Ch.163163. Deserted Island (5)

After a while, having completed the sacrificial ritual of offering moonfish to Neptune, I carefully packaged four selected moonfish and headed toward the Tarasque that would be spread out along the coast.

This creature, which had become Tarasque 3.0 through additional modifications and repairs by my mother and Sophia, now exuded the dignity of a true kaiju. After briefly admiring its majestic appearance, I soon moved inside.

“Hup, there.”

After leaping over a steep cliff about 6 meters high in one bound, I naturally entered the otherworldly interior of the Tarasque, where the first thing that caught my eye was a flower garden.

“It’s been a while!”

“Good to see you!”

“Yes, yes. Hello to you too!”

As I was pleasantly greeting the fairies who were working diligently day and night in the flower garden blooming with fairy blossoms, suddenly I heard a voice that somehow felt like I hadn’t heard it in a very long time, even though I should have been seeing this person regularly.

“Oh, is that Gregory?”

“That’s right. Hello, Tristia. Lovely evening.”

“…Yes, I… suppose?”

When I deliberately asked with a refreshingly pleasant smile that was almost irritating, Fairy Princess Tristia, who had been looking at me with a strange gaze as if she had seen something indescribable, suddenly spoke as if something had just occurred to her.

“Ah, I heard from Minerva. I hear you’re dating Sophia?”

“That’s right. …Wait, you heard it from Minerva?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“A problem… I guess not. No, it’s nothing.”

I was momentarily surprised since I had never seen Minerva being particularly close with anyone except Sophia, but thinking about it carefully, doesn’t that guy also have a private life after all?

“Well, I’ll be heading in now. Good night.”

“Yes, sleep well!”

So we parted ways with appropriate farewells, and I directed my steps toward our quiet and peaceful home that was now visible before me.

-…Creeeeak.

Savoring the anticipation bubbling up somewhere in my heart, I opened the front door with its slightly squeaky hinges that I had deliberately adjusted to make that sound….

“Welcome home, Gregory?”

“Yeah.”

There she was, my beloved partner whom I cherished more than anyone else in this world, welcoming me… but here I sensed something different.

Something, something was unlike usual.

Was it because Sophia, who had rarely shown emotions outwardly except in certain cases (mostly just spacing out with a blank look), was somehow smiling cheerfully?

Or perhaps I was simply misinterpreting my own deeper sincerity toward Sophia now that we were in a relationship?

Various speculations and questions bloomed in my mind, but one thing was certain.

“Good work today~”

“…Thanks. You too.”

I tossed the moonfish into the refrigerator and approached Sophia, who was at least hundreds of times more precious to me.

[This is quite something.]

[Co-Corin! Shh! Shh!]

‘…Quiet in the outfield!’

After pushing away the animal friends in reverse-summoning state speaking in my head, forcibly putting them to sleep, and even blocking sensory sharing, I finally sat down on the opposite end of the sofa where she was lying down….

“Um, do I look different somehow?”

“Yeah, I thought so… Huh?”

I was lovingly gazing at Sophia, who had been smiling carelessly at me, when I was genuinely taken aback by the fact that Sophia wasn’t referring to herself in the third person but was properly using the first person.

Sophia’s third-person speech was beyond a simple affectation—it was a means to protect her soul from being swept away by the powerful flow of fate.

While other celestial magic users who call themselves prophets merely glimpse possibilities of the future and dress them up as prophecies or foresight, Sophia’s precognition of “directly observing the flow of fate” has consequences as definite as its effects.

Setting everything else aside, the flow of fate is, despite its name, a flood of information containing records of everything happening in this world.

In other words, it’s a torrent of “flowing” information about everything happening in this world right now, along with all the trivial details related to it.

Therefore, if one were to observe this vast amount of information without any preparation, even a fragment of it would be too much for a living being’s brain to handle, causing it to melt down.

Even in the most optimistic scenario, one would be lucky to merely have their mind collapse and their sense of self permanently damaged.

