“…….”
The word dangsin could mean “you,” and it could also mean “dear” as used between husband and wife. Judging by how the woman before Ian’s eyes had gone red in the face, there was no need to ponder too deeply which of the two meanings she had used.
Needless to say, Ian was not a married man. Nor did he remember marrying a woman like this. A confusion of memories? He had already confirmed long ago that there was no such thing.
And so Ian stared blankly at the snow-white woman for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. He decided to interpret what she had said simply as “you.”
It was not as if that was particularly important in the current situation anyway.
“……An Outer God…… are you?”
Ian asked cautiously.
The woman with eyes close to ash gray. Covering her right eye with snow-white hair, wearing a negligee that left her chest plainly exposed, she stared intently at Ian and rose.
“Yes.”
It was an immediate answer. She reached out, touched Ian’s cheek, and tilted her head slightly askew.
“Your Outer God.”
“……The Reconstruction of All Things?”
“I’m called that a lot too. My true name is ■■■■.”
Noise crackled through her voice as she uttered the name. Ian frowned and pushed her hand away.
“I can’t perceive the name.”
“……■■■■. You can’t hear it?”
“I can’t.”
At Ian’s answer, her expression darkened slightly. She took Ian’s hand, brought it to her lips, and let out a soft breath. The hot exhale tickled his fingers.
“It seems you aren’t quite at that level yet. I was hoping a little, so it’s a shame.”
“……There are conditions just to hear your name?”
“Because you mustn’t go mad from hearing it. It’s a safety device I set up.”
She released Ian’s hand and stepped down from the bed. The thin negligee caught the light streaming in through the window, faintly revealing the skin beneath. Ian felt awkward for no reason, rubbed around his eyes, and got up after her.
“Then what should I call you? Should I keep calling you the Reconstruction of All Things?”
“Isn’t that too long? Just…… hm, call me Leah. Shortening my true name gives that sort of feeling.”
Leah.
It was far too human a name for an Outer God.
No, it was not only the name. Her current behavior and way of speaking, too, were incredibly docile and ordinary for an unknown divine existence dwelling in the universe.
But Ian did not feel familiarity from it. Rather, he felt an unease that was difficult to explain.
As if…… something wearing the shell of a human were forcing itself to pretend to be human.
“…….”
He did not think her emotions themselves were false. There were certainly parts of her that seemed natural enough to say otherwise.
Her reddened cheeks and ears, for instance. Her eyes that subtly avoided his gaze. Her fidgeting fingers.
There were more human traits than he had expected. Yet perhaps because her face did not change much from its expressionless state, he could not erase the sense that something about her was unpleasantly wrong. Or perhaps her excessively beautiful face was simply inhuman.
‘……Whatever it is, does it matter?’
Indeed, it was absurd to try to understand an Outer God from a human perspective. Just as an ant could wrack its brain for its entire life and still never understand the way humans thought, humans, no matter how much they studied, could never understand the mind of an Outer God. It was easier on the heart to simply accept it like a phenomenon and move on.
‘As long as she doesn’t harm me, it should be fine.’
Thinking so, Ian looked back at the Reconstruction of All Things, Leah. Before he knew it, she was wearing a dress instead of the snow-white negligee.
“Then I’ll call you Leah.”
“…….”
Leah did not answer. Instead, she stared intently at Ian, then walked right up in front of him. Her snow-white bare feet trod across the marble.
“One more time.”
She said, looking up at Ian.
Her breath carried a deep scent of hyacinths. It was also laden with heat.
“Please call me that just one more time.”
“……Leah?”
“……One more time.”
“Haa,” she breathed out. Though Ian wore a reluctant expression, he complied with her request. It was not a difficult favor.
“Leah.”
“…….”
“Uh, hm…… Leah.”
“…….”
“……Leah?”
“……Haa.”
“……Leah, how long is this going to—”
“Just once, by my ear, for the last time…….”
“……Leah.”
“Haah.”
Her shoulders trembled despite her expressionless face. Her toes wriggled strangely, and her fingers increased from six to seven before returning to five again.
It was grotesque, but Ian did not bother to comment on it. Instead, he stepped back and looked around.
“…….”
Overall, it was a snow-white space. The ceiling, the floor, and the walls were all painted pure white, as though built of marble.
To put it nicely, it was pretty; to put it poorly, it was the sort of room that could drive one insane. The bed was white as well, and there was not a single other piece of furniture, which made the feeling even stronger.
It was a mercy that there was at least one window. If not, he would not have wanted to stay here any longer.
‘Is that outside…… a garden?’
