POV: None
In a room with splendid yet not gaudy furnishings and works of art, two men were moving pieces on a chess board.
Despite it still being daytime, the curtains in the room were closed. And serving as the only light source was a single candlestick.
In that rather odd place, the older of the men spoke.
“It seems you’ve been attracting quite the attention lately. What say you to behaving a bit better?”
He was an elderly gentleman that had white skin, blond hair that looked as though it had lost its luster, a boorish eyepatch over his left eye, and an attire that was similar to those worn by literary masters of old. He had taken off his top hat and muffler as he sat comfortably in his chair.
This was the man people the world over was looking for. This was the man who announced the [Return of the Age of Gods].
“If I had the time to take it slow, I would…unfortunately, my plate is too full to even consider things like manners.”
Sitting opposite the old man with his legs crossed was Minister Arikawa Rurio of Japan’s Dungeon Countermeasures Ministry. He had a dubious smile that was almost like it was taped into place. What’s more, he was wearing a suit in his own home.
The old man moved a piece without hesitation and then gestured to Arikawa with his right eye that it was the latter’s turn.
“Goodness. But remember, there must be grace even in haste. You don’t want regrets later, do you?”
After looking down at the white piece that the old man moved, Arikawa moved his knight.
“You’re ever so stern. Is that from personal experience?”
“…yes. I have lived quite a long life, you know. I’ve experienced my fair share of mistakes and blunders.”
“I see…I will take your advice to heart then. But…”
As the old man captured the knight, Arikawa gave a light shrug.
“It irks me to hear that from you, the very cause for all this hurry.”
“Oh? You still have a heart that can feel such things?”
The old man’s lips curved into a condescending smile.
Arikawa’s own smile didn’t falter. With the same dubious smile, he moved another piece.
“But of course. Unlike you, my tears haven’t dried up from a total lack of use and I haven’t sunk so low that even becoming a clown is too pitiful a fate.”
At that instant, the smile on the old man’s face vanished.
If there were other people in the room, even if they were top-tier Awakened Ones, the change in the old man would surely have sent a chill down their spines and made them gasp. He had overwhelming murderous intent. So much so that even a bull monster’s charge would seem nothing more than a child’s tantrum.
Any ordinary person would go mad if they were ever in the receiving end of this.
“Hey, it’s your turn, old man.”
But here in the room was a man who only kept smiling. Smiling his suspicious smile but smiling nonetheless. With his legs still crossed, Arikawa motioned toward the chess board, completely like an interviewer supporting and prompting a nervous young man to speak up.
“―a lad not much different from a babe dares to mock me, a god?”
“―until when will the antique clinging to an empty throne think of themselves as a pioneer, I wonder?”
A window in the room cracked. A bitingly cold wind crept across the floor. And the temperature in the room dropped further each time the old man narrowed his eyes.
Several seconds passed as the two glared at each other. That suffocating atmosphere ended only when the old man sighed.
“Dear me…it seems my patience is growing shorter as I get older.”
“Why not take that as a sign to retire? I recommend you a great place to do so.”
“Haha, I have no need for that yet. Not when I still have many things I need to do.”
The old man moved a piece.
“Checkmate. And with that, I shall be going now.”
“My, I lost. Can’t I interest you in another game?”
“Weren’t you busy? Indulging the elderly is all well and good, but you should do it in moderation. Besides…you didn’t think I would fail to notice your friend making some moves, did you?”
After producing and then putting on a hat and a muffler from nowhere, the old man stood up.
“This was time well spent, if I may say so myself. [—] ”
Toward the end of that statement, the old man moved his mouth but didn’t produce a sound. And then, all of a sudden, he was gone.
Now all alone in the room, Arikawa picked up the black king.
“Utter defeat, huh…it would seem the power of that fountain is real.”
He played around with the black king for a while and then placed it in the center of the board.
“I suppose I have no odds of success at all. But all that really means is that I have to make my own odds.”
Still with the suspicious smile, he placed the white and black kings in front of one another.
“Maybe I should have the monsters play against their fellow monsters. After all, in this new Age of Gods, whoever [Founds a country] first…wins.”
Ever so gently, the light of the candle stick died.
“I’ll use your plan for myself.”
