Dual Cultivation

Ryouma left the Great Forest of Shurus, and went back to Gimuru. Upon arrival, he spent most of his time studying and researching the inheritance he received from his grandmother. There, a life of rest and games with his magical beasts began.

At a day like that, the gods opened a feast in the divine realm with Ryouma.

“More wine! Don’t hold back! Just drink and drink!” [Tekun]

“Tekun, aren’t you drinking too much?” [Rurutia]

“Isn’t it fine? I won’t get drunk. Instead, why don’t you tell that to Gayn?” [Tekun]

“Mn~? I’m not drunk, you know~?” [Gayn]

“You are!” [Tekun & Rurutia]

“He is drunk, right?” [Rurutia]

“He’s drunk… completely. Ryouma’s cooking and snacks are delicious, so we’ve been drinking nonstop~. But really… this liquor here is the sacred wine, so drinking lots probably can’t be helped… It’s great that the cooking matches it though. Ah, do you have any more of this Japanese-style Hamburger?” [Tekun]

“There is. The meat was cheap, so I bought lots and made lots. Please feel free to eat as much as you want.” [Ryouma]

This feast is something that became common practice after Ryouma received the treatment for the demon king’s influence and around the time when Ryouma started receiving pointes from Tekun on how to make his staff.

At the start, Ryouma was wondering whether or not he could find a way to thank Gayn, Tekun, and co. for helping him out, so he filled the magic tool box that he got from his grandparents with cooking, and then entered the divine realm.

But before the food comes wine. And when there’s food and wine, then it’s a feast. Said the God of Wine, Tekun, who was also naturally a wine aficionado. It only took him a moment to prepare the liquor and the place.

As Rurutia enjoyed the sweets back in Earth, it could be seen that the taste of the gods and the humans aren’t that much different. Because of that even the gods that were lacking in pleasure enjoyed the feast. And since the gods seemed to be happy, Ryouma brought food again the next time he came. And again, and again… That repetition continued for some time until it finally became common practice amongst them.

The gods that took part in the feast were generally the four gods, Gain, Kufo, Rurutia, and Tekun, along with Ryouma. But after holding the feast a few more times, other gods started participating as well. For example, the God of War from before joined. And even the God of Magic. After that, even the husband and wife, the God of Farming and the God of the Land, joined.

At the start, Ryouma was at a loss when the gods he knew started to increase. But lately he’s gotten used to it.

And today, a god Ryouma hadn’t met yet, showed up.

“Hey.” [Tekun]

“Oh my.” [Rurutia]

“Why are you here?” [Kufo]

“Well, that’s unusual.” [Gayn]

Muttered the gods as the they looked behind Ryouma. A moment later, Ryouma turned around. What entered his vision was the face of a young girl. Their eyes met.

“Eh!?” [Ryouma]

When Ryouma noticed that the girl was point-blank him, he took a step back, but the girl only continued to stare at Ryouma without saying a word.

When Ryouma had taken some distance, he saw the full body of the girl standing there in front of him. Ryouma thought the girl to be cute, but emotionless. The girl almost seemed robot-like with that deadpan face of hers.

The girl looked to be below 10. Her straight, silver hair extended past her waist all the way to her knees. Clad in a dress black as the dead of the night, the girl released a mysterious, overwhelming pressure. Ryouma and the girl continued to look each other in the eye wordlessly.

“If this keeps up, we’ll end up wasting time. Ryouma-kun, that child’s name is Meltrize. She is a god just like us.” [Gayn]

“Pretty rare, eh? For you to show up.” [Tekun]

“I was interested.” [Meltrize]

The little girl responded to Tekun’s inquiry with only a few words as she continued to stare at Ryouma. Ryouma was bewildered at the girl’s behavior, but he decided to introduce himself anyway.

“Greetings, my name is Ryouma Takebayashi.” [Ryouma]

“I know who you are.” [Meltrize]

Said Meltrize with an expressionless face.

“My name is Meltrize. I am the God of Death and Sleep. It’s a pleasure.” [Meltrize]

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Meltrize-sama.” [Ryouma]

“Meltrize is fine. Rather than that, I want to hear you sing.” [Meltrize]

“…Sing?” [Ryouma]

While Ryouma was surprised by the sudden request, Tekun stood up.

