"I thought you'd head over to help."
On the museum's fourth-floor terrace, visitors who grew weary from wandering exhibits could stop here to rest. Drinks and snacks were available, and small shops even sold souvenirs.
At this moment, the elderly gentleman in a neat suit and Nitocris were seated beneath a sunshade. Far in the distance was a battlefield hidden behind a Fuzetsu, invisible to ordinary humans—but clearly visible to these two.
"I already intervened," Nitocris answered calmly.
Though seated in a cheap plastic chair, Nitocris's regal aura effortlessly turned it into a throne. "With Ammit present, they'll be fine. The Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter might still be young, but defeating those two Denizens is within her capability. Besides, the 'Interpreter of Condolence' is already there."
Margery Daw was a Flame Haze driven purely by hatred, hunting Crimson Denizens everywhere. Her infamous reputation wasn't merely bluster—it was earned over centuries of madness and brutality. Even a Denizen like "Corpse Retriever" Lamies, whose threat level was practically zero, had been relentlessly pursued by her like a hyena.
The outcome was obvious at a glance, and Nitocris quickly lost interest.
"A pity—I doubt I'll get my hands on those two Denizens' [Power of Existence]."
Tiriel and Sorath were merely Crimson Denizens, not Crimson Lords like Friagne, so their [Power of Existence] was relatively limited… but that was only relative. After all, they had devoured countless humans; if Nitocris could gather their [Power of Existence], she wondered how many Torches could be restored to humanity.
The result unfolded exactly as Nitocris had predicted. The flame-haired girl and Margery Daw defeated Tiriel and Sorath, while Sydonay, pinned down by Ammit, abandoned the fight decisively after those he was meant to protect had died.
"Don't forget our agreement."
Nitocris rose from the plastic chair. Even without turning back, Leanan-sidhe knew the words were meant for her.
Standing up, Leanan-sidhe slightly bowed, respectfully replying, "Rest assured. After all, it's an agreement with a god—I have no intention of suffering divine punishment. Besides, if my wish is fulfilled, I won't have any reason to continue collecting [Power of Existence]."
She paused slightly, tugging her hat downward, hiding a bitter smile.
Not to mention…someone had once told her they didn't want to see her devouring people anymore.
Leanan-sidhe—her name corresponded in myth to the Celtic "fairy lover," who granted artistic genius to her beloved men at the cost of their lifeblood.
The "Spiral Organ," Leanan-sidhe, had disguised herself as the "Corpse Retriever" Lamies, collecting scraps of [Power of Existence] left in Torches. All this was for a single purpose: to restore a painting given to her by the human man she'd loved. For that single painting, she had roamed the human world, gathering existence for centuries.
Nitocris had agreed to help her restore the painting from her beloved human. In exchange, Leanan-sidhe was forbidden from harming Torches any longer and would assist Nitocris in restoring Torches back into humans. Leanan-sidhe agreed immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
"Then let judgment for your sins wait until your wish is fulfilled."
Only Nitocris's words lingered upon the wind, fading slowly. By the time they reached Leanan-sidhe's ears, Nitocris had already vanished from sight.
On the battlefield, Ammit made no attempt to chase after the fleeing Sydonay, simply allowing him to leave. Despite being a divine beast of the underworld, Ammit lacked the power to kill Sydonay. Even with the flame-haired girl and Margery Daw aiding it, defeating him was impossible—only Nitocris herself could achieve that.
Somehow sensing Ammit was about to depart, the flame-haired girl's expression suddenly changed. A curtain of flames exploded behind her with a loud boom, reshaping into fiery wings. Accompanied by the sharp sound of breaking air, she dove down before Ammit. All the pent-up emotions that had tormented her for the past month exploded out as she roared in frustration.
"You're watching this, aren't you!"
The girl bit down hard on her lower lip, her face flushed crimson from the reflected glow of her flames.
"This is the second time you've saved me! If you're going to save me, why do you keep hiding and refuse to meet me now?! Don't you know I've been looking for you this whole time?! Come out already! Tell me your reasons! Explain everything clearly!"
