Creating worlds is just what they do. There’s no limit to the number of worlds they can create. If one fails, they just make another... I really don’t have a leg to stand on!
What was I supposed to do? How could I convince Maine like this? I couldn’t ask her to do it without anything in it for her. I just had to find some way to get her to agree to return the Namidare power she took... Some condition...
“Actually, why is Rekka the only one talking?” Maine asked, her gaze falling on her sister. “This is our game, after all. Shouldn’t you be the one doing the negotiating, Sith?”
“M-Me...?”
Suddenly thrust in the spotlight, Sith fidgeted nervously.
“Yeah. Why is a human from my world negotiating on behalf of yours? That’s a little strange, isn’t it?”
“I... I...”
“You what?” Maine prodded, resting her chin in her hand.
I couldn’t help thinking it—she looked just like an older sister bullying a younger sibling.
If they’re siblings, then maybe Sith can sway Maine’s heart a little...?
I calculatingly took a back seat, observing the exchange between the two of them.
“I... Um... I...”
“Hahh...” Maine sighed at Sith’s reluctance to answer. “It’s just another world, you know? They all have to come to an end someday, and you can just make another one when we’re done. We’ve been through it countless times, haven’t we?”
“B-But...”
“But?”
“I-It’s true we’ve been through this a bunch...”
“Right? So what’s the big deal if you lose a world or two?”
“E-Even so!” There, Sith raised her voice for the first time, trembling like a puppy as she shouted. “It... It might not be a big deal, but...”
“But?”
“Starting this game with you made me passionate about the world I made for the first time in ages. I was serious about taking care of it, and I felt its rises and falls in happiness... It was all so fun.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way too,” Maine said with a nod.
“So that’s why, Big Sis! I’ve grown a little attached to my world this time... And losing it early like this... I don’t want that.”
“If you’ve only grown ‘a little attached,’ then what difference does it make?”
“I-It’s not a little! It’s a lot!”
Sith bared her emotions falteringly. Her tone was much more serious than when she’d answered me earlier...
I guess she couldn’t really open up to someone she just met, huh?
That made her seem even more like just a shy child. But at any rate...
“That’s why... I know it’s not fair, but could we just say you won this one and not... not destroy my world? Please?”
“...”
Maine fell silent for a moment upon hearing her little sister’s plea. Then, her chin still resting in her hand, she narrowed her eyes...
“No.”
And gave the same reply as before.
“Wh-Why not?!”
Her merciless answer made Sith question her with teary eyes.
“You said it yourself just now. It’s not fair,” Maine explained, turning her little sister down rather bluntly. “I agree with you, though. This little game of ours has brought out my passion for creating worlds again too. It’s been a lot of fun. That’s why I don’t want to cut it short and ruin things right at the very end.”
“Oh...”
Hearing her sister’s explanation, Sith slumped her shoulders dejectedly.
“...”
I’d been willing to let the sisters try and talk things out themselves, but it seemed this was an emotional conversation rather than a logical one. If I didn’t know any better and you told me these two ladies were goddesses, I wouldn’t believe you. Leaving things in their hands any longer just plain made me nervous.
That said, I could kind of understand how Sith felt. She’d still been unbelievably careless with her world, but she at least seemed sorry for that now that she’d fallen in love with it. Yuuhi would give a due lecture about that later, I’m sure. But my task at hand hadn’t changed. I needed to forge a path that allowed both worlds to coexist.
“Maine,” I called out, stepping forward.
“Hm? What is it?”
“I have a suggestion.”
The sisters’ conversation had given me an idea.
“I heard that you two had a side bet where you wagered the Namidare power of your respective worlds. Is that right?”
“Yup. We waited forever and there was just no appreciable difference in the happiness levels of our worlds, so we had a little fun to move things along.”
“And you were the one that suggested the side bet?”
“I was.”
“Then let’s have another side bet with more Namidare power on the line.”
“Huh? I don’t wanna.”
My somewhat selfish suggestion made Maine cock her head to the side. She seemed confused as to why I still didn’t understand her. But I didn’t give up.
“Just hear me out. The two of you agreed to rules to make the game fair before you started, right?”
“Of course. It wouldn’t have been any fun otherwise.”
“So how is it fair to claim a win after you’ve taken almost all of Sith’s Namidare power in a bet of your own design?”
“...”
“At the very least, to make things fair, shouldn’t you accept a bet from Sith just the same? That will mean you’ve each had a chance to turn things around.”
“...”
For the first time so far, Maine looked like she was actually considering it.
“Wow, you actually made a good point,” R said in awe from where she was floating beside me.
