Eldritch

 

We finish our meal quite quickly.
Not much later someone in a butler uniform, followed by two maids, enters the room.

 

"Please follow me. I will guide you to your lodgings." (butler)

 

Okay, I guess we're going to sleep here.
The fact that I still don't know how to speak to those people causes me to be awfully quiet.

Chiaki naturally has no such aversions and pesters them with questions about how they live here and if there's anything especially important to know.

Nothing special comes up and it seems like this is truly some kind of isolated medieval society.

Only when the talk turns to the monsters of the forest do they show a bit of distress.
Apparently, there are all kinds of things.
Large beasts with giant claws, small ones which jump you like velociraptors, and even some shooting spikes.
To summarize, pretty horrific mix in an endless undergrowth.
Just what the hell did I bring into this world, or rather create on spot as this here is the origin?

It's quite hard to believe that this is their reality.
The one good point is that something seems to prevent them from leaving the forest's premises.
At least there was never a direct attack on the village.
The only times when the knights have to fight nowadays is when the "people", as they call themselves rather as a nation than how the term is usually used, need more wood to build and repair new houses and other constructions.
Also, they gather flesh for greater feasts at times.
So the knights are at least doing their job it seems.
Yet I still can't imagine how it is to live in this world where not even a sun or stars exist.

We're moving to the third floor.
Apparently, this is where most of the quarters are located.
The first floor consists mostly of facilities and storage rooms.
The second one as well, but the available rooms are also mostly occupied by the knights to not have a too long way to the courtyard.
The floors above us are for scholars and important people.

Our rooms aren't too far away from each other.
Since we're related, mum and I get accommodated in the same.

Finally, I can at least find a bit of respite without having to act in front of everyone as if everything is okay.
Yet I should talk with mum about what happened here.
And Kuri, who I just remembered is hiding within her shadow.

 

"So, this was quite the day. Eheheh." (S)

 

Uh, mum is a bit at a loss.
She certainly looks as if she is as well troubled to cope with the situation.

 

"You don't need to act like it's fine. I guess I can manage, but I, I don't know what to think." (I)

"Are you alright?" (S)

"You mean because I've created a nightmare world where people are dying since I've put and abandoned them in a place without enough food but instead with monsters who want to eat them? It's a bit overwhelming. And not in a good way." (I)

"Iori, you're absolutely not at fault for this. Yes, maybe you could have been more careful, but holding you responsible for every single stray thought? That's asking too much. No one could pull it off to always be so aware. You're still a good girl." (S)

"I honestly don't know if I'm good. Each day I think a little less so. In a game I would certainly be the final boss of the last level." (I)

"But mum is the best!" (K)

 

Yep, there's Kuri.

 

"What is most important is that you still want to do what you think is right. This is the only thing that matters." (S)

"So even if I devour worlds and kill countless people it's okay as long as I had good intentions?" (I)

"Well... Kuri?" (S)

"Mum is still the best!" (K)

"You heard her." (S)

 

So mum is at a loss regarding good advice in this situation and Kuri is programmed to love me.
Those two aren't too helpful.

 

"Honestly, I don't know about any of this. You might not believe me, but just because I'm your mother this doesn't mean I have all the answers and know how to handle reality-defying powers. But what I'm sure about is, that if you're trying not to do something bad, and give it your all, then I could never say that you're evil. And if you, with all your powers, decisively try to avoid bad things from happening, then it should be almost impossible for them to happen in the first place." (S)

 

Well, I guess this makes sense.

 

You hear this my mind?
I don't want to kill people or harm them in any other way!

 

"And now? What should I do in this situation? I really have no idea how to handle these 'people'?" (I)

"I honestly don't know. What is it that you want to do?" (S)

 

What I want, huh?
That's actually a difficult question.
I know I can't just send them out, even if this would be the easiest way to get rid of all my problems.
They certainly wouldn't lead better lives wherever that would be.
The issue is that because of this, I'm forced to keep them.
They would forever dwell in my dream world, which already has some extremely disturbing implications when I just think about it.
But how could I be able to handle a whole civilization?
And at the rate they're developing, that's what we are talking about here.
Eventually, they'll go into the thousands.
And looking back at human history the numbers aren't susceptible to go down in the long run.
I'm not fit to carry such responsibility.
But I don't want to be responsible for their suffering either.

 

"I... guess I want them to live happy lives. Or at least satisfactory ones." (I)

 

After all, happy is a big word.
If it's good enough that they think it's worthwhile to live then it should be good enough.

 

"My daughter really has a heart of gold." (S)

 

If I would have anything like this, it's rather something like a black, pulsating thing without a concrete form that makes everyone go crazy when they look at it.

 

"Mum is the best!" (K)

 

Did I neglect Kuri a bit too much?
She's extremely clingy at the moment and keen to make compliments in her own simple way.
It's not like there was a chance to introduce my demon daughter in front of all the knights.

 

"But how do I go about this? I can already see that everything I do will backfire. If I reveal myself we might have a religious war at hand. If I impersonate their god and tell them rules like, "don't kill" they might interpret it as "as long they believe in our god otherwise it's fine and recommended". And if I add new stuff to make their world more complex, they might get killed because of my insufficient safety regulations. There are so many chaotic chain reactions that might go wrong." (I)

"Wielding unlimited power isn't easy, huh?" (S)

 

No, no it isn't!
Sigh.

 

"Well, this is part of the reason why I think it's a good idea to stay for a little while. You can watch them, see how they live, and if you notice that there's something you really think you need to correct you can. It's recommended to get accustomed to something first before making decisions." (S)

 

That kinda sounds like a reasonable plan.

 

"Fine. Then we'll see tomorrow if anything comes up regarding how to handle them." (I)

 

I spend some more time patting my demon girl.
I guess she's a bit needy so I don't want to let her down.
And it's not like I have much else to do.

Did I mention that this world has no established day-night cycle yet?
Might be a good first point for my list.
One I can think about the whole time I’m, once again, just lying in my bed.