NOVEL WEB Chapter 3
However, I couldn’t hear what the Saint was saying.
– Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk─
At that moment, the Saint’s belly-clock loudly rang.
“…Uh, I didn’t hear anything at all because of the Gurrrrr sound.”
“Mi, sorry! So…”
The Saint’s face turned red and she opened her mouth again.
– Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkk─
Unfortunately, the Saint’s soft voice still couldn’t be heard this time.
Moreover, it seemed she had completely exhausted her strength, and she collapsed with a thud.
“…I’m hungry.”
“Se, Saint?”
“After three days, I only managed to eat a potato peel… and crying has drained me… strength…”
The Saint weakly mumbled.
I hurriedly supported her and asked anxiously.
“Surely you haven’t eaten anything all this time?! Is a potato peel all you’ve eaten?!”
“…Yeah. I tried to conserve, so I ate just a bit, like the size of my pinky finger….”
With her free hand, I wiped my face.
Why does this saint seem so pitiful?
I quickly pulled out a chocolate bar from the pocket dimension.
“Can you eat something like this on an empty stomach? Should I give you this first?”
“…M, are you God?!”
“Well, Mr. Death is also God, so to speak.”
I peeled off the wrapper and gently placed the chocolate bar into the Saint’s mouth.
The Saint with her tiny mouth munched happily and then sparkled her eyes at me.
“Mayeerr─!”
“I’m glad it’s to your liking.”
“…Ah.”
The Saint held the chocolate in her mouth and stared blankly at me.
Anxiety crept over me from her gaze.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that? Did the sugar spike hit you after such a long period of fasting?!”
“…Do you want some too?”
With trembling hands, the Saint offered me the half-eaten chocolate bar, tears welling up in her eyes as if it was a monumental decision.
‘This must be what they mean by eating someone’s liver.’
I gave the chocolate bar back to the Saint and put it in her mouth.
“Uup─.”
“It’s okay; eat as much as you want. I have more.”
Worried she might spit it out, I quickly pulled out a few more chocolate bars from the pocket dimension.
Then the Saint looked at me with folded hands.
“…God!”
“Yes. Mr. Death.”
Nodding repeatedly, the Saint began to eat the chocolate bar faster.
I peeled another one.
Ah, this is really similar to something.
Feeding the rabbits at the zoo.
Every time I see this, I’ve always wanted to try it,
but I couldn’t because the zookeeper regularly approached people talking.
Who would have thought I’d be doing this now,
‘…to a human.’
I felt rather strange.
“…Can I eat just one more?”
“You can eat as much as you want.”
The Saint who had been beaming a moment ago now shook her head, looking dejected.
“…No, one is enough.”
“Are you really okay with just one?”
“Uh-huh.”
The instant the Saint nodded her head with her eyes tightly shut,
– Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk─
The contrary call from her stomach echoed loudly through the room again.
The Saint’s face turned bright red—redder than the chocolate bar wrapper.
I sighed and held the chocolate bar out to her again.
“Could it be your pride causing this?”
“…Ah, no! I don’t have any pride!”
“…Uh, really?”
Even as I blurted out a reply,… don’t we all need at least a little pride?
When I tilted my head,
the Saint, hesitating while looking at the chocolate bar, began to speak.
“…You will probably need some too.”
“Huh?”
“…Food is rare around here.”
Looking at how she carefully eats the potato peel, she certainly seems to believe that.
“If I eat it all, you’ll starve later.”
“…Saint.”
“I’m sorry. Did I eat too much already? I can stop now. …I’m used to this.”
The Saint’s shoulders drooped.
To be accustomed to hunger…
Is there such a miserable habit?
‘…Ah, I understand now.’
That people of the world would prefer her dead.
Just moments ago, the Saint’s eyes reflected her resignation to that realization.
What exactly…
has she been through until now?
So far, she seems so innocent it’s almost ridiculous.
I slightly bent forward and made eye contact with the Saint.
“Saint.”
“…Yeah?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t starve.”
Her eyes widened at my words.
“Huh?”
“Mr. Death is fine without food. So please, eat without hesitation.”
For humans, food is essential for survival, but for Death, it’s more of a pastime.
I only bought this chocolate bar because it was a collaboration with one of my favorite anime characters,
though I never bought it with the intention of eating it.
…It’s embarrassing as Mr. Death to admit this much.
I extended the chocolate bar toward the Saint.
“So please, eat without worry.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Amazing─!”
The Saint held the chocolate bar tightly and exclaimed brightly.
“It’s incredible that you don’t need to eat. …I wish I could be Mr. Death too.”
“No, if you aim to be a god, I recommend something other than Mr. Death. The workload is too strenuous here.”
“Huh?”
“How strenuous? Each month, more people quit the netherworld and get hired than actually stay… but it doesn’t matter right now.”
Why am I explaining the affairs of the afterlife realm?
There’s something I need to ask her.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and spoke.
“Rather, what were you going to say earlier?”
“Oh, right!”
