The Reincarnated Extra

【Tales of the Gods 31】Hikari, Takanami, Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed, and…

* * *

Negotiation scenes are really not my forte, so this took a long time.

——

“How long do we have to keep walking down this hallway?”

A certain goddess sighed, her eyebrows furrowed in boredom.

Her name is Hikari.

A modern and worldly apprentice goddess, with white hair, white eyes, and a mystical beauty, dressed in a recruit suit.

“Until we reach the ‘meeting room’.”

The one who coolly replied to Hikari was the male god in hunting clothes, walking to her right.

He’s one of Hikari’s mentors, and his name is Takanami.

“But, Takanami-sama… the receptionist certainly said that, but…”

Hikari, looking up at Takanami, pouted and argued.

“Where is this meeting room? What is this hallway? I can’t see the end of it!”

Because Hikari and the others have been walking for about two hours since they were guided down this hallway at the reception desk.

Moreover, the scenery in this hallway doesn’t change at all.

Fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

Gray carpet on the floor.

It looks like the inside of some company in modern Japan.

But there are no windows.

This uninteresting hallway continues endlessly.

It’s only natural to get irritated after being made to walk in such a place for so long…

Hikari, Takanami, and another god walking behind them.

Where are they now?

It’s not ‘Earth’, where they usually live.

From their perspective, it’s another world… the Divine Realm of a world called ‘Ardyst’.

And the reason why Hikari and the other gods of Earth are visiting the other world, Ardyst… is for negotiations.

Hikari’s former classmates from when she was a high school student.

Their souls were abducted without permission to another world.

This was revealed by the function of Hikari’s mobile phone-shaped divine tool.

Furthermore, additional investigation quickly revealed that the other world is this Ardyst.

In that case, the gods governing Earth couldn’t just stay silent.

From the gods’ point of view, it’s out of the question to just accept this.

It’s like saying, ‘Our world is inferior, and we won’t complain no matter what you do to us.’

Also, Hikari, whose classmates’ souls were taken, is one of the people involved in the incident.

In other words, her old friends were killed by this Ardyst.

In that sense too, Hikari will never forgive the gods of Ardyst.

However, even if she doesn’t want to forgive them, they can’t start a war between worlds, as the resulting damage would be too great.

So, how will they settle this?

How will they make them take responsibility?

They came to this other world, Ardyst, as an advance party to negotiate a settlement.

“…It’s like we’re being tricked. One of the youma I fought used a similar technique.”

Now, Hikari is complaining about the endless hallway, but unlike Hikari, Takanami, who doesn’t show his dissatisfaction on his face, also seems to have something on his mind, and chuckled wryly.

“Could it be that we’re being looked down on, and toyed with?”

“I don’t think so. They wouldn’t do anything disrespectful to the gods of another world they’re about to negotiate with. Moreover, we’re here as the victims.”

…There’s no interaction between Earth, where Hikari and the others live, and Ardyst.

There are no agreements like treaties in human society.

If there’s interaction between worlds, and they share resources, there are many cases where souls are exchanged…

But that’s not the case with Earth and Ardyst.

The essence of a world is a device to collect magic particles that pass through worlds.

Souls are the terminals of that device, used to capture magic particles and increase the total amount in the world.

Abducting them is an act of stealing the fruits of that world’s labor.

Therefore, according to the common sense of the gods, abducting souls from another world without permission is considered rude and despicable.

That’s why Earth is the victim this time.

Ardyst should also understand that.

“Ehehe, I see, I see! Takanami-kun… come to think of it, this is your first time negotiating with another world, isn’t it!”

Here.

Another god, who was walking behind Hikari and Takanami, making splashing sounds even though they’re not in water, and wetting the carpet in the hallway, chuckled.

That lanky god, wearing a pure white robe, is an ancient god, ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’.

He is a super-high-ranking god, a god of gods… one of the five pillars of creation on Hikari’s Earth… and the leader of the delegation.

His main body is busy with other work, so the ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ here is one of his avatars… but even against this avatar, said to be far inferior to the original, Hikari wouldn’t stand a chance, no matter how many of her there were.

He’s a transcendental being with overwhelmingly superior power… and the one who appointed Hikari and the others, who normally wouldn’t qualify to be part of an advance team to another world, because ‘they have a connection’.

