99 – Speedclear Bonuses
> You have defeated the Ruler of a World.
> The league of your soul has increased.
> Your status has become distorted due to incompatible data.
> Currently recalibrating.
> Your abilities are not affected, but your status screen will show inaccurate data.
> NOTICE: You have acquired abilities that cannot be quantified. Please note that measurements for such abilities are estimates.
I stared at the flurry of notifications that came the moment I finished shattering the crystal around the mysterious woman.
"Huh. Didn't think that would work."
Honestly, I was thinking I might have to murder the woman too, but it seemed like everything went well...?
"Where... am I?" The white-haired woman stumbled a bit, leaning against the wall.
I stared at her a bit and realized that she was beautiful. And then I realized that my parents were absolutely going to roast me about continuously running into beautiful mature women.
But for now...
"Here." I synthesized a black robe for her and wrapped it around her body. "Do you know who you are?"
The white-haired woman stared at me and winced, clutching her head. "...No. I just... remember darkness. Heartache. Being... swept away into the deep miasma."
"...Right." I slowly nodded. "Well. I'm going to head out of here now since freeing you apparently murdered Grima."
"...Grima?" The white-haired woman frowned. "The name... means something to me. But I can't remember."
I waved my hand. "It's fine. Maybe Lucina will know who you are."
"Lucina?" The white-haired woman's frown deepened. "...I feel like I should know that name..."
"Don't think too hard about it. Anyway." I grabbed her hand and said, "Off to regroup. Warp."
Blue light flashed and wrapped around me and the mystery woman.
In one moment, we were in the fleshy chamber where Grima's heart(?) was.
In the next, I was standing in front of Lucina and Morgan in... a collapsed throne room?
I blinked and said, "Visiting old sites?"
"Something like that." Lucina chuckled. "To think you defeated Grima so... Hm?" Lucina stared at the woman beside me.
The woman flinched and instinctively shifted behind me.
I noticed and said, "Do you know who she is, Lucina? I found her in Grima's heart trapped in a crystal. And when I broke her out, Grima died."
"...No." Lucina slowly shook her head. "She looks similar to my godfather Robin. But she is most definitely a stranger to me."
The woman frowned. "Robin... Robin? The name... Argh, my head..." She clutched her head.
Morgan looked at the woman and then back at me, amused. "...Bahamut was right. Mister Naofumi does have a knack for finding beautiful women."
"Oi." My eyes snapped to Morgan. "What's the boy been saying behind my back?"
"Eep!" Morgan cleared his throat. "A-Ahem, I mean... Um."
Lucina chuckled. "Do not mind him too much, Naofumi. Boys will be boys. My dear cousin Owain was quite the hassle when he was younger as well."
"...Fine." I sighed. "I suppose it would be hypocritical of me considering all that I did in the past when I was young."
Lucina's eyes lit up. "And just what did you do, Naofumi?"
"That's-"
A flurry of wingbeats echoed, followed by a dusting of white feathers from above.
After that, S'yne landed beside me with a pout. "Mister Naofumi. Do you have to put my heart through such anxiety? You should have told me that you could survive such dreadful attacks!"
"My bad. I thought it was implicit considering I mentioned the whole looped time thing that I put on my moon. But that aside." I clapped my hands together. "Mission cleared?"
Lucina shifted her gaze skywards, staring at Grima's body floating above the entire planet amidst a sky slowly turning blue. "...Yes. I believe so, Naofumi."
Morgan looked up too and smiled. "It's pretty."
I hummed. "It's alright. I think the skies back on Earth are- Wait." I snapped back to take a closer look at Morgan. "Morgan?!"
"Hm?" Morgan blinked. And then he looked down. "Wh-What?! Why am I glowing?!"
Lucina looked concerned too and quickly reached out. "No...!" She hugged him. "Morgan, you cannot-!"
*poof*
"Whoa!" Morgan blinked, suddenly half his size and now in a coat far too large for him. "I'm small! Why am I small?!"
