Underworld Tour (6)

Having just heard Kim Dokja's preferences from Persephone, I quietly shot her a sidelong glance.

"……………."

Kim Dokja currently had her entire face and ears dyed a deep red, both hands covering her face as she sat in absolute silence.

I had already called her name several times, only to be met with an incomprehensible stream of alien gibberish. I took the hint: do not touch right now.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Persephone watched the flustered Kim Dokja and let out a soft chuckle.

"Huhu. It seems I played a rather mischievous prank."

"…Well. If someone suddenly blurts out your private tastes, most people would react like that."

"Apostle of Pleasure. Much like how you yourself are so fond of that bunny-girl outfit, correct?"

"I'm the type who just comes out and says it, so I don't end up reacting the same way Dokja does."

"How very bold of you."

Persephone took a sip of the wine beside her, then looked between me and Kim Dokja as she continued.

"It appears we are short on time, so let us move straight to the main topic."

"Are you sure that's all right? From the looks of things, you went to the trouble of preparing this entire banquet for us."

At my question, Persephone gave a faint smile.

"I did hear a little from my child, but hearing it from the parties involved themselves still holds its own meaning, does it not?"

The "child" Persephone mentioned was without a doubt Dionysus.

I turned my gaze sideways to look at Kim Dokja. Fortunately, she seemed to have finally cooled down enough to carefully lift her head and check my expression. And I simply could not hold back against that adorable reaction of hers.

"I'll gift you a China dress and garter belt soon."

"Shut up…! Please, do not say another word about that part!!"

Watching Kim Dokja flush red again and snap at me, I snickered.

She glared hard at me as I laughed, then let out a small sigh, turned her head toward Persephone, and opened her mouth.

"And the King of the Underworld…?"

"His Majesty is rather displeased by your sudden visit. Therefore, it would be best if you directed today's business to me."

Kim Dokja nodded as if that made perfect sense.

…So she really doesn't know.

I watched Kim Dokja nod, then turned my gaze past ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Persephone toward the darkness behind her.

Perhaps it was because I had become a Constellation. I could feel the gazes of other Constellations far more clearly than when I had been a mere Incarnation.

That was why I was certain. Right now, from far away, the King of the Underworld himself—Hades—was watching this place.

It could not be otherwise.

Kuuuuuuung——.

Because the crushing weight of that gaze currently fixed on me was the proof.

Grrrk.

I quietly scraped my nails along the armrest of my chair.

Otherwise I would not have been able to endure the pressure.

Something cold and viscous, as if I had stepped into a dragon's maw, felt ready to swallow me whole at any moment.

Even I, who had grown thick-skinned after throwing my life on the line through every hardship up to the fifth main scenario, could only fall silent under that vicious pressure.

If I didn't, the darkness saturating this place would tear my throat out right then and there.

Yet a question rose. Even if I was only a newborn Constellation, I was still a Fable-grade Constellation.

And yet Kim Dokja was acting as if this pressure that I could barely withstand did not exist at all.

What if the reason the male Kim Dokja in the webtoon had his Fourth Wall so strongly activated wasn't because of Persephone, but because of Hades?

Or, if not that—

Is Hades only directing this pressure at me right now?

I had no way of knowing the reason, but one fact was clear.

…If the latter was the correct answer, then the hospitality of the Underworld was truly stingy.

So once I returned safely to the surface, I would never set foot in the Underworld again.

Unaware of my current state, Kim Dokja spoke to Persephone with a serious expression.

"I wish to reclaim a certain someone's soul. I do not know if word has reached you, but preparations for a transaction have already been made."

"A soul, is it…. That brings back old memories."

At Kim Dokja's words, Persephone slowly closed her eyes as if contemplating something.

Before long her long fingers began to move, elegantly slicing the steak on her plate.

Whether she was deliberately cutting it so slowly or testing Kim Dokja's patience, I could not tell.

Kim Dokja watched Persephone quietly slice the steak with a tense expression and remained silent.

Looks delicious….

Meanwhile I stared at the perfectly cooked steak on the table and swallowed hard.

At last, having finished cutting the steak, Persephone slowly opened her mouth.

"In this world, something called a 'soul' does not exist."

