And so.
The Holy Emperor's cheeks flushed crimson. She bit her lower lip, and obediently lay face-down on the bed.
Her face was pressed deep into the soft pillow. Both hands clutched the sheets beneath her. Every muscle across her back was drawn taut with tension.
Haimer stood at the bedside, his gaze downcast, and pierced the tip of his finger.
A drop of Divine Blood fell onto the Holy Emperor's back.
A red light pulsed.
The sacred characters that represented the soul's latent potential began to spread and take shape across her skin.
Haimer's eyes traced the intricate patterns as they formed, reading the Grace information that belonged to this former head of state.
But.
As the characters continued to appear, his reading slowed. His gaze lingered on the lines further down for a long, long moment.
Something is very wrong with this panel.
The surprise blooming in Haimer's chest only deepened.
——
SEITENSHI
One of the five Rulers of the Areas of Japan, the third-generation Ruler of the Tokyo Area. Possessing beauty beyond compare, a noble will, and the political acumen to see her ideals through to the end — at the mere age of sixteen, she has earned the support of the people to a degree unmatched by any ruler before her.
[Name]: Holy Emperor
[Race]: Human
[Level]: Lv.1
[Ability Values]: Strength: I-0 | Endurance: I-0 | Dexterity: I-0 | Agility: I-0 | Magic: I-0
[Magic]: 『Phantasia』 『Utopia』
[Skills]: 『Boundless Compassion』 『Earth That Bears All』
『Phantasia』:
Wide-area healing magic.
Chant: [Here I build a paradise where none shall weep.]
All targets within the casting range deemed [Ally] by the caster receive continuous life restoration.
The area of coverage expands in proportion to the caster's [Magic] stat.
『Utopia』:
Wide-area support magic.
Chant: [By this oath, I bind the wishes of all living things — though our paths may differ, let them converge as one.]
Upon activation, grants specific Buff bonuses corresponding to each [Race] already present within the current [Familia] to all members.
The more [Races] the Familia contains, the greater the variety of Buffs that can be activated, and all active Buffs stack and coexist.
Currently Activated Buff Library:
1. [Human] — Activated Sub-Buff: 『Courage of Mankind』.
Greatly increases [Courage] for all Familia members within the casting range.
Slightly increases all ability values.
The bonus reaches its peak when facing enemies stronger than oneself or when cornered in a desperate situation.
2. [Beast] — Activated Sub-Buff: 『Beast Mimicry』.
Familia members within the casting range randomly manifest minor [Beast Traits].
[Strength] and [Agility] receive a massive increase.
[Pain Sensitivity] is slightly dulled and [Damage Resistance] is enhanced.
...
Skills:
『Boundless Compassion』:
An innate, extreme aversion to killing.
The growth rate of the four base ability values — [Strength], [Endurance], [Dexterity], and [Agility] — is greatly reduced, and raising them becomes exceedingly difficult.
In exchange.
The rate at which [Magic] proficiency is acquired receives an unprecedented, terrifying boost.
The effects of all support-type and healing-type magic are doubled.
『Earth That Bears All』:
The capacity to carry and embrace the suffering of others.
All stress, pain, grief, and awareness of the world's suffering that the caster endures is converted into a wellspring for Magic generation.
Total Magic capacity expands in proportion to the tenacity of the caster's will, with no conventional racial upper limit.
When casting support-type or healing-type magic, Magic consumption is greatly reduced, and the spell's area of coverage receives additional expansion.
——
Haimer read through the long list of descriptions and then simply stared at the Holy Emperor's smooth, unblemished back without saying a word for a long while.
After all.
Even he hadn't seen this coming.
In a place like Orario, an adventurer obtaining magic was considered a stroke of rare fortune that couldn't be forced.
And on top of that.
Each person could only have at most three magic slots.
Countless people spent their entire lives fighting in the Dungeon and died with their magic slots still empty — many even had to purchase grimoires that could cost upward of a million Valis, sometimes even into the hundreds of millions, just to forcibly awaken something.
And yet.
The Holy Emperor, upon receiving God's Grace for the very first time, had already filled two magic slots outright.
