Epilogue. Sorting the Order

In the center of the lobby of a mansion where only incredibly wealthy nobles would reside.

“…Hierarchy…?”

Luissar and Carpen were in tatters.

Boheuk-Hee and Sonia were filthy.

Frey was bleeding profusely from her nose.

And Sirin, Serr, Kartia, and Primavera, who looked relatively unscathed, were kneeling quietly.

“You’re saying… you were establishing a hierarchy and got angry, so you started fighting for real…?”

I looked around at the people sitting awkwardly in front of me.

This is truly absurd…

At first, they were sparring lightly.

Then, feeling like they had been hit a little too hard, they hit back a little harder, then even harder, and harder still, until they ended up fighting for real.

The beginning of it all.

“Kartia… Carpen… aren’t you two… adults…?”

Kartia and Carpen.

It wasn’t a team battle, nor a one-on-one tournament. In a chaotic free-for-all, they got serious because they were hit by a stray attack. Does that even make sense…?

“Noah… are you angry…? I’m sorry…”

Carpen’s ears drooped sadly, and her tail curled inward. The whimpering sounds were a bonus.

Already covered in wounds, seeing her look so pitiful made my heart soften…

No, that won’t do.

I can’t just let this slide.

I don’t know why, but the more they fight, the more my Divinity diminishes. Over a mere squabble.

But even such squabbles can cause many problems if they continue for too long.

Well, I can kill most Outer Gods even without Divinity… but there might be unforeseen circumstances.

And most importantly.

Rubia almost got hurt.

They were so engrossed in the fight that they didn’t even notice someone had entered. They were fighting so fiercely… huh?!

No way.

I’m not letting this go.

“Is ‘I’m sorry’ enough?!”

“Huk…”

As if receiving a huge shock from my words, Carpen’s ears perked up, then drooped even further.

“You know… I don’t know why, but every time you guys fight… my Divinity gets chipped away like crazy…? What if a tough enemy shows up…? What are you going to do then…?”

Perk?

Carpen’s ears and tail rose.

And her eyes sparkled as she opened her mouth.

“We’ll take care of it— Ack…”

Kartia’s hand blocked her.

“…Take care of it?”

I looked at Kartia with a questioning sound.

“…That was a spot where you’d be an idiot to leave out… s-sorry.”

But Kartia was making strange noises.

Okay. I’ll hear that story later.

“K-Kartia, you’re too much too. Kartia’s attack almost hurt Rubia earlier.”

“…Sorry.”

“Didn’t you know I came in…?”

“I happened to be attacking in that direction… no, just… sorry.”

I glared at Kartia with a sharp look, and she bowed her head and apologized.

“Sigh…”

I deliberately sighed loudly for everyone to hear and slowly looked around.

Everyone was kneeling quietly.

Seeing these proud people like this, it’s a relief that they know they did something wrong.

“…So… why did you start establishing a hierarchy?”

One by one, they raised their heads as if they were about to speak, so I reached out and pointed to one person.

The person most likely to give a normal answer among them.

“Serr, please tell me… what hierarchy were you trying to establish?”

“…Authority here.”

“Authority…?”

Not like ordering someone to fetch water when you’re thirsty.

Or telling someone to cook when you’re hungry… but authority?

“Sirin and I created this place, this mansion, the space where we can stay. But I only helped to complete it, and Sirin created the whole thing. Therefore, Sirin had the authority here, but many were dissatisfied with that authority, which led to this fight.”

…It really is a hierarchy establishment in the truest sense.

“Wh-what can you do with that authority…?”

Serr paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully, and then slowly opened her mouth.

“You can change the structure of the mansion or alter the air quality. For example, right now, it’s made to resemble the environment where Sirin used to live, but by using that authority to tinker with things, we could create a feeling similar to the places where we humans used to live. And…”

“And…?”

“…You can freely configure the connection with Noah.”

“Connection… with me…?”

I tilted my head, unsure what exactly the connection with me meant, and Sirin, who was sitting very quietly in the back, waved her hand.

“…Since it has come to this, it would be quicker to just show you once.”

Then, whoosh—a screen appeared on the widest wall of the mansion.

“Oh my?”

Rubia was surprised, and the faces of the people kneeling in front of me were flushed with embarrassment.

And, I… I…

I felt heat rising to my face.

“Th-th-th-that… is that… my, my vision… is that what you’re seeing?”

“Not just your vision. You can see all the [Ki sense] you feel.”

“…So, you’re saying you can see… everything?”

I looked back and forth between the screen and the people kneeling in front of me.

Everyone was just hiding their faces, and there was no answer.

I turned my head and looked at Rubia.

