Chapter 374: A Sincere Request
"Esther, we're almost there—let's push forward with everything... I'd like to know what you're going to do," I ask Esther as we stand in the beautiful garden of this place. She even removed the chains from my ankle and neck, though obviously she didn't take off my collar.
"I am managing the kingdom and—"
"That's not what I asked, Esther," I say, glancing toward the window and spotting Kali there. She has her adorable little face pressed against the glass, watching us from afar, with Saluvia right behind her keeping an eye on things.
"...I am taking action against monsters."
"...?" I grow confused when she says that. I thought she wasn't doing much of anything.
"Monster activity in the world has increased, perhaps because of Nerina's death." She brings up Nerina. It's been years since we mentioned her.
"Why does her death matter?" I question, confused by the mention.
"Because she is a nymph, an ancient one, connected to the seas. Her death altered the ocean's behavior. That means other nymphs have awakened to investigate whether this is their problem or not."
"Of course, we still haven't seen any other nymphs, but they have awakened, and I can confirm that. And the problem with them awakening is that every monster in the world took notice and became extremely aggressive."
"The threats in the dungeons have increased significantly. The situation has grown complicated, and I'm resolving it so it doesn't affect your kingdom."
"Don't think I'm doing nothing. I'm fighting day and night for you, for what you want and what you like. We have a deal, don't we?" When she says that, I feel a little ashamed.
"S-Sorry, I thought... I thought you weren't doing anything. I was kind of annoyed that I had to deal with the war while you just give orders from behind, but ignore problems... I was being kind of a jerk, sorry I didn't see it." I totally didn't know any of that.
"...Do you feel stronger?" she asks. Looking at it that way, yeah, I do feel a little stronger.
"A little."
"I figured. Everyone on the entire planet experienced this slight increase in strength, a result of the nymphs moving throughout the world. The Hikishin entered a state of massive production, so for us demons and for the angels—the races with the highest quantity of Hikishin—the effect was more noticeable."
"Whoever awakened will likely return to sleep soon, but the problem isn't the nymphs. It's the monsters that grew stronger and started leaving the dungeons because they broke limits they shouldn't have."
"So while you fight, don't forget that the world doesn't revolve around you. Other people are doing things," she says, flicking my forehead.
"O-Ow... I wasn't doing it on purpose," I say, scratching the spot on my forehead where her fingers struck.
"If you're scared and nervous about the fact that you'll have to fight, there's no need to worry. You'll do well, just like when you erased that girl from existence."
"I... wait... what did you say?" My entire body shivers as my tail shrinks back, hiding behind my back.
"I'm not certain, but my blessing made me aware that you've done that at some point. I just don't know who it was or when it happened."
'She... she knows about Lya... even if she doesn't remember everything... how terrifying...'
"Esther, your blessing is bizarre! An unnatural abomination. I wonder why the hell you have such an absurd blessing." The only reason I'm not more shocked is because Esther Marionette theoretically does the same thing.
Because of the "Original Evelyn" who appears to speak with me even though that woman doesn't even exist, having never been born, showing that Esther's power can detect people who no longer exist but once did at some point.
"You're right. My blessing is frighteningly strong. Even I'm astonished by it. But let's change the subject. You're afraid of the war, right? The prospect of having to fight even while being weak is terrifying."
"...Yeah... I'm scared, okay? I doubt Shizuka will win against the queen of the angels, and in my plan, Eve will face the king of the angels... so I'll have to fight the queen of the angels using Esther Marionette and Infinity +1."
"Why don't you create more living puppets, Evelyn?"
"...For a few reasons. First, because I don't have absolute control over them. Cypher, Amanda, and Vermilion are good examples. I made them as limited as possible."
"The three have personalities more objective to their functions and near-forced absolute loyalty, but they still have personalities! Did you know Cypher and Vermilion bully Amanda by dumping too much work on her whenever they can?"
"That shows an autonomy I can't remove from them as living beings. Besides, living puppets have to grow through experience and effort. Meaning, we don't have time to strengthen living puppets."