And what's more, the descriptions on both of those magic entries were more absurdly overpowered than the last.
『Phantasia』 — wide-area healing magic.
Healers were already a scarce commodity in Orario. Those capable of area-of-effect group healing were rarer still.
The ones who possessed healing magic — people like the "Battlefield Saint" Amid Teasanare of the Dian Cecht Familia — were treated like priceless treasures by whichever Familia was lucky enough to have them.
And on top of that.
『Phantasia』 wasn't just wide-area; it was continuous life restoration. As long as the Holy Emperor's magic was active, anyone she deemed [Ally] within her range would be covered.
As for 『Utopia』.
That one was even more outrageous.
A wide-area support spell that could stack multiple Buff bonuses based on the number of races present within the Familia.
Currently, the Familia had Tendou Kisara and the other humans, which had activated 『Courage of Mankind』.
And then there was Kyoubou the black bear — a beast — which had activated 『Beast Mimicry』.
His gaze settled on the description lines for 『Beast Mimicry』.
The image that immediately surfaced in Haimer's mind was the current pinnacle of Orario: the captain of the Freya Familia, the one known as the "Fierce Warrior" — the boar, Ottar.
He recalled that Ottar possessed a skill called 『War God's Call』, which he could activate at will to trigger a beast transformation and gain an enormous bonus to all ability values.
That was one of the trump cards that allowed him to steamroll opponents at the same level.
But.
Ottar's skill — 『War God's Call』 — had a drawback: every time it was activated, it drastically drained both his stamina and mental strength.
But.
The Holy Emperor's magic — 『Utopia』 — simply had to be cast once, and it would grant the enhancement to every Familia member within range.
It even came bundled with dulled pain sensitivity and enhanced damage resistance.
In effect, as long as the Holy Emperor was standing somewhere in the rear, every Familia member charging on the front lines would enjoy a scaled-down version of Ottar's exclusive skill — with no strings attached.
Most critically of all, this buff had zero side effects on the recipients. The only cost was the Holy Emperor's own Magic.
And further down the list.
Looking at those two skills, Haimer felt the urge to click his tongue in sheer disbelief.
『Boundless Compassion』 had essentially crippled all physical base stat growth.
But what it gave in return was a terrifying boost to Magic proficiency acquisition, and a flat doubling of all support and healing magic effects.
『Earth That Bears All』 pushed that already extreme specialization to its absolute limit.
— Total Magic capacity with no conventional racial upper limit.
That single line said everything.
And on top of that, casting costs were massively reduced, and coverage range was expanded.
These four entries, taken together, formed an utterly perfect closed loop.
An extreme, one-sided specialization so complete it made your scalp prickle.
But it was precisely that purity of extremity that had forged an existence that was absolutely, unconditionally invincible within the domain of support.
The Holy Emperor could be said to have zero personal combat ability.
But place her inside a powerful team, and she would elevate that team's overall strength by an order of magnitude.
He thought back to what the Holy Emperor had experienced in her original world — a head of state.
A person who had stood at the highest seat of power, wanting to protect everyone, and yet — because she lacked even the strength to lift a sword — had been able to do nothing but watch helplessly as politicians corrupted, citizens suffered, and the Cursed Children were driven out.
That agony of wanting to embrace everything and being utterly powerless to do so. That desperate, almost obsessive longing for "a paradise where none shall weep" and "a world where all living things may coexist."
All of it had been faithfully recorded by God's Grace, and transformed into this impossible power.
With that thought, as Haimer pressed the text of those four abilities onto the parchment, his movements slowed, just slightly, of their own accord.
——
The room was unnaturally quiet.
Haimer was still marveling at the sheer power of the panel, lost in thought, and had forgotten to speak.
The air in the room felt like it had stopped moving.
For Haimer, this silence was contemplation.
After all, it was a lot of information. He needed a moment to process it.
But for the Holy Emperor, lying face-down on the bed, every passing second was torment.
Why...
Was it not done yet?
When the others awakened their Grace, Kami-sama would always hand them the parchment quickly, or smile and say something encouraging.