Rubia was looking at the screen with a slightly embarrassed but interested expression.

“…How… much… have you seen?”

As expected, there was no answer.

Thump-thump—

I stepped forward, trampling on the scattered debris.

“Since when, have you been watching…?”

No answer.

“The festival?”

Silence.

“…Since I came back to this world, have you been watching?”

Flinch. Carpen and Sonia’s bodies trembled.

“Everything…?”

Embarrassment beyond the limit spread throughout my body.

My face felt like it was radiating heat, my voice trembled, and my breathing became rough.

“S-Serr, please answer me. Serr… have you seen everything, everything…?”

“…Everyone has a conscience, so they didn’t see Rubia’s naked body. Or, to be precise, I blocked the view so that no one could see it.”

Glare—Everyone’s gaze, except for Luissar’s, was fixed on Serr.

Only then did Serr raise her head sharply, look around with a ‘what are you going to do about it’ look, and smirk.

“I thought I shouldn’t be watching, so I was inside the room.”

Luissar said belatedly in a timid voice.

“Luissar didn’t watch… and Serr… stopped them… the others.”

Thump. My steps stopped.

Hoo-ha… I took a breath and looked at Kartia.

“Then, the others, if they got that authority… what were they going to do…?”

Slyly—Kartia avoided my gaze.

“…I see…”

I looked at Sirin.

“Sirin, you didn’t turn off that screen… in that situation…?”

“H-hmm… I merely dozed off for a moment…”

“I see…”

Okay.

My course of action has been decided.

Thump-thump—

With steps now filled with anger beyond embarrassment, I approached Rubia, grabbed her hand, and stepped out of the mansion.

“…Everyone, follow me.”

“I’m sorry… Noah is—”

Drip—Tears flowed from Noah’s eyes.

Rubia, seeing Noah like that, paused for a moment.

“Pfft… Hehehe…”

She burst into laughter, barely holding it back, and continued.

“Noah, she probably returned safely.”

“…Huh?”

“You don’t have to worry. She seems to have strayed onto a strange path for a while… but when she finishes what she has to do there… she will eventually return to where she needs to be.”

“What she has to do…?”

Wiping away the tears that hadn’t fallen with her sleeve, despite being startled, Noah slowly approached Rubia.

“Yes.”

Rubia, holding Noah in her arms, slowly continued her explanation based on Lilith’s memories that remained in her memory.

“There are no more gods in this world. As a result, the rules, [Concept]s, and [Law]s that bound people together have all disappeared.”

“What…? ‘I’ destroyed even that? Why? Am I crazy? Did I make a mistake?”

Rubia shook her head.

“She did it on purpose. She declared with her own mouth that everything is no longer needed.”

“…Then…”

“Yes. She has become responsible for all of that. However, it won’t be the same as before. It will be completely different. It has to be different. Because this world… has become a completely new world. Because she opened such a world.”

Hehe. Rubia smiled softly, stroking Noah’s hair, and kissed her forehead.

“Then, ‘I’ have to stay in this world forever and protect it, right?”

“That’s right.”

“…Crazy bastard.”

Noah, listening to Rubia’s words, fell into thought.

Noah pondered how she would have acted in that situation.

“I would be left alone…”

Surely, if it were ‘me’, if it were me, I would stay in this world alone and protect it. Forever.

Without any countermeasures.

Just with the thought that I had saved Rubia.

With just the memory of being with her.

I would endure eternity and live on.

Like an idiot.

Therefore, Noah continued to think.

How she could help ‘herself’.

How she could make it less difficult for her.

Even if it was just until she died, if she could help her, if she could beat up those damn Outer Gods instead, wouldn’t ‘I’ be able to spend happy times with ‘Rubia’ for a while?

I am already an existence that ended once.

I was an existence that could never feel such happy moments again.

But, I was saved by ‘me’.

So, the remaining time is for ‘me’—

“It’s okay.”

Rubia’s clear voice broke Noah’s reverie.

“…What’s okay?”

“Hehehe…”

Rubia didn’t answer Noah’s words, but just looked out the window and smiled.

Noah, cupping Rubia’s cheeks and making her look into her eyes, asked again.

“What’s okay?”

Her blue eyes curved beautifully.

Her light pink lips approached right next to her ear, hidden by her shaggy hair.

And whispered.

At the same time, Noah’s face was filled with surprise.

“…Really? That’s possible?”

“Of course.”

Her surprise turned into a bright smile.

Rubia, who had been smiling softly as she looked at Noah, also stood up from her seat with a proud smile.

“How about it?”

Noah didn’t answer.

She just giggled and clasped Rubia’s hand.