Chapter 1: Ch 1: Dying at the hands of a Yandere again

"Teacher, where are you going? If you die, then I will destroy this world as well. So please, do your best to stay alive."

Kael heard a desperate voice calling out to him. The world was burning around him, but the only thing Kael could focus on was the arms holding him tightly.

A beautiful face looked back at him, and tears fell down that beautiful face in front of him.

Seraphina, the one this world called the saintess, was crying for him, begging him not to go. But Kael did not have enough energy to keep holding on to her.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kael spotted more people running his way.

The first one he spotted was his student and the reason behind this mess—Leon. But he was not alone.

Kael could spot the others behind him.

"Seraphina... our teacher... Did you...?"

Leon whispered just loud enough to be heard over the chaos.

The arms holding Kael flinched, and a guilty look overtook Seraphina’s beautiful face. She looked down at Kael, but his vision was getting blurry now.

"I... did not mean to. I just wanted to help..."

"I know you wanted to help, but this is—"

"Why would you do that? Because of you—"

"It’s your fault as well. You watched this happen—"

A fight broke out, but Kael could not properly recall what was happening. The only thing he knew was that his life was slipping away.

But even the anger he should have felt did not come. All he felt was a sense of guilt.

Guilt because he was not able to save the world. He should have guided Leon into becoming a better person. Maybe then he would not have misled these women and caused them to become yanderes.

Because Leon made these women fall for him, they ended up destroying the world to get his attention. Kael had also been too busy with his own problems to notice what was going on until it was too late.

He was filled with regret for the people he could not save. It started to cause his magic to spiral out of control, but Kael was too tired to stop it this time.

"Look, that’s..."

"Teacher, no—"

"Kael, I swear...! If you die now, then I will make sure to end this world. No, I am going to burn this world down and sacrifice it to bring you back. Don’t you dare close your eyes..."

The plea turned from earnest to desperate. The speaker was crying now, and those wet tears were affecting even her voice.

It made Kael force his eyes open, and his gaze landed on Elena Noctis, a child he had taken in long ago. But honestly, even if he called her a child, she was only two years younger than him.

Now, with tears in her eyes, she looked even younger.

But Kael no longer had the strength to keep his eyes open and tell her that things would be fine. He could only muster enough strength to guide his biggest failure as a teacher one last time.

"L-Leon... make sure... to save the... world... as the... hero..."

In the end, Kael’s strength failed him, and the last sensation he felt was his body burning. His arms hurt, and his heart was racing too fast for his human body to contain.

Before he died, he had one last complaint to make.

’Darn it, Leon! Why did you have to make them all obsessed with you? If I get another chance, I will make sure to beat some sense into your skull. Maybe then, this world won’t be doomed.’

...

Unfortunately, second chances did not exist. But what did exist was the threat of taxes and bills.

Kael forced his body to stand up at the first ray of sunlight, and despite his body’s protests, he got out of bed to start his day.

"I hate getting dreams of my past life. Ugh, don’t people usually forget who they used to be when they are reborn? Why do I have to remember it all?"

Unlike most people, Kael had memories of his past life. But unlike in stories where people suddenly recalled their past lives and became overpowered, all Kael got were more and more disadvantages.

He was born an orphan in this life, but he never got a chance to be adopted. As for friends, he had none. Every time he tried to make one, they either got adopted or disappeared.

In the end, Kael aged out of the foster system until he somehow managed to get a job as a therapist and make a living.

He was once the youngest grand sage and also the hero’s teacher. Now he was struggling to make ends meet.

"Maybe this is my punishment for not teaching Leon properly. Not that I can do anything about it. My bills are not going to pay themselves."

The thought of his bills made Kael quicken his pace as he headed to his office. Today, he had his first appointment with his long-time patient and fellow orphan.

Kael worked for a small hospital that paid him just enough to keep him from starving. No one at the hospital talked to him when he entered. They all looked just as tired as he felt, and Kael did not bother greeting them either.

He quietly walked to his office, but noticed that someone was already inside.

’How weird... Did the hospital staff open my office? I will have to ask them about it.’

