am-books Chapter 636: 【Tales of the Gods 31】Hikari, Takanami, Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed, and…
Chapter 636: 【Tales of the Gods 31】Hikari, Takanami, Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed, and…
Chapter 636: 【Tales of the Gods 31】Hikari, Takanami, Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed, and... 【Tales of the Gods 31】Hikari, Takanami, Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed, and...
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Negotiation scenes are really not my forte, so this took a long time.
“How long do we have to keep walking down this hallway?”
A certain goddess sighed, her eyebrows furrowed in boredom.
Her name is Hikari.
A modern and worldly apprentice goddess, with white hair, white eyes, and a mystical beauty, dressed in a recruit suit.
“Until we reach the ‘meeting room’.”
The one who coolly replied to Hikari was the male god in hunting clothes, walking to her right.
He’s one of Hikari’s mentors, and his name is Takanami.
“But, Takanami-sama... the receptionist certainly said that, but...”
Hikari, looking up at Takanami, pouted and argued.
“Where is this meeting room? What is this hallway? I can’t see the end of it!”
Because Hikari and the others have been walking for about two hours since they were guided down this hallway at the reception desk.
Moreover, the scenery in this hallway doesn’t change at all.
Fluorescent lights on the ceiling.
Gray carpet on the floor.
It looks like the inside of some company in modern Japan.
But there are no windows.
This uninteresting hallway continues endlessly.
It’s only natural to get irritated after being made to walk in such a place for so long...
Hikari, Takanami, and another god walking behind them.
Where are they now?
It’s not ‘Earth’, where they usually live.
From their perspective, it’s another world... the Divine Realm of a world called ‘Ardyst’.
And the reason why Hikari and the other gods of Earth are visiting the other world, Ardyst... is for negotiations.
Hikari’s former classmates from when she was a high school student.
Their souls were abducted without permission to another world.
This was revealed by the function of Hikari’s mobile phone-shaped divine tool.
Furthermore, additional investigation quickly revealed that the other world is this Ardyst.
In that case, the gods governing Earth couldn’t just stay silent.
From the gods’ point of view, it’s out of the question to just accept this.
It’s like saying, ‘Our world is inferior, and we won’t complain no matter what you do to us.’
Also, Hikari, whose classmates’ souls were taken, is one of the people involved in the incident.
In other words, her old friends were killed by this Ardyst.
In that sense too, Hikari will never forgive the gods of Ardyst.
However, even if she doesn’t want to forgive them, they can’t start a war between worlds, as the resulting damage would be too great.
So, how will they settle this?
How will they make them take responsibility?
They came to this other world, Ardyst, as an advance party to negotiate a settlement.
“...It’s like we’re being tricked. One of the youma I fought used a similar technique.”
Now, Hikari is complaining about the endless hallway, but unlike Hikari, Takanami, who doesn’t show his dissatisfaction on his face, also seems to have something on his mind, and chuckled wryly.
“Could it be that we’re being looked down on, and toyed with?”
“I don’t think so. They wouldn’t do anything disrespectful to the gods of another world they’re about to negotiate with. Moreover, we’re here as the victims.”
...There’s no interaction between Earth, where Hikari and the others live, and Ardyst.
There are no agreements like treaties in human society.
If there’s interaction between worlds, and they share resources, there are many cases where souls are exchanged...
But that’s not the case with Earth and Ardyst.
The essence of a world is a device to collect magic particles that pass through worlds.
Souls are the terminals of that device, used to capture magic particles and increase the total amount in the world.
Abducting them is an act of stealing the fruits of that world’s labor.
Therefore, according to the common sense of the gods, abducting souls from another world without permission is considered rude and despicable.
That’s why Earth is the victim this time.
He whispered gently.
“...Yes!”
Hikari, strangely energized and her nervousness relieved by those words, turned the doorknob after knocking, and energetically opened the meeting room door!
And then, what jumped into Hikari’s eyes next... was the sight of an ordinary meeting room, just like you’d see in modern Japan.
