CHAPTER 59
This thought suddenly crossed my mind.
The reason I considered a harem but gave up on it was because of the public's gaze.
But if I were a god who didn't need to care about such things anymore, wouldn't it be possible? If I truly became an extra-legal being...

"Ceres, are you worried?"

Because I kept my mouth shut while deep in thought, Ares seemed to think I was worried about awakening as a heavenly being.

"Rest assured for now. As long as the people here keep the secret, this fact will not leak out."
"What about these wings on my back?"
"...Can you not hide them?"
"It's impossible right now."

It seemed like I could store them away once I got more used to them, but I wasn't used to them yet.

"And didn't all those people outside see the wings on my back earlier?"
"...We just have to force them to keep their mouths shut."
"Forget it!"

I stopped Ares from muttering such terrifying things. There was absolutely no need to silence anyone to begin with.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'll take care of this myself."

When I spoke nonchalantly, everyone wore bewildered expressions.

"How are you going to do that?"
"Well, Ceres does have status, but covering something like this up is..."

Viol and Alios questioned me, asking what I could possibly do with my power and what nonsense I was spouting, but since I had no intention of hiding it, their worries were meaningless.
In fact, I planned to reveal it.

"I said I'll handle it. Don't do anything useless and just watch!"

After giving them a firm warning, I formed a plan in my head.

The next day.
Waking up early in the morning, I moved to head outside the Imperial Palace.

"Ceres, where are you going?"
"Where are you going with your wings exposed!"

Sibylius and Hames were shocked to see me heading out, but I paid them no mind.

"I have some business to take care of for a bit, so don't worry."
"What about your wings?!"
"The rumors have probably already spread throughout the capital."

Since I was a celebrity in my own right, the rumors must have already spread everywhere.
Even if they hadn't, I planned to spread the rumors myself, so it didn't matter.

"Wait, still, going alone is..."
"Niobe!"

As soon as I called Niobe, she ran to my side.

"Did you call for me, My Lord?"
"I'm going out for a bit, so escort me... This should be fine, right?"

When I said I was taking a Sword Master-level Death Knight, the two worried women reluctantly nodded.

"Cere—"
"Niobe is escorting me!"

There were a few more similar situations as I was leaving, but I forced them to accept it by showing them Niobe.

"Sounds fun."

Except for Red, who wanted to tag along saying it looked fun rather than wanting to escort me, I successfully shook everyone else off.

"I don't know what you're doing, but let's go together."
"...Fine."

I thought about it for a moment and allowed it. I figured this demon might be useful.
Thus, I headed outside the Imperial Palace with only Niobe and Red, just the three of us.
Since I was already famous and stood out, coming out with wings attached drew the gazes of everyone around.
Everyone passing by stared at me and froze, as if time had stopped.

"W-Wings!"
"Someone said they saw Lord Ceres with angel wings at the Imperial Palace yesterday!"
"The rumors were true?!"
"I knew he didn't seem human."

People reacting with surprise, people nodding in understanding. The reactions varied. The only commonality was that they couldn't take their eyes off me.
Receiving the gazes of the bystanders, I kept moving. As we continued and reached our destination, my companions' eyes widened.

"Here?!"
"...Oho."

Niobe was horrified, and Red reacted as if she found it amusing.
Because the place I had arrived at was a funeral home.

"M-My Lord?"

Niobe even stuttered as she gauged my reaction.

"You aren't planning to do what I think you're planning to do, are you?"
"Your guess is probably right."
"My Lord!!"

As I walked into the funeral home without hesitation, Niobe urgently followed me.
Naturally, the atmosphere in the funeral home was at its worst.
A crowd of people had gathered, gloomily hanging their heads or crying, but the ones who stood out the most were a young man and woman.
The couple was crying while holding onto an open coffin, and inside lay a young child with their eyes closed.

"Uhm!"

I had walked in confidently, but I was taken aback when I actually saw the coffin. I hadn't expected it to be a dead child.
In a way, is this a good thing? Considering what I'm about to do, it's a good thing for that child.

"Everyone, attention!"

I raised my voice in the funeral home. Only then did the people, who had been too busy looking at the coffin to notice me, look up and gasp in surprise.

"L-Lord Ceres?"
"Why is he at our funeral?"
"What are those wings!"

I shouted to the people who were murmuring in surprise.

"From this moment on, I will show you all the miracle of the Heavenly God!"

