“…Fianna is the name of the Goddess. Her full name is MediLefiana.”
I recalled that this world used the “MediLefiana Calendar.” According to that calendar, it was currently the year 118. Did that mean this world was only 118 years old? Well, there must have been something before the MediLefiana Calendar, just like there was the Showa Era before Heisei in Japan. So, what kind of situation led to naming subsequent eras after the name of the creation goddess?
“Um, about the calendar’s name…”
“Ah, the MediLefiana Calendar, right? Is it the year 117 this year?”
“No, it’s actually the year 118.”
I asked about the calendar’s name out of curiosity, and it seemed like they were prepared for such questions as the response came quickly.
“I see… The era before the MediLefiana Calendar was the Heliodic Era. Heliodic is the name of this world. The Heliodic Era lasted for about two thousand years.”
So, this world was named Heliodic, and it had the Heliodic Era for about two thousand years before suddenly switching to the MediLefiana Calendar 118 years ago. Why did that happen?
“The Heliodic Era began with the creation of this world. Before that, there was a dispute between me and Fianna, but for the people of this world, it’s a mythological event. Now, it’s passed down as a thousand-year-long conflict or something like that.”
The myth told in the temple was that the Demon King was defeated, and it was considered a boring story until they had a dispute. It turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, according to the Goddess book.
“And Fianna observed humans for a while… Humans sometimes acted according to her expectations, and sometimes they acted unpredictably. She enjoyed watching that. And then, in the year 1869 of the Heliodic Era, she died as a goddess.”
The Goddess died? But she was all-knowing and all-powerful (self-proclaimed), right?
Wait! Could it be that she was dismembered with a chainsaw!? No, that’s unlikely…
“She entrusted the role of moving the world not to herself but to humans. She weighed humans and herself on the scales and chose humans.”
As the Demon King spoke these words, he truly embodied the role of the Demon King.
The Demon King was indeed the Demon King!
I will never forget that aura of the Demon King, the true Demon King!
“Are there still demons on the surface?”
“There are plenty of them.”
I replied, and the Demon King closed his eyes slightly and snapped his fingers.
A small crystal tower-like model appeared on the table. The first level had a dark floor, and the rest of the levels were green.
“In the year 1834 of the Heliodic Era, humans opened the gates of the abyss.”
He waved his finger, and a hole appeared between the first and second levels, from which black entities began to overflow into the second level and beyond.
“At that time, the surface was devastated by the demons from the abyss. Humans had no means to resist at the time.”
However, with another wave of his finger, the green surface returned. Upon closer inspection, I could see tiny miniature humans on the surface, destroying the black entities.
“The Goddess had two options. One was to use her power to destroy the demons and protect humans. The other was to sacrifice herself and give magic to humans.”
And the Goddess chose the latter option.
Perhaps the Goddess made this choice to ensure that humans would be fine even without her.
“The Goddess originally became the guiding force of this world after creating it. It’s possible that the corruption in the temple may not be the work of the Goddess.”
The Goddess book mentioned something along these lines.
The Goddess decided to entrust the guidance of the world to humans rather than doing it herself.
We don’t know when the temple was built, but as a result of choosing to entrust it to humans, the temple fell into corruption. The Goddess might not be without regrets about it.
“So, why was that book of the Goddess inside the Great Serpent?”
“Oh, that was something she suggested. She said, ‘Let’s make a guess about how long it will take for humans to pick it up and deliver it to the Abyss.'”
I see. Was that it? Is that really it?
“By the way, your guesses were…”
“I guessed 200 years, and she guessed 150 years. The Heliodic Era transitioned to the Medilefianna Era from the year 1907 when the Hero summonings began to the first year of Medilefianna Era. Now it’s the 118th year of Medilefianna, so… it seems she won. She’s quite good at this kind of competition.”
The Demon King had a somewhat regretful expression, but… wasn’t the outcome of that competition still undecided? After all, it’s about “until the Goddess’s book reaches the Abyss,” right? I don’t have the Goddess’s book with me now.
“Well, I haven’t brought the ‘Alive Grimoire’ yet, so…”
“I see. I understand. Can you wait for another 50 years?”
“No, we want to go back… so, we’ll leave it to you at that time. It shouldn’t take more than another month or so…”
I see. This person seems to have a good relationship with the Goddess.
“So, why can’t we ‘transfer’ from here? Can you explain why?”
Oh, right, that’s it. If Toriumi hadn’t asked, we might have all forgotten about it, but this is also a serious matter.
“Oh, my apologies. You see, since you were the first visitors in a long time, I had sealed it. …It should be open now.”