The same carpet as the hallway is laid on the floor... and several long tables are placed together in the center of the small room, forming a square island.
“Oh... welcome to all of you who have come all this way, people of Earth!”
Here, a god sitting on a pipe chair next to the long table stood up and greeted Hikari and the others as they entered the meeting room.
It was a large, fat male god, with a distinctive swirling mustache and slightly pointed ears.
He’s wearing a vest and a dress shirt underneath, but both are too small for him, and the buttons look like they’re about to pop.
A tail with a black, elongated, arrowhead-like tip extends from his rear and sways.
“My name is Hedulg Gonelson! I’m the God of Conversation, and I’ve been entrusted with welcoming you. I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival!”
Hedulg said that in a clear voice, with a friendly smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hikari.”
“I’m Takanami.”
Hikari and Takanami smiled and bowed slightly.
They weren’t convinced by the phrase ‘eagerly awaiting’, after being made to walk so much, but they decided to ignore it.
They thought it was probably just a figure of speech.
“Now, everyone, how do you like this room? We’ve decorated it to match Earth’s current cultural style so that you can feel at ease. I’m glad if you like it! After all, our Ardyst human society has already experienced a similar cultural form to this stage. It was easy to reproduce!”
However, hearing Hedulg’s next words, said while laughing and shaking his belly, even Hikari realized that he was blatantly asserting his superiority over them.
Hedulg had said that Earth’s modern civilization is a ‘thing of the past’ in their world.
In other words, ‘we are more advanced than you’.
While maintaining a friendly atmosphere, he’s clearly looking down on them.
It might be because he judges the apprentice goddess Hikari and ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, who is suppressing his power and hiding his divinity to avoid unnecessary intimidation, as inferior, or it might be due to Hedulg’s inherent nature.
...Either way, it’s not pleasant.
Hikari’s smile involuntarily turned into a frown.
Hedulg, clearly noticing Hikari’s change in expression, but not paying it any mind... was waiting for ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ to greet him... but since the god in the white hood was just grinning and not saying anything, he cleared his throat and started introducing the goddess floating to his left.
“Well... This is the Reincarnation Goddess, Li. She is one of the High-Ranking Gods of our world, and governs the cycle of life and death, the reincarnation of souls, and so on.”
The goddess, introduced as such, didn’t look at Hikari and the others... or rather, she kept her eyes closed, put one hand on her chest, and bowed slightly without saying a word.
The Reincarnation Goddess, Li, is wearing something like a white dress, with intricate embroidery resembling quietly burning flames, and is always floating, barefoot.
Her smooth hair, reaching her waist, is quite colorful... shining in rainbow colors.
And behind her, a huge, ancient book is floating, about the size of her upper body.
The reason one can describe the book floating behind her... is because the Reincarnation Goddess, Li’s body is translucent.
“And this is the Record God, Melokiho-kun. He will record every word of this discussion without error.”
The next one Hedulg introduced was... a toy-like robot, about 50cm tall, placed on the long table.
The rectangular prism-shaped robot has crescent-shaped arms on its sides, caterpillar tracks instead of legs, and an antenna on its head.
And some kind of instruments and speakers are arranged on the upper front of its body, as if imitating a smile.
“Pippopo! Pippopo!”
...It seems that it can also speak from those speakers.
Melokiho-kun, cheerfully waving its arms, emitted high-pitched electronic sounds, as if singing.
“With that, the three of us will participate in this discussion. Well, hahaha! I look forward to a fruitful discussion!”
Hedulg, having finished the introductions, chuckled happily and sat down on the pipe chair with a pompous thud.
Hikari and the others also sat down on their respective chairs, facing Hedulg and the others across the long table.
...Earth versus Ardyst.
The negotiations begin.
【Earth】
The name of the world Hikari and the others live in.
A world similar, but different, from “Earth”, where we live.
It’s being attacked by youma (demonic entities).
【Ardyst】
The world Hikari’s former classmates were reincarnated into.
Although somewhat limited, the gods’ interference is stronger than on Earth.
It’s a rather rough and loose world.