Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 5

by Hiro Ainana

  It was just a thought, but there was still a little time before we reached the temple, so I decided to give it a try.

  I tested out a few titles: Paramedic, Doctor, and Saint, in that order.

  For some reason, it was changing my title to Saint, not Doctor, that allowed me to combine a healing potion with Sara’s body.

  However, it didn’t bring her back to life.

  The item name simply changed from Corpse of Sara. Damage: Maximum to Corpse of Sara. Damage: Great.

  After I synthesized several more potions with her body, the item name eventually changed to simply Corpse of Sara, so hopefully it hadn’t been in vain.

  As I flew along the tunnels during this operation, I saw some interesting things—mysterious humanoid creatures with glowing eyes and clad in rags, for instance, as well as countless white crocodiles—but they showed no aggression toward me, so I ignored them.

  Once we managed to do some sightseeing in the old capital, it might be nice to come down here and bring them some gifts or something.

  “Oh my, what an excellent assassin they’ve sent tonight. I’ve never had one get so close without my noticing them before.”

  I crept into the room of the Tenion Temple’s head priestess, but unfortunately, she immediately mistook me for an assassin.

  I couldn’t blame her for not trusting a purple-haired man in a white mask out of the blue.

  “Dear me, are you a kidnapper as well as an assassin?”

  Noticing the girls I was carrying on each shoulder, the head priestess seemed bewildered.

  She had skills like “Holy Magic,” “Analyze Person,” and “Sense Danger,” so I’d set my title to Hero and changed my level to 89, the same as the ancestral king Yamato had in the legends.

  “Nice to meet you, Head Priestess Yu Tenion. I am Nanashi. I mean you no harm.”

  Her “Analyze Person” skill should solve the misunderstanding before too long, but I decided to introduce myself first to save time. It was only good manners anyway.

  I laid the maidens down on the guest sofa. They showed no signs of waking up just yet, so I figured it was better to let them rest.

  “These two are priestesses from Parion Temple and Garleon Temple. They were kidnapped by demon-lord worshippers.”

  “I do seem to remember them. Say, Mr. Nanashi… I don’t suppose you could show your face? It’s quite difficult to hold a conversation with a mask like that.”

  “My apologies, head priestess. It is my policy to conceal myself when I carry out good deeds. I hope you will forgive me.”

  “My, what a bashful hero you are.”

  Her voice sounded quite young. Looking at her in the moonlight, I couldn’t believe she was eighty years old. I would probably have believed her if she said she was in her twenties.

  “So, Mr. Nanashi. I don’t suppose you’ve seen Priestess Sara of the Tenion Temple?”

  “…I have.”

  My face was hidden, but my voice became darker than I intended.

  Her features stiffened, as if she’d somehow guessed everything from my simple statement.

  “…She’s passed away, hasn’t she?”

  I nodded once.

  “Mr. Nanashi, will you answer me this one question?”

  “If I know the answer, I certainly will.”

  Her voice trembled a little as she spoke. “Was it a human member of the Wings of Freedom who stole Sara’s life? Or perhaps…”

  She hesitated for a moment before answering her own question.

  “…a demon lord. Sara was sacrificed to a demon lord, wasn’t she?”

  “That’s right.”

  A stream of tears rolled down her graceful face. “So she was unable to escape her destiny…”

  The head priestess wept as she told me the story. According to her, several oracles had predicted that a demon lord would appear before too long.

  However, the location of his appearance differed depending on which oracle priestess saw the vision, and there were seven all told, so each of them chose to abide by the vision their respective gods had shown them.

  The head priestess had prophesied that it would happen in the old capital.

  At the end of the vision, she saw an image that alluded to Sara’s death.

  Sara knew this, which was probably why she’d acted like she was on borrowed time when I met her in Muno City.

  The urgent summons that had called her back to the old capital was because the Wings of Freedom had learned about the prophecy and were targeting her.

  The Tenion Temple had made every possible effort to protect her, but earlier that evening, she had suddenly disappeared from her room in the temple.

  That was probably the work of the Space Magic–wielding red demon or the leader of the cult.

  “Thank you, Mr. Nanashi. It pains me to hear of Sara’s loss, but as the head priestess, I must confer with the goddess Tenion about the demon lord’s revival, send word to the duke, and sound the alarm bell to warn the city.” The head priestess slowly rose from her chair, narrowing her tear-filled eyes. “If the demon lord challenges you, then I am willing to help you with whatever strength I can provide.”

  “Just a moment. You see, I have already defeated him.”

  “…Really? But your title…”

  Only when the priestess spoke did I realize my blunder. Instead of Hero, I should have set my title to True Hero, which I’d acquired after the battle.

  I discreetly made the change before I spoke.

  “I swear by my title and my Holy Sword that I speak the truth.”

  I showed the priestess Durandal, which had done the most heavy lifting today, like an ID card.