“Oh? Missy, you wanted to hear a song? If that’s the case, then I can sing enka–.“ [Tekun]

“No need.” [Meltrize]

“Ok…” [Tekun]

Tekun’s proposal was flatly rejected, so he had no choice but to dejectedly sit back down. Tekun came to like Earth’s enka, so he started enjoying singing it during the banquet.

“What I want to hear is the song that you sing during the night.” [Meltrize]

Hearing that, Ryouma finally understood what it was that Meltrize wanted to hear. But at the same time, he was troubled.

“Could it be you’re referring to the Cursed Song?” [Ryouma]

“Right.” [Meltrize]

“That song’s a bit…” [Ryouma]

When Ryouma got back to Gimuru, he sometimes practiced the song in the abandoned mine. But despite that, he wasn’t able to control the Cursed Song once.

“There’s no need to worry. We’re all gods here. Your magic won’t harm us.” [Meltrize]

“Then in that case…” [Ryouma]

With those words, Ryouma’s fears were swept away. He took out his guitar from the Item Box, and he began to sing.

“Then… One song.” [Ryouma]

“Sing, sing!” [Tekun]

“Hyu! Hyu!” [Kufo]

While Tekun and Kufo were egging Ryouma on, Ryouma sang the Cursed Song. They were still having a banquet, so Ryouma chose a quiet, but warm song. The effect was lessened, but it’s not like the Cursed Song can’t be used unless the song’s depressing.

And just as one would expect, even Tekun and Kufo kept quiet when the song began. They all quietly enjoyed Ryouma’s performance.

When Ryouma finished singing, the gods broke out in an applause. All but Meltrize who only approached Ryouma.

“Was my performance able to satisfy the young miss?” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma jokingly asked that as if he were a gentleman, a sinister and vigorous black smoke erupted from Meltrize’s, which wrapped itself around Ryouma.

“What are you–!?” [Ryouma]

Just as Ryouma thought he had offended the god, a black smoke appeared, and Ryouma began to struggle. But then, Rurutia’s voice reached his ears.

“It’s alright, Ryouma-kun! She is only giving you her divine protection; it won’t hurt you!” [Rurutia]

“Divine protection!?” [Ryouma]

Hearing that, Ryouma finally noticed that neither the black smoke nor Meltrize held any ill will. Ryouma has the divine protection of Kufo, so he should be able to tell whether Meltrize wishes to harm him or not.

“But… divine protection? I’m grateful, but why me again?” [Ryouma]

Ryouma’s question was answered by Tekun.

“There doesn’t have to be a reason for us to give a divine protection, you know? She pretty much just came to like you, so she’s give you her divine protection. It’s the same even for the slimes. If I like one, I’ll give it my divine protection.” [Tekun]

“But you actually did give my drunk slime your divine protection.” [Ryouma]

“I thought it was pretty strange seeing a slime who actually enjoyed to drink, but when I saw it evolve, and saw it become able to make alcohol. I thought, well isn’t this amusing? That little girl over there is the same. She’s giving you her divine protection because she likes your song.” [Tekun]

Hearing that, Ryouma looked at Meltrize. When he did, Meltrize nodded wordlessly, then she began explaining.

“That song… I don’t hate it. The sound is filled with magic power and is relaxing.” [Meltrize]

Ryouma didn’t know whether the song being relaxing had anything to do with the sound being filled with magic power. Meltrize realized Ryouma’s confusion, so she tried explaining.

“…I am the god of sleep and death, so I feel most at home at places where there’s plenty of dark attribute magic power. Your Cursed Song spreads dark magic power in the area. And the area affected by that magic power is comfortable to me. There are many people better than you when it comes to playing the guitar and singing, but there’s no one else who can sing a song as comfortable as you.” [Meltrize]

“So that’s how it is…” [Ryouma]

Ryouma wasn’t able to understand to what extent it was pleasurable, but he did understand what Meltrize was trying to say.

After that, Meltrize joined the banquet. As she ate, she began to teach Ryouma the details of the divine protection of the death god.

