Chapter 405: The Spirits of Flame and Ice, and a God's Love.
The western half of the newly-formed world, what was previously the Reverse World, is home to two problematic countries.
Flame Nation Dauburn and Ice Nation Zadonia.
They're two countries with a longstanding rift between them, calling each other thieves.
According to the monarchs of the Western Continent that I know, the ones antagonistic to each other are the nobles and royalties, upper echelons of each country, and the common people below them see it as nothing but trouble.
Both countries are accusing the other of stealing an offering they each made to the gods they revere. And due to that, they received the gods' curse, and their lands were transformed to a land of intense heat and a land of deep frost respectively.
If my thoughts are correct, those aren't gods. It's more likely for them to be spirits. Something probably happened related to them a few hundred years ago.
"And so I'm here to ask you guys about that."
"Even if you say that…"
"That is rather troublesome."
I'm in the Spirit Realm right now after arriving via Dimensional Transfer. Inside this world where a sparkling milky-white fog-like substance drifted all around us, I stood in front of the spirits of flame and ice.
On top of the table between the two spirits and I, cookies I brought as gifts were placed on top of a plate.
The spirit of flame is a spirit second only to the spirit of fire, one of the arch-spirits. Similar to the spirit of fire, she's a lively girl with a head of short reddish hair coupled with a boyish look. She really does resemble the spirit of fire. I'd believe it if someone told me she's the spirit of fire's actual younger sister, to be honest.
The spirit of ice is a spirit ranked right below an arch-spirit, similar to the spirit of flame. She's apparently something like an older sister to the spirit of snow who was the mother of Eashen's Mikado, Shirahime.
She's a young woman with ice-blue long hair in a so-called hime cut, and a cool expression that doesn't reveal much emotions. Should I say as expected of the spirit of ice? She's kinda cold.
"We revived once like 500 years ago, so. We don't really remember a lot about the things back then. I somehow remember I was pissed, or maybe I wasn't…"
"Same here. Since our dependants have settled down there, something must have happened, but as for what that something is…"
So not even the concerned parties themselves know, huh. Spirits are immortal existences who undergo cycles of reincarnation once every few thousand years. Each time they do, their memories and appearances get reset becoming someone completely different. Even their gender can change from male to female, or vice versa.
Even if they really are the ones who casted the curses onto Flame Nation Dauburn and Ice Nation Zadonia (and we don't even know if they actually are curses), if they don't remember it, then there's nothing I can do.
"Don't really understand what's what, but if you want, we can get rid of those dependants of ours that's living there, you know?"
"Unn, while we can do that… Leave them be for now. That probably won't solve the problem completely."
It's not like they're still conflicting with each other due to the weather. And besides, drastic environmental changes are bad for the human body anyway.
But, well, I guess we can slowly remove the curses (it really isn't, is it) from those lands. Their conflicts might actually stop if their climates become normal… I won't bet on it, though.
"You girls aren't really on bad terms with each other, are you?"
"Nope. We played together just before too. Right?"
"Yes. However, since the way we interact with each other would change each time we reincarnate, I can't tell you what the answer might've been in our previous lives…"
Right. They're completely different people in each of their lives, after all. Their relationship might've been bad in their previous lives.
"But I heard from the spirits who know our previous incarnations that they didn't exactly have a bad relationship with each other, you know? Although it seemed like they're not as close as we are now, though."
"That's right. I've also heard something similar from water onee-sama."
Fumu, so in the end, we know nothing… Right, let's give up on this.
It's not like I'm in a hurry to make Dauburn and Zadonia reconcile with each other or anything. I shouldn't stick my head too much into other people's businesses.
If I can understand the reason behind it, and it's also something I can do something about easily, then I would lend a hand, but otherwise I don't see the need to push this too hard.
"Sorry for taking up your time. Here, take this pack of assorted cookies. Eat them with everyone later."
I passed my gift to them and left the Spirit Realm. In the end, what could the cause be, I wonder.
I think it might be better if I just kidnap the kings of the two countries and lock them up somewhere with just the two of them to make them reconcile with each other. AN uninhabited island sounds nice. They'd become best buddies if they went through life and death struggles, no?
"Just kidding. Like I'll do it."
I mean, that's just too much. While retorting to myself, I returned to Babylon.
It looks like everyone was having a tea party in the [Garden].
