A Flame the Size of a Fingernail

The phenomenon I was experiencing had never happened before my regression.

The power that should have opened up as five separate special abilities had instead merged into one—that in itself was unprecedented.

"Anyway, Gleipnir, why did you react like that?"

Hearing Gleipnir's answer, I was a little dumbfounded, but I didn't bother arguing.

Gleipnir's personality(?) could reasonably be said to have been born the moment she contracted with me. She'd had consciousness before that, but apparently not anything you could call a personality. Contracting with me was what solidified it.

Her current state was best described as a newborn baby who happened to know a lot of things.

'Arguing with someone like that would only wear me out.'

There's nothing more foolish than lecturing a small child.

"Let's check the ability first."

The ability description was so short that you couldn't possibly believe it was the combination of five special abilities.

Having read it, I had no choice but to rub my eyes for a moment.

"This is an ability?"

Frankly, something at this level could be achieved simply by converting mana's attribute. So I couldn't help but wonder why I'd ended up with an ability like this.

"Might as well try using it."

I activated the special ability as I was. What I imagined was a small flame blazing above my palm.

But the result exceeded my imagination—in the worst possible way.

"What is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this?"

What appeared on my hand was a flame no bigger than a fingernail. I had wanted a palm-sized flame, but that size was nowhere in sight.

"No, wait—size aside, the power's probably still strong."

Gleipnir and I, thinking positively, carried the fingernail-sized flame over to a tree and pressed it against the bark.

Fwoosh...

The moment it touched the tree, just when it seemed about to catch fire, the flame ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sputtered and died on the spot.

"..........."

Gleipnir and I said nothing. No—we couldn't say anything.

And finally, the mouth I had been holding shut opened.

"*&^&%%^^#@#@%^@!!!"

Unable to hold it in any longer, I ended up spewing profanity, and Gleipnir, startled, scrambled to calm me down.

Thanks to Gleipnir, I managed to settle down and clutched the back of my neck.

"The more I think about it, the angrier I get..."

"I know."

I don't particularly want to curse under normal circumstances, either. But this damn system was making me want to.

"Master? Did something happen?"

"Big brother?"

"Master?"

Just then, the gate opened and Cheongun, Cheong-ah, and Juliet emerged. Worry was written all over their faces.

"Through the link between the Master and myself, the Master's fury came flowing through."

"Big brother, are you okay?"

"Master, what has you so upset?"

Deciding that showing them would be better than telling these concerned companions, I acted.

Fwoosh...

When I produced the fingernail-sized flame from my hand and showed them how it couldn't even burn a tree, all three of them froze solid.

"Now you understand? Why I was so furious."

"Master... is this truly the power newly opened by your mana?"

"Yep."

At my curt reply, Cheongun's face softened with pity. Then, composing himself, he began to encourage me.

"Having obtained such a poor ability, surely the next one will be a finer one."

"You can do it, big ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brother!"

"It's all right, Master. There's always next time, after all?"

Cheongun and Juliet offered words of comfort, while Cheong-ah climbed into my arms and nuzzled her face against me. All three comforted me in their own different ways, and thanks to them, my heart felt a little fuller.

"By the way, Master... what is that chain?"

Just then, Cheongun pointed at the chain coiled around me and asked. Come to think of it, I had no idea how long it had been since I'd last talked with the three of them like this.

"Ah, this one's a divine relic called Gleipnir."

When I introduced her, Gleipnir bowed the front end of the chain as if dipping her head.

"Oh, I could tell it was no ordinary power, but a divine relic, you say."

"Wow! Then Cheong-ah has a new friend?"

Cheongun, seeming to know what a divine relic was, nodded in understanding, while Cheong-ah hopped up and down over having made a new friend. And Juliet just stood there with her mouth hanging open, saying nothing.

"G-Gleipnir?!"

"What's wrong?"

"Sister, what's the matter?"

At Juliet's reaction, Cheong-ah and Cheongun asked with puzzled expressions.

"Gleipnir! The legendary divine relic!"

When Juliet cried out in shock, Gleipnir blushed(?) and turned bashful. She had no face to blush with, but somehow she seemed to blush anyway.

"Juliet, is this one really such a remarkable relic?"

"What? What is it?"

"Gleipnir is the name of the binding cord that chained the wolf who devours the world—Fenrir."

At those words, Cheong-ah still tilted her head in confusion, but Cheongun's expression changed.

"The cord that bound such a savage creature, you say?"

"Yes. It's said to have held Fenrir captive for over ten thousand years before being destroyed..."

As Juliet explained, Gleipnir puffed out her shoulders.

