Even Bell, who had been talking with me until just a moment ago, was forcibly pushed out under the pretense that he needed to recover from tomorrow's fatigue, and sent off.
Left alone in my seat, I was enjoying the silence beneath the night sky.
"You really shouldn't be staying up this late."
"It's very bad for a beauty's skin."
My flippant remark drew no reply.
Anyone would have thought that was the end of it.
"My, are you worried about me? How kind."
But in reality, a response came from the darkness before me.
If possible, I had hoped the presence from earlier had just been my imagination.
Annoying as it was, it seemed like tonight would bring a lot of visitors after all.
All of them were the result of my own karma, though.
"Well, I suppose that was useless advice for the goddess of beauty, who is unanimously acknowledged as the world's best? The other goddesses would be no different."
"That's true. We gods are different from all of you in the lower world. We are immutable beings."
"Oh? Immutable. Immutable, huh... Hmm, from a personal point of view, I wouldn't exactly say that."
"My, would you? How very interesting. If you don't mind, would you tell me that personal opinion of yours?"
"My tuition is quite expensive, you know?"
"That's fine. This child can pay that much for you."
The moment she said that, two figures emerged from the darkness.
One was a stunning woman so beautiful she seemed like she belonged to another world.
And behind her stood a huge man, towering like a mountain.
I knew both of them well.
Especially that boar of a man standing guard behind the woman.
"Manga Otta. The strongest in the city... no, the strongest in this era? Yes, he'd certainly more than cover my tuition. In fact, he'd probably overflow it."
It was a small personal wish, but...
Would you like to try the temple's stone sword once?
If the body age of the one being protected in front of him were just a little younger, it would suit him perfectly.
Ah, what a truly unfortunate pairing.
"So then... what business does the goddess beloved by all have with a mere commoner like me?"
"It's too late for roundabout talk, so I'll be direct."
Freya, the goddess who had no way of knowing what I was thinking in my head, had been smiling softly until just now, but her expression turned stern in an instant, chilling the night air around us as she spoke like she was issuing a decree.
"Stop taking an interest in that child."
"..."
"I think you already know who I mean."
Now she was openly and confidently baring her thoughts, as if it were only natural.
"It's the first time. A soul as pure and clean as that child's, like the very first snow of winter."
The one and only existence in this world, no—an existence that would never be matched again in the future.
"So I will not allow even the slightest stain or speck of dust on that child. I have no intention of permitting it."
I could faintly sense the god's uniquely possessive madness hidden within that beautiful confidence and pride.
The nature of a realm that humans fundamentally could not understand, and should not understand.
The unbridgeable gap between humans and gods.
"What happened today, I would not have let pass if it were anyone else. But it seems to have helped that child grow a fair bit, so I'll let it go this time."
That was probably the true nature of the goddess Freya.
From my perspective, even what stood before me now seemed to be only one part of that whole.
"So stop this now and back off. That is my request. No..."
"It is an order, Magus."
At last, when her voice like a jade bead rolling on a tray came to an end, I stroked my chin with one hand and fell into thought alone.
Hmm, an order, she says...
"Ah! If the word order offended you, then I apologize in advance. I'm a little emotionally heightened because of what happened today, you see. I ended up making a mistake without even realizing it. I do hope you'll be generous and understand."
"No, not really."
"I'm glad to hear that."
No, well.
That said...
"Or perhaps 'transaction' would be a better word? If there's something else you want, then go ahead and tell me. I'll hear you out, and if possible, I'll try to match your taste."
"Hmm, a transaction. Something I want, you say."
As I listened, something about it...
Was kind of...
Annoying.
"This is perfect, actually. There's something I've just started wanting very badly."
"My, really?"
"Yes, really."
"That's quite a delightful thing to hear. Frankly, I don't want to worsen my relationship with Hestia any more than this. And I don't dislike you all that much either, aside from today's matter. You, too, have a rather interesting soul."
"Oh my, what an honor beyond my station."
And so I stopped thinking.
I stopped, and readily accepted the goddess Freya's proposal.
"Let's see. What I want right now, intensely, is..."
It was a bit irritating to be on the receiving end, but...
What else could I do?
The man guarding and protecting her right now was, no matter what anyone said, the strongest man in the world at present.
Unfortunately, I was still far from ready. I wasn't just unable to fight him properly; I was still at the stage where I couldn't even begin to handle him.
"The goddess's head, maybe?"
Snap.
Yes.
For now.
Bang!
"Are you all right, Lady Freya?"
"Of course. You're at my side, Otta."
