Chapter 3

As the body was carried through the air by the Grim Reaper,

Mizaki realized it was the flight of her soul when she saw her own 'vessel' below.

—The face that appeared, with a soft smile, was her own. The body that had been hers.

"I will now guide you to my world."

The world.

Since the Grim Reaper said it, it must be a place like the spirit world.

"The otherworldly grass we sent bloomed at the end of your life. It must have recognized that your soul would cross over to the other side after death."

"Otherworldly grass?"

"Yes, otherworldly grass. A mysterious plant that connects worlds through its roots."

Held by the Grim Reaper's hand, she flew through the air.

She tilted her head, but the Grim Reaper only smiled gently and didn't explain further.

"You'll understand when you actually get there. You'll understand the meaning of my words. Once you get there, I'll explain everything, so for now, don't let go of my hand."

"---Okay, I understand."

With that, she decided to obediently hold the Grim Reaper's hand.

◆◆◆

She crossed the world.

She surpassed the boundary.

She felt the voice of time.

Just as she thought that, her consciousness began to fade.

From then on, she hardly remembered where she flew, where she headed, or where she arrived.

Only the hand of the Grim Reaper, which held hers, retained a mysterious warmth, leaving a solid sensation even in her fading consciousness.

---

◆◆◆

"---"

"---A"

"---Lea"

Gradually, the sounds became clearer, and finally, the man's consciousness awoke.

"Are you awake, <Marea>?"

The man was still unsure if his vision was clear.

More accurately, he was still unsure if he existed.

The piercing sound was certainly there.

He could feel his body.

However,

---Just a moment ago, the Grim Reaper was holding my hand...

The vague memory of being led by the Grim Reaper through an empty space was still faint, and this emptiness hindered his recognition of his own existence.

"Marea, be sure of yourself."

"Ah..."

Suddenly, a face appeared at the edge of his vision.

---The face of the Grim Reaper.

Only then did the man realize that he existed.

"Good morning, Marea."

"Marea...?"

"Yes, that's your name. Before you crossed over to this world, we all decided that you would be called Marea."

The Grim Reaper waved his hand, guiding Marea's gaze.

When he looked around—

He saw many spirits.

They were ethereal.

Translucent.

The awareness that this might be the spirit world made him immediately categorize them as spirits in his mind.

"What... is this...?"

"It's okay, calm down. Marea, you are alive. You have crossed over to another world. We called your soul from the other side, where you lived out your life, to this world. In other words, you have—reincarnated."

Reincarnation.

At that moment, the man understood the other side of death, which he had once questioned.

He recognized his second life for the first time.

◆◆◆

Marea, the man, remained in a daze, his consciousness floating in the presence of the spirits.

After a while, he finally turned his attention to his body.

Despite being his second life, his body felt quite large.

He raised his hand to look at it and found it to be the size of a young boy.

He stood up.

His line of sight rose, but he was still much lower than the spirits around him.

"This body—"

"This body is formed from the fragments of heroic spirits. A baby's body wouldn't be able to withstand the harsh environment of the Lindholm Spirit Mountain. However, even at four or five years old, you are still young and weak, so don't overexert yourself."

"Are you... not the Grim Reaper?"

"Me?"

Marea suddenly looked at the face of the Grim Reaper, who had brought him here.

A gender-neutral beauty with a gentle demeanor.

However, his body was translucent.

He seemed to be a spirit.

"I lived in this world about two hundred years ago. I was called <Flandre Crow>. Now, I'm just a character in an old hero's tale."

"Two hundred years ago? A hero's tale?"

Marea couldn't immediately understand Flandre's words.

"Yes, a very old, ancient story. —I've been dead for a long time. Now, I'm just a vague existence, wandering as a soul in the Lindholm Spirit Mountain, clinging to my regrets."

"Is this the spirit world or something?"

"No, it's not. This is a different world from the one you were in. To your soul, it would be considered another world."

"---Another world"

Marea murmured, staring at his hands.

"We called you to resolve our regrets."

As Marea began to understand Flandre's logical explanation, more and more questions arose in his mind, leaving him confused.

"Why? Why—me?"

Ultimately, all his questions boiled down to these words.

"Because you found and nurtured the otherworldly grass. It is said that the otherworldly grass selects those who will cross over to another world. To us, it was just a fairy tale, but if we believe it, that purple plant chose you to bloom in this world."

"That purple plant..."

The plant that had bloomed with a beautiful flower at the end.

"That's right. The otherworldly grass connected your world to this one. I just guided you so you wouldn't get lost."

"Am I... alive?"

"Yes, you are. Unlike the hundred spirits here, you are truly alive. Unlike our souls, which wander in a state of near-death due to our regrets, your soul is full of vitality."

"I was supposed to be dead."

"In the other world, your 'vessel' used up its life force. But your soul didn't die."

"Is that... how it works?"

"Yes, that's how it works."

Marea looked around again.

Finally, another spirit couldn't hold back and stepped forward to speak.

"Hey, stop with the petty details! You're alive, okay? From what I hear, you experienced the death of your vessel in the other world, right? So be happy you're still alive! Having a body is the best, you know? You can even have women!"

"Hey, musclehead, shut up. Marea is still trying to process everything. He just woke up."

A large male spirit was being scolded by a tall female spirit.

"Got it? Give him a little more time to sort things out. We died and became like this, but Marea died and became a soul, then got a body again. It's more complicated for him. He needs to sort out his feelings properly."

"Alright, alright... Don't make that scary face... I'm sorry for rushing you, Marea."

The man bowed his head, and the woman smiled and waved her hand.

"Ah, no—"

"Let's sit down for now, Marea. I'll explain in more detail."

At Flandre's suggestion, Marea sat down.

He placed his hands on the rough rock and lay back to look up at the sky.

---The clouds are so close.

The color of the sky from here was no different from the sky he had seen from the hospital window.

And when he looked at the sky, he strongly felt that he had been given a second life.

---I'm alive again.

For Marea, this was the happiest thing of all.