529 The Effects of the Dimensional Quake, and the Hero’s Armor

『There’s no doubt it's due to the "dimensional quake." A magical beast from the past has crossed through time.』

When I called Tokie-obaasama to ask about the extinct magical beast, it turned out—just as I suspected—that it had appeared in this era by traveling through time.

"I see... Can’t something be done using the powers of the Space-Time God? Like sending it back to its original era?"

『It’s not impossible... But as you already know, Touya-kun, gods are generally forbidden from using divine powers on the surface. It could have massive consequences. There are loopholes, but I’d rather not use them if I can help it.』

So, she can do it, but doesn’t want to? Why not? Tokie-obaasama is a high-ranking god. Maybe the influence of her power is just too great?

『I’d like to save that power for sending your children back to their original time. If I use it to return the magical beast and end up unable to send the kids back, the Touya-kun over there would be furious with me.』

Ugh... That makes sense. Yeah, that’d be a serious problem.

『Besides, the "dimensional quake" itself is a naturally occurring phenomenon on the surface. It’s not something I want to interfere with too much. Don’t you have similar stories on "Earth"?』

"I have heard of some stories like that..."

There are actually quite a few stories about time slips all over the world.

Wasn’t there one called “The Ghosts of Trianon”? Two teachers visited the Petit Trianon at the Palace of Versailles and supposedly experienced a time slip, seeing a scene from over a hundred years ago.

Or the case of a man in his thirties who was hit by a car in New York. When they investigated him, they discovered he had gone missing over seventy years earlier.

There are also a lot of people—especially on the internet—who claim to be time travelers from the past or future.

Since these stories come from a magic-less Earth, who knows how much of it is actually true.

Still, dimensional quakes could theoretically happen in any world, and because of that, there’s always the possibility that objects or living beings from the past or future could be flung into the present.

But if it keeps happening this often...

『The waves from the "dimensional quake" will gradually settle down, so it’s not a problem. I don’t think any singularities will become fixed.』

"Singularities? What happens if they do become fixed?"

『The past and future would stay connected. Think of it like a "time tunnel" from Earth’s perspective. People would be able to travel back and forth freely. If that happened, the past, present, and future would all become jumbled together and coexist at once. The only way to restore everything would be for me, the Space-Time God, to rewind the entire flow of time in that world—but that would break the rules of the gods, and in most cases, the God of Destruction would step in and wipe everything out.』

So, basically... the world would be erased? Wait, seriously?

I’ve heard that in time travel stories, messing up can make the whole world disappear, and apparently, that’s not just fiction.

『Well, it won’t come to that, so don’t worry. The title of Space-Time God isn’t just for show. Though... there are still a few concerning factors.』

"You mean... the ‘Apostles of the Evil God’?"

『Yes. Even those guys still carry divine power. I just hope they’re not doing anything reckless... Now that you’ve been officially recognized as one of the gods, Touya-kun, if the Evil God were to revive, you wouldn’t be allowed to interfere...』

…Wait. Oh no! If the Evil God comes back, now that I’ve fully joined the gods, I won’t be able to fight on the surface!

No, to be accurate, I can fight without divine power, but I wouldn’t be able to directly defeat the Evil God. That would count as a god directly taking action.

But wait—Evil Gods are born in other worlds too, right? If I remember correctly…

『The classic solution is to give a hero a weapon imbued with divine power. And if that doesn’t work, then the God of Destruction gets involved.』

Right, that’s it. So, that means... if I create a divine weapon and have a hero in this world wield it to defeat the Evil God, that should work.

"Can’t that hero be someone like Yumina or one of my retainers?"

『No. Divine retainers, like angels, are still considered part of the divine hierarchy.』

Seriously? My wives turned into angels while I wasn’t looking. Well, they’ve always been angels to me.

That means I’ll need to appoint someone from the surface as a hero...

I guess Moroha-neesan wouldn’t work either—she was a god from the start.

