1 - Prologue: The Three Idiots Are Already Gone
I have started posting the work for the Kakuyomu Con here as well. The vibe being old-fashioned is by design. I will update daily until I catch up.
By the time they realized it, they were dead.
The three of them became certain of this when they witnessed the anomaly of being thrown into a void of nothing but white space. And then, a woman of indescribable beauty appeared, descending leisurely along a band of light that looked like a stairway to heaven. Long blonde hair and blue eyes. Faced with her alluring features and voluptuous body, the three of them instinctively gasped and became certain.
And then, a single sentence.
"Is this that thing? Should I say that I want a goddess like you to stay by my side forever?"
By a strange coincidence, they spoke the same line at the same timing and harmonized, and it was then that they looked to their left and right for the first time. Fireballs were there. To be more precise, they should be called hitodama. Basketball-sized ghost fires that flickered eerily like bonfires.
"Hmm...?"
At the same time, feeling a bad premonition, they turned their gaze toward what they assumed were their bodies—and they were aghast to find that they were things like will-o'-the-wisps, just like those to their left and right.
"Wha-what the hell is thissss!!"
"They are souls."
The woman, who looked every bit the goddess, interjected with a sigh at the three souls who had been running in a comedic direction for a while now, despite their bewilderment.
"Having the exact same reaction, are you three actually triplets?"
Toward the goddess-like woman who looked exasperated, the soul-group paused for a beat, and then.
"Mountain!"
"River!"
"If you do that, I won't be able to say the password, will I?"
"That's true!"
The soul-group burst out laughing.
Maybe they really are triplets, the goddess-like woman sighed.
"I am called Refill, a mid-level limited god. This is sudden, but you have died."
As is always the case, telling them this requires delicate consideration—Refill, having steeled herself like a goddess, declared it firmly.
"Eh? Seriously? I'm dead?"
"Hey, did you hear? She says she's a god."
"But she said mid-level limited. Like, AT-limited?"
"Lame."
"Who are you calling lame! These days, hardly any new cars come with MT, and I don't use it for work either!! Only professional drivers or people in field work use it, right!?"
Refill instinctively snapped back, and the three idiots let out accusing voices.
"Isn't it more abnormal that you've made it so that a hunk of iron that can kill people can be moved easily, and then let unskilled people handle it thoughtlessly?"
"Even if it became easy, it's not like they concentrate on driving, they just use the freed-up resources for smartphones or other things."
"If you mistake the accelerator for the brake, you just have to step on the clutch, but because they omit that to try and take it easy, old people and young people alike turn into convenience store missiles. I mean, what's with 'mistaking the accelerator for the brake'. You don't mistake those. Do you not even know the difference between right and left? If you're so slow that you can't move without relying on safety equipment, I wish you wouldn't ride from the start, because it's scary and dangerous."
"These three are a pain...!"
Refill stomped her feet, thinking, this is why I hate MT fanatics! while the three idiots thought, well, it can't be helped.
"So? We're dead? Why?"
"I know! This is that thing! The lead-up to reincarnation due to a goddess's mistake!"
"In other words, is it that we can make a harem with so-called cheats...!"
As the three grew excited, Refill gave a single cough to clear her throat.
"Ah, it's old age."
"You've gotta be kidding me!!"
As the soul-group looked up at the heavens shouting "God damn!", Refill gave them a sidelong glance, wondering why these three, whose only commonality seemed to be their age, were so in sync, before she began her explanation.
"Normally, when a living being dies, after the soul is bleached, it is thrown into the cycle of reincarnation to go to the next life. Originally, you were supposed to enter that as well, but..."
"I know! This is that thing! Like a request from a god!"
"In other words, is it that we can make a harem with so-called cheats...!"
"Ah, no. If you spout lines similar to before..."
About one of them seemed to realize, and Refill nodded.
"There is no particular reason why I chose the three of you."
"Don't just deflect!!"
You're the ones who expected it on your own, Refill thought, exasperated.
"It's not like a request. Or rather, until now, I would have just thrown you in without any particular explanation."
"Eh? What about my will?"