Why was it that when it was her turn, things had gone so quiet?
Could it be... because she really was that terrible?
Yeah. That must be it.
The Holy Emperor's eyes gradually dimmed.
She had never had any combat ability to speak of. She couldn't even hold a sword steady.
In a world teeming with monsters, if even her Grace turned out to be mediocre, then hadn't she truly become nothing more than a useless mouth to feed?
Once that thought surfaced, there was no pushing it back down.
The Holy Emperor's shoulders began to tremble, the faintest quiver she couldn't control.
She pressed her face deeper into the pillow, and her nose began to sting.
If there really was nothing there...
Then what right did she have to stay in this household? To stay by Kami-sama's side?
At last, the Holy Emperor couldn't hold it back any longer.
The words came out muffled, pressed into the pillow, laced with a tremor she couldn't conceal — the unmistakable wobble of someone on the verge of tears.
"Kami-sama..." "Am I... really... do I really have no ability at all?"
"Am I... really... so use—"
Haimer snapped back to the present. He looked down.
The Holy Emperor — who always presented herself to others with such composed elegance, always wearing that perfectly measured smile — had curled herself into the smallest shape she could manage, and she looked, in that moment, utterly pitiful.
Only then did Haimer realize that he had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he had left this quietly sensitive young woman stranded.
"How could that be."
"Holy Emperor."
"Just like everyone else — you are an absolutely indispensable member of my Familia."
As he spoke, Haimer reached out. The warm heat of his palm came to rest over the Holy Emperor's hand, the one that had been clutching the sheets in a white-knuckled grip.
He applied gentle pressure, easing her clenched fingers open, and gestured for her to let him help her sit up.
The moment the Holy Emperor felt that warmth on her wrist, her body stiffened slightly.
She pressed her lips together, scrubbed at the corners of her eyes against the pillow in a messy, self-conscious swipe, then slowly let Haimer guide her upright.
The pale blue dress was still bunched loosely around her waist. The smooth skin of her upper body remained entirely exposed to the open air.
The moment she sat up, she felt a chill against her chest and immediately, in a fluster, brought her free arm up to cover herself.
The flush across her cheeks ignited like a flame, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears and down the elegant line of her neck.
She kept her head bowed, eyes locked onto the sheets below her, utterly unable to bring herself to look Haimer in the face.
Haimer looked at the Holy Emperor — who appeared to wish she could disappear through the floor — and felt a resigned sort of helplessness.
He said nothing more about it, and simply held the parchment covered in dense text out in front of her.
"See for yourself, Holy Emperor."
"Your convictions — they've bought you something rather remarkable."
Something remarkable?
At those words, the Holy Emperor blinked, momentarily thrown.
She hesitantly raised her head. Her gaze made a brief, careful pass over Haimer's softly smiling face.
Then, in a shy flicker, it dropped away — and landed on the parchment he was holding out to her.
The Holy Emperor carefully extended the hand that wasn't being held, and took the parchment. Her eyes moved across it.
The next second.
The Holy Emperor went completely, utterly still.
Those beautiful pale-violet eyes widened by degrees. Her lips parted slightly. Her gaze swept back and forth across the parchment, over and over again — as though she simply could not bring herself to trust what she was seeing.
"Is this... really me?"
The Holy Emperor murmured to herself, her voice saturated with disbelief. Even the hand holding the parchment had begun to shake.
"What? What? What does it say?!"
Hanasaka Warabi, who had been craning her neck from the side this whole time, took one look at the Holy Emperor's jaw-dropped expression and completely lost whatever shred of patience she had left.
She lurched forward, nearly throwing herself face-first onto the bed, and stretched toward the parchment to see for herself.
Onigawara Rin, Kikakujou Mary, and Nomura Satori, seeing this, crowded in with equal curiosity.
And then.
Hanasaka Warabi, closest of all, caught sight of the text — and let out a shriek on the spot.
"Magic?!!!"
They had all been in Orario long enough by now to know exactly how rare it was for an adventurer to wield magic.
And what's more!
There wasn't just one!