As for someone who could realistically fight the Evil God... oh yeah, there’s Ende. I’ll have him wield the divine sword and take care of it. Of course, I’ll still help him.

『There might still be some aftershocks of the "dimensional quake" for a while, so be careful. I’ll command the Spirits of Time to minimize the damage on our end.』

"Got it. Thanks."

Well, there’s not much I can do for now. I thank Tokie-obaasama and end the call.

I lift my face from the book I was reading, and Fam speaks to me.

“Has the call ended?”

“Yeah. It looks like those things really did cross over through time. By the way, Fam, compared to now, what were magical beasts like in the era you were created?”

“Let’s see... I believe there are more magical beasts in the current era. In the era of the Ancient Kingdom, barrier technology was more advanced, so magical beasts were pushed entirely to the frontier. Because of that, the law of the jungle prevailed, and there were a lot of powerful magical beasts compared to now.”

Hmm... The Marchosias that Kuon and the others defeated, and this time’s Ipos, were both apparently red-ranked in strength. Maybe it’s not just a coincidence that powerful beasts came through—the past era might have considered that strength to be average...

In any case, if a magical beast appears that the guild can’t handle, they’ll contact me. But there are countries that aren’t part of the guild.

Like when the port town in the Kingdom of Kyuriera was attacked—they weren’t part of the World Alliance, so the info reached them too late.

I really need to work on expanding the global network further.

“You are exactly right. We must exchange information with all nations and build deeper bonds. That is your mission, Master.”

“...You’re being oddly pushy about this. What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing at all? It’s not like I was thinking ‘Let’s bring every book in the world into my library!’ or anything.”

That’s what this is about, huh...? True, I have been cutting back on new book purchases lately. Fam devours any new book the moment it arrives.

She claims her job is to manage this "Library," and thus she must thoroughly understand the contents of every book... but I think she’s just a print addict.

“Well, alright. I’ll get you a few new books sometime soon.”

“If possible, please choose one from a country we've never bought from before. When the country changes, the direction of the book changes too, which makes it interesting.”

A country we’ve never bought from, huh. Well, I haven’t bought anything from the Kingdom of Raze or the Iron Nation Gandiris yet.

Also, buying from a country we have absolutely no relations with could be a good idea. Like the Kingdom of Kyuriera, the Kingdom of Refan, or the Kingdom of Range—there are still countries we’ve never had any dealings with.

Normally, we get introduced through a country we’re already in contact with, though.

Our relationship with the Western Continent is still pretty thin... Not to mention, there’s that weird rumor going around that I’m the one who destroyed Aizengard.

Well, I guess we’ll just have to take it one step at a time.

　　　　　　　　　　◇　◇　◇

“Otoosama, Otoosama, Otoosama, OTOOOSAMA────!”

“Guhuh!?”

The moment I returned from Babylon to the castle, Frey charged at me at full speed and tackled me right in the side. Something went crack! I swear I heard a crack!

“Ugh ooooooh…!”

“Otoosama, Otoosama, the armor auction has a piece submitted by the King of Felzen, and it's the hero Darmell’s! If we don’t hurry, we won’t have the money!”

“Calm down. I have no idea what you're saying…”

Frey had me pinned to the hallway floor, straddling me and speaking a mile a minute. I couldn’t even tell if I should be angry or just exasperated.

While casting healing magic on my now-throbbing waist, I pushed Frey off of me.

Once she calmed down a little, she explained: there was going to be an auction soon in the capital of Felzen.

And among the items being auctioned was the armor once used by the hero Darmell from 800 years ago.

Apparently, the King of Felzen had sent Frey a message, since they share the same hobby.

He could’ve just kept quiet, but he’s such an honest person…

“So… you want that hero’s armor?”

“That’s right! In the future, Darmell’s armor goes missing, and I’ve never even seen it!”

Missing in the future? So, the person who wins the auction ends up having it stolen or losing it?

