It had been four days since Pakira met Lord Yomido.
Pakira and I were in Ambrosius's collection room.
Anemos and Shiro were there as well.
Ambrosius, of course — elegantly sipping Shiro's tea while looking at me.
— "I gathered them just as you asked, Wof."
— "Wof, what is the meaning of this?"
— "I wasn't told anything, either."
The three of them looked puzzled.
— "This is the right group, isn't it?"
— "Yes, that's right."
I answered Pakira's question.
— "Indeed. It was I who asked that the details not be shared with Wof."
— "Pakira, you gathered them?"
— "Mm. My apologies."
— "This group... if I may ask, Pakira — do you know who we are?"
As expected of Ambrosius. Sharp.
Pakira nodded.
— "You are the Kings of Death."
— "That's right."
"W-Well..."
"No, I know of Anemos. I was at the audition as well, you see."
"Right. My apologies."
"So why did you gather the Kings of Death?"
"Well, not all of them, mind you."
The King of Fire is a traveling merchant, so no one knows where he is.
The King of Water is a shut-in, and even I've never met him.
The King of Earth is currently absent.
"Hmm. Rather than explaining, maybe it'd be faster to just show you."
Pakira pulled a staff from her pouch.
It had a white shaft as tall as she was, with a tip formed of multiple overlapping black rings.
The pommel was a translucent crystal. Its name: the Staff of Avngild.
"Th-That's...!?"
"You're kidding!"
"Huh? Huh?"
Ambrosius and Shiro reacted instantly, chairs scraping back as they shot to their feet.
Anemos just sat there, bewildered, having no idea what was going on. Right — she'd never seen it before.
Ambrosius kept his distance, eyes locked on the staff.
"M-Most certainly. It's... genuine. Where on earth did you... manage to get your hands on that?"
"I received it from Yomido."
"From Lord Yomido..."
"So that's how it is."
"Lord Yomido's staff...?"
"So Anemos doesn't know about it, huh. That's the staff of Avnguldr. The one held by the statue of Lord Yomido in the temple. I see. So you've finally met."
Well, I finally did.
"Indeed. That's what Yomido asked of me. To become a representative on the surface."
"I see. So that's why you gathered Shiro and the others."
"Because it seemed best to show my face to the King of Death."
*Phew.* Ambrosius settled into his seat with a sigh.
Shiro also brewed fresh tea and served it to us.
Ambrosius was smiling wryly.
"I always thought a day like this would come."
"Yes."
Could Ambrosius and Shiro have had a premonition of this?
I asked.
"So Pakira is the same as Lord Yomido?"
"That's right."
"Ah, so that's how it is."
"That said, I have no intention of doing anything, nor do I need to change my attitude. Ambrosius. Shiro. Anemos. Everything can stay as it has been."
"That's a relief."
"I understand."
"U-yeah."
Oh, that look on Anemos's face.
She already uses "warawa" as a first-person pronoun and talks in a high-and-mighty way, so it was a look that said it didn't really matter either way.
Fair enough. Ambrosius and Shiro were surely thinking the same thing.
That's when a thought crossed my mind.
"Um, I have one question—why didn't you report Pakira to Lord Yomido?"
I directed the question specifically at Ambrosius, who had known Pakira before I did.
Ambrosius gave a soft chuckle.
"There are two reasons. One is that we can't initiate contact with Lord Yomido from our side. So the priority inevitably stays low, and by the time contact does come through, we've forgotten."
"And the other?"
"Pakira hasn't done anything wrong, but having a form resembling a god might be considered blasphemous."
"Ah... I see..."
"We can't very well understand the rules of the gods."
"That's certainly true."
I really have no idea what the goddess of the knife is about, honestly.
"So then, aside from Anemos, I don't know what kind of Death Kings there are. I'd like to hear about them if you don't mind, Ambrosius."
"Sure. I'm the Death King of Darkness. Well, to be precise, my reincarnated form is."
"So that's why you're in Edda."
"That's right."
"Shiro is the Light King of the Dead. Her species is undead."
"Oh my. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"If that's the case, the Fire King of the Dead would be difficult, but I can introduce you to the Water King of the Dead another time."
"Mm. I'd appreciate that."
Without realizing it, Shiro was staring intently at Avangruid's staff.
Fidgeting slightly, she spoke with a hint of hesitation.
"Hey, Pakira…sama? It's just curiosity, but there's something I'd like to know."
"What is it? Just Pakira is fine."
"That staff. It's an OOPArt, right? What kind of effect does it have… If you don't mind, I'd like to know. Is that okay?"
"I'm interested too."
"Us as well, if you please."
Come to think of it, I hadn't asked for the details either.
Pakira nodded.
"Very well. First, all Relics receive a death attribute. It's a persistent effect. For example, with fire, it manifests as a black-purple flame that continues burning until the monster dies."
Whoa, so it's a sustained damage effect?
"Now that's powerful."
"Death attribute? This is the first time I've heard of that."
"It truly is the power of a god…"
"That's not all. There's also, well… I'm not sure what would happen, so I haven't used it, but… there are Transcendent God Relics."
"Huh? Not a simulation?"
So in other words, you mean the real deal on top of all that.
"Indeed. The True God Relic — [Yomido]."
Everyone started buzzing.
"So Pakira-san would become Lady Yomido?"
"That's about the size of it."
That's practically an incarnation, isn't it? The thought crossed my mind, but I kept it to myself.
If the extremists in the royal capital found out about this, it wouldn't just be trouble.
And ironically, that meant Paleido had actually been right.
"That's incredible."
"Yea, but honestly, I've not much desire to try it. That's why I've been putting it off even now."
"Oh? And why would that be?"
"Is it because you'd become a god?"
"That much, even I would hesitate over, to be fair."
"No. It's because it's embarrassing."
"Embarrassing...?"
At her unexpected answer, we all tilted our heads.
Pakira wore a pained expression and spoke haltingly.
"Indeed. That thing... Yomido's outfit looks like a white nightdress, and it's, well, rather see-through in places. Everything shows through, bit by bit. It's far too embarrassing for me to wear. If becoming Yomido meant dressing like that... I just couldn't do it..."
Pakira flushed red to her ears and hung her head.
Ah... yeah, that outfit really was... pretty revealing.
"Shiro gets it too. That was, well, a bit embarrassing."
"I was averting my eyes as well."
"I was ignoring it entirely."
I had been looking quite intently, but I made sure not to let it bother me.
The straps would shift out of place now and then, but I made sure not to let it bother me.
Yes, when I say I don't let it bother me, I truly don't let it bother me.
It doesn't bother me.
It doesn't bother me.