"That is the sort of declaration that would make Plato and Aristotle sit bolt upright in their graves."

"Those children have become Constellations as well, so they are no longer in any graves."

Kim Dokja raised her voice a little as she looked at the Persephone before her.

"I did not come here to play word games."

"I am not joking either."

Persephone set down the knife she had used to cut the steak and continued.

"Incarnation Kim Dokja. Souls do not exist. They are merely an illusion created by humans who yearn for the continuity of the self."

"Then what about the people of the Underworld? Are they not souls?"

Instead of answering, Persephone speared one of the steak pieces she had just cut with her fork and spoke.

"They are like this."

Then she placed the piece of steak into her mouth.

Like a refined gourmet slowly savoring a dish, she took her time chewing the meat.

"Mm, truly a premium cut. Why don't the two of you try some as well?"

Kim Dokja and I both looked down at the steaks placed before us.

Kim Dokja shot me a brief glance, then looked back at Persephone and said,

"I refuse."

"Do you intend to be rude?"

"Yes. I am truly sorry, but I will have to be a little rude."

I watched Kim Dokja speak so firmly to Persephone, then lowered my gaze again to the steak in front of me.

In the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint webtoon, the male Kim Dokja had looked at this steak and recalled a certain passage from Ways of Survival.

It would surely taste good if I ate it. Even in Ways of Survival, the flavor of this food was described across a full twelve pages. But at the end of that long description—

Afterward, until the very moment that regression ended, Yoo Joonghyuk regretted having eaten that food.

Judging by that passage in Ways of Survival, Yoo Joonghyuk had enjoyed the taste, only to later realize the food's true nature and regret it.

And the most important point was this:

Those who eat the food of the Underworld cannot return to the surface.

Anyone who had read the old popular comic Greek and Roman Mythology in Comics would probably know that fact.

In truth, the Persephone before our eyes had also eaten six pomegranate seeds served as Underworld food, and so was required to spend six months on the surface and the remaining six months underground.

There had been disputes over exactly how many seeds she ate, but the accepted theory put it somewhere between four and six.

As if she had read Kim Dokja's thoughts, Persephone smiled and spoke.

"Life in the Underworld is not as dreadful as you imagine. With the King of the Underworld's permission, one may tour the surface as much as one likes. In the terms of your world, it is a concept similar to a 'career soldier.'"

"…Kim Dokja, who never served, might not understand, but as a man who was forcibly dragged into the military, that is a rather horrifying statement…?"

In the original Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint webtoon Kim Dokja had been male and thus had gone to the army, but here her gender was female, so she would know nothing of military life. I answered in her place.

"Is that so? Don't the males of your side constantly mutter things like 'I might as well just re-enlist' as if it were nothing? I thought it was no big deal, but it seems I was mistaken."

The webtoon Kim Dokja said the same thing. Why does a Western goddess from another country know Korean men so well?

Persephone looked us both over and continued.

"You would receive treatment far beyond anything you can imagine."

"Unfortunately, I prefer the surface."

"Same here."

"If you belonged to the Underworld, you could eat delicious food like this for the rest of your lives, you know?"

"That is a problem that can be solved by using the 'Shop User' skill of Park Jinwoo beside me."

"Come to think of it, I had momentarily forgotten about that peculiar skill the Apostle of Pleasure uses. That strange skill that allowed him, even as an Incarnation, to access the 'Dokkaebi Bag,' a privilege of Constellations."

Persephone gave me an intrigued look for a moment before continuing.

"I understand that the food problem has been solved thanks to his skill. However. The steak currently before your eyes is no ordinary food."

She smiled sweetly.

"If you eat it, you can become a 'Sword Master' right this instant."

Sword Master, huh….

Hearing a term that had appeared so commonly in every fantasy novel and webtoon I read before entering the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint world, I gave a bitter smile.

"And that pasta beside it. If you eat it, you can become a 'Grand Magician' capable of conquering an entire continent."

Grand Magician. Come to think of it, there isn't a single mage among our party, is there? Aside from Sangah-ssi, maybe everyone else's heads just aren't cut out for it.

Even that regressor Yoo Joonghyuk had never once shown herself using magic. Magic was usually the exclusive domain of the clever.

