I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 866 – Side Story 139: A Smile at the End (2)

Selina slowly and carefully caressed Heathcliff's hand. At that warmth, light gradually returned to Heathcliff's eyes.

In this world where he had erased everything, this was probably the first time in a very long time he had felt such vivid warmth.

Heathcliff's expression changed complexly, seeming both joyful and distorted with sadness.

The joy of meeting again the woman he loved, whom he thought he would never see again.

Nevertheless, the despair that the sins he had committed and the world he had destroyed were reality.

Even the sorrow that the woman before him was ultimately a stranger from outside and could never be the woman he loved.

Heathcliff, mixed with all of this, looked quite precarious to Rudger.

He was a great tree, but tilted so much that his roots were completely exposed. The moment even a slightly strong wind blew, that massive body seemed ready to fall with a tremendous sound.

When an ordinary plant bends in the wind, it doesn't greatly affect its surroundings. But when a great tree falls, its mass completely destroys the entire area.

What would happen the moment Heathcliff, already half-broken, could no longer endure and completely collapsed?

Rudger watched that scene anxiously, yet never let down his guard.

He sharpened all his senses so he could move immediately if that bastard tried to pull anything.

'He did all this for the person he loves.'

With that hatred, he destroyed the continent and killed countless people. The land was dead and the sky was full of dark clouds. Even though it was midday, the sky beyond the clouds was pitch black.

There was no pollution, yet even the common stars were invisible.

The earth was dead and even the sky had dried up. Even the power of the elemental lords that compose nature could not be felt in this place.

A birdcage that had become ruins. Heathcliff said he would create a new birdcage, but could that really be as easy as it sounded?

That process would be several times more arduous and take much longer than destroying it.

'There's not even a guarantee that what's created that way would be a proper birdcage.'

Heathcliff was ultimately himself. His brilliant mind couldn't have failed to realize that.

Perhaps he held a vain hope. Just that kind of complacent thought of how things might vaguely turn out.

Then, at that moment, Selina, whom he had so desperately wanted, appeared. What would Heathcliff think here?

'He'll think there's no need to make a birdcage. Because the person he so desperately wanted has appeared.'

In this ruined world, they would create a new garden and become Adam and Eve.

Though Selina was supposed to return to the original world by the power of the mirror world, Heathcliff used the power of a god. It couldn't be said there was no way for him to block the pull of the mirror world by some method and keep Selina trapped in this world.

That's why Rudger kept his nerves on edge.

Heathcliff opened his mouth.

"Do you remember the day we met?"

His arrogant voice had calmed down quietly, and his manner of speech had also changed to something genteel. As if. It was the time when he was Rudger Chelici, not Heathcliff.

To Selina, Heathcliff was a stranger. Even knowing he was Rudger, she understood he was different from the person she knew.

But Selina didn't bother to point that out. She easily shook off such dissonance rising in her heart and simply nodded her head.

She was far too kind. Kind enough to sympathize with Heathcliff who had destroyed the world.

"The first time we met was after I entered Theon. The scene when new teachers gathered to promote friendship and introduced ourselves to each other is still vivid."

From Heathcliff's mouth, traces of the past flowed out. That was a past Selina remembered too.

After that, Heathcliff talked about the moments he had spent with her. There were things that remained in Selina's memory too.

Going around together during Theon's festival. The fire that broke out in the warehouse due to the Esmeralda incident.

And even the promise to go see the fireworks together.

There were various points of contact after that, but from some point on, the stories Heathcliff told and Selina's memories began to differ from each other.

Nevertheless, Selina listened to him. While listening attentively, sometimes empathizing, sometimes even smiling.

Heathcliff talked about many things, just like a child excitedly chattering before an adult.

In this moment at least, he was not a god who destroyed the world, but a single young man in love.

But dreams are short. And pleasure is fleeting. What waits at the end is cold reality.

The story filled with love ultimately ended in sorrow. Heathcliff's story ended. He finally became aware of reality and closed his mouth.

