Ch.101101. The Genre is Romance

“Now, go ahead and try.”

“Y-yes…?”

Seeing Ragnis’s confused expression, I feel confused too.

“What’s wrong? Is the Holy Sword defective?”

-D-don’t phrase it like that..!

The Star Child seems genuinely hurt by my suspicion about whether it’s defective.

-Though you’ve overcome the trial to become the Holy Sword’s master, you haven’t yet ‘resonated’ with it!

Resonance.

Another troublesome concept appears.

“And how exactly do I achieve this resonance?”

-That answer lies with the Holy Sword’s master.

“A-are you referring to me…?”

I can understand this much.

Ragnis has just become the Holy Sword’s master, and there hasn’t been enough time for her to learn how to handle it properly.

-Master of the Holy Sword, feel the flow of the stars.

Ragnis makes a perplexed expression at those words.

I understand. Sometimes I don’t understand what these guys are saying either.

But I hope she somehow figures it out perfectly and provides a solution.

I confidently grab both of Ragnis’s shoulders.

“Eek.”

“Ragnis. You can do this.”

“H-Black Abyss…”

After hesitating briefly at my words, determination soon fills Ragnis’s eyes.

“I shall try.”

“Good.”

Ragnis gets up from the bed, grabs the Holy Sword, closes her eyes, and concentrates.

A subtle starry energy begins to gather from the Holy Sword, soon creating a mysterious phenomenon.

-Woong…

-It’s going smoothly.

“Is that all?”

-…As much as I hate to admit it, your follower has talent with the Holy Sword.

“My follower is pretty amazing.”

I’m not the one making her amazing.

It’s entirely because my followers inherently possess genius-level talents.

-So even without rushing her, she will bring you what you desire.

“…”

Was I unconsciously rushing my follower?

I feel a bit sorry about that.

But I can’t help it.

With our contact cut off, they could attack us at any time, and their likely targets are my Sanctuary and the Regalium Kingdom.

I can divert their attention elsewhere for now, but those places will certainly be their ultimate goals.

‘How should I deal with these bastards?’

Just thinking about it gets me excited.

Why is it harder to find normal constellations in this world?

-Woong…

Ragnis is still holding up the Holy Sword, concentrating.

Hiding my impatience, I waited patiently.

Beads of sweat began forming on Ragnis’s forehead as she concentrated, but I couldn’t interrupt her now.

And then…

“I-I did it… phew.”

With trembling arms finally lowered, Ragnis turned to me with a satisfied expression.

“You’re amazing, truly.”

I embraced Ragnis and praised her.

-H-how so quickly…

Perhaps it’s the manifestation of elves’ natural affinity for magic.

“Can you find them?”

“Yes.”

I’d like to let her rest, but instead, I want to reward her by letting her torment the constellations we find.

‘We’re almost there.’

Watching Ragnis gradually picking up the signal, I waited with growing anticipation.

And then.

「Follower ‘Ragnis’ has discovered the ‘Past Remnants’!」

I finally caught the big fish I’d been waiting for.

A space connected to the void, manifested through the Holy Sword.

I immediately thrust myself into it.

#

“I’ve really wanted to see you.”

-Uh, um…

In the empty void where nothing is visible.

A startled voice echoed.

-Th-the Absolute One.

“You remember me.”

Deep joy bubbles up from within me.

Where else could you find a scenario so fitting for the romance genre?

I want them, and they want me.

In the end, God has blessed us by granting this meeting.

‘Should there be another god?’

Another being above the constellations.

I wish they would stop appearing.

“Oops, bad thought.”

Setting aside these ominous thoughts—

I looked around at the constellations who still couldn’t speak.

All I could see was ominous darkness.

“Am I invisible?”

I came all this way because I missed them so much, but they don’t even greet me? How cold.

-H-how…

“How what? I came using navigation.”

More precisely, constellation radar.

「Child of the Lost Star: …Please call it the Holy Sword.」

“Ah, right, Holy Sword.”

-That energy, is it from that detestable constellation…!

“Did it exist in your time too?”

-That power that handles such obscene and base abilities has existed throughout all ages…!