So one could also interpret that to mean Yoo Joonghyuk was a pure physical type, not a brain type.

"The soup? Naturally it is soup that can make you an 'SSS-rank Hunter.' Will you still refuse to eat?"

Whether Kim Dokja had grown interested in Persephone's words or not, she stabbed the steak with her fork—and immediately froze.

She had probably pierced the steak and was now peeking into the memories of the man who had become that steak.

Curious myself at her reaction, I lifted a forkful of spaghetti.

In that instant several scenes flashed through my mind, and then a certain man's memories began to play.

I flinched at the scenes replaying in my head.

………What the fuck?

I blinked several times, quietly set down the fork holding the spaghetti, and scooped up some of the soup beside it with a spoon.

Just as before, the memories of the SSS-rank Hunter who had become soup flickered into view.

………Tsk.

I hadn't even eaten anything, yet I already felt as if my appetite had been ruined. I set the spoon down a little roughly.

The Grand Magician's memories belonged to a man who became a eunuch, rose to Grand Magician, then dropped a meteor on people who mocked him for being bald and killed himself in the process—a complete lunatic.

The SSS-rank Hunter's memories were the story of a novice hunter who wanted to get rich, joined a party ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠full of good people, lost every comrade in an accident, and stood alone at the summit.

I hadn't tasted a single bite, but one thing was certain.

I do not want to eat this kind of food.

Clink!

Just then a small metallic clink came from beside me. I turned my head.

Kim Dokja was staring at the steak with a startled expression.

"Don't tell me this is…?"

"Yes. This little lump of meat. This is everything humans believe to be a soul."

"…This is the memory of a man who was a Sword Master."

"Memory? No. To be more precise…."

Wearing Yoo Sangah's face, Persephone licked her lips with her tongue and smiled thickly as she spoke.

"A Story."

Kim Dokja's face stiffened considerably, as if goosebumps had risen at the sight of Persephone licking her lips while looking at her.

"It is the food every Constellation loves most."

I wonder if Kim Dokja is thinking this right now?

Those who devour Stories and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go mad for Stories.

That is the true nature of beings called Constellations.

"Death is like the ending of a Story. Just as a slaughtered cow cannot come back to life, a dead person cannot be revived either. Their Story ends there, after all."

"I am aware there are exceptions."

"Those are false legends. There are no exceptions."

At Persephone's words, Kim Dokja hardened her expression and continued.

"Can you swear that upon the River Styx?"

Flinch.

For the first time, the ever-composed Persephone's body twitched as she quietly glared at Kim Dokja.

The River Styx. That was a river that existed in the Underworld.

When the Greek gods swore something, they swore upon the River Styx.

Even Zeus, king of the gods, could not break an oath sworn upon the Styx.

If one broke such an oath, one would be unable to breathe for a year, lose one's voice, and remain lying in a death-like state.

After that, one would be barred from the councils of the gods for nine years.

Some might ask whether a mere ten years meant anything to immortal gods, so why not just break the oath.

But considering the domains the gods of the Greek world governed, such a thing could not be done lightly.

Each Greek god had a domain of their own.

There was the story of how, when Thanatos, the Greek god of death, was imprisoned by Sisyphus's ambush, a world where no one died arrived.

There was the story of how Demeter, goddess of the earth and agriculture, declared a strike and refused to tend the land while searching for her daughter Persephone, causing every fruit and grain of the earth to wither and die.

Do you know what these stories have in common?

If a god who governs a certain domain cannot perform their duty, the world falls into chaos.

Of course, beyond that, it is something Zeus—highest god of Olympus and king of the gods—himself upholds. It is hard to imagine mid- or low-ranking gods daring to break it either.

After glaring at Kim Dokja for a moment, Persephone slowly began to speak again.

"…The 'soul' you believe in is nothing more than a crude lump of Story."

"What I want is precisely that crude lump of Story."

"In the Underworld, those who 'look back' are always destined to regret. You need to learn how to accept the flow of time."

"Your Majesty. Time does not necessarily flow only 'forward.' I thought you already knew that."

Tak.

Kim Dokja's provocation seemed to have pushed Persephone's patience to its limit. She roughly set down the fork she was holding.

And then—

I hurriedly stepped in front of Kim Dokja.

