When did it happen?
When did I start believing that only one post was going up today?
Kids who mess up get put in seiza.
Every Japanese person knows this. It's common sense.
Huh?
You don't?
I refuse to accept any objections.
Incidentally, I just realized I have never once done seiza in my entire life.
Next time I teleport to Japan, I'll try doing seiza while having tea.
Wabi-sabi!
So anyway, little miss princess is currently sitting in seiza.
I bound her hands behind her back with string, tied her legs too, forced her into the position, and stuck a rock on top of her feet for good measure.
Now THIS is proper punishment!
Little miss looks like she's about to cry — no, she IS crying.
Can't blame her, really. She's royalty, after all. She's probably never experienced anything like this before.
"Your first ti—me!"
"He—avy."
Her legs must be nice and tingly by now, so I give them a little poke-poke.
Twitch! Twitch!
Oh man, this is hilarious.
What is this? A new kind of toy?
Poke her and she gasps — a life-sized little-sister figurine.
Price: priceless.
Oh boy, the buyers would be lining up.
Right now, we're inside a pocket dimension I created.
No matter how much noise we make in here, nobody's coming.
If we were in Natsume-kun's room, someone would've come to investigate the commotion by now.
In here, we can have ourselves a nice long ch—at.
It's not like the sealed dimension where I imprisoned Kuro, but I've adjusted the time flow to differ from the outside world too.
Don't underestimate my terrible communication skills — it took me half a day just to explain things to Agnera.
This is absolutely going to take forever.
So, I'm currently applying the maximum time manipulation I'm capable of.
This way, we get a reverse Urashima Taro situation.
Now then, little miss, enjoy that leg numbness to your heart's content!
Oh wait, no.
That's not the point.
"H-hic! Ugh, you — hff — what are you?"
She asks through her tears and groans.
I'm a spider. Is that a problem?
Yeah.
That's not really what she wants to know, is it.
Hmm.
How should I answer this?
"The Evil God."
I am the Evil God.
That's not entirely wrong, and I'm not lying.
Honestly, what I'm doing is pretty Evil God-ish.
A god, a person, anyone who seeks to destroy the world — that's what they call an Evil God!
I hate sharing the same title as that guy, though.
I could've gone with Demon King, but if word got out from somewhere and attracted this kid's brother, that'd be trouble.
Not the Yamada-kun one. The other brother.
The Hero among them.
I mean, killing him would be easy enough, but killing him now would cause all sorts of problems.
If I'm not careful with this matter, my entire plan could collapse from the roots.
Well, that's just a possibility, and the odds are pretty low.
But still, as long as it's not zero percent, I shouldn't be crossing any dangerous bridges.
You have to knock on a stone bridge before crossing it.
Without knocking so hard you shatter it to pieces, of course.
"The Evil God?!"
I felt her catch her breath.
Oh, right. In this world, there's only one being referred to as the Evil God.
Long, long ago, there was an Evil God who drove people to war.
People exposed to the Evil God's miasma killed each other, neighbor against neighbor.
The people were called back to their senses by a goddess's appeal, and they united as one to destroy the Evil God.
Under the goddess's divine protection, the people regained their peace.
And they all lived happily ever after.
What a stupid old legend.
So stupid it makes me want to throw up.
An Evil God who drives people to war.
That's perfect for me.
I suppose I'll take on the role of the ancient Evil God, risen from the age of myths?
Taking over a part nobody expected — might even be ironic. Nice.
Little miss looks oddly convinced.
Wait — convinced? Just like that?
Oh, so that's how it is.
So I've been officially recognized as an Evil God.
Which is better, I wonder — being looked at like a total loser, or being feared as an ancient evil?
Either way, the intimidation should be enough for now.
Time to get to the real topic.
"Th-that one, you can't kill him."
Crap, I forgot Natsume-kun's name in this world.
Actually, I'm the type who can't remember people's faces or names.
I'd know if they were reincarnators, though.
Thanks to the memories I have as
But names and faces of regular humans in this world? I don't bother remembering any of them.
Unless they've left a serious impression.
And by that logic, little miss here has left quite the impression, hasn't she.
Well, yeah?
"Why? Hic! You — the Evil God — would protect — ugh — that man?"
Let me sum that up: why would I protect Natsume-kun? Is that it?
You don't have to keep making those breathy voices every time you talk.
Keep it up and I might just open a whole new door, missy.
No, actually, I won't.
"He's still useful."
I won't tell her what for.
And I won't tell her he's disposable either.
Something tells me she'd develop some weird expectations if I did.
"You are — hff — going to start a war?"
I nod.
Hmm?
Little miss has a complicated look on her face?
Hmm.
Is this a lead to winning her over?
Think — remember this kid's character.
What makes her tick.
What is she thinking right now to make that expression?
Think— You don't even need to think about it, do you?
In my mind, this girl's image is nothing but "Big Brother worship!"
And an abnormal amount of it.
That look on her face — it means this: If a war breaks out, her beloved, ultra-perfect big brother will shine brilliantly, become the talk of the world, and rise to the top.
Oh, but this Evil God before her — even big brother might not be able to beat her!
And if that's the case, big brother is in danger!
An Evil God like this would never leave someone who radiates the aura of such a great person alone!
She's sure this Evil God is scheming to kill big brother now before he can grow any stronger!
But if it's big brother — big brother can surely defeat even an Evil God!
And for that to happen, she can't let this Evil God lay a finger on big brother right now.
Big brother, I'll buy you time!
……Yeah, that's pretty much it.
The heavy, tragic resolve from moments ago has vanished like it was never there, replaced by a sharp glare aimed right at me — and the whole thing looks like a perfect mirror of exactly the train of thought I imagined.
Of course, it's all based on my own imagination, but I don't think I'm far off.
In that case — time for a demonic whisper. No, an Evil God's whisper.
"Big brother — what if I let you go?"
That's all for tonight.