The World I Was Supporting Was Real

Episode 48. Not a Coincidence

* * *

“Ugh…….”

A completely dark space.

The man who had raised his voice against Ophelia, the leader of the band of thieves, regained consciousness and slowly stood up.

“Where is this……?”

At the moment he realized he had been swept away by a windstorm and dragged somewhere-

When he came to his senses and looked around, he noticed that his comrades who had been sucked in with him were nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, hey! Where is everyone?”

He wandered around, not knowing what he was stepping on, but no matter where he looked-

He couldn’t find a trace of his comrades, not even a shadow.

The leader stopped searching and quickly started thinking.

‘What is this? Did someone use magic? But, Ophelia is a knight. Of course, there’s no rule that knights can’t use magic… … .’

No, wasn’t it the sudden appearance of an animal that did something, not the knight?

He wanted to slowly organize his thoughts, but―

Unfortunately.

＜＜Now, we begin the injection of practical, condensed facts to the unbelievers who have gone down the wrong path.＞＞

“?!”

He was not given any time to think leisurely.

“Wa-wait a moment…!!”

――Boom!!

With a tremendous roar, the ground he was standing on rose up.

It kept rising, higher and higher, and then—soon, it began to roll forward as if it had become a cylinder.

It was a very strange sight. Who would seriously imagine that something they were standing on could turn into a pillar?

“What… what is this?”

If you turn your head slightly—

‘!!!’

At some point, you could see that the ground below was densely packed with spikes.

If you fall there… you’ll die!

In the sudden fear of death, the man’s mind went completely blank.

What on earth is this situation?

What kind of place have I fallen into?

Where did those spikes come from, and where have all my comrades gone?

Without even having time to think about such things, the pillar began to spin faster and faster.

“Huh? Huh…?”

The man barely managed to avoid falling and walked forward.

At first, walking solved the problem… but the pillar’s speed kept increasing.

‘No, no…!’

The man started running in the opposite direction of the pillar’s rotation.

If he stopped even once… he would fall and be impaled by the spikes and die!

For now, he had to run. Above all else, to survive!

Thus—

A never-ending run began.

* * *

How much time has passed since then?

“Huff, huff… huff…!”

No matter how much he ran, the pillar showed no sign of stopping.

The man squeezed out every ounce of strength left in his body and barely moved forward.

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The only saving grace was that the pillar’s speed did not increase beyond a certain point.

If only.

If only it had continued to accelerate, there would have been no lingering regrets.

Because of the belief that he could somehow manage, he had to squeeze out every ounce of strength he had to move forward.

“What… what do you want from me…!!”

Even as he voiced his complaints, the man ran and ran and ran.

The instinct at the level of a living being that did not want to die, the human will that could not accept being unjustly taken down in such a place.

With these two feelings in his heart, he continued to run and run and run.

He ran so hard that he felt he had never worked so hard for anything in his life.

But… as time went by, the man instinctively knew.

‘This pillar… will never stop.’

Tears of frustration began to flow from his eyes.

He realized that this pillar would not stop.

It would keep turning until he fell.

If he could give up, it would be better, but because of the instinct to survive, he kept moving forward.

‘Damn it… damn it…! Why…!’

For a brief moment, he thought, ‘What did I do wrong,’ but-

Even in this situation, the man could not bring himself to think that.

Hadn’t he committed theft?

Hadn’t he threatened a passing woman with a knife to extort money?

Even though he knew there were other ways, slower but more honest ways to live, he had not taken that path.

‘So… this is… the price of my sins…?’

Because he had committed theft, he had to keep spinning here.

The only options were to keep repeating this or… to fall and die.

‘Damn it…!!!’

He knew.

He had never intended to claim that he was clean.

He had no intention of begging for forgiveness now, saying it was hard to make a living.

It was just unfortunate that he lived in a region hit hard by the plague.

It was just unfortunate that, because his father was the first victim, even the villagers had isolated him.

Because of the memory of not being able to properly avenge the villagers who beat his mother to death with clubs for their own safety, he was filled with resentment.

Ironically, because he was isolated, he was the only one who survived while the villagers all died from the disease.

Having been slapped hard for stealing food, he harbored resentment towards the world—

Various excuses floated in his mind, and suddenly, tears welled up.

I don’t intend to beg for sympathy by telling such stories.

Never, never… will I repent.

If God really existed.

If He were the kind of being who, as the religious people say, shares plain facts with everyone, then why is my life like this… I don’t want to say that anymore!!

“With something like that… do you think… I’ll say sorry…!!!”

A flash of light.

The man’s running speed suddenly increased.

In response, the pillar that had been rotating at a constant speed began to spin faster.

“Ugh… Ah… aaah!!!!!!”

The man screamed.

It was the process of accepting that he would eventually meet his end.

I won’t kneel to something like God.

Never, no matter what…!!

“aaah!!!”

And then, as his legs gave out and he collapsed on the spot—

He fell from the pillar.

Into the place where the thorns were spread out, continuously, continuously…

—Bang!

“Ugh…!”

He felt pain.

But it was a slightly different kind of pain than he had expected.

It wasn’t the feeling of a cut or a stab… but the kind of pain you might feel when you hit something hard.

“…Huh?”

The man slowly got up and looked down.

…the floor.

There was a transparent floor that was clear enough to see all the thorns spread out menacingly below.

‘What… is this?’

Was there a bottom?

From the beginning… even if I fell, I wouldn’t die?

