To the Love Born in the Lowest Place

Within the flow of time that was reversing to find the being that must inevitably exist in this world, as if her existence no longer held any value, she destroyed herself without a moment’s hesitation.

When Hildegard came to her senses, she was floating in the air, feeling a strange sensation of buoyancy. Around her, she saw enormous clock hands rotating strangely, bending at incomprehensible angles.

And in the center of that clock, someone’s immense hand was reaching down towards Hildegard.

The ‘Saintess’ Hildegard instinctively recognized the owner of that hand and cried out.

“Supreme God…!”

I made you a Saintess.

“Yes, Supreme God…! You made me a Saintess…”

Could I give that child such a bothersome task as being a Saintess?

Hildegard realized who ‘that child’ referred to here.

Liv Hamelsvoort. All the gods of this world loved her.

The title of a ‘Saintess’ couldn’t be attached to Liv. A Saintess was a term used in the Holy Church to refer to someone who served the Supreme God, and Liv was a being loved by dozens, no, hundreds of gods.

I entrusted you with an important mission on her behalf, yet you failed to protect her.

“It is my fault for not realizing the grand will of the Supreme God…”

Hildegard unconditionally obeyed the Supreme God’s words. All she could do was listen attentively to the god’s words.

Her blood has splattered on you.

“I’m sorry, Supreme God, it’s all my sin…”

This must never happen again, so I will not erase your memories. Be grateful that you are a Saintess.

Only then did Hildegard realize that the clock hands had almost finished their rotation. The clock hands were slowing down as if they were getting closer to the object they were seeking.

Without even understanding exactly what her god was saying, Hildegard nodded her head profusely, shedding tears.

Under the direct voice of god, Hildegard had to be grateful that her life was spared. This was an immense weight that she simply couldn’t bear. It felt as if the overwhelming presence of the voice would crush Hildegard to the ground and kill her.

‘She had been enduring this all this time?’

Thus, it became increasingly difficult to imagine what kind of being Liv, who had been enduring the love of the gods, was.

Hildegard Hamelsvoort.

“Ah, yes! My god!”

The Supreme God called her name, and at the moment when Hildegard looked as if she would faint at any moment, unable to withstand the pressure.

You must ensure that her blood never splatters again.

“Yes, I will keep that in mind! I will serve!”

The world stopped turning upside down. And when she came to her senses, Hildegard was standing in a familiar place.

“Huh…?”

The Hamelsvoort family, her room.

The date on the calendar pointed to the day before. She had gone back in time to before Liv’s death.

* * *

Liv blinked her eyes slowly.

Looking out the window, the sun was already high in the sky, but Liv couldn’t get up from her bed. Her whole body felt heavy as if she had used her strength beyond human limits, making it impossible for her to move.

Did you sleep well, my child?

“Mm, I slept well.”

Enduring the voice of a god was something that ordinary humans couldn’t even imagine. Listening to that distant and immense voice naturally drained the strength from one’s body, making it difficult to do anything else.

Nevertheless, Liv didn’t whine or ask the gods to stop talking to her.

Gods are arrogant and capricious beings. The way they loved Liv was different from that of ordinary humans. 

Whether Liv suffered or not, they would love her in their own ways. And if Liv were to die, they would all get angry together and destroy this world. Liv had already experienced such a thing several times.

Child.

“Yes?”

I have reversed the time of this world once.

“Ah…!”

Liv, upon hearing the god’s voice, sighed like someone who had heard tiresome news. It meant that the future Liv had met her demise.

Dying had become all too tedious now. Liv’s deaths were all too common. Even the fact that the time of this world had been turned back without her knowing.

“For what reason did I die this time?”

When Liv asked in an indifferent voice, the god’s voice was heard again.

You took your own life. I have punished those who made you take your life.

At those words, Liv tilted her head. She had never taken her own life before.

‘Of course, I’ve tried, but…’

Did she end up being unable to endure the bullying of the noble ladies and take her own life to get back at them? If so, did they receive divine punishment?

While Liv was pondering, the door opened with a loud noise.

Bang!

“Sister, sister!”