He newly realized that the subject of the story he had so joyfully chattered about was never the woman before his eyes.

Heathcliff knew too. How wrong the actions he had committed were.

Even though it was solely for the purpose of creating a new birdcage to meet her again.

Even if he was upright before himself, just one person. To Selina alone, he could not be.

What came after the joy of meeting Selina again was fear. What if Selina hated him? What if she despised him?

She was kind, but still, there were limits. What he had done far exceeded that of a serial killer.

He could not be understood or acknowledged by anyone. Being pointed at with fingers would be fortunate.

But surprisingly Selina said nothing. Instead, she put strength into her grip holding his hand. As if trying to convey even a bit more of that warmth to him, she held it strongly.

Just silently, she only shed tears, drip by drip.

At the sight of her silently shedding tears, Heathcliff only silently looked at Selina.

He wanted to raise his hand right away to wipe away her tears. But his hands were already stained with countless blood.

The smell of blood wouldn't leave his body. Nor would the screams of the dead. The moment he touched Selina's face with these hands, it felt like that curse would transfer to her.

So Heathcliff steeled his heart and carefully released Selina's hand.

Heathcliff slowly stepped back. Rudger naturally approached Selina and checked her condition.

"Teacher Selina. Are you alright?"

Instead of answering, Selina only nodded her head. The tears still didn't stop.

Heathcliff felt a sense of emptiness watching Rudger and Selina. A small sigh he couldn't endure flowed out.

The moment Rudger flinched and became alert in case that bastard did something.

Heathcliff moved.

He had already prepared, but that movement came in half a step ahead, catching him off guard.

Heathcliff created a spear of light. Then lifted it as it was.

"You......"

And pierced his own heart.

The ring of light floating above his head disappeared. The crown of halo made of light, and the wings, all of it.

The movement of the white robe that had been fluttering despite no wind stopped.

-Cough

Heathcliff looked down at his white robe dyeing red as blood flowed from his lips.

"I should have done this from the start."

Heathcliff's gaze turned toward Selina. That expression looking this way, flustered by the sudden self-harm, was so lovely.

He had committed all these acts to see that appearance, but in truth he knew. Even if they met again, she was not the woman he knew.

They could never return to their former relationship because Heathcliff had broken. Because he had become an irreversible monster.

He was not a god. Just a monster who struggled, unable to release his anger and hatred.

So. If even a bit of human heart remained, he should end it with those hands.

Rudger and Selina also realized with what resolve Heathcliff had done such a thing.

"Why on earth."

Selina asked as if she couldn't believe it.

At those words, Heathcliff laughed emptily and opened his mouth amidst the sensation of life force draining away.

"I simply thought this was right."

By ending his own life, Heathcliff put a period to his journey. That result was far too futile. What had he come all this way for until now?

As blood drained out and the hand of death gradually descended, it was an instinctive thought.

Everything felt futile. He felt foolish for having only destroyed while consumed by anger.

He had splashed the water again and again trying to catch the moon reflected on the water's surface. Not satisfied with that, he destroyed, tore up, and dirtied it. At the end, the water surface that had turned to muddy water no longer even reflected the moon.

What a foolish thing.

To commit such terrible and ugly acts, and now at this point, to choose to take his own life.

Even he was dumbfounded by what he had done, so not even an empty laugh came out.

Still. He thought this was right.

He had to do at least this before breaking down further. Still, for the last time, even just once would be good.

He wanted to see her.

Heathcliff's blurred gaze fixed on Selina. The appearance of the woman he remembered and loved.

Though she wasn't the woman he had known. Also, at the same time, her appearance shedding tears toward him was indeed the Selina he remembered.

"Yeah."

Heathcliff smiled with satisfaction.

"This is right."

That smile was far too bright, like a boy who felt no shackles whatsoever.

Heathcliff's body turned to powder and disappeared. He was no longer human. Unable to even leave a corpse, what had been his flesh fell to the ground, pulled by gravity.

