The Reincarnated Extra

【Tales of the Gods 32】Conversation God Hedulg Gonelson, Reincarnation Goddess Li, Record God Melokiho-kun

* * *

The discussion between the gods of Earth and Ardyst has begun.

Souls were abducted from another world.

This is unforgivable.

They demand the safety of the abducted souls, as well as an apology and compensation.

That is a summary of the demands of the gods of Earth, led by Hikari.

“I heard that you’ve become the victim of a wicked soul poaching incident. As someone who is involved in the management of this world, I cannot ignore this, even if it happened in another world! My condolences!”

On the other hand, the stance of the gods of Ardyst was summarized in this statement made by Hedulg.

“…You say ‘poaching victim’… but you’re the ones who did it, aren’t you?”

Takanami, dumbfounded, managed to say that, but Hedulg, his lips quivering in frustration, continued to make his point in a trembling voice.

“No, that’s preposterous! That’s a big misunderstanding, Takanami-dono! The ‘35,486th Isekai Reincarnation Soul Auction in Ardyst’… The auction of the souls hunted from your world was certainly held in our Ardyst… but! That was not a business led by us. It was hosted by the multi-world company ‘Hat Heart Hunt’, which operates across worlds, and we merely provided the venue!”

“Ha…?”

“‘Hat Heart Hunt’, you must know them, right? They’re a very famous multi-world company. That’s why! We never imagined that their lower-level employees, probably, would be involved in soul poaching! Ah… how terrible!!”

“…………”

“If we had known that those souls were victims of poaching, we wouldn’t have held the auction! Oh, how frustrating! In other words, we are, in a sense, victims of the wicked poachers, as well-meaning third parties!”

With theatrical gestures, Hedulg finally frowned and held his head in his hands.

“So… what are you saying?”

To such a Hedulg.

Hikari, her voice trembling with anger… but trying to remain calm, asked.

“You’re saying that you were deceived. That you’re not to blame. Is that what you’re saying?”

The long table trembled—Katakata.

Divine power is overflowing from Hikari.

Even though she’s consciously trying to stay calm, Hikari couldn’t control her emotions.

“Don’t screw with me!!”

Hikari was furious.

“Even so, you ‘bought’ the souls of my friends… of the people of our world, didn’t you!? What do you think human lives… souls… are!?”

“Calm down, young lady.”

Hedulg, however, didn’t care about Hikari’s anger.

He made a ‘Oh’ face at Hikari’s use of the word ‘friends’, but quickly erased that expression.

He raised the corners of his mouth, smiled gently, and, while adjusting his curly mustache, calmly refuted her in a gentle voice.

“I’ll say it again, but we didn’t kill the people of your world. It was the soul poachers. We, the gods of Ardyst, bought those souls without knowing that they were illegally collected… Why should we be blamed for that… Ah, but I see, the souls of the victims were related to you, young lady. That’s… I offer my condolences again. However. As I’ve said many times, the ones who should be punished are the poachers.”

The conversation god, Hedulg’s, mouth is moving—Blah, blah, blah.

While he’s eloquently presenting his argument, if you focus on his mouth… you’ll see that he has two tongues.

Hedulg has twice the number of tongues as ordinary people, so he can talk twice as much…!

“It’s truly frustrating… I understand how you must feel! But rest assured. We won’t just stand by and watch. Now that we know that the person in charge of that auction was involved in poaching, we can’t let it go! I promise you that we will immediately organize a punitive force, led by the God of Punishment, and make that villain pay for his crimes!”

Gesturing dramatically, Hedulg’s speech heats up!

“Please wait, Hedulg-dono. We…”

Takanami tries to calmly interject, but Hedulg’s two tongues won’t stop!

“Don’t worry, Takanami-dono! Our world’s God of Punishment is outstanding! He was originally created as an angel, and his combat power is now on par with a dragon! I promise you that we will make the evil soul poacher pay for his crimes with his life! No, your assistance is not needed. This is our way of showing sincerity, hahaha! Because your ‘Earth’ is going through a lot, isn’t it? After all, you even allowed poachers to invade. Hahaha, please leave the retaliation to us, and focus on improving your security system. Do you understand? Your Earth, frankly speaking, is quite…”

BANG!!!

It was then!!

Suddenly, the long table in front of Hikari and the others shattered.

Why?

Because ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, who had been sitting on a pipe chair with his legs crossed, smiling and saying nothing, suddenly kicked the long table.

