Chapter 236 - Final Chapter

[Translator - Angel Dust]

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Side Stories 36

"..."

This was strange. He was sure he was working just a moment ago.

Looking around, he saw nothing but a pure white space. There was nothing there.

Karl tilted his head and gulped.

'Am I dead?'

No way. I haven’t even seen my daughters get married yet.

I had to see my sons grow up and be with their sisters.

As Karl floundered in confusion, someone approached him.

"..."

Facing the other person, Karl let out a sigh without realizing it.

For some reason, he instinctively knew.

The being standing before him was what they called the 'Goddess.'

Because she seemed to be made of all the light in the world.

"By any chance, are you the Great One?"

At that question, the light, the Goddess, smiled without answering.

To be precise, he wasn't even sure if she had really smiled.

"Am I... am I dead?"Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

Karl asked, but the Goddess didn't answer. There was no reaction.

Instead, she turned around and started walking somewhere.

He quietly followed her. He couldn't do anything else at the moment.

If he was really dead, he wanted to cling to the Goddess and say his last goodbyes.

With such thoughts in mind, Karl followed the Goddess and—

'...What is this?'

He was surprised by a random building that appeared in front of him.

A shabby-looking place with no signboard.

An ordinary tavern, the kind you'd find anywhere. A quiet place for a drink.

Karl stared blankly at it and then cautiously pushed the door open.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up."

"Always late, as usual. It's a habit, I tell ya."

"The youngest is here! Hey, who's in charge of training the newbies? How come the youngest is always the last one here?"

"I'll correct it! I'm sorry!"

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes over and over again.

Because they were sitting there. In perfect condition.

Not the blood-soaked state that was always vividly etched in his memory. They were wearing clean uniforms.

"Come on in and have a seat, youngest."

The young man sitting at the head of the table, wearing a name tag that read 'Imperial Army Sergeant William,' patted Karl's back several times.

"Oof."

"You look stunned, kid. Get a grip, man."

"Sergeant... William."

"That's right. You drink, right? Here! A glass of whiskey with plenty of ice!"

And indeed, a glass of whiskey with ice floating in it appeared in front of Karl.

"Drink up, kid. We're gonna drink you into oblivion tonight."

"..."

Karl stared at the glass for a moment, then downed it in one gulp.

There was no burning sensation in his throat. It was just... cold.

"Hey, let's not waste the good stuff and drink in moderation, shall we?"

Sergeant Thomas, sitting next to him, was drinking beer, not whiskey.

He even stopped William from adding ice, saying it would water it down.

He warned William that it would be his fault if the beer became bland.

"Hey, Karl. Our buddy. How have you been? Living well?"

Sergeant Martin approached Karl, who had been silently sipping his drink.

"You have saved countless lives, both in the life you left behind and the one you lived anew."

You might protest, claiming you did nothing of significance, but that could not be further from the truth.

The ripple effects of your actions, the lives you touched, the destinies you altered - they are beyond your comprehension.

"And for this, I have cherished you, I cherish you now, and I will cherish you always."

* * *

"Hey, Karl."

"..."

"What's wrong with him all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. Hey! Karl!"

"Move aside. Hey!! Count Friedrich!!"

Ugh! What the hell, guys! You're going to make me deaf!

"What the hell, dude?"

"Seriously? We got the whole gang together, and you're completely spaced out."

"Did you stay up all night? You've been acting weird all day."

Did I stay up all night? Well, yes, I did. I had a lot of work to do.

And some of it was thanks to you guys, the Hydras who never change, even as you get older.

"Everyone's having a blast, eh?"

"Yeah, it's great. But Karl, your family takes the cake. How on earth did you end up with eight kids?"

"My wife and I originally planned on two, so we could give them the best upbringing possible."

"Two? That's what we said too!"

"Hey guys, technically I only had two kids per wife."

"Do you even know how to count? I don't have eight kids with one wife. Come on."

With Shulifen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and Joachim,

I looked at the wives sitting in the garden, chatting.

And the children playing around them, lost in their own world.

A grand gathering of five families, five households.

Some might say it's for political purposes, but it's definitely not.

It's just a bunch of old friends, who were friends when they were young, getting together even after becoming fathers.

"I heard that the Crown Princess and the Second Princess want to come here too."

"Please, Karl, stop that. I'm afraid His Majesty might come along if they do."

"Why? Isn't it a good thing? It's like a faction backed by the Emperor."

"No thanks. We're doing well enough without that."

As I was laughing with these guys, our wives called us from afar.

Behind them, the children were also calling for us.

I quickly got up and joined my family.

In my case, next to Selena, Eloise, Lav, and Lefia.

And among my four daughters and four sons.

Goddess said I saved many people.

But of all the souls I saved, the one who found the greatest redemption...

Was perhaps my own.

"I love you all."

"Huh? Karl? What's this all of a sudden?"

"Karl, did you eat something wrong?"

"Is this... is this the sign for a third child?"

"Oh! I think so too!!"

No, no! Wives! That's definitely not it!

"Are we getting another sibling?"

"A sibling? I'm getting another sibling?!"

"Sibwiiing!!"

Following their mothers, the children also started chanting.

Oh my goodness. At this rate, we'll really end up forming a football team with just our kids!

"Keep being happy, our youngest."

- The End -

[Translator - Angel Dust]

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