Kuuuuuuung——!!

The status of a newborn Constellation who had only just ascended collided with the fully matured status of a Constellation who was at least high-ranking, if not top-tier.

Even though I had blocked most of Persephone's status that was flowing toward Kim Dokja, cold sweat poured down my face.

Persephone narrowed her eyes as she looked at me withstanding her status.

"Apostle of Pleasure…. You are not merely Historical-grade, are you?"

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Even if I released my status weakly out of consideration for Incarnation Kim Dokja, it is not a level a Constellation who has only just ascended should be able to endure."

"Well, I truly do not know…. More importantly, I would appreciate it if you stopped releasing your status soon. My girlfriend is having a bit of a hard time…."

Even at my request, Persephone said nothing. She merely smiled with an amused expression and released her status even more strongly.

This is driving me crazy….

At Persephone's action I pulled Kim Dokja tightly against my back and raised my own status higher to oppose her.

Yet compared to her fully matured status, mine was endlessly frail.

Feeling my status gradually being swallowed by hers, I twisted my face.

If this continues, Dokja's body will take a serious toll.

So should I attack Persephone right now to escape this situation? That would be pure insanity.

No matter how many crazy stunts I usually pulled, I could never bring myself to attack the wife of the ruler of the Underworld while he watched from behind.

If I so much as showed the slightest intent, both Kim Dokja and I would die without question.

So I had no choice but to block as much of the status directed at Kim Dokja as possible. We remained locked in a silent contest of status for a while.

"Huhu…. How interesting. To endure the status of two Constellations with an Incarnation's body. As expected of the 'Singularity' the children of Olympus spoke of. And…."

Persephone spoke while turning her gaze toward me, then fell silent with a quiet smile.

I found her look strange, but this was not the time to worry about her.

I turned my head to look at Kim Dokja.

"Dokja, are you okay?"

"…Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for blocking it."

Kim Dokja's face was deathly pale and stiff; she barely managed a smile.

Even though I had taken most of Persephone's status, some of it had inevitably reached her, and she had been forced to endure it herself.

Because of that she was now dripping cold sweat from her face and back.

I wiped the sweat beading on Kim Dokja's forehead with the sleeve of my coat, then turned my head back to Persephone.

She was currently looking at the two of us with a spine-chilling smile.

Kim Dokja met Persephone's gaze with a hardened expression and slowly opened her mouth.

"That is not all I know. I have seen the Gigantes currently under development in Tartarus. If you make a deal with me, I can provide a method to shorten the completion time of the Gigantes…."

"That talk is unnecessary. The 'Gigantomachia' is an important matter, but the Gigantes can be completed on schedule even without your help."

Persephone cut Kim Dokja's proposal short with a single stroke, then stared at her with intrigued eyes.

"However, I might consider a deal of this sort. If you tell me how you came to know that information…."

"That would be difficult. Honestly, I am not even confident I can explain it properly."

As if gauging the sincerity of Kim Dokja's answer, Persephone stared at her quietly for a moment.

Then she narrowed her eyes and slowly opened her mouth.

"As expected, the ■■■ of ■■■ is…."

As expected, I can't hear it properly either.

The words Persephone had just uttered reached me in a filtered state.

I was a being from outside Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, and I had become a Constellation, so I had held a small hope that I might be able to hear those words of Persephone clearly.

But even coming from outside the novel, it seemed that was still too much to ask.

At that moment, the messages of the Constellations who had heard Persephone's filtered words exploded.

At the Constellations' indirect messages, Persephone frowned.

"Uninvited guests, please be quiet."

I turned my gaze to Kim Dokja standing behind my back.

There stood Kim Dokja with a greatly flustered expression.

"…What did you just say?"

"Ah, it was nothing important."

Persephone continued glancing at the Constellations' indirect messages with an irritated frown.

Before long she looked at Kim Dokja and me and spoke.

"I am sorry, but let us end the entertainment here. The Underworld has no reason to deal with you. I can always use other methods to extract your information."

Tsztsztsz! Shwaaaak!

Small sparks shot up from the floor where I stood. From them, ropes forged of Underworld metal wrapped around my body in an instant and bound me.

"……………."

I glanced once at the ropes restraining me, then glared at Persephone.

