to breastfeeding or having your diapers changed, so I arranged for your memories to be sealed until you underwent baptism at age five. For some reason, that seal came undone at age three.”
Rime lowered her head and apologized. Seeing that, Cain spoke up.
“Goddess Rime, I have now lived in this world for five years, two of those with my memories unsealed. I am enjoying my life here. I do have some regrets about how I passed away in my previous world, but I can’t change what has already happened. Waking up in a new world was a bit of shock, but either way, I can no longer return. In my previous life, my parents passed away when I was still young. My last surviving family member, my grandfather, had also passed away. I have a family in this world, and I’m living an extremely blessed life. This world has magic, and I’m living my life to its fullest, so you have nothing to apologize for. I should be the one thanking you for allowing me to keep my memories. Awakening to my memories at age three allowed me to learn how to read and write as well as study magic, so I have no complaints.”
Rather than receive an apology, Cain felt he should bow down and thank the gods for their benevolence. His current living circumstances allowed him to study magic and do all sorts of things he enjoyed doing, although he still wasn’t allowed to leave the mansion grounds. Most importantly, he now had a family.
“Oh. You’re not bad. I like you.” The woman with long black hair and a black robe suddenly entered the conversation.