  “I believe you. True Hero Nanashi, allow me to thank you on behalf of the entire city.”

  The head priestess gave me an elaborate bow.

  I learned later that this gesture was an expression of gratitude of the highest degree, normally reserved only for gods.

  At any rate, it was time to get into the main reason for my visit.

  “Priestess Yu Tenion, do you have the ability to use Resurrection Magic?”

  “Yes, I do,” the priestess said. Sara had said the miracle of Resurrection Magic came at a certain price. “However, there are certain stipulations.”

  I listened tensely.

  “Firstly, the subject must have been baptized by the Tenion Temple.”

  No doubt Sara would meet that condition.

  I should get the kids baptized here, too, for safety’s sake.

  “Secondly, it must be performed within four quarters of their death.”

  If I remembered correctly, a quarter was a period of around thirty minutes.

  In terms of elapsed time, we were already past that point, but her body in Storage was still in the same state as moments after her death, so it should be all right.

  …Please let it be all right.

  “Finally, there must be enough magic stored in the Treasure of Resurrection.”

  She removed the object around her neck and showed it to me.

  “Unfortunately, it was used twenty years ago to bring the duke’s child back to life, so it cannot be used for another ten years.”

  The priestess’s voice was bleak.

  What, is that all?

  I placed a hand over the Treasure of Resurrection she held out to me and began to push magic into it.

  However, I was met with a strange resistance, and the power evaporated.

  “That won’t do, Mr. Nanashi. You must be gentler, like this, as if offering up a prayer.”

  Her hands still under mine, the head priestess demonstrated how to pour magic into the object.

  This treasure seemed to be more complicated than I thought. In fact, maybe finicky would be the right word.

  Magic was required to open the path to the treasure’s core, but when that power was supplied, it would block the path to the core itself.

  And there were more than a hundred pathways with such puzzle-like m
echanisms inside the treasure.

  No wonder it took thirty years to refill the core with magic.

  The head priestess’s MP was now decreased by half, yet the Treasure of Resurrection’s power gauge hadn’t budged an inch.

  However, thanks to her demonstration, I figured out the trick.

  “Allow me to try for a moment.”

  I took the treasure into my hands and started to push magic power into it.

  I narrowed down the flow of my magic to be fine as a thread—no, as molecular wire—and manipulated it along the treasure’s complicated channels, opening the path to the center.

  It was a very sensitive task, but I somehow managed to do it.

  By that point, it felt as if an hour had passed, but it was only a few seconds.

  The next part was the real challenge. I sent a steady stream of magic down the opened path. Even after two thousand MP, it still wasn’t completely filled. The process was quite difficult, as the path would start to close every time my focus wavered for even a moment.

  There was only one option.

  I took out the Holy Sword Excalibur from Storage to use it as a magic source.

  The head priestess started back in surprise at the fiery blue light of the sword.

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop and explain it to her. I had to stay focused.

  In the end, it took a total of ten thousand MP to fill the Treasure of Resurrection.

  This sword’s magic storage capacity was really something else. I’d relied on it a lot as an MP tank in the fight against the demon lord, too.

  As I learned later, the Treasure of Resurrection was supposed to be replenished only by those whose titles were set to Saint or Holy Woman. No wonder it was so difficult to supply it…

  “Remarkable, Mr. Nanashi. The Treasure of Resurrection is indicating that it’s now usable.”

  The head priestess wore an expression of genuine surprise.

  “So you can use Resurrection Magic now?”

  “Well, yes…”

  She seemed confused because I hadn’t explained who I wanted her to use it on.

  “I’m going to summon Sara’s body here. For her, it’s only been seconds since her death, so the conditions should be satisfied.”

  “But…Time Magic is the stuff of fairy tales. It doesn’t really exist…”

  Time Magic doesn’t exist? That’s too bad. I wanted to go back and meet the ancestral king Yamato and things like that.

  Whoops. This isn’t the time to get distracted.

  “Here, use these potions to make sure you’re fully recovered first.”

  I handed her a health potion and a magic potion from Storage.

  It might not be necessary, but I wanted to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible.

  I waited for the priestess’s status to fully recover before we proceeded.

  “All right, I’ll summon her now. Are you ready?”

  “Yes, whenever you are.”

  The head priestess held the treasure to her chest and nodded.

  I removed Sara’s body from Storage.

  “Sara…!”

  The priestess exclaimed in surprise.

  Her body was pristine, without so much as a scratch.

  It would be unkind to leave her naked, so I covered her with a clean cloth.

  “Please begin the resurrection. Can I help in any way?”

  “No, I can handle it from here.”

  “All right, then. May you have success.”

  The head priestess began a very long incantation.

  Holy Magic chants were always long, but this one was particularly lengthy.

  As she chanted, I saw magic power cycling among the priestess, the treasure, and Sara, perhaps as a result of my “Magic Vision” skill.

