A Dragon's Curse Upon This Illogical World! Chapter 5

This fic will now be added to the standard poll instead of the snippet poll. After the next chapter, the fic will become available to the Super tier, and the chapter after that, it'll have its own thread on QQ and FFN.

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Edited by: Priapus

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– Kazuma –

The rest of their questing spree had been relatively unremarkable. He'd expected more funny mistakes made by his even funnier party, but Carmine sounded like she wasn't having any of their bullshit for the last quest. The three demons on the Southern Mountains were mere imps, too low-level to be anything worth a good adventurer's time.

But they weren't considered 'good'. They were still 'rookie' adventurers even though Kazuma was sure he'd had more near-death experiences than most of the people in this world because of said funny party, but he digressed. Imps were still pretty strong for them.

Carmine or Aqua could easily take care of it, and they did just that. The resident useless goddess wasn't as useless in direct encounters against demonic or unholy entities, thankfully, so a single holy spell was enough to defeat something like an imp.

As for Carmine… she was significantly more brutal than the blue-haired dumbass. Where the imps Aqua fought simply disintegrated into nothing, she tore the other two apart limb from limb with her wind magic.

After being here for a few months, Kazuma had gotten used to blood, gore and overall killing things. Surprisingly, he didn't even find it that bad. But seeing those demons get brutalized like that made him feel bad for them. She looked so used to it, too, like she had done it a million times before.

It made him even more terrified of the girl in front of him. She was not normal. What he'd thought was another normal person from Earth was turning out to be some trained professional from who knows where. Who the hell had Carmine been before coming to this world?

And what the fuck had managed to kill her in her previous life if she even was killed?

Kazuma began to slowly feel regret for ever bothering this chick. The fact that she didn't just kill them during their questing spree to get the entire reward for herself made him think she might just have a moral compass, which was beyond comforting.

It wasn't very comforting when he saw how displeased she was after realizing that demons disintegrated regardless of how you killed them. There was a split second where she looked like was going to blow up in anger before she took a deep breath.

He didn't know why her pupils would turn into slits every time she got mad, but it probably wasn't good. That brief moment made him fear for his life. Because it would be so easy for her to kill them one by one and pretend that they'd all died against the monsters except for her. There would be no way to actually prove that she'd killed them.

After all, her being nice to them could simply be an act. She might just be some psychopathic murderer who didn't want to kill them because she wanted to avoid legal trouble. If that were really the case, then Kazuma might've made the biggest mistake in both lives.

No. Stop. He told himself in his head. You can't chicken out now. You still need her for an easy life.

He couldn't back out, not when he had already annoyed her anyway. Kazuma had to be strong. Besides, even if she did kill him, so what? It was an opportunity to get back to Earth. Probably. Hopefully. Aqua did say that if he died here, he'd be reincarnated again in his old world, but without his memories.

Which was fine with him. Forgetting that he had ever been here felt like a blessing anyway.

But it's not like he was planning to die. Kazuma didn't like pain very much. And death was still pretty fucking terrifying, so he'd settle for the next best thing, and that was to have an easy life here.

As they entered the guild building, with Carmine leading the group, Luna spotted them and smiled widely, looking both surprised and relieved to see them back so early. Kazuma, too, was pretty relieved that he didn't fucking die with these idiots. God, he hated them so much.

Except Carmine. Carmine was cool.

"Ah, you're back so soon." The receptionist greeted them. "How did it go?"

"All cleared," Carmine answered. "Unfortunately, we could not acquire the minotaur or the bear's bodies to sell."

"Oh, it's alright." Luna waved it off, giving Megumin a quick glance. "We weren't counting on it anyways."

The second-hand embarrassment he was feeling made him want to kill himself.

"What do you mean?" Carmine blinked.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." She giggled in amusement, getting a big pouch of Eris and putting it on the counter. "Here's your pay. And a little extra for clearing it in record time."

"Oh, thank you."

"Extra?!" Aqua was shocked, snatching the pouch before counting its contents. "T-twenty-thousand extra?! Can we really have this?!"

"Of course!" Luna confirmed with a smile. "We encourage our adventurers to be as efficient as possible. Keeping the peace in Axel is our top priority, after all."

