[21st Round] Today’s Destiny
“The search area is not as vast as it used to be, so let’s not waste time and get right to it.”
Fantasy was about half the size of Saturn, its diameter about five times that of the Earth, making searches problematic.
But Moon A was almost the same size as Earth, and Moon B was similar in size to the moon, which was about a quarter of Earth’s diameter.
Simply put:
Fantasy: 20 Mollan
Moon A: 4 Mollan
Moon B: 1 Mollan
This was the formula.
If the diameter of Moon B was 1 Mollan, then Moon A had 4 Mollans, and Fantasy had about 20 Mollans.
To calculate the surface area, one would need to square the diameter, so it would take even more time to scour it.
Fantasy: 400 MollanMollan
Moon A: 16 MollanMollan
Moon B: 1 MollanMollan
If I needed 1 MollanMollan to survey Moon B, then Fantasy with its 400 MollanMollans would take me 400 times longer.
In other words, if I needed 400 hours to completely sweep through Fantasy, then it’d take me 16 hours to do the same for Moon A and an hour for Moon B.
“… Hey, handsome husband.”
“What’s the matter? Why are you interrupting me in the middle of a class?”
“I know you’re trying to explain everything, but you’re going to make me fall asleep.”
“Damn demon.”
I’d have to end my class here due to my cowardly student’s bad behavior. The point was, it wouldn’t take much time to probe Moons A and B.
I could just do a sweep, but because of my best friend Noebius, I wasn’t in my best shape right now.
I shouldn’t overwork myself. I needed to save my strength for my fight against the director.
“So grandma lives somewhere around here?” asked Music Teacher, sounding like she was the first to discover it.
“That’s right, CD.”
“My name is Ssidiel! Where are you picking up such weird nicknames? I am the best singer in all of Fantasy! You should have heard of me!”
“I have not.”
“First, stop looking at me so suspiciously. I have lived on Fantasiart, listening to my higher-up’s disgruntled screams, for almost 100 years, but I have never seen my grandmother.”
That could be a lie. But CD probably wouldn’t deceive me, considering the truth would still be revealed as soon as I finished searching Moons A and B.
Ssosia intervened.
“Ssidiel.”
“Yes?”
“What does your grandmother look like? Does she look like a delicious donut? Or as a narrow vase?”
“A donut. She has a rather non-standard appearance, so it’s hard not to recognize her.”
“As expected…”
Ssosia’s expression seemed to say she expected as much.
We immediately set up a search in City X.
“… Ssosia.”
“What?”
“Why are you so happy?”
“All the girls are looking at me with envy. I’m starting to like this strange city.”
Grasping my hand, my cowardly wife took a selfie using a mollanphone.
Click.
… Where did she learn that?
That wasn’t even the end of it.
⤷Me: On a date with my handsome husband on Fantasy. 01.JPG (9:03)
⤷Me: On a date with my handsome husband on Fantasy. 02. JPG (9:03)
⤷Mom: Honey, where is it? (9:06)
⤷Me: Fantasy’s moon, Fantasiart. There’s a city here where all women consider my husband to be handsome. (9:06)
⤷Mom: The universe is so wide! I can’t believe such anomalous places exist. (9:07)
⤷Me: I’m also extremely surprised, mom ^^ (9:07)
“…”
So she was the reason why my mother began to send me messages less often.
She was paying more attention to her cowardly daughter-in-law than to her caring MAX-Class son!
Tears clouded my view.
⤷Mom: In the park with my beloved son. JPG (9:45)
⤷Mom: I was worried that I had a late birth, but the second son turned out to be strong. He’s growing up in very good health. (9:46)
⤷Me: He’s really very handsome. (9:46)
⤷Mom: He recently became a high school student council president. I was so surprised when the president of the country himself came to congratulate us. (9:47)
⤷Me: Wow! Your second son is incredible! (9:47)
I wanted to ask if it was okay for the country’s president to come and congratulate someone else’s child for becoming a student council president, but my mom and Ssosia didn’t attach any importance to this.
What kind of second son did she give birth to?
What magic did he use for the president himself to follow him like a puppy?
In any case…
“Only the 2nd floor of the town hall remains.”
If we couldn’t find her there, then we would have to look outside the city.
“I have already been up there several times, so I know there’s nothing on the top floor except the mayor’s office and a conference room,” CD said.
“I’ll find that out for myself.”
“Then I’ll wait outside. I don’t want to meet my senior again…”
“Do what you want.”
The town hall had no stairs. We were in a place without gravity, after all.
Jumping up, I easily landed on the 2nd floor, finding only the mayor’s office and a conference room, just like what Music Teacher said.
Ssosia chuckled.
“None of the houses or rooms here have any security. Apparently, they never even heard of doors here.”
“It would be funny if one of the heroes who gave up material goods and escaped to the moon turns out to be a thief.”
Stolen goods couldn’t even be sold anywhere here.
If one got here empty-handed, then there was nothing to do but hope for support from their own kind.
They discarded self-interest and strived for a quiet life.
In that sense, this city was like a nursing home.
The mayor’s office was empty.
“If she’s not in the conference room, then it’ll be problematic…”
She wasn’t hiding in some underground bunker, was she?
If so, then it would be hard to find her.
At that moment, however, I heard voices from the other room.
“I defended my beloved homeland from the ever-growing empire of vampires. I even dedicated my life to it. However, when I saw the Empress’s husband, I realized that… I was wasting my time. I realized that in front of him, I was like a child! (Omitted) While I was spending time on the borders of my country, the princess married another man. She had gotten drunk at one of the parties, and after a while, realized that she was pregnant… Oh! Having lost the will to live, I ended up here…”
“You had to go through a lot.”
