Chapter 130

One hour ago.

After sending the chains back through the seal, I took a handkerchief I had manifested on the spot and wiped the cold sweat from Shia’s forehead.

The fact that a Potestates—a being whose soul and body have transcended perfection—was sweating cold sweat was a direct testament to just how mentally cornered she had been.

“Whew. Look at all this sweat. You’ve been through a lot today, so go back and rest up.”

Shia looked at the chains retreating into the distance, writhing like living organisms, and forced a smile.

“Whew… I suppose I should. I shall log back in around… tonight, by this world’s time.”

“You don’t have to push yourself. You’ve already downed two cups today. Come back tomorrow or the day after.”

“Ugh… I was trying so hard to forget, don’t make me think of it again. A-anyway, yes. I’ll do that. Let’s make it tomorrow, not today.”

“Sure. I’ll be back soon anyway, so there’s no rush.”

I chuckled and sent her back to reality. Then, along with Sis and Bel, I began the leisurely return journey toward Earth.

After traveling for about twenty minutes… a massive amount of rocky debris suddenly caught my eye.

“…Is that Mars?”

Sis nodded at my question.

“Yeah.”

“…Did you run it through a blender? It’s beyond smashed; it’s practically powdered.”

“…Mars is dead. It’s gone now. But it lives on in my back and in my heart, becoming one with me.”

Bel followed up on Sis’s words in a calm tone.

“It was a brave sacrifice. Thanks to that, we were able to buy nearly ten minutes.”

I burst into laughter seeing Sis offer a sharp salute toward the remains of Mars.

“So there’s no Mars in my imagery anymore?”

Sis shook her head vigorously.

“No. It’ll be restored in about six months.”

“I thought you said it was gone?”

“Just a bit of wordplay.”

“Ah… I see.”

As we continued moving, I saw the remains of the Moon, which were even more shattered than Mars. At this rate, some of those fragments would likely be pulled in by gravity and become Earth’s rings.

“When is this one getting fixed?”

“Three months for repairs. It took fewer resources than Mars.”

“If the Moon is gone, Earth (the fake one) is going to have a lot of problems… what are you going to do until then?”

“It’s fine. Since it’s an emergency, I can just set it so that it ‘exists’ even if it doesn’t. I can hold out for about three months.”

“Set it? You can do things like that?”

“Yeah. I have that much authority as long as it’s an emergency.”

“…Just what exactly are you?”

I voiced the question that had been weighing on me to this girl who looked like a miniature Shia. I had planned to take my time and find out slowly since there was no rush, but since things turned out like this, I wanted an answer now.

She made a V-sign with her index and middle fingers and puffed out her non-existent chest.

“I am Sis. I am your Mental Power and a subordinate born from your mana. And… the temporary administrator of this Inherent World, delegated with a portion of your authority.”

“Innate World? Administrator? Delegated authority from me?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“From the very moment I was born here.”

“…I have a lot I want to ask, but let’s start with this. Is this place even actually a world where I am the owner? If it’s my world, why are the things I can do so limited?”

“Because you’re a total newbie.”

“Huh?”

“Making a car and driving it are different domains. Since the Sword God can’t drive, I—who was delegated part of that authority—am in this state too. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’ll get better even later on.”

“…I don’t know the details, but my bad.”

“Because of that, the most I can do right now is block the manifestation of the lewd swimsuits the Sword God keeps requesting.”

“That was you!? Why!?”

“I believe lewd things are not allowed.”

“Hey. As of today, you’re fired from being the administrator.”

“Don’t care, didn’t ask.”

“Look at this kid. Where did you even learn that… No, more importantly, what about moving Mars and the Moon this time? You said you didn’t have much power, so how did you do that?”

“I didn’t move them; they moved on their own. It’s a sort of defense system.”

“Ah….”