"Mhm, that's true." Darkness nodded. "Though, splitting 135,000 five ways is—"

"Twenty-seven thousand for each," Carmine answered quickly, looking a bit bitter. "...Good enough, I guess."

Thinking quickly, Kazuma found an opportunity.

"Considering you did most of the work, I think you deserve more than a 20% cut." He said. You take 95,000, and we'll split the rest between us."

"Eh?" Carmine blinked. "Are you sure?"

"What are you doing?!" Aqua shrieked at him. "10,000 is barely enough to cover anything for three days!"

"So you're giving the new girl most of the money even though I killed two of the monsters?!" Megumin protested. "Are you serious?!"

"I don't think it's as fair as you say it is, Kazuma." Darkness added.

"Shut the fuck up!" He shouted at them. "You stupid bitches nearly got us all killed! Those quests wouldn't have been anywhere near as difficult without you, especially Darkness! In fact, you deserve nothing!"

The masochist crusader looked embarrassed at his accusation. And not the aroused type of embarrassment. She was showing actual shame for once.

"Besides, Carmine did most of the work." Kazuma scoffed. "And had we followed her plan, we would've gotten the carcasses with us to sell and earn even more money. It's not fair to split this much when she carried us."

"Since when did you care about fairness?" The useless goddess looked at him suspiciously. "You always try to swindle us out of our rewards by saying stupid things like 'I saved our lives from your idiocy' or something as if you aren't the weakest one in the party."

"Kazutrash. I bet you're trying to look good in front of Carmine to get in her pants." The midget accused."Go die in a hole, you cheap bootlicker."

Admittedly, what Megumin said was kind of true. While he wasn't trying to 'get in her pants' as she was saying, even though that'd be pretty swell if it ever happened, he was trying to look good. Because giving her most of the pay would probably lessen the blow of their fuck-up yesterday.

This meant, hopefully, more opportunities to work with her again. Maybe somehow getting her to permanently join their party, as unlikely as that was. But he couldn't afford to lose hope— he needed her.

He wouldn't give this much money to anyone under any other circumstance because he was sick of living in poverty, but a measly 100k is nothing compared to what they could gain if Carmine stuck around. Wealth and power await.

"Be quiet. The decision is final." He ignored the accusation, quickly snatching the pouch from Aqua and taking their cut from it before handing it to Carmine. "Here."

"Hey! Who decided to assign you our leader?!" Aqua complained. "We didn't even agree to that yet!"

"Are you sure?" Carmine asked, looking uncertain as she glanced at his dissatisfied party members.

"Ignore her. She can whine all she wants." He insisted. "Let's be honest; we barely did anything to help."

"I mean, even though that's true—"

Okay, she didn't have to confirm it like that.

"—I'd still feel bad taking this much." She said. "Isn't ten thousand too little? How are you going to afford anything like this?"

Even though she had every right to take the pouch while telling him to go fuck himself, she still showed care and consideration for them. How could someone so frightening be so kind? He didn't know. It could be another act, but this felt too genuine.

What he did know, however, is that she was infinitely more of a goddess than Aqua could ever hope to be.

Infinitely more attractive as well, but that was a given.

"The stables are free to sleep in." He responded, hiding the pain behind a depressed smile. "Just don't worry about us. We're used to it."

"Well…" Carmine hesitated for a moment before accepting the pouch, giving him an appreciative smile. "If you insist. Thank you, Kazuma."

He knew the risk he was taking after seeing her brutalizing those poor imps, but with every positive interaction he had with her, he felt less and less inclined to cut his losses and run away. So far, she hadn't shown any quirks that made him want to throw himself off a cliff.

As long as he kept this up, it was going to be fine.

Right?

– Carmine –

After I split up from the group, I decided to explore the city a bit more. I've barely done anything that's not taking quests and reading in the library. Perhaps I''ll find something interesting somewhere, like a magic store or something.

Since I was given most of the pay from Kazuma, I think I can afford a little more than just food and a room at the tavern. I can create magical gadgets by myself — I'm an expert at the craft — but right now, I don't have the tools or materials needed to make anything on my own.

