Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"I see. So you are different from ordinary magicians. Is this an idea passed down in your family, Chitose?"

"Half of it is mine, and the other half is unique to Erise's mother."

"...Is that so? But the relationship between the two of you is really too tense. It was alright before with the Demon King around, but now that he's gone, it's become even more tense. I told you it's better to resolve this sooner rather than later, otherwise it will be troublesome if something like this happens."

"That kind of thing doesn't matter, the main reason is actually—"

Upon hearing Lucius's words, the silver-haired Chitose Masuru answered without turning her head.

"Erise Utsumi looks just like Chitose Manatsu."

"Oh, isn't that normal for grandparents and grandchildren in this regard?"

Lucius chimed in with a laugh, “There are examples of people who resemble their elders directly, even bypassing their parents, so it’s quite normal.”

Upon hearing this, Chisei, who was standing in front of Lucius, blinked, her purple eyes reflecting the starry night sky, sparkling brightly.

...Actually, if it weren't for the accident during the Holy Grail War, Eri would be considered my daughter, not my granddaughter.

That being said, Chitose first met Eri when she was four years old, and only then did she realize this. This made Chitose touch her own and Eri's cheeks. Unchanging face shape, unchanging time, herself who had studied in the Wandering Sea, herself who had used the Gate of Preservation.

……I see.

……

Time returns to the present.

Today was a very eventful day for Erise.

A single day can be filled with both enjoyable battles and conversations that are easy to forget.

But in any case, it was at least a relatively good day.

Normally, she would follow the exercise schedule she and the Demon King had agreed upon before going to sleep, but because she was so sleepy, Erise only managed to finish a set of stretching exercises. She was too lazy to even turn on the dormitory light and simply collapsed onto the bed in the dark.

then.

There was a knock on the door.

Is there a pearl? What are you doing here so late? The door wasn't locked, though...

Although she found it troublesome, Eri still lazily got up, turned on the light, and prepared to talk to Arisu. However, she found that the person who came was not Arisu, but the silver-haired young man named Novia. Therefore, she looked at the man standing by the window with a cold expression.

"...What are you doing here? I don't think Yuzhu would have gotten the room wrong."

"There are clouds in the sky here, but there's hardly any moonlight, so it's dark all the way to the shore. Be careful not to fall."

"I won't fall."

"OK."

"...Wait, you haven't answered my question yet! This isn't a place for you!"

What's this guy doing here? He's just an ordinary person with no fighting skills, and he and his Servant might become targets of my work in the future. If he really intends to do something bad, I'll probably kill him and Tiamat.

"I know."

Novia spoke, without meeting Eri's gaze.

From Erise's angle, you can't see what his expression is right now.

"It's still the same here, you can't see the sky."

I see. Are you a friend of Kuonji Temple?

Actually, even if you go up to the roof, there's not much difference. The light pollution here is extremely severe, as the Demon King himself mentioned...

Eri feels very uncomfortable whenever she thinks of that name.

From the moment she was born, she suffered torment from evil spirits. The one who taught her how to compromise with those evil spirits was not Chisui or Lucius, but the departed demon king... her teacher.

What he taught Erise was not how to handle things, but how to compromise.

He also told Eri Se to learn to let go, that no one would come to save her, and that she had to save herself. He said that God did not intentionally impose pain on her in this unfair way, but gave her wisdom so that even in this new era, she could understand the pain of others.

Is it because I don't have the Holy Grail that I'm cursed? Is it because I'm cursed that I don't have the Holy Grail?

The Demon King said that Eri only needed to forgive them and accept them, and that she would become the biological parents of the evil spirits that erupted as spiritual barriers.

Who could their parents be? The question of who the father and mother are is quite obvious, so it's not impossible...

Erise never imagined she would say such a thing in her heart. Even she thought it might just be an accident. But touching her own body temperature made her thoughts chaotic, as if the Demon King was inside her.

Therefore, Eri suddenly trembled slightly.

She wanted to cry, but couldn't. However, she could still express her discomfort now, unlike when she was four years old.