The Demon King snapped his fingers, and with that, the ‘transfer’ seal was lifted. Truly fitting for the Demon King.
…But it was a forced event, and I’m glad it wasn’t a losing event or a total wipeout event. Yes.
“Oh, and about Cerberus, who was the gatekeeper here, well, it seems that he has become attached to me…”
…I thought I should ask about this too, or it might be awkward later. So, I timidly inquired, and the Demon King burst into laughter.
“No, I’m sorry. It was just too unexpected. Don’t worry. While I created Cerberus, he’s not really mine. Please take him wherever you like. I’m sure he’ll be delighted.”
“Don’t you have any problems with the gatekeeper being gone?”
“Even without the gatekeeper, hardly anyone ever comes here.”
Besides, well… the Demon King is stronger than the gatekeeper, for sure. Yeah.
“And then, there’s the giant wolf, the offspring of the Great Serpent, and the crystal spider…”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all! Do as you like. …Fiana is lucky, after all. She was picked up by an interesting person like you.”
The Demon King laughed and held out his empty hand, and suddenly, there were several small gem-like objects on it, even though there should have been nothing there.
“Please give these to them. …They should be of help. Finding the ‘Void Orbs’ might be a bit challenging, but… I’m counting on you.”
And he scattered those gems into my palm.
“I can’t leave the Abyss, you see.”
“Are you sure? The origin… um, the ‘Void Orbs,’ you created them, right?”
I asked just to confirm, and he smiled wryly.
“Oh, yes. At this point, they would only be a nuisance to humans.”
…So, does that mean it was different in the past?
“…I’ll send you back to the surface. If you’ve erased the ‘Void Orbs,’ you can come back to the Abyss. ‘Abyssal Ash’ will fall into the Abyss again.”
Before I could react, some mysterious glowing started.
Wait a moment, I haven’t finished my tea yet!
“I’m counting on you. And please, apologize to Fiana for my pointless jealousy.”
With that, the scene suddenly faded away, and in the next moment, I was back on the surface.
…The Demon King dropped quite a bombshell.
“It seems like we’re on the 1st floor in the center.”
We can see the temple a little way off.
[It’s so bright!]
[It’s blinding!]
[It’s too bright!]
Marbello, who was born and raised in the Abyss, found the surface blinding even in the evening. Well, he can complain to the Demon King since he was forcefully moved!
“Isn’t it a bit too lenient for him to just drop all those bombshells and say ‘I’m counting on you’?”
Hagasaki-kun is grumbling, but well, let’s think positively that at least we weren’t killed!
“Well, I guess it’s fine. It’s not our concern how the Demon King and the Goddess were infatuated with each other, and we can probably revive the choir club members.”
That’s true. …The problem is which origin to erase.
Right now, I have two origins with me. One was from the floating island in the center of the 2nd floor, and the other was from the temple. It’s unlikely that these are the only origins, so there are probably more. In that case, it’s better to find them. Yeah, because we don’t want to run out of options.
“The Hero is probably the one who might know the locations of the origins.”
…Yeah.
“Let’s do it tomorrow since it’s late today. We also have Shureira-san’s moving to take care of.”
That’s right. Shureira-san is planning to move to Nishikino-kun’s place. Yeah, I think there’s plenty of room in that mansion. Living with Carissa-chan, they definitely have lots of extra rooms.
So, for now, I used “Transfer” to go to Shureira-san’s place in Aegis.
“Oh! Maito! I thought you had forgotten about me!”
“I’m sorry, I got a bit delayed listening to the story of how the world was created.”
As expected, Shureira-san scolded me a bit. Complain to the Demon King! Please!
“Well, never mind that. You’ll help with the move, won’t you?”
Of course!
Teleportation is really useful at times like this. In this world, with just one Transfer Barrette, you could make a living as a moving company.
Shureira-san didn’t have too many belongings. Even though it’s a move, it seems like she has no intention of getting rid of this house.
To be honest, there were more pieces of equipment rather than just regular belongings. They seemed to be tools for alchemy, but I didn’t really understand what they were for!
Most of these equipment and devices had strange patterns or carvings on them, but apparently, Hagasaki-kun and Katori somehow understood their meanings. That’s kind of spooky.
…I heard later that Katori’s humanoid optical weapon has a circuitry similar to the patterns used in Shureira-san’s alchemy or something like that…
By the way, regarding this move, Carissa-chan wasn’t exactly informed in advance.
According to Shureira-san, “My little sister is easily persuaded. If I pack up my things and show up at her place, she won’t refuse.” That’s the kind of relationship they have as sisters.
