"What a beautiful castle."
Koyanskaya stood beneath the queen's Throne of Jade, looking up.
But what she gazed at was not the queen seated there, but the magnificent and beautiful decorations throughout the castle.
She was merely admiring them.
Ruslan stood a short distance behind her, though he had little interest in the queen.
He knew what kind of world this Scandinavia was.
And he knew what kind of god ruled Scandinavia.
—None of that mattered to him.
He had come here only to do certain things demanded by his obligations, nothing more.
But—Koyanskaya was different.
As she had said, compared to Proper Human History, Lostbelts were mostly filled with suffering.
She did not exactly feed on suffering, but given her current interests, she did indeed favor that sort of thing more.
That was not an unusable angle.
At least, not for Ruslan.
"So then, little fox, do you like this castle?"
The goddess asked from on high.
"Yes, I find this castle very intriguing."
Koyanskaya, called a little fox, did not become embarrassed or angered by the name. Instead, she smiled.
"After all—this castle is made of ice."
"Since it is a castle made of ice, no matter how beautiful or splendid it may be, it can never be inhabited by humans."
"And yet, humans will be unable to restrain their longing because of its beauty—this is that sort of castle, a witch's castle in every sense of the word."
"It has excellent taste, doesn't it, Your Majesty?"
Her face was turned to the side. Rather than looking up, she regarded the goddess with a disrespectful sidelong glance.
Ruslan said nothing. He merely took the cigarette from his mouth and flicked off the ash.
The ash did not fall to the floor and dirty the castle. It turned into