88-88 Above the clouds (1/2)

Next thing I know, I'm up in the clouds.

”──── What the hell is ────?

I looked around in a foggy state of consciousness.

Below me I could see white clouds stretching out like a plain as far as the eye could see.

My body felt as if it were floating in the air, and I didn't feel any weight.

Why am I here, ......?

The scene I saw seemed to be exactly what my father had told me about the world that comes after death when I was a child.

I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I'm sure you've.

...... means that... Maybe, just maybe...

──── Am I dead?

Well, maybe I was killed by that monster back then.

My father, who loved to tell stories, told me that I would go up to the clouds when I died.

So this is the world we come to after death.

The whole area is covered with a pure white carpet, so fantastic that it seems out of this world.

No, ...... is not ”this world” anymore.

I guess this is the ”other world”. ...... It's a bit complicated.

I was about to be convinced that I was ──── dead after all.

I was about to be convinced like that, but then I suddenly felt uncomfortable.

My body felt like it was floating in the air, but for some reason only my right hand felt unusually heavy.

I looked at my right hand and said, ”...... what the hell is ......?

I looked over and saw that I was holding a black sword in my right hand, as usual.

Is this ......?

I wonder why this sword is here.

Could it be that I've been using it so much that it's followed me to the afterlife?

Well, that may be the case.

But I also noticed something strange.

I'm supposed to be dead, but I'm aching all over.

And the air around me feels very cold and thin.

...... I see.

So you can still have pain and breathe after you die.

Surprising.

But I've never experienced death before, so I was convinced that's how it really is.

I was also impressed by the fact that you can discover new things even after death.

I also felt a strange sensation in my body.

”......n......?

This time it wasn't just my right hand holding the sword.

Gradually, my body, which had felt like it was floating, seemed to be pulled downward.

It seemed that I was being drawn to that fluffy white cloud floor.

Strangely, I was not afraid.

I'm not very good at heights, but the floor seemed to be soft, and the height and speed of the fall were not that bad.

I guess I'm already dead once, and I shouldn't get hurt. Maybe.

I was so relieved to think that.

The moment I tried to touch the floor, which looked like a fluffy cloud, my body went through it almost without any resistance.

...... What's going on?

I thought as I walked through the thick cloud-like substance that covered my vision.

I thought I was going to land on a bed of white clouds and meet some non-human being with a white beard.

When I was a child, my father, who was still alive, told me a fairy tale about something like that.

I was looking forward to the idea of meeting such a being, but ...... I guess I was wrong.

...... No, maybe...

I'm not sure if it's the weight of the black sword I'm holding that's causing it to fall through the floor.

The questions are endless.

There's a lot to think about even after you're dead, I thought, as I watched the clouds drift upward in flight. ────

After falling for a while, I started to feel a little uneasy.

My body keeps falling.

But I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere.

And I feel like I'm falling faster and faster.

Where the hell am I going?

Just as I was wondering this, my vision suddenly opened up.

Suddenly, the light in front of me brightened, and I squinted to see what was going on around me. I seemed to have penetrated through a thick cloud and emerged below. When I looked up, I saw that what I had fallen through looked just like a cloud.

Yes, I'm sure it was a cloud.

I had never seen it this close before, but ...... it was definitely that cloud that I had always looked up at.

It was ──── moving away from me at a great speed.

──── What the hell is this?

You can see the ridges of the mountains in the distance as you look down a bit and look around.

From the fantastic scene I had just seen, I suddenly felt that I was approaching a familiar landscape.

It resembled the mountains I had seen from the window of the carriage on the way to the city of Mithra.

It seemed more and more familiar to me.

No, no.

It's not a resemblance.

Maybe it's the same mountains.

I'm not very good at remembering people's names, but I'm pretty good at remembering terrain and scenery.

Those are definitely the mountains around the city of Mithra.

Those are definitely the mountains I remember.

So, ────?

...... What does that mean, ......?

I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think it's a good idea.

”────, no way, ────!

It's a good idea to have a good idea of where you're going to be going.

”────────────!!!

At that moment, I regretted it.