Freesia smiled and gave the answer.
"It's not corpse necromancy or anything like that. It's literally the dead coming back to life and jumping out of here."
At that, confusion appeared on Phoebe's face.
"Is that really true? That they're not dead but alive?"
"Do you doubt my ability? I'm sure. I've seen a few people buried alive. They always pop up the same way."
"A few...?"
"I said a few, mostly were my subordinates."
Suddenly, Reed became curious about what kind of life Freesia's secretary led.
Freesia, as if it was nothing, moved on and scratched her chin.
"It's interesting in this case. I'm sure those half-pennies were dead when I checked their breath had stopped. Were they resilient creatures?"
"That's only special for Saul. The other children... are no different from people..."
"I thought they might have some interesting abilities, but it's boring. So, someone else interfered from the outside?"
Freesia clicked her lips and muttered.
"Reviving the dead. Who performed that miracle, which even our omnipotent Althea couldn't do? What do you think, Reed?"
"I'm not sure. It would be nice if there were a resurrection concept like coming back to life, but it's probably not that, so..."
Suddenly, a thought crossed Reed's mind.
As he didn't speak for a long time, Freesia shouted in frustration.
"What's wrong? Why did you stop talking? It's annoying."
In a seemingly dazed state, Reed's mind was following clues and arriving at a conclusion.
Through the conversation with Freesia, he seemed to know what these strange incidents were.
The source of the conclusion was “Disaster 7”.
One of the seven disasters that would be created later had a similar ability.
"Going against... time."
A general boss who arrives at the funeral and the first disaster.
His ability was time itself.
* * *
In the dark space, holding a single sword and using one knee as a pillow, he barely managed to sleep.
The pure white porcelain mask stirred, and the hero raised his head.
The information flowing into his mind.
He could understand what it was.
"I've been had..."
The hero muttered.
It was a signal that arrived precisely when Dolores cut the former president's life.
Without even a moment to ponder his defeat, a dark voice flowed in front of him.
-It's different from what I expected. Didn't you say he would be enough by himself?
"It seems I underestimated her. It's my fault."
- The former principal of Escolleia, a man who couldn't even beat an assistant, what a piece of trash.
"He wasn't even a skilled enough man to be buried in a proper place. His body was buried far away from Escolleia, after all."
-Why?
"Because he tried to poison the current president, Anton Eclipsys."
-Didn't you say he was a classmate?
"Anton was a genius in terms of ability, so he felt threatened. He couldn't overcome the pressure and put poison in Anton's food."
-But he failed?
"Anton was a much more meticulous person than I imagined. He realized that poison was added, restrained him, and forced him to confess. Anton, hearing the situation, found the man despicable and ultimately dealt with him as he saw fit."
-You know quite a lot.
"It was a story I was very curious about, why the former president was buried far away from Escoria."
The president, or the professors, are always buried in Escoria's cemetery.
Security is, of course, top-notch.
Among the corpses, the most expensive corpses are those of magicians.
Occasionally, grave robbers would dig up tombs not only for treasure but also for the corpses of high-ranking magicians.
It was likely for the president or professors, who were talented magicians, to be targeted by grave robbers.
"I thought I could kill him now that he's weakened since his heyday, but I was wrong."
-It wasn't empty words; he really was a genius magician. There should have been no problem dealing with the former president.
"I can't send another assassin."
-Escoria isn't stupid either. But how did you manage to persuade that president?
"It wasn't difficult."
The hero picked up his sword. A smooth blade.
It looked like an ordinary sword without any decorations, but that sword was emitting an unusual energy.
"Most people who are dying have regrets. Even saints regret what's left in their lives at the moment of death. The desire to live a little longer, the desire to try things they haven't done before. That's how contracts are made."
-So, you're making contracts by exploiting the weak nature of humans? It's fitting for a hero who defeated the demon king to do something the demon king would do.
The dark voice laughed as if it was amusing.
The man spoke again in a dry voice.
"That alone would have been difficult. So I told him one more thing."
-What was it?
"What I had seen. I showed him the world of despair that would exist even if he came back to life."
-So it went like that? Then, he must have wanted to struggle to live somehow.
"It's not struggling. It's just reminding them of their duty."
-You're good at dressing it up nicely.
However, the man's words were sincere, not just dressing it up.
He didn't feel guilty either.
He had already killed many people.
He cut down both those who were evil and those who would become evil with his sword.
There was not a single moment of hesitation in what he was doing, and he held his head high with conviction.
-What are you going to do now?
"I'll restore fate to its original state. To make sure they can face the end they should face..."
-Does that mean you're going to die too?
"Yes."
The hero.
Like Adonis, Larksper, and Peon, he too becomes a disaster that threatens the continent.
Isel didn't know that the man who would become the first disaster was the hero.
Even if he hadn't shown his face in Pieta, he might never have known.
He would have fought as a disaster just like them and faced the same end.
The hero knew this well.
Yet he did not hesitate.
-So you were destined to die anyway. How tragic.
"I have never rebelled against my fate."
He adjusted his white porcelain mask.
"I'm just doing what I have to do... to save many people."
-How cruel, truly cruel.
The hero loves the world.
Even that dark voice knew this fact.
The hero sacrificed his precious things to save everyone.
He lost his existence and gained a fate heading towards tragedy.
That's why the hero must do it.
Even if it's a lonely path that no one can understand.
To create a more beautiful world, he moves towards his will.
