558 - Marriage is a Community of Fate! #10

Lady Nox waved her hand towards me.

『Child, I feel an auspicious aura in your pants pocket-one I've felt before-. Could you take it out and show it to me-?』

Lady Nox, after the collapse of the Underworld, was found by the Pluto cultists Paranoy had hired and was staying at our mansion.

The mansion's basement was said to be a kind of dungeon ruled by Lady Nox and Erebor, the Demon God of Darkness, who clung to her shoulder like a pet.

In fact, the mansion's basement was currently being used as a laboratory for the dark magician Anxious, Somnia's sorcery room, and a torture chamber where Paranoy's Black Guard tortured Nymph-haters they had captured.

There was really nothing else that came to mind besides the word 'dungeon'.

It might feel a bit unsettling to have such things in the mansion's basement.

However, thanks to this couple, a wide and vast barrier of darkness was spread around the mansion, preventing crude Monsters or those with ill intentions from approaching.

━Jjik-jjik.

I served my father-in-law and mother-in-law. They offered me various advice and information, or spread barriers to protect the mansion.

It was a good arrangement for everyone.

Also, most of my companions were those who hadn't grown up receiving their mother's or father's love.

From Amazoness sisters like Hippolyte and Antiope, to Nymphs like Doris, Ignoi, and Paranoy, they had all been separated from their parents at a young age.

For them, having older mentors in the mansion seemed to be a good thing, as it gave them someone to rely on in many ways.

It wouldn't be easy to find mentors as great as Protogenoi Nox and Erebor.

Lady Nox was asking me to take something out of my pants pocket and show it to her.

『It's clearly a strange item. I want to see it-.』

What strange and auspicious item could be in my pants? Nothing, really.

I'm not the type to stuff all sorts of things into my pants pockets. At most, there would be some odds and ends and a few coins I could quickly pull out.

Aside from that, the only thing in my pants was my three-sword style club. Could Lady Nox possibly want to see my club?

No, Lady Nox is Luna's mother, isn't she?

Why would Luna's mother want to see my club?

My extreme bewilderment lasted only a moment.

Pajijik-.

Quad-core Hassan's intense wisdom flashed through my mind. Luna and I were on the verge of marriage.

Perhaps on this Gaia continent, there might be a tradition where a groom-to-be has to prove in front of his prospective in-laws that his 'thing' is fully functional.

It was a very plausible story, even if I did come up with it myself.

After all, the Gaia continent was strange enough to have such a tradition and then some.

But still, how could I possibly undergo such an inspection from Lady Nox? As I hesitated, feeling embarrassed, Lady Nox spoke.

『Child, I don't know if you're aware-but there's a strange piece of metal in your pants pocket. Take it out and hand it to me, this humble one.』

Metal?

Only then did I recall that there was indeed a strange piece of metal in my pants.

When I reached into my pants pocket, what I felt was the rusty, soot-stained, blackened ring I had received from Nemea the day before.

The ring that fit perfectly on my ring finger.

"Perhaps, are you referring to this?"

『That's right-.』

"Do you happen to know anything about this ring?"

I placed the ring on Lady Nox's palm and asked. This ring was said to be the medium used when I was summoned to this world.

No matter how much I thought about it, I had no connection to this ring whatsoever.

I wondered if Lady Nox might know something about it.

Seureureuk-.

Lady Nox, having received the ring from me, held it and examined it from various angles, then presented it to the black mouse sitting on her shoulder, eating cheese.

━Jjik-jjik-.

『You think so too, don't you-?』

━Jjik-.

The heartwarming scene of a young girl seemingly conversing with a small mouse lasted only a moment. The black mouse, Erebor, opened its mouth and gnawed on the ring.

Dalgak, dalgak-.

Erebor, who had been gnawing on the metal for a while, spoke.

━Jjik-jjik-.

It certainly sounded like he was saying something important, but since I don't understand mouse-speak, I couldn't make sense of it.

"What did he say?"

『This ring is made of a special ore. It's an ore called Worldstone (世界石).』

"Worldstone...?"

Just by looking at it, I could tell it was no ordinary name.

Worldstone.

The stone of the world.

In English, it's Worldstone.

Whatever it was, if it had 'world' or 'World' as a prefix, it was definitely a pretty amazing and powerful item.

And it was an even more definite feeling that I had doubts about such an item being related to me.

I asked.

"Could you tell me more about this Worldstone?"

『I shall-. Since the birth of the world-. This humble one and Erebor, who have lived for infinite time, have time and leisure in abundance-.』

Tadak, tadadak-.

By the blazing hearth.

Amidst the cheerful voices of Nymphs and many people laughing and chatting, Lady Nox began her story in a calm and gentle voice.

『Originally, this world began as a single small sphere. A tiny sphere, as small as a fist. It was a bead about the size of an apple.』

"Perhaps, is that the Chaos Cosmos...?"

I recalled the story I had heard from the old doctor Platan a while ago. The world was originally a single tiny point. And for some reason, it intensely expanded to become this world.

That sphere and world gaining a personality was none other than Chaos, the God of Chaos.

Lady Nox nodded at my words.

『You know well. The tiny bead, Chaos. It expanded and exploded, becoming the foundation of the world. We Protogenoi are beings that fell out with that explosion.』

According to Lady Nox's explanation, Chaos was the engineer who created the computer.

And Lady Nox and the other Protogenoi were the programmers who developed various programs to make that computer run stably.

Of course, Lady Nox didn't use a computer as a metaphor, but that's how I understood it, at least.

"So, what's the connection between that ring and this story?"

『This is a fragment. A fragment of the tiny sphere from the primordial beginning. It is, in essence, the very origin (原點) that became the foundation of the world.』

"Then, isn't that truly amazing?"