While eating the chocolate bar, the Saint paused her actions to answer.
“This world has no way out.”
“…What?”
“Umm, well… I’m not quite sure, but the magicians say about another di…”
– Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkk─
…Not again.
Apparently, a chocolate bar’s not enough.
The Saint began to cry and hung her head dejectedly.
“I’m garbage…”
“No, no, it’s just a physiological phenomenon.”
I fumbled through the pocket dimension in a hurry.
Not regularly tidying up and just stacking things have resulted in finding all sorts of weird things.
“…I should’ve cleaned this earlier.”
As I frantically searched through, I found the extra-large instant cup noodles I purchased before.
What were these?
That extra-large 8-serving cup noodle, right?
I had bought them because they were trending on SNS, and this should leave her comfortably full with leftovers.
“…But, is it really appropriate to eat something like this in a room?”
I glanced around cautiously.
The sad state of the Saint aside, the room was extremely neat.
Though the ribbon decor and lace were almost too much.
“Uh, is there a kitchen around here?”
“Yes, there is.”
“Perfect. How about we go to the kitchen and eat this?”
I pulled out the giant cup noodle from the pocket dimension.
Upon seeing it, the Saint opened her small mouth wide and let out an ecstatic shout.
“Wooow─!”
“However, after eating, you’ll properly explain what you meant earlier, right?”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Eager steps could not be hidden as the Saint followed me into the kitchen.
*
The kitchen was full of dust.
It looked like it hadn’t been maintained at all.
Hardly anyone seemed to frequent it; there were barely any footprints on the dust-covered floor.
Tracing what looked like recently made footprints with my eyes,
At the end, a small table appeared in sight,
and on a clean plate, a potato peel placed neatly came into view.
“…I don’t understand this Saint’s concept of hygiene.”
The room is meticulously maintained,
so why does she let her body and the kitchen become such a mess?
Strangely, the hallway leading here was rather clean.
“She said she doesn’t have any pride, right? Maybe she simply doesn’t care about herself. Or maybe…”
Just as I inhaled, a cough escaped me unconsciously.
“Hk! Cough!”
“…Eh? Are you, um, okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Rather, eating here might cause illness unnecessarily.
I caught my breath and pulled out a table, chairs, and tableware from the pocket dimension.
“Woo─! You have more than just food?”
“Yes.”
“Sa, Mr. Death can do things like this too? How amazing!”
…Ah, no. This is probably only me.
Among death gods, there are very few who stack human belongings in their own realm.
In any case, it’s probably best not to eat in this kitchen.
Better to eat in the neat corridor.
Though it’s winter and it’s cold, the warmth of the food might make it fine.
I finished setting up in the middle of the corridor.
It was fortunate that the grim reaper’s duties involve a lot of waiting.
These things are all prepared because waiting for someone to die could get pretty boring.
“Still, it might get a little cold.”
I pulled out a wireless heater and a blanket from the pocket dimension when the Saint poked my back.
“Uh…”
“Yes?”
“…Is it okay to eat here?”
For a moment, I felt like I had been stopped in my tracks, placing my forehead in my hand.
“…I don’t understand this Saint’s common sense at all.”
Am I the one who’s strange?
Am I failing to understand the diversity of culture or something?
Is this world’s common sense supposed to be like this?!”
I clenched my teeth tightly and spoke.
“It may feel fresh sometimes to eat outside.”
“Yeah, I see.”
I couldn’t quite bring myself to be honest.
I will make sure to properly clean this kitchen before leaving.
I sighed deeply and opened the kettle lid.
At that moment, with a ‘chholl’, the kettle, which had been completely empty, was filled with water.
“Uh? Why is this?”
“Oh, um… Don’t you need to fill it with water?”
The Saint glanced at me anxiously, moving restlessly.
Apparently, she had muttered something about magicians earlier, so she seems to use magic.
“…Then why did she…”
A subtle feeling washed over me, but I answered with a smile.
“Right, we do need to fill it with water. Thank you.”
“Okay? …I’m relieved.”
“Now, the water needs to be boiled…”
“Ah, I’ll do that! It’s hot, so place the kettle on the table.”
I was half-believing her words, but steam started to rise from the kettle.
“Wow! They’ve been alive over 500 years, so I guess they’re pretty versatile.”
I opened the giant cup noodles and stirred the noodle soup.
Pouring the water boiled by the Saint into the noodles, white steam filled the corridor.
“Wooow….”
“Let’s see. Since this is a large size, we need to wait 5 minutes.”
“Yeah!”
The Saint nodded eagerly with her hands clasped.
After encountering various people for over 100 years as a death god, this person is the most unpredictable I’ve met.
At times, she’s as unknowing as a child,
and at other times, she seems as mature as someone who’s grasped the truth of the world.
“…I really don’t understand her at all.”
Still, one thing is clear.
It’s somewhat cute how she stares intently at the instant noodles.
Unaware that a blanket rests on her shoulders,
with all her attention on the instant noodles, the Saint drew a smile from me without my noticing.
—