CH 83

Chapter 83 – God’s toys

–Congratulations! For killing the Cruel Spirit Tamer, you can steal up to three of his skills!

–Congratulations! You obtained the “First Step Towards the Sacred Realm” Achievement!

–Congratulations! Your level has increased!

–Congratulations! Your level has increased!

–Congratulations! Your level has increased!

***

I woke up on a bed within a room that I had never seen before.

I stared at my arm and saw that I was being given intravenous drip.

… What happened after all that?

I looked at a clock and saw that it was a bit past 10pm, so only two hours have passed since then.

My clothes were the same as what I was previously wearing.

By same, I mean the clothes that were completely tattered after being hit by a grenade blast.

There is basically nothing covering my upper body, though I suppose it’s not too embarrassing for a man’s body.

Though I also noticed some slight discomfort on my face, so I tried touching it and… Seems like I’ve lost the Coward’s Glasses.

I suppose it must have happened in the middle of the battle against the Spirit Tamer, and I only realized it now.

Mmmm… I stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of what to do next.

For now, I think I can’t stay here like this.

I roughly pulled out the intravenous drip and got up.

As expected, my body still feels heavy. It’s like I’m a car who is almost out of gas.

So food. I need food. Anything is fine, but I need to eat something.

I walked around the room, looking for something that might be nutritious, but I couldn’t find anything.

Mmmm… Without many options available to me, I reluctantly pulled out a flower from a nearby vase and started chewing on it.

It didn’t taste good, but I ignored that and kept on eating.

At that moment, I heard a voice, “What are you doing?”

I looked towards it and saw a shocked face.

There were two people who had come inside the room.

One was Oda, who had just been completely shocked by my actions.

The other was Tsuzuri, the maid girl who stayed by the Slave Master’s side.

I put the flower, that was only a stem by now, back in its vase.

“What am… What do you mean…?” I asked him.

Seeing my confusion, Oda gave me a wry smile, “At least I now know you aren’t an all-knowing and all-powerful God.”

Is that sarcasm, I wonder?

“Well, what about Iroha?” I asked them.

“She’s safe. She’s receiving intravenous nourishment, so she should be able to recover soon.” Tsuzuri calmly explained.

“Why are you here?” I asked her.

“It was master’s order. We were aware that things had started to move here, but we hesitated too much in coming. Had we taken action sooner, I might have been able to help out in the battle against the Spirit Tamer…” Tsuzuri explained.

I took a deep breath after hearing that, then turned towards Oda, “Please answer me honestly.”

“What is it?” Oda asked.

“How many died?” I asked.

“Eight.” He stated plainly.

“And injured?” I asked next.

“None. People either died instantly, or came out miraculously unharmed. Fortunately, nobody has suffered for long.” Oda answered in a sullen tone.

“I see…” I muttered.

“What? Do you feel responsible?” He asked.

“A bit.” I replied honestly.

“Then please remove the curse you put on me and Akechi.” Oda told me.

“Impossible.” I stated plainly.

“Damn it.” Oda clicked his tongue and averted his eyes, “You know, I only helped you because Akechi told me to. I was against it.”

“Is that because I threatened to order you to suicide if you tried harming me?” I asked.

“Well, there is certainly that…” Oda grumbled.

“I can’t trust you guys.” I told him honestly.

Oda let out a deep breath. He didn’t seem to want to get used to this situation either.

But well, I suppose this kind of relationship with the people here might be just fine.

“Well, you know. Akechi told me that I shouldn’t worry too much about what you’re gonna do in the future.” Oda told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, until just now, I really wanted to kill, but I have since changed my mind a bit.” Oda replied.

“Oh?” I said.

“You see, for a long while now, I thought there was some god-like being who had scattered zombies and monsters throughout this world and started laughing out loud when seeing the chaos. I thought we were this mysterious bastard’s toys.” Oda said.

A god-like being, huh? I think Mr. Norio also said something similar to that a while back.

When considering what the current state of the world is, I suppose it isn’t strange to consider the existence of a God.

“Then, when I met you, I thought you were like, a herald of this god-like being, but… I think the reality is a bit different.” Oda told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“We are not the toys of this divine being. You guys are.” Oda explained.

Mmmm… That’s one way of looking at it.

Oda turned his back to me. Seems like that was all that he had to say.

But just as he was about to leave the room, he started speaking again, “Ah, I forgot to mention it. This is a room that is for the use of the executives, but since you’re a ‘super-promising newcomer’ or a ‘superhuman’ or a ‘guardian of humanity’, you can use it however you like.”

Then, Oda gave me a cynical smile, and left the room.