"Eve took years to reach the power she has now. We don't have several more years to strengthen other living puppets and give them real combat experience. Not to mention the cost."
"Creating a strong living puppet would cost a lot, and they might not be able to do much. It's not that they're useless or that I'm avoiding it—it's that creating them has no value right now. I don't have the time or the mindset to manage multiple living puppets."
"I'd rather focus on Eve and Shizuka. Besides, now that I have Esther Marionette, any other puppet I might create wouldn't even compare." Esther seems pensive.
"Your power relies heavily on time and experience—an unfortunate limitation, Evelyn. But regardless, I'm confident in you. You will win." Esther strokes my head. I look toward the window and see the look of indignation on Kali's face.
"Esther, do you want to play a children's game with me?"
"..."
"No."
"What a shame. It was going to be such a fun game."
"You'll always win, Evelyn. It isn't fair to me. And I don't know the punishment. I will never agree to play with you. After all, what's the fun in playing something I know I'll lose?"
"...Right? It's no fun." I can't believe she didn't catch the sarcasm and the subtext in the question and in her own answer.
"Esther, I would love to have you in the war helping me, but since that won't happen, could you at least give me a reward if I win the battle?"
"I'll think about it, Evelyn—"
"Esther, before you say anything... I'd like to say something important... could you please not mess with my other bodies? I'm going to leave them sleeping."
"Since I'll have to focus on the war and the fight, I'm going to leave this body of mine here sleeping, and my body in the castle in the demon realm sleeping as well. That way all my focus will be one hundred percent on a single body."
"I want you to please protect my bodies, but don't do anything to them. Can you promise me that? Can you promise to be someone responsible? I don't want you doing strange things with my bodies."
"...Alright, Evelyn. But what about Kali?"
"...Uhhh... I thought about what to do, but I'm not so sure. I'll probably have to let Kali feed from my sleeping body, so I'll... I'll... I'll... I'll... I'll have to let... you take care of her food," I say with great effort.
I'll have to trust that Esther will let Kali drink my milk while watching over her, without me being here to supervise.
"It's two months at most!! The absolute maximum! Besides, Kali is already two years old and can start trying to eat normal food! But please, Esther, I'm begging you, take good care of her! I can't fight the queen of the angels worrying about this."
"..." Esther seems pensive.
"Was that what the children's game was about?"
"..."
"Okay. I'll take good care of her as much as one can care. I promise I will do nothing against her. I don't want you to get hurt. If I am a threat to Kali, you'll be worried."
"But I still need to eat, so you'll have to accept that I can't be without touching you. But as for Kali, you can be certain—while you are 'asleep,' I will take good care of her. I won't give her love, but I won't hurt her." Esther's words prove she hurts our daughter on purpose and it was never an accident.
"Do you really promise?"
"Trust me. For you, I will restrain myself. I will take care of that parasite with great care. Just don't get stressed or worried—that will hinder you."
"...Don't break this promise. If you do, maybe I'll never trust you with anything again," I say with seriousness.
"...I won't. There is no reason for me not to follow this request of yours when you're putting in so much effort. You can go with peace of mind." Esther's gaze is quite sincere. I decide to trust her.
"To get used to it, I'll start right now, alright? I'm going to leave this body of mine in a state of complete suspended animation while I focus on my other body. Technically, I'll still be in this body, but the focus of all my mental energy will be in another body. So I won't see, hear, or understand anything."
"So avoid talking to me, since I won't actually hear any of it," I say, beginning to do just that as she holds me.
"...Take it easy. I hope you manage to win without issue, Evelyn," she says as everything starts to fade in this body, and all my focus shifts to the body on the angelic continent.
My body on the demon continent goes to the bedroom to lie down on a bed and wait for Esther, so it can also enter suspended animation, so to speak. While both are asleep, I can focus one hundred percent on the war.
"...I'm going to trust Esther... she will undoubtedly keep what she promised and take care of Kali since she doesn't want to see me sad..." I accept the risks and decide not to worry about this right now.