Ch.315Half-Baked (9)

I had so many questions to ask Cartesia.

Whether she knew things would turn out this way. If so, why she didn’t tell me sooner. What kind of relationship she had with Renatus.

But before that, there was something I needed to do.

I needed to check on her condition.

She must have been quite weakened after being tormented by both Renatus and Powehi, and then coming down to this dimension. She would undoubtedly be exhausted.

Cartesia, who had been lying face down on the bed, slowly raised herself up. She blinked her sea-colored eyes and began looking around.

“Where is this…?”

“My home. You’ve seen it many times before, haven’t you?”

“So, is this the fourth dimension?”

Cartesia opened her eyes wide and bounced her body up and down. The bed shook with her fluttering movements.

“Vision, normal. Touch, hearing, and smell also seem fine…”

Cartesia muttered with sparkling eyes.

“Amazing. This is amazing! It’s my first time coming here with my complete form!”

The microfiber blanket would feel soft to the touch. Breathing in would reveal the taste and smell of the air. Looking around would show the human way of life.

“The sensory dimension is completely different from when I was stuck in a black hole and could only feel things indirectly! Fascinating!”

Things familiar to humans but utterly foreign to transcendent beings. Cartesia was the kind of outer god who could show curiosity about such things rather than sneering at them as primitive.

Fortunately, she seemed to be in good condition. She didn’t appear intimidated despite being tormented by two outer gods.

Cartesia was feeling each piece of bedding as she crawled toward me. That’s when Rustila and everyone else opened the door and entered.

“Eidel!”

“Honey, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Young master, that woman is…”

“You, ugh, succeeded.”

Rustila, Zernya, Sonia, and Ireh. The four women approached cautiously, wary of Cartesia. Zernya boldly asked a question.

“Are you the outer god who possessed our honey?”

“Hmm.”

“Can’t you speak human language?”

“Hundreds of times better than you, white-haired youngster.”

Cartesia pointed at Zernya with a tentacle. Zernya frowned deeply.

Meanwhile, Cartesia stroked my face with another tentacle and pouted her lips.

“Youngsters. I wonder why you all meddled as a group. Wouldn’t it have been better for you if a being like me left this one’s head as soon as possible?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know?”

“Right, you. The white youngster. You’re especially impudent for a mere human. Even knowing what kind of being I am. I wonder what gives you such confidence…”

“What about you? If you came out of the black hole in your original form, you must not have much power left, right? Do you think you’re a match for us right now?”

“Such an impudent youngster.”

This was bad. Once Cartesia got angry, she wouldn’t let it go unless someone spoke exceptionally well.

Cartesia raised her tentacles with a maniacal smile. She glared at Zernya and placed her foot on the floor. Rustila reflexively placed her hand on her sword hilt.

As the outer god took one step forward.

“Ugh.”

She collapsed weakly with a thud.

“…?”

Cartesia tried to get up again by gripping the bed. But once more, thump. She kept falling, unable to maintain her balance.

“My, my body…”

Whether it was because she was forcibly removed from the black hole that was her power source, or because she couldn’t adjust to the sudden change in gravity. For whatever reason, she ultimately couldn’t get up.

Zernya couldn’t close her mouth at the pitiful sight that resembled a patient in need of rehabilitation therapy rather than an outer god.

***

The reason outer gods can’t stay in the fourth dimension for long is simple. When their true form is far from the black hole that is their source of power, they rapidly weaken. It’s like how humans can’t hold their breath underwater for long.

Even so, being unable to even stand up doesn’t make sense.

Cartesia quickly realized her situation.

She had lost most of her power.

To be precise, it was taken by Renatus and his group. Although she avoided being consumed herself thanks to Eidel’s help, she had left too much behind at her base.

She was an outer god with almost no divine power.

“This can’t be. Why can’t I even take a few steps in a place like this…?”

No Pron, no Coin. Right now, she could die from a single slash of Rustila’s sword. It was a humiliation so great that death might be preferable.

She felt drained, both physically and mentally.

Cartesia sat on the floor, leaning against the corner of the bed. The humans, led by Zernya, were looking down at her.

Their eyes reflected confusion, and also pity.

“What is this? Too pathetic to be an outer god.”

“As a soldier, I shouldn’t say this, but… she might be a little cute.”

“This isn’t about being cute or not. In her current state, she’ll soon lose her power and naturally dissipate.”

“That would be, ugh… problematic.”

Naturally dissipate. The moment she heard those words, her mind snapped to attention.

The truth was, she didn’t want to die.

She needed to find a way, somehow.

“Grrrr.”

Cartesia tried once more to summon her strength and stand up. But what hadn’t worked after fifty attempts wouldn’t suddenly work on the fifty-first. Her form was about to collapse helplessly.

But the next moment, she felt something supporting her from behind.

It was Eidel. He sighed deeply, then placed her arm around his neck and pulled her waist close.