No, I can't expose my weakness to outsiders, otherwise they'll think they can take advantage of me. That's absolutely unacceptable.

So the black-haired girl took a breath and looked at Novia coldly.

"I'm very sorry, your face is not my type at all. Please move back to a radius of fifty meters from now on."

Eri didn't stop, and continued speaking.

"Look, this is a mirror, an extremely convenient everyday tool born in human civilization. I recommend you use it. Can you see it? Your face in the mirror looks like an extremely ugly fantasy. That's how I feel about your appearance. This is just my personal opinion."

That's a lie; Novia's face didn't look like that.

"Um, just one person?"

"In short, I don't want to get along with ugly fantasy species. Since you're a fantasy species, please go back to the wild and be careful. Goodbye forever, and please don't talk to me again."

Eri shook her head firmly. "To be honest, I don't like your type. Stay as far away from me as possible."

"That's it..."

Novia touched her face. "That's true."

And so, Novia left the room, and Eri Se lay back down on the bed.

These words shouldn't be enough to hurt him, right? After all, there's a very cute Servant who exudes a motherly aura. But even if they do hurt him, there's nothing he can do. This person seems to make him feel uneasy, and when people feel uneasy, they tend to develop feelings for others. No, this is absolutely forbidden.

To be honest, it's really annoying. I can't believe I like someone who looks old but likes to run away. It's the biggest failure of my life.

In a way, Eri was confessing her feelings at this moment, since she had always thought that the Demon King, who exuded a terrifying yet gentle power, must be an old man.

...If only I could bring him here again, to this room, to that darkness I look up at with him.

Let him know how good it was for you to have been with him.

But it's completely gone now.

I made a mess of everything myself.

And so, Erise, who had been lying in bed, got up and went to the bedside alone to look at the dark sky. After looking at it for a while, she lay down again.

A dreamless night.

Chapter 513 Mother, I want to eat grilled squid!

"...There is a mother here too."

Novia and Tiamat followed the gentle slope of the elevated road in Akihabara toward the bustling area filled with commercial facilities.

On the artificial beach that appears and disappears between the buildings, the parasols held up by tourists swimming in the sea resemble colorful flowers blooming in a flower bed. In the shallow sea, you can also see the colorful sails of surfboards.

The juvenile Tiamat suddenly said this.

She and Novia have been staying at the Kuonji family's house for several days now, and she has come to understand that this era is the one Novia was referring to when she was looking for her, compared to the previous era. This is because the world's ecosystem has been completely destroyed, with no possibility of rebirth. In other words, it is time for her, as a mother, to shoulder her due responsibilities for her child.

"Mother? Is there a creator mother goddess here, just like you, Tiamat?"

Novia shifted her gaze from her phone to Tiamat, who was resting her chin on her hand.

"Yes, although it's very faint, a mother's senses are very sharp..."

Tiamat straightened up slightly and placed her hands on her knees. "A long time ago, in the chaos, I was created. After the planet's environment stabilized and the ecosystem was established, the world was created, which is called creation. After that, I was placed in the imaginary world as a useless thing."

In a world where the ecosystem is established, Tiamat, which randomly assigns life forms, becomes an obstacle in the process of life forms acquiring intelligence that is consistent with this planet.

"However, as far as I know, I am quite special, Novia, because I have not seen any other creator goddesses in the imaginary space. I have always been alone there. I also know that I am only the mother of Mesopotamia, not the mother of other regions. But even so, I feel that everyone in the world is my child, whether they are gods, humans, or fantasy species."

"That's why I envy the mothers here who can be with everyone."

Tiamat leaned forward, glancing at Novia who was staring into thought, and then immediately continued, "If you're looking for her, she's looking after all the children here. She's always by their side, but... she uses a very strange method, which I can't figure out even, but she's not far from here."

There are many creation myths, or rather, many creation myths around the world, but there are very few about the existence of a Mother Goddess of Creation.

Tiamat is revered as the Mother Goddess of Creation not only because she was the first Mother Goddess of Mesopotamia and the Mother Goddess who created all the gods, but also because her body created the universe and all things, including the sun, moon, and stars. Her beloved's divinity and body created the human soul and humanity itself, hence the saying that she is the Mother Goddess of Creation.