In that moment of realization.

――The line.

“!!!”

The voice I first heard echoed in my head once again.

――You did not kill anyone. You did not cross the line. Therefore, God did not cross the line either.

“What… did you say…?”

――If you had killed someone, you might have faced a slightly different ending-

But God took into account that you did not.

“God… you say…”

At that moment.

The intense tension that had been gripping my body suddenly released.

God knows that I did not commit murder?

God… was watching me…?

――Why?

Why did you not cross the line?

“……”

Why didn’t I kill anyone?

Was it because I didn’t want to dirty my hands? No, if that were the case, I wouldn’t have been part of a band of thieves.

Even though I didn’t commit direct murder, the fact that I threatened and forcibly extorted those who didn’t want to give money doesn’t change.

“I…”

Come to think of it.

Why didn’t I commit murder?

It’s a question I had never seriously considered.

Other bandits around me took lives without a second thought. Perhaps it was the rational choice.

In fact, there were times when I was close to death myself. Yet, I somehow avoided the choice of killing others.

Not only that, I repeatedly told my comrades that we must not kill people.

Because killing would escalate things?

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It might be for that reason… but when I thought about it calmly, surprisingly, the answer came easily.

“…I didn’t want to become the same…”

I didn’t want to become the same as those b*stards who beat my mother with a club.

Even if the moment came when I lost my life at the hands of others… I didn’t want to take someone else’s life first.

“I didn’t want to become the same…!! Damn it…!”

The man shouted like that and then cried for a long time like a child.

Yes. I didn’t want to become the same. Even though my life had become a mess, I didn’t want to stain my hands with blood in the same way.

How much time had passed like that?

A voice was heard again.

――This is the result.

The result of your struggle not to become the same is the ground that saved your life.

‘That result…!’

The man caressed the ground supporting him.

If it weren’t for this, he would have died. And it would have been a very miserable death.

――Your sins are by no means light. Many people have suffered great harm. Considering the despair of those whose hard-earned wealth was plundered, it is far from the will of God to unilaterally pardon your sins.

However, if you haven’t crossed the line… it’s not too late. You can start again. From the beginning. If you atone for all your sins.

‘Atonement…’

From the beginning… I can start again?

I didn’t kill, but I did steal… Now?

――That’s right. You can rehabilitate.

“Why? Why… why can you say that…?”

And, it answers the man’s question.

――Because it is the decision of Ophelia Transrente, who was chosen by the one and only God Igogodon― ‘Plain Fact’.

‘!!!’

The decision of the holy knight Ophelia, ‘Plain Fact’.

――You can start again, Belion. If you have the will not to cross the line, you can live a better life as much as you want.

“Can I… start again…?”

Since becoming a thief.

No one had said such words to him – to Belion.

They only feared him or cursed him.

Even he himself couldn’t think of it. That he could do it again.

That he could live another life… he couldn’t think of it.

――May the plain fact be with you.

‘… … !’

As soon as he heard that, something slowly saw into his heart.

This was a warm feeling. Ophelia’s decision to believe that he could rehabilitate – the plain fact.

People can change just by having someone believe in them…

‘I… I…’

As soon as he felt the plain fact, a flash of light shone in Bellion’s vision, making him realize something―

* * *

“Sob… sob.”

―When he came to his senses, he realized he was on the roadside before being sucked into something.

Around him, his comrades were all kneeling and sobbing.

“This is the plain fact…!”

“Master Igogodon…!”

Each of his comrades was saying such things while shedding tears on the ground.

The leader of the bandits, Bellion, slowly raised his head.

What was there- a rabbit. A fluffy rabbit, blinking its eyes.

――No. Now he could understand.

That person was a god in the form of a rabbit.

A being comparable to a god, a messenger of god…!!

“Oh, god…!”

Bellion immediately knelt before the rabbit and pressed his head to the ground.

The utmost reverence he could show to the being who believed in his potential and shared the plain fact, despite his banditry.

“Sob, sob…! I’m sorry… I’m really… really sorry…!!!”

The rabbit said nothing, just stared at the kneeling bandits with its round eyes-

Then, it jumped onto Ophelia’s head.

“Igogodon.”

“Call the people right now? But-”

“Igogodon.”

“Is it that they won’t escape… I understand. Please wait a moment.”

The bandits were sucked into the rift that the rabbit had opened.

After about five minutes, the rift opened again, and they spat out.

It would have been understandable to be bewildered by this surreal scene of them suddenly kneeling and calling out the name of God while sobbing, but—

Ophelia calmly carried out the rabbit’s orders.

Thus, the commotion ended with the troops she brought capturing all the bandits.

All the bandits paid for their crimes, but upon investigation, none of them had committed a crime severe enough to warrant the death penalty.

Moreover, without any resistance, they all testified that they would pay for their sins according to the teachings of the great God Igogodon and the great paladin Ophelia, who was chosen by Him, and that they would find the victims and offer appropriate compensation, then be reborn as new people.

Naturally, Ophelia’s reputation increased, and the public sentiment towards ‘a plate of paladin’ became very favorable, and the image of the Igogodon religion also rose sharply, so in the end, she had done more than her share of the work splendidly, but —

‘… … .’

Ophelia could not bring herself to be completely happy.

* * *

Some time after that incident.

‘… … .’

Ophelia, who had finished her night patrol, was lost in thought as she sat by the campfire—

A woman’s voice, with a very beautiful tone, was heard.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ophelia.”