Lucina froze. Then her eyes widened in shock, surprise, and relief. "My little boy..." She giggled. "I guess you really still are, my little boy."
"But I was big! I liked being big!" Morgan puffed out his cheeks, now looking far too adorable.
"Fascinating." I took a closer look at Morgan and walked around, eyeing him. "...Perhaps the Status Magic System was like a curse? And since he is your son, Lucina, being in your homeworld restored the equilibrium? Your blood is clearly stronger, so with the natural waves of mana from killing Grima, he became what he should look like?"
Morgan looked upset. "How can I protect Mother like this?!"
Lucina chuckled and picked Morgan up in her arms. "You need not worry. Even if you are small, you are still strong. Moreover..." She placed her cheek against his, smiling. "...I love this. They made you grow up too fast. Now you can enjoy your childhood."
Morgan paused. Then he sighed. "...That's true."
"And besides." Lucina teased, looking at me. "...Now you can properly run around with the other children."
Morgan gasped. "THAT'S TRUE!"
I sensed danger. "Oi. Hey. Just because you're small again- No, I guess I can't deny it. But still... Ugh. I've got a feeling I should not allow you unsupervised with my kids..."
It was already ridiculous when Morgan was physically grown. But now that he was pint-sized and probably going to be influenced like a real kid his age...
The white-haired woman I rescued cleared her throat. "U-Um... Pardon me. What... should I do?"
"Oh. Right." I glanced back at the mystery woman. "Huh. I guess I can't just leave you here."
This world was freed from Grima's control now. But it was pretty empty.
I was fairly sure that we were the only living things here...
S'yne gave me a blank stare and said, "Why do you pretend to not want to simply pick her up and claim her, Mister Naofumi?"
"Wh-What?" I looked back at S'yne. "Hey, I don't go out of my way to go around collecting beautiful women, alright?"
"And yet, it continues to happen." S'yne raised an eyebrow. "At this rate, would it not be better to just accept it as a given and act accordingly?"
I stared at her.
S'yne stared back.
I glanced at Lucina.
Lucina chuckled. "You do have that habit, Naofumi. And I suppose you are the sort of man to where women would not mind too much... You ARE a handful for just one to handle."
"And what does THAT mean?"
Lucina teased. "It means that you are handsome, intelligent, powerful, and cause every woman you run into a great deal of anxiety. So you should at least make a small network to support each other to vent their troubles when you cause it, no?"
"..."
S'yne giggled.
Morgan closed his eyes, looking like he was trying not to laugh.
And the white-haired woman still looked confused.
I sighed. "Fine." I looked at the white-haired woman. "I guess I should take responsibility... You really don't remember your name or who you are?"
The woman shook her head. "No. I remember that I was traveling at some point...? And I had precious comrades. But it was a long, long time ago..."
"Alright. Then you're Robin."
The mysterious woman, Robin, tilted her head. "...Robin?"
Lucina blinked. "...I suppose it can also be a female name. But you are going to name her after my godfather?"
"Hey, you said she looked similar, right? And I'm too mentally fatigued to think of a better one. Also." I stared at the woman. "...Hm. Robin kind of seems to fit her."
'Robin' stared back at me with her crimson eyes. Then she slowly nodded and said, "Understood. Then... What do I call you, my savior?"
"Naofumi's fine. My real name is secret, but I'm used to it now."
"Naofumi..." Robin nodded. "Understood. Then, I am yours."
"...What?"
Robin tilted her head. "I am yours. I do not know the circumstances... but you said that I was in the heart of Grima, yes?"
"...Yes."
"And by freeing me, you slayed Grima."
"...I'm not liking where this is going, but yes."
Robin nodded. "Then I am your spoils of war for defeating the Fell Dragon. It is simple logic."
"..."
Lucina chuckled.
I let out a long, weary sigh. "...I'm not going to bother arguing with this. I'll just deal with the trouble later. But honestly, what is with this constant introduction of new characters to my story? Is this the natural conclusion of being overpowered? Do you just end up running into people like this...?"
