Chapter 242

Confirmation and a Trap

Now, Leona’s gone, but it’s not like I can sleep yet .

Because I still have to do the final confirmation .

With that, I went to [White Beach] . The footprints from where Leona had walked had almost completely vanished, but I guess she walked in that direction?

I went into the forest .

“Let’s see, it was definitely this way… oh, a broken branch . Looks like she was here . ”

I went farther into the forest .

… Huh? What am I doing? Why did I go this far again?

No, yeah . I have to confirm . The final confirmation . Yeah .

I arrived in front of a cave . There were some burned areas, as well as bits of it still smoldering . It looks like she forcibly opened it up through some villainous magic, making an impromptu cave .

And my target was inside . Right, I could understand that from the details . This is why I came .

When I looked into the cave—Leona was spread out sitting on a futon, waiting .

Crap, I have to run! No, it’s fine…!? The thoughts for [STOP] and [GO] lit up in my head at the same time .

W-wha-what the heck . My head’s all mixed up .

“I was waiting . ”

“—… . ”

Spoken to by Leona, I held my head . I was using [Super Transformation] today, it’s alright . I have an extra life . Calm down .

“There’s something you want to ask, right?”

“… Yeah . There is . ”

“Go ahead, I’ll even teach you how to have fun and live for hundreds of years . —Setsuna, Nayuta, the Toys, how to raise your skills, how to kill and deceive gods, even how to steal their powers, anything . Now, what do you want to ask first?”

“Leona, what era did you come from?”

“Oh?”

Leona smiled with a smile that said she hadn’t expected him to ask something so similar to asking her age .

But she probably wouldn’t have a problem with it—she was seventeen, after all .

“Well… let’s say it was an era that made today’s entertainment feel nostalgic . It was like that for you too, right?”

“… That so, well, I’m happy you liked it . ”

“I really enjoyed it, enough so that I wanted to stay there for longer…”

Leona’s smile looked lonely . What she was thinking wasn’t something me, someone who won’t even live till five hundred, could understand .

“Which is why I felt that I definitely had to give you my thanks and call you here with this . ”

Leona patted the futon… The Godly Comforter? I see, so that’s it?

It looks like I was lured here by the Godly Comforter’s divinity . Like a moth to the flame .

“So next you’ll want me to tell you about Toys . That girl, Meat Kuroinu, if I recall?”

“… You knew? No, so Meat’s like that?”

“I knew~ . It’s something I made after all… or maybe it’s better to say I’m making? Unlike Setsuna, that girl isn’t natural . ”

… Meat is—no, Toys are created existences…?

“Different from Setsuna and Nayuta? I thought something was said about them being sisters?”

“Setsuna is natural, I haven’t adjusted her at all . And yet she’s so interesting right? The seed I’d chosen randomly brought forth a miracle . That’s why I gave making Nayuta and the Toys a shot . ” [1]

Hold up . She just said something outrageous like it was nothing .

Leona continued talking about her story .

“Setsuna’s talent value is super close to 6V and feels like 5V! Ah, you don’t know what I mean? Well, anyways, she has miraculous talent . However, she’s a bit lacking in the head, so I adjusted Nayuta’s head to be better . Toys are things I made when I wondered what would happen if I raised their talent to as high as possible! There’s a lot that I did that so, so I decided to call all of them Toys… oh, the origin of their name is the Japanese word ‘toy’ . Well, setting aside Nayuta who I’d only added checks to so that she wouldn’t be unreasonable, I’ve had a lot of failures too . Really, training so many different creatures causes a lot of troubles . I’ve finally gotten to the point that I can mix a few things together without changing their appearance though . After many sacrifices, I finally made five Toys to assemble the Toy Rangers!—ah, that part was a lie . The Toy Rangers aren’t a thing~ . It’d sound too cheesy . Well it’s true that I had a ton of failures, only three of them ever turned out exceeding their planned talent values . Ah, but don’t worry! My lovely grandchildren and my failures weren’t for nothing . The staff happily accepted them, turning them into materials, food, even furniture… ah, there was even one of them that became a toilet! Ufufu, I said something good there… Hmm? But isn’t it weird? The failures should’ve all been locked away and recycled? And I know where the three successes are? Huh? Then that means there’s a fourth, I guess? Maybe it’s one of the ones I discarded and stopped paying attention to? Well, it’s a trivial problem . It’s probably just that I threw her into a slum in attempts to see if she’d be able to break through her limits in such a horrible environment and forgot about it . There’s also the possibility that Haku-chan stole my research results . That child has a hero under her control after all . There’s also the chance of godly intervention, but well, that’s not much of a problem either . What I can’t remember doesn’t matter, probably . Ah, I started babbling didn’t I? Well, with all that—”

Leona took a deep breath before continuing .