* * *
POV: Kyotaro
One week after the dungeon overflow. I had been going to a mental health clinic for a few days now. As I understood it, all adventurers who directly saw someone die had to do this. I had heard about it in the training course I took, but I didn’t think I would have to undergo such a thing myself…
Oh well. After 2 or 3 more visits, I should be done with it. To my surprise, it seemed like there were quite a few adventurers who did suffer mentally. For the most part, the cause for that was the fact that they had to fight animal-like monsters.
Because of that, the clinics were quite crowded. Which in turn, made the doctors..to put it bluntly, it made the doctors sloppy. It was like they weren’t into it. I mean, a doctor who was strangely too enthusiastic was problematic in its own way but still.
…but now, I was wondering again if I was simply a heartless person. I had seen someone die right in front of me. I also had collected hair and other personal belongings from a corpse. Yet, the only reaction I had to all that was not having any appetite while I was being brought home by the police.
When I did get home and after both my parents hugged me though, I immediately grew hungry the moment I smelled the aroma of my mom’s cooking. I was able to sleep normally at night as well. And when Layla hugged and kissed me like she promised, I was turned on.
When I told my doctor about everything aside from the bit about Layla, his only reply was “I see”. Like, what was up with that…
Anyway, I wasn’t going straight home today. That was because my two friends invited me to karaoke to celebrate my safe return or something like that.
* * *
“I mean, isn’t that pretty normal for people who survive through these things?”
“I guess”
“Hey, aren’t you guys being too casual about this!?”
I was nodding to what Uoyama-kun said when Kumai-kun looked at both of us all startled.
What is it?
“Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, feeling more?”
“More what? More troubled?”
“I guess I really am the lowest of the low…”
“Hey, that’s too much! That’s not what I meant at all…are you, are you alright?”
“That was unexpected…”
To be honest, I didn’t expect myself to feel this way either.
“I mean, I do get sad when I think of it, plus I don’t think I’ll ever forget the experience of seeing myself die over and over again. But before I realize it, I’ve gotten distracted by other things. Sometimes, I just forget about it completely…”
“You know, it takes energy just to maintain these things we call emotions. Like, there’s this proverb lie on brushwood and taste gall, which originated from someone sleeping on top of a pile of firewood to remind themselves of the grudge they held. The things Kyotaro is feeling are probably the same as that person’s grudge.”
“Ooh…”
“You sound so wise…”
“I read a manga chapter like that yesterday.”
“Expected as much.”
“Ohh thank goodness. It’s still the same old Uoyama.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
In a volume that would have angered those in the next room had we not been inside a karaoke room, we proceeded to talk about silly things. Like how a life guidance teacher caught our classmate Aihara-kun going to a “hotel for adults” with another classmate. Or how an Awakened One in another class had somehow formed their own harem. Really silly things.
My two friends didn’t ask for details about that certain day. It was probably their way of showing their concern for me.
Speaking of that day where dungeon overflowed…of the about 30 Awakened Ones who volunteered back then, only 5, including me, managed to survive. Miraculously, the female officer who asked us to fight were among the survivors. Her name was apparently Ogata Yune, and she had lost her left eye and hand in the event.
Wearing an eyepatch over her eye, she had appeared before journalists and assumed all responsibility on the matter. The opinions—both both for and against—for her actions were intense. Received comments like “Brave knight” and “Reiwa era’s Joan of Arc” to those like “a no-good policeman whose actions have gotten civilians killed” and “a wench pretending to be a hero”.
Probably because of the split opinion of her online and on TV, her letter of resignation still hasn’t been accepted.
I had given the hair and articles of the deceased I recovered to the officer that dropped me home. The deceased was apparently a subordinate of Ogata-san, so I was told in a call from the police station yesterday that she was coming to visit me next week to give thanks.
My mother and other people hated Ogata-san like she was some snake, and even I couldn’t deny that I had unpleasant emotions for her. However, even just the simple fact that I was able to do something for another person back then was enough for me to respect her.
I had no idea what kind of face I would make when I go to meet her. Well, I guess with my usual mob-like face would be the answer, but beyond that, I had no idea.
“Oh yeah, this has been getting popular lately.”
“What has?”
“Muscles, Muscles, Muscles, Muscles ♪ ”
Disregarding the noises coming out of Kumai-kun, Uoyama-kun showed me the screen of his phone.
“A video of someone singing?”
