Chapter 86
Chapter 86 - Death God's Gift(1)
"This is..."
As soon as I touched the mirror, I felt a distant falling sensation. When it ended and I opened my eyes, I was standing in the middle of a pitch-black space.
'Looks like Lucy... couldn't come with me.'
I noticed Lucy wasn't around while checking my surroundings. Clicking my tongue, I examined the area more carefully. In all directions, up and down, pure darkness. A space where even the beginning and end couldn't be measured.
The trial veil had this same desolate feeling too. Are all the gods in this world following 'simple is best' as their interior design motto? While I was thinking that.
"Waaah."
"It's the contractor, the contractor."
"Finally came to meet us."
Such voices came from somewhere. I turned my head toward them.
... And at that moment, I closed my mouth tight, forgetting what to say.
'... What is that? A yokai?' [TL/N: A Yokai is a supernatural creature from Japanese folklore.]
A strange creature was floating in the sky.
It was a girl with emerald hair wearing a robe. The problem was that three heads protruded from one robe.
As if wanting to give each identical face some individuality, one wore an animal's jawbone like a mask, one covered above their nose with a severed skull, and one covered the left side of their face.
And a scythe.
An enormously huge... harvest scythe that must be at least 5 meters long, floating leisurely above such girls.
'No... are they just three people sharing one robe?'
I've heard of twin-headed ogres but triple-headed girls(?)? Even though my sense of normalcy has been rock bottom lately, such reality is still hard to accept.
While thinking that, the problematic triple-headed girl suddenly thrust her three faces at me.
"Hello hello."
"Hey contractor."
"Do you know who we are?"
The robe fluttered as the girl's three faces spun in the air. Each face that met mine spat out one phrase. It felt like one person's speech split into three.
Thanks to that speaking pattern just now, the 'triple-headed girl' theory gained more credibility than the 'three people one robe' theory.
'Mi... Mimir's Eye.'
Of course, I'm not one to stay still after seeing such a rare creature. I immediately scanned their identity.
Boom, with a slightly heavier sound effect than usual, the panel appeared.
[Name: Unterdreth]
[Title: Death God. God of Time(Past). Eldest of the three Death God sisters]
[Error - Non-standard existence. Unable to measure abilities.]
[Name: Thanatix]
[Title: Death God. God of Time(Present). Second of the three Death God sisters]
[Error - Non-standard existence. Unable to measure abilities.]
[Name: Caius]
[Title: Death God. God of Time(Future). Youngest of the three Death God sisters]
[Error - Non-standard existence. Unable to measure abilities.]
... The status window splits into three again. The previously established 'triple-headed girl' theory suddenly faced a crisis of being discarded.
While becoming seriously curious about the state inside the robe, I swallowed hard at another fact.
'Non-standard existence...!'
Only after seeing the error in the status window did I realize their identity.
Death God. They were the beings who called me here and the gods who made Flick tremble like that.
... Though they seem quite different from the image of Death Gods I knew.
"I am Unterdreth."
"I am Thanatix."
"I am Caius."
The three gods took turns introducing themselves.
The jawbone mask is Unterdreth. The blindfold is Thanatix. And the one covering the left face is Caius.
The three Death Gods seemed really glad to see me. The proof is that six sparkling eyes had no intention of leaving my face.
While being somewhat startled by that excessive attention, since time was short, I went straight to the point.
"Well, nice to meet you first. The reason I came today is nothing else but–"
But that was it. My chance to speak ended there.
Because the three Death God sisters started chattering endlessly while spinning around.
"Wow. The contractor smells nice."
"The smell of death has become so strong."
"Well. Already died over 50 times, right?"
"Yet still maintaining sanity."
"Amazing. As expected of the contractor."
"Cool. Enduring death while being human. Incredible."
"Hey contractor. How was the item I gave? Was it good?"
"Mine was the best, right?"
"No, mine was the most useful, right? Right?"
Endless gazes and barrages of questions. Countless requests for handshakes poured in.
Overwhelming popularity that would put any idol to shame. I felt like I would faint in an instant.
Pushing away the three heads that were pressingly thrust forward, I shouted.
"No friends wait! One at a time! Let's talk one at a time! I'll answer!"
Thus, instead of achieving my purpose, I unexpectedly found myself joining in the Death God girls' chitchat.
What they were most curious about, with sparkling eyes, was none other than this.
"Mine was the best, right?"
"Mine was the most excellent, right??"
"Mine! Mine was the best, right???"
... These are statements that could cause misunderstandings, but please don't misunderstand.
The 'items' they mentioned to me... were none other than the unique special items I received from Minerva at first.
Namely the Box of the Dead, Izanami's Heart, and the Ether Bottle. These three.
"I made the Box of the Dead."
"The Ether Bottle is mine."
"I made Izanami's Heart."
