Chapter 236 - Petra's Secret and a Third Visit to the Divine Throne
"Orichalcum is said to be a mineral born from Mana," Petra said. As usual, her face was obscured by thick, round glasses and a bandana covering her mouth.
"I thought... you said Mana doesn't have a physical structure?"
Petra nodded at my words.
"...It's just what 'is said.' No one has ever actually created a crystal core or orichalcum from Mana."
This time, Marmie answered. We were in a spot south of Richelle, along the main road—the very place where Racshell had summoned Mizuki and me. Aidan and Petra were carefully placing a hexagonal metal plate on the ground. It had to be about a meter wide. The surface was covered in a dense pattern of what could have been letters or crests, and it glowed with a golden light. It seemed to be emitting its own luminescence rather than simply reflecting the sun. There was a depression in the center and one at the point of each of the six corners, into which they fitted magic seeds.
"...Transporting the mass of one person consumes one magic seed. And one for the experiment, so we need eight magic seeds."
"No, seven magic seeds will be enough."
Petra replied to Marmie as she stood up after setting the seeds.
"...What do you mean?"
"You'll see, after this experiment is a success."
Petra gave me a meaningful look, but I had no idea what she was getting at. Before I could ask, she turned her face away and addressed Marmie again.
"Marmie, activate the magic circle."
Marmie nodded once and pointed the tip of her wand at the plate. Something like a black miasma began to rise from it.
"Hey, is this safe?"
The miasma seemed to swallow the glow of the orichalcum, transforming it into something eerie.
"...Mash, be quiet."
Marmie thrust her wand forward and began to weave an incantation. It sounded like delirious muttering, devoid of intonation, like a string of random words, but I couldn't tell if it had any actual meaning. Soon, the plate that had been shining with golden light was completely consumed by the miasma, leaving only a flickering, flame-like mass of black energy.
"This is..."
It was exactly like the entrance to a dungeon.
"So, what's this method for confirming if it's really connected to the 'World of the Holy Oil Jar'?"
Petra's voice came from behind me as I stared, dumbfounded.
"Ah, right... I wrote a letter to Racshell."
"I see."
Petra took the letter I held out.
"Inorganic objects alone won't be transported, so I'll add a disguise."
She pressed something like clay onto the letter. It looked just like a wax seal. Then, as if tossing it into a bonfire, she threw it into the miasma. The letter vanished as if consumed by flames.
"What if the letter reaches that space, but Racshell doesn't notice it?" Mizuki asked.
"Nah, she seems to have a lot of free time, so she's probably watching constantly, right? When I did the Goddess Summoning, I never had to explain the situation from scratch. She was watching everything the other night, too, wasn't she?"
"Stop it."
Mizuki turned her face away with a huff.
"How long were we in that space anyway?"
"It felt long, and yet short..."
Mizuki put a hand on her chin, lost in thought. It was true; being in that space warped your sense of time. After waiting for a while, the flickering miasma flared for a moment, and a letter fluttered out from within it. It drifted down and landed in front of me. Mizuki picked it up.
"The wax seal is still on it..."
She casually broke the seal and took out the paper inside.
"H-Hey, don't just read it! That's an invasion of privacy!"
"Says the person who comes into my room without permission."
She batted my hand away as I tried to snatch it back and lowered her eyes to the letter.
"'O, Racshell, I am Mother Moon, the one who illuminates this world— Reply upon reading this letter—'"
"..."
"Are you a child?! There's no way she'd reply to something like this!"
"What was I supposed to do?! I didn't know what to write!"
"You need to think about time and place before you joke around!"
She shoved the letter against my chest.
"Well, whatever. The experiments in Aidan's workshop showed that transported items never came back, right? The fact that the letter returned from this spot means it went to Racshell's room and then came back after some time passed. That should be good enough, shouldn't it?"
We stood before the wavering miasma. The plan was to use this teleporter to go to Racshell's space. Once there, it would be strange to summon Racshell while standing in front of her, but she couldn't leave her room otherwise. We'd summon her, and then travel through the 'World of the Holy Oil Jar' to Migul. If we ended up in a void, we could just summon her there. Even if it wasn't the 'World of the Holy Oil Jar', we knew we could return to this spot after a while, just like the letter did.