In response to the snap of my fingers, dozens of silver tentacles suddenly sprang up rapidly from the empty air all around us.
Their target was the noble Freya standing right before me.
But unfortunately, before the blades of the tentacles could even reach her, they were swept away and shattered by Otta's greatsword, and the ambush failed.
Truly unfortunate, that is.
If it had ended at that level, it would have been much easier for me, too.
"And here I thought you'd throw a tantrum just because things weren't going your way. It seems Hestia raised you far more gently than I expected."
"Could you stop with the nasty family insults?"
"Oh? Then let me hear why you're doing this."
"Nothing in particular. It's not that big a deal."
The reason I'm doing this?
Did I really have to spell it out?
Instead of mocking her, I explained the reason in a deliberately calm tone.
No, even that explanation was already a form of mockery.
"Magi are all the same. Every last one of them is an extreme egoist."
Whether the world is destroyed or not.
Whether it is morally right or wrong.
Whether it causes harm later on or not.
"They look only at their own research, their own family, their own goals, their own achievements, their own profit... and they ignore every bit of harm, every impurity, every wrongdoing in the process. Rationally and emotionally alike."
There are certainly a few good people, a few genuinely decent human beings, but compared to the total number of Magi, they are nothing but a tiny minority.
"A bunch of psychos who know, on a human level, that it is clearly wrong, yet insist that from a Magus's point of view it is not wrong at all. That's what Magi are."
And I am one of those Magi as well.
As my explanation went on, Freya's brow gradually, subtly furrowed, as if she disliked what she was hearing.
Hmm, what a very lovely expression.
As expected, beauties suit anything they do.
This is the pinnacle of beauty—delicious!
"In short, Magi are all greedy."
Greedy bastards who never let go of anything in their hands, under their feet, or in their mouths—greedy, selfish, gluttonous bastards through and through.
"And today, by coincidence, all those children entered my fence. Yes, that's right. They're all my people. All of them... all of them are mine. Every single one of them belongs to me."
And yet you dare drool over what is mine in such a disgusting way?
"Did human greed seem that amusing to you, goddess?"
Once the things before me were identified as enemies, I cast aside even the minimum courtesy.
I twisted my lips as far as they would go, letting a smile settle at the corner of my mouth.
Cold night air slipped between my slightly parted lips and fangs.
A beastlike growl rose on its own from the vocal cords beneath my throat.
"How foolish..."
In response to me, Freya relaxed her furrowed brow and let out a short sigh.
What foolishness.
Such arrogant foolishness, so ugly it was almost grotesque.
The goddess's evaluation was entirely valid and correct.
And yet, that very foolishness is the fundamental nature humanity must never abandon, even in the distant future.
"That foolishness is humanity's potential."
When night falls, the cold is only natural. Humans cannot endure winter's chill with bare bodies.
So they made fire, and used hunted animals to create fur clothing and preserved food.
With weak human bodies, they could not stand against fierce predators.
So they made weapons like spears and arrows, and as a few small tribes gathered together, they formed one great fence—a nation.
Then, for the sake of wider territory, they waged brutal wars against their own kind, and from within those wars they produced countless byproducts called history, myth, legend... culture.
Driven by the fun, the curiosity, and the thrilling spirit of adventure that arose from all that, they fearlessly stepped into unknown realms no one had ever reached before, and continued to carve out more and more unexplored land.
That is how humans, again and again, showed foolishness and made choices, and arrived at this very place.
They found a faint glimmer of wisdom amid countless foolish acts and built a better future.
And they will continue to do so, unchanged even in a far more distant future.
Therefore, human nature is foolish.
It is foolishness so arrogant it is beyond redemption.
But humanity's progress, humanity's future, humanity's potential.
All of it began from that foolishness.
So I, too, will make the same foolish choice this time.
I had already resolved that, and I would continue to do so.
"So you should give up quietly, goddess. No matter how much I choke to death from overeating, I have no intention of handing over what's inside my fence to anyone else."
"..."
There was no other reply.
For a moment, a cold silence flowed leisurely between us.
"I see. I understand."
I'll acknowledge it, your greed.
"Then there's only one thing left, isn't there?"
At last, the goddess made her decision.
Immediately afterward, Freya's expression grew even colder, more severe, and heavier.
"Grant his wish, Otta."
The moment those words ended.
Bang!
At the goddess's will, the strongest man in the world moved.
It was a fleeting instant, less than one second long.
Within that absurdly short span, Otta's greatsword instantly swallowed the world before my eyes and came crashing down on me.
And I...
Alone and quietly...
"[The World]."
rose from my seat.
"Now then."
One second elapsed.