Confirmation and a Trap

  Now, Leona’s gone, but it’s not like I can sleep yet.

  Because I still have to do the final confirmation.

  With that, I went to [White Beach]. The footprints from where Leona had walked had almost completely vanished, but I guess she walked in that direction?

  I went into the forest.

  “Let’s see, it was definitely this way… oh, a broken branch. Looks like she was here.”


  I went farther into the forest.

  … Huh? What am I doing? Why did I go this far again?

  No, yeah. I have to confirm. The final confirmation. Yeah.

  I arrived in front of a cave. There were some burned areas, as well as bits of it still smoldering. It looks like she forcibly opened it up through some villainous magic, making an impromptu cave.

  And my target was inside. Right, I could understand that from the details. This is why I came.

  When I looked into the cave—Leona was spread out sitting on a futon, waiting.

  Crap, I have to run! No, it’s fine…!? The thoughts for [STOP] and [GO] lit up in my head at the same time.

  W-wha-what the heck. My head’s all mixed up.

  “I was waiting.”


  “—….”


  Spoken to by Leona, I held my head. I was using [Super Transformation] today, it’s alright. I have an extra life. Calm down.

  “There’s something you want to ask, right?”


  “… Yeah. There is.”


  “Go ahead, I’ll even teach you how to have fun and live for hundreds of years.—Setsuna, Nayuta, the Toys, how to raise your skills, how to kill and deceive gods, even how to steal their powers, anything. Now, what do you want to ask first?”


  “Leona, what era did you come from?”


  “Oh?”


  Leona smiled with a smile that said she hadn’t expected him to ask something so similar to asking her age.

  But she probably wouldn’t have a problem with it—she was seventeen, after all.

  “Well… let’s say it was an era that made today’s entertainment feel nostalgic. It was like that for you too, right?”


  “… That so, well, I’m happy you liked it.”


  “I really enjoyed it, enough so that I wanted to stay there for longer…”


  Leona’s smile looked lonely. What she was thinking wasn’t something me, someone who won’t even live till five hundred, could understand.

  “Which is why I felt that I definitely had to give you my thanks and call you here with this.”


  Leona patted the futon… The Godly Comforter? I see, so that’s it?

  It looks like I was lured here by the Godly Comforter’s divinity. Like a moth to the flame.

  “So next you’ll want me to tell you about Toys. That girl, Meat Kuroinu, if I recall?”


  “… You knew? No, so Meat’s like that?”


  “I knew~. It’s something I made after all… or maybe it’s better to say I’m making? Unlike Setsuna, that girl isn’t natural.”


  … Meat is—no, Toys are created existences…?

  “Different from Setsuna and Nayuta? I thought something was said about them being sisters?”


  “Setsuna is natural, I haven’t adjusted her at all. And yet she’s so interesting right? The seed I’d chosen randomly brought forth a miracle. That’s why I gave making Nayuta and the Toys a shot.” [1]

  Hold up. She just said something outrageous like it was nothing.

  Leona continued talking about her story.

  “Setsuna’s talent value is super close to 6V and feels like 5V! Ah, you don’t know what I mean? Well, anyways, she has miraculous talent. However, she’s a bit lacking in the head, so I adjusted Nayuta’s head to be better. Toys are things I made when I wondered what would happen if I raised their talent to as high as possible! There’s a lot that I did that so, so I decided to call all of them Toys… oh, the origin of their name is the Japanese word ‘toy’. Well, setting aside Nayuta who I’d only added checks to so that she wouldn’t be unreasonable, I’ve had a lot of failures too. Really, training so many different creatures causes a lot of troubles. I’ve finally gotten to the point that I can mix a few things together without changing their appearance though. After many sacrifices, I finally made five Toys to assemble the Toy Rangers!—ah, that part was a lie. The Toy Rangers aren’t a thing~. It’d sound too cheesy. Well it’s true that I had a ton of failures, only three of them ever turned out exceeding their planned talent values. Ah, but don’t worry! My lovely grandchildren and my failures weren’t for nothing. The staff happily accepted them, turning them into materials, food, even furniture… ah, there was even one of them that became a toilet! Ufufu, I said something good there… Hmm? But isn’t it weird? The failures should’ve all been locked away and recycled? And I know where the three successes are? Huh? Then that means there’s a fourth, I guess? Maybe it’s one of the ones I discarded and stopped paying attention to? Well, it’s a trivial problem. It’s probably just that I threw her into a slum in attempts to see if she’d be able to break through her limits in such a horrible environment and forgot about it. There’s also the possibility that Haku-chan stole my research results. That child has a hero under her control after all. There’s also the chance of godly intervention, but well, that’s not much of a problem either. What I can’t remember doesn’t matter, probably. Ah, I started babbling didn’t I? Well, with all that—”


  Leona took a deep breath before continuing.