===
While Naofumi was complaining about having things go too well for him...
Sylvia struggled from within Lia's firm grasp. "LIA! Let me go! We're supposed to STOP Bahamut from causing trouble!"
"But this is more fun, Sylvia~! Go Bahamut!"
"You're the best big sister, Lia." Bahamut grinned and then turned his attention to the enemies before him.
They had arrived in the other world an hour ago.
Unfortunately, due to the unstable spatial dimensions, they didn't land by Mein and were a bit lost.
Fortunately, that meant that Bahamut had a lot of targets to play with.
Bahamut pulled out his Ultimate Weapon.
...Technically, it was 'Atma' Weapon since it grew more powerful based on his level and league of soul, but it was just semantics anyway.
Either way, he grabbed the sword hilt and channeled his mana through it, causing a blazing blue energy blade to emerge. Megaflare, contained in the form of a blade.
And in front of Bahamut...
"Deal with the invaders!"
"Capture the women! We can make a pretty profit with them!"
"Steal the boy's sword!"
...They were the sort of people that his father would have 'processed' without batting an eye.
Daji sighed, walking up behind Bahamut while her fluffy white tail was joined by eight illusory ones. "No matter the world, there is always at least one nation who sees beauty as a commodity..."
Bahamut nodded. "Mmhm! So... Dad won't care if I go wild here."
Sylvia paused. "...Dad? Not Father?"
Lia gasped. "Bahamut was pretending to be cool the entire time! Just like Naofumi-dono!"
Bahamut chuckled and then stared at the surroundings.
It was a vast wasteland, scarred by constant warfare.
Up ahead, there was a roaming band of soldiers that were clearly from a militant nation of sorts. And far in the distance, Bahamut could see what looked like a capital city. And one that gave vaguely similar vibes to Four Bray.
"Well." Bahamut slowly started walking forward. "This isn't the Demon Dragon Nation that Mister Demon mentioned... but these guys seem more evil than them. So... Time for exp farming."
Lia cheered. "More exp, more exp~!"
Sylvia looked concerned. "Should we be treating life so callously?!"
Daji laughed. "Oh, live a little, my daughter." She flicked her wrist, causing a golden sun to emerge in the middle of the battlefield, causing heat to surge. "Men like these are hardly ever innocent. And death is much kinder than what your Stepfather will do to them."
"S-Stepfather?!" Sylvia's eyes widened. "M-Mother?!"
"What?" Daji chuckled. "You go through the effort to set up the meeting and now you are shocked? I must admit, that Naofumi is quite something despite his young age... and he clearly has no shame in taking the women who come his way. I do not quite enjoy sharing... but I have a feeling I would get frustrated with handling him alone. So this is fine."
Bahamut nodded. "Dad is a guy who needs a dozen women to keep him from deciding to 'fix' the universe."
"Right? You know your father well. Now." Daji looked at the armored men who were setting up siege weaponry. "Shall we make a proper introduction to the people of this world before your father arrives, Bahamut?"
Bahamut smiled. Then he held up his left hand and said a single word.
"Demi."
===
A few countries away, in the small nation of Sikul that L'Arc ruled as king.
Mein had just started to finish mapping out the major powers of the world and its countries, as well as organizing the information that L'Arc, Glass, and Kizuna had given her.
All four were sitting in a war council room and preparing to set off to begin fixing things before Naofumi arrived.
But then she felt it.
For just one second, it felt like gravity had intensified. And there was a wave of pressure as well, rippling through space.
L'Arc's eyes widened and he snapped his head towards the source of the ripple. "What was that?"
Glass narrowed her eyes. "Was that... Luvar?"
Kizuna frowned. "Miss Mein. Do you think that was Naofumi-san?"
Mein was quiet. Then she slowly said, "I think that we should make haste towards the Demon Dragon Nation. If that was how Master Naofumi or whoever else he brought along acted to a HUMAN nation, who knows how they will react to a nation run by a genuine demon...?"