『That's right. The primordial origin was swept away by a massive explosion, and all became individual worlds. However, some are occasionally found throughout the world in the form of such tiny fragments. Those, we called the stones of the world, Worldstones-.』

Indeed, it was a stone worthy of the name Worldstone. It was a fucking powerful ring, after all.

Lady Nox added to her explanation.

『However, the size of a Worldstone is usually, at most, about the size of a Nymph's tear. The largest one was only fingernail-sized. Even that holds the value of an entire world. But this one is incredibly large-.』

"It's large?"

『Yes. A Worldstone this size probably doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. This, in itself, is a colossal universe. It's an incredible item. Even in the crown of the great Jupiter, there's only a Worldstone about the size of a thumbnail-.』

Buseuseuseuseu-.

Lady Nox's hair bristled and stood on end.

『Such power-. A treasure like the world itself-. The will of the absolutes-.』

━Geureureureu-.

Concurrently, the black mouse, Erebor, sitting on her shoulder, also began to growl, and its appearance was so eerie and frightening that goosebumps broke out all over my back.

『If it falls into the hands of a worthy individual. Power that can even control the rules of the world-. Control the movement of the stars-. Turn night into day-. The possibility of even turning day into eternal darkness-.』

Hwareuk, hwareureuk-.

The bonfire burning before us flickered as if it would go out any moment. The surrounding air violently shook, and everything began to rumble as if an earthquake had struck-.

"Wh-what's happening...? Is the world ending because of the candy this Paranoy secretly ate...?"

"Thunder is about to strike from a clear sky...!"

When the Nymphs, who had been singing and chatting happily, reacted first to this situation, burying their heads in the ground like pheasants hearing a gunshot.

『Ah....』

Lady Nox, whose eyes were wide open, as if they couldn't get any wider, slowly extended her hand towards me.

When I opened my hand, Lady Nox returned the ring to my palm.

At the same time, her eerily bristling hair settled back to its original state, and the clash of magic that had been reverberating around us faded as if it had never happened.

『Cherish it-. Don't show it to anyone-. It is the very will of the world-. If it falls into the hands of the wicked, great chaos could erupt-.』

"Yes, y-yes-."

I quickly put the ring into my pocket.

Whatever this was, it certainly seemed like an incredible item, capable of stirring greed and madness in Lady Nox.

Is it the One Ring?

I'll have to be careful from now on.

『Where did you get such an item-?』

"That, I also need to go find out now."

『I see-. After the upcoming wedding, you'll be heading to the godless land where the fairies of this foreign realm live, won't you-.』

"Yes. Probably-."

With that, Lady Nox's and my conversation was truly over.

After that, it was just New Year's Day greetings, like 'Do you like where you're living-?', 'Would you like Nymph attendants-?', and 'Are the wedding preparations going well-?'

━Hassan-!

When I thought of returning to Luna and the group, who were waving at me from afar, and began with, "Then, I'll move to a different spot-."

Lady Nox opened her mouth as if she had one last thing to say.

『Child-. Do you truly know nothing about that item-?』

"No. Why? Is there some problem?"

『From that ring, your strange karma was heavily imbued. That is, without a doubt, your item-.』

"...Is that so?"

『No, perhaps it could be that this humble one's power has weakened too much, so I felt it incorrectly.... In the end, it feels as though the item has circulated and returned to where it belongs.』

With that, Lady Nox's and my conversation was truly over.

Now I turned my steps and approached the hearth where Luna and her companions were gathered, chatting loudly.

There, Luna, holding something tightly wrapped in cloth, spread her arms wide and called out to me.

"What did you talk about with Mom!"

"Just, if the wedding preparations were going well. Things like that. So, why did you call me?"

The one who answered was Paranoy, rubbing his palms together next to Luna.

"It's an unveiling ceremony-imnidat...! This year's first bottle of alcohol-! And, Luna-nim's masterpiece, created by pouring her time into it-! It's the unveiling ceremony for Nectar-imnidat...!"

"Nectar? Is it really complete?"

Seuk, seuk-.

Luna shook her head at my question.

"I don't know-!"

"But, according to my calculations and recipe, it should be perfectly aged this evening-! Since we're all gathered for a change, I thought we could open it and share a drink-!"

Saying that, Luna unwrapped what was covered in thin cloth. As she tore off the wrapping, what appeared beyond it was a transparent glass bottle and the brilliant, sparkling golden liquid nestled within.

Challang, challang-.

Its brilliance was truly like the sun.

In the dark night, just by Luna lifting the bottle of alcohol, the garden lit up brightly as if the sun had risen. At that sight, all of us, without exception, swallowed our words and breath, overwhelmed.

This is the real deal.

My instincts, having temporarily inherited the seat of the God of Wine, were screaming that. My flinch at that sacred brilliance lasted only a moment-.

"Gwaaat...! It's so dazzling-imnidat...! But, such a fragrant smell...! My mouth is watering, my mouth won't stop watering-imnidat...!"

Paranoy was drooling grape juice from his mouth. When I looked next to him, other Nymphs, Hippolyte, Antiope, and others were also smacking their lips.

Just like how one's mouth waters automatically when looking at a lemon.

Their bodies must have begun to salivate at that brilliant golden light and the nutrients it contained.

It seemed the same for Luna.

Luna also swallowed hard and gripped the awl-shaped cork stopper in her hand.

She moved her hand as if to open it any moment-then-.

"N-no, I'm too nervous to do it! Hassan, since Hassan is the owner of this grand mansion! Please open this celebratory New Year's drink, along with your New Year's aspirations-!"

It was Luna, extending the brilliant golden bottle and bottle opener towards me.

Having inadvertently taken them, I felt everyone's gaze fall upon me.

New Year's greetings?