Ian narrowed his eyes as he stared past Leah at the scenery beyond the window.
Outside the window stretched a lush green garden.
White hydrangeas and red roses, golden marigolds and tulips, forget-me-nots, lilies, and more. All kinds of flowers beautifully embroidered the green garden. Among them, pure white hyacinths occupied the greatest share.
Unlike the room, the garden was truly beautiful. The flaw, if it could be called a flaw, was that something other than the sun was floating in the sky. Astonishingly, the sky was not blue, but white.
“……It feels ridiculous to ask now, but where is this?”
Ian asked.
“Ah.”
Only then did Leah realize that Ian’s gaze was turned toward the garden.
“Would you like to look around?”
“……Look around?”
“Yes.”
It was not a proposal he particularly needed to refuse. When Ian nodded, Leah took his hand.
The next moment, the two of them were sitting at a tea table in the garden.
“……Huh.”
There had been no precursor at all. He had felt nothing, nor had his vision warped or his insides twisted. He had simply blinked, and they had moved here. Ian let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it.
All that surrounded them were flowers. The snow-white house was nowhere to be seen. He could not find even a trace of it.
“This is my home.”
Pour, pour.
Leah spoke as she poured blue tea into Ian’s teacup.
“In terms familiar to you, perhaps, hm…… it would be something like a nebula.”
“……A nebula.”
“A nameless nebula. A small rift existing at its center. This is that sort of place.”
A sweet fragrance rose from the blue tea. Leah handed Ian a cake piled high with fruit, while she brought over a cake with no toppings at all for herself and set her fork in place. A blue butterfly landed on Leah’s shoulder, then flew away again.
“It is a place impossible to find at the level of humans. Please be at ease.”
“……That does the opposite of reassuring me. You are going to send me back, aren’t you?”
“As I said, I do not do things you dislike.”
She smiled awkwardly. As if she were forcibly imitating a smile.
“When our conversation is over, I will send you back. For now, just talk with me. Comfortably.”
“…….”
“You must have many things you’re curious about.”
She was right.
Ian met Leah’s eyes as they peered intently at him, then let out a deep sigh and drank the tea.
The tea tasted like ordinary green tea.
“……First of all, once I return, will Earth be all right?”
“Yes. I reconstructed the timeline.”
She answered in an even tone, as though it were nothing.
“The point in time will go back to when you were moving with that wench. Since I dealt with the god lodged in the moon, the insects on the far side of the moon that had been fleeing from it will not go to Earth either.”
“……By saying you dealt with the moon, do you mean you killed an Outer God?”
“It was a weak one.”
Snap.
Leah flicked her fingers. Then the Hand of Re-creation was summoned in midair.
“The gap between Outer Gods who can create grimoires and Outer Gods who cannot is larger than you imagine. With a single gesture, I can kill every last one of them. I simply did not because it was troublesome.”
“…….”
“But that thing, the ‘Song of Melancholy,’ dared to overstep its place and try to steal your grimoire. It was probably aiming to devour the grimoire and raise its own rank. Foolish thing. It must have thought I would quietly watch that happen.”
“…….”
“So I killed it. It begged me to spare it, but I did not even want to hear its voice, so I utterly annihilated it for eternity.”
Sip.
She took a mouthful of tea. She was far too calm for someone who had killed a god.
“Most likely, no one will recklessly invade Earth from now on. I revealed my true body and made it seem as though I was protecting it, so any sane one will avoid it on its own.”
“It seems you’re quite strong.”
“Embarrassing as it is, yes. The Outer Gods I have devoured so far number in the hundreds, even thousands. Some of the alchemies you use are imitations of the powers of Outer Gods I absorbed.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. There should probably be some new alchemical items related to the ‘Song of Melancholy’ that I absorbed this time, so keep that in mind. More importantly, you.”
Clink.
Leah set down her teacup and stared intently at Ian.
“Your way of speaking has been far too stiff since earlier.”
“…….”
“I know that being wary is unavoidable as a human. But since I have shown this much sincerity, shouldn’t you show some sincerity as well? I am speaking in human language, and I was told that polite manners are a good way to earn favor, so I am even using honorifics. But if what comes back is that stiff, even I cannot say I feel very good.”
“……Then.”
“Speak comfortably. As husband and wife would.”
Leah emphasized the words “husband and wife.” Ian hesitated for a moment, then sighed and nodded.
“Understood. Then like thi—”
“Do not use honorifics.”
“…….”
“…….”
“……Got it. Then I can talk like this, right?”
“Very good.”
The corners of Leah’s mouth rose slightly.
That expression was quite natural.