When the pure white powder touched the ground, an amazing thing happened.

The earth that had undergone crustal movement from the fight with Rudger returned to its original form. It was as if time was rewinding.

That wasn't all. In the world filled only with gray, greenish sprouts began to emerge.

They looked up at the sky.

Beyond the pitch-black sky, twinkling starlight appeared one by one. Their number increased exponentially, and soon a giant Milky Way flowed.

Death is a new beginning. The world that had stood at the brink of destruction gained life force again.

"Look over there."

Selina pointed to the ground.

There, especially, there was one plant growing larger than the other sprouts.

It was surprisingly wriggling and moving.

That wasn't all. The wind blew and a small wind spirit appeared. A spark arose and a fire spirit appeared. A spring gushed from the ground and a water spirit appeared.

The nature spirits that had now disappeared revealed themselves again. Rudger could understand what that was.

"The next elemental lords......"

Though the elemental lords had been killed by Heathcliff, they appeared anew as nature returned.

Because even if the existence of elemental lords disappears, they are necessarily replaced by new elemental lords.

As long as the world itself doesn't perish.

And the fact that elemental lords were born again suggested that this world could come alive again someday.

Rudger gazed at a distant place.

Though faint, he felt a response of life. Thanks to the senses maximized by the aftereffects of opening the heavenly gate.

There were survivors. Few, but definitely people.

'With Heathcliff's power, he could have killed them all and more, but the fact that survivors still remain.'

Perhaps those survivors were the last remaining trace of Heathcliff's conscience.

Of course, he didn't sympathize with him. Even if he couldn't understand the motive, those actions were very wrong.

Thinking that way, an empty laugh came out inside. For a demon king to worry about a god. What a meaningless thing.

"I'm tired."

Selina muttered as if reading Rudger's thoughts.

Rudger silently took out a handkerchief and wiped the tear stains engraved on her cheek.

Selina silently accepted Rudger's touch and asked.

"Do you think that person left satisfied?" 

"At least he didn't seem sad."

Selina nodded and offered a small moment of silence while looking at the place where Heathcliff had died.

Hoping that if an afterlife existed, the two people in love would at least meet each other there.

With this Rudger, who had faced a new world in the mirror world, closed the file folder while organizing materials about yet another possibility.

He looked out the window.

His mysteriously blue eyes captured the starlight twinkling beyond the sky.

Among various parallel worlds, there weren't always only happy endings.

Sometimes there were unhappy worlds that couldn't endure and broke. The same was true for himself.

How much hardship and adversity had there been to reach this point? If he had been alone, he could never have reached it. It was possible because there were those who stayed by his side.

So he should always be grateful for everything around him.

And he hoped that this kind of life would continue meaningfully going forward. He hoped to take action directly so that it wouldn't end as a simple personal wish.

Casting off the sad past, so that everyone could laugh together.

Rudger took out his communication device.

[Brother. What's the matter? You're contacting me first. Do you have something else to make me do?] 

"Are you busy?" 

[Well, I'm not busy. I'm always living a life of playing and eating anyway.] 

"Good. Then come out. Let's have a drink." 

[......Is something suddenly going on?] 

"Don't you want to?" 

[No. No way! It's not just me going, right?]

"Call more people if you want to call them."

[Hahaha! How long has it been! Everyone will be happy! Then the usual place, see you later!]

The call ended with Hans's joyful voice. Rudger smiled and got up from his seat, putting on his coat.

What he did for a happy daily life as always was nothing special, just contacting the people around him, meeting often, and having conversations.

That alone was enough.

"I wonder what will happen next."

He muttered to himself without realizing it. He was newly surprised that he himself harbored such anticipation.

That's what made life enjoyable, wasn't it?

Next time, he should also go see the continent beyond the backbone with Aidan. There were quite a few people to go with, so that would probably be a long trip too.

He was already looking forward to it.

-The End-