“What did you say?”

Still smiling, grinning.

But now, he’s not hiding his immense divine power… and anger, letting it flow freely.

“What did you say about ‘my’ Earth? Hmm?”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ quietly asked Hedulg.

“…………”

Hedulg’s face turned pale, and he opened and closed his mouth—Pakupaku.

He can’t speak.

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ had perfectly concealed his divinity as a super-high-ranking god.

Hedulg is an intermediate-level god.

He couldn’t see through that concealment.

He thought the other party was, at best, an intermediate-level god.

So he misjudged how to respond.

…He insulted the world belonging to a super-high-ranking god, calling it ‘an inferior world that can’t even protect its souls’.

He had done it.

SUUPANN!!

The next thing that echoed in the meeting room was the sound of something being severed.

And the sound of something heavy rolling on the floor—Gorori.

What rolled was Hedulg’s head, which had been talking so smoothly until just a moment ago.

…The Reincarnation Goddess, Li, who had remained silent and motionless with her eyes closed, had swiftly cut off Hedulg’s head with a hand chop!

“Hih…!?”

Hikari gasped at the sudden turn of events.

“That fool was terribly rude. Mighty god, may we ask for your forgiveness?”

Li, still with her eyes closed, bowed deeply.

An apology.

“…………”

Silence continued in the room for several dozen seconds.

Hedulg’s body slumped off the pipe chair.

Slowly.

The carpet turned red.

And then.

“…Well, it’s fine. We can’t make any progress like this anyway.”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ gave his permission.

“Thank you.”

Li, still bowing her head, quietly expressed her gratitude.

“Pippopo…”

Melokiho-kun let out an electronic sound, as if relieved.

“…I’m terribly sorry.”

…Hedulg also stood up slowly, picked up his fallen head, put it back on his neck, and bowed deeply.

“…Eh… EEEEEEEH…?”

Hikari, dumbfounded by Hedulg’s resurrection as if nothing had happened, opened her mouth wide and froze.

“Ehehe… You’re so young, Hikari-chan.”

Seeing Hikari’s reaction, ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’… laughed, genuinely amused this time.

* * *

Seeing the true nature of ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, the gods of Ardyst changed their attitude.

The gods of Ardyst had been thinking:

Only a few dozen souls flowed into our world.

The total amount of mana of the reincarnated souls is negligible.

We’ll pay a little compensation, and that’ll be the end of it.

And the gods of Earth probably feel the same way.

In the end, they sent this advance party just to show that they won’t be looked down upon by other worlds.

But they were mistaken.

The thoughts of the gods of Earth were different.

They probably valued the ‘lives’ that those souls had inhabited, rather than the total amount of mana of the souls.

Therefore, damage that the gods of Ardyst considered insignificant was a serious matter that the gods of Earth couldn’t overlook.

They were genuinely angry that the ‘lives’ of their world had been lost.

That’s what Hedulg, having had his head cut off once, understood.

He understood the difference in their values through personal experience.

Therefore, the negotiations proceeded smoothly from there.

Since they also understood that ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ was a god with quite a high divinity, Hedulg no longer provoked the other party like before.

Of course, the details couldn’t be decided on the spot, and the amount of compensation would be negotiated again later… but the Ardyst side accepted Earth’s values and admitted their fault.

However, difficult negotiations were still ongoing.

“Confirmation of the current situation, is it…?”

“Yes.”

Hedulg couldn’t help but frown at the request made by the young goddess from Earth… the little girl called Hikari.

This goddess Hikari is apparently related to the owners of the souls reincarnated in Ardyst, and she wants to know their current lives.

Moreover, by meeting them in person.

“That’s… not possible.”

“Why not!”

Hikari raised her voice in anger at Hedulg, who flatly refused with a bitter expression.

But Hikari is not ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’.

She’s not scary at all.

Hedulg sighed and explained the reason.

“Naturally… we can’t have a god from another world wandering around the lower world as she pleases.”

This is a matter of world defense.

Who can say that Hikari isn’t a spy from Earth, openly trying to find information for an invasion of Ardyst?

Therefore.

“However, many of the lives of the reincarnated souls are made public through ‘Isekai Reincarnation Broadcasts’. Can you check those?”

He offered that alternative.

“Who will prove that the person appearing in that ‘broadcast’ is my former friend?”

But Hikari wasn’t convinced.

