Good thing Golden Flash wasn't here right now. Otherwise, he might have walked in and said, "How can you still sit here spacing out after getting cheated on twice, you useless goddess?"
Ishtar would probably have snapped on the spot.
However, as if fearing exactly what came to pass, the room's curtain was suddenly pulled aside, and Gilgamesh walked in.
He glanced at Ishtar without acknowledging her. Nor did he mock her as she had expected. Instead, he walked straight over to a chair, sat down, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
It wasn't just Ishtar. Uruk's oldest King of Heroes was feeling quite a bit of pressure as well.
He had finally driven away one Beast, and now... two more had arrived.
For the moment, he had arranged accommodations for those two, but Gilgamesh was far from at ease.
Even his Clairvoyance, which could see through the future, was useless. The future could change, and even if he confirmed it with Clairvoyance now, it would mean little.
Human emotions were difficult to calculate. He still remembered Tiamat entering the room while holding Lan Ze's arm, with Sajyou Manaka standing behind them. For one moment, the darkness in her eyes had made him think Uruk was about to suffer another disaster.
Fortunately, that little girl seemed fairly restrained. Or perhaps she simply did not wish to appear too violent in front of Lan Ze. In any case, she did not lose her temper then, merely following Tiamat into the room.
No one knew what exactly was happening inside now.
At the time, Gilgamesh had turned to look at Merlin, who happened to be following behind him. As though he knew exactly what the king was thinking, Merlin shook his head like a rattle drum and wildly waved both hands, refusing to use Clairvoyance to peep on them.
"You seem to be in a bad mood today too."
Gilgamesh did not mock her, but Ishtar could not sit still. After secretly observing Gilgamesh's rather unpleasant expression for a few moments, her mood inexplicably improved. The corners of her lips curled up slightly. "Looks like even Uruk's king gets troubled when facing two Beasts."
Gilgamesh slightly opened his eyes and coldly glanced at the Goddess of Heaven. "I have no time to trade insults with you today. If you have nothing to say, leave at once. Do not disturb my peace."
Ishtar gave Gilgamesh an indifferent look and snorted. "Someone whose own Divine Tower was destroyed has no right to act so smug."
Yet instead of becoming angry, Gilgamesh laughed. He burst into a loud "Hahahahahaha!" "At least my Divine Tower was destroyed in battle. But you, useless goddess, I heard that some time ago, you gave the master bedroom of the Temple to Mother... Oh, and you even handed Lan Ze over for Mother to enjoy. Why are you still so smugly provoking me now?"
"I may be concerned about Mother and the Princess of the Root, but I am still far better off than you. At the very least, Lan Ze did not make a contract with me. He made one with you, you useless goddess!"
Ishtar was so furious that she nearly flipped the table. Unconcealable rage shone in her beautiful eyes.
Just then, Merlin happened to pull aside the curtain and enter from outside.
"My king..."
The moment Merlin spoke, Ishtar immediately jumped down from the table and strode toward him.
"Lady Goddess, what can I do for you?" Merlin instinctively stepped back, wearing a smile.
"You came at the right time... Go see what they're doing now."
"They...?" Merlin blinked. After a brief daze, he understood what Ishtar meant and said helplessly, "Lady Goddess, those are the Creation Mother Goddess and the Princess of the Root. If I peeped on them now, I would probably get dragged over there and beaten up."
"And I'm an honest man. Honest men don't peep," Merlin added.
Ishtar was not fooled. She snorted. "Hmph. Don't forget how you spied on me some time ago."
Merlin smiled and scratched his head. "That was... forced."
"Forced?"
"Yes... Someone ordered me to. I had no choice." Merlin gave a helpless smile.
"Who?"
Merlin furrowed his brow in thought for a moment. Then his expression relaxed, and he smiled. "Lan Ze."
Ishtar hesitated. "Lan Ze told you to spy on me?"
"...Yes." Merlin gently nodded, then spread his hands. "That is why I cannot use Clairvoyance on them again now. I'll get beaten up."
Ishtar stared at Merlin's sincere eyes. In the end, she pursed her lips resentfully but did not press him further.
Merlin was right. If one dared to use Clairvoyance to spy on gods, being discovered was the least of it. If they encountered a hot-tempered god or one willing to be ruthless, they could be dragged through the line and beaten up.
But just sitting here doing nothing...
No, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became!
That was my Divine Messenger! Letting Mother enjoy him was one thing, but who exactly was that other girl?
She absolutely had to figure it out!
Ishtar lightly leaped down from the table, and Ma'anna stopped beneath her feet.
She stepped onto Ma'anna and flew out of the room.
Lan Ze sat at the head of the bed, spacing out.
It was already nighttime. After the great battle, more than half of the city walls had been destroyed, and many houses in the city had collapsed as well. During the day, the residents had been rebuilding the city, but by night, everyone had gone to rest.
Lan Ze was resting too.
Only, he did not feel sleepy in the slightest.
...As for the reason, it was obvious.
There were two people in this room now. One was a Beast, and the other was also a Beast.
Candlelight illuminated the dark room as Sajyou Manaka's faint voice sounded within it. She said softly, "I now have reason to suspect that game was something an enemy used to deal with me."
The girl who had been connected to the Root since birth had nothing she feared, but neither did she have anything she liked.
Because in this modern age where the Age of Gods had declined, she was a god.
Gods were omniscient and omnipotent.
If she wished, she could grasp everything that would happen in the future in an instant.
That was an exceedingly boring thing, because whatever one did, they already knew the result in advance. Life became utterly dull.
Thus, Sajyou Manaka had never had anything to fear or worry about...
If she had to name one concern, it was that the person she liked would be taken away before she grew up.
That was why she had always done her utmost to deal with every girl around Lan Ze... Of course, by "deal with," she did not mean physically dealing with them.