“Yeah. This person called Golden Guitar has been popular lately. Even if you say you’re normal, you gotta be at least a little bit tired emotionally, right? Then, my advice is to treat yourself to some good music. As opposed to this strange noise anyway.”
“Thanks. I’ll give it a listen.”
On his phone’s screen was a girl wearing a T-shirt that said Yakiniku meal set!! and holding a guitar. Her face wasn’t in the frame though. Looking closely, she seemed to be “golden” because of the strings in her guitar. More interesting to me personally though were the breasts resting on that guitar. They were, at the very least…E cups!!
“Hey! Muscles~! Hey! Muscles~! Six-room abs, I want permanent residence!”
“…by the way, what song is this?”
“No clue. But it seems like it’s a real song that’s in the machine.”
“It’s really the end of the world, isn’t it”
Guess there’s no helping it. I’ll have to right his distorted music taste by belting out Boobs Paradise Carnival! Today, I’ll rid myself of the shame that is my perpetual tone-deafness!
* * *
The next day, I tried out the video Uoyama-kun mentioned.
<<~♪ >>
I could see the appeal. She certainly had a good singing voice. Moreover though, her breasts were being emphasized by the belt strap between them. Those breasts were also being occasionally pushed up by the guitar.
The comment section made me confused though. I mean, I didn’t see any comments that were similar to my impression. Instead, each of the comments was praise for her voice. There wasn’t even a single hater like you would typically expect. I found that very odd indeed. When I looked at her older videos…
Ahh, this is before the “Return of the Age of Gods”
Her voice was quite worse compared to her recently released videos. Plus, her breasts in the older videos were still in middle of growing, not yet as swollen as they currently were. The view counts for the older videos were quite low too, and there were many comments that ranged from being vulgar to insulting, like calling her not a good singer.
Curiously though, I found her earlier videos to be more comfortable to listen to. Sure, her recent releases were at a professional level while her older ones were only good in a karaoke setting, but even so, I preferred her older releases.
…can it be that my music taste is just off? Come to think of it, my friends did boo me down relentlessly yesterday. Nah, those guys are just heartless, jeering stuff like “you suck” or “shut up, you tone-deaf idiot” even though it was supposed to be a celebration for my safe return.
As I watched the soothing videos on my phone, the intercom rang.
A delivery?
Both of my parents were out, so I answered that I was going to open the door and walked toward the entrance.
I wondered if it was something for my mom or maybe if it was something a relative sent us. My connection to the “Minotaur case” was kept hidden for various reasons, so I couldn’t imagine the one at the door was from any mass media outlet.
I thought of such things as I opened the door. The moment I did open it though, I was captivated by the miracles given physical form that jumped into my field of view.
Sooooo biiigggggg!?
To describe the ultra-sized boobs in front of me as the lofty peaks was no exaggeration. If anything, that description was quite reserved. The sight of things pushing up her black clothes to their limits was mystical, indeed. It seemed safe to assume she had a bust size of over a meter. And yet, despite that size, it was still magnificently rocket-shaped.
I didn’t know battleships as gigantic as these actually existed in the world. I thought it was only in anime that they could be this big.
And they were right at my eye level. I was simply enthralled by the sight.
“May I have a some of your time?”
“Ah, eh, sorry but I’m busy”
Hearing a refreshing voice, I finally looked up to see the face of our visitor. She was a beautiful lady. Her skin was whiter than fresh snow and even the best porcelain there was. Coupled with her glistening blond hair that was made more conspicuous by the black veil she wore, she was fantastical.
Her emerald green eyes sparkled as she looked straight down at me. And then, I noticed the ears that were under her veil. It was longer than normal.
Is she an elf? No, maybe a half-elf?
While I was stunned like that, she continued to talk.
“Do you believe in the goddess of yuri?”
“I’m really sorry but I have cram school right now!”
This was the first time in my life I closed the door on someone as quickly as I did in this moment. Making use of as much reflex speed I could muster as an Awakened One, I tried to separate myself from the person wearing the nun outfit.
Ahh! I shouldn’t have opened the door!!!
“Dear me. It’ll only take a moment, I promise.”
She had firmly caught the door in her hand. Surprised at how the door refused to close, I looked up at the smiling, mysterious nun.
What the heck even is the goddess of yuri!?
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