I unilaterally declared this and approached the coffin. Taking advantage of the moment the people presumed to be the parents froze in shock, I placed my hand on the coffin and released my Divine Power.
It worked on a chicken, so it should be possible, right? I waited, inwardly breaking out in a cold sweat.
Soon, the child's eyes opened.

"...!"
"...!"

The parents and mourners screamed silently.

"Where is this? What happened? ...Is that Lord Ceres?"

The resurrected child, seemingly unaware of the situation, kept looking around.
I spoke to the child.

"This is a funeral home, but your parents will explain the rest to you."

They wouldn't know I wasn't their parent, but explaining it would be a waste of time. Figuring they would let this slide since I revived the kid, I pawned off the explanation and headed outside.

"Not just animals like chickens, but you even resurrected humans!"
"Indeed, with this, it makes sense that you could resurrect the Demon King!"

Niobe was appalled, and Red followed me with an excited tone.
The next place I visited was also a funeral home.
This time, it wasn't a child who had died, but an adult woman of a certain age, but the result was exactly the same as before.
When I brought her back to life, the grieving people were stunned, and the resurrected woman herself just wore a dumbfounded expression.
After repeating this action a few more times, Niobe's complexion turned pale.

"L-Lord Ceres, what on earth are you thinking doing such a thing!"
"Doing what thing?"
"You must not carelessly mock life in this manner!"

Going beyond resurrecting a chicken to casually bringing people back to life everywhere we went, even Niobe was getting worried.
However, I had conviction.
I didn't know why I was so certain of it myself, but I had the conviction that it was okay to do this.

"It's fine. The Heavenly God is probably approving of my actions too. Because think about it. I possess the power of a single feather of the Heavenly God, right?"
"Y-Yes, but?"
"If a single feather is this powerful, imagine how strong the Heavenly God Himself is. He probably went around resurrecting people by the army or country, right?"

So there shouldn't be any problem if just one person like me goes around resurrecting people!

"And you shouldn't be surprised by just this. I plan to do something even more incredible right away."
"Something more incredible?"
"Just follow me for now."

Hearing my confident declaration, Niobe followed me.
But once she actually followed me, she ended up collapsing to the ground.

"H-Here?"
"Hahaha, it's a cemetery!"

In contrast to the horrified Niobe, Red reacted as if she was dying of laughter.

"Pwahaha! Are you really going to do it?" Red asked while bursting into laughter.
"Yeah, I'm going to do it."
"Aren't you afraid of the Heavenly God's wrath?"
"I'm not afraid. If I'm resurrecting people who died unjustly, the Heavenly God would probably cheer me on, wouldn't he?"

I answered nonchalantly, but then.

[Yes]

"...Did you just say something?"

I tilted my head, thinking I had just heard a auditory hallucination for a moment.

"No, I didn't say anything. More importantly, are you planning to resurrect everyone here?"
"Not everyone. I'm only going to resurrect those who died relatively recently and at a young age."

It was just a gut feeling, but I felt it would be hard to resurrect people who died of old age or died a long time ago.
I selected the people to resurrect by referencing the birth dates and years of death marked on the graves.
Just as I thought, those who were young and died recently were easy to resurrect.
Even reviving a large number of them at once wasn't very difficult, and I didn't feel any resistance to my power.

"What?"
"Wasn't I dead?"

The resurrected people sat blankly, unable to grasp the situation. As they stayed like that for a while, crowds of people began to swarm in.
Guards and priests who heard the news, as well as my acquaintances, had arrived.

"Ceres?"
"What are you really doing?"

Looking at the dumbfounded Hames and Sibylius, I stepped forward.
This time, I didn't disappear without a word. Instead, I proudly shouted to those who had arrived.

"The Heavenly God has bestowed His power upon me! Through His power, I have transcended humanity and been reborn as a heavenly being!"

When I revealed a truth that wasn't entirely a lie, those who didn't know the circumstances were all shocked, while our group who knew the truth looked at me as if asking why I was saying that.

"With this newly given power, I have succeeded in bringing back those who had lost their lives. Everyone, look at them!"

The people I had resurrected. When I showed them the living proof, everyone reacted violently, screaming in shock and horror.

"No, I wondered what you were up to, and you were doing this?!"
"What are you doing in a place with so many people!"

Even the members of my group, like Viol and Alios, were appalled.
Amidst the storm of surprise and shock, I shouted once more.

"I have now become an extra-legal being who has no need to follow the norms of the human world. Please remember this, and whatever I do from now on is the will of the gods, so just accept it!"