But Persephone only gave me a brief look, smiled an unreadable smile, and vanished from sight.

No—in the blink of an eye she had closed the distance to right in front of my nose, brushed past me, and seized Kim Dokja by the chin.

"I have been holding back, but you… look rather delicious."

Persephone smiled chillingly, licked her lips with her tongue, and looked at Kim Dokja.

Forced into a chair by Persephone's touch, Kim Dokja gripped the armrests tightly and spoke.

"If you harm an Incarnation currently progressing through scenarios, you will not be able to handle the aftermath."

"Hmm, it seems I have been thoroughly underestimated. Do you think I cannot handle mere probability of that level?"

"And the Constellations watching me will not allow it either."

At Kim Dokja's words, Persephone snorted.

"Do you think the King of the Underworld would fear such insignificant Constellations?"

With a Myth-grade Constellation like Hades as her husband, and herself ranking among the strong even among Fable-grade Constellations, Persephone had every right to be arrogant.

But in the channel we were currently active in, there were several Constellations even she could not casually ignore.

"I see. So everyone wants to have a go right now, is that it?"

Persephone did not back down and released her presence as well.

Kuuuuuuuuung———!!

In the clash of presence among Constellations belonging to the highest tier of Fable-grade, dark clouds began to gather on the ceiling of the hall.

Blue sparks flickered like thunder, and cracks began to form one by one in the furnishings arranged throughout the banquet hall.

…At this rate only Dokja is going to die in the middle.

Caught between the Constellations' contest of presence, Kim Dokja's expression darkened in an instant.

Ah, shit.

Why the hell did I even get dragged here….

I let out a long sigh, looked at Persephone, and moved my Story.

Tsztsz! Tsztsztsz!

A red clown mask was painted across my face, and then the status of a Constellation erupted from my entire body.

Flinch.

Persephone, who had been locked in a contest of presence with the Constellations of our channel, seemed startled by the status she felt from the side and glanced at me.

Fwaaat!

"Huh?"

Affected by my Stigma, Kim Dokja found it far easier to breathe than before; her complexion improved at once.

Next, the cracks that had been forming in the furnishings damaged by the Constellations' contest of presence gradually vanished, restoring them to their unbroken state.

"…As expected, you were hiding an ace up your sleeve."

Persephone glanced at me as Kim Dokja's darkened complexion improved and the state of the banquet hall's furnishings was restored.

"Just a common clown's parlor trick."

"To completely erase the status of Fable-grade Constellations that was unfolding here and overwrite it with a different effect, and call that a common parlor trick… How amusing."

As expected of a Constellation who had lived for thousands of years. To grasp the effect of my Stigma in a single glance.

I myself had only recently learned the effect of my Stigma, Time of Pleasure, but the effect was relatively simple.

The ability to manipulate the surrounding environment by expending Probability.

That was the effect of my Stigma.

Because this was the Underworld, the restrictions of Probability were far looser than in Seoul Dome.

Therefore I had expended a portion of the Probability I possessed to erase the status of the Constellations locked in their contest of presence, restore Kim Dokja's mental strength after her exposure to that status, and as a bonus repair the furnishings that had been breaking in the banquet hall.

However.

Damn it… The ability is good, but the drain on stamina and mental strength is way too severe….

Just using the Stigma once had nearly depleted my stamina. Or perhaps the share of erasing the status of Fable-grade Constellations had simply been too large.

Inwardly I was gasping for breath from the stamina drain, but I hid it behind the mask and put on a nonchalant voice as I looked at Kim Dokja.

"Dokja. Oppa's tired."

I am seriously fucking exhausted right now. Let's finish this conversation fast, make the deal with the Queen, and get the hell out of here. Please.

As if she had read my gaze, Kim Dokja looked at me, nodded, then turned to Persephone and calmly opened her mouth.

"You said you like Stories. Then how about a deal like this?"

Persephone looked down at Kim Dokja as she spoke to her.

"If you help me, I will show you the most entertaining Story in the world. A Story that cannot even be compared to that steak you just ate."

"Does that mean you will let me eat you?"

"With Your Majesty's history of fine dining, I do not believe you require any further meals. You must already be quite full."

Having caught on to what Kim Dokja was trying to say, Persephone smiled with her eyes.

