When I tried to wrap up Chapter 2 at Part 15, it ended up longer than I expected, so I split it into two.
Today, Part One
Alright, sudden question! What kind of situation am I in right now?
One, sitting seiza.
Two, sitting seiza while being yelled at.
Three, sitting seiza while being REALLY yelled at.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beeem!
The answer is four—sitting seiza together with Lily and the others while the landlady is absolutely furious~……Sigh, how did it come to this?
The cause was Lily and the others' beep sounds. Because all three of them did it at the same time, it ended up being a much louder noise than we'd anticipated.
The landlady had started out only yelling at Lily and the others, but then they pinned it on me as the mastermind by claiming they'd been "coerced by Tenma" (well, I can't exactly deny it completely), so the lightning came down on me too.
"Tenma! This place is also a dining hall! What are you making them do?!"
"No, Landlady, I was just..."
"Spare me the excuses!"
"Yes, I'm sorry!"
This was how it had been for a while now—not even my excuses were being heard.
"Hey, hey, it's about time you let it go, right? It's not like Tenma and the others meant any harm."
"You shut up!"
"...Yes."
Dad's supporting fire ended up being a complete dud.
"I'm sorry, ma'am!"
"I didn't mean any harm!"
"I just wanted to make things easier for myself!"
"It's Tenma's fault! Please forgive us!"
"Hold on, you guys! I just gave some advice!"
"It's Tenma's fault for teaching us all that extra stuff!"
"That's right! We were just following what he told us!"
"Besides, it's Tenma's fault for not leaving this town in the first place!"
"That's got nothing to do with anything—!"
Watching this comedy routine unfold,
"Will you people cut it out already—!"
The landlady's voice echoed throughout the entire town.
Incidentally, it was said that the Fourth Patrol Unit, who happened to be making their rounds at the time, heard that voice and, overwhelmed by its sheer intensity, mistook it for an enemy attack and spent the rest of the night on high alert inside and outside the town.
They were finally released just as the date was about to change. Naturally, with no dinner.
Feeling utterly drained both mentally and starving besides, he made his way back to his room, only to find Shiromaru poking his head out of the Magic Bag, demanding to be fed.
He was far too exhausted for this, so he tried ignoring the little creature and going to sleep, when—
"Kuuun (gururururu~)"
"Kuuun-kuuun (gururu, gururururu~)"
"Kuuun-kuuun-kuuun (gururu, gururu, gururururu~)"
Shiromaru began to play the most extraordinary harmony the world had ever heard.
"I know, just wait a second."
As I said that, I rummaged through my bag—
"It's all raw meat, but that should be fine, right?"
The moment I said those words, Shiromaru started drooling. Just like Pavlov's dog — er, wolf.
I tossed in some Rock Bird and boa meat, and he devoured it at a staggering pace.
"I should probably start thinking about securing your food too..."
While I was muttering that, Shiromaru had already finished every last piece of meat I'd tossed in.
"That was fast... Try savoring it a little, would you?"
With his belly full, Shiromaru let out a single "woof," curled up into a ball, and began to snore softly.
"Sigh... the start of a journey begins with securing food, I suppose. Mainly Shiromaru's..."
As I said that, I headed to bed myself.
My desire for sleep apparently outweighed my hunger — the moment I lay down on the bed, I fell asleep before I even had time to feel hungry, sinking into the world of dreams.
After a while, I opened my eyes to find an endless white space stretching out before me.
"...What the— it's a dream? Let me go back to sleep."
I knew it was a dream, but it looked so utterly boring that I was about to close my eyes when—
"Yoo-hoo~! Long time no see!"
A voice called out to me. I opened my eyes and turned around—
"It's been fifteen years, but do you remember me? It's me — the God of Creation!"
Standing before me was the very god who had brought me to this world.
"Long time no see. And goodnight."
"Yeah, good ni— wait, no! Wake up! Tenma!"
As I was forcibly woken up,
"What do you want now? Once you've reincarnated someone, aren't you done with them?"
"Not at all. About once every dozen years or so, I can link a reincarnator's dream world with the space we created. It's limited to a few people, though."
The moment the God of Creation said that, a chill ran down my neck, and my body moved on its own.
"Ten-ma-chaan! Mwah!"
I think that was the fastest, most optimal movement of my entire life — past life included.
Feeling the chill on my neck, I lunged forward with everything I had, yanking the God of Creation to swap places with me. As it turned out, the God of Creation had been trying to embrace me from behind and steal a kiss—
the God of War,
and they ended up in each other's arms instead. Complete with a passionate mouth-to-mouth bonus...
"What are you showing off, you—"
"old fossil!"
"I'll deck you, hear me?!"
"That's my line!"
"You old—"
"queen!"
Watching that ugly exchange of insults... followed by fists,
"Yo, Tenma! Long time no see! I've missed ya~!"
The God of Skills appeared from the side.
"Yeah, long time no see. So, how come I'm here?"
Looking closely, this place resembled the space I'd been brought to first when I was reincarnated.
"This isn't the exact spot we met before, but just think of it as something similar! As for why I called you here — it's more like a quick informal survey, so don't worry about it. Just think of it as me stopping by for a chat."
"So that's how it is... So, how many of you came today?"
Upon hearing that, the God of Skills began counting on his fingers.
"Me, those two over there, and the God of Beasts — four of us."
"Where's the God of Beasts..."
Sniff, sniff, sniff...
"Whoa, you startled me!"
He had appeared behind me at some point and was desperately sniffing for my scent.
"...Long time no see."
Sniff, sniff...
Even when I tried to push him away, he kept pressing his nose closer with surprising strength. But unlike Okauma, he wasn't particularly harmful, so I gave up and —
"So, what am I supposed to talk about?"