Two!
"Wide-area healing... wide-area support..."
Onigawara Rin's expression cycled through a remarkable series of emotions as she read the descriptions aloud, before she turned to look at the Holy Emperor with an involuntary stare.
"Holy Emperor's starting panel is just absurd."
"Group life restoration, and on top of that it scales Buffs based on the races in the Familia."
"Now that we have Holy Emperor with us, our Dungeon-clearing pace is definitely going to jump by a massive margin!"
"And not just that."
"This wide-area support magic called Utopia — it grants Buffs based on the number of races in the Familia, right?"
Onigawara Rin furrowed her brow, pointed at the corresponding line on the parchment, and read it aloud.
"Currently only humans, so 『Courage of Mankind』 is active... and beast, so 『Beast Mimicry』 is active."
Nearby, Hanasaka Warabi heard that and immediately turned her eyes toward Kyoubou the black bear, who was stretched out dozing on the carpet, along with the small bear cub still snoring away beside it.
"Oh right!"
"Kyoubou counts too!"
Kyoubou, hearing its name, slowly lifted its great big head.
"So following that line of thought."
"The more races we have in our Familia, the richer the variety of Buff bonuses Holy Emperor's magic can provide, right?"
"Hssss." The more they thought about it, the more undeniable it became.
After all.
This was Orario.
The crossroads where every race in the world converged.
Whether it was proud Elves, sturdy Dwarves, Amazons always brimming with wild energy, or even the rarer beastman races — they were all a common sight in this city.
If Kami-sama really did recruit members of all those different races into the Familia someday...
And stacked every last one of those strange and exotic race-specific Buffs...
Then when the time came.
The moment Holy Emperor activated 『Utopia』.
The entire Familia, every single member draped in dozens of stacked Buff statuses, howling as they stormed into the Dungeon.
Just picturing that scene was enough to make their scalps tingle.
It felt exactly like playing some kind of collectible card game — gather enough cards of different types, and you'd unlock a powerful bond effect.
The Holy Emperor was the core — the one who strung all those bonds together.
Especially.
Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary seemed to think of something at the same moment.
They looked at each other, and both caught the same flicker of light in the other's eyes.
...
Watching each and every one of those girls with their eyes shining like that, Haimer gave a quiet, amused shake of his head, then turned to look at the Holy Emperor — still sitting at the edge of the bed, clutching the parchment in both hands, staring into space.
And what he saw was this.
Right now.
The expression on the Holy Emperor's face was still slightly dazed.
Those beautiful pale-violet eyes hadn't fully dried — the corners were still touched with a hint of red, giving her a soft, vulnerable look, as though she'd only just been through something that had hurt her.
The pale blue dress was still hanging loose around her waist.
A wide expanse of snow-white skin and delicate collarbones still lay bare to the air, flushed with a faint, rosy pink from sheer embarrassment.
The sight of it.
Left Haimer with nothing to do but sigh quietly, and prompt her himself.
"How does it feel?"
"That heavy stone that's been sitting on your chest all this time — it should be gone now, shouldn't it?"
Hearing that voice, the Holy Emperor's whole body gave a slight tremor.
She lifted her head immediately.
Her gaze collided with Haimer's.
In that instant.
The Holy Emperor felt that stinging sensation she had barely managed to push down come surging back up all at once.
Only this time.
It was no longer from shame.
"Thank you... Kami-sama..."
"You don't have to keep being so deferential, Holy Emperor."
Haimer spoke before she could finish — as if he had already anticipated where her words were going.
"You are my Familia. In front of me, you don't need to stand on ceremony like that."
"God's Grace does nothing more than give concrete form to what already exists in the depths of your soul."
"The credit belongs entirely to you."
"God's Grace, when all is said and done, is simply a key."
"What it unlocks is something that was already there, buried deep within your own soul."
"If you had not held fast, in a world like that one, to that stubborn, unyielding belief in coexistence — if you had not suffered for your longing to share in the burdens of others —"
"Then these impossible spells — 『Phantasia』 and 『Utopia』 — could never have manifested."
"So then."
