It was evening, and as night quietly fell, the Magic Stone street lamps along the streets of Orario lit up one after another, giving off a warm, orange glow. Inside the mansion.
The lazy, drowsy feeling that lingered after dinner didn't last very long, for the bathroom soon rang with the chattering, playful clamor of the girls.
This grand bathhouse, comparable to a high-end public bath, was wreathed in billowing steam.
Aihara Enju and Hiruko Kohina, these two little ones, were clearly the most energetic of all; having eaten and drunk their fill, they splashed about in the warm pool, sending water flying high, even catching Onigawara Rin, who was resting against the poolside with her eyes closed.
Onigawara Rin wiped the water off her face and, in annoyance, snatched up a towel to swat at these two mischievous lolis, immediately drawing an even louder burst of laughter. Meanwhile, on the other side.
On the second floor of the mansion, in a quiet guest room at the end of the hallway.
Rei hadn't gone to join the fun at the great bathhouse.
She sat upright and proper upon the soft carpet. Before her.
rested a translucent sphere giving off a faint blue glow.
It was none other than the magic voice-transmission orb that the Sage Fels used for long-distance communication.
At this moment, the orb's light flickered dim and bright, carrying the jumbled noises from within the safe zone on the Dungeon's 20th floor.
Recalling all she had seen and heard today while strolling around Orario in the company of her god, a faint smile surfaced on Rei's face. "Reed."
Rei's voice was soft and gentle, ethereal as a wisp of wind through the morning forest.
"Here, we're really living even better than we imagined."
"Lord Haimer… is truly a god hard to fully put into words."
Rei lowered her head slightly, her gaze fixed on the orb, a glimmer shining in her golden eyes. As she recalled the day's experiences, her tone gradually took on a faintly unreal, dreamlike quality. "This afternoon, Lord Haimer deliberately made time to take me, Fei, and Aruru and the others out into the streets."
"And then? Did those humans up on the surface give you and that Kami-sama any trouble?"
Grosse asked in his muffled, booming voice.
"Not at all, Grosse." The smile on Rei's face deepened; she could even picture Grosse on the other end, stiffening his neck and putting on a tough front. "Though at first the people on the street really were terrified."
"Some human women even dropped what they were holding, and others screamed and called over what seemed to be the people who keep order on the surface."
"But." Rei's tone shifted. "With Lord Haimer there."
"Those keepers of surface order, the moment they saw us, instead simply cleared a broad path for us."
There was a tremor in Rei's voice, one even she herself found incredible.
"And so Lord Haimer led us along just like that, like the most ordinary of residents, strolling the sunlit streets."
"Fei even received Lord Haimer's permission."
"She flew up high into the skies above the surface."
"She flew for a long while in the sunlight, and no one dared strike at her."
"And that's not all." Rei went on.
"After we returned to this big mansion."
"Those human girls who live together with Lord Haimer even prepared gifts for us."
As she spoke, Rei carefully lifted her right wing.
Amid those golden, glittering feathers.
was pinned a hairclip set with tiny blue Magic Stones. It was precisely the gift Aihara Enju had given her.
"Not once did they look at us with the eyes one uses for monsters; instead they treated us as companions living alongside them."
"If this is what life on the surface is like…"
Rei's voice grew softer and softer.
"I really feel… that meeting Lord Haimer is the greatest blessing of our three lifetimes."
"A being whose mere presence at your side fills you with boundless peace, as though nothing in the world could ever harm you."
Truth be told, Rei herself hadn't even noticed.
that as she spoke these words, a faint blush had already crept onto her cheeks.
Her golden eyes rippled with an emotion that seemed more complicated than mere longing.
Just like a maiden in the throes of first love showing off her sweetheart to a close friend. On the other end of the orb.
As old hands who had toiled and struggled together in the Dungeon for over a decade.
Reed and Grosse, though coarse, simple-minded monsters.
that didn't mean they couldn't tell Rei's tone was different from usual.
"Ahem, ahem…" Reed coughed a couple of times on the other end, trying to cut off a pink, sappy train of thought that, for some reason, gave him goosebumps.
"Listen, Rei."
"For Kami-sama to take us in, to be willing to give us a peaceful place to stay—we truly ought to be deeply grateful."
Reed's tone grew a little odd, unable to keep a note of elder-like concern out of it.
"On that point, neither Grosse nor I have any objection." "But…"
Reed scratched his scaly chin, seeming to weigh how to word his warning so as not to hurt her.
"Rei… what you need to understand is that we are, after all, still monsters—born of the Dungeon."
"Lord Haimer is willing to shelter us."
"But you… you absolutely must not go and lose your heart first."
"Between gods and us lies more than just the simple chasm of race."
"You absolutely cannot end up in a situation you can't walk back from." Though Reed stumbled over the words, his meaning couldn't have been clearer.
A monster and a human was impossible; with a god, all the more so.
"Reed! What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Hearing this, Rei's voice grew a little flustered.