“That’s… the same even if you meet them in person, isn’t it?”

“No, their souls haven’t changed their shape yet. Therefore, my divine tool can identify them… if I meet them directly.”

Saying that, Hikari took out her mobile phone-shaped divine tool.

“But… what will you do after confirming their current situation?”

“I’ll confirm whether they’re happy or not.”

“Happy?”

“They were robbed of their lives on Earth. At the very least, I want them to live happily in their next lives, don’t you think?”

Here, Takanami interjected.

“It’s also necessary information for determining the amount of compensation.”

He said.

“Hmm…”

Hedulg stroked his mustache and exhaled quietly.

It’s a claim he can’t understand.

The gods of Ardyst have already bought the souls.

Even if they were poached souls, as long as they paid the mana, those souls already belong to Ardyst.

Isn’t it Ardyst’s right to have those souls live whatever lives they want?

It’s not something that should be judged by the gods of Earth.

“That’s… interference in another world, isn’t it?”

Hedulg inadvertently muttered that, showing his discomfort.

Hikari glared at Hedulg.

In the oppressive silence, sparks flew between the gazes of the two gods…

“Then at the very least, just let me see them? I won’t say anything troublesome.”

Here.

Surprisingly, the one who made that proposal, compromising, was the god of Earth, ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, who had been silently watching the progress of the discussion.

“Eh, Yuki-sama!?”

“I understand your feelings about disliking interference from other worlds. But I want you to understand the feelings of our young one, at least a little.”

He silenced the surprised Hikari with a smile and continued.

“Even after becoming gods, there are many things we have to swallow, right? For Hikari-chan, this incident is one of them. If, by any chance, her relatives are suffering, she will make me make her swallow it. I won’t let her interfere. So, just let her see them, even from a distance… I want you to let her meet them.”

There will be no interference.

Just seeing them…

That’s the demand that ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ is making.

“But that Takanami-dono said… he would use that information as material for calculating the compensation.”

“Ah, that’s fine.”

“What!?”

Takanami, who is usually calm and collected, raised his voice in surprise at this sudden change.

On the other hand, Hedulg, touching his mustache, silently pondered.

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’s’ proposal is a significant concession.

Under those conditions… of course, measures such as limiting her divine power output will be necessary, but it’s not unacceptable to grant the request of the little girl in front of him, called Hikari.

However… he doesn’t understand.

Why did the god before him, presumably a super-high-ranking god, suddenly propose such a concession?

For the growth of the young goddess?

Is it really just that?

“How about it? Won’t you let her meet them? Her relatives… the owners of the 29 souls.”

‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ continued, speaking to Hedulg, who was unusually silent, without moving his mouth.

In response, Hedulg…

…Tilted his head.

“29… is it?”

And he turned to the Reincarnation Goddess, Li.

Then, the huge book floating behind the Reincarnation Goddess, Li, moved in front of her, opened—Pakari—and the pages flipped as if blown by the wind…

When that was over, the huge book closed—Patan—and the Reincarnation Goddess, Li, with her eyes still closed, turned to Hedulg and nodded slightly.

“Not 28?”

Then, Hedulg asked ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ that question.

“No, we have confirmed the disappearance of 29 souls from our world.”

“No, no, that’s impossible…”

In response to Takanami, who stated that fact with a puzzled face instead of ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, Hedulg also had a troubled expression.

“According to the records, the number of souls auctioned off at that auction was 28 cons. Also, as the Reincarnation Goddess, I have the authority to confirm that all of them have already been reincarnated. I declare, on my name, that this is not a lie.”

Li interjected calmly.

The Reincarnation Goddess, Li, is a high-ranking god who governs reincarnation in Ardyst.

Li had declared that, on her name.

This proved that the three gods from Ardyst who came to this negotiation weren’t hiding anything.

“In other words… what does that mean?”

Hikari was confused… and tilted her head, crossing her arms.

…As they looked at each other, ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’ gazed upon them with a gentle smile plastered on his face.

However, contrary to that smile, his eyes… were unreadable.

They were the color of the deep, deep sea… so dark and cold that no one could see through them.

Without any wind.

The hair of ‘Snow Falling on the Deep Seabed’, visible under his hood, wriggled.

Like tentacles.

——

The next chapter is Arc 28.

It will take some time before updates resume.

TL Note: Arc 28 was completed recently, I will release first chapters for it in a couple weeks.