"You will not even let me sample, yet still intend to collect the price?"

"I will let you smell it. But if you devour me now, Your Majesty will spend the rest of your life living in regret. You will keep thinking that if only you had not eaten me then, I would have become even more delicious."

For the first time, interest colored Persephone's eyes.

"…How can you be so certain?"

"I can oppose a being who defies time even without a Sponsor."

Kim Dokja rolled her eyes to glance at me as she continued.

"…Without the help of an Outer God, I and my boyfriend defeated a Returnee, and together with my companions we stopped the descending Disasters. And only five scenarios have passed so far. I have even entered the Underworld as a living soul and am encountering you like this."

Kim Dokja glared at Persephone as she spoke.

"Are you truly not curious what more someone like me will do from now on?"

"You talk well. But that no longer seems like a 'deal.'"

"Then you may call it a 'courtship.'"

"…What?"

Kim Dokja looked up at Persephone and grinned.

"I am sincere. I will show you a Story you have never seen before—a Story so compelling you will not be able to bear not knowing what comes next."

Hearing Kim Dokja's words, Persephone leaned against the table and smiled with a troubled expression.

"Hmm, this is awkward. Homosexuality is not to my taste…."

"Ah, of course the courtship is not directed at you, but at the 'Father of the Rich Night.'"

"Ahahahaha—!"

At Kim Dokja's words, Persephone's eyes widened, and then she burst into loud laughter.

She turned her head to look at me as she continued.

"But is that all right? Saying something like that when you have a boyfriend right beside you."

"Jinwoo will understand."

"What is there to understand…. Dokja, are you throwing me away like this?"

"…You know that is not what I meant. So what will you do?"

Persephone glanced at the Kim Dokja who was pressing her, then sat her hips on the table with a faint smile.

"Interesting. But it is still a little lacking."

"…What?"

Persephone glanced at me as she spoke.

"The Apostle of Pleasure pulled out ingredients I had never seen even once. If the Apostle of Pleasure presents me with a dessert dish that can satisfy me, I will accept your proposal."

Huh?

Kim Dokja and I both stared blankly at Persephone. Finding the two of us staring blankly at her cute, she smiled softly and hummed as she looked at us.

Before long Kim Dokja and I locked eyes and held a conversation with our gazes.

This is the timing where I have to offer up a dessert, right?

I didn't expect this either…. Do you have a dessert dish you can offer that Queen?

I do, but….

Yes, I did have one. All I had to do was pull out a dessert dish or ingredient visible in the Toriko world. Among them, I just needed to take out a dessert that the protagonist Toriko had liked.

But there was a problem.

…If an ordinary human eats this, they'll die of diabetes.

Or wait, since she's a Constellation, maybe she won't die?

I began searching the Story Shop for a fruit I knew.

Rainbow Fruit… Rainbow Fruit…. Ah, found it. But wait?

There were two products registered under the name Rainbow Fruit.

Sensing something odd, I read the item descriptions.

One is the real Rainbow Fruit cultivated in the Toriko world, and the other is a Rainbow Fruit improved so that ordinary humans can eat it?

Fortunately the text said the taste was no different, so I purchased the Rainbow Fruit (Improved).

I held out the jelly-like fruit that shone with rainbow light to Persephone.

"Here. Eat it and give me a taste review."

"Hey."

"Huhu. I am sorry, Apostle of Pleasure. The other Constellations kept bragging about how delicious the meat they received from you was. So I only mentioned it on the off chance… yet you present such a beautiful dessert. I am truly grateful."

Persephone smiled with her eyes as she looked at the Rainbow Fruit wriggling atop the dish she held.

"A sweet, rich fragrance…. And a fruit that floats a rainbow with its evaporated juices. It is like a fruit that would appear in some other mythology."

Persephone looked down at the Rainbow Fruit before her and smiled as if satisfied.

Then she scooped some of the Rainbow Fruit with a spoon, smiled sweetly, and opened her mouth.

As if she did not even care about the Constellations' indirect messages floating beside her, Persephone closed her eyes and placed the Rainbow Fruit into her mouth.

"It's delicious…."

Then, tears welling at the corners of her eyes, Persephone murmured softly.