“—the Toys were created by me! Amazing, right!?”

“You already said that . ”

“Oh . ”

Yep, most of the middle part’s fuzzy, but I do get that she’s done a ton of bad things . I was listening since it seemed like she’d break me if I didn’t though .

“Hmph, then let’s talk about something else . How about raising hero skills?”

“… Sure . ”

“+1 if you destroy a Dummy Core . +1 and a chance to learn a new skill if you destroy a Dungeon Core . If you’ve maxed out all your levels, it’ll be stockpiled until you learn a new one—You probably know that as well, right, Keima-san?”

Nope, didn’t know that . I did realize that the level went up when you destroy a Dungeon Core though .

“Then I wonder if you’ve noticed that, for us who are also Dungeon Masters and who are affiliated with the Dark God’s faction, we can level up as much as we want?”

… Eh?

“H-h-hold up . Huh, what?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

I mean, Dummy Cores are things that can be bought for 5000 DP . I used to think that was a lot, but nowadays I can earn 5000 DP pretty fast . In other words—

“I can power level myself!?”

“Yeah?”

I can power level myself like eating french fries at a buffet .

Let’s level [Super Transformation] as soon as I get back .

“… Ah, but I don’t recommend leveling hero skills all at once . The Light God will eat your soul if you do . ”

“Huh? Please, wait . What?”

“Fufu . ”

Leona laughed .

“Do you think that so out-of-the-norm skills like hero skills can be mastered so easily? Your soul’s growth and adaptation wouldn’t be able to keep up . If you aren’t a capable container, you should level up only once or twice in a year at the most . ”

So it’s like that? Rather, soul’s growth and adaptation? Just what are skills?

“It’ll corrode your soul if you go past your limit . And since hero skills are the Light God’s territory… do you understand now that I’ve spoken this much? Yeah, if you give it your all in raising your levels at a fast pace, you’ll turn into God’s Vanguard . ”

… Let’s keep it to one level a year! I’ve probably already hit my credit limit, I mean, I’m probably just barely safe . I went straight to Lv 3 after all .

“Well, you usually wouldn’t be able to capture multiple dungeons in a year, so it’s a double standard unique to people like us . Even if other Heroes did their best, being able to capture multiple in a year is something they’d probably only be able to do as a God’s Vanguard in the first place . ”

“Leona, uhh, have you been corroded?”

“Me? No? I’m still fine, my soul isn’t a what a single person should have and can’t be compared to yours . It’s a rule I found out in an experiment with Haku-chan . Well, I kept it quiet so Haku-chan probably hasn’t noticed though . ”

So many horrible things . The experiments, Leona, and the Hero Skills .

“Oooh right . Could you take care of Setsuna? You could add her to your harem . But make sure to have lots of kids since I’ll be taking one . ”

“Eh? I don’t intend to make a move on any of my employees though? And let alone a harem, I haven’t touched anyone . ”

“Eh?”

Surprised, Leona opened her red eyes widely .

“… Uwaah, seriously? Unbelievable, you’ve gathered so many pretty things… eh, is that it? You’re gay? Ah, Setsuna has a penis, you know? She is a girl though . ”

“I’m straight!”

“I see, so you’re a no-good virgin . ”

“H-h-h-how does that have anything to do with someone being a virgin!?”

“… Shall I give you some confidence then? It’s alright, I’ll be gentle . ”

Tapping the top of the Godly Comforter, Leona moved her shirt a little out of the way . She exposed part of her clavicle, even her cleavage… but dang . I can’t see her legs at all with that pose . In other words, it’s not effective against me at all .

“I refuse . ”

“Oh, I’ve been rejected? Interesting, is the comforter’s effect not working…? No, it worked in bringing you here . Do you have some resistance…?”

Staying here any longer might be dangerous .

“Honestly, I’m attracted to that futon, but I’m heading back!”

“That would be a problem . ”

When I came to, bandages had been twined around my hands at some point… and Leona was opposite me . The heck . I didn’t black out though?

“Whaaat, it’ll be over before you can count the dots on the ceiling~, or not~?”

“Wh-what’re you trying to pull, cut it out!?”

And then I lost consciousness .

Footnotes:

There’s some word play going on here that I believe is going over my head . My apologies .