"I'm simply expressing my respect for Lord Haimer, that's all!"
"When did I ever lose my heart?!"
"Don't go twisting someone's pure gratitude into something so complicated, all right?!"
Yet even as Rei spoke, she couldn't help glancing at the tightly shut door, as if worried her slightly raised voice might be overheard.
Fortunately. The mansion's soundproofing seemed to be very well done.
Rei comforted herself with that thought. As for the other end.
Reed and Grosse exchanged a glance, both knowing Rei was flustered, and so offered perfunctory agreement over the orb.
"Yes, yes, yes, you're just grateful."
"Still, since you've grown used to it over there, then we needn't worry."
"Fels sent over another batch of supplies today; we have to go take inventory of it."
"Up on the surface, keep an eye on Fei and the others so they don't cause Lord Haimer any trouble."
With that, before Rei could say anything more to cover herself.
The blue light on the orb flickered twice.
and the connection was cut.
Quiet settled over the room once more.
Leaving only Rei, sitting alone on the carpet.
She spread a wing and pressed her somewhat feverish cheek against the soft golden feathers, trying to cool herself down.
Reed's line—"don't go losing your heart"—circled round and round in her mind like a curse.
"I did no such thing…" Rei mumbled.
Yet against her will, her mind conjured up last night, in the great bathhouse.
the moment Haimer had said to her, "You were beautiful to begin with."
Words exactly like those—especially coming from a male god whose looks seemed to have stepped straight out of myth—for Rei, who had long carried a deep inferiority complex over her inhuman appearance.
carried far too devastating a power.
In a life filled with malice, even a little tenderness can make a person devote themselves utterly—like someone wandering across a frozen, frigid wasteland who, the moment they come upon a fire, will throw themselves at it without hesitation, even if it's a blaze that could burn them to ash.
All the more so when this particular fire was exceptionally warm.
At this thought, Rei hurriedly shook her head hard, driving these tangled musings out of her mind one by one, and rose to her feet, deciding to go find Rania for a chat.
After all.
Even just sitting in the shade of the courtyard trees, letting the breeze blow, was better than staying alone in her room letting her thoughts run wild.
As for Fei. Rei thought about it, then decided against it.
At the same time. On the second floor of the mansion, in the master bedroom. A Magic Stone lamp was glowing.
Haimer stood by the window, his gaze passing through the clear glass to the streets of the upscale residential district, gradually quieting outside.
Tomorrow, the foundation of the new base would be laid.
All affairs were proceeding in orderly fashion; it was about time to free up some energy and make a trip to the G-404 World.
Those Cursed Children should be missing him by now.
But before that.
Now that their rank sublimation was complete, the girls of his own Familia were still wound far too tight.
That place, the Dungeon—no daylight ever reached it, and monsters crawled out of the walls from every direction.
and the air was forever thick with an unbanishable stench of blood.
In such an environment, the physical toll on adventurers was the lesser concern.
The most lethal part was the constant, crushing pressure on the mind.
Spend a long time in a place like that, facing those misshapen monsters, and a person's sanity would be worn away bit by bit.
When it came to restoring one's spirit and tidying up a sanity scraping the bottom.
nothing was more effective than returning to one's familiar old home and seeing old acquaintances.
Haimer recalled the last time he'd opened the door for them. Though it had been only an hour.
after they returned that time, the lost, dazed air about them had indeed cleared away considerably.
Today they had all just reached Lv.2.
It made for the perfect little treat. What's more.
He could also go check on Narukami Koharu's progress in challenging the experts of every realm of the world.
After all. That fellow was someone quite well suited to this world.
At this thought, Haimer turned and walked to the doorway, pulling the door open.
The hallway still held the lingering, steamy scent the girls had carried out after their baths.
"Everyone, come to the master bedroom for a moment."
Haimer raised his voice and called out down the hallway.
Before long. A string of slipper-slaps pattered across the floor in the hallway.
The girls walked into the master bedroom in twos and threes.
Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary wore loose pajamas, their hair still a little damp.
Hanasaka Warabi tugged Nomura Satori along, the two still murmuring over who had held their breath longer in the pool just now.
Aihara Enju and Hiruko Kohina followed behind, the two little ones having changed into newly bought casual clothes, looking especially perky.
Holy Emperor and Tendou Kisara.
Amou Kirukiru came in last, pulling the door shut behind her as she did.
"Kami-sama, you called for us?" Onigawara Rin came to a stop and looked up to ask.
Haimer walked to the center of the room and nodded.
"Considering how quickly you've progressed, and how much hardship you've endured."
"As a reward." Haimer raised his hand and gave a crisp snap of his fingers.
"Hmmm." A wisp of deep-blue light materialized out of thin air in the open space at the center of the room.
The light swiftly stretched and expanded, forming a door of light, its edges shimmering with ripples.
Beyond the door, the distinctive incandescent glow of a modern city dimly showed through.
"Same as always." Haimer pointed at the door of light.