Facing the girl's furious roar, Ammit remained utterly unmoved. Under her burning gaze, its massive, mountain-like body slowly dissolved into a mass of gray flames before completely disappearing.
...
Hirai Yukari was currently feeling incredibly gloomy.
She'd just witnessed such an intense battle straight out of myths and legends, yet Nitocris had immediately dumped cold water on her excitement, completely extinguishing all her enthusiasm.
"You still haven't completed your studies for today. With all those books and materials you bought, you should at least read them. Otherwise, wasn't all that money wasted?"
My dear Kami-sama… You're a mighty deity, not my mom! Aren't you interfering in my life a bit too much?
Becoming the vessel of a goddess—akin to a miko—had been thrilling and incredibly cool. However, it became very painful when said goddess insisted on supervising your studies whenever you felt like slacking off.
Nitocris, entirely unconcerned, delivered her cold response from the pendant resting upon the desk.
"You're the one who promised you'd diligently study from now on and even asked me to supervise you."
The cause was a recent mock exam.
Ever since learning the truth of the world, Hirai Yukari had lost all motivation to study. Consequently, she hadn't reviewed a single page before the exam, and—predictably—she bombed it.
When she received her report card, Hirai Yukari took a heavy blow. She decided to put in real effort from then on, even asking Nitocris to personally supervise her studies.
"You've sworn directly before a god, you know. You'd better be careful about breaking your promise, or divine punishment might follow."
Hirai Yukari shivered, genuinely frightened by Nitocris's ominous warning.
Divine punishment from an actual god—just the thought of it sounded terrifying. More importantly, Yukari knew Nitocris truly possessed the authority of "judgment." After all, Nitocris had been exterminating Crimson Denizens precisely in the name of judgment.
"I—I won't break it! I did promise you first anyway…"
"You've got the mighty Goddess of the Underworld herself tutoring you—what else could you possibly ask for? If there's anything you don't understand, just ask."
Though Yukari's head was spinning from the textbooks in front of her, Nitocris felt exactly the same way—especially with those mathematics problems. Nitocris could find the answers at a glance, yet she couldn't simply give Yukari those answers. She had to explain everything step by step, carefully breaking down each problem to clarify how to arrive at the solution.
Ugh… It's giving me a headache…
A gentle knock sounded from outside the bedroom door. Yukari's mother had brought some fresh fruit as a snack for her hardworking daughter.
Nitocris sensed someone approaching and immediately fell silent, disguising herself as an ordinary necklace. Yukari's mother never noticed the pendant as she entered, smiling warmly and placing a plate of sliced fruit carefully on the desk. She softly reminded Yukari not to push herself too hard and to take a break and eat something.
Only after Yukari's mother had left did Nitocris speak again.
"You have a mother who really cares about you."
"Mmm…"
Yukari's lips curved upward unconsciously.
She'd often felt incredibly lucky—not only because she had parents who loved her deeply, but also because, at the moment she'd almost lost them, she'd encountered such a gentle goddess.
Taking a small piece of mandarin orange and popping it into her mouth, Yukari felt sweetness flood both her tongue and heart.
Nitocris didn't insist Yukari return to her studies immediately—she wasn't a demon, after all, and understood the importance of balancing rest with work. Instead, she took this opportunity to chat with Yukari about the day's events.
This had become something of a routine: Yukari, encountering so many new, amazing things for the first time, was filled with curiosity. Meanwhile, Nitocris seemed uninterested in practically everything, so typically, Yukari would be the one asking questions, and Nitocris would answer them. Yukari always initiated the conversation.
Nitocris assumed Yukari would first ask about the flame-haired girl, Sydonay, or even Ammit, the divine beast she had summoned today…but…
"So, Crimson Denizens can fall in love with humans too?"
As Yukari asked this, she placed another piece of orange in her mouth. This one tasted a bit more sour than sweet, tinged with melancholy.
The golden pendant engraved with the Eye of Horus lay silently on the edge of the desk. Nitocris didn't speak for a moment, seemingly caught off guard and surprised that Yukari's first question would be something like this.
"…Yes, Crimson Denizens can indeed fall in love," Nitocris finally replied in a low voice. "And, as beings defined by their desires, their love is far purer, more fervent, than that of humans."