“My divine protection will make the usage of dark attribute magic power somewhat easier. So as long as you put in the effort, you should be able to control the Cursed Song. Also, although it’s really just a little bit, but you should also gain resistance against curses and dark magic.” [Meltrize]

Hearing that, Ryouma, who had little resistance toward curses, was elated. So he figured he could at least bring out more food, and sing as a form of appreciation.

And this is going somewhat off topic, but this is Meltrize’s first time joining the banquet, so he didn’t know what she liked. To remedy that, Ryouma had everyone taste all the food in the banquet, and he found out that Meltrize enjoyed food like pepperoncino which had strong sharp taste.

He also found out that contrary to her appearance, Meltrize actually liked to drink.

It was in this way that Ryouma enjoyed his time with the gods. Until finally, the time for the banquet to end came.

“Oops, guess it’s time.” [Tekun]

Said Tekun as he looked at Ryouma. A bead of light had already began to shine around Ryouma due to the time limit being reached. As this is something that everyone had already gotten used to, it’s now being used as a sign to end the banquet.

From there on, Ryouma began to quickly clean everything up as he put everything back into his box.

“Then… next time again.” [Ryouma]

“The next one’s two weeks from now.” [Rurutia]

“You’ve already managed to do the basics of making a staff, so next time, depending on your progress, I’ll teach you the next step.” [Tekun]

“Don’t push yourself too much~” [Gayn]

“Let’s meet again.” [Meltrize]

“It’s hard, but do your best.” [Kufo]

Like this, the banquet for the day ended, and Ryouma left the divine realm.

After Ryouma had left the divine realm, a heavy atmosphere unlike that of a while ago filled the presence of the gods. Even Gayn who was acting a little drunk just a moment ago was suddenly sober. Amongst that group of gods, the one who spoke was Kufo.

“Well then… I guess the break’s over.” [Kufo]

“Right. It’s going to become busy again… But it’s still good since he Ryouma found that thing while it was still in that stage.” [Rurutia]

“True… It’s embarrassing as a god, but not one of us was able to notice the fragment left behind by the demon king. We would have probably fallen behind if Ryouma hadn’t found it, so our work’s actually been reduced a lot as we’re able to deal with it before it turned into a disaster.” [Tekun]

“It’s been such a long time since we were this busy… I hate this sort of busyness.” [Rurutia]

“That’s because there’s nothing fun about working ourselves to the bone looking for the hidden fragments of the demon king.” [Gayn]

The other gods nodded to Gayn’s words, showing their agreement. Ever since Ryouma found the magic gem that housed the fragment of the demon king, the world of the gods has been buzzing in busyness.

Even if it is true that the demon king’s fragment that Ryouma found was well hidden, it still doesn’t change the fact that the ones responsible for governing this world are the gods. Which means to say that the gods were negligent. So it’s only a given that they would start working to find a solution as soon as they found out about the matter.

If it were a human they were dealing with, they would have been able to settle the issue immediately. But the opponent right now is a demon king. Although rotten, it’s still a former god. Finding the fragment is difficult even with the power of god. It takes a lot of time and effort to find, making the work a chore. The gods’ bodies may not be capable of breaking apart, but they do still accumulate stress and fatigue. So in order to restore their energies, they have a banquet whenever Ryouma comes.

However, they did not explain to Ryouma about that part. All they said was, “We’re trying to see if there’re any more fragments,” keeping any information under wraps. And because Gayn and the others were too busy except during the banquet, they decided to exchange information after the banquet before going back home.

“Speaking of which, what’s going to happen to Ryouma? You’ve been letting him drink some of the god’s wine that’s been diluted with normal wine, right?” [Tekun]

“The influence of the demon king sometimes comes out, but I don’t think it’ll get any worse than this. As for the sacred wine, he’s only drinking enough to contain the strength of the demon king, so there shouldn’t be any other effects.” [Gayn]

“With the sacred wine as treatment, we should be able to keep most of the harm to Ryouma in check, right?” [Rurutia]

“Well, he has gotten better, right? Besides, it’s better than completely sealing it up. If we were to completely seal it up, then Ryouma’s soul would also have to be sealed… That would be putting the cart before the horse.” [Gayn]

“Even a moment of sealing would cause a person to become crippled after all.” [Rurutia]

Hearing that, Meltrize, who had just met Ryouma today, was shocked. But with her unsociable expression and unchanging tone, that shock was by no means visible from the surface.