“I’m intruding~”
Since it’s a “Transfer,” I suddenly appeared inside, and there was Carissa-chan sitting on Nishikino-kun’s lap, cuddling with him. Sorry.
“You’re in the way.”
“Oh, big sister!?”
“Big sister!?”
Carissa-chan is flustered too, but probably more so is Nishikino-kun, who’s panicking. Poor Nishikino-kun. Namu.
“Carissa, are you okay?”
“W-w-why is big sister here!?”
Carissa-chan jumps up and confronts Shureira-san. Ah, it’s just a cover. It’s just a cover. That’s her way of covering her embarrassment, I guess.
“Isn’t it fine?”
“No, it’s not!”
Then, Shureira-san, with a practiced gesture, opened her arms towards Carissa-chan, and Carissa-chan reluctantly hugged her. Ah, it’s another cover-up. She’s trying to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s been a while, Carissa.”
“Yeah…”
Well, technically, Carissa-chan was imprisoned, so this is supposed to be an emotional reunion between sisters, but Nishikino-kun, who has no idea what’s going on, is left out. We’ll explain to him later, so please forgive us.
After explaining to Nishikino-kun as well and convincing Carissa-chan to cooperate, Shureira-san successfully completed the move. Carissa-chan is quite strong, I thought, but Shureira-san is undoubtedly her sister.
“So, except for the ‘Ashes of the Abyss,’ all the materials are here.”
“No way! That was fast! I thought it would take longer!”
Carissa-chan is inspecting the gathered materials in surprise.
“I think we can get the ‘Ashes of the Abyss’ within a few days, probably.”
“Yeah. I think I can have my equipment ready in a couple of days too if I borrow my big sister’s stuff. Then, once everything’s set up, prepare the bodies you want to revive for me!”
Bodies in their current state, right?
“Can Shureira-san make the ‘Abyssal Stones’ quickly?”
“It’ll take a bit of time to set up the sigils, but I should be able to do it before Carissa’s preparations are complete.”
That’s reassuring!
Then, all we have to do is make the elixir ourselves, turn the choir members back from gemstones into bodies, use Shureira-san’s ‘Abyssal Stones’ to remove foreign objects from the vessels of life, and let Carissa-chan create life!
Finally! Finally, it’s in sight! Not “it’s starting to become visible” or anything like that, it’s visible now!
…It took quite a while, but once we revive the choir members, there should be a way for us to return home.
“…Fianna is the name of the Goddess. Her full name is MediLefiana.”
I recalled that this world used the “MediLefiana Calendar.” According to that calendar, it was currently the year 118. Did that mean this world was only 118 years old? Well, there must have been something before the MediLefiana Calendar, just like there was the Showa Era before Heisei in Japan. So, what kind of situation led to naming subsequent eras after the name of the creation goddess?
“Um, about the calendar’s name…”
“Ah, the MediLefiana Calendar, right? Is it the year 117 this year?”
“No, it’s actually the year 118.”
I asked about the calendar’s name out of curiosity, and it seemed like they were prepared for such questions as the response came quickly.
“I see… The era before the MediLefiana Calendar was the Heliodic Era. Heliodic is the name of this world. The Heliodic Era lasted for about two thousand years.”
So, this world was named Heliodic, and it had the Heliodic Era for about two thousand years before suddenly switching to the MediLefiana Calendar 118 years ago. Why did that happen?
“The Heliodic Era began with the creation of this world. Before that, there was a dispute between me and Fianna, but for the people of this world, it’s a mythological event. Now, it’s passed down as a thousand-year-long conflict or something like that.”
The myth told in the temple was that the Demon King was defeated, and it was considered a boring story until they had a dispute. It turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, according to the Goddess book.
“And Fianna observed humans for a while… Humans sometimes acted according to her expectations, and sometimes they acted unpredictably. She enjoyed watching that. And then, in the year 1869 of the Heliodic Era, she died as a goddess.”
The Goddess died? But she was all-knowing and all-powerful (self-proclaimed), right?
Wait! Could it be that she was dismembered with a chainsaw!? No, that’s unlikely…
“She entrusted the role of moving the world not to herself but to humans. She weighed humans and herself on the scales and chose humans.”
As the Demon King spoke these words, he truly embodied the role of the Demon King.
The Demon King was indeed the Demon King!
I will never forget that aura of the Demon King, the true Demon King!
“Are there still demons on the surface?”
“There are plenty of them.”
I replied, and the Demon King closed his eyes slightly and snapped his fingers.
A small crystal tower-like model appeared on the table. The first level had a dark floor, and the rest of the levels were green.
“In the year 1834 of the Heliodic Era, humans opened the gates of the abyss.”