"Welcome to the [Garden], master. I'll bring the tea over at once."
"Ahh, please."
Cesca in her maid clothes, standing by in the gazebo—the so-called western azumaya—where everyone was, transferred away. She probably went down to the castle to bring up more cups and tea.
I sat down at the empty spot on the table between Yumina and Yae.
"Where did you go, Touya-san?"
"To the Spirit Realm. I talked to the spirits of flame and ice, but couldn't get any useful information."
"Aah, about those troublesome countries that are fighting over them being too hot or too cold-degozaru na?"
They're not exactly fighting because they're too hot or too cold though. Well, the troublesome part is true, anyway.
"What were everyone talking about?"
"Various recent happenings. Come to think of it, darling. There's something I wanted to ask."
"N? What?"
Leen put down her cup and looked towards me. Everyone else also stared towards this direction. What's going on?
"When being engaged to us, you said that you'll marry us when you turn 18, didn't you?"
"Eh, yes. I did."
"Actually, my dear sister-in-law told me something recently. The world you were in and the world we're in right now. The 'number of days in a year is different', is it?"
Leen looked at me with teasing eyes. In response, I forced a smile while sweat flowed down my face like a waterfall.
"Going by the calendar of your world, aren't you 18 already?"
It's out. The cat's out of the bag. The source of that information must be Karen nee-san, that
damn idiot…
That's actually true. I didn't notice it myself at first, but a year in this world is longer than the 365-day year back on earth. It's roughly four months more. So basically, each year has 16 months in this world.
I seriously doubted my eyes when I saw the 13th month show up on my smartphone. I had to go and ask Kousaka-san for confirmation after that.
Since I had always used my smartphone when I wanted to know the dates, I didn't notice it at all until then. The seasons in this world being messed up doesn't help either.
Ever since I knew that, I've been conforming to the calendar in this world, so if you ask what age I am, the answer is definitely 17.
However, back in the world I came from… I'm already 18, yeah.
"No, it's not like I was hiding it or anything, okay. Since I'm going to be living in this world, isn't it proper that I count my age based on this side's calendar? I mean, if we calculate ages using Earth's calendar, Yumina would actually be older than me, you know? The 14-year-old Yumina would become 18 and 8 months old if we go by that. And Leen, you—"
(Note: I KNEW it. So this means, all of the main cast is quite a bit older than we expect in terms of our calendar. Remember, Yumina's actually the second youngest in the fiancée group together with Luu who's the same age. That means besides Suu, everyone else is past the legal age, and some are even hitting the 20s…)
"Darling, you be quiet."
"Yes…"
An angelic smile came my way from Leen together with a murderous gaze. The pressure from someone far older than me… It's no joke, I tell ya.
While blushing, Linze opened her mouth.
"That, that means we can already marry Touya-san, right?"
"That'll be up to darling, but… It'll be hard in our current situation. There's the thing about the evil god, and various other stuff as well."
"Other stuff?"
Yae tilted her head when she heard what Leen said.
"That… I-if we had children, we'd be forced to sit out of battles…"
Nonono, Leen-san, that's going too far ahead, okay. And it's not like you will have a child quickly.
Like an infection, the redness on Leen's face spreads to everyone else's at the table. Of course, I'm included.
When I saw Suu who also turned red and was sipping away at some juice, I was strangely moved about the fact that she's all grown up now…
"W-well, let's leave that aside for the moment. I'm sorry for not telling you guys about it, but it's true that we won't be able to marry in peace until the problem with the evil god is dealt with. That's why I'm going to finish up with that as soon as possible."
"Can we win-degozaru ka?"
"As long as we can do something about the Godslaying Poison. Even if the other side had absorbed a god, it was a NEET god who's below the lowest-ranked gods; on the other hand, despite how I may look, I'm still a dependant of the supreme god, you know? Plus, even
though they're in their human form, I've also got seven gods as backup. If I can't win even with this, then I must say, I'm pretty incompetent."
I'd like to think I'm not that hopeless. Un. In the first place, this is something like a test from the World God anyway. One for me to become the manager for this world.
I suddenly thought about the possibility that Yura might actually not know anything about all of this.
I guess he likely hasn't heard about the fact that the god he managed to ensnare with tricks was actually a NEET god who's below even the lowest-ranked gods. If nothing else, that NEET god has a huge ego; he would probably never say something like "I'm the lowest of the lowest of gods!" even if it kills him.