Anyway, summarizing Sis’s explanation, it went something like this:

1. This place is my imagery and simultaneously an “Inherent World.”
2. The moment imagery gains a resolution equal to or higher than the real world, that imagery is incorporated into this universe as an Inherent World—an independent world.
3. Generally, one must be at least a High God, specifically a transcendent of the Orbit Heaven (4th grade, Dominions) or higher, to transform their mental world into an Inherent World.
4. To possess an Inherent World of this scale, one must be at least a Subordinate Heaven (3rd grade, Ophanim).
5. Even as the administrator, she doesn’t know why a mere mortal like me can maintain an Inherent World of such massive proportions.

“How do you know all that? Did Bel tell you?”

“No. I only heard recently that she was the temporary administrator of this world,” Bel replied.

“Then how?”

Sis shrugged her shoulders and gave a playful grin.

“Just because.”

“You want to get hit?”

“…I don’t know either. I just knew it the moment I became the administrator.”

“And the reason you kept your mouth shut until now?”

“Because I didn’t know anything else besides that. I needed time to put meat on the bones. I couldn’t exactly act all smug and explain things I didn’t fully understand myself, could I?”

“You’re saying you needed time to collect and organize the information?”

“Yeah.”

Ten minutes later.

Well, anyway… as I was meticulously “correcting” Sis’s twisted tone—which sounded like she had suddenly hit puberty—by tickling and teasing her…

“S-stop! Styaaap! Styaaaaaaap! Kahaha! Ahahaha! Styaap!!”

The Earth, which had seemed so far away, was now the size of a fist.

“Now, you two? We’ve arrived. Stop playing around and get ready to disembark.”

“Ah, finally….”

Recalling the grueling journey it took to get back here, I let out a long sigh.

“Whew… that was truly exhausting.”

“…I’ll say.”

And another ten minutes later.

Setting foot on the ground, we… could only gape at the scene unfolding before our eyes.

“H-h-hello. I, I, I’m i-i-inadvertently b-b-becoming indebted to you.”

“…….”

“Y-you’re n-not angry, right? L-let bygones be bygones… and from now on….”

“…Cut it. Hey, this is inside my imagery, you know? Why the hell are you coming out of there?”

Lustrous red hair, so long it swept the floor. Beautiful ruby-colored eyes.

And a “final boss” level of beauty that instantly shifted the steady Top 2 rankings in my head to a Top 3.

Yes. It was Disis.

Feeling my piercing gaze, she creaked her head around, her face turning beet red.

“Ha, haha… Well, I’m not really sure myself. I just opened my eyes and I was here?”

Well, it’s understandable she’d be embarrassed.

After having such a moving death (?) less than an hour ago, it’s bound to be humiliating to pop back up the next day and have to look me in the face.

“Whew. I don’t know the hows or whys of you getting into my imagery… but fine, let’s say one person could manage it through a mix of coincidence and miracles. But the thing is….”

Right. The real problem was something else.

—The crowd of tens of thousands lined up behind her.

“…Who on earth are all the rest behind you? …Wait, don’t tell me they’re your subordinates?”

Disis gave a troubled smile.

“Um… probably?”

“Good grief. What kind of mess is this? Are you refugees from somewhere?”

“Strictly speaking, they aren’t doppelgangers anymore. Nor are they my subordinates. They were all separated from me the moment they entered this place. Oh, and I’m not a Demon King anymore, either.”

“If you’re not a Demon King, then what?”

“I’m just an ordinary human now. Please call me Little Disis.”

I let out a sigh and buried my face in my hand.

It’s true I felt pity for her life… but that’s that, and this is this.

“Fine. Little Disis. First, I’ll ask two things.”

“Yes. Anything.”

“First, where did Kelly go? If the other subordinates are alive, it’s not like Kelly would be the only one missing.”

“Ah, Kelly… she ran away because she was too embarrassed. For similar reasons as me. She said she’ll see you later.”

“Ah… I, I see.”

Well, we certainly exchanged some cringey lines. Come to think of it, I’m feeling a bit embarrassed myself.

“A-hem. Then second… even if you say those people aren’t your subordinates, it’s true that you’re still their representative, right?”