“Was that fragment that strong? I heard he hadn’t spent much time with the fragment.” [Meltrize]

“…A normal person wouldn’t be affected as much, but if it’s Ryouma we’re talking about, then the situation is a bit different. I talked to you about Ryouma’s previous life when I woke you up, right?” [Gayn]

“You did. It is visibly strange.” [Meltrize]

“Umu. I’ll leave it at that for now, but because of that world’s god pulling strings, Ryouma’s soul has become able to easily absorb the power of gods. We’ve managed to treat it for now, so it’s safe now, but the demon king’s power did begin to influence Ryouma’ soul. It will take some time before Ryouma fully recovers, but we can only call it fortunate that we didn’t find out before it was too late.” [Gayn]

“Also, Fer Noevir mentioned that he might have figured out a hint from that case regarding the abnormality of the recent otherworlders.” [Rurutia]

Tekun reacted to Rurutia’s words.

“What? I didn’t hear anything about that.” [Tekun]

“Oh? Maybe it’s because you went ahead that time? Well it’s a separate issue from the demon fragment, and there’s no proof either, so we probably forgot to inform you.” [Rurutia]

“So what did he say?” [Tekun]

“Isn’t that the reason why we were sometimes unable to predict the grow of the otherworlders that were sent to our world, is what he said.” [Rurutia]

“So the god from the other world is doing something to the people being sent here?” [Tekun]

“Well, it’s not impossible. We already know after all that that god has changed the destiny of many people already. It wouldn’t be strange if some of those people were to come to this world.” [Gayn]

“But why would he do that?” [Meltrize]

The gods fell into deep thought at Meltrize’s question. In the end, Gayn said this,

“I don’t know. The god from Earth is a level above us. Moreover, there’s no merit in him attacking other worlds as his own world is safe… There were some otherworlders that caused disasters, but there were also those that benefited our world. So I can’t think of his actions as an invasion.

Moreover, there were also people that lived ordinary lives until the end. I can’t think of any reason for him to be doing this on purpose. As of now, the most I can say is that it’s a coincidence.” [Gayn]

“And while there might be many gods who don’t interfere with gods of other worlds, there aren’t many who would willingly give the magic power of their world to another god’s. Because of that we can’t afford to pursue the matter, lest risk angering the god of earth, and losing a source of magic power for this world. Which would then greatly affect this world’s vitality…” [Rurutia]

“When that happens, the world might not be destroyed, but a lot of problems will certainly come up… Wait a moment, this.. and even that too! Isn’t everything the fault of that demon king!?” [Kufo]

“I can’t say everything, but it is true that this world was invaded, and that the magic power became easily exhaustible. If it weren’t for that demon king, we wouldn’t have had to borrow power from the god of earth. But saying that now won’t change anything. Right now, what we have to do is decide on how to solve the problem.” [Gayn]

“Then… should we start the operation now?” [Tekun]

“Umu. Let’s go look for the fragments of the demon king. As for me, I’ll go check up on the others that couldn’t come to me, and then I’ll go back to my own search.” [Gayn]

As Gayn said that, he vanished from that place.

“I’ll go back too.” [Meltrize]

“Don’t forget to contact me when you find a fragment. Also, come to the next banquet too, alright, missy?” [Tekun]

“Sure.” [Meltrize]

“How unusual. Not only did the sleepyhead Meltrize wake up, but she’s also actually going out do something.” [Kufo]

“Pepperoncini… was delicious. Also… I’m not a sleepyhead, I’m the god of sleep.” [Meltrize]

“You realize that in the mortal word’s time, you slept 500 years straight until you actually had to deal with this recent matter, right? Isn’t that plenty to qualify you as a sleepyhead?” [Kufo]

“…I’m going home.” [Meltrize]

As Meltrize said those words which, although her face remained expressionless and the tone normal, seemed to carry a hint of dissatisfaction, she vanished.

After that Kufo, Rurutia, Tekun, also disappeared one after another. And they all busied themselves, searching for the demon king’s fragments until the next time when Ryouma comes to visit again.

TL Note: Meltrize is pronounced mel-tree-ze. The ze is like the ze from zen. Also, extra chappie tomorrow.