Temporary magical items, maybe, but I can't enchant things yet.

I resist the urge to sigh as I remember Kazuma's silly ploy to get me to join him. I know what the boy was trying to do. I'm not dense enough not to notice him trying to make himself and his party look worthwhile for me, even attempting to manipulate me. Countless other people have tried to do the same.

And I would've found such an attempt extremely offensive had I not understood what he was going through. So far, only he and Aqua have proven to be at all competent at their jobs, while the mage child and the crusader were… less than adequate.

I don't think Kazuma was being malicious in any way that mattered. Clearly, he views me as his savior and salvation, as hilarious as it may sound. It makes him look kind of cute in a very pathetic and tragic way, which is saying something, considering how he acted two days ago. It's to the point where I'm almost compelled to help him and his group.

Almost. I'd be unwilling to join him and his party even if they were capable. I mean nothing by it— I just feel more comfortable working alone or with people I trust.

I'm okay with occasionally lending them a hand, though. They're not bad people, just… really stupid. It should be fine if I don't rely on them to do anything, assuming we're on a quest together. I'm more than powerful enough to defeat most monsters in this region anyway.

But I haven't explored enough to consider leaving just yet. Plus, I think I'd want to make my main base here and not near the capital. From what I've researched thus far, beginner adventurers leave Axel as soon as possible, so it'd be safe to assume that there's still a lot of riches here.

Not just in treasure and money. Not that I mean anything by it, but I doubt this world has invented any advanced drilling or quarry machines to dig out the resources beneath the earth. I'm sure there's more than enough down there for me to begin creating and selling useful devices and not have to worry about money anymore.

Hmm, you know, maybe I should start making power generators early. Besides hunting down monsters for money and leveling up, I don't really have anything else to do. I can look for an empty space somewhere to build a facility for my machines.

I'll have to think about it later. Industrializing this world beyond its typical fantasy genre without plunging it into a state of dystopian pollution and decay would require a lot of time and planning. It's not impossible, though. Certainly not after I get a few Etherflux generators running.

And I've completed infinitely tougher challenges before.

On my walk, I stumble across my first magic store, simply named 'Wiz's Shop', and as soon as I enter it, I can sense dozens of magical items and potions, making it evident that this isn't some scamming place.

"Ah, welcome, dear customer!" The lady behind the counter greets me politely.

The woman looks young, about twenty years old, with brown hair and eyes, and is wearing purple robes. She has very ordinary qualities on the surface, but I can immediately tell that she's undead. Relatively powerful as well. A vampire? No, there's no scent of blood anywhere on her. A lich, maybe?

In one of the books I read, there was a mention of a demon lord general who was a lich, and the description matches what I'm looking at. Why is she here? In a beginner town? Scouting for her leader, perhaps?

Well, I don't particularly care, so the first thing I did after getting closer was create a blade of fire, and faster than she could react, I pointed it at her throat. The higher undead gasps, and her smile turns upside down, looking at me in fear.

"Answer my questions truthfully, and I'll consider not killing you," I tell her calmly. "Are you affiliated with the demon lord?"

"Y-yes! I'm one of his generals!" She answers too truthfully. That was easy. I expected some resistance… "B-but I'm not here to cause any trouble! Please don't kill me!"

Despite her unexpectedly spineless response, I'm outwardly unfazed. However, inwardly, I am very surprised that she is acting like this. No, what's really surprising is that she's telling the truth. I don't pick up on any deceit or malicious intent.

She's seriously that terrified by a simple threat?

"And why are you here?"

"T-to make a living." She squeaks, cowering in fear. "I didn't come here to hurt anyone, I swear!"

"You're here…" I blink, wanting to make sure that I heard that right. "…to make a living?"

"Y-yes?"

"You're a demon lord general, though," I respond.

"T-that's what I said, yes."

"Don't you have a salary? Allowance?" I ask. "I imagine someone of your rank would get something."

"Um, no. Mr. Kyouichi— I-I mean, the Demon King said that most of his wealth is invested in other projects." She answers. "And that he couldn't afford to pay us."

