The Two Strongest Beings in the World Meet!
Thanks to Rebecca’s magic, we enjoyed a delicious meal instantly, for free, with no ingredients and no preparation whatsoever. She even handled all the dishes afterward. Rebecca really is incredibly helpful.
Clap.
“Alright. Let’s discuss our countermeasures now.”
The female version of ‘me’ clapped her hands as she spoke.
“Countermeasures?”
What was this about all of a sudden?
“Did you forget about Bathory and Karen from yesterday? We sent them away without erasing their memories, so they definitely still remember you. They’re probably searching for you right now.”
Oh.
She was right. I hadn’t erased their memories.
So even in her incomplete state, Bathory—who possessed divinity and had reached the demigod rank—was hunting me down alongside Karen, who commanded the greatest intelligence network in the country?
“...Judging by your face, you really had forgotten all about it, hadn’t you?”
I had completely forgotten!
Wait, how did she even know? Did she have another self inside her head feeding her information?
“What should we do? Isn’t it already too late? There’s nothing in this country that Karen Erzsebet can’t find.”
“It does seem late, but should we ask Rebecca to set up some kind of barrier?”
That was a good idea. But we were in an apartment—could a barrier even be placed here?
“Rebecca. Can you create a barrier around this house to prevent any other beings from intruding?”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
Right. Rebecca’s power was still restricted. So it wasn’t possible after all.
“I already erected a barrier yesterday. I apologize for doing so without your permission.”
Huh?
She had already done it?
As expected of Rebecca. Still, setting up a barrier without a word was kind of terrifying.
“N-no, you did well. You were thinking of me, right?”
“Yes! Exactly, Master. Rebecca has no one but Master, after all~.”
“But then how did our Gyeoul go outside to exercise and come back?”
“Oh! I configured the barrier so that the beings who originally lived in this house—your family, Master—can pass through it without resistance! It’s no problem for any of you, Master!”
Oh~. Then my parents shouldn’t have any trouble coming through either.
The parents of this world.
I hadn’t met them yet. I wondered how different they were in this universe.
A barrier at Rebecca’s level should make it nearly impossible for even Bathory to locate us!
Huh? Wait a second.
Bathory knew that the other ‘me’ was named Kim Ga-eul….
And if she had checked every address belonging to someone named Kim Ga-eul, she might have already pinpointed our location.
Was Bathory already on her way here?
Thud.
“Huh? What was that?”
Thud.
Thud.
Something was striking hard against a surface somewhere.
Don’t tell me it was Bathory. Had she already arrived?
“Master! Someone is attacking the barrier!”
It was Rebecca’s barrier, even if her power was restricted!
It should have been difficult to even perceive its existence, yet the intruder was hitting it with enough force that the impact could be felt from inside?
Thud.
Thud.
Crack.
There it was—that cracking sound!
Was the barrier about to break?
“This is bad, Master. The barrier appears to have been compromised. Who in the world…”
Rebecca’s barrier had been breached?
It had to be Bathory. Oh, past self, why did you have to make Bathory such an overwhelmingly powerful character?
Crash!
A sound like shattering porcelain rang out as I felt the barrier completely collapse.
I couldn’t even sense the barrier’s existence before, but now I could feel it breaking. Wouldn’t the other residents in the apartment notice this too?
And then….
Boom!!
One wall of the living room we were in exploded outward.
“Autumn!”
Someone appeared through the destroyed section of the living room wall. The figure was a woman with pink hair. It was Bathory!
The broken wall… Rebecca could fix that with her magic, right?
—Good work, Karen. Thanks to you, I was able to learn Autumn’s address. I’ll head there first and confirm whether he’s present.
“Miss. Then I’ll go search for our Autumn.”
With assistance from the intelligence department under Karen’s command, we had identified the address of Kim Ga-eul—or rather, the female Autumn—along with the human family living in that house. Did that mean they would become my in-laws now?
When I spoke with the two Autumns yesterday, they each claimed to be from different parallel worlds. So the female Autumn was the one originally born and raised in this world, while the male Autumn I knew had come here from another world?
That would mean the Autumn I knew had died during an adventure in this world, crossed over to another world, and reincarnated there.
It made sense. The place where we battled the ancient evil god and where Autumn had died lay beyond the dimensional rift. If her soul had wandered within that gap between dimensions, reincarnating in another world wouldn’t be strange at all. That was why, no matter how long I waited or how hard I searched, I could never find her reincarnation.