In other regions, however, the creator goddess is practically nonexistent; if one had to name one, it would be the Hindu Shakti tradition, which believes in the great goddess Sakti.

But to some extent, Sakti is Kali and Durga, who hold power over all of India. So if she were here, Novia would not have failed to recognize her. Moreover, Kali and Durga are not the type to keep things to themselves. So what other creator god could be female?

Basically none, unless they suddenly become female, which is of course an easy thing for a creator god to change gender.

However, this did not stump Novia. Excluding the creator gods who were both male and female, she continued to think about gods who were both male and female or whose gender was unknown.

If male and female were one, then Ometeotto, the creator god of the Americas, would be one, but it would also be normal for them to be the first bacteria from the universe.

A creator god whose gender is unknown...

Thinking that this might be the answer, Novia placed her hand on Tiamat's hair: "Wow, Tiamat is amazing."

That leaves only the rather obscure and largely ignored creator goddess of Japan, Amanomichi. Since Tiamat said she's with everyone, does that mean she's the 'Holy Grail'? Is she with Mott? So, is that why Erise's mother, Izanami, was suppressed along with Tokyo?

If she is truly the Lord of Heaven, she does indeed possess such power.

Seeing Novia like this, Tiamat's eyes widened, and she felt genuinely happy, thinking that she was glad she could help Novia.

"Actually, I have many other merits that deserve praise..."

Although Tiamat is now frowning and looking serious, it's all an act. She's clearly enjoying Novia's praise, which is actually a reminder of past events—

"I'm sorry, but if it's a child, it should be the offspring born after reproductive activities."

She heard him say this when he arrived.

"...Wait a minute, that's not right. Why would life be born on a planet that can't support life and can only rely on external forces?"

He turned on some strange equipment to scan the chaotic sea. "You must be Tiamat from the Terra series, right? The planetary breeding ocean package you ordered from the Galactic branch of the Cosmic Star Hospital has been delivered. Please sign for it and show your planetary power to prove that it is the planet itself."

He spoke in a way she couldn't understand at all, as if it were perfectly natural.

Even so, his words were so fresh that they gave her an incredible sense of warmth.

Although she would treat anyone with great affection in this situation, she didn't want to dwell on it.

"What? So it wasn't... But it doesn't matter, as long as my stuff gets delivered. Starting a business is such a hassle."

He sighed, "However, how should I put it, since we already have the foundation for creation, there's really no need to buy it."

She still didn't quite understand and stared intently at him.

Perhaps sensing something in her eyes, he said, "Really? You want to become a mother?"

She nodded vigorously.

"Okay, then I hope that when you come next time, you will have become a mother as you wish."

And so, he rode the strange thing back towards the universe.

However, even when they met again, she still hadn't become a mother, since she didn't know how.

Thinking of this small incident from the past made Tiamat dance with delight, her long white sleeves billowing as she leaned against Novia's back, resting her head on his shoulder and getting even closer.

"I am very powerful because I am the Sea of ​​Origin, and also a mother."

"...No need to say more, I know, and you're also too close."

"Excuse me, is this level of patience not enough? I'll control myself."

Tiamat placed her hand on her heart. "But who are we going to see now?"

Novia brought Tiamat out for a reason; someone had invited him. It was Enma, who had come early that morning to report to Eri and Arisu that the scene had been cleaned up. Enma recognized the silver-haired youth in front of him at a glance as the Indian god Gavia!

Just as I expected, waiting five years was definitely worth it!

Therefore, Yama, filled with such excitement, gripped Novia's hand tightly. If it weren't for the large number of people present, he probably would have knelt down on the spot.

In short, Novia came because she was invited by Yama.

"The person I need to see is..."

Yama is the son of Surya, the sun god, and the brother of Vipassana, the ancestor of humankind in India. Surya is the son of Brahma. The relationship between Kavia and the Trimurti can be described as extremely close. Moreover, given the attitude of the Hindu gods, they would be willing to say that he is Kavia's child.