Past Connections

Cotton, a treasure hunter whose endeavors had met with only half success and a seasoned mercenary, had been a devout believer in the Sun God since his earliest childhood. There was no special backstory to it. Orphans who lost their parents seeking out a church for survival was commonplace, and Cotton had simply been one such child.

Back when Cotton still had hair on his head, the boy had asked a priest with a gentle disposition.

"Priest!"

With an innocent smile, he posed a cruel question.

"Why did the Sun God create hunger and fighting in this world? What about war? Monsters and demons? Why is there sadness?"

The priest wore a pitying expression as he replied to Cotton's question.

"It's because this world is too fleeting and frail for the Sun to descend directly and resolve all its problems."

To Cotton, it was utter bullshit—enough to make him mutter curses under his breath.

...Is it such a big deal for the sun in the sky to come down to earth?

The boy pondered it alone. To help him, the priest pulled a well-worn holy scripture from his bosom.

Cotton could barely read his own name even now, but the boy still listened intently to the priest's tale.

"...What does that even mean?"

The young Cotton couldn't comprehend it. The priest gently stroked the boy's head as if he were endearing.

Cotton found the touch pleasant yet oddly embarrassing, so he roughly brushed the hand away.

"Ack, stop petting me! What if I go bald because of it—how're you gonna take responsibility?"

But the priest just smiled and kept petting Cotton's head. In hindsight, Cotton figured the priest was at least eighty percent to blame for his baldness.

Anyway. Back to the present, Cotton finally understood the priest's story from that day.

The finger descending from the heavens was overwhelming in the truest sense—like crushing a bug on the dirt floor. There was no other way to describe it but as a god.

"...O God."

Cotton clasped his trembling hands together. His knees had long since hit the ground. The other villagers around him were in the same posture, offering prayers to the incomprehensible being's arrival.

But it was only for a moment.

"...?"

The divine finger vanished from the sky in an instant, as if it had never existed. Only the perfectly circular hole in the clouds faintly attested to the god's presence.

Cotton rose from the ground with a bewildered expression. Looking around, he saw many buildings collapsed from the earthquake. Instinctively, he turned to check behind him.

The building where Cotton lived had its ceiling and walls entirely crumbled. It seemed like the most severely damaged structure in the city.

"......"

It was his house. One he'd only just bought.

Cotton stared vacantly back up at the sky. The Sun God's emblem hanging around his neck felt heavier than usual today.

"...Fuck."

Is this Your will too, O Sun?

Cotton’s bald head gleamed in the sunlight.

The church's interior was filled with an awkward silence.

The paladin and former priest, who had been fervently praying, now stared at Neb in confusion. Any mortal who cried out a god's true name only to add "or else" would naturally seem insane.

The problem was that the voice had actually reached the god.

The finger that seemed poised to obliterate the city vanished in a flash, and Neb ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still glared angrily at the sky.

And watching all this, Eden covered his eyes with one hand and sighed.

What a headache.

It wasn't an unforeseeable situation. He'd simply chosen not to think about it, his head too heated.

Of course, if the church hadn't summoned him to the (mad) Sun God, none of this would have happened—but it was already done.

Before Eden's deliberations could drag on, a human form materialized in the empty air.

It was identical to the Sun God he'd met in that unidentified palace. No, it was the Sun God herself.

Perhaps due to the many onlookers, the Sun God wasn't naked as Eden had seen her. The Sun God, Rundel, in her translucent form, turned her gaze toward Neb.

Astonishment, shock, surprise. Disbelief. And undeniable joy she couldn't hide.

Rundel spread her arms wide as if to rush at Neb.

But Neb's response was icy.

"Hold on. Come here."

Neb beckoned to Rundel.

"You gotta get scolded before we get to the happy reunion."

The sight resembled a street thug demanding protection money in an alley—or an old-timer telling his kid to "sit down" before a scolding.

No way the city's getting finger-squashed now.

Eden thought that as he walked toward the dazed former priest and paladin.

Fran, spotting Eden approach, fired off a frantic question.

"...W-What in the world is going on here?"

"Hm."

Eden recalled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what he'd been through. He'd inwardly cursed the Sun God in the church, only to be whisked to some heaven-or-palace place. Then, after flipping her off and spewing more curses, the Sun God nearly descended herself. Luckily, Neb—her sister, mistaken for an evil god and currently in a human body—was here, allowing for some family chit-chat.

"......"

Decision made swiftly.

"I'll explain later. For now, can you calm the people outside?"

"Th-This might be rude, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just in case, but... is that really the Sun—"

"Understood."

The reply came from Fran. She blocked the still-dazed former priest, Taim, and told Eden,

"Then I'll await a full explanation later."

"Mm."

Eden nodded, and Fran dragged Taim out of the church. Outside, the crowd's murmurs hadn't ceased. With the church ceiling collapsed, most were fretting it was divine judgment.

Eden turned back toward Neb, leaving them behind.

"It's so embarrassing to see my little sister like this. Do you think a goddess vanished just to act like this?"

"Do you even know how this goddess has been treated on the surface lately? They call me an evil god, an evil god!"

"Who else? While you ignored the surface, those demon bastards twisted it that way!"

It was an all-too-ordinary sibling spat for goddesses who ruled the world.

