After we finished our meal, I offered to buy the recipe for what Tsubaki had eaten. However, she completely refused me, telling me that our previous deal was for her to buy the recipe herself with her own points. Of course… how will she earn points if she stays by my side the entire time?
When I brought up that point, she had a somewhat complex expression. Her thoughts were racing, torn between wanting to stay by my side as was ‘proper’, and wanting to go earn points for me to aid my world. I could also see her glancing towards her plate as well, so clearly the recipe was a part of her motivation.
“I…” Tsubaki glanced towards the door, causing Terra to let out a faint laugh.
“Dale, I’ll go show Tsubaki around.” The felyn goddess said, standing up and pulling Tsubaki to her feet. Tsubaki looked at her gratefully, nodding her head. Once the two of them left, it was just myself and Irena again.
“What would you like to do this time?” I asked with a small smile as I looked towards her. Her normally business-like expression broke as her face softened.
After a moment of thought, she glanced in the direction where Tsubaki and Terra had just left. “I’ll let you decide.” She spoke gently, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
Nodding my head, I thought it through. Last year, we went to a simulation to live out a few days as a couple in a different world. However, thinking back to the events that surrounded that ‘date’, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to repeat it this year. Irena was… quite perturbed by some of what happened.
We had just had a meal, so going on a picnic wouldn’t be a particularly good move, either. If we were back home, I’d suggest taking her to see a movie. However, there wasn’t exactly a movie theater here. We could go to the performance theater and enjoy a show, perhaps?
I was simply concerned that would be too much like our first date. And while I wasn’t really opposed to reliving enjoyable moments, I did want to do something new. As I thought about that, a small smile crept over my lips. “Let’s go.”
As I stood up, Irena blinked, standing as well. “Go where?”
“Wherever our feet take us.” Saying that, I held her hand and walked towards the door. I could feel that she was a bit confused about my decision, but I simply kept that smile on my face.
Within the Meeting world, there was no problem with danger. We could just wander around and explore as much as we wanted. After a certain point, the terrain might be generated just for us, whether it was grasslands or a forest. If we had no specific destination in mind, what would the world provide?
After a few moments, it seemed like Irena caught onto my intention, letting out a low chuckle. We didn’t move towards any of the venues with popular games or demonstrations, and simply chose the direction with the least people to begin walking.
After two minutes of walking, we arrived at the grasslands where people were sitting down and enjoying a picnic. Some waved towards us as we walked, and so we returned the gesture with a friendly smile. However, most were unconcerned with us, so we simply continued walking.
“Have there been any problems with the Underworld lately?” I asked as we walked past the picnic area, glancing towards Irena.
“There… I wouldn’t quite call it an issue.” Irena said with a faint sigh, shaking her head. “However, the monster side has been quite chaotic due to Lorek’s appearance.”
“Oh?” I blinked, surprised by that fact. After thinking about it, I gave a slight nod. “Are the star beasts a bit much for that side?”
“Not that.” She shook her head, smiling bitterly as we walked through the grass. “It’s the size of the planet itself. Between the planet’s size, and the fact that it is largely dominated by monsters, we are barely able to keep up with the influx of new souls. Not to mention the other worlds that have gradually been explored.”
“All in all, we’re starting to get short staffed.” Irena let out a small sigh as she said that. “My only options are to either act personally, reduce the requirements for training, or find a way to automate the system.”
“Hmm…” I thought about that briefly. “Since it’s been a while since you were revealed to the living world, you could probably set up a ritual to let your living priests ferry the souls of the dead for you, right?”
“I’ve already taken that step. Honestly, it reduced the burden by quite a lot. Now, we only have to monitor the wilderness and more rural areas with active patrols. If I was the Goddess of Souls, I could set up a divine ‘law’ that automatically took souls to the afterlife after a set period of time. But, as the Goddess of the Underworld, my power doesn’t extend to the living world in that way. Even when it is to target souls.”
“The Death domain doesn’t help there?” I asked, my eyes wide. We were starting to pass by the last of the ‘explored’ terrain, so anything past this would be generated as we moved.
“Not to the same degree.” She shook her head. “The Death domain is different from the ‘Dead’ domain. If I had the latter, all dead creatures would fall under my power. With the Death domain, however, it is more apt to say that I rule over the process of death. If I wanted, I could create a divine law that automatically ferried all dead souls at the moment of their death.”
Just as I was about to ask what the problem with that was, she explained. “However, if I do that, then it will disrupt the flow of the world. Martial spirits will no longer be able to perform their pacts, because the souls of their hosts would be ferried before the transfer could be complete. The only way that race could reproduce would be to directly tap the Underworld for energy.”
