kscans

Chapter 84 - King Enma

I finished my preparations to leave and headed to the rooftop, where the hellcat was already waiting. This wasn't the kind used to transport the dead, but one for distinguished guests, I suppose? It was pulling an incredibly luxurious carriage.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all. Please, do get in."

"Right."

As I climbed into the carriage, the hellcat took off from the rooftop. Riding in a carriage pulled by a messenger of hell while looking down at the office district... that's quite a sight to behold.

(It would be pretty entertaining if the hellcat was driving around in an expensive foreign car with incredible driving skills.)

After pondering such silly thoughts for a while, we skipped the proper route that the dead normally must take and arrived at King Enma's palace. Even I straightened my tie in the solemn atmosphere befitting a courthouse for the afterlife.

"Your Majesty. I have brought Mr. Satou."

"Good, well done. You may withdraw."

I was ushered before King Enma. What an imposing figure he is. Remember those teachers from school days who made you automatically straighten your posture just by meeting them? He's like the ultimate version of that.

"Good. Be at ease."

King Enma stopped me as I was about to kneel in greeting.

"I summoned you to express my gratitude, and this is not currently a place of judgment."

"Then excuse me."

However...

"King Enma, isn't this a bit careless? Being alone together like this is problematic, surely?"

"Hah, if you were so inclined, you could reduce hell to ash in seconds."

In that case, there's no point in wasting effort. Rather than posting guards, it's more efficient to assign those personnel to other work.

"I see. By the way, how are the trials going?"

"No problems there either. Since the Bon festival is approaching, we've been proceeding at a rapid pace, so we have plenty of time."

That's excellent. I wouldn't want the trials of the dead to be delayed because of me.

"Now then, before expressing gratitude, I must first apologize."

For making me clean up their mess. And for the delay in expressing gratitude for that. King Enma bowed his head, saying he was truly sorry... This is beyond uncomfortable.

"And once again, my gratitude. For reclaiming the divine authority. I am deeply grateful."

"No... that was also for our own circumstances in this world."

I thought that might be the case, but it's about Hades, isn't it? Thinking about it again, what the hell was that guy doing...? Having the audacity to pick a fight with an entirely different mythological system.

"Besides, King Enma suffered harm partly because I caused Hades to misunderstand the situation."

That ridiculous misunderstanding about King Enma backing me up. Though I suppose it's understandable that he'd make such a mistake after having the absolute authority of death nullified.

"If we're talking about that, then Lord Hades, who tried to needlessly disturb the world, was the original cause... No, I'm not entirely unsympathetic to that god's position."

While he doesn't approve of Hades' methods, he apparently has thoughts about humanity's perception of death. Well, that's not my concern, so I won't probe deeper.

"Well, regardless of that. Whatever the circumstances, the fact remains that you reclaimed the authority of death."

Please accept my gratitude. When he puts it that way, there's nothing more I can say. I nodded slightly and accepted his thanks.

"By the way, regarding the divine authority, are there no problems? After all, it was held by a foreign god, albeit temporarily."

It wouldn't be strange if something had gotten mixed in.

"Hmm. There are no problems. If we're talking about different gods, this authority itself was received from another to begin with."

Hades and King Enma. Both are administrators of the afterlife, but Enma isn't exactly a death god. He's more of an arbiter. He should be called a god of judgment who deals with the dead. The reason Enma possesses the authority of death is because he received it from another divine being. The catalyst for receiving it was the transformation of the afterlife.

Hell and paradise are Buddhist concepts, and Buddhism was introduced to Japan around the sixth century. Before that, the afterlife was Yomi-no-Kuni, where good and evil people were all together. Yes, the famous one from the tale of Izanagi and Izanami. However, with the introduction of Buddhism and changes in people's consciousness, it was decided that the nature of the afterlife should also change, leading to the creation of hell and paradise. At that time, King Enma received the authority of death from the god who had possessed it in Yomi-no-Kuni.

"Satou Hideo."

"Yes."

"To be honest, while I received the authority of death, I barely used it."

"I see."

"Not that I took it lightly, but there was no need. However, the recent incident changed my perspective."

"How so?"

"While I probably won't use it much in the future, the fact that it was stolen once cannot be overlooked."

Therefore, he's thinking of separating the authority and sealing it securely. Well, that makes sense. If it had been stolen by someone with malicious intent, it would have been wielded indiscriminately with terrible consequences. In Hades' case, it was solely to kill me, so he didn't abuse it.