Today, Yukari had seen firsthand the love of the "Spiral Organ," Leanan-sidhe. Caught between Flame Hazes and Denizens, she'd carefully avoided offending either side for centuries, quietly collecting scraps of [Power of Existence] left behind in Torches—all to restore a single painting left behind by the person she loved.
"If it were Van Gogh, perhaps restoring that painting would be easy. She might not even need [Power of Existence]…"
"Huh? Kami-sama, what did you just say? Van Gogh?"
"No, it's nothing…just speaking to myself."
When the topic turned to paintings, Nitocris naturally thought of Van Gogh. After all, in the previous world she had been summoned with Van Gogh's Spirit Origin.
More importantly, she'd directly confronted an Outer God back then. The impression was far too vivid, something she'd never forget in her lifetime—Van Gogh, the Flower Outer God, and Meteora, who had become the Outer God's apostle.
However, Van Gogh's power, while incredibly strong, was also dangerously frightening. Since most of her strength came from the Outer God itself, a single careless slip could lead to loss of control and possibly world-ending catastrophe.
Another familiar name… Yukari couldn't count how many times she'd heard Nitocris mention famous historical figures. Yet why would Nitocris suddenly mention Van Gogh now? Was something even a powerful Crimson Denizen and a literal goddess couldn't accomplish so easily resolved by a human painter?
Yukari slipped another orange slice into her mouth, allowing the blend of sweet and sour to swirl around her tongue, finally swallowing it down into her heart.
"Kami-sama, can you tell me more about that Denizen's love story?"
Yukari's curiosity was thoroughly piqued.
If someone had asked Yukari previously about her impressions of Crimson Denizens, she would have answered instantly: "monsters that eat people," or "frightening invaders from another world." Although some Denizens made contracts with Flame Hazes to protect humanity, she'd never met them personally, so her impression had been vague.
Only today had she learned there were even Crimson Denizens who'd fallen in love with humans. At this age when romance seemed so alluring, Yukari's heart overflowed with curiosity.
"Hmm… I only know the general outline."
Nitocris recalled that the "Spiral Organ," Leanan-sidhe, had met a human named Donato shortly after arriving in the human world. Donato's dream was to become an artist. As their relationship grew closer, Leanan-sidhe, claiming to be a magician, enchanted Donato with her beautiful magic. In return, he promised to paint a portrait for her. But one day, Donato discovered that Leanan-sidhe's magic was derived from devouring humans. He became angry, and Leanan-sidhe, hurt by his reaction, left him in anger. They parted ways.
Later, Leanan-sidhe—the strongest Unrestricted Spell Master yet also extremely naive—was captured by other Denizens for use in some evil scheme. She was eventually rescued by the first-generation Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter, Mathilde Saint-Omer. Mathilde informed Leanan-sidhe that Donato's painting for her was already complete. Upon hearing this, Leanan-sidhe broke free of her imprisonment. Incidentally, Mathilde had died in that incident, sacrificing herself to take down the Crimson Lord who had imprisoned Leanan-sidhe.
Regaining her freedom, Leanan-sidhe wished to see that painting again, only to learn it had long disappeared into the river of history. Thus, as a genius Unrestricted Spell Master, she created a spell capable of restoring vanished objects. To activate this spell, she gathered existence from nearly vanished Torches, carefully avoiding consuming humans directly, as Donato had wished. To minimize her own existence consumption, she allowed her true body to sleep, instead using the Torch of an elderly gentleman as her vessel.
Well… roughly, that's how it went. Nitocris remembered at least that much.
Thinking of Leanan-sidhe's story, Nitocris also recalled other pairings between Crimson Denizens and humans:
Alastor and Mathilde Saint-Omer, the first Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter.
Pheles, the "Colorful Flutter," and Johann, the "Eternal Lover."
Even the Crimson Lord who had imprisoned Leanan-sidhe and caused Mathilde's death had once had a human lover—he'd gone mad precisely because he couldn't accept his lover's death.
Viewed in this light, falling in love with Crimson Denizens nowadays seemed…rather dangerous, didn't it?
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