“Additionally, it would interfere with how dungeons collect spirits from dead monsters and adventurers. It’s not so simple as saying ‘All souls that die go to the Underworld, unless this happens’.” She closed her eyes and sighed, following along as a breeze passed by us. “The more complex a law, the harder it is to implement.”
I thought about that, before an idea came to me. “Well then, how about getting Aurivy to help? Goddess of Travel, right? If you can’t do the ‘delayed transfer’ law, surely she could?”
Irena blinked, looking straight at me. “I… I believe that could work.” Recently, the gods had begun working together to perform joint projects. At first, it was Fyor and Lorek being jointly managed by two gods each. Then, Ryone and Tubrock created the golems’ universe. Finally, Ryone and Leowynn had Ashley help them to create a joint trading platform.
Now, it would be time for Irena and Aurivy to have their own joint operation. “I think, if you do it like that, you should be able to have Aurivy set up the law for when spirits go to the Underworld, and you should be able to set up on your end where they arrive. Whether they are monsters in the monster side, or residents in the normal side.”
Irena nodded at the suggestion, somewhat lost in thought. “That’s right… I can designate the entry points to filter based on spirit origin. Doing so within the Underworld would be a lot less taxing than the other way around.” In fact, Irena already had a system similar to that in place. It was how the two sides had been able to maintain their positions all this time.
All that really needed to be done was to have Aurivy play her part, and then link the two together. After that, she would no longer need to send her troops out for their regular patrols, and they could serve purely as a punitive force within the Underworld itself.
“Thank you.” She smiled towards me, taking half a step closer to me as we walked. Looking around, I noticed that we were now in a beautiful forest, beams of light shining down through the gaps in the trees. Nearby, I could hear the rushing of a stream, and see many different kinds of flowers.
So this is what the system created for us. I nodded inwardly when I thought of that. A romantic walk through a beautiful forest, that didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
Turning, I began to lead Irena in the direction where I could hear the flowing water. It wasn’t far, and we soon found a spring that barely looked deep enough to reach our knees. Rocks were neatly arranged along the edge, as if purposely placed.
Taking Irena over, we both sat down on one of those rocks. As she watched me, I took my shoes off, hanging my legs over the side of the rock to let my feet rest in the flowing stream. “Oh… that’s a bit colder than I expected.” I said with a laugh, but to my surprise, I found that the water wasn’t entirely normal.
After the initial coolness passed, I felt a faint, warm energy pass through my legs. There are no harmful effects within the Meeting world… so this should be a water source with an effect to remove fatigue and enhance comfort.
Curious as to my actions, Irena mirrored them. When she put her own feet in the water next to me, she let out a faint gasp. “There’s spiritual energy in this water. It is… actually, really nice.”
“Well, of course it is, silly!” A voice spoke up from our surroundings, startling the two of us. There was a giggle before a figure flew over, small enough to fit in our hands. She wore a flowing blue dress, and had beautiful butterfly wings on her back. “It’s been a few years since anyone brought out this area!”
As she spoke, she hovered in front of us, her wings flapping excitedly. With only a glance, we could both tell that she was happy we were here. That being the case, I took the initiative to ask. “What exactly is this place, then?”
She turned herself in mid-air to face me, spreading her arms out wide. “Welcome to the Spring of Origins. This is the land of beginnings that has no end. Looking at you two… you’re out on a romantic getaway, right?” She beamed a bright smile, her body radiating a golden light as she asked that.
“That obvious, huh?” Clearly, this pixie was a creation of the system, so there was no point in trying to hide anything from her. She probably knows more about us than we do ourselves.
“Well, duh!” She nodded her head firmly, her body floating up and down. “Most people who find this place aren’t specifically looking for the spring. The spring appears because it senses what they are looking for.”
“And what’s that?” Irena asked, seeming genuinely curious with her question.
“As I said, a beginning that has no end.” With a giggle, the smaller girl explained further. “An eternal union, one that transcends all borders.”
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that. “I… don’t think something with such an extravagant description would be free, would it?”
The pixie giggled again. “Nope! I mean, you can buy a branch of the spring to flow into your world, and create a mystical water source if you want. But the eternal union stuff? That’s more symbolic than anything. It has whatever meaning the heart gives it.”
“Last time, there was a man who believed that if he washed his love’s hair in the water of the spring, their bond would be forever. Another couple swam together. One even got married here! That was a really nice time!” She looked wistful as she thought of that, before shaking her head.
“As for you two, it’s up to you if you want to do any ceremony or not! I’m just here to answer your questions!” After saying that, the pixie’s body spun, before diving down and disappearing into the water.