What’s more, in this world, there are even “information lifeforms” that parasitize specific information and appear in the memories of living beings who learn about them, preying on their targets—creatures so insane that one wonders if they truly belong in this world.

Thus, directly observing fate is such a dangerous act that even a druid who has reached an intermediate level could have their soul threatened by a moment’s carelessness….

Sophia solved this crisis through third-person speech.

In her normal state, she cast a simple magical self-suggestion by referring to herself as “the prophet,” separating the personality of “the prophet who observes fate” from “Sophia,” the subject of her soul.

Of course, though I say she separated her personality, this isn’t the kind of dual personality we typically think of; it’s more like inserting a “prophet” filter between “Sophia” and “fate” to create a disconnect between them.

This explanation might seem disorganized and difficult to understand, but magical prophecies are all like this anyway, so what can we do?

In any case, that’s not what’s important right now.

“So-Sophia… are you okay? Speaking like that?”

Due to these risks, Sophia had deliberately separated herself, but now she was suddenly using the first person. As this fact dawned on me, I felt a chill run down my spine and fear gradually rising, as if something cold had been poured over my head.

“Come on, aren’t you being too tense?”

“Too tense? How can I not be when the situation is like… this?”

As I felt the pressure to do something, anything, even if it meant pressing Sophia, I suddenly noticed that the magical energy emanating from her felt somehow unusual.

In other words, the change I had felt upon entering this nature cottage originated from Sophia.

And… a certain realization dawned on me.

“Sophia. Don’t tell me you….”

“Yes, I became advanced level yesterday. Thanks to that, I no longer need to use self-suggestion like this.”

If until now Sophia had been the type of person who hid her spaciness behind a mysterious and cool demeanor, the now smiling Sophia was exuding a very peculiar atmosphere.

She was hugging a sofa cushion and caressing it with strangely stern hands, and unlike before, her voice had become more varied, with a hint of laughter that resonated in an odd way….

…Ahem, anyway, she was giving off a very bewitching aura.

“…That’s great. Yes, really great. Sophia, I’m truly glad. Now… you won’t have to worry about that problem anymore.”

“Hmm, is that so…?”

After hearing my words, Sophia gave me an eye-smile and then began patting the empty space on the sofa. Easily catching the signal, I naturally changed into indoor clothes and lay down in the empty spot.

That is, right next to where Sophia was lying.

“How was your day?”

“Pretty good. I made a contract with a new animal friend, and Mother’s ancestor, the sea god Neptune, gave me a gift.”

“A gift…?”

“Yes. A replica of the Trident.”

“…I’m envious. Receiving something like that.”

Sophia was now openly expressing what she would have previously kept to herself, and as she looked at me lying right next to her, she snuggled closer as if burrowing into my embrace.

“Mmm… Haaa. Gregory’s scent….”

“….”

“Come on, don’t be shy. You’re as big as a mountain but acting so cute?”

Sophia had already become strangely charming and somewhat sensual after becoming more honest with her emotions, but now she was also wriggling her body and burrowing into my embrace.

By this point, it was too obvious to pretend not to notice.

Sophia was trying to seduce me, as if she wanted to release all her pent-up frustrations.

And….

“Oh, by the way, I saw you put something in the refrigerator earlier. What was that?”

“The refrigerator… Ah, that. It’s moonfish I caught when I went fishing earlier. I brought it for you.”

“Moonfish for me… Oh.”

In case you’ve forgotten, moonfish is a social symbol that metaphorizes “love” among druids.

Although it’s quite a classical metaphor and simile, it’s precisely because of that that it leaves no room for doubt.

“What is it, could it be ‘that’?”

“Yes, it is ‘that.’ Do you dislike it?”

“Silly. How could I dislike it?”

So as Sophia asked slyly, I naturally embraced her, looking at her face…

“…I love you.”

“Me too, Sophia.”

Gazing into each other’s eyes, we shared our love for one another in voices filled with affection.