"Holy Emperor."
There, Haimer paused. His gaze swept over the Holy Emperor's shoulders, still trembling faintly, and his voice took on a weight that was entirely earnest.
"This power is something you earned yourself."
"It was your wish — years in the making — to build that paradise. And it answered you."
"So."
"Hold your head up."
"As a member of my Familia, you are a presence that would make even the gods take notice."
This wasn't only for the Holy Emperor.
It was the same for all the others.
His approach was no different for any of them.
As long as they were his Familia.
Then as their god.
It was only right that he offer each of them absolutely equal guidance.
Hearing those words from Haimer.
The Holy Emperor froze completely.
Deep within her chest, it felt as though a warm hand had reached in and given her heart a firm, solid squeeze.
A hot rush of emotion — something between an ache and a swell of gratitude — came flooding up through her nose all at once.
She bit down hard on her lower lip.
The tears pooled in her eyes, circling — but she forced them back, through sheer will.
She simply stared at him with that gaze, the kind that looked as though she was burning every feature of him into the very fabric of her soul.
And then, at last, gave a single deep, resolute nod.
"Kami-sama... I understand."
And with that.
The matter of awakening God's Grace for the new members was entirely complete.
After asking Onigawara Rin, Kikakujou Mary, and the others whether they wished to have their Grace updated.
And after resigning himself to their unanimous, enthusiastic demand that he straddle their backs to perform the update — just the same as before.
Haimer's eye twitched at the corner, and he brought the whole affair to a close.
He finally turned to glance out the window.
The night had grown very late.
What had started as a plan for a simple Grace ceremony had stretched on for the better part of the night.
It turned out that even though everyone was buzzing with excitement from just having leveled up or awakened new skills, once the adrenaline began to ebb, the body's exhaustion had a way of making itself known.
Especially Aihara Enju and Hiruko Kohina — their mouths were still going a mile a minute, but their eyelids were fighting a losing battle.
"Seeing as it's gotten this late."
"Everyone's had a long day. Especially you newcomers — you've only just arrived in Orario, you went through an inter-dimensional transfer, and you've been up until now on top of it all. You definitely haven't fully adjusted yet."
"Go back to the rooms you picked out and get some rest. If there's anything to discuss, we'll handle it in the morning."
At those words.
The women who had been clustered about the room all seemed to come back to themselves at once.
Indeed — the mental exhilaration couldn't hide the physical toll. Especially after a whole evening of riding an emotional rollercoaster, the moment they relaxed, drowsiness rose up like a tide.
"Then... goodnight, Kami-sama."
Onigawara Rin was the first to stand up straight, smooth down her clothes, and then, with Inaba Tsukuyo — eyes already shut — on her arm, gave a small bow toward Haimer.
Kikakujou Mary, Hanasaka Warabi, and Nomura Satori followed with their own goodnights, then turned and headed for the door.
The Holy Emperor, blanket still wrapped around her, rose from the bed and gave Haimer a small, dipping bow. Tendou Kisara walked over to help Enju and Kohina along toward the exit.
Haimer watched the procession make their way toward the door one by one, and quietly exhaled.
What a day.
All that was left now was to go take a bath, change out of these clothes, and then sink into that magnificent eight-person cloud-silk cotton bed for a proper night's sleep.
Finally. A chance to experience a little of the treatment a god actually deserved.
However.
Just as Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary had already reached the door of the master bedroom — one of them already half a foot past the threshold —
The corner of Onigawara Rin's eye caught a figure still standing in the corner of the room.
She stopped in her tracks and turned around.
There was Amou Kirukiru, still wearing that oversized white shirt, her long bare legs beneath it — elegant, straight lines. Both arms were folded across her chest. Her long black hair hung loose and disheveled.
Those eyes of hers — carrying that feral, aggressive edge — were fixed, unblinking, in Haimer's direction.
Without the slightest indication that she had any intention of moving, let alone leaving.
Onigawara Rin blinked.
"Amou, aren't you leaving?" Onigawara Rin asked, almost on reflex.