Thus, she was able to stand, albeit awkwardly.

“Can you walk like this? Try moving your legs?”

Following Eidel’s instructions, she stepped forward with her right foot. He stayed close, helping her maintain balance.

Then, the left foot.

Right foot again. Left foot. Right foot.

She still lacked strength in her legs, but with support, she could somehow walk.

“Good, you’re doing well. This means you’re not at the point of worrying about dissipation yet.”

Walking not by her own power, but with Eidel’s help. While thinking how humiliating this was, she realized something different.

Look at the expressions of those who called themselves Eidel’s wives. The sight of their faces contorting with discomfort and bewilderment was incomparably delightful.

Being from a medical family, there were simple medical tools at home. Eidel sat Cartesia on the living room sofa and brought out a cart with two large wheels.

“Let’s use this to move around for now.”

A wheelchair.

She had seen one before but never actually used one. What business did an outer god have with a wheelchair?

But at this point, she had no choice but to use it. Cartesia got into the wheelchair with Eidel’s help.

After connecting a few electronic devices, indeed, it began to move according to her thoughts. The BCI made by humans applied equally well to an outer god’s thought form.

“How interesting that a single device can be applied to multiple thought forms?”

“The laws of electromagnetism apply the same to everyone. So actually, the fact that you’re an outer god doesn’t really register with me.”

Cartesia suddenly examined Eidel’s expression. He was smiling bitterly.

“Now let’s talk about us.”

***

“As I’ve said before, without Cartesia’s help, the future of our universe cannot be guaranteed. Don’t try to fight just because she’s an outer god.”

“I understand. She’s also indirectly responsible for saving your life, isn’t she?”

Sonia quickly agreed, and Rustila nodded as well, but Zernya seemed displeased and kept drinking water.

Meanwhile, Ireh didn’t look well. It was because of the aphrodisiac Powehi had placed on her. She was enduring with indomitable spirit, but signs of reaching her limit had been showing since the moment she reunited with Eidel.

Eidel asked many questions.

The most important was about her relationship with Renatus.

“My father.”

Ireh frowned.

“Where I originally came from, there was a star. Naturally, there was a constellation inside it. But one day, that being appeared, attacked the constellation, and planted a seed. The star was destroyed, and the remaining parts rapidly contracted to form the space where I live now. I was born inside it.”

“So from the beginning…”

“I was imprisoned, yes. Does that satisfy your curiosity?”

Both Ireh and Eidel couldn’t help but be surprised. It was something they learned for the first time after countless iterations.

In truth, Cartesia had no intention of telling this story. After all, it was such a humiliating past. Even outer gods consider revealing their own shame to be an insult.

“Youngster, if you hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“Then let me ask one more thing.”

“What?”

“Is it okay if I shoot a graviton bomb at your father?”

Cartesia chuckled.

“That’s why I entrusted it to you from the beginning.”

Eidel shook his head.

“Don’t lie. You initially wanted to kill yourself, didn’t you?”

“…Your eyes can’t be deceived, youngster. You’re right. The black hole that is his source is located too far away, so just making that weapon wouldn’t be enough to kill him immediately.”

“So you were trying to commit suicide? Because your black hole is closest here?”

“That was the best revenge I could take against him.”

The atmosphere grew solemn. The gazes of the three wives and Ireh converged on Cartesia. Those eyes, seemingly sympathetic yet not quite, were extremely annoying.

Cartesia turned her head weakly and clicked her tongue.

“I was tired.”

She had searched for ways to die. She found the concept of a graviton bomb, but due to the curse of bondage, she couldn’t make it directly.

Nor could she fully transform the theory into technology. She succeeded in conceptual design, but there were many problems in implementing it as physical data.

“When I thought I’d reached my limit, I found you. So I used you. Even attaching a biological module to that android was partly to create an escape route.”

“Escape route?”

“I was planning to have my avatar, that child, mate with you, my possessed vessel, and conceive a child, then insert my sperm to switch out the consciousness. Well… if that child were an ordinary being, it might die in the process.”

“T-That’s…”

Sonia’s face hardened. Rustila and Zernya also looked stunned, as if they’d heard something they shouldn’t have. Cartesia laughed self-deprecatingly and rambled on.

“See? I had such schemes too. I’m not the selflessly giving being you think I am, youngster. Now do you understand how evil I am?”

“…Ah, yes. I understand perfectly.”

Thud.

Eidel rose from his seat. His shadow fell over Cartesia.

Plop, a thick man’s hand covered the outer god’s crown.

“You are a truly wicked outer god. If you weren’t weakened now, I wouldn’t be able to torment you to my heart’s content, would I?”

“Sigh, so what are you going to do? Dip me in aqua regia? Or tie me up with tentacles like I used to do and threaten me with pregnancy?”

“No?”

Eidel grinned.

“I’m going to work you without pay until the job is done.”