"Rustila, Zernya. Can you protect Cartesia while I'm gone?"

Both wives nodded in agreement to Eidel's request.

It was a favor from their beloved husband. They knew the importance of Cartesia, so there was no reason to refuse.

Absolutely not, this had nothing to do with using vacation days because work was difficult.

And then another person joined them.

"Ireh unnie?"

"Take me too."

It was Ireh.

"Unnie, weren't you having trouble moving because of the curse?"

"I took anesthetics, so I'm fine. I can manage."

"Just because you took medication doesn't mean you should be moving around..."

"It's too dangerous to leave you two alone."

Ireh, who had once been floundering in a swamp of pleasure, now had a completely transformed look in her eyes.

How admirable she was, acting as the concerned older sister-in-law.

Rustila and Zernya looked at each other and nodded slightly.

"The more people, the better."

And so the three arrived at the Rheinland main house, holding hands.

But what was this? Cartesia was lounging on the master bedroom bed, reading academic papers. The very bed where Eidel and his two wives made love whenever they had the chance.

"Hey, get down from there!"

Zernya pulled away the blanket. Cartesia slid down limply.

"What do you think you're doing, woman?"

"This bed is Eidel's and my sanctuary. Don't stay here—go to another room's bed."

"Well, well."

Cartesia extended a tentacle and placed it on Zernya's shoulder.

"You've got some nerve for a human. Daring to give me orders."

It felt heavy.

This wasn't the weak, flimsy tentacle from before.

Cartesia tilted her head with a sinister smile. Zernya frowned.

"Are you threatening me right now?"

"Threatening? Not at all. I'm just saying leave me alone. I have zero interest in you."

Tap, tap.

The tentacle lightly patted Zernya's shoulder before receding like the tide. Rustila crossed her arms and said:

"That's too much. How can you be so rude to people who came to protect you? This is a private space for the couple."

"Human customs are none of my concern. And I never asked you to protect me."

"It's Eidel's request."

"...Hmm."

Cartesia rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.

"How admirable for such a youngster. Thinking this far ahead."

Cartesia chuckled behind her sleeve. It was clearly different from her wicked laugh earlier—much warmer and more feminine.

At this, Zernya and Rustila sensed danger.

It was a kind of intuition.

The ominous thought that this foreign deity might have developed strange feelings for Eidel. Rustila spoke:

"There are many better beds elsewhere."

"No thanks, this one's the most comfortable."

Cartesia covered herself with the blanket like a hermit crab and sneered.

"I concentrate much better researching here. I'll be staying for about two days, so if you want to sleep, find another room."

"Hey! This is our house!"

"Then from now on, I'll make it mine."

"You, you crazy deity...!"

"How could I be a deity without being a little crazy?"

Cartesia giggled. Rustila grabbed Zernya, who was about to lunge at Cartesia, and dragged her to the living room. Now only Ireh and Cartesia remained in the room.

"That white-haired girl is interesting in a way. She's got guts sticking out of her belly. Is it audacity or anger?"

Ireh didn't answer. She was secretly scanning the papers scattered messily on the bed.

"What are you looking at?"

Cartesia snatched the papers with her tentacles.

"Woman, are you feeling fine despite being in heat?"

"I told you before. I don't develop urges for just anyone."

"Oh my."

Cartesia hummed a tune.

"That's interesting in its own way. How amusing."

"You find everything interesting."

"Of course. I am the God of Wisdom and Curiosity."

What followed was shocking.

"Normally, when afflicted with 'Lust,' one becomes desperate for any partner. Do you know why? Because the natural condition for dispelling that technique is 'reproduction.' Unless you plant or receive seed, it will never subside."

"Ah."

"Now do you understand? Why you're still in that state when that youngster has recovered."

So that's why. Ireh gritted her teeth.

What a disgustingly vile curse.

"Is it thanks to your patron deity, the God of Patience and Integrity? Or is it your constitution that can accept large amounts of pron? I'm curious. So very curious. Looking at you now, it might be fun to put you on an examination table."

"Don't treat me like a research subject."

Ireh turned away and left the master bedroom.

It was truly an irritating conversation.

But it wasn't without gain.

In that brief moment, Ireh had been able to deduce what kind of research Cartesia was conducting.

"Ireh unnie, is this room okay for you?"

"Yes. Thank you, Rustila."

Ireh unpacked her bag and clothes in the room where she would stay for two days, then placed her research materials one by one on the desk.

"Heh, hehehe."

How fortunate.

The corners of her mouth turned up at the thought of giving that deity a taste of her own medicine soon.

Before long, only the sound of rustling papers filled Ireh's room.

***

The first day, nothing happened.

"We need to set up guard shifts."

Two hours for Ireh, two hours for Zernya, and finally two hours for Rustila.

"With three of us, it works out perfectly."

"Can both of you manage with just four hours of sleep?"

"When caring for patients, even two hours a day feels like a luxury."

"Same here. When I'm researching, this actually feels like a lot of sleep."