Kael immediately became vigilant, and he quietly opened the door to take a look inside.

The only one in his office was his patient for today. Sera was sitting in the office chair, waiting for him with her hands folded on her lap. There was a barely noticeable smile on her face as she played with Kael’s pen.

She was not supposed to be here this early, much less in his office. That made alarm bells ring in his mind.

But since she was a patient and in a supervised area, Kael decided to approach her cautiously.

"Sera, what are you doing here? Your appointment isn’t for another hour."

Sera immediately looked at him with a guilty expression. The pen she had been playing with fell to the ground, and she quickly reached for it.

"I-I am sorry. Should I come back later?"

Kael took a deep breath and slowed his breathing. Sera’s nervous look made him feel sorry for her.

’Ah, maybe I overreacted a bit. She must be going through something hard to come to me this early.’

Kael decided to reassure Sera by approaching her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Human touch did wonders to snap people out of their panic.

"It’s alright. I understand that you are going through hard times. We can start our session early, so try to relax a little."

Sera followed his instructions, and her nervous expression slowly eased. Kael took his seat in the meantime and waited until Sera was ready to start the session.

"Is everything going alright at home? You can tell me whatever is bothering you."

Kael asked, and Sera looked down at her folded hands before answering.

"My adopted parents are still arguing, so I don’t feel comfortable at home. But I think I’m doing fine. Coming here and seeing you helps a lot."

Sera admitted, and Kael jotted down notes for her session.

Compared to Sera from a few years ago, she did look stable. She could finally hold conversations and even look him in the eyes.

However, he had noticed that she was getting too attached to him, which was not good. He needed to break her out of this habit, and fast.

"I have to admit that you have made remarkable progress. I think it’s finally time to transfer you to another specialist. I don’t think you need me anymore."

The air in the room became stiff, and Kael noticed it immediately.

Sera’s eyes widened, and her hands started to shake. Her body trembled the way it used to when he had first met her.

"W-What did you say? A-Are you getting rid of me?"

"It’s nothing like that, Sera. You are amazing, and you are working hard as well. However, I don’t think talking to me alone will help you any further. A new perspective might help you—"

"I don’t want anyone else. I want you to keep seeing me. Can’t you do that?"

Sera begged with a frightened look on her face.

Kael felt sorry for her. However, he was suggesting this for her own development.

"I am sorry, Sera. But there is nothing else I can do for you. Please, try to cooperate with the other therapist as well—"

"Is it because of another woman? I knew you were taking other people’s sessions, but I tolerated it. And this is how you repay me? By discarding me? No—! I cannot allow this..."

Sera was becoming more unstable by the second.

Kael had heard about people having episodes before, but this was his first time witnessing one on this scale. He needed to call for help immediately.

He reached for his phone, but Sera was faster and pulled a gun out of her purse. Kael froze instinctively and immediately tried to calm her down so she would put the gun away.

"Sera, please put the gun down. It is not safe for you to have a weapon. We talked about this, right? You promised me that you wouldn’t carry it around anymore—"

"You broke your promise first. You told me that you would always be there for me. And now you want to throw me away? I won’t allow it... Ha—! I-I know what to do... If you want to go to someone else, then I will make sure you won’t have anyone else to go to anymore."

This was getting out of hand. Kael needed to get out of here, or he needed to get the gun away from her.

But before he could do anything, he heard a gunshot, and pain assaulted his chest. His eyes turned to Sera, who stared back at him with a wide-eyed expression.

"Ha... hahaha... I did it. I-I made sure that you would only remain mine. I... won’t lose you to anyone else."

Sera laughed, and security finally entered the room to restrain her. But Sera had already broken down into laughing and crying, and she no longer resisted.

As for Kael? He felt the familiar sensation of his life slipping away.

"Doctor, are you alright? Stay with us... Darn it! We are losing him. Someone, do something—"

Someone yelled, but Kael was starting to feel tired. His eyes were closing, and he swore he could see something familiar right in front of him.

But before he could check what it was, his second life ended at the hands of a yandere.