He waved his finger, and a hole appeared between the first and second levels, from which black entities began to overflow into the second level and beyond.
“At that time, the surface was devastated by the demons from the abyss. Humans had no means to resist at the time.”
However, with another wave of his finger, the green surface returned. Upon closer inspection, I could see tiny miniature humans on the surface, destroying the black entities.
“The Goddess had two options. One was to use her power to destroy the demons and protect humans. The other was to sacrifice herself and give magic to humans.”
And the Goddess chose the latter option.
Perhaps the Goddess made this choice to ensure that humans would be fine even without her.
“The Goddess originally became the guiding force of this world after creating it. It’s possible that the corruption in the temple may not be the work of the Goddess.”
The Goddess book mentioned something along these lines.
The Goddess decided to entrust the guidance of the world to humans rather than doing it herself.
We don’t know when the temple was built, but as a result of choosing to entrust it to humans, the temple fell into corruption. The Goddess might not be without regrets about it.
“So, why was that book of the Goddess inside the Great Serpent?”
“Oh, that was something she suggested. She said, ‘Let’s make a guess about how long it will take for humans to pick it up and deliver it to the Abyss.'”
I see. Was that it? Is that really it?
“By the way, your guesses were…”
“I guessed 200 years, and she guessed 150 years. The Heliodic Era transitioned to the Medilefianna Era from the year 1907 when the Hero summonings began to the first year of Medilefianna Era. Now it’s the 118th year of Medilefianna, so… it seems she won. She’s quite good at this kind of competition.”
The Demon King had a somewhat regretful expression, but… wasn’t the outcome of that competition still undecided? After all, it’s about “until the Goddess’s book reaches the Abyss,” right? I don’t have the Goddess’s book with me now.
“Well, I haven’t brought the ‘Alive Grimoire’ yet, so…”
“I see. I understand. Can you wait for another 50 years?”
“No, we want to go back… so, we’ll leave it to you at that time. It shouldn’t take more than another month or so…”
I see. This person seems to have a good relationship with the Goddess.
“So, why can’t we ‘transfer’ from here? Can you explain why?”
Oh, right, that’s it. If Toriumi hadn’t asked, we might have all forgotten about it, but this is also a serious matter.
“Oh, my apologies. You see, since you were the first visitors in a long time, I had sealed it. …It should be open now.”
The Demon King snapped his fingers, and with that, the ‘transfer’ seal was lifted. Truly fitting for the Demon King.
…But it was a forced event, and I’m glad it wasn’t a losing event or a total wipeout event. Yes.
“Oh, and about Cerberus, who was the gatekeeper here, well, it seems that he has become attached to me…”
…I thought I should ask about this too, or it might be awkward later. So, I timidly inquired, and the Demon King burst into laughter.
“No, I’m sorry. It was just too unexpected. Don’t worry. While I created Cerberus, he’s not really mine. Please take him wherever you like. I’m sure he’ll be delighted.”
“Don’t you have any problems with the gatekeeper being gone?”
“Even without the gatekeeper, hardly anyone ever comes here.”
Besides, well… the Demon King is stronger than the gatekeeper, for sure. Yeah.
“And then, there’s the giant wolf, the offspring of the Great Serpent, and the crystal spider…”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all! Do as you like. …Fiana is lucky, after all. She was picked up by an interesting person like you.”
The Demon King laughed and held out his empty hand, and suddenly, there were several small gem-like objects on it, even though there should have been nothing there.
“Please give these to them. …They should be of help. Finding the ‘Void Orbs’ might be a bit challenging, but… I’m counting on you.”
And he scattered those gems into my palm.
“I can’t leave the Abyss, you see.”
“Are you sure? The origin… um, the ‘Void Orbs,’ you created them, right?”
I asked just to confirm, and he smiled wryly.
“Oh, yes. At this point, they would only be a nuisance to humans.”
…So, does that mean it was different in the past?
“…I’ll send you back to the surface. If you’ve erased the ‘Void Orbs,’ you can come back to the Abyss. ‘Abyssal Ash’ will fall into the Abyss again.”
Before I could react, some mysterious glowing started.
Wait a moment, I haven’t finished my tea yet!
“I’m counting on you. And please, apologize to Fiana for my pointless jealousy.”
With that, the scene suddenly faded away, and in the next moment, I was back on the surface.
…The Demon King dropped quite a bombshell.
“It seems like we’re on the 1st floor in the center.”
We can see the temple a little way off.
[It’s so bright!]
[It’s blinding!]
[It’s too bright!]
Marbello, who was born and raised in the Abyss, found the surface blinding even in the evening. Well, he can complain to the Demon King since he was forcefully moved!