"A door leading to that world of yours."
"Tonight, though, you can rest a night in that world."
"Go see friends, fetch some things, or simply go back and lie down for a while—whatever you like."
At the sight of this door of light. Onigawara Rin's and Kikakujou Mary's eyes lit up in an instant.
"Wonderful!" Hanasaka Warabi was so excited she even bounced on the spot.
"I've been wanting to go back and grab a few manga I haven't finished!"
And not just them. "Wow!" Aihara Enju also ran up, crowding in beside the door of light. Clinging to its edge, she poked her head this way and that, peering inside.
"Is this where Rin-neesan and the others used to live?"
"It feels different from the Tokyo Area in our world!"
Hiruko Kohina crowded in too, her red eyes full of curiosity.
"The people in there—can we kill them?" "No killing!"
Onigawara Rin said hurriedly. "Everyone in our world is an ordinary person—one slash and they're dead."
Holy Emperor stood off to the side, watching the scene beyond the door, a trace of yearning flickering through her aqua-blue eyes too.
After all. About another world. Anyone would feel curious.
"Kami-sama." Aihara Enju turned her head, gazing imploringly at Haimer.
"Can we… can we go along and take a look too?"
Aihara Enju pressed her palms together and raised them above her head.
Hiruko Kohina looked over as well, clearly wanting to go have a look too.
Truth be told, taking people across worlds was no difficult matter.
Haimer looked at these pairs of eyes brimming with anticipation, and nodded.
"I don't have any objection." Haimer glanced at Onigawara Rin and the others.
"As long as Rin and the rest are willing to be your guides, and you don't stir up trouble in that world, it's fine."
"No problem!" Onigawara Rin patted her chest.
"Our academy's dorm is huge—taking them on a tour around it, there's plenty of room to fit them."
"Yay!" Enju cheered and grabbed Onigawara Rin's hand outright.
"Then let's hurry and go!" The group wasted no more time.
Inaba Tsukuyo walked at the very front, stepping into the door of light first, going by instinct.
Hanasaka Warabi and Kikakujou Mary followed close behind.
Onigawara Rin led Enju and Kohina, while Holy Emperor and Tendou Kisara came at the rear.
Soon, everyone before the door of light had gone, clean and clear.
The room fell quiet all at once. However.
Quite plainly, Amou Kirukiru leaned against the wardrobe, not having moved at all.
She wore a black camisole, with a loose jacket thrown over it.
Her long black hair hung loosely down her back, and her black eyes were fixed on Haimer without a single blink.
"What is it?" "Still not planning to go back and take a look?"
Haimer turned around, looking at Amou Kirukiru, and asked with a touch of helplessness.
Amou Kirukiru, for her part, stepped across the carpet, taking two steps forward, a cold smirk surfacing on her face, exuding a streak of arrogance.
"They've gone off to have their fun." "Naturally, I'm going to stay here and have mine."
Amou Kirukiru walked up before Haimer and stopped. The distance between them was less than half a meter.
Amou Kirukiru met Haimer's gaze as bluntly and directly as ever.
"And speaking of which." "Today I just so happened to hear some very interesting things from that withered skeleton rack down in the Dungeon."
The skeleton rack Amou Kirukiru spoke of was, naturally, Fels.
On the Dungeon's 20th floor, in order to explain Ouranos's misgivings, Fels had let slip the things Haimer had done up in the Heavens.
To research how to utterly kill gods, he had joined hands with Loki to ignite a war of gods in the Heavens; seizing the authority to directly brainwash the souls of gods, he had personally slaughtered every god in the Heavens, bringing about ten thousand years of desolate silence there.
Such deeds, falling on the ears of any resident of the Lower World, would only stir up the deepest kind of terror.
But Amou Kirukiru was clearly no normal person.
She was truly a madwoman who, in pursuit of power, would toss even her own life onto the gambling table as a chip.
"Slaughtering gods." "Tearing apart, one after another, those lofty beings who call themselves immortal."
"That feeling—it sounds positively wonderful."
Amou Kirukiru's fair chest rose and fell slightly as she pressed her body up against Haimer's, and with that, the distance between them closed completely.
so much so that Haimer could even feel the warmth radiating off her.
Amou Kirukiru, possessor of 『Battle Frenzy』.
Upon learning the past of the god she followed, the moment she gazed up in her heart at that insurmountable summit, the morbid obsession it bred had already reached its limit.
Amou Kirukiru reached out a hand. Her fingers traced up along the buttons of Haimer's shirt, one by one.
finally coming to rest at his collar. "O god."
Amou Kirukiru lifted her neck slightly, her breath beating gently against Haimer's chin.
"The pinnacle of power I crave is exactly something like you."
"No need to bother with all those messy rules—no matter who they are, anyone standing in the way gets cut down all the same."
Amou Kirukiru longed for a life utterly free of any worldly moral constraint.
After all, the long days stretched on. One always needs to find some diversion.
____
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