If the King of Felzen won the auction, he’d definitely put it in the royal treasury. It’s not the kind of place something would get stolen from. So maybe he didn’t win it?

“The King of Felzen said he doesn’t have much personal spending money. He’s on an allowance, apparently.”

Wait, the king is on an allowance…? Sounds like the King of Felzen has his own share of troubles.

Well, if he were just using taxpayer money to grow his weapon and armor collection, people would definitely complain. As long as it's only with money the royal family personally earned, it's probably fine.

“Darmell’s armor is a treasure that should be passed down to the future! That’s why I have to get it!”

Frey was burning with passion, like it was her divine mission. But honestly, it felt more like she just really wanted it for herself.

“Alright, but… how are you going to pay for it?”

“That’s the thing! Otoosama, please, take me to hunt a magic dragon again! I’ll earn the money!”

“Huh? You want to hunt another magic dragon?”

Well, that is the only way Frey could earn a big sum quickly. Sure, hunting a magic dragon would bring in decent money, but spending it all on an auction is...

I can’t just lend her money either. Hilda would definitely get mad if I did.

“C’mon, please, Otoosama~! If you just tell me where a magic dragon is, I can ask Yoshino or Yakumo-oneesama to take me there!”

“Hmmm…”

Well, if she knows the location, Yoshino’s Teleport or Yakumo’s Gate could get them there quickly…

“Alright, but only if you get Hilda’s permission.”

“I’ll get it right away!”

With a huge grin on her face, Frey ran off. Honestly, I think my daughter needs to learn a bit more self-restraint.

A few minutes later, Frey came back in high spirits with Hilda’s permission. And Yakumo and Linne came along too. Wait, you’re coming too?

“I’ve been wanting to swing my sword at a magic dragon again,” said Yakumo.

“This time I won’t tear it apart! I’ll defeat it properly!” said Linne.

“You’re both only here to help me! I’ll share a little, but I am taking the money for the materials!” Frey barked.

Looks like Frey already decided on how to split the loot. Should I call her reliable… or greedy? Well, considering it’s all to fund her auction, I guess it makes sense.

With mixed feelings, I began searching for the location of a magic dragon.

◇　◇　◇

In the end, Frey and her group took down two demon dragons and sold all the materials to the guild, earning a decent amount of money.

However, another problem cropped up here. The auction in Felzen where the Hero’s Armor would be on display, didn’t allow minors to participate. As expected, really.

“Ahh, sorry about that. I totally forgot.”

It was the Magic King of Felzen apologizing over the phone. Honestly, he can be pretty absent-minded. When it comes to his hobbies, he tends to get carried away and probably didn’t think that far ahead.

Well, it’s not a huge issue. We can just appoint an adult proxy to participate on her behalf.

It’s supposed to be a simple matter of just appointing a proxy, but… why me?

“Because I believe that if it’s you, Otousama, you’ll definitely win the bid!”

Frey said something so adorable I couldn’t help but smile a little. I see, huh? Well, I guess I’ll have to give it my all.

“You mustn’t let yourself be deceived, Touya-sama. I believe Frey is thinking, ‘If I don’t have enough money, Touya-sama might cover the rest for me,’ isn’t that right, Frey?”

“Th-th-th-that’s not true at all!”

Frey averted her eyes blatantly as her mother, Hilda, gave her a sharp side glance. Yeah… I figured as much.

“Listen carefully. This is money you earned. I won’t interfere with how you spend it, but you mustn’t inconvenience others with your actions. Understood?”

“I got it…”

“If you break that promise, I’ll confiscate all the weapons Touya-sama made for you, alright?”

“Roger that!”

With a sharp salute—bishi!—Frey responded to Hilda. At some point, Hilda had figured out exactly how to keep Frey in line.

After Hilda’s stern reminder, Frey and I teleported to the royal capital of the Magical Kingdom of Felzen—Pharma—using a 【Gate】.

If I remember right, the auction venue was in the capital’s museum.