Amou Kirukiru heard the question, but didn't even turn her head. She just slid her gaze sideways — a single, unhurried look at the people standing in the doorway.
The corner of her mouth immediately curled into a sharp, provocative arc.
"Leave? Why would I leave?"
Amou Kirukiru let her folded arms drop, stretched her long legs forward, and walked straight to the side of the large bed. Without a shred of hesitation, she lay down, crossing one long leg over the other with easy confidence.
"This bed is more than big enough for me."
"Besides..."
Amou Kirukiru ran her tongue over her slightly dry lips. Her gaze traveled up and down Haimer without restraint — the blatant possessiveness in her eyes was brazen enough to make anyone's heart skip.
"Since the pursuit of strength has no end, it only stands to reason that I remain by Kami-sama's side without a moment's interruption."
Amou Kirukiru said all of that without so much as a trace of awkwardness or shame.
It dropped the entire room into stunned silence.
The air seemed to freeze solid in that single moment.
The foot Onigawara Rin had already stepped over the threshold hung suspended in midair.
Her eye twitched. She stared, wide-eyed, at Amou Kirukiru sitting on the bed.
Her mind flashed back to what had happened in the bathroom earlier — Amou Kirukiru leaving her bath half-finished, dashing out early just to offer Haimer a massage.
Every alarm bell in Onigawara Rin's head went off at once.
An emotion surged up through her, hot and immediate.
Pursuit of strength — my foot!
This was obviously just a naked bid to monopolize Kami-sama!
This girl had the audacity to claim her territory right in front of all of them, in broad — well, midnight — view!
If she let Kirukiru stay here tonight, then from here on out, would there be any room left for the rest of them near Kami-sama?!
"In that case!"
"If you say the bed is so big... then I'm not leaving either!"
With that thought burning in her chest.
Even though Onigawara Rin's heart was hammering with shyness.
She still turned back, face flushed scarlet, teeth set, and marched back into the room like a small hen fiercely protecting her food — stepping up onto the other side of the bed in her bare feet and dropping down, planting herself there, glaring daggers at Amou Kirukiru.
"I'm a swordswoman too, and I also need to be receiving Kami-sama's guidance at all times! So tonight, I'm staying here too!"
Kikakujou Mary, who had been left momentarily stunned by Onigawara Rin's maneuver, caught up quickly.
She looked at the utterly unbothered expression on Amou Kirukiru's face, and beneath her golden hair, the competitive spirit unique to a refined young lady of status blazed to life.
"In that case."
Kikakujou Mary strode back over and sat down next to Onigawara Rin, hands folded neatly on her knees, projecting an air of forced composure.
"As members of the Familia, it is equally our duty to guard Kami-sama's safety at all times."
"While this may be a high-end residential district, one can never be entirely certain there's no danger lurking about. My remaining here to protect Kami-sama is perfectly reasonable, wouldn't you say?"
Kikakujou Mary's words were pointed with intent that couldn't be mistaken.
And yet.
Faced with all of this.
Amou Kirukiru looked nothing but dismissive.
Out in the corridor, Hanasaka Warabi — who had already made it that far — couldn't resist poking her head back in for a look.
"Hey hey hey! How are you all backing out now?!"
"No fair!"
"If none of you are leaving, then I'm staying too!!"
Hanasaka Warabi dove headfirst into the bed and rolled twice.
"My, my, looks like no one's getting a peaceful night's sleep tonight."
"Then Little Satori will stay and join the fun."
Nomura Satori stepped lightly to the foot of the bed and settled into a corner.
"I... I'm staying too..."
Inaba Tsukuyo, red to the roots of her hair, quietly felt her way to the edge of the bed and added her voice in a small, mumbling murmur.
"..."
And so.
The five who had nearly made it out the door turned on their heels and flooded back in, claiming their share of the vast bed in Kami-sama's room until it was thoroughly occupied.
Tendou Kisara, the Holy Emperor, Aihara Enju, and Hiruko Kohina all stood there, struck completely dumb.
Author's Note: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, dear readers! The direction I was writing in earlier was off, and it was too weak! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!
I'm so sorry!
TwT
____
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