Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Therefore, when Novia heard Tiamat ask such a question, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, intending to tease the young Tiamat.

"My child's child."

"...Huh? The child's child? Novia, you mean, the grandson?"

"Correct."

“…Wh, what?”

This answer must have been completely unexpected for Tiamat, and her expression froze.

This might be the first time Tiamat has shown such an embarrassed and surprised expression since she met Novia.

Grandson? Could it be Enki?! That naughty kid??

Tiamat seemed unable to suppress her burgeoning curiosity.

"Even gods couldn't easily manifest themselves in this world, right? Even if they could, perhaps they shouldn't have been able to find it so easily—"

How could Tiamat immediately recognize that the Yama who came in the morning was the Indian god of death, Yama? His spiritual origin and authority had all disappeared, making him difficult to identify. But upon closer inspection, he is, after all, the creator goddess.

Novia, not expecting her joke to be seen through so easily, honestly replied:

"Although it doesn't count normally, he probably wouldn't deny it if I said so."

"...Yes, that's right too."

Tiamat's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. She covered her mouth with her hand, lowered her head, and replied softly, "Although I will be on my guard, I will still treat you well."

"The present world should have come from that global Holy Grail War that created a new era. It was a large-scale war in which gods from various regions participated."

"real or fake?"

If Enki is here, will Little Ma come too?

"Really, haha, you're so surprised to see Tiamat, it was worth telling you about this."

Tiamat immediately gave an awkward, wry smile, sensing that something was amiss.

"But is this really okay...?"

"It's fine."

"How about we wander around a bit more before we go wait?"

“We’re not here to go shopping, Tiamat.”

For a while afterward, Tiamat remained silent, as if she were in a situation where a high school student was caught playing on her phone at night by the head of the grade and then waited for the homeroom teacher... However, when Novia took her around the bustling shopping street, she had completely returned to her usual attitude and became happy again.

The shopping street was bustling with people in the afternoon. The mouthwatering aroma of spices wafted from the food carts, and street performers attracted a thick wall of people. Novia, who had originally intended to sit and wait for Yama, looked at Tiamat who was looking around and then led her into the Akihabara Department Store under the railway viaduct.

It was a street lined with countless small shops selling magic supplies. In the past, it was a place that sold electronic products, and the name Akihabara Department Store was just a code word among them at the time.

In the new era, people obtained highly practical Command Seals and began to learn magic, sharing information with each other and establishing a unique magic culture.

To orthodox magicians, these are nothing more than laughable, ridiculous, and banned amateur activities. However, the Holy Grail and the city management AI allow these activities to exist. On the surface, they are just local specialty shops catering to tourists, but in reality, they sell strange-looking amulets, cursed items, and decorative items to be displayed in rooms.

Among these items, there are some that can actually exert a slight effect as long as the user consumes a Command Seal. These items can be said to be like a door, which can determine the direction and nature of the magical power manifested by the Command Seal.

As you enter the maze-like depths of the department store, the surroundings change dramatically, and even the customers seem a bit eerie.

The most outrageous of these are the shops run by Caster-class Servants. They sell unique items that they made from scratch or cursed items that have been adjusted and corrected from existing items at extremely high prices.

As she walked, Novia noticed that Tiamat's steps seemed to have stopped, or more specifically, her forehead bumped into something, and she staggered.

"It hurts, it hurts so much here..."

"There are walls here, and neither Servants nor humans are allowed to enter without permission."

Novia remembers this place; she and Erise came here to buy things five years ago.

"Hey? What's wrong with this family's child? Why are they being guarded so closely? I'll be very sad, Mom."

"This place sells ancient relics, artifacts, and tomb raiding items—it's a shop that specializes in selling relics."

"Clothes?"

"No, it's a medium for summoning."

In other words, this shop specializes in buying items that can be used as mediums for summoning and then selling them to customers. The shop was run by an elderly magic supplies buyer and a Heroic Spirit who was known as a wealthy merchant in the old human history. At that time, Eri was with the Demon King and had not given up on summoning Servants. She would come to buy them whenever she saved up some wages.

Tiamat's eyes lit up after hearing this.

"Wouldn't that mean there are many children from different regions inside?"

"Do you want to come in?"

Although the shopkeeper wouldn't just let Tiamat, a Servant, look at the goods, Novia knew that the other party was also a businessman, and if the negotiation went well, the situation could easily change.

"It's such a shame that I can't help you take care of the child, Novia."

"……Um?"

Tiamat said something that sounded very strange to Novia, which confused him for a moment.

"Because Novia, didn't you want to see the children? There are many children here, all over the world. If you miss them, you'll have to see them one by one."

Upon hearing this, Novia nodded with an extremely ambiguous attitude, while Tiamat looked at him with a somewhat serious expression and said, "Hey, Novia... did you just give me that 'Oh, there's another way' look? You definitely did, you can't hide it from me."

"There is indeed another way..."

"Novia said, holding Tiamat's hand."

The infant Tiamat's hands were so small and delicate that anyone who saw them would think he was taking care of a child.

"Novia is such a simpleton. You were just lecturing me, saying we weren't here to go shopping. Honestly."

"...I'm very sorry."

Just as the two were about to leave to wait for Yama, a small screen outside the shop was playing a video at a very loud volume. It was then that Novia noticed that there seemed to be a faint barking sound coming from inside the shop.

Novia treated it as a regular advertisement and didn't pay much attention, but Tiamat seemed to have noticed something, her puzzled gaze following the movement of the image.