  “—the Toys were created by me! Amazing, right!?”


  “You already said that.”


  “Oh.”


  Yep, most of the middle part’s fuzzy, but I do get that she’s done a ton of bad things. I was listening since it seemed like she’d break me if I didn’t though.

  “Hmph, then let’s talk about something else. How about raising hero skills?”


  “… Sure.”


  “+1 if you destroy a Dummy Core. +1 and a chance to learn a new skill if you destroy a Dungeon Core. If you’ve maxed out all your levels, it’ll be stockpiled until you learn a new one—You probably know that as well, right, Keima-san?”


  Nope, didn’t know that. I did realize that the level went up when you destroy a Dungeon Core though.

  “Then I wonder if you’ve noticed that, for us who are also Dungeon Masters and who are affiliated with the Dark God’s faction, we can level up as much as we want?”


  … Eh?

  “H-h-hold up. Huh, what?”


  “Hmm? What’s wrong?”


  I mean, Dummy Cores are things that can be bought for 5000 DP. I used to think that was a lot, but nowadays I can earn 5000 DP pretty fast. In other words—


  “I can power level myself!?”


  “Yeah?”


  I can power level myself like eating french fries at a buffet.

  Let’s level [Super Transformation] as soon as I get back.

  “… Ah, but I don’t recommend leveling hero skills all at once. The Light God will eat your soul if you do.”


  “Huh? Please, wait. What?”


  “Fufu.”


  Leona laughed.

  “Do you think that so out-of-the-norm skills like hero skills can be mastered so easily? Your soul’s growth and adaptation wouldn’t be able to keep up. If you aren’t a capable container, you should level up only once or twice in a year at the most.”


  So it’s like that? Rather, soul’s growth and adaptation? Just what are skills?

  “It’ll corrode your soul if you go past your limit. And since hero skills are the Light God’s territory… do you understand now that I’ve spoken this much? Yeah, if you give it your all in raising your levels at a fast pace, you’ll turn into God’s Vanguard.”


  … Let’s keep it to one level a year! I’ve probably already hit my credit limit, I mean, I’m probably just barely safe. I went straight to Lv 3 after all.

  “Well, you usually wouldn’t be able to capture multiple dungeons in a year, so it’s a double standard unique to people like us. Even if other Heroes did their best, being able to capture multiple in a year is something they’d probably only be able to do as a God’s Vanguard in the first place.”


  “Leona, uhh, have you been corroded?”


  “Me? No? I’m still fine, my soul isn’t a what a single person should have and can’t be compared to yours. It’s a rule I found out in an experiment with Haku-chan. Well, I kept it quiet so Haku-chan probably hasn’t noticed though.”


  So many horrible things. The experiments, Leona, and the Hero Skills.

  “Oooh right. Could you take care of Setsuna? You could add her to your harem. But make sure to have lots of kids since I’ll be taking one.”


  “Eh? I don’t intend to make a move on any of my employees though? And let alone a harem, I haven’t touched anyone.”


  “Eh?”


  Surprised, Leona opened her red eyes widely.

  “… Uwaah, seriously? Unbelievable, you’ve gathered so many pretty things… eh, is that it? You’re gay? Ah, Setsuna has a penis, you know? She is a girl though.”


  “I’m straight!”


  “I see, so you’re a no-good virgin.”


  “H-h-h-how does that have anything to do with someone being a virgin!?”


  “… Shall I give you some confidence then? It’s alright, I’ll be gentle.”


  Tapping the top of the Godly Comforter, Leona moved her shirt a little out of the way. She exposed part of her clavicle, even her cleavage… but dang. I can’t see her legs at all with that pose. In other words, it’s not effective against me at all.

  “I refuse.”


  “Oh, I’ve been rejected? Interesting, is the comforter’s effect not working…? No, it worked in bringing you here. Do you have some resistance…?”


  Staying here any longer might be dangerous.

  “Honestly, I’m attracted to that futon, but I’m heading back!”


  “That would be a problem.”


  When I came to, bandages had been twined around my hands at some point… and Leona was opposite me. The heck. I didn’t black out though?

  “Whaaat, it’ll be over before you can count the dots on the ceiling~, or not~?”


  “Wh-what’re you trying to pull, cut it out!?”


  And then I lost consciousness.

  Footnotes:

  There’s some word play going on here that I believe is going over my head. My apologies.