Cartesia snorted at the sight of them bragging about their sleep deprivation. A yawn escaped her lips.

Even foreign deities sleep.

During sleep, they can store data and expand their thought forms in what's called an "enhancement process."

It also has the effect of conserving pron and coin needed for life maintenance.

Cartesia was the first to lie down.

"Hmmmm."

The double queen-sized bed had the youngster's scent mixed in.

It was extremely comfortable.

Her consciousness gradually faded like a dimming lamp.

While Cartesia was deep in sweet slumber:

"Hey you bastard, what are you? Get out from under my bed right now!"

The sharp voice jolted her awake.

Zernya was shouting into the microphone.

"Rustila, Ireh unnie—!!"

Cartesia's gaze followed the blanket and dropped downward.

In the darkness, with only a mood lamp for light, dark tentacle shapes reflected like clouds on a lake surface.

Whoosh!

A tentacle sliced through the air. Cartesia quickly twisted her body. The mist tentacle grabbed the blanket and pulled it down. The bed broke into six pieces.

Gulp.

The sound of a moving Adam's apple. And then.

"Aack!"

Another tentacle caught Zernya by the throat.

The tentacle tried to pull Zernya with tremendous force. Even in the complete darkness, one could see her face turning blue.

Slash!

Cartesia sharpened her tentacles like blades and cut through the mist tentacles. Zernya fell to the floor with a thud, gasping for breath.

"Cough, hack, I, I thought I was going to die...!"

"Woman, you're really weak."

"I'm a doctor! It's been ages since I held a sword...!"

"It's coming."

Cartesia grabbed Zernya with her tentacles and rolled together. Black thorns pierced the spot where they had been. Boom—the wall collapsed. It was a close call.

"Zernya, we're here!"

"That's..."

Tss, tss, tss.

Just as Rustila and Ireh arrived, darkness swallowed the bed.

["Cartesia, my daughter."]

Renatus.

He had descended.

["You don't know how impatient I've been to harvest you. Now, return to the embrace of the father who gave birth to you. Come."]

The fact that he was speaking through telepathy indicated he hadn't fully manifested yet.

Estimating the time limit: about 5 minutes.

They needed to either endure until then or finish this.

Cartesia quickly calculated:

1. The three—Rustila, Zernya, and Ireh—cannot face Renatus.

2. She received 190,000 coin and 550,000 pron from Eidel. This should be enough to use a couple of techniques that could land effective hits even on a high-ranking deity.

3. She couldn't sense Powehi's presence. He might launch a delayed attack. She needed to use techniques that could prepare for that as well.

And finally one more thing.

At her level, she couldn't completely destroy Renatus.

So if she wanted to defeat him, she needed to break his will. Or make him stop thinking.

'Now is the only time to attack.'

The decision didn't take long.

[— "Mental Gender Conversion," "Endless Lust"]

Using 550,000 pron to activate two techniques.

And to that:

[— Adding "Fixation" effect.]

Investing 190,000 coin to make the effect semi-permanent until Cartesia herself perished.

Before Renatus could prepare his attack, Cartesia stretched out her hand.

"Turn that one into a bitch."

Splash!

Azure tentacles filled with madness tore into the just-manifested body of Renatus.

"Cartesia? What are you doing to your father...! Urrrrrggghhhh!"

Surprisingly, it worked.

***

Following his master's orders, Powehi had decided to attack later.

This was what they called a delayed attack.

Not knowing what kind of preparations Cartesia might have made, he was getting ready to strike when his teacher was caught off guard, even if his teacher took a big hit first.

It was about time.

'When the teacher comes up, I'll just greet him and go right back down. I'll thoroughly toy with the opponent when they're most at ease, hehehe.'

While thinking this:

Whoosh!

A crack formed in the null space where he was, and through that gap, a pink dust mass appeared.

"W-who...?"

"...It's me, my disciple."

"T-teacher?"

Though the appearance was alien, he could tell from the form, tone, and everything else. The being before him was undoubtedly his one and only master.

The flushed pink mist slowly approached.

"Your voice has become softer, more feminine. What on earth happened down there?"

"Is that important right now?"

"Pardon?"

"Like desire in a wine glass, like winter awaiting spring."

Powehi instinctively realized.

Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong.

"You're so cute, Powehi. I want to lock you up in my black hole. Will you allow it?"

"Teacher? Teacher! N-no! You can't touch me like this! Don't we share the same color? Nothing comes from mixing us!"

"I don't care about that. Right now, I just want you."

The pink mist seductively embraced the small black mist. The two clouds mixed chaotically, exponentially raising the temperature of the black hole.

"Please come to your senses! I'm your disciple! This isn't right between master and student!"

"I'll mix with you."

"Teacher—!! Aaaaargh!!"

That day, astronomers observed radiation heat from the Sgr A* celestial body at levels unexplainable by existing physics.

Thus, a new hypothesis was formed.

Perhaps it was due to the reproductive activities of foreign deities.

In other words, beyond Hawking radiation—fucking radiation.

In the physics community, it was recorded as such a joke...