"I can't even show my face as a goddess...!"

Rundel gestured wildly to prove her innocence.

But Neb remained cold.

"...You're gonna step up and defend the name of a goddess already infamous as an evil god? Sure, that won't mess up the world's order at all. This place'll be even more chaotic. Well done, well done!"

Tears welled in Rundel's eyes. Eden felt a strange sense of relief.

Rundel was largely responsible for this world's mess, after all.

Did that rub her the wrong way? Rundel's gaze shifted to the spectating Eden.

She pointed straight at Eden.

"Rundel."

Shifting from Sun God back to immature little sister, Rundel looked innocently at Neb.

Neb sighed at the sight.

"You're really embarrassing, so just shut up for now."

They seemed closer than expected. Considering siblings were genetically wired to fight, it was astonishing.

Eden walked toward them. Stress relieved for now, it was time to sate his curiosity. His gaze fixed on Rundel.

"Why'd you bring me to this world?"

It was too harsh a trial for merely playing a game.

Eden still remembered his first night in this medieval hellscape. Memories of home. NPCs eyeing him like a foreigner, gnawing on raw-smelling meat to survive.

The more he thought, the angrier he got.

Eden awaited Rundel's answer.

But Rundel looked puzzled by the question.

Deep wrinkles formed between Eden's brows.

She gonna deny it right in front of Neb?

"I asked if you've ever brought something from another world."

Eden recalled Rundel's reaction then. And the ensuing silence.

Just before Eden earned the title of "Sun God's Slapper," Neb had stopped him.

"Wait a sec."

"I'll go easy."

"No, that's for later... I think there's some misunderstanding right now."

Then Neb explained.

"...What Rundel brought from another world wasn't you. It was what you'd call a demon."

* * *

Neb unraveled the tale of the past. A story from so long ago it defied temporal measure.

Rundel had always been curious about other worlds, Neb said. Despite Neb's warnings, she'd secretly opened a pathway. The "something" that parasitized the world's boundary gained form and emerged because of that.

"It was a demon."

The once-peaceful world plunged into chaos. Rundel tried intervening personally but only ended up wrecking an innocent city, according to Neb.

So Neb made her choice: using relics forged from her own power to aid mortals on the surface.

"Duty may be absent, but responsibility remains."

Of course, losing her sister that way killed Rundel's interest in the surface. Meanwhile, demons wielding Neb's relics began rampaging.

That was the gist.

Having heard it, Eden asked,

"...So who did bring me to this world?"

"As this goddess said before, it has nothing to do with her."

Eden scratched the back of his head.

Guess I picked a needless fight then.

Rundel, who'd listened in, eyed Eden curiously.

Learning of her closeness to Neb, she showed no great hostility.

"?"

I didn't say shit.

Rundel crossed her arms at Eden, her ample presence floating prominently.

Confident attitude, but Eden was too distracted by Neb's expression behind her.

"...Grind."

If it wasn't his imagination, he even heard teeth gnashing.

"...Rundel."

Clueless to the mood, Rundel turned back at Neb's call. She was in for at least thirty more minutes of scolding.

Eden stretched lightly.

City-crushing crisis averted, slothful Sun God re-motivated.

Just gotta calm the villagers outside now.

Eden perked his ears to the voices beyond the church. His barbarian hearing caught every word clearly.

- That was the Sun God's procession just now! O God, may this place become a holy site...!

- C-Can't deny it, but everyone, please calm down first...

- Fuck, my ceiling caved in! Do you know how much that cost?!

The last voice sounded familiar, but Eden brushed it off.

Then the outside atmosphere shifted oddly.

Clank, clank.

The sound of heavy armor. Knights' footsteps.

The crowd sensed it too; murmurs died down.

City lord maybe?

Eden blocked the church door. Neb and Rundel were still talking. If Fran and Taim got pushed aside, he'd be the last defense.

- Open the door.

- ...Can you take responsibility for this?

- Of course.

Fran tried holding them off, but outnumbered, the church doors creaked open. Light poured in with a rusty squeal.

Eden stood squarely before them to bar entry.

"Stop. This church is under restricted access—"

Then he froze at the 'girl' appearing at the door.

"Mm, yep. That's the man I was looking for."

A smile peeked over her fan. Knights walled off the church exterior, their armor emblazoned with the Ksaruna duchy crest.

"Figured trailing the commotion would lead me right to him... Took longer than expected, though. Tsk."

The girl trotted up to Eden's side and playfully hugged his waist like she'd tagged him in hide-and-seek.

"Gotcha."

"......"

"No greeting for your reunion?"

Eden fell silent...!

A bond from the battlefield of old had come calling again.

* * *

A few dozen seconds before this new encounter.

Rundel asked Neb,

"It's quite nice, actually. Fun, even. So no need to help me out of it now."

"Hehe."

Neb just laughed without answering.

After briefly scolding her with "How dare you touch what's mine," the long-separated sisters chatted peacefully.

But the peace didn't last.

At Rundel's words, Neb turned too.

And there was another human hugging 'Eden' tight.

Despite the reunion spanning eons, Rundel grasped the situation and bolted.

Now that her existence was known, she could return anytime if desired.

Neb fixed her deep, sunken gaze on the pair—precisely, the newly arrived girl.