“Isn’t it a bit too lenient for him to just drop all those bombshells and say ‘I’m counting on you’?”
Hagasaki-kun is grumbling, but well, let’s think positively that at least we weren’t killed!
“Well, I guess it’s fine. It’s not our concern how the Demon King and the Goddess were infatuated with each other, and we can probably revive the choir club members.”
That’s true. …The problem is which origin to erase.
Right now, I have two origins with me. One was from the floating island in the center of the 2nd floor, and the other was from the temple. It’s unlikely that these are the only origins, so there are probably more. In that case, it’s better to find them. Yeah, because we don’t want to run out of options.
“The Hero is probably the one who might know the locations of the origins.”
…Yeah.
“Let’s do it tomorrow since it’s late today. We also have Shureira-san’s moving to take care of.”
That’s right. Shureira-san is planning to move to Nishikino-kun’s place. Yeah, I think there’s plenty of room in that mansion. Living with Carissa-chan, they definitely have lots of extra rooms.
So, for now, I used “Transfer” to go to Shureira-san’s place in Aegis.
“Oh! Maito! I thought you had forgotten about me!”
“I’m sorry, I got a bit delayed listening to the story of how the world was created.”
As expected, Shureira-san scolded me a bit. Complain to the Demon King! Please!
“Well, never mind that. You’ll help with the move, won’t you?”
Of course!
Teleportation is really useful at times like this. In this world, with just one Transfer Barrette, you could make a living as a moving company.
Shureira-san didn’t have too many belongings. Even though it’s a move, it seems like she has no intention of getting rid of this house.
To be honest, there were more pieces of equipment rather than just regular belongings. They seemed to be tools for alchemy, but I didn’t really understand what they were for!
Most of these equipment and devices had strange patterns or carvings on them, but apparently, Hagasaki-kun and Katori somehow understood their meanings. That’s kind of spooky.
…I heard later that Katori’s humanoid optical weapon has a circuitry similar to the patterns used in Shureira-san’s alchemy or something like that…
By the way, regarding this move, Carissa-chan wasn’t exactly informed in advance.
According to Shureira-san, “My little sister is easily persuaded. If I pack up my things and show up at her place, she won’t refuse.” That’s the kind of relationship they have as sisters.
“I’m intruding~”
Since it’s a “Transfer,” I suddenly appeared inside, and there was Carissa-chan sitting on Nishikino-kun’s lap, cuddling with him. Sorry.
“You’re in the way.”
“Oh, big sister!?”
“Big sister!?”
Carissa-chan is flustered too, but probably more so is Nishikino-kun, who’s panicking. Poor Nishikino-kun. Namu.
“Carissa, are you okay?”
“W-w-why is big sister here!?”
Carissa-chan jumps up and confronts Shureira-san. Ah, it’s just a cover. It’s just a cover. That’s her way of covering her embarrassment, I guess.
“Isn’t it fine?”
“No, it’s not!”
Then, Shureira-san, with a practiced gesture, opened her arms towards Carissa-chan, and Carissa-chan reluctantly hugged her. Ah, it’s another cover-up. She’s trying to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s been a while, Carissa.”
“Yeah…”
Well, technically, Carissa-chan was imprisoned, so this is supposed to be an emotional reunion between sisters, but Nishikino-kun, who has no idea what’s going on, is left out. We’ll explain to him later, so please forgive us.
After explaining to Nishikino-kun as well and convincing Carissa-chan to cooperate, Shureira-san successfully completed the move. Carissa-chan is quite strong, I thought, but Shureira-san is undoubtedly her sister.
“So, except for the ‘Ashes of the Abyss,’ all the materials are here.”
“No way! That was fast! I thought it would take longer!”
Carissa-chan is inspecting the gathered materials in surprise.
“I think we can get the ‘Ashes of the Abyss’ within a few days, probably.”
“Yeah. I think I can have my equipment ready in a couple of days too if I borrow my big sister’s stuff. Then, once everything’s set up, prepare the bodies you want to revive for me!”
Bodies in their current state, right?
“Can Shureira-san make the ‘Abyssal Stones’ quickly?”
“It’ll take a bit of time to set up the sigils, but I should be able to do it before Carissa’s preparations are complete.”
That’s reassuring!
Then, all we have to do is make the elixir ourselves, turn the choir members back from gemstones into bodies, use Shureira-san’s ‘Abyssal Stones’ to remove foreign objects from the vessels of life, and let Carissa-chan create life!
Finally! Finally, it’s in sight! Not “it’s starting to become visible” or anything like that, it’s visible now!
…It took quite a while, but once we revive the choir members, there should be a way for us to return home.