"Ignored."
"What about cheat abilities?"
"None."
"Aren't we reincarnating into another world?"
"You are."
To the goddess who answered concisely, the soul-group thought deeply, and then.
"Isn't this a human rights violation!!"
"This is the celestial realm, so human laws do not apply."
"Oppose kidnapping!!"
"I'm not inviting you. If anything, it's abduction. I just picked some who seemed to fit the conditions, and you guys came up. It's a gacha, a gacha. For now, you're not even R, you're common."
As the three idiots made a fuss saying that's even worse!, the goddess's pressure increased as she asked if they could please be quiet for a moment so the conversation could proceed, so the three shut their mouths.
"The pruning of worlds is the role of the residents here—in a concept that's easy for humans to understand, the role of gods. That work is diverse, and one of them is conservative maintenance. We blow a new wind into worlds that are still far from their lifespan, but have stagnated for some reason of karma."
The term mid-level limited god was a concept in the soul-group's Japanese translation, and it was apparently a free translation. In her own words and perception, it was said to be different.
"In this case, it's periodic maintenance work, and the content is to throw foreign objects into the world to stir it up. If you will, you are like the stirrers. Until now, there was no need to go through the trouble of telling you this, and I could just throw you in haphazardly, but..."
Apparently, these days, human rights awareness and legal compliance are strict even in the celestial realm, and the use of souls from other worlds in particular requires very cautious operation. This applied not only to requests like defeating a demon king or evil god, or requests for the world's progress through technological innovation, but even to stirring work that just involves throwing them into a different world, and this encounter was a part of that.
"To be honest, this work explanation was a mere formality, but recently, a looping hero who will eventually become a colleague was appointed as a supervisor by the Highest Administrative God, and he is just so strict..."
The three idiots felt a bit of sympathy for the depressed Refill.
"Compliance even in the world of gods, huh..."
"How bleak..."
"Wait, what's a looping hero?"
"Literally, a hero who has saved the world many times. He is capable, very capable, but he's a bit of an eccentric person—"
Having said that much, Refill suddenly looked behind her and made a gesture as if searching for a presence, and then, with a pale face.
"—Let's stop talking about that person, Narugami-san. Speak of the devil. I've finally ascended from a beginner limited god, I can't let myself be demoted just because he finds some fault."
The three idiots wanted to snap back asking just how scared she was, but the goddess pressure increased, so they stayed silent.
"So, I'm going to throw you into another world. All I'm saying is that after that, please live as you please."
"Question! Since you're telling us that, does it mean we can go while keeping our memories?"
"Yes. If you will, memories are the stirring agents of the stirrer. It's meaningless if you don't have memories from before reincarnation."
"Question! Won't you give us skills or special abilities? Also, what about looks or character creation-like things?"
"It's not a game, so there are none. No, there are things like skills, but those are for the 'do something for me' type of reincarnations. However, the world I'm sending you to this time is a world centered on magic, so if you have memories—or rather, if you have an ego from the start, it's a cheat. Because the magic of that world becomes stronger the more you train it from childhood. After that, it depends on your ideas."
"Question! Then, at least, what about our birth and such!?"
"That can be adjusted to some extent. Since it's a hassle if you don't survive, unless there's a very strong request, I'll generally have you reincarnate into a wealthy family. Also, I'll at least let you choose between male and female."
"Question! What if we refuse?"
"As I said before, there is no right of refusal. If you still make a fuss and it becomes a pain, I'll bleach you and toss you into the cycle of reincarnation. Redrawing the gacha is also a hassle, but that's less effort."
That kind of arrogance really is god-like, the three idiots thought, and then they shouted "Strategy time!" and began to consult in whispers. That said, Refill could hear everything. But well, she decided to overlook that level of sneakiness. She thought that if she said no to this and no to that, they would be noisy and screaming again.
After waiting a while, the three idiots conveyed their requests to the goddess. Listening to them one by one, since they didn't conflict with compliance, Refill decided to grant them.
"Well then, I wish you much happiness in your next lives."
And so, the soul-group reincarnated into a new world.
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