First of all, the fact that she's being 100% truthful with me is shocking. It's equally pathetic and irritating. Working for someone who can't even pay you? Are you insane? I can't believe I'm being sympathetic to her right now. Second, wow. What a dick. How could he hire other people and not give them a salary? Does he have no shame?

Third, his name is Kyouichi? Seriously? Is he another reincarnated person from Japan like Kazuma? I expected some sort of typical demon name like Drazguroth or something like that. Why Kyouichi?

"And you're putting up with it?" I lower and dispel my fire sword.

"W-well, I couldn't ignore the poor guy when he was begging me to join." She responds. "I felt bad for him since no one wanted to be his general."

I feel an immediate kinship with the lady in front of me while absolutely baffled at what I'm hearing. What the hell is up with this world? Not even its demon king sounds like a serious threat.

"I… I see." I feel a sudden urge to laugh at the absurdity, but I manage to resist. "So you're not here to gather information on his behalf?"

"Goodness, no!" She denies. "I'm just a humble merchant! I want nothing to do with this war."

I cannot believe what I'm hearing. Each time I discover something new about this world, the dread I've been feeling grows. So, is not even the big bad competent? Why am I even here in the first place? Wouldn't it be better to send me to a world with an actual challenge to test the system properly?

There has to be something I'm not noticing here. Mother loves hiding things in plain sight, but so far, I don't see it. I have no idea what she's thinking, and… could this be it? Perhaps figuring out why I'm here is the challenge. Like I'm supposed to unravel this huge puzzle.

That would make sense. Perhaps I should ask her— whichever way she answers would confirm it.

"Right." I sigh. "I apologize for pointing a sword at you, Miss."

"Oh, no. It's understandable considering my position." She waves it off with a smile, getting more comfortable. However, I notice that she's still nervous. "I'm Wiz, by the way."

"Carmine." I nod in acknowledgment. "Do you mind if I look around? You're the only magic store I found."

"Of course!" She says. "Take your time, and if you have any questions, you can ask me. I'll answer to the best of my abilities."

As I look around for anything that might be useful, only three things catch my attention, and two of them are potions. First, the non-potion item. A glowing, purple crystal orb with a considerable amount of magic swirling within it. Some kind of clairvoyance tool? That would be helpful.

"Ah, I see the Friendship Crystal caught your eye?" Wiz quips.

"The… Friendship Crystal?" I raise an eyebrow. "Interesting name."

"Appropriate as well." She nods. "It deepens the friendship only between users who have magical powers."

Some kind of soul-bonding? Or mind manipulation. Both are too unpleasant for me to bother buying it. I don't want either my soul or my mind raped, thank you very much.

"How does it do that?" I ask, feeling curious.

"It exposes the users' embarrassing memories." She chirps.

That's even worse. Why would someone make this?

"Right…" I back away from the crystal, pointing at one of the potions. "And this?"

"It's a potion that empowers the user's magic significantly." She says. "It's more effective the stronger the drinker is."

"That's impressive." I hum thoughtfully. "How much is it?"

"Five thousand Eris," Wiz responds, making me blink. Isn't that too low? "Though I must warn you, it causes severe constipation for a whole week."

"Ah…" I blink. That changes things. "So it's poison, not a potion?"

Wiz pauses.

"…I-I suppose it could be used that way." She hesitantly confirms. "It only works on mages, though."

Still works well enough as a poison, just not as useful. Oh well, it's not like I'd buy it. If I want poison, I'd make my own.

"And that?" I point at the other potion behind her.

"That one causes the user to attract and enrage monsters across a fifty-kilometer radius for twenty-four hours." She answers before sighing. "I know it's useless. I don't know why I bought that one."

I have no idea what she's talking about. That's extremely useful, especially considering how there's a leveling mechanic in this world. A potion that increases spawn rate, so to speak? That's incredible.

Granted, it's a little extreme, considering it lasts for a whole day, but you just have to be strong and competent enough to handle it, and I have experience fighting for months on end. A mere day is nothing.

This will be very useful later.

"How much is it?" I ask.

"Huh? Um, two thousand Eris."

