I dug into the base of one of the nameless peaks in the Sorel Mountain Range, silently praying I wouldn’t unearth any giant worms or horrifying monster nests. As I trucked along, I glanced back toward the base and saw Aqual and the others watching me from the balcony, using the binoculars I’d given them. So they’d already put them to use, huh.
“The princess sure is stubborn,” Bela said. “Didja do somethin’ to make her hate you?”
“I mean… Maybe.”
The first time I’d met her, her clothes had started falling off, and, well…I’d accidentally gotten an eyeful. Not exactly a great first impression. And then there was the small matter of me being on good terms with her mother, Serafeeta, and her big sisters, Doriada and Ifriita.
“Though, honestly,” I said, “I suppose the thing she’s most upset about is that I completely slipped into the spot her father used to occupy.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
Sir Ixil had been Sylphy and her sisters’ father—the former king of Merinard, and Serafeeta’s husband. He gave his own life and soul to protect the lives and dignity of his family, freezing their time to save them from suffering.
Then along came me. I’d wandered along the border of the Black Forest and the Omitt Badlands, met Sylphy, and ended up using my crafting powers to help the Liberation Army drive out the Holy Kingdom. The victory had freed Merinard, and, thanks to Sylphy, restarted the time of Aqual’s frozen family. After that, everything just sort of happened. I ended up on good terms with Serafeeta, earned the affections of Doriada, and started hanging out with Ifriita.
I knew that Serafeeta, Doriada, and Ifriita each had their own reasons for growing close to me, and those things all happened naturally—but I couldn’t help but think that my abilities might have influenced things somehow. I digress.
I didn’t believe they’d gotten involved with me because of some desire to replace Sir Ixil.
And for my part, I certainly wasn’t trying to take his place either.
“Yeah,” Bela said quietly. “The princess must’ve loved her dad.”
“I’m sure she did,” I replied, digging into the mountain with my mithril shovel.
It wasn’t that anyone was truly in the wrong.
Well, okay. Maybe I had overstepped a little because Serafeeta’s mental state back then was a little concerning. Even so, I never intended to try to be a replacement for Sir Ixil or slight his memory in any way.
Still… Serafeeta’s behavior might’ve actually been a problem. Back then her mental state was so poor that she could’ve even committed suicide. Not that anyone would blame her. After losing her husband, not to mention many of the very subjects she’d been sworn to protect, those survivors enslaved under the Holy Kingdom’s rule…she’d been crushed under the guilt. When I met her, she’d been teetering on the edge of despair. I helped her because I couldn’t not help her. And I was able to support her precisely because I wasn’t from this world. I was a complete outsider, and if I hadn’t been there for her, who knows what she would have done. After seeing her condition at the time, there was no way I could’ve abandoned her.
I simply couldn’t.
“I guess I just gotta stay the course,” I said.
“And then your harem’s gonna get bigger.”
“Look, this isn’t about adding her to the so-called harem, okay?”
Bela just laughed. I wasn’t trying to romance all four of the elven princesses or anything, although the Doriada situation was still a mystery to me. At first, she’d only respected me, but then, somehow, she’d quietly slipped into my bed with the rest of the women in my life, like it was the most natural thing in the world. I wasn’t even sure how or why it happened. What made her go down that path?
I just didn’t know.
“Must be tough, being such a ladies’ man.”
“It’s weird. I was never exactly popular with women before… Maybe it really is tied to my powers.”
The being who granted me my abilities could stop time and interfere with my actions whenever it wanted. If it could do that, what was stopping it from controlling people’s hearts too? The thought terrified me. What if my powers suddenly vanished one day? What would happen to me and all these women who seemingly cared about me?
“What’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I just imagined something pretty awful,” I said. “Not worth thinking about. It’s out of my control anyway.”
If that nightmare came true, if I lost these powers and the faith that people had in me, I’d just have to keep going however I could. I’d struggle to my very last breath.
Looking back toward the base, I saw Aqual and the others aiming their binoculars up at the sky. I started to wonder what they were looking at, before noticing their gazes were fixed on the large Earth-shaped planet in the sky—I believe folks here called it Omicle.
“Wonder what sort of creatures live up there,” I mused.
“Up there? You mean Omicle?” Shemel asked.
“People say that’s where God lives,” Tozume said confidently.
“Huh? I thought it was supposed to be the afterlife?” Bela added.
“I heard it’s a land of monsters,” Grande chimed in.
“Zero consistency,” I muttered.
The girls had completely different answers for me, which was why I couldn’t help but interject. To be fair, the truth was no one knew. From here, all you could make out were vague swirls of clouds, oceans, and land masses. It was too far to make out any details.
Wait… Too far for normal sight, maybe.
“Might be fun to do a little astronomical observation,” I said.
“Astronomi-what now?”
“Just wait. I’ll show you tonight after dinner.”
We didn’t have much in the way of entertainment out here. Night meant food, a bath, and sleep. Aqual and I could drink, sure, but everyone else had to stay sharp for security, leaving them with little to do. If I whipped up a high-magnification astronomical telescope, though, we could all have some fun together. Fortunately, this place was far from civilization, stargazing would be perfect.
“Now that that’s settled, time to get back to work.”
Once I got enough ore, dirt, and clay, I’d move on to lumber. I didn’t know how much I was going to use, and I still didn’t know what the upper limit of my inventory was, but as long as I didn’t wreck the local ecosystem, I planned to gather as much as possible.