"Alright, shall we go?"
I looked around at our group. Me, Fam, Mizuki, Maira, Marmie, Petra, and Sam. Aidan would stay behind to clean up the teleporter.
"Wait. It's just like a dungeon entrance. Only six people can pass through at once," Petra said. It was the kind of thing I wished she'd said earlier, but there was nothing to be done.
"In that case, we'll leave Sam here."
Just as I was about to ask Aidan to look after her, Petra placed a hand on my shoulder.
"There's something I need to talk to you about regarding that."
She tried to pull me by the hand, so I reluctantly followed. As usual, Maira led the charge with Fam, Mizuki, and Marmie following close behind. Petra stopped.
"This is a truly important matter. It's not the kind of romantic nonsense you're all concerned with. Please, I'm begging you, leave us alone."
The four girls looked at each other. Maira puffed her cheeks and tried to follow anyway, but Mizuki grabbed her hand and pulled her back. Petra and I headed for the shade of a tree.
"It's about Sam," she began.
"She needs a purpose in life. She won't find one in this city. Just as you are to Fam, she needs someone to be that figure for her. I understand the desire to have Aidan fill that role. But for her, it would be better if that person were of the Human or Dog-Eared race. In Migul, there's Marianne Wanland. You should rely on her. I will stay behind in her place."
"What about you?"
"I find that I truly enjoy swinging a hammer alongside my master. And I still have the orichalcum I wheedled out of you."
Aidan's presence must hold that much appeal for her. I looked at her face intently, though her covered features revealed nothing.
"If you're gone, won't everyone in Migul be troubled?"
"Yes."
As she said that, she removed her glasses and bandana.
"You..."
"Remember the location of my mole and tell Grandfather. That should stop him from bringing any more marriage candidates. I have to obey his decisions anyway. Tell him I'm staying in Richelle to forge orichalcum weapons for Mash."
I stared at her face. A faint smile touched the corners of her lips.
"One more thing. You should use my grandfather's connections to hear the myths passed down by the Dwarf race."
"Petra... don't talk like this is the end. I have no intention of leaving anyone behind. I'll be back soon."
"The divine throne... I see. If we're going to rebuild the grand cathedral in Migul, I'd like to use that place as a motif. I'll definitely come back to Migul for the reconstruction. Please tell the priests for me."
With that, she pushed against my chest with both hands, as if to shove me away.
"You can worry about me last. Take care of what you need to do first. You and Mizuki still haven't decided what you want to do about Yuuki, have you? You need to have a proper talk with her."
"I will."
"I said you can worry about me last, but don't just abandon me. It's not every day a dwarven daughter shows her face to a man like this."
I was about to retort that there wasn't a girl here older than me, but her unveiled face was so radiant that I hesitated.
"I seem to have told them a lie. Go on ahead. I'll follow as soon as I adjust my glasses."
Leaving the two dwarves, Petra and Aidan, behind, the rest of us stood on the teleporter.
"Why is your face so red?" Maira asked.
"I-It's nothing. I'm just nervous about whether this transport will succeed, that's all."
"Hmph! I knew it, I shouldn't have let you go alone!"
As she was speaking, our vision was enveloped by the black miasma.
It was a divine, glowing, temple-like space. When I came to, I was in a familiar place. It seemed we had been transported to Racshell's dimension. I looked around. Everyone had been transported safely. However, the master of the room, who should have been here, was nowhere to be seen.
"What's going on?"
"Who knows? But maybe if you use Goddess Summoning, she'll appear?" Mizuki answered.
"I guess so, but she said she was trapped here. It's strange that she's not in this room."
"Hmm? Hmm, well... that's true."
"She's definitely hiding something. First she tells us to defeat a non-existent Demon Lord, then she makes us fight other transferrers... she knows everything and just plays dumb, doing whatever she wants. I'd love to give her a taste of divine punishment."
