Ch.316Half-Baked (10)

I brought Cartesia into my personal laboratory. It was the place that Matonica had destroyed and that had been restored recently.

“I want to see a wider space.”

“Be patient. We need to figure out what to do with that fragile body of yours first.”

It might be safe for now, but I don’t know when Renatus and Powehi might come again. I need to prepare countermeasures before then.

“Here, sit down.”

“Ugh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My body feels strange. I can’t move.”

Cartesia’s condition was getting worse.

She would get better if she returned to the black hole, but Renatus’ forces were stationed there. So we were stuck in a no-win situation. But there was still a way.

“Give me Pron.”

[— You have donated 5000 Pron to the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’.]

“Give me Coin too.”

[— You have donated 5000 Coin to the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’.]

“Don’t you have more?”

“I can’t give too much. I have a limit to how much I can hold.”

I could make 5000 per day with the Star Egg artifact, but that was it. I planned to give her just enough to prevent her from disappearing. Cartesia seemed to understand and nodded. She lamented:

“To think that in my life, I’d come to entrust my life to a youngster.”

“But you can’t go back to the Sagittarius black hole.”

“I could go back, it wouldn’t matter. I’d die if I went.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to stay put here.”

“Well…”

Cartesia sneered.

“The females around you don’t seem to like me being with you.”

“Well, you are a foreign god.”

“And I’m also your constellation.”

Cartesia revealed her white teeth as she stretched her waist. When she brought her face close to mine, I pressed my finger firmly against her forehead.

“Next time something like this happens, ask for help sooner.”

“No.”

“Then I won’t give you Coin?”

“Then I’ll die, whatever.”

“Before you go, fix Ireh.”

Ireh was still suffering from the lust anomaly. It seems her sexual desire explodes when she’s with me, so we decided to stay apart.

“Why should I?”

“If she stays in that state, we can’t research together. If research is delayed, we can’t make the graviton bomb. That would be troublesome for you too, wouldn’t it?”

Cartesia chuckled.

“How will you fix it without Pron?”

“How much would it take?”

“Youngster, even if you gave me everything you have now, it would be difficult.”

Despite rescuing Cartesia, I still couldn’t fix Ireh. Suddenly, my head hurt.

“There are three ways to heal that woman. Defeat the foreign god who inflicted the mental attack, ask a Descartes-type foreign god to release it, or… actually, there’s a much simpler method.”

“Wait. There’s one more method?”

“You should know it too, shouldn’t you?”

Cartesia made an obscene gesture by bending her right thumb and index finger into a circular hole, and inserting the index and middle fingers of her other hand into that hole and wiggling them.

At the obscene gesture, I kept my mouth shut. She snickered.

“Appetite, sexual desire, sleep desire. Do you know what these things necessary for survival and prosperity have in common? They’re all like waves. When satisfied, they subside, and when depleted, they rise high.”

“So, in other words…”

“Let me be direct. Mating. If you want to restore that woman to normal, just give her a man.”

“That, perhaps…”

“By the way, women are different from men. Pleasuring herself will only have the opposite effect.”

Suddenly, I recalled kissing Ireh not long ago.

I was the one being pounced on, and it was just an accident. Yet, just thinking about it made my mind turn completely white.

The things she said then float up like clouds. That she couldn’t resist because of me.

How does Ireh really see me? Were the words I heard that day truly her true feelings?

“…Sigh.”

In any case, I couldn’t share a bed with her. I already had wives, and I didn’t want to burden Ireh with such matters.

I took a sip of ice water from a plastic bottle to clear my mind.

“Dihydrogen monoxide liquid. Give me some too.”

Taking the bottle from me, Cartesia licked the bottle opening and slowly melted the ice. Then she started giving reviews like it’s cold, it’s bland, and so on. She seemed more like an innocent child than a foreign god.

Meanwhile, I finished setting up the research and opened my status window.

[— Quest: Complete the graviton bomb design draft within the time limit. (Time remaining: 1 month)]

[— Reward upon success: Crystal of the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’]

The Pron and Coin rewards for success had disappeared, and the penalty for failure had also vanished. This meant that Cartesia’s power had diminished that much.

However, the most important artifact as a reward hadn’t disappeared.

The crystal of a foreign god.

In other words, the crystal of a Descartes-type foreign god.

I had just asked Cartesia what this was. And I received the answer that it was the crystallization of her thoughts.

“Can you bring the crystal right away?”

“I left it inside the black hole, so the only way is to retrieve it remotely by completing the quest. Why, what are you planning to do with it?”

