Tale of Discovery

Knowing that I shouldn't waste any time, I mentally instruct AI to release the stopped time everywhere before inquiring about the time-key.

However, it was Irene that responded to my mental message instead of AI.

{Father should will for the key to appear.}

Acting upon her vague response, I focus on the words "time-key" in my mind as I imagine a key appearing in front of me.

Contrary to my expectations, instead of a detailed and complex-looking key, a simple old-looking key the size of my arm appears in the air in front of me.

It seemed to have happened in a single instant, as I was simply unable to sense it appear, but could only do so once it was there.

Expectedly, this shocks the two girls, as Nao warily steps back, while Shinoa squints her eyes as she watches the key with interest.

Unfortunately, other than the key's shape, I can't make out anything else, so I can't be sure whether there are some properties I am missing or not.

{Would Father like to activate the Time-Key now?}

Yes.

{Affirmative.}

Following her voice, I feel a slight tingling sensation against my skin as the key in front of me starts spinning at a slow pace while gradually picking up speed with each passing second.

Shortly, the key is spinning at a rate so fast that my senses can't make it out anymore, but that doesn't last for long, as it suddenly seems to disappear and gets replaced by a small floating orb.

{Time-Key initiation complete.}

"That's it?" I mutter as I sense a slight disturbance in the fissure behind me.

Honestly, I was expecting something grander…

"What was that?" Nao asks dubiously after a brief moment of silence.

"Nothing of importance," I respond while pointing at the newly-formed orb, "It's just that thing that caused a little ruckus upon activation."

"But, what is this thing?" Shinoa interjects, "A moment ago, it was a giant key, but now…"

"Well, this is something that I would rather explain once we've all settled down, alright?"

To this, the two girls both remain silent, perhaps as a gesture of affirmation.

--

"Finally done changing?" I say with a smile as Nao walks into the kitchen after having changed out of her pajamas. Her current clothes are ones that I created a few minutes ago.

My ability to use Creation remains mostly unaffected by my loss of sight, as I can 'see' the things in the database without any issue, allowing me to continue creating things the same way I've been doing until now.

Anyway, currently, I am sitting at the dining table along with Shinoa. She asked me a few basic questions, such as how much time has passed for me and Nao since we last 'saw' her, to which I responded by saying 'a few months'.

Despite having been told that time would be frozen here, Shinoa still found it a little surprising when it actually happened. I suppose that has something to do with her subconscious…

Aside from that, she also questioned my appearance, which I found a little challenging to explain.

In the end, I resorted to, "Whenever I go from a world to another, my appearance changes, unless I have been to that world before."

It's not correct, but not exactly wrong either. After all, that's how it has been up until now. So, simply put, it's the truth until proven otherwise.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Nao's voice resounds within my ears as she walks over to the table and takes a seat.

"Well, for starters, how about we go visit your brother tomorrow?" I suggest with a small smile.

"Sure," she responds in a cool tone, but I sense a small hint of anticipation in it as well.

"And after that?" Nao continues.

"Well, I will see if there are any issues in this Platform before accessing the 'game'."

"Game?" Shinoa asks in an intrigued manner.

"That's right," I respond, "From other people's point of view, I will be sitting in place without any emotion, but in reality, I will be playing a 'game' spiritually."

"What's this game and why will you play it?" she asks as her interest seems to grow.

"I'm not sure what the game is, but 'completing' it will solve a huge problem I am currently facing."

"I see," she utters.

"Are you not going to visit your brother?" Nao suddenly asks.

"Shunsuke? Why would I?"

"Because he is your brother?" she responds with an expression that seems to say 'what are you even asking'.

"I feel no connection with that guy, that's all," I respond nonchalantly.

It's the truth. I simply don't see the guy as my brother. Heck, I doubt we're even 'related' considering what my current body is.

"Hey… I just noticed this, but can you not see anymore?" Shinoa remarks suspiciously.