This was just a game to Maine. And the most important part of any game was that it had to be fair. That meant both sides had equal opportunity to achieve victory. It’s why baseball games alternated teams for batting. So if Maine had been at bat all this time, Sith deserved a turn. It was only fair.
I thought negotiating on that point might work with Maine, and it was something I’d only thought of because the sisters kept going on and on about their wager like it was just a game.
Granted, if Maine’s the type that’s more concerned with winning than fairness, she might still shoot me down...
I didn’t think that was the case based on their conversation so far. And to my delighted surprise, Maine eventually said...
“All right. Fine. Let’s have one more bet.”
Holy crap, it worked! But just as I was celebrating internally...
“However,” Maine said, raising a finger. “I won the last bet, but there was something in it for Sith if she’d won too. So what’s in it for me this time?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s simple. I’ll bet the Namidare power I won from Sith last time, but she has to put something on the line too,” Maine said with a grin.
I racked my brain for a way to decline, but... sadly, it seemed she was on point.
“What do you want her to bet, then?”
“The suspension of every interference caused by Yuuhi Namidare in my world.”
“...!”
Yuuhi’s expression went stiff when she heard that. Every interference she’d caused in Maine’s world? That meant...
“In other words, I want to undo everything having to do with the War of All.”
“Undo everything having to do with the War of All...?” Hearing it worded so specifically made my eyes go wide. “Is that even possible?”
“Certainly. And if Sith does it for me, then the repercussions of interfering will fall on her world instead of mine.”
“Th-Then...”
This time, it was Sith that went pale.
“Without the War of All, my world will be much happier. And with the additional calamity that will fall on yours after that much divine intervention on my behalf, I’m sure we’ll settle the game once and for all.”
“W-Wait a minute! Then there’d be no point!” I objected in a fluster.
“What’s the big deal? It’s not a problem if you win, right?” Maine retorted with a casual tilt of her head. “This is what makes it fair for me, you realize? Honestly, I thought my victory was assured after I took most of Sith’s Namidare power. I never dreamed things would drag on this long. So I think the War of All that Sith inflicted on my world is equal to the Namidare power I took from hers.”
“But...!”
If we lost, Sith’s world would be destroyed immediately. No, it probably wouldn’t be instant, but it would certainly decide the victor of the game. The fate of Sith’s world would be sealed.
“Well? Do you accept?”
“...”
We had no choice but to take her up on this.
I...
Even if it made me hesitate.
“What are you wavering for?” Maine asked.
“That’s...”
“There’s no down side in this for you, is there? Even if you lose, the War of All will be over, you know?”
“...”
I could feel Yuuhi and Sith boring holes into my back with their eyes. Actually, there was something I had been thinking for a while now...
“You have a surprisingly terrible personality.”
“This goddess sure has an awful personality.”
R and I, possibly for the first time ever, said the same thing. I was only giving my honest opinion, but Maine’s chin slipped off her hand in surprise.
“You know I’m still the goddess of your world, despite everything?”
“Sure,” I said, turning around.
I could then see Sith’s guileless uncertainty and Yuuhi’s skeptical wariness as plain as day. And I understood it. They’d both just been told flat out that I personally had no stake in what was about to happen. I got why they’d doubt me now. I couldn’t ask them just to trust me blindly.
That being said, Yuuhi must have realized that was the case when I first suggested all of this. There’s no reason to backpedal now.
We had no choice but to go along with it.
“Yuuhi, will you accept this match?” I asked.
I had negotiated everything thus far and presented the conditions to her. The fates of both our worlds were on the line. Moreover, this would be the conclusion—for better or worse—not just of R’s story, but Yuuhi’s too. I couldn’t do this without her consent. So if she said no...
“...”
“Yuuuhiiiii...” Sith whined, tugging at her sleeve.
She was practically begging her to back down. Her eyes said it all. That was still a possibility, but Yuuhi...
“Sith,” Yuuhi said, opening her eyes and addressing her goddess directly. “I want to accept this match.”
“B-But...”
“I’m sorry... I know it’s dangerous.” As she spoke, Yuuhi’s eyes moved to me. “But I’ve already seen a glimmer of hope... I don’t think I can go back to that world and continue playing the villain at this point.”
“Yuuhi...”
Sith tried to say more, but couldn’t. Her hand released Yuuhi’s sleeve. She must have felt guilt over making Yuuhi do what she’d done, and objected no further.
“...”
Yuuhi then walked up to me, staring me straight in the eye.
“I’ll trust you.”
I nodded.
“Once everything’s over, you’ll be helping me stop the War of All anyway, Yuuhi. Right?”
“Right.”
There, Yuuhi and I stood side by side to face the goddess Maine.