By the way, his power is currently concealed to the level of ‘slightly stronger than Hikari’.

It seems that this is because if a super-high-ranking god, even an avatar, were to visit another world with his power unconcealed, it would be suspected as an act of aggression and cause unnecessary friction… but Hikari, still inexperienced, couldn’t tell if that was the truth.

“‘What do you mean by that, Yuki-sama?’”

The next line was spoken by ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ himself.

This super-high-ranking god read Takanami’s thoughts and spoke before he could ask his question.

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’… contrary to his divinity, often shows a playful side.

This is his kind of mischief.

“…is what I was about to ask.”

Takanami, whose question was stolen, opened and closed his mouth—Pakupaku—and added those words awkwardly.

“In other words, you’re measuring them by your own standards. Even humans have different ways of thinking depending on their country, right? It’s the same for gods! If the worlds are different, the way of thinking is different too! Ehehe, in that respect, Ardyst still has many humanoid gods, and it’s a world with values close to our Earth, but there are also quite a few eccentric ones. Anyway, the gods of that world are similar to us, but if you get into the details, there are many differences in our ways of thinking. Fundamentally, our jobs as gods are also different. Your main job is to destroy youma, right? Their job is to manage the world. The kind of work that we, the ‘Five Gods of Creation’ and high-ranking gods do, is extremely subdivided in Ardyst, and many gods are in charge of it.”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ cheerfully started answering Takanami’s question.

Although the latter part of his explanation started to go off-topic… ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’s’ words carry weight.

Hikari and Takanami, unconsciously captivated by his story, listened silently.

“So, what was I talking about? Ah, right, ehehe, the ‘long hallway’ thing? That just means that they’re not ready yet, that’s all.”

And that’s where the story landed.

Hikari tilted her head.

“‘What do you mean?’”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, having stolen Hikari’s question, chuckled as he saw Hikari opening and closing her mouth—Pakupaku—and started speaking again.

“In our case, we would say, ‘I’m sorry, but please wait,’ and have them wait in a waiting room, right? But Ardyst didn’t want to do that. They probably thought, ‘It’s rude to keep someone waiting.’ So, they ‘extended the hallway’.”

“Extended the hallway?”

“Yes. They’re expanding the space. And we’re walking down the hallway as instructed by the receptionist, right? We’re continuing to walk, right? That means we’re ‘not waiting’. That means it’s not rude… I don’t know if this is Ardyst’s common sense or the personal opinion of the god in charge of this negotiation, but anyway, we’re being made to walk endlessly based on that kind of thinking.”

“That’s… well.”

“It’s kind of…”

“Doesn’t make sense, does it?”

At ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’s’ words, Hikari and Takanami looked at each other and nodded with troubled expressions.

“Well, in other words. What I want to say is, let’s be open-minded. We won’t get anywhere if we get caught up in the details. But… we must not compromise on the truly important things.”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ concluded, grinning at the two gods.

Although he was smiling… his slightly bluish, deep sea-like black eyes were cold.

Why is that?

Hikari thought it was probably because he was indignant about the souls being stolen from their world, and she felt reassured by her superior, who shared her feelings.

Takanami… Takanami initially thought so too.

But for some reason, he felt that wasn’t the only reason… but he couldn’t think of any other reason, so he quickly dismissed the thought.

* * *

In the end, it was an hour later that Hikari and the others arrived at the meeting room.

“Fuu…”

Standing before the door, with its frosted glass, just like you’d see in modern Japan, Hikari slowly exhaled.

Hikari’s job is to destroy youma that threaten Earth.

Furthermore, before becoming a apprentice goddess, she was just a high school girl.

She was chosen as a member of the advance team thanks to ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’s’ recommendation, but she has no experience in negotiations.

She was so nervous that her palms were sweating.

“Ehehe, relax!”

“Huh!?”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, reaching out from behind, grabbed Hikari’s cheeks and pulled them—Muni, muni.

And then—

“I’m with you this time. Don’t worry, just do as you think.”

He whispered gently.

“…Yes!”

Hikari, strangely energized and her nervousness relieved by those words, turned the doorknob after knocking, and energetically opened the meeting room door!