Ah… I guess, no matter how hard I try to act like normal, it would be apparent that something is off about me, huh?

"How did you notice?" I ask curiously.

"Well, when you spoke to someone in the past, you would always be looking them in the eye, but now…"

Ah, she has a point. She must've mistaken my actions of attempting to read others' intentions as me asserting dominance by looking them in the eyes.

Since I rely on my senses now, there has been no need for me to look anyone in the eyes, which is exactly what has made her suspect something.

"Wait, is she right?" Nao questions as she gazes at my face intently.

"Yeah," I respond with a shrug, "It happened not too long ago. I used my Plunder ability to steal a power that resulted in me losing my sight."

"To think such a thing was possible," Nao lowers her head and mutters before shaking her head and asking, "Does that mean you can't use it anymore?"

"That's right," I reply, "But it's only temporary. I will regain my sight, but I am not sure when exactly that will happen."

---

Waking up early morning, I get up from the futon I had created last night since Shinoa and Nao slept on the ones that were already here.

I make my way to the bath and once inside, I close the door and lock it before destroying my current clothes.

Following this, I proceed to open the water tap telekinetically as I position my back against a wall as I wait for the bathtub to get filled.

Hey, Irene, how sensitive is the Time-Key? As in, what exactly being done to it would result in it malfunctioning?

{As a reference to Father's current knowledge, an entity with a threat level of two toward Father would be able to disable the Time-Key.}

Two… So, a Binary Factor?

{Not necessarily.}

Say… this threat level is relevant to my current capabilities, right?

{Affirmative.}

Would the 'game' I will be playing result in any changes in that regard?

{Affirmative.}

That's good. In that case, I won't simply be wasting time in the 'game' until I get to the main objective. That would've been horrible…

Setting that aside, I should get someone to defend the Time-Key while I am in the 'game'.

As for who… it should be obvious.

Shaking my head, I detach my back from the wall and approach the bathtub that's now almost filled with water.

I stretch my body a little before raising my leg and then lowering it into the bathtub.

Perhaps it is another one of this body's weird properties, but I sense that the water is neither cold nor hot against my skin, but I know that it is hot. It's weird to put into words, but I know without feeling it.

Pushing such thoughts to the back of my head, I proceed to get in the bathtub completely as I sit with my back against one end of the bathtub and my feet against the other end.

I take a moment to relax before focusing on the empty space in the middle of the bath and make use of the summoning function of Norse Magic while focusing on the image of Jeanne within my head.

Following this, a barely perceptible amount of energy escapes from my body and moves toward where I had focused my sense at. The amount of energy is so minuscule that I doubt I would've noticed it had I not been using my senses to such an extent, now that I am temporarily blind.

The next moment, I am startled by an odd reaction from where the energy came to a halt as some other energy seemingly appears out of thin air and begins to mix up with the one that left my body.

A few seconds later, the energy begins expanding and takes the form of a lady before it begins changing in a much finer manner internally, forming Jeanne's insides.

Frankly, the whole process is mesmerizing to sense, but it doesn't last for long, as a few seconds later, Jeanne's firm voice resounds within my ears as the figure kneels down, "My Lord!"

"Relax," I say nonchalantly, "This is another world. One that I had been to a while ago. Aside from me, Nao is also here."

"Yes," she responds firmly before seeming to realize something as she repeats in a much softer tone, "Yes."

This is not what I meant by saying relax… Oh well. No harm was done anyway.

"Also, sorry for summoning you in such an… obscure location," I say somewhat guiltily.

"Not at all!" Jeanne exclaims with vigor as she gets up from the ground and clenches her hands into fists, "I shall serve My Lord whenever and wherever. All of me belongs to My Lord."

Toward the end of her statement, there was undisguised reverence, causing me to release a small sigh and say, "I'm glad that you feel this way. Now then, I will tell you about your 'mission' here, in other words, the reason I have summoned you."

"Yes," she responds serenely.