-To think you’ve even recruited the Holy Sword’s constellation…

Didn’t you already know all this?

How full of holes must their plan be if they lack even this basic intelligence?

“Are you guys going to keep making excuses?”

And how full of empty pride must they be to attempt something like this with such poor intelligence?

“If you’re going to start something, you should have been more thorough.”

All they do is rely on their rank and charge headfirst.

This is why constellations will never shed their title as headbutting dinosaurs.

-You…!

The space rumbled as if collapsing, and numerous divine powers began to rise.

Forms of mountains, oceans, or even stars themselves.

Attacks embodying their identities aimed at my very existence.

However, having experienced battles with constellations to the point of boredom, I found these attacks laughable.

Absolute Power.

「Due to the System, the opposing constellations’ attacks are nullified!」

When constellations attack other constellations, nothing works except the means of ‘curses.’

-…?!

-This is, this is absurd!

The Past Remnants were greatly confused when their attacks were instantly nullified.

The only other methods are to annihilate the foundation of a constellation’s church or erase their name itself.

In other words, neither I nor they can harm each other in this place.

“Why are we acting like this when we all should know better?”

Actually, I came here hoping to have a proper conversation.

I, the Absolute One Ron.

I pride myself on being a constellation who loves and cherishes peaceful means of dialogue more than anyone.

-Th-this makes no sense…

But their reaction seems strange.

Did they really not know?

Having lived in different eras, there might be differences in available information.

‘Not my problem.’

What matters is an unwavering heart.

I became genuinely curious about how despicable these constellations could become.

-Misguided being! You’re nothing but an ignorant pet!

-W-wait..!

Finally, one agitated constellation provoked me.

“Oh?”

What an interesting claim.

As I listened quietly, the constellation grew confident and continued arrogantly.

-Do you think a throne built on false beliefs will last forever? We were all constellations who once sat in that position! But we were betrayed spectacularly!

-You must never trust the one beside you!

-You probably won’t believe anything we say. We’re just here to mock your delusional dreams.

The constellations excitedly throwing in their comments one by one.

I half-listened to them while detecting the presence of a constellation hiding among them.

One constellation cautiously watching, seemingly eager to join my side.

It was the constellation with dream-manipulating abilities that I had used as a spy before.

‘You’re doing well.’

By now, it’s no longer useful.

Still, as a reward for helping me, I’ve prepared a nice gift.

‘I hope you’ll like it.’

You will, right?

You definitely will. I put a lot of thought into it.

-….!

I decided it was time to claim my right to speak among the still-chattering constellations.

“Shh.”

-What.

When I put my index finger to my lips and smiled gently, the group of constellations immediately fell silent.

Like chihuahuas beside their owner, their momentary courage instantly froze.

“Please listen to what I have to say.”

Before coming here, I prepared an event they would enjoy.

“I don’t want to try to persuade you now that I’m here. You wouldn’t be persuaded anyway, right?”

-Th-then why.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I don’t know what kind of trouble you caused in your era—”

My counterparts in parallel worlds were probably getting along well with them.

We had the peaceful and blessed means of ‘Divine Manifestation.’

‘I’m truly disappointed.’

I was always ready to welcome them mercifully.

How did it come to this?

「Child of the Lost Star: …Absolute One. You’re scary.」

‘Why me?’

This is absolutely not a lie.

I decided to like this crazy world, so I’m confident I can greet any crazy constellation with a smile.

“Now that you’re here, you should start understanding your place.”

-H-how dare you..!

-A mere Absolute One, insulting us!

I don’t know how many laughable elements there are in that short exchange.

The funniest is their use of the word “us” to emphasize their sense of belonging.

Constellations saying “us”?

How desperate must they be to cling to such terminology?

At least in the world I knew, constellations never tried to compromise with each other.

“Anyway, you won’t back down now that you’ve come this far, right? So I’ve brought a good solution.”

A solution.

They’ll surely like it too.

This is my favorite method, and constellations who experienced it were so delighted they did backflips.

“You guys are going live.”

Debut.

Conscious of the cameras that must be broadcasting this somewhere, I decided to put on a proper ‘show.’