The scene where the so-called heroes, praising themselves, alternated between staring at and Mama with mouths agape was quite amusing.
Despite all the reasons they gave, I could clearly feel they were just people with human emotions.
It was so obvious where I could poke to make their faces turn red. I had to hold back, and it was quite a struggle, but I'm an adult! This is nothing!
I hid my twitching fingers behind my back, trying to remain still, when the old man, finally coming to his senses, forced his gaze away from Mama.
"Could you explain what happened so far?"
"Grandfather, you're being too obsessive. Even a child like needs so privacy, you know?"
"Please, I beg you. From my perspective, the situation has escalated so quickly, I feel like I’m losing my mind."
Following the old man’s sigh, the Fairy Queen softly opened her mouth.
"I also have a request, Alrn Young Lady. What do you an, the god of the earth is your mother? And you scolded her? This doesn't make any sense to ..."
"Calm down, I’ll explain. Lunebia. Let explain it slowly."
"...Are you referring to as Lunebia?"
"Well, I can’t always just call you 'Queen,' can I? So, I picked the na that I liked most from the list of nas Erginus had written in his journal."
"How... how did you—?"
I showed Erginus the mark of the god of history carved on my hand.
Not only did I reveal who I could bla, but I also made a threat, telling him that I knew much more, so he should just comply.
The genius Erginus, who would go down in history, understood my intent and imdiately kept silent. But, having just removed his sympathy, he was still oblivious to his lover’s heart.
Though I could help, it was more amusing to let him squirm, so I decided to stay quiet.
"Lunebia... is it?"
"Don’t you like it? Should I call you the sa as before?"
"No, no. I really like it. Alrn Young Lady."
Fairy Queen Lunebia, her cheeks flushed with a soft pink, bowed to , but her eyes stayed on Erginus.
She was so fresh and cute that I wanted to tease her.
If I poked her, I was sure she'd burst like a red balloon.
Ah, it's really making itchy.
"Now, let get to the point and explain just how pathetic my Mama is."
"...Ugh. I'm really sorry."
Let’s rewind a bit to when the fight at the holy ground had just ended, and I had been hiding my swollen face in Armadi’s shoulder after crying so much when suddenly, the scenery around changed.
The scene, filled entirely with white, felt like it might drive crazy, reminiscent of the place where I had made the contract with Armadi during the academy entrance exam.
My mory is a bit fuzzy, but it was probably the sa place. After all, it was where Armadi had taken .
"Mama. Why did you bring here? I still have a lot to do."
War doesn’t end simply when the battle is over.
In the ga, you can just shout "We won! It’s over!" and the player can be satisfied with that.
But reality is different.
From the soldiers of various nations to the apostles of many religions who supported , the priests of the holy ground, the rulers of the forest, the fairies clinging to for praise, and even the gods who briefly remained on the earth—every single one of them had to be convinced before the war could truly be over.
And I, the focal point of all of them, had to be there, to compromise and persuade them all.
Before the battle began, I had already heard from Karia about the need to calm things down, and despite my body feeling like it could collapse any mont, I planned to settle the situation calmly.
Now that the sugaki skill curse had disappeared, I thought that apologizing for the previous rudeness and talking things out would easily end the matter.
Plus, with the great god of the earth by my side, it was clear that the troublemakers wouldn't be able to stir things up easily.
But wait...?
I was planning to quickly finish everything and have a serious talk with the god in front of , but suddenly, I found myself being dragged to a strange place.
"Well, that is..."
Seeing Armadi hesitate, I tilted my head. Was there any reason to hold back now?
Since my faith was still strong, it wouldn’t disappear like foam.
Ah, that must be it.
"Were you planning to talk about my identity?"
There had been a lot of strange feelings.
The emotions that had risen from deep within my chest at so point.
The eerie déjà vu I felt when I read Lucy's, my own mories.
The strange quick adaptation to a woman’s body.
The lack of ill thoughts despite facing the characters I had so loved.
And many other subtle details.
It was only today, with Armadi’s confirmation, that I beca certain about those peculiarities.
But even now, the fact that I was Lucy still felt awkward.
After all, the mories that clearly co to are those from another world.
"I was curious. Exactly how am I made?"
I had often felt uncomfortable about it.
At one point, emotions I couldn't understand welled up.
The faint familiarity when reading my mories, Lucy’s mories.
Strangely, I adapted quickly to my new body as a woman.
It’s odd that I didn’t feel uncomfortable with characters I had adored.
So many small oddities lingered.
And it was only today, when Armadi confird it, that I beca sure.