Shoulders she didn't have.

"I thought it was said to have been severed?"

"Yes, it was known to have been destroyed."

Juliet and Cheongun narrowed their eyes and stared at Gleipnir, while Cheong-ah, still looking lost, tilted her head and gazed at me with wide, unblinking eyes. Those eyes contained a single question: 'Big brother, what are you all talking about?'

Instead of answering, I gently stroked Cheong-ah's head.

"Master, how can a shattered divine relic exist here so naturally?"

"Because it was restored. The severed Gleipnir."

I then explained, step by step, everything that had happened before I met Gleipnir. Having heard it all, Juliet was in a daze, Cheongun was scowling, and Cheong-ah was as adorable as ever.

"Master, that was foolish of you."

"Yeah, I admit it honestly."

Entering the S-Rank Gate alone had certainly been a foolish thing to do. I was reflecting on it so deeply that if you asked me a hundred times, I'd answer a hundred times that it was stupid.

"You should have at least taken me along!"

"Sorry, sorry. You were savoring your freedom, and it didn't seem like I needed to get in the way of that."

"Ha..."

Cheongun sighed, but looked at me with eyes full of concern. Seeing that, I felt relieved and, at the same time, guilty.

"If something like this happens again, you must call for me."

"Got it."

Only after I made that promise with Cheongun did he stop pressing the matter.

"I'm gonna get you!"

From around the time Cheongun started giving me an earful, those two had been chasing each other around, playing. Watching a fox pup and a chain frolicking together stirred up some oddly complicated feelings.

"Hmm..."

Just then, Juliet, who had fainted dead away earlier during my story, sat up.

"You're awake?"

"I'm so sorry. I was just so shocked that I..."

"It's fine. More importantly, could you tell me why it shocked you so much?"

At my question, Juliet answered readily.

"What Aphrodite did can reasonably be considered a declaration of war."

"Why?"

No matter that she'd used another faction's divine relic, that alone shouldn't constitute a declaration of war.

"To begin with, the gods don't place much weight on justification or things like that."

"Then what do they care about?"

"Their pride, plain and simple."

Now that I thought about it, it was true. If the gods had cared about justification, they'd have had no reason to invade the human realm. Their reason for invading was exactly one thing: their pride had been wounded—the demons had discovered the land first and tried to turn it into a colony.

"The gods' pride simply couldn't permit that."

"Ha."

The more I listened, the more exasperated I became. The idea that they'd invaded Earth over mere pride was absurd, and it made me angry in turn.

"So, this declaration of war—is it tied to that pride too?"

"Yes. Simply restoring the relic wouldn't matter. It benefits both sides, after all."

Norse mythology gets a restored Gleipnir, and Greece—Hephaestus—gets the chance to lay hands on another faction's relic. As long as that's all it was, I could see how it might genuinely be a win for both sides.

"But the problem is that Aphrodite used this relic."

"How so?"

"For one thing, she used a relic belonging to their faction without the Norse gods' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠permission."

"That would sting their pride."

She'd used their divine relic however she pleased, without their consent. Of course they'd be furious, and of course their pride would be wounded.

"And on top of that, consider what Aphrodite was trying to seal with that relic."

"Hati... but Hati's an unaffiliated divine beast, isn't she?"

"Yes, but her origins are unmistakably Norse."

"Ah."

Hearing the explanation up to that point, I more or less understood why Juliet had been so stunned.

Aphrodite had tried to use a Norse relic to claim a divine beast of Norse origin as her own.

'The Norse side must be fuming.'

With a provocation this thorough, I couldn't help wondering if Aphrodite was actually hoping for a war.

"At this rate, Gleipnir will have to be careful."

"I think so too."

"Me too!"

Depending on how things went, the Norse might mistake me for Aphrodite's ally and attack me. Having set Gleipnir's problem aside, I left the two still playing and stepped through the gate.

"Juliet, how about you show me the farm?"

"Of course, Master."

I followed Juliet toward the elixir farm where I had first laid the groundwork. And at the sight that unfolded before me, I couldn't hide my astonishment.

"This is really all elixirs?"

"Yes."

The scene Juliet showed me was truly staggering. A farm far surpassing the one I had originally established had taken root there.

"We're still attempting cultivation of the rare-grade elixirs, but the common-grade ones have finished growing."

With that, Juliet plopped down on the ground and held out something shaped like a black bean toward my mouth.

"This is my own personal creation."

"Oh yeah?"

Taking the bean, I popped it straight into my mouth. And immediately, a system message appeared.

And I was left gaping.

"This... has the effect of a rare-grade elixir, doesn't it?"