Autumn had reincarnated in another dimension, lived there, and eventually came to this world where she met the female Autumn who already existed here! And the female Autumn must have died fighting the ancient evil god while adventuring with the male me from another world, then crossed over to this one. If that was the case, everything fit perfectly.
Huh? Then how had the male Autumn—the true Autumn of this world—managed to return here?
Could it be….
Was it to meet me? If so….
We truly are destined for each other, Autumn! You crossed dimensions just to reunite with me and keep the promise we made!
Yesterday Autumn had said he didn’t possess all his memories. He had lived an ordinary life until recollections of his previous existence slowly began resurfacing.
It seemed the dimensional travel had caused him to lose parts of his memory.
I needed to find Autumn quickly and tell him the truth….
“Grandma. I want to come too.”
Monica, who had been waiting beside me, spoke up abruptly.
“What? …Miss, I already told you. That man is Autumn Grace, my husband. To you, he is practically an ancient ancestor.”
Was this girl still targeting our Autumn?
“I know. He’s Grandma’s husband and stands far above even my mother. There’s no way I would lay a hand on him. Still, I want to meet the male god. I nearly did something terrible yesterday by trying to hypnotize him without realizing it, so I’d like to apologize.”
Hmm… Did she genuinely want to apologize? It was true that attempting to hypnotize my Autumn was difficult to forgive, but Autumn himself had said yesterday that he hadn’t minded it much.
If Autumn parted ways with his descendant on bad terms, it might leave a negative impression of us vampires. And the current Autumn didn’t have all his memories intact.
Maybe I should bring Monica along and let her apologize.
“Sigh. Very well. It can’t be helped. But you will only apologize to Autumn, understood?”
“Thank you, Grandma! Oh, and please put in a good word with my mother for me… Honestly, you found Grandma’s husband thanks to me.” Tsk. Even after saying all that, she still called me Grandma. She really was terrified of being scolded by the Lord.
Still, it was true that Monica had helped me meet our Autumn, so I could help her out just this once.
“Alright. Since it is thanks to you, Miss, I’ll speak favorably on your behalf. Then let’s depart immediately.”
I had no idea what that maid might have done to our Autumn, so we needed to find him quickly.
The current Autumn was vulnerable. I had to protect him as soon as possible.
And so we arrived at the address Karen had provided.
“What is that barrier?”
“Barrier? Grandma, there’s a barrier here?”
“Yes. At that apartment over there. It appears a powerful barrier has been placed around the female Autumn’s house.”
“…Hmm. When I focus, I do sense something out of place. The fact that I still can’t perceive it properly suggests it’s an exceptionally strong barrier.”
A barrier so potent that even a powerful vampire like Monica Grace couldn’t fully detect it. The level was far too high. Had that maid installed it? What was her intention in placing something like this around Autumn’s home?
Don’t tell me she was planning to violate him?
“That I will never allow. No matter what it takes, I will stop it!”
“Huh? Stop what?”
“Miss, I will release my power. Contact Karen and have her issue an evacuation order for the surrounding area. Use any excuse and make the radius about ten kilometers. I am going to destroy this barrier.”
“Eek. It’s serious enough that Grandma has to release her power? Understood. You said it’s your order? If I claim it’s my order, Mother will scold me.”
Just wait a little longer, Autumn.
About one hour later.
“Karen just contacted me, Grandma. All residents have evacuated. You may release your power now.”
Finally.
Thanks to Autumn’s sacrifice, I had gained incomplete divinity. I had ascended to demigod rank.
This demigod rank was so overwhelming that it would unconsciously trigger abnormal phenomena in my surroundings. I had ended up harming far too many people because of it. That was why I normally kept my power sealed away.
“Release.”
But I had to save Autumn. After all, this was the power he had given me by sacrificing himself.
I wrapped my hand in divinity-infused energy and struck the barrier with all my might.
Thud.
The barrier still held.
One strike wasn’t enough?
Then I would simply keep striking until it shattered.
Thud.
Thud.
Cracks began to form across the barrier.
Thud.
Thud.
Crack.
Good. It was almost done.
Crash!
The barrier shattered completely.
I confirmed the address of the female Autumn’s residence.
There!
I made sure no one was near the wall, then leaped upward and smashed straight through it.
“Autumn!”
What I saw before me was Autumn, the female Autumn, Autumn’s younger sister, and….
The maid.
It was you!!!