How about this? Following this world's rules and carrying on didn't seem so bad.
With the Banshee's covert assistance, the Silent Temple's backing, and the pirates as allies, he could establish himself in the Storm Ocean. In time, he would become the true Count Theus, then Marquis Theus, Duke Theus, perhaps even be crowned Emperor of the Empire and unify the entire continent.
Those were all excellent things.
But why... did he feel...
So unmotivated?
Theus irritably raked his fingers through his hair.
"Why did I come here?"
To enjoy life? To pass the boredom of sitting motionless upon the Golden Throne? Or, like a true evil god, merely to find some amusement and casually descend into a vessel?
It seemed like all of those things, yet none of them. Theus's gaze grew increasingly lost as memories from the past kept flashing before his eyes, until—
A somewhat blurred figure appeared in his mind, along with that hoarse voice.
"Lackey of an evil god, you have defiled sacred machinery."
A steel arm pierced worker Theus's chest, and his blood stained the office's wooden floorboards red.
Theus's unfocused eyes sharpened slightly.
It was his last death.
What had he done then?
He had improved the factory's machines. He had told his fellow workers interesting stories, giving their dull, numb lives something more to look forward to. He had tried to share knowledge with every unfortunate soul struggling to survive.
In Rhine, the average lifespan of those workers was under thirty.
"Me, a lackey of an evil god?"
Theus straightened up from his chair.
Pollution in the sea had persisted for a thousand years. A thousand years ago, the Church had concealed information about the Pollution, and Transcendents had stayed away from the sea.
A thousand years later, the Church was still