"I'll take it off your hands, then," I respond, taking the pouch of gold from my jacket and putting down a few coins on the counter.

"Oh." She looks at me in surprise before smiling widely, grabbing the potion from the shelf, and giving it to me. "Thank you so much for your patronage, Ms. Carmine!"

"Sure." I pocket the potion. "That'll be all for today, but I'll probably be back later."

"Of course! You're always welcome." She bows as I walk to the exit. "Farewell!"

I'm going to analyze this potion and see if I can replicate it with the ingredients of this region. If I follow RPG logic like how this world is seemingly operating on, then something this powerful can only be crafted from things in harsher regions. I'll figure it out later.

Time for dinner.

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Before returning to my tavern, I took some time to see how much the houses were sold for within the city. As expected, they're expensive, reaching the millions. The smallest house, which doesn't even have a kitchen, is around 900,000 Eris.

My current net worth isn't even a hundred thousand. It'll take me perhaps two to three weeks to get my own home at this rate, a month at worst. A house outside Axel is obviously less expensive, but I'll need to fill out way a lot of paperwork if I want to build my own.

Which is something, I guess. I'd prefer outside the city, admittedly—more freedom to build machines without any government official snooping around my property. I don't want to get the attention of annoying people.

There's always the option of building something without informing the kingdom and then constructing a defense system that is good enough to turn it into an impenetrable fortress. But that would put me on the same list as the demon king, thus being unable to trade.

Considering how they've been at war with said demon king for hundreds of years, I'm going to assume that they're just as incompetent as he is, so really, not like that's an issue. But this feels like the easy way out.

I feel like by doing that, I'd be missing the whole point of why I'm here. Unless I'm absolutely sure it has nothing to do with minmaxxing the hell out of the system and my engineering knowledge, I'll refrain from creating an indestructible castle with enough firepower to destroy the solar system.

Because realistically, nothing is stopping me from killing everyone in Axel, leveling up immensely, and then doing the same to the next town or city I come across. Of course, I'd never do such a thing, as I detest senseless slaughter.

And seeing that someone as kind as Wiz is a demon lord general, it'd be hard to justify doing such a thing against the demonic armies. Who knows how many of them are just normal people?

As I finish reading the 'Tranquility Girl' section of the bestiary I borrowed from the guild, I glance at the moon from my room's window. It's getting late. I don't want to stay up and ruin my sleep schedule. I hate it when that happens.

I put the book down on the drawer next to the bed and yawn, and as I'm in the process of taking off my vest, I rub my eyes tiredly and freeze once I see that I'm not in my room anymore but in endless green plains stretching as far as the eye can see.

I blink a few times, sitting properly and looking around in confusion, stopping once I see my twin brother lying beside me, his eyes closed. Before I try to get his attention, he mutters to himself.

"I wonder what Carmine is doing right now."

I feel myself smile at that. Aw, he's thinking about me. That's nice. I feel obligated to answer now.

"I'm doing fine, thank you for asking."

His expression turns into one of confusion before he opens his eyes, looking at me with a frown.

"Carmine?" He utters.

"Yes?" I tilt my head.

He takes a moment to scan his surroundings, just as confused as I am. I don't blame him. It was extremely sudden. I had my eyes closed for less than a second, and I didn't feel myself getting teleported at all.

It's obvious who brought us here, though. It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots.

Crimson proves me wrong as he smiles at me.

"I didn't know you missed me this much." He chuckles. "It hasn't been a week yet."

"I didn't do this." I deny his unsaid accusation. "I only acquired enough power for flight. Teleportation, especially to this degree, is still out of my league."

"You can fly already?" He looks at me in surprise. "I'm guessing you chose the magic perk tree?"

"I did," I confirm. "Did you not?"

"I decided the physical perk might be more suited to me." He responds before adding. "Yes, I know, draconic magic is far more versatile, but I chose what's fun."

"Magic is more fun, though," I argue.

"At a level so low you can't even teleport?" He raises a brow with a snort. "I'm more inclined to disagree there."

I try to make an argument but quickly realize that he's making a good point.

"Fair enough." I shrug. "How's everything on your end? What's your world like?"