"While I said I summoned you to express gratitude, this is a presumptuous request, but I'd like to borrow your power."

"That's fine with me, but... are you sure I'm the right person?"

"Could there exist anyone in this world capable of breaking through a seal you've made in earnest?"

With a swift gesture from King Enma, a thick scroll appeared before my eyes.

"What's this?"

"It contains several sealing techniques that are secrets among secrets, unknown even to you. I'm giving this to you as advance payment."

In exchange, he wants me to use those techniques, with my own modifications if needed, to create the seal.

"Ah, but I have one request. I want you to set me as the key. Since I'm entrusting it to myself, I have responsibilities."

That's natural, of course. If there's ever an occasion to use it, they can't be calling me every time. It's only natural that King Enma, as the owner, should be able to use it freely, but...

"...Are you sure it's okay to give this to me?"

"Haha."

"King Enma?"

"Sorry. It's just that while you're generally carefree, you're strangely serious about certain things."

...Even King Enma says I'm carefree.

"Whether it's a world crisis or not, you're frivolous and lighthearted, but you're earnest about your own work and duties. You weren't like this before entering society, but you developed a sense of responsibility after becoming a working adult. That's a good thing. Yes, it's a wonderful attitude. But when I think about a man of your caliber... Forgive me, forgive me."

I'm almost about to cry.

"Oh yes, you asked if there were problems. There are no problems at all."

"Really? Even though it's necessary, for King Enma to directly deal with the living..."

"Your judgment has already been completed."

"What?"

Even though I'm not dead yet?

"How many times have you saved the world? You know about the scales of the Five Kings, don't you?"

"The scales of karma, right?"

"Indeed. I won't say you have no sins."

Well, of course. I'm not that pure and upright a person.

"For example, when you were in third grade. You received a somewhat unreasonable lecture from your homeroom teacher. In retaliation, you skipped swimming class, stole your teacher's underwear, and posted it on the bulletin board near the shoe lockers..."

Could you please stop exposing my personal information out of nowhere?

"Well, anyway. You have sins. But they don't compare to the weight of the good deeds you've accumulated."

King Enma laughs, saying the plate with good deeds would tip over and pierce through to the mantle.

"...I never intended them as good deeds, though."

"It's not about what you think. It's about how things are viewed objectively. If subjectivity ruled, that would be problematic."

Well, that's true. It would mean a psychopath could get away with anything as long as they genuinely believed they were doing good.

"To commit evil deeds that surpass your accumulated good works, you'd have to destroy the world or something. But then I would die too. All gods would perish in complete nothingness. There would be no judgment at all. And you wouldn't do such a thing. Therefore, your passage to paradise after death is guaranteed... though whether you'll even die is questionable."

What do you think I am?

"Therefore, there's no problem with me showing favoritism toward you. I could even go drinking with you privately."

King Enma, aren't you being a bit too casual...?

"...Well, if there's no problem, that's fine. Then I'll get to work right away."

I spread out the scroll and quickly looked it over. I mostly understood it. The seal's composition came to mind, so I safely stripped the authority of death from King Enma and applied the sealing technique. A palm-sized black box was completed and settled into King Enma's hands.

"The key is King Enma's will itself. Even if someone steals your power and pours it in, the seal won't open."

It will never open unless King Enma truly wills it. Brainwashing is useless too. If someone tries to twist King Enma's will through such methods, it will trigger a rejection.

"I think it turned out quite strong both spiritually and physically."

Since we're here, let me give a quick demonstration.

"King Enma, could you place that in front of me?"

"? Yes, understood."

With a swift hand gesture from King Enma, the small box floated over and settled at my feet. After confirming it was properly placed, I kicked the small box. The force was enough to split the Japanese archipelago, but the small box didn't have a single scratch and didn't budge at all.

"I see. It can't even be moved."

"Right, well... I'm the one who cast it, so I can dispel it and destroy it by force, but..."

"Others would find it impossible. Good, this is satisfactory. It meets my requirements perfectly."

The small box floated up and settled into King Enma's robes.

"I'll properly enshrine it in an appropriate place later. Now then, this is your completion bonus."

"...What you gave me earlier is more than enough."

"Don't say that. This is something you'll enjoy too."

King Enma gestured again, and an enormous barrel appeared.

"Hell's finest sake. It's a masterpiece that can knock out even demons, and I'm quite proud of its taste."

"...I gratefully accept."

But you know... this could kill King Enma...