Princess Catherine of Boltner arrived to celebrate the births of Lovisa and Barra.
“Congratulations.”
Catherine placed the flowers she brought into vases and smiled at them.
“Thank you.”
The two women, looking happy as they inhaled the fragrance of their favorite flowers, were asked by the naive princess with great curiosity.
“So, what does it feel like to give birth?”
“Hmm,”
The two former princesses pondered.
Although she might be a rival in the future, she was still too young to be treated with malice.
Furthermore, Catherine herself was actually a likable person.
“It’s painful and difficult.”
When Barra said so, Catherine looked puzzled.
Catherine had some knowledge about the pain of childbirth, but she wanted to know the specific sensation.
Recognizing this, Lovisa showed a troubled expression.
“It’s hard to say specifically… If I put it into words, it just feels painful, difficult, and tough.”
Not only was it difficult to describe in words, but there was also a concern that telling the full truth might scare the young princess.
“Hah?”
The consideration of the older women didn’t quite get through to Catherine.
It was also partly because Boltner people weren’t good at thinking things through.
(Is it so amazing that words can’t describe it…?)
And thus, what they thought should not be conveyed was conveyed.
However, the subsequent reaction was different from what they expected.
(B-but if it’s pain, I can do it with grit!)
She made such a resolution, true to her Boltner nature.
Afterwards, Catherine went to congratulate Marius.
“Congratulations on this occasion.”
“Thank you.”
Marius accepted with a mixture of fond amusement and embarrassment.
Then, Catherine looked straight at the man she admired and said.
“I am now of an age where I can bear children.”
“You Boltnerian, come here for a moment.”
Marius’s temple twitched, and he called out to the person accompanying Catherine.
This caused the princess, more than her attendant, to panic.
“This is a declaration of my resolve, and I wasn’t told anything by this person…”
“Ah, I see.”
“Come to think of it, this child was also brute-brained,” Marius recalled.
She probably came straight here once she made up her mind.
“I will discuss this with the King of Boltner.”
“Y-yes.”
Catherine blushed, her voice trembling as she bowed, and then dashed away.
“Hey, if everyone gets pregnant, who am I supposed to train?”
Auraniess, who had been watching the whole sequence of events, suddenly said something obvious.
“Why don’t you train yourself?”
“What did you say—”
Auraniess pouted, but then suddenly fell into thought.
“Come to think of it, is there still any remnant of divine power? Since it’s divine power, it shouldn’t disappear easily, right?”
Muttering to herself, she walked off somewhere.
“Wait a minute, Auraniess. What are you thinking? Where are you going?”
Marius was struck by a strong, ominous premonition and hastily tried to call her back.
“It’s for training myself. And I’m going to become a god too!”
“Hold on, if you become a god too…”
Auraniess’s figure quickly disappeared.
“Damn. I might have made a fatal mistake…”
Marius turned pale.
He then ran with all his might.
“Help me, El-emon!”
In a development that was becoming all too familiar,
“Yes. What is it?”
El answered without looking displeased.
Marius explained the situation.
“Auraniess definitely went to get divine power, didn’t she?”
“Well, considering Auraniess’s personality, that’s undoubtedly the case. And she’ll probably challenge you, Master, demanding to play.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Marius clung to El, disheartened.
“What should I do? Is there any way out?”
“If it were anyone else, perhaps, but with Auraniess, it’s impossible. She can solve everything, like searching for remnants of divine power just by intuition, or efficient training methods.”
“That’s why I asked…”
He knew the terrifying irrationality of Auraniess firsthand.
“Do I have to fight with Auraniess again? What will happen to this world if divine power clashes with divine power?”
“Rather, it’s a miracle this world has survived this long.”
The master and familiar duo sighed in unison.
Of course, Auraniess had no intention of destroying the world.
If she did, it would have been destroyed long ago.
This time, as long as she didn’t forget that it would be a battle between gods, it shouldn’t escalate…
“But, she’s Auraniess.”
“She really is Auraniess.”
She might “accidentally” mess up if she’s having too much fun.
That was what was terrifying.
El thought for a moment and then said.
“How about we decide the content of the match from Master’s side? Given Auraniess’s personality, she’ll likely take the bait if provoked.”
“In that case, I’ll need to think of something Auraniess can enjoy.”
Marius pondered.
Depending on the content, it might be entirely possible.
Auraniess had an easy-to-handle personality; she was satisfied as long as she was having fun.
However, she would definitely throw a tantrum if it were boring.
“Auraniess likes delicious food, doesn’t she?”
“And she likes cleaning, and she doesn’t dislike crafting things.”
It’s the kind of situation where you’re troubled because the person you want to give a gift to is too multifaceted.
“It’s difficult when ‘as long as it’s fun, anything is fine.'”
“That’s true. I think what Master can do in the current situation would be better.”
El began to say something like that.
“What I can do…?”
“Yes. Since Auraniess would get serious if she loses, it would be better if there was something that wouldn’t allow her to fall behind so easily.”
“Indeed…”
Once she gets serious, she’ll probably forget everything else.
“Something I’m better at than Auraniess. In cooking, I’m generally superior.”
“Then the first match will be a cooking competition.”
El bent his index finger.
“Next, how about we compete to create a continent in preparation for future population growth? Whichever of us can create a more habitable continent wins.”
“After creating it, what exactly will you do with it?”
Marius was stumped when asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it. So, it’s a no?”
“No.”
El smiled.
“A newly created continent with nothing on it could be used in various ways. It would also serve as a stage for Auraniess’s rampage.”
“That may be true… but can I leave it to you, El?”
“Yes.”
He ended up delegating the task to his loyal Familiar.
“Then, how about having the created dolls fight each other?”
“…Fight proxies?”
“Yes. If we set rules for hand-to-hand combat only, the possibility of the continent being blown away would be low.”
Marius nodded in understanding.
“That’s right. If we set an upper limit on attack power, it might work out.”
“I think it would be frustrating to have the dolls I created and control be defeated by someone else.”
“Ah, I would be quite frustrated.”
This was also likely due to Marius being a former gamer.
For those who aren’t interested, it wouldn’t matter.
However, it was hard to imagine Auraniess, who loved fighting, not being interested at all.
“I should think about it seriously.”
Even Auraniess wouldn’t be able to control divine power that easily.
(I hope she can’t.)
His wish was filled with hope.
(Sudden Reader Participation Project)
Let’s predict the content of the second round match between Marius and Auraniess.
The poll results will show you a smug-faced Niis, a mischievous Niis, and a dejected Niis.
(1) Cooking Match
(2) Crafting Match
(3) Duel with Created Objects
(4) Unexpected Full-Throttle Battle
Please write the number from 1 to 4 in a single sentence in the comments section.
Entries written elsewhere will not be counted.
The deadline is May 29th at 23:59.