“Pardon? Y-yes. For now. Since they are friends who worked so hard for me, I have a duty to take responsibility for them.”

“Hmm… fine. I’ll ask you straight. What do you plan to do from now on?”

“…….”

“…….”

After a brief silence, she managed to open her mouth.

“I-i-if it’s alright… could we… stay here…? It’s very spacious… and even though it’s an unfamiliar civilization, it has enough infrastructure for us to live in….”

“Ugh… I figured you’d go there.”

“This is an Inherent World, right? I don’t know why a mere Potestates like you has an Inherent World of this scale… but in a way, I think it’s fate. I believe that if you didn’t have this world inside you, we wouldn’t have been able to come back to life here.”

“…….”

“S-so… i-in the end, if you think about it, you’re the one who resurrected us….”

“Oho… so since I saved you, I have to take responsibility?”

“It’s not exactly like that, but… he-hehet….”

I let out a short, hollow laugh.

Come to think of it, Shia’s reaction was exactly like this when we first met.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she clung to me like a koala and screamed at me to feed and house her, didn’t she? Is that a Demon King trait or something?

“…I’ll be honest. I’m not entirely unwilling to allow it.”

“Then…!”

“But it’s not free. Give me a price.”

At my words, her expression instantly turned troubled. It seemed nothing suitable came to mind.

“Well, you see… as you know, I’m already a dead person on the outside….”

Looking at Disis, who had curled into a ball and turned into a total wallflower, I tried my best to keep a straight face. It was because her reaction was pointlessly cute.

“Your personality seems to have changed quite a bit since you were the Demon King. Back then, you were overflowing with confidence as if the whole world was beneath your feet.”

“…That’s because back then, I was significantly consumed by the chains. If you look at it, this is my original personality. Even when I was acting as the Queen in the Kingdom of Bordeaux, I was often warned by my ministers that I lacked dignity….”

As she rambled on with excuse after excuse, her ruby eyes suddenly flashed with light.

“Ah, there is one! I have something!”

“Hm?”

“The Kingdom of Bordeaux has nearly 1,200 years of history! It was quite a wealthy kingdom, too. Because of that, a vast amount of wealth remains right there on the island!”

“True… it became a Demon Territory the moment it fell, so the treasures would still be exactly where they were. You’re going to tell me where they are?”

“Yes. I can’t remember every single thing, but I remember all the major ones. You could search for them yourself, of course… but there’s no need for you to waste your time unnecessarily, right?”

“Hmm. Not bad… but the problem is, I’m not exactly short on money myself. It’s not that appealing.”

“Oh, in that case… how about this?”

“How about what?”

“I’ll give you the entire Island of Bordeaux. Do whatever you want with it.”

“You’re giving me the island? How?”

“The people of the Western Continent don’t know I’m dead yet. Of course they’ll find out eventually, but things will stay as they are for a hundred or two hundred years at least, won’t they? It’s not like the sea monsters or flying monsters will vanish just because I’m dead. In other words, that island is a vacant lot until then.”

“Hmm… I get that… but do I really need your permission for that? It’s already mine, isn’t it?”

“…Wow, what a thief.”

“Huh? I thought I heard something strange. Did you say something?”

“…No. Nothing.”

“Anything else?”

“A-anything else… w-well, i-if you really insist… h-how about… me? I-I think I’m quite a beauty, despite appearances.”

At those words, I found myself scanning her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

“…….”

Well, I’ll admit she’s definitely a beauty. I admit it… but I already have plenty of beauties on my side.

Besides, no matter how pretty she is, at the point she’s just a being inside my imagery, she’s just a virtual girlfriend, isn’t she?

Conclusion: No thanks.

I shrugged my shoulders and let out a mocking smirk.

“What would I use you for? Go away. Shoo. Scram.”

“…Maybe I should just kill him.”

Hm? Didn’t she say she was a human now? I think the Demon King just crawled back out for a second.