I checked on my smartphone, and it wasn’t far from where we were, so we decided to walk there together.

Frey was in high spirits the whole time, even skipping as we went.

“Hey, you’re kind of acting like it’s already yours, but this is an auction, you know? There’s a chance we might lose the bid.”

Seeing how excited she was, I couldn’t help but think—if we don’t win, she’s going to be seriously depressed.

Not that I’m trying to be pessimistic, but I figured we should talk through the possibility of not getting it. Even the King of Felzen would be participating, so there’s a real chance we might get outbid.

“It’s fine. Probably. I don’t think Darmell’s armor will get many bids. The only one who’d even want it is the King of Felzen. So, if we just have more money than him, we’ll win.”

“It won’t be competitive? Why’s that?”

“Darmell’s armor is cursed. If you equip it, you get cursed.”

“Why are you even trying to buy something like that!?”

What the heck are you wishing for?! Cursed armor? That’s terrifying!

When I recoiled in shock, Frey quickly added an explanation.

“The curse isn’t that bad! It’s stuff like 【Double Sacrifice Recovery】 and 【Vitality Conversion】, so it’s not that terrible!”

"Sacrifice Double Recovery"? Ah, it’s a curse where you experience excruciating pain when receiving recovery magic, but the healing of wounds is enhanced compared to normal.

"Life Force Conversion" is probably the curse where life force is converted into magic power or attack power. You give up your own life to generate strength.

No, no, no, that’s definitely a horrible curse. What is this? Is my child aiming to be a Dark Knight or something?

"I wonder how someone named Darmell could willingly wear such armor that harms himself..."

"He was called the 'Hero of Self-Sacrifice.'"

"Hero of Self-Sacrifice"? I can’t help but suspect that he was just into masochism. Was he really a hero? Or was he just some pervert?"

"...If Frey wants to wear that armor, I won’t participate in the auction."

"I don’t want to wear it. I just want it as a collection. Besides, Darmell was said to be over two meters tall, so while King Felzen might be able to wear it, I can’t."

Upon hearing that, I felt relieved. Well, that's fine then... or is it? Wanting cursed armor is still pretty messed up, right?

As I frowned and thought it over, we arrived at the auction venue, the Felzen Central Museum.

A majestic white building adorned with magnificent decorations. This museum houses valuable magical tools from the magic kingdom known as Felzen, as well as artifacts from the ancient kingdom era.

It’s called a 'museum,' but it’s a bit different from the ones on Earth. It's not open to the general public.

It’s primarily an exhibition space for the nobles. It’s more like a national treasure hall managed by the government.

The auction being held today isn’t hosted by the government but by the Felzen Commercial Guild, the 'Magical Merchants Association.'

So, even if the king were here, he couldn’t intervene. He can’t just say, "I want that, sell it to me first!" It’s not that easy.

I handed the invitation sent by King Felzen to the knight at the entrance and entered.

Inside, many people had already gathered. As expected, since they were auction participants, most of them were probably nobles or wealthy merchants. They were dressed in shiny, glittering attire.

"Father, you should’ve worn a crown or something too."

"What is this, some kind of punishment game?"

There’s no way I’m wearing something so flashy. Besides, we don’t even have a crown. Maybe a large country like Belfast or Regulus would have one, but in a small country like ours, we don’t need such things.

After completing the registration, I was given the number and location of our seats. It seemed like a pretty good seat. King Felzen must’ve really gone all out.

Along with the number tag, I was also handed the auction catalog. It was like a booklet listing what would be auctioned off. Instead of photos, there were detailed illustrations.

Flipping through, I stopped at the page featuring the armor of the hero Darmell, which Frey had been wanting.

Could this spiky, full-body armor with a skull on the shoulder and glaring eyeballs on the chest be the one? It certainly had the design of a 'devil's armor.'

"I’ve never seen it before, but it looks pretty cool!"

"Is that really okay…?"

I was left speechless by my daughter’s lack of taste as she laughed carefree. What should I do about this?