Liv looked at the figure catching her breath as soon as she opened the door and entered in a hurry.

Hildegard, with her resplendent golden hair that was said to have been ‘chosen by god’, was standing there.

“Sister, are you alright? Yesterday, no, should I say tomorrow? Anyway, tomorrow for sure…”

Liv couldn’t understand what ‘tomorrow’ she was talking about. But then she grasped the situation and smiled.

“So you retain the memory.”

“What? You mean… other people don’t know about this situation?”

“Yeah, you’re probably the only one who remembers.”

“What in the world is that…?”

Liv quietly gazed at Hildegard, who looked puzzled. Regardless of whether Hildegard was frightened by that gaze, Liv observed Hildegard and made conjectures about the situation.

‘Usually, those who retain memories of my death are the ones who received divine punishment.’

When the gods turned back time, they erased the memories of everyone living in this world, but they didn’t erase the memories of those who had harmed Liv as a warning while simultaneously inflicting divine punishment on them.

However, it didn’t seem likely that Hildegard, almost the only person who took care of Liv, would have tormented her.

“Did you receive divine punishment?”

“What? No.”

“Hmm, then were you by my side when I died?”

“Wait a moment, sister. Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”

“Yeah, Hildegard, the fact you should know is that all these phenomena have nothing to do with my will. I know nothing about most things.”

Those words had several implications. It could make Liv, who carried the burden of transcendent beings on her back against her will, appear even more terrifying, or it could emphasize that Liv was also an ordinary human like them. 

Hildegard opened her mouth wide at those words, but soon became composed like Liv.

“Ah… Right, I was by your side. Because you took your own life.”

At that, Liv pondered for a moment. If so…

“Did God talk to you?”

At those words, Hildegard’s face turned pale. It was the face of someone who had something in her mind that she never wanted to recall again, to the extent that an ordinary person would never have to see that expression even once in their life. She continued speaking with a frightened expression.

“That I… failed to protect you. Blaming me for the mistake…”

Only then did Liv nod. It seemed the gods hadn’t erased Hildegard’s memories as a way of telling her to protect Liv, so Hildegard was closer to being unfairly swept up in the situation.

Hildegard, who had been watching Liv’s reaction, carefully opened her mouth.

“Sister Liv.”

“Mm.”

“So you… receive the love of all the gods? No, before that, all the gods of the numerous religions people believed in actually existed?”

When Hildegard asked that, the hundreds and thousands of gods surrounding Liv each uttered their voices.

How dare you doubt our existence?

Tell that licentious one to shut her mouth, child.

Still, she’s my Saintess. We can’t kill her.

Of course, we all love you, child.

A world where the child I love doesn’t exist is meaningless.

At those immense voices that only she could hear, Liv closed her eyes tightly and curled up her body. Then, even though she knew it was of no use, she pulled the blanket over her head.

“Sister…?”

Liv heard Hildegard’s startled voice, but only after the gods’ voices subsided and she regained her composure did Liv come out from under the blanket again. She gave Hildegard a simple answer.

“Mm.”

She was already enduring transcendent beings that went far beyond human limits, so if she spoke at length here, it would drain her energy and make her body heavy. Therefore, Liv didn’t like to speak at length.

“I see… It was all true.”

Fortunately, Hildegard interpreted Liv’s words on her own. Perhaps it was closer to being afraid of bothering Liv and provoking the gods in any way. She continued to ask questions.

“And you really don’t know about the future before reversing time?”

“Mm.”

Still, Liv added, thinking she should let her know this.

“The gods have told me a few times. I don’t know the details this time.”

“Since when… have you been living this kind of life?”

“Always.”

At those words, Hildegard opened her mouth wide and stared at Liv. In her blue eyes that seemed to have been taken out and replaced with those of an angel, reverence for Liv could be felt.

“That’s… that’s really unbelievable. How could that be…? Are you okay, sister?”

“What can I do if I’m not okay?”

Even if she wanted to reject the gods’ love for her, what could she do? Would she express her rejection to the gods? Even a child who knew a little about a god would say that answer was stupid.

How could a mere human go against the will of God?