“Since the water isn’t being recycled,” continued Renya, “you must be wasting energy somewhere to create more water, right? I mean, just look at how much water is pouring over the side. Even if some of it evaporated and floated back to land, you still have to replace it sooner or later. Otherwise, wouldn’t this whole world just shrivel up?”
“Th-Th-That’s… That’s totally not true. Nope. No siree…”
“Hey, kid, look at me when you talk.”
“I-I mean it! Seriously! That’s really not it! I’ll admit that it’s wasting some energy, but that’s got nothing to do with the problem at hand! I swear to God!”
Aren’t you God, damn it?
Renya forced down the urge to take a swipe at the girl. In return, he continued to glare coldly at her. Her gaze darted left and right, trying desperately not to make eye contact.
“Well?”
“Moving on with the explanation. As you can see, the Eldorean continent is divided into five sections,” said the girl, who pretended to not hear Renya and changed the topic. He could have forced the issue, but saw no benefit in interrogating her any further, so he went along with the act.
“North, south, east, west… and the center, huh?”
“That’s right. To the east are the humans, and west are the elves. North and south are occupied by the mixed races and the dragons, respectively.”
“And the center?”
“The demons.”
As the girl spoke, the map changed to display the continent in five different colors.
“Okay, so, I’ll spare you the details, but basically, life is pretty harsh in this world. It’s not an easy environment for anyone to survive in. In fact, they’re fighting wars all over the place,” said the girl, a sense of exasperation seeping into her tone. Renya proceeded to ask the obvious question.
“And why exactly is it like that?”
“Probably because the people living there haven’t realized what’s going on yet. There are five Administrators in this world, and to kill time, they’re fighting turf wars—”
“Make! Them! Stop!”
“Ack, wait, not the throat! Stop strangling me! And you’re not even going for my windpipe! What’s with this pinpoint focus on my carotids?! Stop it! I’m gonna pass out!”
After desperately struggling against the hand grasping her throat, the girl broke free and rushed to distance herself from Renya, who had no intention of letting her go. With a slow but menacing pace — the kind that suggested if he did not like her answer, he might just skip the strangling entirely and break her neck — he advanced toward her. Renya figured that there was a big difference between the two, as the former involved asphyxiation, whereas the latter was a traumatic and fatal spinal injury.
“As if! You think I’ll just watch while you people fight wars for fun?”
“I completely understand why you’re upset, but I also can’t do a thing about it!” shouted the girl as she backed away step by step. Her expression, however, was desperately earnest.
“Aren’t you supposed to be God?”
“I handed off my administrative privilege. I can take it back by force, but there’ll be severe consequences for the world. Specifically…” The girl took a break from fleeing and, her hands still placed defensively around her neck, paused to think. “If you’re okay with sinking eighty percent of the continent, then I can fix this right now.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Too bad, then. In that case, there’s nothing I can do. Unless, of course, the Administrators decide to give me back my administrative privileges,” said the girl.
Hearing the tone of finality in her voice, Renya stopped chasing her around.
“And that would be why,” she continued, “the reincarnation system is breaking down in this world.”
“What do you mean?”
After taking a moment to confirm that Renya had indeed stopped moving, the girl turned to face him and continued her explanation.
“It’s not much of a problem for the souls that died of disease or old age, but consider a battlefield. Being killed normally there might still be okay, but what about the ones who were cut to shreds? Or got munched on by a dragon? Or had their homes raided by a bunch of orcs or goblins or bandits who indulged in various eighteen-plus activities at their expense and took multiple thrusts down there before taking a final sharp one up here? Do you think those souls would want to go back to the same environment?”
“That’s definitely not happening.”
“Right? That’s why there’s been an increase in the number of souls who refuse to go back to their original world.”
There was an air of profound fatigue about the girl. It made even Renya feel a little sorry for her, and he was the one trying to strangle her a few moments ago.
“I’ve tried persuading the Administrators, you know? And tempting the souls who refused with a nice benefits package if they changed their mind. I’ve tried all sorts of things, but the lack of results is pretty frustrating.”
“Huh. So you have been trying.”
“I sure have. But without any results to show for it, there’s not much I can say if the denizens of this world decide to blame me. Even if they tried to strangle me, I’d have no choice but to just take it.”
It occurred to Renya that since he lived in a different world, it was okay for her to resist his attempt to strangle her. Nodding to himself in comprehension, he motioned for her to continue.
“So, thanks to the increase in souls who either transmigrated to a different world or just decided to fold and retire from reincarnation, this world is facing an imminent Resource deficiency.”
“Is there even any point to saving a world like this? Why not just let it implode?” asked Renya, who considered his proposal quite reasonable. In an environment where Administrators weren’t even bothering to do their jobs properly and the population just kept dropping, decline leading to destruction seemed inevitable. The girl, however, shook her head.
“The thought had crossed my mind, but after considering how many lives would be lost in the process, I decided I couldn’t just throw the baby out with the bathwater,” she replied. After that, she muttered something about remaking and angels and everyone dying from overwork.
“What about moving everyone to a different world?”
“I lack the capacity. First of all, most souls aren’t even aware that they get reincarnated. There are only a small number of souls who reach a high enough level to even refuse.”