In short, Sajyou Manaka had gone to great lengths to avoid the tragic fate of being cheated on.
Yet unexpectedly, the game disc mailed over that day had brought Lan Ze into this Singularity...
And, most coincidentally, she had personally handed that disc to Lan Ze...
And by another unfortunate coincidence... Lan Ze had encountered the Creation Mother Goddess in this Singularity.
Most coincidentally of all...
"Why would the Creation Mother Goddess take a liking to you?"
Sajyou Manaka's eyes were filled with resentment as she stared at Tiamat at the head of the bed. Tiamat was currently holding Lan Ze's arm affectionately.
The soft fullness slightly distorted by Tiamat's overly intimate embrace made Sajyou Manaka's usually adorable smile fill with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
She was only fourteen. Once she grew up, she would definitely become as big as Tiamat.
She merely needed a little time...
Tiamat held Lan Ze's arm. She had originally been spacing out, but when she heard Sajyou Manaka seemingly mention her name, she tilted her head and let out an "Aaa."
Then, she gently tugged Lan Ze's arm, glanced at Sajyou Manaka, whose face was written with resentment, hesitated briefly, and leaned close to Lan Ze's ear to whisper, "Who is she?"
"My landlord. She rents the apartment I live in to me," Lan Ze explained.
Then, he gave Sajyou Manaka a complicated look.
Who would have thought that the big loli at home was not only rich, but also so powerful...
According to what Goetia had said before, this big loli was an Imperial Princess connected to the Root... and she was also a Beast.
If he had not met Goetia this time, and if Aika had not come to rescue him, he probably would never have noticed even in his lifetime.
The sweet, innocent-looking girl who handled all three of his meals at home was actually a Beast.
Then again, how could a Beast have such a small chest...?
Lan Ze suddenly thought for no reason.
He remembered seeing the character art of certain Beasts before. Every one of them had been a busty, mature beauty. He did not recall any small-chested Beasts.
This was a rare breed...
Tiamat nodded thoughtfully. She seemed to realize that the resentful little girl before her would be her future landlord, so she got up, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Sajyou Manaka.
"Aaa." Tiamat wore a gentle expression, though her eyes still held vigilance, as if she feared Sajyou Manaka would steal her child.
"I'm not thirsty." Sajyou Manaka did not want to acknowledge Tiamat.
Tiamat did not give up and held the glass out before her.
But Sajyou Manaka turned her face away, still unwilling to take it.
Watching this, Tiamat held the cup in both hands and lowered her head, seeming a little dejected.
Seeing that, Lan Ze took the cup from her and set it on the table. Then he pulled her back to sit at the head of the bed and comforted her softly.
"Don't worry. She isn't angry at you. It's only because of me..."
Lan Ze had some awareness of the situation. He had not noticed Aika's feelings before because he often joked with her, and because she truly was rather young... But now it was different. Even an idiot could see the girl's feelings. He was not some dense harem protagonist from a light novel, nor was he going to play dumb.
Still, truthfully, he had not figured out how to handle this yet.
Compared to big lolis, he still preferred sexy, mature women with big breasts and long legs, like Mother of All and his mentor.
Looking out at the night, Lan Ze continued, "In any case, let's get some rest early tonight."
As he spoke, he gently patted Tiamat's hand as if comforting her.
The grievance in Tiamat's expression immediately faded somewhat. She lightly nodded, then naturally pulled Lan Ze into her arms, drew up the blanket, and rested his face against her chest.
Then, the woman let out a soft "Aaa" song, as though she were singing Lan Ze to sleep.
Sajyou Manaka stared at the scene and froze for a moment.
Was this woman simply not taking her seriously at all?!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She lifted the blanket in one motion and stared darkly at the boy who seemed utterly unable to extricate himself from Tiamat's embrace.
"Don't you have anything to say?"
Lan Ze sighed helplessly and barely managed to free himself from Tiamat's embrace. "How about you get some sleep too...?"
Sajyou Manaka took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
She did not lose her temper because she felt she needed to remain elegant in front of Lan Ze... Though that refined, young-lady elegance was on the verge of falling apart.
"Make her stay away from you." Sajyou Manaka's expression was blank.
"Mother..." Lan Ze was reluctant in his heart, but he still called out helplessly.
"Aaaaaa!!!"
However, Tiamat quickly shook her head and tightly hugged Lan Ze, refusing to let go.
Sajyou Manaka frowned. She lifted the blanket and forcibly lay down between them, separating the two.
Yet Tiamat seemed to no longer hold as much hostility toward Sajyou Manaka as she initially had. Whether because she felt the girl posed no threat or because her maternal instinct had overflowed, after staring at Sajyou Manaka in confusion for a few moments, she gently wrapped her arms around her, held her in her embrace, and softly hummed to lull her to sleep.
This scene could be translated as magnanimity, or perhaps the composure of the main wife.
"..."
Sajyou Manaka's face remained expressionless as her cheeks were repeatedly squeezed by a mass of soft cotton. She looked utterly heartbroken.
After glancing at Tiamat's chest, she became even more despairing and silently wriggled free from her embrace.
Then she got up and lay down behind Lan Ze, completely motionless, as though her mentality had collapsed.
"Are you okay?" Even Lan Ze could clearly sense that Sajyou Manaka had withdrawn into herself. He turned back and asked gently.
Believe it or not, what he did now concerned the safety of Humanity's Order.
Sajyou Manaka gave a delicate snort. "I'm fine! Go to sleep!"
After a pause, she added, "We should be going home tomorrow."
After all, they would have to part ways after tonight. Not everyone could travel from Tokyo to the Seventh Singularity like she could.
She would consider herself generous and lend Lan Ze to Tiamat for one night.
That was probably magnanimity.
Before you continue