“Grim Reaper?! That sounds cool. Unfortunately, I’m just an ordinary god—so, I can only grant you a prophecy: you still have a long way to go. You won’t be able to die until all your silver hair falls out.”

What, am I going to be bald in the future?

Instinctively, I put away my sword and drank from my mug.

While I was still in shock, he suddenly fell into a good mood and snapped his fingers again. Then, the blanket that was always placed in the back of the room floated up and covered the bartender.

Is this… really the work of god?

Even after peering around, I couldn’t find a hint of a trick or device.

As I held my breath, he asked with a hint of pride, “Did you believe me?”

I sighed deeply, sat back down, and held the base of my nose.

“Haa… I’m finally having hallucinations. Maybe I drank too much.”

“Well, I think you should drink in moderation. You aren’t that strong, are you?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Shall I prepare some water?”

“No thanks—so, what does god want from me? I’ll finish this soon.”

I poured the drink into the empty glass and shook the silent bottle.

The so-called God pouted like a child.

“Like I said, I came to brag to you! I was the one who captured Lelouche’s heart!”

“…Is that true?”

In that case, that’s really mean of you.

However, ruthlessly, he affirmed it.

“It’s true! I mean, you heard it clearly from Lelouche’s mouth, right? ‘The one I love is Nameless!’“

“You’re good at sounding like her.”

“Just showing off.”

What a brat!

At first glance, he looked older than me, but regardless of his age and position, the way he got all happy and proud for something so strange somehow reminded me of her.

I remembered her mentioning the name of the man she liked.

A painting that was said to depict a god that looked similar to this guy.

“Was Nameless really the one Lelouche loved? From Nameless Sunset?”

“Yes! That’s right! She confessed to him, and they ended up together in her next life!”

“So, that’s how it is. I thought Lelouche had always loved my brother, but did he get rejected as well?”

“Well, that’s only natural. His rival in love was god.”

“Ha! god!”

I burst out laughing, I couldn’t contain myself any longer and cried out loud… Out of beath, I drank and screamed some more.

“Hahaha! You’re right! Brother, in the end, you were no different from me!”

“Well, in terms of being rejected by her, I guess.”

“Oh, what an idiot. And Lelouche told god, ‘Fall in love with me…’ I’m really no match for her…”

After laughing for a while, he pointed at the drink and asked, “Won’t you going to have some?” Then, he wordlessly handed me the glass, so I gratefully accepted it with a, “Thanks…” I just had to cope with a drink. It was simply too ridiculous!

“When did you meet Lelouche?”

“A hundred days before she died. The day you pushed her down the stairs.”

“Really? Tell me as much as you want, I’ll listen to everything.”

“Wow, thanks! Anyway, first of all, when we first met, right after I told her how much time she had left to live, she made a bet—”

After that, I heard a lot of stories that were very much like her, albeit I didn’t know whether they were true or not—and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

“Mmm…”

The morning sun was filtering in from behind the door that had somewhat come loose.

The bartender, who was supposed to be asleep, was pretending to read the newspaper with a sullen look on his face.

“If you’re awake, hurry up and go home,” he said.

“That’s true…”

I shook my heavy head and stood up. Then, I realized.

“Hey, who was the guy I was drinking with?”

“Huh, don’t you always drink alone?”

“…I thought so.”

Surely, what happened yesterday was just a dream. The same went for the whole I-got-confessed-to-by-a-girl-I-liked.

Such a ridiculous story couldn’t possibly have happened in reality.

Even so—

“Master, I might not come for a while.”

“…Do as you wish.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. But I’ll definitely come back someday, before I go bald.”

I tapped the two empty glasses on the counter with my fingertips, careful not to tip them over.

I left the bar alone.

Ah, the morning sun stung my hungover eyes.

Today, the sky was an unpleasantly blue, as expected.

“Well, where should I go now…?”

For some reason, I looked up toward the sky and smiled softly.

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