“At first, I said I would be Nagayubi. But they said, I should take Tome role.”
“Does that mean you get to strike the finishing blow?”
“Aye. So that is why, I took one down.”
After that, Sheto spoke about the mountain in detail. The fear of hunting boars, and how to deal with them. How to chase prey in the mountains.
“Everyone, like boars. Lots of parts, to use. Meat, organs, fur, tusks, hooves. Nothing is wasted.”
“Now that I think of it, I saw someone take out the brains. Are they going to eat that too?”
“It used for tanning leather. Make quality better.”
“You really do use everything. They even said the bones would be cooked and turned into powder for medicine.”
Fi told him about how the women had picked up the large bones easily and carried them off. Sheto laughed and nodded.
“They work hard. Sometimes, go into the mountains too, when there is not enough of us.”
“Huh? Didn’t you say the mountain god doesn’t like them?”
“We, know no gods. They do not join the hunt, because mating on the way, is tiring.”
Fi’s face turned red.
“What!? Ma-ma-ma-matihing…”
“Before entering mountain, men and women sleep separate. Because, you have less strength the day after-”
“STTOOOOP!!! This subject is banned! BANNED!”
Sheto looked puzzled, but it was clear that this was too much for an inexperienced boy.
Even if he was talking about kobolds, who were completely different creatures.
“…Uh…um…”
“What?”
“Sheto… Have you ever…done that?”
With that being said, it was not as if he had no interest at all.
Sheto chuckled and shook his head.
“Couldn’t.”
“Huh?”
“I, decided already. It had to be Lu. The first.”
He said as he touched the blue stone that hung from his neck.
“This stone. Picked it up, to be with her. We were to be mates. So I must, send her the best. It was that day…when I found this.”
Suddenly, the air seemed to grow cold.
Sheto’s confession entered his body and made him shiver.
“Said, would take good care of her. Gave her this, and said, would make her happy.”
“…You, don’t need to…”
He mustered, and the kobold nodded sadly.
“Yes…will stop.”
Fi closed his eyes tightly and managed to say,
“Sorry…I have to talk to the old dragon…now.”
“Mmm. I’ll…go over there.”
While hearing the footsteps growing distant, he walked farther into the forest. Then he leaned against a tree and tapped the screen.
‘What is it? Calling so suddenly. You don’t have unlimited calls anymore.’
“Hey, does the resurrection blessing work on kobolds?”
As if detecting what he was thinking, the dragon god let out a sigh.
‘Make no mistake. Resurrection like that requires a ‘rein’ being fixed to you in advance. Once the soul separates from the body, it disperses in no time.’
“But aren’t you a god!? Do one of those miracles that you are so good at!”
‘Even gods cannot the laws of nature. At the very least, in this world, death is the end. It cannot be changed.’
“…I heard that there is a god of time where you are. Maybe that one can do it!”
‘Stop.’
The dragon god said in a severe voice that was nothing like how it usually sounded.
‘The flow of time is absolute. Irreversible. Even if you surpassed the branching timelines and reached a different world line…what you did will never be undone.’
He felt the immense weight and pressure of those words.
Of the truth.
“Then…what am I supposed to do?”
‘Why are you asking me?’
“Because you are a god! What the…what the hell am I supposed to do like this!”
‘I am just a spectator. I put you up on the stage, but I cannot do anything else.’
Fi’s hand clutched tightly around the device. But it was protected and could not be destroyed.
“Hey…if I said that I wanted to go back right now…what would you do?”
‘I’ll accept it.’
He expected those words.
The dragon god did not force his will. He just gave options. And he would always keep his word.
“I…”
Suddenly, the dragon god’s voice was replaced by a ringtone. He frantically made it stop, and then a voice tore through the silence.
“Fi! Is Sheto over there!?’
“Wh-what is it? Did something happen!?”
Canila was shouting in despair.
‘Please save the village! Please!’