From what I heard, the Box of the Dead was Unterdreth's work. The Ether Bottle was Thanatix's. And Izanami's Heart was Caius' creation.
They said they worked hard so that the contractor... that is, my 'heart wouldn't break', but somehow it was a very familiar yet creepy statement.
"Ah... Now that you mention it, I think there was such a description."
I vaguely remember seeing something like 'Contract item of some Death God' in the item description. It was such an old memory that I had forgotten, but those Death God must be these Death Gods.
I looked at the three Death Gods with fresh eyes. When I looked at it that way, the strange women before me felt very grateful.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I could come this far. If it weren't for you... I would still be dying by Leila in Halcenberg."
"Wow. We got praised."
"They're thanking us."
"I wish they would praise us more."
When I bowed my head respectfully, the expressions of the three Death Gods immediately brightened. They grinned with faces full of satisfaction and pride.
What is this? For Death Gods, they smile unusually well... It's a bit strange because their smiling faces suit them so well.
"Which one did you like the best?"
"It must be mine, right?"
"No. It must be mine."
Just when I thought I could get to my main point, they brought their faces close again and asked that question.
It seems I won't make any progress unless I answer this. I could feel something obsessive in the three pairs of eyes. I guess this is an important matter to them.
"Well... I liked all three equally. Is there really a need to say which one was better?"
The Box of the Dead played a crucial role in the Eldritch raid. It's an essential item that made me realize the fact that I had died once.
Without the Ether Bottle, I wouldn't have even thought about raiding the sewers.
Izanami's Heart is an essential item that can restore memories of past lives. It can drastically reduce meaningless attempts.
"Eh."
"What."
"Really."
I meant it in that sense... but it seems this wasn't the answer the Death Gods wanted. The proof was their bright faces immediately turning cold.
Is it just my imagination? The scythes floating above the Death God sisters seem to have gotten a bit closer.
"Indecisive."
"Player."
"Human trash."
Hey, isn't calling me human trash a bit too harsh?
It was quite shocking to hear "human trash" from faces that were grinning with goodwill just moments ago.
The Death Gods stared at my face for a while, then crossed their arms in the same pose and said:
"So why did you suddenly come today, Mr. Indecisive?"
"You didn't come to play with us, did you, Mr. Player?"
"We'll listen to anything, so tell us, Mr. Human Trash."
Their attitude was gentle but the nicknames remained the same.
What's with that? Are they over it or not? I let out a hollow laugh in bewilderment.
This waste of time is enough. I looked straight at the faces of the three Death Gods and said:
"Equipment enhancement. And I came because I want to change my job."
"Ah."
"Ah."
"Ah."
The three Death Gods flinched when the word 'job change' came out of my mouth.
Rustle rustle. Six eyes began busily meeting each other. With faces clearly showing their confusion, they whispered among themselves.
"Wow. The contractor hasn't changed jobs yet? Should have done it a long time ago."
"It's been so long since we dealt with a contractor... Wasn't the youngest supposed to handle that?"
"No, are you trying to pin that on me? Have some conscience?"
"I thought they died too many times in between...."
"Mi-Minerva will be really angry if she finds out."
"She doesn't already know, does she?"
"... Should we try to gloss over it with our prepared gift?"
"That would be good, right?"
"Let's keep it absolutely secret from the contractor?"
Hey. I can hear everything.
Since all three were looking in different directions, even their whispers were completely audible in the open space.
See? It's not my fault I couldn't change jobs. This happens because these Death God guys' work process is more messed up than military administration.
"Girls. I won't get angry. So stop whispering and just help me change jobs. I'm kind of busy right now."
At my words, the Death Gods froze. Then they scratched their heads awkwardly and started making their eyes sparkle at me again.
"Wow. Cool guy."
"As expected of our contractor. So magnanimous."
"So cool. I might fall for you."
Each one offered flattering words. The degrading names like indecisive and human trash had disappeared without a trace. These women are completely unpredictable.
I looked them over briefly and shrugged my shoulders.
"First, what do I need to do? I heard job changes and item enhancement require going through 'trials'..."
"That."
"Is."
"Well."
The Death God sisters spoke one syllable at a time like playing dragon game, then held out a black box in front of me.
When I stared at it with a questioning face, the Death God sisters said in triumphant voices:
"You don't need to enhance items!"
"Because we have."
"A special gift prepared for our contractor."
A special gift?
I received the box in bewilderment. This is the same material as the Box of the Dead. I noticed that right away from the touch.
I brought my hand near the lock of the box and immediately looked up at the Death God sisters.
"Open it. Hurry."
"For the current contractor."
"Because it's something absolutely necessary."
They say so. When they're expecting this much, it would be awkward not to open it.
They said it's something absolutely necessary for me right now. Maybe there's some armor with amazing specs inside?
I opened the box with anticipation. And I widened my eyes a bit at what was inside.
"This is...."