"Typical fantasy world, albeit strangely advanced in some fields like food and alcohol. Every region is governed by a kingdom, who worship their own deity, and surprisingly enough, no demon king or catastrophic event happening this time around. As far as I know, anyway." He says.

Wow, so he gets the world with good food while I'm stuck with mediocrity? Sure, that's fair. Now I'm convinced that she's teasing me. Is she trying to make me jealous of Crimson? Did I do something to piss her off recently?

"I am enjoying myself, though. They have good drinks and beautiful women, so I can't complain."

"Of course, that's all you care about." I scoff. Painfully hedonistic. "...Mine has one."

"Hm?"

"A demon king." I clarify. "I don't know who they are or what's their goal, but whatever it is, from what I've seen so far, they're doing a lousy job at it."

"That bad?"

"As well as most others of their ilk," I add. He's a special kind of idiot, though. "I've never seen a competent demon king in my life. Well, unless you count our mother, I suppose?"

I do remember something about Mother being specifically called 'Devil King', not 'Demon King'. I don't know what the difference is, but she had been insistent on being called that. I don't know much about her youth, so I'm not sure if I can make an educated guess. She doesn't like talking about her past very much.

Although, she doesn't like titles anyway. She prefers 'Boss' or her given name.

"Are you enjoying your time, though?" Crimson suddenly asks.

As I'm on the verge of saying 'No.' I stop and think. Despite what I've seen, I don't think it's fair to generalize the entire world as 'stupid' or 'worthless', considering I haven't even spent a week there yet. Besides, I have to admit, the adventurer card and its system are really fascinating.

"I can't really say yet," I answer truthfully. "There are some interesting things I've seen, but I haven't really done or explored much. I think spending a month would be appropriate if you want a more exciting response."

"What's this? Am I hearing this right?" He looks at me with a smug grin. "You haven't done much? While I, your lazy brother, already have a house to my name?"

I freeze at what I hear.

"What?"

"You heard me," His annoying grin only widens. "I already have my own house and even a stable job that pays quite well, while you 'haven't done much'. For shame, sister. For shame."

Am I actually hearing this, right? Crimson, acquiring his own property in less than a week? Before me? There's no way he did it legitimately. He must've cheated his way to it or had a helping hand. The Crimson I know would instead go live in a cave or something because it's more convenient than working for a house.

He's not lying about owning a home, but he definitely didn't work hard for it. I refuse to believe it.

"I don't know if I should be proud that you finally acted like an adult for once–" I look at him with a suspicious frown. "Or if I should be annoyed at your stupid luck."

"Luck?" He looks at me with a mixture of amusement and confusion, pretending not to know what I'm talking about.

"Yes, luck." I scoff. "I'm going to bet everything I own that you got a house due to a convoluted series of events, which can be described as pure dumb luck."

Crimson pauses as I say that, confirming my words. I knew it.

"You're not exactly wrong." He confirms it verbally as well. "But let's be honest here, how many times did I tell you to seduce and/or befriend luck gods? You've never listened, though. So, who is really at fault here?"

It's not like that would ever help. He was born lucky— I know he was. Even my mother thinks so. I don't know how or why, but that's how it's always been, and I'm betting that he stole all my luck, too, somehow.

"The fact that their influence possibly extends to where you are, even a little bit, is cheating." I glare at him. "I don't know why Mother would let you have that."

"I wouldn't do such a thing, Carmine."

At my mother's response, I flinch, having not noticed her presence at all. Ugh, I hate it when she does that. No matter how hard I try, I can never sense her unless she wants me to sense her. Total invisibility like that is impressive. I wish I could do that.

Before either of us can ask, she answers.

"I wanted to introduce you to this little place I made for you two." She speaks, her neutral expression never changing. "Crimson, I don't read your mind because I respect your privacy, and you know this. Your face is far easier to read than you think it is."

Even though she's speaking to Crimson directly, it feels like it's also referring to me.

"I… see." Crimson clears his throat.

"You've gotten worse at hiding your emotions." She states, looking down at him with a cold look. "Maybe we should have you relearn that lesson."

