Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 156

The goddess smiled at Zephyto’s words, as if she had chosen well.

 

Iris’s eyes flashed with guilt, but Zephyto ignored it. A place without her was not the way he should go, and Zephyto could not yield this choice to Iris’s wishes.

 

And so they came to Tanato, a world created by a goddess. The world was the goddess, and the goddess was the world.

 

As the goddess had assured him, this was a peaceful paradise where there was no war, no discord, no black embers of any kind. Only clear, pure souls lived in the world.

 

She had given them the title of Administrators and entrusted them with the defense of the world.

 

“As expected, my discernment is excellent. It is unusual for human souls to be so pure. I like it.”

 

“…….”

 

“Since you’re the first administrators I’ve appointed, I’ll give you a little bit of my power. Keep it, you never know, it might come in handy someday.”

 

The goddess shared her power with them. In her paradise, the goddess didn’t ask for much from them.

 

All she asked was that they use the power she gave them to care for and reincarnate souls.

 

At first, Zephyto didn’t realize what kind of power she was giving away, but as he reincarnated souls, he gradually came to understand.

 

Sometimes Zephyto thought he stood somewhere between a god and a man.

 

One day, looking at the goddess who had come to tend to Tanato, he asked her a question.

 

“Doesn’t it have to be us?”

 

“You’re unhappy with the subject of meeting Iris again because of me, aren’t you?”

 

“I’m grateful for that.”

 

“Well…, no, it should have been you. Your aura is more easily tainted and less solid than I thought, and it’s one I don’t need in my world. Though it’s unexpected that I found Iris’s soul more appealing than yours.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Perhaps Iris will become something greater than I am.”

 

With those words, the goddess entrusted Iris with a special group of spirits.

 

The little white spirits were quite unwieldy, even for a goddess, but Iris handled them as skillfully as she had handled the white spirits for so long.

 

“Iris looks like them, and maybe she can recognize their special powers.”

 

The goddess smiled a full smile as she watched Iris blend in with the spirits in the vast warm field.

 

The goddess found her beautiful, as if she hadn’t been lying when she said she liked her. He stared at them, thinking he knew how she felt.

 

‘How could he not love something so upright and pure?’

 

It was a blessing to have a new life in the world of Tanato. There was no formality, no misunderstanding, no death that had separated him from Iris.

 

Time passed with a speed that could not be compared to his time in the Empire.

 

If the day was done well, the goddess was not deeply involved in whatever they were doing. 

 

Zephyto loved the hours when darkness fell upon Tanato, for those hours, Iris was all his.

 

When he kissed her under the starry sky, lit by the lights of souls, he felt like he had the whole world.

 

He opened his eyes out of habit and stole a glance at her sweet face. It was so lovely to watch her squirm in response to his every move.

 

“Iris.”

 

Pulling away from her soft, fluffy lips, he looked down at her and called her name. Fluttering her long lashes, Iris opened her eyes and shyly averted her gaze.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Say my name.”

 

Zephyto gently cupped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look up at him.

 

Iris, pinned beneath him, stared at him, unable to dodge or flee. Finally, with her face growing redder and redder like the setting sun, Iris gave him the answer he wanted, as if in defeat.

 

“Zephyto.”

 

“Yes, Iris.”

 

“Yes, Zephyto.”

 

“Bitter, now again.”

 

“Oh! I’m sorry…, not sorry.”

 

“Don’t be formal with me. If you call me that anytime…, I’m afraid I’ll disappear.”

 

It was uncharacteristically foolish. Iris reached out with both hands and pulled Zephyto into her arms.

 

She patted him regularly on the back of the head. It was a gesture of understanding without words.

 

Zephyto buried his face in her arms, deciding to be a little more grumpy in return. He wanted to erase the memories of meeting her in the Yellow Castle and replace them with this happy moment.

 

“Iris, I wish this moment could last forever.”

 

“We’re immortal now, so maybe it can last forever.”

 

“Don’t leave me.”

 

“I won’t. We’ll be together forever.”

 

Closing his eyes and replaying Iris’s answers in his head, Zephyto decided to believe her, for in his life, she had always been right.

 

As the years passed, new abilities emerged in him. He could control the winds of nature.

 

The goddess was even more pleased to see the joy that had come to the free world. Iris was not found to be capable of much, but the goddess left a meaningful comment that she would be soon.

 

At the same time, a new type of soul appeared in Tanato. Unlike the other spirits, this one was black with the color of grime, and it littered the world of Tanato.

 

The goddess called them Snarls. She seemed to already know of the dark spirits’ existence, and she was furious that they dared to enter Tanato.

 

“They defile my land and rob it of its power.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“Evil. Evil itself, not even a soul. Once it found a way in, now it will find many, many more.”

 

The goddess looked down at them with unusually serious eyes. Then she gave a command.

 

“Destroy those colored souls immediately, no questions asked. They are not children we can reincarnate, and they are not worth it.”

 

“Uh…, but don’t you know…?”

 

“I must keep this land good and pure so I can be recognized as a goddess. As long as they exist, Tanato cannot exist, Iris.”

 

“Yes, Goddess.”

 

“I can forgive you for everything else, but I cannot forgive you for disobeying my orders. Do you understand? So don’t settle for anything less.”

 

“…….”

 

After a moment’s hesitation, Iris nodded once in response to her firm demeanor. With Iris’s assurance, the goddess disappeared, her smile returning to her face.

 

True to her word, the Snarls were relentless from that day forward.

 

Zephyto and Iris extinguished them to protect the spirits rooted in Tanato. Most of the spirits were very weak, so it was a troublesome but not difficult task.

 

It was like stomping an ant to death.

 

Zephyto agreed with the goddess that the Snarls should be destroyed.

 

They hadn’t just messed with Tanato, they had corrupted the previously pure souls. The corrupted souls had to be destroyed to preserve the peace of the world.

 

That day, too, the goddess’s new bonds were breached, and she was on her way to dispose of the evil-tainted souls.

 

Staring off into the distance across the field, Iris suddenly asked the question.

 

“Zephyto.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Do you think it’s right to kill them like this?”

 

“Because they are evil. I think so.”

 

The goddess said that as long as they existed, Tanato could not exist. For Zephyto, the most important thing was to live with Iris in Tanato, so he thought these spirits should be gone.

 

Iris, however, seemed to disagree. His casual but firm reply cut her off.

 

“I want to protect this world you exist in.”

 

“…Yes. Right.”

 

At Zephyto’s words, Iris muttered to herself, as if making a vow. There was a heavy silence for a moment.

 

When she reached the field, Iris looked at the spirit that had invaded her realm of peace. It shuddered like a small, delicate bird that had lost its mother.

 

Steadying her breathing, she closed and opened her eyes once, slowly, and reached out.

 

“Ugh.”

 

At that moment, Iris wrapped her hands around her head and let out a pained groan.

 

At the sight of her, Zephyto’s heart sank as he remembered the image of her dead by the river. 

 

He hurried over to her and squeezed her shoulder.

 

“I remember…”

 

“Memories?”

 

“I read the soul’s memories.”

 

Iris stared at the young evil spirit in amazement, then at Zephyto.

 

Iris’s new power had finally manifested. At the same time, her eyes held a stubborn determination not to kill it.

 

Seeing that look in her eyes, Zephyto had a hunch. That soul might bring a rift in the peace.