Ch.67Week 2 Wrap-up

On my way home, I asked Leo a question.

“By the way, what’s your relationship with that Parthia person?”

“They’re older than you, so should you be calling them ‘that kid’?”

“How are they possibly older than me?”

“Their supernatural power makes them look younger while denying others’ existence. They’re probably in their 50s in actual age.”

A technique that makes you younger the more you use it—no matter how I think about it, the benefits outweigh the risks. But wait, doesn’t that mean they could essentially live forever?

“That person is in their 50s?”

“Mentally, they’re a teenager.”

“Then can you really call them 50?”

“I don’t know.”

That’s definitely a drawback, but it’s still a good ability. As long as you don’t overuse it and end up as a teenager.

But that person has already overused it so much they’ve reverted to a child. How unfortunate.

“So what’s your relationship with them anyway?”

“That little shit is stalking me.”

“…Is it okay to talk about someone older like that?”

“If something’s shitty, I call it shitty. What else should I call it?”

“No, I mean calling them a ‘little kid.'”

“I don’t feel like using honorifics for someone with the mental age of a teenager.”

…Then I guess I don’t need to call them “that person” either. But it feels awkward to call them “that kid” too.

I don’t know. I’ll just use honorifics. It’s better to look polite by speaking respectfully to a child than to seem rude by being casual.

“So what do you mean by stalking?”

“They used black magic to force me into online fights, then dragged me into the real world. If that’s not stalking, what is?”

Something was definitely strange. The chances of all these coincidences creating this situation are practically impossible.

So why would that person go through such elaborate means to summon Leo?

“Why are they doing this?”

“Because of something that happened long ago.”

“What happened?”

“It might be a bit of a long story.”

Leo began telling me the story with a dark expression.

***

The Hero was, as always, wandering around the front lines. By chance, he encountered the Demon King’s daughter.

“Finally, I’ve found you! My arch-nemesis…”

“Get lost.”

The Hero tried to leave immediately upon seeing the Demon King’s daughter, but she blocked his path.

“Are you trying to run aw—”

“I said get lost.”

The Hero tried to shake off the girl, but she persistently followed him.

“When are you going to leave me alone?”

“Not until you duel with m—”

WHAM!

The Hero’s emotion-filled fist struck the Demon King’s daughter. She flew quite a distance before crashing into a wall.

“Now get lost.”

With the obstacle finally gone, the Hero went on his way. A maid rushed to the Demon King’s daughter who was embedded in the wall.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“…The Hero is incredibly strong.”

The Demon King’s daughter laughed dejectedly. The maid breathed a sigh of relief.

The Demon King’s daughter had grown younger. Normally, experiencing something like this would create deep trauma.

Usually, one would worry, but if trauma kept her away from the Hero, that would actually be welcome.

Plus, the power gap between them was extreme. She should have lost the will to fight.

That’s what the maid thought, allowing her to feel at ease.

“But next time, I’ll definitely win!”

“…”

The Demon King’s daughter shouted with even more enthusiasm than before.

The maid pulled out a cigarette from her pocket and put it in her mouth.

“Fuck…”

She had promised her colleague to protect his daughter. But her colleague’s daughter was enthusiastically trying to get herself killed.

What’s worse, this was only the second meeting between the Hero and the Demon King’s daughter. How much worse would it get from here? One thing was certain—it would be worse than now.

And so the feud between the three… no, between the Hero and the maid continued.

***

“Since then, whenever that brat bothered me, I beat them up. It was annoying, but at least they’d behave afterward.”

“…”

A habitual child abuser is proudly confessing his crimes right in front of me.

The world really is going to hell.

“That brat will probably try to summon me again in a month, asking for another duel. Then I’ll just beat them up again.”

A habitual child abuser is proudly explaining his future crime plans right in front of me.

When will this world end?

“What did they ever do wrong to deserve that?”

“Nothing particularly wrong.”