And then, what jumped into Hikari’s eyes next… was the sight of an ordinary meeting room, just like you’d see in modern Japan.

The same carpet as the hallway is laid on the floor… and several long tables are placed together in the center of the small room, forming a square island.

“Oh… welcome to all of you who have come all this way, people of Earth!”

Here, a god sitting on a pipe chair next to the long table stood up and greeted Hikari and the others as they entered the meeting room.

It was a large, fat male god, with a distinctive swirling mustache and slightly pointed ears.

He’s wearing a vest and a dress shirt underneath, but both are too small for him, and the buttons look like they’re about to pop.

A tail with a black, elongated, arrowhead-like tip extends from his rear and sways.

“My name is Hedulg Gonelson! I’m the God of Conversation, and I’ve been entrusted with welcoming you. I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival!”

Hedulg said that in a clear voice, with a friendly smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Hikari.”

“I’m Takanami.”

Hikari and Takanami smiled and bowed slightly.

They weren’t convinced by the phrase ‘eagerly awaiting’, after being made to walk so much, but they decided to ignore it.

They thought it was probably just a figure of speech.

“Now, everyone, how do you like this room? We’ve decorated it to match Earth’s current cultural style so that you can feel at ease. I’m glad if you like it! After all, our Ardyst human society has already experienced a similar cultural form to this stage. It was easy to reproduce!”

However, hearing Hedulg’s next words, said while laughing and shaking his belly, even Hikari realized that he was blatantly asserting his superiority over them.

Hedulg had said that Earth’s modern civilization is a ‘thing of the past’ in their world.

In other words, ‘we are more advanced than you’.

While maintaining a friendly atmosphere, he’s clearly looking down on them.

It might be because he judges the apprentice goddess Hikari and ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, who is suppressing his power and hiding his divinity to avoid unnecessary intimidation, as inferior, or it might be due to Hedulg’s inherent nature.

…Either way, it’s not pleasant.

Hikari’s smile involuntarily turned into a frown.

Hedulg, clearly noticing Hikari’s change in expression, but not paying it any mind… was waiting for ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ to greet him… but since the god in the white hood was just grinning and not saying anything, he cleared his throat and started introducing the goddess floating to his left.

“Well… This is the Reincarnation Goddess, Li. She is one of the High-Ranking Gods of our world, and governs the cycle of life and death, the reincarnation of souls, and so on.”

The goddess, introduced as such, didn’t look at Hikari and the others… or rather, she kept her eyes closed, put one hand on her chest, and bowed slightly without saying a word.

The Reincarnation Goddess, Li, is wearing something like a white dress, with intricate embroidery resembling quietly burning flames, and is always floating, barefoot.

Her smooth hair, reaching her waist, is quite colorful… shining in rainbow colors.

And behind her, a huge, ancient book is floating, about the size of her upper body.

The reason one can describe the book floating behind her… is because the Reincarnation Goddess, Li’s body is translucent.

“And this is the Record God, Melokiho-kun. He will record every word of this discussion without error.”

The next one Hedulg introduced was… a toy-like robot, about 50cm tall, placed on the long table.

The rectangular prism-shaped robot has crescent-shaped arms on its sides, caterpillar tracks instead of legs, and an antenna on its head.

And some kind of instruments and speakers are arranged on the upper front of its body, as if imitating a smile.

“Pippopo! Pippopo!”

…It seems that it can also speak from those speakers.

Melokiho-kun, cheerfully waving its arms, emitted high-pitched electronic sounds, as if singing.

“With that, the three of us will participate in this discussion. Well, hahaha! I look forward to a fruitful discussion!”

Hedulg, having finished the introductions, chuckled happily and sat down on the pipe chair with a pompous thud.

Hikari and the others also sat down on their respective chairs, facing Hedulg and the others across the long table.

…Earth versus Ardyst.

The negotiations begin.

——

【Earth】

The name of the world Hikari and the others live in.

A world similar, but different, from “Earth”, where we live.

It’s being attacked by youma (demonic entities).

【Ardyst】

The world Hikari’s former classmates were reincarnated into.

Although somewhat limited, the gods’ interference is stronger than on Earth.

It’s a rather rough and loose world.