[Bringing a God-Slayer? Are You Insane?!]
Her eyes glared at Setas, but she was addressing me.
"What, an avatar? I've killed a few of those myself."
Setas seemed to understand Bastet's words. And yet, he remained utterly relaxed.
"Bastet, calm down for now. Setas, care to explain the situation?"
Bastet was still growling, but she shifted her gaze to Setas. If she'd wanted to attack, she would've done it ages ago. When that little cat put her heart into a swipe with her front paw, even Howard would drop dead. And there'd be no real way to stop it.
"Well, as you can see from my body, I've never killed a god's avatar in this life, nor do I have the power to. To be precise, my past life self has killed some god avatars."
"Past life? You're a reincarnator too?"
Was this kid in the same boat as Wider?
"Nah, I'd call myself a reincarnator. But you know about regressors?"
Another weirdo had popped up. I'd known from the start he wasn't normal, but this was even stranger than I'd expected.
"Born again?"
"Yeah, my previous life was in another dimension."
I'd heard the past Emperor Eugene had crossed into another dimension. Could he have gone to Setas's world?
"Do you happen to know someone named Eugene? He uses spatial abilities."
"Eugene's a common name. But a Eugene with spatial superpowers? That's from way back—about 500 years before I was born? There was this villain named Eugene with spatial powers around then."
"Villain?"
"Mm, like a bad guy? Someone who doesn't fit into society, I guess. That's the gist."
Thinking about Emperor Eugene's personality, it kinda fit. But 500 years ago? Did time flow differently there?
"So what happened to that Eugene?"
"He was active for a while, then just vanished. That's all I know because he was such a famous villain. The kind that makes history books."
Had he crossed into yet another dimension, even in that world? As I pondered, Bastet's growling persisted from the side.
"The important part right now seems to be about the god-slaying."
Setas nodded in agreement on that point.
"The world I lived in during my past life had its dimension's main god, Gaia, dead. So external attacks never stopped. Humans were defending against them successfully, I'd say. That's the dimension that's been holding steady."
"Humans killing gods that attack from outside?"
"Yeah, not just god avatars—demigod-level main bodies too. And humans alone have been holding them off for over 250 years. During my military service, I spent 30 years in the defense unit, an ace striker in the squad that delivered the killing blows."
Humans killing gods on their own. Unimaginable.
I'd witnessed Kutula and Nialla's battle. Humans blocking and killing that? Impossible to believe.
"Humans alone can kill gods? Is that even possible?"
But the answer came from Bastet, not Setas. She'd stopped growling but still eyed him with fierce narrowed eyes.
[It is.]
"See? It's possible, but not easy. The defense unit's full strength is around 3,000. Actual combat troops are about 1,500, and they have to give it everything without a single mistake to handle an avatar. If a god came in its true body, no chance. But gods treasure their bodies, so they never do."
If 1,500—no, even 15 million—could handle it, that was impressive. That's how I saw it.
"Anyway, you have no need, will, or ability to kill god avatars right now, right?"
"Exactly. This world has its main god protecting the dimension. And even if I fully mature, taking on an avatar solo would be impossible."
Juno, guardian of this world, my respect for you has grown.
"That's right, Lady Bastet."
[Hmph!]
Bastet snorted and hurled herself out the window. Probably straight to Lily's lap on the New Continent. At least her misunderstanding seemed partially cleared up.
Once Bastet was gone, Setas emitted that familiar pulse again. This time, big enough to blanket the entire Akasha Territory? Right on the mark.
"Impressive. This territory is packed with overwhelming powerhouses. Nothing like my previous one."
As Setas nodded to himself in admiration, Howard slipped in through the window.
"You, huh?"
Howard bared his hostility toward Setas too. Visually, it was a middle-aged guy glaring murderously at a baby— not a great look.
"Seriously impressive. So many humans sensing my scan? Wait, that old man's not even human."
As Setas marveled, the door quietly opened, and Argin entered.
"What's this guy's deal?"
I pondered Howard's question. How to explain Setas? Reincarnator from another dimension? Just an insanely strong kid?
"I'm Setas. I'll be crashing here till I grow up."
Setas introduced himself with surprising shamelessness.
"Use proper respect with adults, kid."
As Howard corrected him, Setas wagged a finger sideways.
"I may look like this, but I'm 144 years old. So, who's the kid now?"
I knew that calculation. He'd probably lived to 142 in his past life.