  It manifested in the form of beautiful, sparkling light.

  Finally, the spell was completed, and the color began to return to Sara’s cheeks.

  At last, her information in the AR turned from Corpse of Sara to simply Sara.

  Her status condition read Weakened, but this was a temple, after all. Her fellows could probably take it from here.

  I left the head priestess’s room and the sacred ground of Tenion Temple without a sound.

  Well, that was a long night.

  It would’ve been nice to find an establishment where I could recover with some pretty older ladies for a while, but Arisa and the others had to be worried, so I decided to hurry home.

  I flew over the great river in the dark of night, stealthily returning to the ship in the harbor at Zurute City.

  The ship with the Wings of Freedom members that I’d marked when I left had sunk, but I wasn’t particularly concerned about such a trivial matter.

  After taking off my hero costume, I changed back into my usual robes.

  “…I’m back.”

  As soon as I walked in the door, everyone jumped up to greet me.

  “Master! You’ve come back!”

  “Welcooome!”

  “Sir!”

  “Master, you have returned safely; I rejoice.”

  “Satou!”

  After the beastfolk girls, Nana and Mia embraced me enthusiastically.

  “Arisa, master is back.”

  Lulu patted Arisa, who was hidden under a blanket in bed.

  As soon as she heard her sister, she sent the blanket flying as she leaped to her feet.

  “M-masterrrrr!”

  Arisa dove at me with her eyes red from crying, so just this once, I caught her gently.

  “You’re not hurt? You’re okay, right? You’ve got your legs, at least. What about your stomach? Did they get your belly button?”

  In her panic, Arisa was acting even stranger than usual.

  “I’m fine. I promised I’d come back safely, didn’t I?”

  “W-well, yes. Yes, you did, but…”

  Arisa rolled up my sleeves to check for wounds.

  I decided to humor her for today.

  “Welcome back, master. Are you certain you aren’t hurt at all?”

  “I’m all right, really.”

  “I’ll go and fetch you something to drink. Arisa, master must be tired, so don’t give him any more grief.”

  Lulu stopped Arisa from attempting to check under my pants.

  According to the map, Lady Karina was staying at the viceroy’s mansion.

  I had to return the demon-sealing bell to her, but I was completely exhausted, so tomorrow would have to do.

  I swilled down the mead that Lulu brought back for me, then fell asleep with the girls piled on top of me.

  Finally, I could get a good night’s sleep.

  As it turned out, the seven places where demon lord resurrections were prophesied were as follows.

  There was the old capital, as the head priestess had foretold; the Labyrinth City Celivera; Yowork Kingdom, which had taken over Arisa’s homeland; Parion Province; the Gray Ratman Emirate; the Weaselman Empire; and finally, a kingdom that was on another continent.

  For this to be the one out of seven to be correct, Sara, this city, and I must all have had terrible luck.

  When I told Arisa about it, this was her response:

  “The gods must be pretty careless, for the oracle prophesies to be so scattered.”

  “Yeah, really.”

  “But y’know, if this were a game, I bet a demon lord would show up in all seven places, don’t you think?” Arisa grinned with amusement, clearly not believing her own words.

  At any rate, the next demon lord shouldn’t show up for another sixty-six years, so I should be able to enjoy a carefree sightseeing tour from now on.

  “And then, once you defeat all those, there’d be, like, a great demon lord as the secret last boss!”

  “Yeah, I could see that in a game, but the whole world would be destroyed by now if that actually happened.”

  “Fair enough. Ah! Lulu! If you’re making potato chips, can you make two kinds? I want salt and consommé!” />
  Her attention drawn elsewhere, Arisa skipped away.

  …No way that could happen, right?

  I murmured the thought aloud, and the words floated up past the full moon illuminating the night sky and disappeared.

  Afterword

  Hello, this is Hiro Ainana.

  Thank you for picking up the fifth volume of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody!

  Since I’m low on pages this time, let’s quickly cover the highlights of this volume.

  After giving Karina so much attention in the previous volume, Volume 5 puts the spotlight on Sara, a priestess of the Tenion Temple. Once you’ve finished the whole story, I highly recommend that you go back and read it again. I think you’ll find that you pick up on hidden meanings of Sara’s words and the actions of some of the other characters.

  Not only are there lots of brand-new scenes, as always—I also elaborated on some of the more popular sections from the web version, like the dwarf city and the journey down the river.

  Now for the usual acknowledgments! Thank you to my editors Mr. H and new Mr. H, shri, and everyone else involved in the publication, distribution, and sale of this book!

  And to you, the readers. Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end of the book!

  Let’s meet again next volume to explore the old capital!

  Hiro Ainana

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On.

  To get news about the latest manga, graphic novels, and light novels from Yen Press, along with special offers and exclusive content, sign up for the Yen Press newsletter.

  Sign Up

  Or visit us at www.yenpress.com/booklink