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I was going to save both Yuuhi’s world and ours. My bold declaration left the future heroines looking a little conflicted, while my heroines simply looked exasperated at my typical behavior.
“Honestly, Rekka, you’re just so... well, Rekka.” That included Satsuki, who held her head in her hands as she bemoaned my nature. “Are you serious about doing this?”
“Yeah.”
“A parallel world... That’s completely outside the realm of even my magic, you know?”
Satsuki’s Magic of Omniscience was a powerful heirloom magic that allowed her to peek into the annals of history since time immemorial, but it could only access the Akashic record of our world. Nothing was recorded in it about Sith’s world—the mirror world Yuuhi hailed from.
“We can’t even confirm her story, Rekka...”
“I understand your concern, Satsuki, but I believe Yuuhi.”
I’d asked Yuuhi to trust me, which meant I had to trust her too in order for this to work.
“So, to sum up the game between goddesses...” I said, turning to Yuuhi, who was still standing some distance from the other girls. “Once the requisite lead in happiness is achieved by one of the worlds, the other will be destroyed?”
“That’s right,” she confirmed with a nod.
“Is there no way for the game to end in a tie?”
“None whatsoever,” Yuuhi replied bluntly. “Sith and Maine agreed to rules for the match before the game began. There was nothing about a draw in the terms set forward.”
“And so the game has continued for thousands of years... How patient of them.”
“They’re deities, after all. Their sense of time is much different than mortals’.”
“I suppose that makes sense.” There, I folded my arms and looked up at the ceiling. “I suppose, then... our only option is to ask them to suspend the game.”
If we couldn’t force a draw, then we had to find a way to call off the game.
“But suspending the game would require a mutual agreement between Sith and Maine,” said Yuuhi.
“And?” I asked.
“While Sith would agree to something like that on the verge of defeat, Maine has no reason to agree when she’s on the verge of winning.”
“But it wouldn’t hurt to at least try asking, right?”
I had no idea what Maine—the goddess of our world—was like, but I was hoping she wasn’t the type to take delight in destroying her little sister’s world.
“And how exactly do you plan on getting an audience with a deity?”
“Well, how did you meet with the goddess of your world, Yuuhi?”
“In my case, I overcame the goddess’s trial to earn the right to see her.”
“Trial?”
“Yes. You see, deities are the highest existences in the cosmoverse. In order to meet them, you have to go through the appropriate procedures.”
“Hmm...” Procedures, huh? “Doctor, have you heard of anything similar to this divine trial in our world?”
“Anything similar? That’s pretty vague... Hold on a moment,” the doctor said, pulling out some kind of tablet. “The keyword’s just too broad. It makes it hard to search for... Yeah, sorry, there are just too many results.”
“Are there really that many? And what is that device, anyway?”
“It’s a terminal that can access all the databases in the world. I’ve looked through all available records, but mythology from all cultures is just teeming with stories of heroes and priests that have performed great deeds in order to gain divine audience. There’s no end to this list.”
“I see,” I said with a nod before turning to Satsuki. “What about the Magic of Omniscience? Can you search up how to meet a god?”
“Hang on,” both Satsuki and future Satsuki said in the same breath.
They then both looked at each other in surprise.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead.”
“No, you’re the... um... adult here, so by all means...”
“Actually, couldn’t you both search together?”
A strange contest of yielding began to unfold between the Satsukis, so I suggested they both take a crack at it. Considering the infinite list of potential answers the doctor said was available, I figured it would be most efficient for them to search together. It was going to take a while, after all. And while they were busy...
“Hey, that’s right! Rachelle!”
As I was thinking about things, it suddenly dawned on me that we had an angel in the party. She served the god—or goddess, as it turned out?—of this world. Maybe she could get us an audience. Hopeful, I looked for Rachelle... but couldn’t spot her among the heroines in the room. It was only then that I realized Yuuhi hadn’t released everyone yet.
“Hey, Yuuhi. Release the rest of the heroines already.”
At that, Yuuhi returned to stoically glaring at me.
“What, you still don’t trust me? I’m telling you, it’ll be fine.”
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