"Ha! 144? Still a kid. I'm 162."
Was that Howard's real age? Counting from before he became a beast king, it roughly matched.
Setas glanced at me. Not sure, but I nodded, siding with Howard. Friends, after all.
"For the record, I'm over 200."
"What is this, a monster convention?"
Setas made a fed-up face and turned to Argin. Argin shook his head like he didn't want to deal with it and just left. Probably looked like adults fussing over a child.
I gave Howard a quick rundown on Setas's identity. Howard found him fascinating.
"So how'd you die?"
Amusing question. Coincidentally, all three of us had died at some point.
"Not sure."
Setas's eyes went blankly vacant for a moment. Not the usual spaced-out look—more like endless emptiness.
"After discharge, I became a researcher. Tried various fields at first, but in my later years, I pursued the Truth."
"Truth?"
"Yeah, the truth of the world. Can't think of another way to put it."
"Did you succeed?"
"That's the thing—I don't know. I think I did. Memories from that part are erased."
Not just forgotten—erased.
"Probably the world wouldn't allow me to glimpse the Truth. Whether as reward or punishment, I reincarnated like this."
"Planning to resume that research?"
"Not sure. This world's tech can't build the equipment I'd need. And would the Truth let me try again after refusing once?"
I didn't know what equipment, but if it transcended human tech, we had the perfect fit: dwarves. I'd decide on introductions later. But what was this Truth? Something even gods dismissed lightly, yet Setas obsessed over it—beyond gods?
"So what is this Truth?"
"Not sure if it's an entity or the world itself. Maybe the laws that make the world turn. Damn, with my memories wiped, I don't know."
The Truth piqued my interest too. If Setas dove back in, joining him sounded fun.
"Anyway, your old world was way more advanced than here, right?"
"Can't even compare. This is basically medieval level."
I got the gist: severely underdeveloped, whatever "medieval" meant exactly.
"Then use your knowledge for this place."
"Not a problem."
And so, Setas took on the peculiar role of special advisor to Akasha Territory. He even named the position himself.
From being the somewhat clever son of a maid in Baron Bretling's household, Setas became hailed as a prodigy in Viscount Akasha's domain. We granted him a mansion and hefty settlement funds, so he didn't need to work, but his mother sought work anyway and started helping Violette at Eltis's tavern during the day.
Setas's new policy proposals often stumped even Akasha Territory's managers—gatherings of top geniuses and talents. Some ideas were dangerously radical, but so many were novel concepts we'd never heard or seen that even I learned a ton.
"By the way, Lord."
Setas spent a lot of time in my office. His address had settled on "Lord."
"You're a saint?"
"Why, hard to believe? I sometimes doubt it myself, but yeah. By your standards, directly appointed by this world's main god."
"That's why they call you Saint Germain?"
"Yep."
Setas eyed me with a meaningful look, then muttered something.
"Saint Germain, Saint Germain..."
"Something wrong with my name?"
"Nah, it's just—in my past life's ancient nation of France, there's this legend about a Count de Saint Germain."
"My original surname's Francois. Changed to Akasha when adopted here."
Setas's gaze grew weirder. Uncomfortably creepy, even.
"Lord, you don't mess with alchemy, do you?"
The lab wasn't finished yet, so no. Planned to, though.
"Thinking of researching an immortality elixir I got from someone. Still incomplete."
"That's the Philosopher's..."
Setas trailed off.
"So who was this Saint Germain?"
"Hard to say if he was real—pure legend. Called a demon lord or ultimate alchemist. Said to appear at history's turning points over centuries without aging."
"Sounds legendary."
I said that, but... wait, that's basically me?
"And Lord, that thing you always have."
He pointed to the record of the world being written by pens moving automatically beside me.
"Yeah, the record of the world."
He muttered again.
"...Record of the world... Akasha... Akashic Records."
"What? What was that?"
"Akashic Records?"
"Yeah, Records. That's my true name. What's Akashic Records?"
"Legend says it holds everything in the world. Get it, gain all knowledge. In that sense, like the Truth..."
Suddenly, Setas's body changed. It jerked to a halt like snagged on something, collapsed, and started convulsing.
I jolted and poured healing grace over him.
"Setas, snap out of it!"
But his eyes had already rolled back. The tremors intensified; before I could act further, his heart stopped.
Pouring in more healing power was all I could do.
And then, time froze.