Divine Punishment (4): Rewinding Time a Bit

Let's rewind time just a little. After hurling the 2nd prince—who'd really gotten under my skin—back to the Acad Kingdom, I casually brushed off my hands. I'd slapped an immortality curse on him already, so even if I'd aimed the coordinates a tad high, there shouldn't be any issues. Now, before dealing with the fallout from that 2nd prince who'd insulted me and this temple...

"Let's relocate for the time being."

I extended my right hand toward the boy I'd stashed behind me.

"Come along now. You've been chosen as the Hero, so there's much you'll need to learn going forward."

"U-um... isn't there some kind of mistake? S-someone like me, as the Hero...?"

The little boy clutched the Hero's sword to his chest and began trembling. Hmm. Was it that shocking? Probably best to give him a moment to settle his nerves.

"We'll move spots. Can't dodge prying eyes if we stay here."

I rested my right hand on the boy's shoulder, then lightly snapped the fingers of my free left hand. In an instant, the scenery around us shifted.

"Hek? Uhhek?! Uheheek?! The surroundings?!"

"What a peculiar reaction. Oddly entertaining. This way."

I nudged the boy's back, guiding him into a resting area.

Deep inside the Life Temple. A space accessible only to a select few affiliated with the temple. Completely cut off from the outside—no windows or doors, save for a handful of ventilation holes. Softly illuminated by white stones glowing with a gentle light.

This room was meant for dragons working at the Life Temple to rest. Well, everyone with access was off on pilgrimage right now, so I could slip in and out freely.

Here, at least, we could unwind without any interruptions.

"Where... is this place?"

"The back of the Life Temple. Only those with permission can enter."

"The back of the temple?! Never heard of anything like it!"

"Hmm. Permissions aren't handed out willy-nilly. Only a handful of pilgrims can come here."

Only dragons, to be precise. No external doors at all—you needed spatial magic to get in. I'd set it up because the dragons ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠living as pilgrims kept whining for a private spot to chill among themselves. Never thought it'd come in handy like this.

Anyway.

"Sit."

I dragged over a nearby chair, plopped the boy down forcibly, and snapped my fingers.

A small porcelain teapot and cup materialized in midair. I filled the pot with water via magic, sparked a tiny flame beneath it, and set it to boil. Another snap, and a transparent container with a spoon appeared.

The clear jar—otherwise known as a glass bottle—held sweet-and-tangy yuzu syrup.

Hmm. My memories recreated perfectly with creation magic. Nice.

I uncapped the jar, spooned about two scoops of syrup into the cup, then tilted the steaming pot to fill it. The syrup dissolved slowly in the hot water as I stirred gently, producing a warm cup of yuzu tea.

"Here. Careful, it's hot."

"Th-thank you..."

The boy peered at the cup and its contents with wide-eyed wonder, then brought it tentatively to his lips.

And...

"Hot!"

I froze the time on the yuzu tea splashing from the cup, then rewound it straight back inside.

I'd warned him, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and he still freaked out. Maybe he'd never had hot food before?

"Be careful. I said it was hot."

"S-sorry..."

I siphoned some heat from his cup to cool it down, then continued.

"No need to be so tense. You've drawn the Hero's sword, so we'll be spending plenty of time together."

"Y-yes? T-together...?"

"Yeah. I'm here in my role as the Hero's guide. Take it slow and relax."

I snapped my fingers once more, and a small basket of cookies appeared.

Ah, cookies with yuzu tea? Both kinda sweet... Eh, it'll be fine.

"Munch on these and chill while I handle something quick."

I'd picked up some business to take care of. I carefully grabbed a cookie, popped it in my mouth, and left the wide-eyed boy behind as I headed to another room.

First things first: I needed to loop in the Life Temple pilgrims. Detail exactly what the 2nd prince pulled, warn them he might cause trouble, and tell them to steer clear of the Acad Kingdom ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as much as possible.

If word got out about what happened to their prince, who knows what petty revenge the kingdom might try. Safer not to go at all.

Next up... time to make that curse I laid down come true. Until the 2nd prince lost his kingdom. Until he was abandoned by it. Until that spoiled punk—who'd thrown his weight around thanks to the kingdom's power—finally owned up to his mistakes.

Hmm. Honestly, for insulting a god, the classic punishment is a great flood. But I couldn't drown every human over one prince's idiocy.

Not that I couldn't pull off a flood big enough to wipe everyone out... I probably could. But I wouldn't!

Anyway, I'd punish that wastrel of a 2nd prince until he admitted his wrongs. Personal punishment? Already handled with immortality. I'd marked him during the teleport, so tracking was a breeze anytime.

His life's about to get real rough. I'd make sure of it.

For now, prince stuff could wait. I opened a chat room with the death gods and fired off a message.

Hmm. Looked like the 2nd prince's postmortem was doomed to be a nightmare. Death gods—used to the grim stuff—jumping straight to "kill first."

"Anyway, keep the punishment moderate. Nothing too extreme."

「Understood. Then we'll use the reapers to—」

I tuned out whatever scheme the three death gods were cooking up for the Acad Kingdom and sent the same message to the Cloud Whale.