But even now, I feel strangely off being Lucy.
Even now, the mories that clearly co to are those from another world.
"I was curious. Exactly how am I made?"
After hearing Armadi’s words, I frowned and then was startled by her following explanation.
"First, Lucy is Lucy Allen. She only carries the mories of a human from another world."
"Did you put those mories in ?"
"Yes. It was the final asure after all other possibilities were exhausted."
With a face full of guilt, Armadi hesitated as she spoke, creating furniture out of thin air and inviting to sit down, saying the story might be a bit long.
"You must have seen the divine power of Agras, so you understand. Divine power is very forced. If the power allows, one can do things that are far beyond common sense."
"I know well enough. I’ve gone through it endlessly."
"I, too, resorted to force."
One day, during the wars of the mythical age, Armadi realized defeat was inevitable.
Many had sacrificed for the world, and many would give their lives to protect the earth, but still, the end was unavoidable.
So, after deep contemplation, Armadi decided on mutual destruction.
The contradictory yet complentary relationship between Armadi and Agras.
If one grew stronger, so did the other, and if one weakened, so would the other. So, Armadi tried to destroy Agras by relinquishing her power.
"Divine power isn’t sothing you can just let go of when you want to, so I was forced to ask for the impossible. I asked that the age of humans not end."
Hearing Armadi’s words, I furrowed my brow, then looked at her face in surprise.
Upon seeing my gaze, Armadi awkwardly smiled and continued.
"It goes without saying that nothing lasts forever. The age of humans too, has eventually co to an end. Agras revived, the life of the earth’s creatures died, hope faded, and I bowed my head in despair. But when I lifted my head again, a new age of humans began."
Since then, Armadi had witnessed countless devastations from the heavens.
This ti, she hoped that what she had done was right. She prayed for a miracle to prevent destruction.
She longed for a future where all the beings on the earth could smile. Desiring, hoping, and wishing, endlessly.
"Could it be the influence of so many repeated beginnings? One day, a tiny crack appeared in the world, and I beca aware of another world. A world of science, the one you are familiar with."
Having seen this wondrous world of imagination, Armadi decided to take a gamble.
By creating a small world from all the many beginnings she had experienced and spreading it, she prayed that soone would find a thod she hadn’t thought of.
"Half of was already resigned. I threw most of my remaining strength into that faint possibility."
Surprisingly, her gamble paid off. Many people beca intrigued by the small world she had created, and by stubbornly digging into it, they broke Armadi’s common sense.
"Since then, I made a plan for the last ti. And I waited for the perfect environnt to co."
Though the wait was long, Armadi didn’t feel any despair.
Compared to the ti she had walked in darkness, touching the ground, walking on a road where a beam of hope had appeared was a happy thing.
"When I descended to the earth and gave birth to you, I thought a normal human wouldn’t be able to handle the mories of another world."
The possibility that ended up reaching its end was .
"I’m sorry, Lucy. No matter what you think of , I have nothing to say. I will gladly accept any punishnt. But, but I can say this for sure. Even if the beginning was impure, I truly loved you, Lucy, and cherished Benedict."
After finishing her words, Armadi closed her eyes and bowed her head.
As if she were so afraid of what was to co.
There was so much I wanted to say, and so many questions I wanted to ask, but seeing her so frightened, a helpless laugh escaped my lips.
"I believe you."
"...What?"
"I believe you, Mama. That you loved ."
As I smiled while cupping my chin with both hands, Armadi’s eyes widened in shock and she bit her lips.
Her eyes trembled, and the droplets forming in them shook with her.
"But, aside from that, I know that Mama has a pathetic ntality. Really, it's so pitiful."
"Eh, yes?"
Armadi, who looked like she was about to burst into tears, blinked in surprise at the sudden criticism.
"It’s really sad. The Mama I knew wasn’t this kind of ntal wreck."
"S... sorry?"
"If you're going to apologize, do it properly, Mama. Didn't you teach that? You can't even keep the things you taught ?"
"Ah, th... uh... w... what should I do?"
"Kneel. You pathetic, perverted, incompetent, and foolish Mama."
With a serious tone, I told her, and Armadi quietly stood up and sat on the floor before .
"I know you love , so I'm speaking seriously. The more precious soone is, the more strictly you should treat them, right?"
"Yes. Yes..."
"Rember this. If a pathetic person like you is my Mama, it’s embarrassing."
I smiled smugly, took out a notebook—my book of grudges—and pulled out a pen to add a few lines to the back.
This might all be over by tonight.
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