“…”

Even with the best lawyer, this would definitely warrant the death penalty. This is seriously messed up.

As I glared at Leo with contempt, he opened his mouth as if trying to explain.

“It’s just because of blood ties, that’s all.”

“You’re doing all this just because of blood ties?”

“If someone took everything related to you away, could you forgive that person?”

“No.”

“Then what about their child?”

“I don’t know…”

Forgiveness would be the right thing. How could you punish an innocent person?

But I can say this because I haven’t experienced it myself. If I were really in that situation, could I judge as rationally as I am now?

At the very least, I definitely wouldn’t look at them kindly. That much I’m sure of.

“That’s quite the bad blood.”

“Exactly.”

We continued chatting about various things as we headed home.

***

As soon as I got home, I started preparing dinner. I needed to put in some effort to improve Agath’s mood.

When dinner was ready, Agath still hadn’t come out of her room.

“Agath! The food’s going to get cold!”

Agath still showed no signs of coming out. I guess I’ll have to go get her myself.

When I entered the room, I saw Agath lying in bed with the blanket pulled over her.

“Lite… come under the blanket…”

Agath spoke in a completely drained voice. She must be really hurt emotionally.

I’ll go in there, comfort her a bit, and then drag her out for dinner. With that thought, I crawled under the blanket.

“So why did you call me?”

“First, take a look at this.”

Agath pressed play, and suddenly a terrible video started playing.

‘Um… so… could you maybe keep calling me Lite from now on?’

Then Agath said with a bright smile:

“Look! It’s a compilation of female Lite moments!”

Agath seems fine after all. That’s good… I guess? Anyway, since Agath appears to be okay, I should just leave.

I tried to quickly get up, but suddenly Agath grabbed me tightly and wouldn’t let go.

“There’s still plenty of video left. Leaving so soon?”

“Fuck, let me go!”

And the video continued playing.

‘By the way, you’re physically and mentally a woman, right?’

‘What else would I be?’

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

And so I received karmic retribution several times over for my past actions.

***

Only after watching every single embarrassing moment since I came to this world was I finally released.

I resolved to go on strike from household chores starting tomorrow. No matter what happens, I absolutely won’t cook anymore.

This fucking world.

Anyway, dinner was about to start… Oh right, I almost forgot something.

I brought three containers of salt and dumped them entirely into Agath’s dinner.

“…Lite?”

I showed Agath a bottle of soy sauce as I answered.

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

Then I proceeded to pour an entire bottle of soy sauce into Agath’s dinner.

“…”

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

Then I took out a bottle of vinegar and…

“I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

Agath pleaded desperately, but I ignored her and poured in all the vinegar.

After adding sugar, red pepper powder, garlic, cheese, fermented shrimp paste, and various other ingredients, dinner finally began.

“Still tastes better than what Leo makes…”

Despite what I did, she says it still tastes better than Leo’s cooking. What on earth did Leo do to make such terrible food?

I should really ask him sometime.

***

Dinner was over. But I felt no sense of accomplishment.

Even though I put in much more effort than at breakfast, I felt less fulfilled. Is it because Agath made me angry?

I’ll try cooking with effort again when I’m completely over it. Then I’ll really know.

Anyway, it’s time for bed now. Which means it’s time for my one-on-one meeting with the Goddess.

I took off the ring, threw myself onto the bed, and closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I saw the Goddess eating dog food.

“…Goddess?”

“Oh, you’re here. Let me give you some additional divine power.”

The Goddess gave me divine power while enjoying her dog food. Maybe I’m seeing things wrong. It’s probably cereal or snacks.

“Is that a snack?”

“No. It’s dog food.”

“…Why are you eating that?”

“I received it as a reward for working hard.”

A boss who gives dog food as a reward for hard work, and a Goddess who eats it with delight. I don’t even know where to begin criticizing.

No, wait. This might just be my prejudice. Maybe it’s actually delicious dog food that’s safe for human consumption, and I’m misunderstanding.

