There was no need to wash, but it didn’t mean there wasn’t a place to wash. Of course, I desired a luxurious place like a shower or a bathhouse, but following the goddess out of the castle, there was a flowing river of gray.
“What’s this place? Why is it so dirty?”
“Dirty? This river from the Spirit Realm is cleaner than any water in the continent!”
At first glance, it looked like murky water that might have been dumped with waste, but scooping a handful aside, it was surprisingly transparent.
“Hmm.”
“It looks like this because of the color of the Spirit Realm’s scenery.”
I tilted my head and glanced around. The massive castle we had just exited was surrounded by a black forest and a cloudless gray sky.
It felt similar to the Forest of the Demon Realm, but there wasn’t that sticky atmosphere and heavy mana unique to that place.
“Ugh, you don’t believe me?”
Ultimately, the Goddess of Death was the first to step into the river. The temperature felt pleasantly cool, so there was no hesitation.
As the Goddess of Death entered the water, she made a strange expression and scooped some water. Curious about her odd reaction, I wondered if there was something wrong with the water, but it seemed fine.
Carefully stepping into the river, the refreshing water enveloped my whole body. It washed away the hot sweat I’d been drenched in, settling my heat.
“Wow, this water’s nice.”
Feeling like swimming, I soaked my hair and splashed deeper into the river. The center of the river was deeper than expected, making it fun to swim.
“Hmm.”
I heard a strange groan next to me and glanced over to see the Goddess of Death up to her shoulders in water, eyes closed, savoring the moment.
“Hohh…”
“……”
“Hwaah.”
“……”
“Phew.”
I tried to ignore her and keep swimming, but the bizarre sounds slowly began to irritate me, so I turned to look.
Now half-lying with only her face and chest floating on the surface, her closed eyes and savoring expression caught my eye for no good reason.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“Cough.”
Finally snapping back to reality, the Goddess of Death cautiously sat up, her face turning red as if making excuses.
“I didn’t know it would feel this good to just let my body relax in the river.”
“Eh?”
I thought it was a strange sound coming from someone who didn’t just spring into existence, yet the Goddess of Death stammered.
“Since I can control darkness, I haven’t had any reason to move. So coming here to wash is my first time doing something like this.”
“……”
“Surprisingly, it feels good.”
I was aware that having absolute power meant losing a lot too.
For example, Kurika. He saved beastmen, became a hero, and sat on the throne of the first emperor, yet his overwhelming power distanced him from the beastmen.
I thought the Goddess of Death might feel something similar.
Her powerful and versatile abilities that required no movement made her existence as a goddess entirely understandable, but they had taken away something ordinary.
Watching the goddess awkwardly twist her body in embarrassment sparked many thoughts. Among them, the strongest was a sort of possibility.
‘If I spend more time with the goddess like this, will I understand why she wanted to destroy the world?’
The Goddess of Time had simply said she intended to destroy the world because it was too corrupt. While that wasn’t entirely false, I wondered if the gods had failed to see the world properly because they possessed absolute power.
Perhaps the inability to recognize such simple happiness led to the cynical, violent, and extreme methods used for salvation, ending in destruction to prevent the continent’s corruption?
“Wow.”
The goddess cupped water in her hands, spreading her fingers and splashing it. Just watching her find joy in such a simple act, I couldn’t help but drift into these thoughts.
*
Having finished the final preparations, Sen slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed toward the door. She didn’t forget to greet the Grand Witch sitting on the sofa, reading a book.
“Please take care of the house.”
“Don’t worry. When you return, come with the house owner.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure of it.”
Sen stepped outside, receiving the Grand Witch’s support, and found Adriana and the Goddess of Time waiting outside.
The Goddess of Time looked neater now, with her long hair braided and tied up by Adriana.
“Brrr, it’s so cold.”
From the way she spoke with honorifics to shivering like a little beast, everything about her annoyed Sen to no end.
Unconsciously clenching her fist, she almost stepped forward, but Adriana stepped in between them.
“Let’s hold back for now. It’s for Daniel, right?”
“For my brother.”
Suppressing her killing intent with clenched fists, the Goddess of Time managed to sneak behind Adriana to avoid Sen’s sight.
“Ugh…”
Even that was annoying to Sen, who ultimately marched forward with her fists ready. It was true that the more you disliked someone, the more annoying they appeared.
The chase between Sen and the Goddess of Time started from the get-go, but Adriana thankfully intervened, ensuring the Goddess remained safe.
With a light sheen of sweat warming her body, they stepped outside the village.
Their destination was the Royal Palace of Frisia.
As they got a fair distance from the village, Adriana pulled out her staff from her back and began drawing a magic circle, clearing the snow from the ground.
“Warp magic! You’re definitely a witch!”
“Shut it before I tear you apart.”
“Yes.”
At the growl of Sen, the Goddess of Time shrank back. Adriana awkwardly laughed but seemed to recall something and turned to the Goddess.
“Um, Goddess. But why did you torment our ancestors so much?”
“Hmm?”
Thinking back, it was true. The reason witches hid away in the Forest of the Demon Realm was to escape the gods’ eyes. The gods did not tolerate that the witches possessed the power of prophecy.
It felt like the very embodiment of witches’ sworn enemies was right in front of them.
But the Goddess of Time tilted her head.
“I never did that.”
“……”
“Oh, no. It’s true! It was the God of Life who persecuted the witches, not me!”
“……”
“At that time, the God of Life was revealing his intentions through prophecies. When the witches with the same power appeared, he lost it!”
Watching her flail her arms in a defensive gesture, I felt a bit weak and didn’t know what to point out.
Besides, over the long hours, the witches had engaged in inhumane acts under the pretense of survival.
‘It’s just karma to think of it that way.’
After all, Tudogs came to be because of the witches, and human experimentation was even worse.
Adriana thought her survival might be thanks to leaving the forest and entering the academy.
Having drawn the magic circle, Adriana began channeling her mana, and the goddess and Sen naturally stood beside her.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but it connects to Elise’s mansion’s storage, so be careful not to step on something weird.”
With explanations like a tour guide, Adriana started.
“The storage will probably be dusty, so don’t freak out and move too much, or you’ll get covered in dust.”
“Move aside before I chop off your fingers.”
“Otherwise, we’ll need to step outside the magic circle.”
Even after explaining, the two were too busy bickering to pay attention to Adriana, who frowned slightly and unhesitatingly slammed her staff down.
The three of them felt a sensation of being sucked in, not by the cold outside air but by a warm, cozy feeling.
“It’s the castle, even after so long…”
Just when Adriana thought she succeeded and wanted to joyfully declare so, her words didn’t follow.
The warp marker designated for Princess Elise’s mansion’s storage should have led them to a musty storage room.
“Uh…”
The place only had softly lit candlelight, and contrary to expectations, there was no dusty storage; it was an undefinable space.
Various human-sized dolls lined the walls, and intricate magic circles not drawn by Adriana decorated the floor.
In the lone bookshelf sat slightly creepy titles like ‘Advanced Body Alchemy,’ ‘Revival of the Lion,’ and ‘Secrets of Immortality.’
“This place is kind of eerie.”
“Is this a lab or something?”
Sen and the Goddess of Time said in unison. Adriana stroked her chin and began checking the magic circles.
Suddenly, bang.
“Oh dear?”
The door opened to reveal Princess Elise, momentarily surprised, but she soon wore a vague smile as she looked at the three of them.
“You’ve seen something you shouldn’t have, haven’t you?”