Or rather, he might've even did something like "I'm the World God-ja~" and pretended to be Kami-sama… Yep, he seems like he might do that. Doesn't really matter to me though.
"Ah, that reminds me, Luu awakened to her [Dependant Trait] recently, it seems."
"Eh, really?"
Upon hearing Elze's sudden words, I turned to look at Luu.
"Ah, yes. Although, it isn't something related to battle…"
Luu had a bitter smile on her face.
[Dependant Trait] is something which sprouts in dependants, a blessing from the divine. Luu and the others are special in that they have the possibility to become dependants of eight gods, namely myself, Karen nee-san, Moroha nee-san, Kousuke ojii, Sousuke nii-san, Karina nee-san, Suika and Takeru ojii.
Although it's not like all of them applies at once; for example, besides me, Sakura is more likely to become a dependant of Sousuke nii-san… The Music God, rather than the others. They often go out to the town and sing together, after all.
Similarly, Yae and Hilda who are close to the Sword God, Moroha nee-san, and Elze who's close to the Martial God, Takeru ojii would be more likely to become their dependants.
Well, the main one is still me though.
[Dependant Trait] is a blessing from the gods. The power granted by it is something that is in the realm of divinity.
Yumina has her slight "future prediction", while Sakura has "super hearing". Now then, what about Luu?
"Well, my sense of taste, it's become unnaturally sharp recently. I can, uh, tell the components apart… Like what kind of ingredients were used, and how much of it, I just somehow know that."
Hahaa, so that's what came out.
Luu was always cooking something with our head chef Claire-san. Her skill is already professional-grade. Even though she hadn't held a kitchen knife once before she met me. If you think about Sakura's "super hearing", I guess you can say that [Dependant Traits] are things that raise up someone's strong aspects?
"Luu-san's senses are amazing, you know. She can taste even one single grain of salt in a cup of water."
"That is amazing… But if it's that sensitive, wouldn't eating something bad-tasting be horrible for you?"
"No, it won't activate if I don't think about it. I guess you can call it a switch of some sort…"
"I get it. I'm like that too. If I don't pay attention, I don't hear extra sounds."
Sakura nodded at Luu's words. So they can switch it on and off, huh. Well, if they can't, then yeah, it's going to be tough on them. My [Divine Eyes] are something like that, too.
"How envious-no. Hey Touya, quickly give me my [Dependant Trait] as well-no ja."
"No, it doesn't work like that, okay."
I smiled wryly at Suu's words. [Dependant Traits] vary with the individual, and there's no such thing as "if you do this then you'll awaken it". I understand how you feel, but I can't do anything about it myself.
Linze opened her mouth timidly.
"U, um… It couldn't be that the 'love of god' isn't enough for us, right?"
"N-no way that's the case, okay!? It's really just the individual differences between you girls, there's nothing like that!"
Please don't doubt my love. That's important.
"It might be easier for people with sensory traits to manifest them compared to people with more physical traits."
"Right, what Hilda said has some credit. Yumina, Sakura and Luu all have something related to their senses anyway: sight, hearing and taste."
"It's doubtful whether we can call future prediction 'sight', though."
"You still 'see' them, don't you? Hilda and Yae, as well as Elze all feel like you'll get a trait that's more attuned to something physical, really."
Something like increasing their physical abilities. Wait, that one's already done.
Even Suu, who originally had the least combat ability here, can now make movements on par with our knights. She's like that without any training. You can tell how much out of the norm Yae, Hilda and Elze are from that point. The "love of god" has that much of an effect.
Are? I only thought about this now, but if we ever have children, won't they be kinda busted… They're basically demigods, and also receive the love of many gods like Karen nee-san; it's going to be tough raising them…
They'll mostly be girls though. I hope you all grow up with grace…
"I wonder what physical traits might include-degozarou".
"Might it be something like Elze-san's [Boost]?"
"Eee. I already have it though, so something different would be nice."
The three people who were more likely to get traits related to their bodies were having such a discussion; honestly, if you girls got a trait like that, that'd be like giving a tiger wings…
"Wait, we won't suddenly grow wings or anything, right?"
"No way no way. Even I only have my hair grow out, you know. You definitely won't get drastic changes like that."
While laughing, I denied Linze's words. Well, I won't deny that having white wings behind your back and looking like an angel does fit the whole thing about being a dependant of god.