“If we use the crystal, we might be able to keep you in this world continuously. Then you won’t have to worry about disappearing due to lack of Pron and Coin like now.”

“So, you want to research my crystal with that woman?”

“No.”

I glanced at Cartesia and replied.

“I’ll do it with you.”

“What about that woman?”

“Until we defeat Powehi, we’ll have to communicate only through email. And that way, we can’t have intensive discussions. So until she gets better, I’ll use you.”

“Use me? What an insolent youngster.”

Cartesia brought out her tentacle and slapped my face with it. There was no strength in the tentacle, so it didn’t hurt. I grabbed the tentacle, pulled it, and took the water bottle from her.

“It’s for your own good anyway. Cooperate.”

Cartesia hit my hand and took back the water bottle.

“Funny. You’re the one cooperating with my research, youngster.”

“Stop talking and prepare to be worked like a slave.”

“What a coincidence. I was thinking of working you like a slave too.”

Cartesia raised the corners of her mouth and spread her arms. I hugged her and sat her on my lap.

I used both hands, and she used her tentacles, each holding a pen.

And so we embarked on a journey to finalize the preliminary design of the graviton bomb.

***

[We announce the following prohibited planets in the East: Callisto, Raon, Ludbell, Hararia, Mesabin……]

The mischief of Descartes’ Forces was getting worse day by day. Ireh turned off the news, holding her throbbing head.

This matter also needed to be discussed deeply with Eidel in person.

But because of the curse, she couldn’t.

“Ugh, damn it…”

Every time she thought of Eidel’s face, her body ached. Her breathing became rapid, and her head felt dizzy as if pierced by a large needle.

If just thinking about him was this bad, she worried that if she saw his face directly, she might lose control again like last time. She was taking medication prescribed by Zernya to dull her senses, but there were clear limitations.

Tap tap tap.

Ireh gritted her teeth and sent an email to Eidel.

It was an extremely important matter, and she needed a reply as soon as possible. However, even after several hours, Eidel hadn’t read the email.

Since it was taking longer than usual, Ireh called him. After a brief wait, she heard the voice of the person she liked. It was a tone without any strength.

[I’m sorry, Sister. I don’t have time to talk right now.]

“…Brother?”

[Something urgent came up. I’ll contact you once I finish this.]

“Brother, wait! Don’t hang up!”

Click, the call ended.

For a moment, her mind became complicated. This response… it seemed like he was trying to avoid her.

Could it be because of what happened that day?

Ireh recalled the day when she had knocked Eidel down and climbed on top of him. Although it was due to a foreign god’s curse, the fact that she had tried to rape him was certain.

“Ugh.”

It was disgusting.

She was disgusted with herself for committing the same act as the people she disliked.

Ireh got up unsteadily while repeatedly dry heaving.

If their relationship had become distant because of that, she needed to find him somehow and beg for forgiveness. She hated the thought of being hated by him more than death itself.

Ireh waited for Seti, who was about to leave the lecture hall after attending a lecture, and asked her:

“You want to come to our house? Why?”

“I need to discuss something important with your brother, but he says it’s difficult to contact him now. Would it be okay if I came over, even for a short while?”

“I don’t mind. Sure. Let’s go together after this is over.”

So with Seti’s permission, Ireh entered the Rheinland main house.

The Rheinland main residence was so massive that it could be considered a single enormous facility. Nominally, there were living rooms, kitchens, and entrances, but these were merely formal spaces for family gatherings.

The true value lies in the numerous rooms stretched out like a hotel.

Some rooms are spaces for entertainment, while others are spaces solely for academic purposes. Eidel was likely to be in a spacious room that had been converted into a personal laboratory.

Suppressing her sexual desire, she walked along the long corridor that was like a path, and heard voices.

“It would be better to adopt a straight-line acceleration structure rather than a spiral one here. Since we’re aiming for momentum transfer rather than acceleration, there’s no need to waste material costs by adopting unnecessary non-linearity.”

“No, spiral would be better. Wouldn’t it be good to accelerate here too?”

“That’s why I’m saying that would create cost issues.”

“Not my problem?”

“Argh…!”

Perhaps for ventilation, the automatic door was slightly ajar. Ireh peeked inside out of curiosity.

“W-what…?”

Cartesia was almost nestled against Eidel, scribbling something. Looking closely, it was the facility design for the graviton bomb that he had previously suggested making together with her.

At that moment, Cartesia rolled her eyes. Her gaze met Ireh’s. Ireh froze on the spot.