“Could I try one?”

The Goddess’s pupils began to shake wildly. With trembling hands, she handed me some dog food.

“Sure… you can… have… as much… as you… want…”

With that kind of reaction, this might actually be incredibly delicious. With that expectation, I put a piece of dog food in my mouth.

It tasted like unpleasant dog food.

“Why on earth are you eating this?”

“Because it’s delicious.”

“…What do you normally eat that makes this taste good to you?”

“Well, 371 years ago I mainly ate hardtack… and after that, I just kept starving.”

“…You’ve been starving for 371 years?”

“Yes. I get hungry, but I don’t die.”

When you’re hungry, anything tastes good. So if you starve for 371 years, even Leo’s cooking might taste delicious.

“Don’t you get a food allowance there?”

“I received a food allowance and saved it.”

“Then what did you use those savings for?”

“I used it to summon four reincarnators and create your body.”

I thought reincarnation and body creation were provided as basic services. But it turns out they were all paid for out of the Goddess’s own pocket.

Still, after working for 371 years, shouldn’t she have accumulated quite a bit of divine power?

…But considering how useless the divine power she earned from a week’s work was, this actually makes sense.

“Why go to such lengths?”

“To save the world.”

The Goddess answered while enjoying her returned dog food.

“Can I ask you some questions?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Utopia, artificial Demon King, ruler. I heard they’re related to the previous Demon King’s plan. Do you know anything about that?”

“Well… I’ve been working so much that I haven’t had time to see what’s happening in the world…”

So the Goddess knows nothing about the past. Does that mean asking Leo is my only option?

“So you don’t know anything about what happened in the past?”

“No. But I think I know something about the artificial Demon King.”

“Really?”

“Do you know why Demon Kings appear in this world?”

“Aren’t they just bad guys who show up to destroy the world?”

“According to textbooks, they appear periodically to solve problems like surplus resources or population issues.”

I thought Demon Kings were purely evil. But it turns out they’re evil with a purpose.

Still, they need to be defeated. Otherwise, we’ll die.

“Then why did you summon us?”

“Because the Demon King that will appear this time is an artificial one.”

The Goddess continued while eating her dog food.

“I don’t know who created it, for what purpose, or how. But if a Demon King appears right after the war has just ended, there will be no one to stop it.”

So that’s what “artificial Demon King” meant. But didn’t Leo say that plan failed?

Or maybe someone is secretly continuing it while pretending it failed.

“How did you know about this?”

“My manager told me that an artificial Demon King would appear in about 400 years.”

“How did they know that?”

“My manager isn’t a low-ranking deity like me; they have some authority.”

I’m not entirely sure, but this manager seems to be on good terms with the Goddess. If so, we might be able to get help.

“Did they help you with anything else?”

“Yes, they gave me dog food!”

“…Nothing else?”

“No. They just told me that one thing and that was it.”

They are indeed on good terms with the Goddess. But it’s just normal friendliness. So we can’t expect much help from them.

“But what do you actually know? You don’t know about the past, you have no information about the future Demon King, and you don’t even have the power to find out.”

“I’m sorry…”

The Goddess curled up like a frightened puppy. Yet she continued eating her dog food.

She really is like a dog. Not as an insult, but literally like the animal.

…I kind of want to pat her head.

“Anyway, you really don’t know anything, right?”

“Yes… I’m sorry…”

I unintentionally created an atmosphere of scolding the Goddess. The mood turned gloomy.

“Well… since we have nothing more to discuss, shall we end this?”

“Yes, I’ll send you back.”

It would be better for both of us to end early and let the Goddess rest a little more.

As I was about to return to reality, enveloped in light,

“Work finished earlier than expected. I’m going to work now.”

I saw the Goddess voluntarily going to work.

She really works like a dog and gets treated like… no, she gets treated like a dog too.

Anyway, I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I was back in my room.

And so began Monday of the third week. Only halfway to go.