"Nothing in particular. I've been watching most of it, so..."
That remark deflated me.
"Then you didn't really need to drag me here, did you?"
"Nah, thash nah whad it ish, Tenma..."
I looked toward the voice I couldn't understand, and there was the God of Creation, his face swollen and battered beyond recognition. The God of War, who had been fighting him, appeared to be largely unscathed.
"Fix your face first. I can't understand a word you're saying."
"Heal me, would ya!"
As he spoke, his injuries healed right before my eyes.
"You should've done that from the start."
At my words, the God of Creation—
"Doing it in this place is pretty exhausting, you know."
—he said with a laugh, but then suddenly put on a serious face.
"Actually, Tenma. If things stay like this, the balance between your mind and body will collapse, and eventually you'll die."
He dropped that bombshell on me.
"Wha—! What do you mean by that?!"
The God of Creation, trying to calm me down as I got worked up—
"This is only if you do absolutely nothing about it."
"By the sound of that, you're saying there's something I can do about it, right?"
Having calmed down a bit, I pressed the God of Creation on that.
"Yep! Just use these and you'll be fine!"
With a "Ta-da~!" kind of flourish—like something out of the original host's catchphrase intro—he pulled two bracelet-like objects from his robe.
"What are those?"
"These are bracelets that suppress your power, Tenma. When I say 'suppress,' I don't mean they weaken your current abilities—they activate before your body reaches the point where it can't handle any more. Specifically, they can dial you back from 'easily defeating an Ancient Dragon' all the way down to 'maybe you could barely manage to take one down if you really tried.'"
He said this with a "Comprende?" kind of smug energy, but—
"Even 'maybe you could defeat an Ancient Dragon' is still monstrously powerful, isn't it?"
I mean, being told that the strongest creature in this world (excluding gods) is on par with "just a slightly tough monster" is something I just can't wrap my head around!
"Actually, when you were reincarnated, everyone present got a little too carried away... Your predicted maximum power easily surpasses the strongest in all of human history. And what's more, that prediction is still climbing."
According to them, the strongest person up to now had average stats somewhere around S to S-.
My initial predicted minimum was S+, but now apparently it's SS.
"That's exactly why we all made this bracelet together. As long as you wear it, even as you keep growing, you'll barely stay within the bounds of human strength."
After the God of Creation said that,
"…Here, take this too."
The God of Beasts held out three collars.
"What are these?"
"…The God of Skills made them."
"Oh, got it. Tenma, let me explain instead. These were made at the God of Beasts' request — they shrink down a Familiar who's wearing the collar!"
See! The God of Skills puffed out his chest proudly alongside the God of Beasts.
"That's pretty handy. How small can they get?"
"The size varies depending on the individual, but for Shiromaru it'd be roughly 1 to 1.5 meters. Though it won't work on artificial lifeforms like Tanikaze or on humans."
"…The strength doesn't change even in the small state. Plus, the amount of food they need goes down…"
It was even more useful than I'd imagined. If the strength didn't change, I could bring Shiromaru out in the Dungeon, and above all, it would cut down on food costs.
"Thanks, both of you. I'll start using them right away when I wake up!"
Hearing that, the two nodded happily.
"Oh, I forgot to mention — that bracelet also has a Magic Bag effect built in, so it can hold a huge amount! And you won't feel the weight when you wear it. Even if you lose it, all you have to do is think about it and it'll come right back to your wrist."
Apparently it came with yet another incredible feature.
"Can I really accept something like this?"
"Don't worry about it. We've given them out to reincarnators every now and then. Namitaro has one too."
From there, the conversation took off thanks to a name I hadn't heard in a long time, and before I knew it, it was time to wake up.
"Well then, Tenma-kun, see you again. Next time, we should be able to meet sooner."
This bracelet apparently even had an effect that made it easier to meet with the gods, and I was told that for short periods, I could push my abilities to their limit... Well, it seems it will take another twenty or thirty years before I can actually activate it, though.
As I exchanged farewells with the God of Creation, the God of Skills, and the God of Beasts, the God of War—who had been eerily quiet until now—
"Tenma-chan, I really shouldn't tell you this, but... one of your family members is still alive."
I didn't understand what she was saying for a moment after the God of War's words, but—
"Who is it! Who is that! Tell me, God of War—who is it, and where are they now!"
I pressed her, but—
"Calm down, Tenma-chan! I'm sorry, but I can't give you the details... If I told you too much, something terrible might happen to that person..."
The God of War explained to me why she couldn't go into detail.
It was something similar to a curse placed on the gods—the opposite of a Blessing, a kind of system that prevented the gods from favoring anyone other than reincarnators.
In the past, one of the gods had favored a reincarnator too much and extended that favor to those connected to them. As a result, every single one of those people suffered mental breakdowns, and most of them died. The number was over a thousand. Furthermore, the god itself lost its power and was destroyed.
I don't know the specifics, but apparently the prevailing theory is that it was either the world's defense instinct to prevent excessive divine power from being introduced, or perhaps a bug.
"So I'm sorry. This is as far as I can go."
"No, that's more than enough. From here on, I'll handle things myself. Fortunately, the Dungeon City I'm heading to next is close to the Royal Capital, and adventurers from all across the continent gather there in search of dungeons, so information should be easy to come by."
I thanked the God of War. And as I shook hands with her—
"Oh my, it looks like we've reached the limit. Well then, Tenma-chan. Let's meet again."
—my field of vision was gradually painted over with white.
It had been a while since the gods made an appearance.
As for the bracelet—if things kept going, it looked like Tenma was going to end up in D-Ball mode, so I hastily had it equipped.