喵绅HCMOIC士网页版

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?"

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.

He put his arm around Karl's shoulder and patted the back of his head, asking if he had been drinking alone.

Then he toasted with his comrade and shared stories they hadn't been able to tell each other.

Many others were drinking in this shabby tavern.

Giggling and laughing. Some still hadn't broken their habit of telling dirty jokes.

Others were singing and banging their glasses on the table, shouting ‘Drink up!’

"..."

Karl watched the scene silently, taking it all in, lest he miss a single detail.

The sight of them laughing, talking, drinking, and having fun.

* * *

"Ugh, I'm drunk. I drank too much. This is bad."

"You got carried away by the mood, didn't you, Sergeant? I knew it."

"Tsk, tsk. How can you be a sergeant like that? You should be demoted immediately."

Everyone took the opportunity to pounce on William.

Sergeant William retorted, ‘You guys! Shut up!’

"Alright, alright, that's enough drinking for tonight, you bunch of lushes. Time to head home, get some rest, and sober up. Remember, you're still soldiers, even here. Cause any trouble, and consider yourselves back on the front lines."

"Damn, Sarge. Way to lay on the guilt."

"Alright, alright, we're going. Don't you worry about us."

"Hey, put those swords away. We're not fighting tonight."

In the noisy tavern, Karl looked around for a moment and then spoke.

"Shouldn't you all be going now, as the Sergeant said?"

"We should. Let's go quickly—"

"Go and get some sleep. Rest easy. This youngest is truly fine now."

The noisy tavern suddenly fell silent. It became completely immersed in silence.

"When did you know?"

"From the beginning, of course. I wouldn't mistake your ranks."

Sergeant. Corporal. Corporal. Private. Private...

All of them were ranks posthumously awarded after their deaths. Karl was well aware that their ranks were different from his memory.

"Is that so? This is a bit awkward."

The scenery changed instantly. The tavern disappeared, and all the people inside were gone.

Now all that remained were William, Thomas, and Martin. These three were all.

"You're living well, buddy. It was worth it to try and save you."

"..."

"Just so you know, don't say you're sorry. I'll kill you, for real."

Martin patted Karl's shoulder and said goodbye with a smile.

"Wow, the guy I absolutely had to watch over has become a Medal of Honor recipient and a noble recognized by the church. You've become quite something. Doesn't that make me something special too? Huh? Hahaha!"

Thomas said goodbye, saying he would always be behind Karl, supporting him.

"Youngest."

Finally, after finishing a glass of ice water, William approached Karl and ruffled his hair a few times.

"Live well, youngest. Keep being happy."

Clink—

The sound of a glass being placed on the table. That was the end.

"..."

Once again, it was an empty space. A world filled only with light.

Karl, who had been silent, quietly turned his head and looked at the being there.

"Why am I allowed to enjoy such fortune?"

He was curious. He wanted to ask. To the being called the Goddess.

And today, that long-awaited opportunity had finally come.

"I would like an answer, Great One."

He knew this wasn't reality, but a dream. And yet, he clung to this fleeting moment.

If only for this brief encounter, he yearned for clarity, for answers.

"The light of grace shines upon many."

As if sensing Karl's longing, the radiant figure before him shimmered, their form shifting and blurring at the edges.

"But only a few of them shine it upon others."

"But few choose to share that light with others."

A warmth, like sunlight on a winter's day, brushed against Karl's cheek.

"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 -