“Will you accept even someone like me, angel?”
“Of course. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Ah! Thank you.”
“Welcome to your final resting place. Stay here as long as your heart desires.”
It felt like I just overheard someone’s confession.
The man who talked about his past looked like the protagonist of the novels Ssosia read. The woman sitting opposite of him listened to him without interruptions.
Perhaps that woman was the mayor of City X.
My eyes had been on her since I heard her voice.
Ssosia whispered, “It seems we found her.”
“…”
“How do we proceed?”
“… I’ll figure it out myself.”
She had long hair flowing down like a waterfall, a thin waist that made me wonder if she even had organs in her body, and a wide and voluptuous chest and buttocks that contrasted the rest of her body.
None of her features were memorable, but her faint smile and calm expression compensated for what she lacked.
She was definitely Rice Cake.
▶ Note: Not Rice Cake, but Hippolia, cadet Kang Han Soo. She may be Director Parmael, but…
‘Thanks for the information, Trainee Teacher.’
I glanced at my cowardly wife.
“Jump on your stingray.”
“Okay.”
“Se-e-e-e-e-x.”
Mollan~
As I prepared for a fight, I entered the conference room…
And met her gaze.
“… Hi.”
“I don’t remember being informed about your arrival, new hero.”
“Hmm?”
“Wait for a moment. Let me finish advising this person who came before you, and then I will take care of you.”
“Well…”
I hastily checked her stats.
▷ Race: First Angel
▷ Level: 19
▷ Job: Sick (Fighting Disease = Survival ↑)
▷ Skills: Divinity GGG, Charm MAX, Breathing MAX, Survival MAX, Blessing MAX…
▷ Status: Fixation, Split Personality, □□, Director, Saintess, Divine Dragon, □□, □□, Divine, □□, Infinity, Oblivion, □□…
A complete mess.
However, she was definitely the First Angel, judging by her race, “First Angel,” and “Director” status. She also had “Saintess” and “Divine Dragon” listed in her status.
The white squares in her condition strained my brain.
“Stranger… Huh?!”
I immediately reacted to the voice I heard behind me.
The voice belonged to Angel A, whom Stranger A immediately grabbed by the throat.
Without taking my eyes off the director, I politely asked Angel A, “What’s the matter, Angel A?”
“I am not Angel A… Kh-kh! Stranger! I want to talk!”
“Speak.”
“I am the mayor of this city!”
“And?”
“You can’t just grab the mayor by the throat… Kh?! Stranger! Do whatever you want!”
***
After that, I went to the mayor’s office.
But first …
“Let go! Let go of my hair! I do not want to become bald like you!”
“Hey, CD, explain yourself. How could you not recognize your own grandmother just because she lost a little weight?”
“A little?! She’s a completely different person! My grandmother had no eyes or neck to be seen!”
“Really? Don’t worry. You can live without hair.”
“N-no!”
She only escaped baldness thanks to an unexpected savior.
“Ssidiel! How many times have I told you not to sing at the mayor’s office?”
“S-senior! Stop this savage pulling my hair… A-ah?!”
“Ho ho ho! Did my junior trouble you, Handsome Hero? Follow me, Ssidiel.”
“W-wait. You will rip off my ears! Senior!?!”
Music Teacher, who was trying to come up with stupid excuses, was dragged by the ear, leaving the mayor and me in her office.
Ssosia decided to watch the director from afar, sitting on her ramp-like stingray.
I plopped down on the sofa, saying, “Explain.”
“I would like to discuss your ill-mannered behavior, but I still want to live, so I’ll refrain from doing that. What do I need to explain?”
“Her.”
“If you’re talking about the beautiful angel you saw in the conference room, then she’s my daughter.”
“Do you really want to live?”
“… adopted daughter. After I discovered her on Ssosiart, I brought her here and raised her like my daughter.”
“Is that all?”
“Must there be something else, stranger?”
“I’m extremely annoyed right now. If I question her and something else comes up, you better pray that I give you a swift death.”
“W-well…”
“Speak faster. Maybe then I will forgive you.”
“She couldn’t remember anything, so I touched her… Kh?!”
“Did you do something to her?”
“I couldn’t! As soon as I touched her, the heavens immediately punished me!”
“Is that so.”
Even if she lost her memory, she still had her instinct for self-preservation.
After thanking the mayor for taking care of Rice Cake, I presented him with a herniated disc and soon left the building.
Disgruntled, CD followed me as I rose into the air and crossed City X.
I soon saw Rice Cake, which Ssosia was watching from afar.
“This is a newspaper publisher, Hero. You can find out the latest news about Fantasy here. New heroes come here very often in their first few years.”
“I want to know more about you than about the news of the world of Fantasy, beautiful angel. Are you married?”
“I believe I am.”
“What?”
“Follow me, Hero. If you feel lonely, there is a church here. Have you heard about Mollan’s Teachings? If you pray sincerely to him, you’ll be able to meet your destiny.”
Rice Cake was giving the newly arrived hero, which I saw in the conference room, a city tour.
But this idiot seemed to be more interested in her than in the city.
“And you believe in this heresy… Ahem, in Mollan’s Teachings?”
“Yes. I am His loyal follower.”
“So, have you already met your destiny?”
“Not yet…”
“Then maybe today is that fateful day… Kh?!”
“H-hero ?!”
I landed on this idiot, stepping between his 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae.
“You’re right. This is that fateful day.”
“Please don’t put your feet on the Hero’s lower back… Oh?”
Crunch.
People didn’t understand this.
They realized the importance of the spine only when it was already broken.
▶ Excitement: This is so romantic…