"Please don't." He responds quickly, his fearful expression amusing me.

"I'm kidding." An amused smile that's ever so tiny stretches across her face before it quickly drops. "How are you two adjusting?"

"Fine, relatively speaking," I speak first. "Is there a reason you sent me there, though?"

"Maybe, maybe not." She gives me a non-answer. "You don't need me holding your hand all the time, Carmine. You're smart enough to figure it out yourself."

Her blunt response makes me feel embarrassed. Good 'ol Mother. Zero filter no matter who it is that she's speaking to. Still, it does confirm my suspicions. So I have to find my own answer. Alright, challenge accepted. I'll never back down from a puzzle.

"Crimson?" Mother looks at my twin brother.

"Oh, I'm loving my time there." He responds with his usual smile. "I'm beginning to think that I might've done something to impress you for you to send me to that wonderful world."

"Do you, now?" She raises a brow.

"Ah, but don't think you've fooled me just yet." He adds quickly. "I know you well enough to spot one of your traps when I see one. You have something planned for me, something that will force me to get serious, don't you?"

Her only response is to smile at him menacingly, so much that it makes me worried for him. So, does she have a challenge prepared for him as well? Meaning I didn't anger her as I thought I had. That's a huge relief.

At the expense of Crimson possibly suffering, but he has a habit of laughing at his suffering too, and Mother isn't that cruel to her children, so it's not like he's in any danger. Probably. He's insanely resilient, being called 'Heaven's Juggernaut', but I still don't like seeing him hurt. Even though we're twins, he's still my baby brother.

"Regardless, I've brought you here for two things." She says, the smile disappearing from her face. "First, as I said before, I wanted to show this world I've made."

"Which is?" I ask.

"The worlds you two are in are separated by a lot of multiverses. And by a lot, I mean infinite." She describes. "So after some adjustments, like syncing the passage of time of your universes for one, I made this neutral space to force a connection between your worlds. You'll be able to meet here every once in a while, assuming either of you wants a break from their world."

"But how will we be able to do this?" Crimson wonders. "We're not able to cross dimensions via teleportation in our current state."

She responds by snapping her fingers, making black and red watches materialize around each of our right wrists. There isn't anything that's particularly interesting about the watch other than the fact that she made it since it very clearly matches her personal design sensibilities. On the face are two contact numbers belonging to Mother herself and Crimson, plus an option called 'Cross-space' that's grayed out at the moment.

I can imagine what it can do, though. The name and the existence of this space make it obvious.

"You'll use this." She says. "I'll let you explore its capabilities on your own. Do not disassemble or dismantle it, or else I'll end this little holiday prematurely."

I flinch as I feel her eyes boring into me. I clear my throat nervously, taking the warning very seriously. I wasn't going to do that anyway. I'm not stupid. You don't disassemble another engineer's stuff without permission. It's very rude.

"And that's about what I have for you. For now, at least." Mother finishes. "Don't expect me to be looking out for you from now on, as I have other projects I need to be monitoring. Only call me when you absolutely have to."

"Can't you monitor us as well?" Crimson asks an obvious question. "It's not exactly an impossible task for you to be in two places at once."

"What, do you feel uncomfortable that Mama won't be there for you?" She mocks him. "Stop whining and grow a spine. You're an adult."

"In body, not in mind," I add with a smirk.

Before Crimson can respond, he is suddenly teleported away, presumably back to his world. Though, I'm still here for some reason, making me look at my mother in confusion, who is looking at me just as confused.

"I've been to the factory a little while ago." She says, making me blink. That's rare. "Covering for your shift."

"Ah, is that so? Thank you so much." I smile gratefully. "I'm glad. I imagine Reina wasn't very happy about my sudden disappearance?"

"Crimson showed her how to reach my realm." Mother sighs. Of course, he did. Exists just to be a nuisance. "I changed its location now, so it's not a problem. Though, I have a question for you. Several, actually."

"Yes?"

"First off, why did you build a spiral reactor into a drilling machine?"

I feel the embarrassment of having to explain my tendency to go overkill to my own mother creeping up to me, making my face go red. And I promised to stop that habit…

Damn it.