"What, that's boring. I thought I might get a trait that lets me grow taller and my chest bigger, and allow me to obtain a 'nice body' like Karen nee-sama or something."
Nonono. Suu, that's a complete transformation, you know. It's already far beyond the level of a trait, you know.
Still, Suu's already worrying about things like that, huh. Things like chest size… No, wait, she's already 12, so I guess it's normal.
Suu was patting her own slight bulges.
"I wonder if they'll grow to as big as Flora's-no."
"No, that one's just abnormal. Don't compare yourself to it."
Elze made a retort.
The [Alchemy Building]'s manager, Flora. Even by a conservative estimate, those are at least over 100. They might even reach 120. And despite that, they manage to maintain their rich shapes in defiance to the laws of gravity. They have good shapes, and are definitely not big due to being fat.
She's an artificial lifeform like a homunculus anyway… I don't think there's any meaning in competing against her on that.
Somehow, I can see a dark aura around Yumina, Luu, Linze and Elze.
Sakura doesn't seem like she cares about it, and Leen has this composure unique to older people—or rather, she looks like she's already given up. Although Yae's pressing it down with a sarashi right now, she has some quality goods, and Hilda's in the normal range too.
"I wonder, could Flora-san be using some kind of medicine to make her chest bigger…"
"Well, the 'breast enhancement drug' is with [Warehouse]'s Parshe, so she's probably… Natural…"
I inadvertently replied to Linze's mutterings, when suddenly, I find four pairs of eyes staring holes into my head and realized I made a huge slip of tongue.
"Wait Touya, what's that about?"
"Did you just say, 'breast enhancement drug'?"
"You said it's in the [Warehouse], which means it exists, right?"
"Touya-san? Touya-san? Touya-san?"
"No, um, wait, there's a deep reason behind this!"
It's scary when you all come at me with those wide unblinking eyes okay!
I mean, deep reason or not, that thing's something handmade by that professor so it's obviously a no-go! It'll be a horror story if it turned out to be something that give you over 300 cm! I'm telling you, it's definitely defective in some way!
"Elze and Luu-san, please head to the [Laboratory] and bring the professor over. We have to obtain more detailed information. Myself and Linze-san will head to the [Warehouse] and secure the actual substance."
"Got it!"
"I understand!"
Following Yumina's instructions, Elze and Luu rushed off towards the [Laboratory]. Seriously, how are you girls so quick!?
"Then, us as well."
"Yes."
Next, Linze and Yumina also rushed off towards the [Warehouse]. Wait, you're using the [Accel] in your rings!?
"It looks interesting-ja. I'll go too!"
"Nn. I'll go as well."
Suu and Sakura also went off towards the [Warehouse] after the two.
"I'm a bit interested. I guess I'll go as well."
"Then we shall head over too-degozaru yo."
"Right."
And finally, Leen, Yae and Hilda stood up from their seats.
"My leaking mouth…"
Since they said they're going to be asking the professor about it, I guess they should know about any possible side effects. I think the me who believes without any doubt that that drug must have some kind of side effect is a bit weird as well, to be honest.
After that, it seems that the professor explained to everyone the details regarding the "breast enhancement drug".
It's apparently something made to simulate the effect of physical altercation magic, basically something that can supplement a person's ability to change her body shape using magic. You use it by directly applying it onto the chest area.
While it's unfortunate that I didn't see it, they apparently did get bigger.
However, maintaining that apparently requires quite a bit of the person's own magic power, and over time they would slowly deflate like a balloon back to their original sizes. It's surprising that it doesn't have any side effects. I'll say it again, it's surprising.
The effects lasted for under 30 minutes in all… I'm glad it didn't cause anything like sagging afterwards. They apparently returned to the size they were before normally.
As the drug requires the person's own magic power, I can't use [Transfer] to maintain a steady supply; there's nothing I can do here.
I guess it can't be helped that Elze and Linze, who still havn't awakened their [Dependant Traits], began to wish for "increased magic power capacity" as their trait.
However, since maintaining it requires magic power in any case, it'll just disappear eventually. It's like trying to fire [Fireball] endlessly.
It's just the ephemeral dream of young maidens. Fated to scatter away like the morning mist…
Afterwards, the professor told me "I've got the male version too", but what use is it for a guy to make his chest bigger? Eh? Not there? I don't understand what you mean.