"Divine punishment for a goddess... Still, do you really have time for that? If our bodies disappear and we get sent back to Richelle, we'll be out of magic seeds. Aidan and Petra would be furious."
"Alright, then just three minutes. Let's search the place. If we find anything valuable, we'll toss it all in storage and take it home!"
At my declaration, Maira frantically raised her hand.
"W-Wait! Robbing Lady Racshell's room will surely bring a divine curse upon us! We shouldn't..."
Like her, Fam and Sam also seemed hesitant. Marmie looked intrigued but didn't make a move to join in. It seemed Racshell was still deeply revered as a god by the people of this world. Mizuki and I started walking around, surveying the area. It was inefficient to search the same place, so we split up. I soon found the entrance to a side room. Stepping inside, I saw that it was a bedroom. There was a king-sized bed with a lavish canopy. Lying on the fluffy cushion, covered by a pure white sheet, was Racshell. Her hands were folded over her chest, making me wonder for a moment if she was dead, but her chest was rising and falling gently.
"...Do even gods sleep?"
Do gods dream? Her face was peaceful. Even in sleep, her divine form lost none of its splendor. I placed a hand on her chest. I had to check her heartbeat, to make sure she wasn't ill. I kneaded her breast. I couldn't hear a heartbeat, but it was just so soft. Feeling the marshmallow-like texture and the warmth of her skin, I kneaded it some more.
"Nn... mmm..."
Her brows furrowed slightly, and a small moan escaped her lips, but she showed no sign of waking. I knew there was only one way to wake someone up in a situation like this. I knew it well. I pressed my own lips against her cherry-pink ones. After a light touch, I pulled back for a moment, then pecked at her soft lips again. Just then, I thought I saw Racshell's eyes fly open. But when I looked, they were closed again. I thought it might have been my imagination, but her breath had grown hot. I extended my tongue and pushed it inside her, and she, too, parted her lips slightly, allowing my entry. Her arms wrapped around my back. I was about to deepen the kiss and entangle our tongues when I was struck on the back of the head, causing me to bite my own tongue. I turned around to see Mizuki, and in the doorway, Fam and the others were peeking in.
"Agh, mff, ah, hmph, mmph!"
"I didn't hit you that hard! I can't understand what you're saying, but we don't have time for this!"
"I am not a taxi, you know!"
Racshell puffed out her cheeks.
"Shut it. If you really want us to defeat the Demon Lord, then be quiet and do as you're told!"
"You're so mean!"
Racshell still looked like she wanted to protest.
"Anyway, how can you be so careless? You're in a conflict with other gods, aren't you? How have you not been killed yet?"
"Gods don't die the way humans think of killing. Their entire existence must be erased. Besides, I had the room properly locked!"
"Huh? You're the one who gave me this key, remember?"
When I showed her the magic key, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Couldn't other gods make things like this, too? If so, locking the door itself was meaningless. I thought about telling her that, but decided to keep quiet for now. I'd already used Goddess Summoning. We were out of time.
"So, you want me to take you to the dungeon in the Leafclout domain?"
Racshell asked sullenly.
"No, the forty-ninth floor of the Crystal Palace."
"What do you mean? Even if we go there, we won't be able to get inside unless the dungeon has collapsed, will we?"
Maira tilted her head.
"That's where Shizuka's boyfriend, Ko-kun... no, Toratsuna, is supposed to be."
"How so?"
"Hyakka's party, New World's Etowan, said it. There's something strange about the forty-ninth floor. And the Messiah and Toratsuna fought there. Clovis also hinted that there was a user of the special skill, the Yasakani no Magatama. He has to be there."
The battle between the Messiah and Toratsuna took place months ago. He might not even be alive. But for Shizuka's sake, I had to investigate the possibility.
"I want you to take us there."
At my words, Racshell nodded.
"I suppose I have no choice. I will take you there."
A spear materialized, floating in the air before her.
I wanted to write the title as "The Third Time" using kanji and ruby text, but since I can't, I used hiragana.
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