“…Isn’t that Eri? Hmm, she’s very cute.”

The image on the screen was of Eri Sei, the silver-haired girl, defeating Karna to win the Shinjuku championship in the Holy Grail tournament a few years ago. Novia was surprised that even after so many years, it was still being played on repeat.

Novia also understood what Tiamat was trying to say: why was Eri from the Kuonji family acting so strangely?

Novia, upon returning, naturally understood this perfectly. The Eri from Tunguska was not the current Eri. They looked so similar, and at that time, it was the Taisho era in Japan. Shinjuku, as a nostalgic city, was decorated in the Taisho style.

Therefore, Novia understood some of the reasons why Chitose Manazuru, who always wore a black sailor uniform and was known as the Holy Nail, was able to summon Lucius.

It's all because of myself.

So he went along with Tiamat's words: "Yes, very cute."

However, perhaps because she didn't get the answer she wanted, or perhaps because she sensed Novia's perfunctory attitude, Tiamat's eyes showed displeasure. She bit her lip, then sighed softly and said, "Of course children are cute, no matter what kind of child they are, Novia."

Novia nodded and said nothing more.

Then he heard voices coming from inside the store.

"The movies here are so short, and the style is very different from those in India. There are far fewer song and dance numbers."

"Wang."

"You say I just want to enjoy the air conditioning? I won't deny that, it's true after all. After all, without our powers, we're no different from ordinary people or dogs. Let's hurry up and wait for Lord Novia. Anu, you better behave yourself. Go get some money from the bowl of the street performer, I want to treat Lord Novia well. And remember, don't let the street performer find out. I don't want to spend the whole night drinking with him, that would be the death of me."

Immediately afterwards, a black-screened phone was suddenly held up in front of Yama, reflecting his face.

"Here! I want to go to this shop! Mom, I want to eat grilled squid!"

Chapter 514 Tiamat is the MVP!

Next, Yama and Anubis took Novia to a restaurant, also because Tiamat wanted to eat 'grilled squid'.

The restaurant is surrounded by old-world potted plants, and the space is very open, allowing you to chat and laugh to your heart's content. The environment is somewhat dim, as if even the floor might be painted black. The tall partitions are arranged like a maze, allowing each guest to immerse themselves in the world of food.

Then Yama, with a kind smile, leaned forward and said, "I am honored to sit at the same table as Lord Novia."

This is the truth. Although Yama was somewhat flustered when he saw goddesses from other regions beside his own god, he was genuinely honored from the bottom of his heart, after all, it had been many years since he had seen them.

"No need for nonsense, just say what you need to say."

"...Alright, but may I ask first, was Astuvidat dealt with by you, sir?"

Yama added cautiously.

Novia crossed her arms and nodded: "That's right."

This moment made him realize that Mote had been using them years ago. If Gavia, the god of prophecy, were to discover this, the fear and anxiety from the depths of Yama's heart made him suddenly take a sip of red wine, then take a deep breath. Just as he was about to say something apologetic, Novia pushed the plate towards him.

“I roughly know the cause and effect, so there’s no need for you to be nervous. You should hurry up and finish this so you can go back and see Yan Mi. Just tell me what you know. That’s what you wanted to hear from me, right?”

...How should I put it, sir, rather than going to see Yan Mi, I feel it's better to stay here.

That's what he thought, but Yama still didn't dare say it aloud, so he honestly recounted their situation and intelligence from the past global Holy Grail War—

In 2011, World War III broke out.

The direct reason is simple: the previous year, in 2010, the Great Grail War, a war between El-Melloi II and the Mage's Association, was declared a failure, and the Holy Grail War failed to come to a true end. Since then, all magicians have known that the Holy Grail can lead to the Root.

The failure of the Greater Grail War caused the world's spiritual veins to become unstable. The so-called dragon veins are mysterious symbols of the existence of planets, the lifeblood of planets. From a practical point of view, this means that various resources are diminishing at an indescribable speed. Whether it is oil or trees, they are all turning to '0' at an extremely fast speed.

Therefore, due to practical reasons, another world war broke out.

Meanwhile, more than thirty Holy Grail Wars, secretly waged under the guise of wars and terrorism in various countries, are unfolding like time bombs at the junctions of major spiritual veins around the world.

Ayers Rock in Australia, the Altai Mountains, Qinling Mountains, and Wushan Mountains in China, and the dragon vein in the south is forcibly cut off. North and South Korea each have one, and in Southeast Asia, except for Laos and Cambodia, they are basically all connected by one dragon vein.

As for India's dragon veins, they are located in the Ganges and Indus Rivers, as well as the Himalayas, which are close to China. Theoretically, India, as an ancient region, should have as many dragon veins as China, but they were all exhausted due to the fierce fighting in Mahabharata.

The European countries are characterized by mountain ranges such as the Alps, Pyrenees, and Apennines.

Then, of the more than thirty Holy Grail Wars, the Holy Grail War at Cape Canaveral, where the American space facility is located, became the first to end. This brutal war did not yield a result, the victor of the ritual was unknown, the ritual itself failed to take place, and the magic power collected by the Holy Grail disappeared.

This made people at the time realize that the so-called Third World War was actually a breeding ground for countless Holy Grail Wars. In other words, everything had long since reached a point of no return. The number of creatures in the ecosystem was decreasing rapidly, and it would be a miracle if large mammals could still exist. At the same time, there were also heroic spirits who would slaughter large numbers of people from time to time.

“When we met Mott, the Holy Grail War was still going on, and it was truly devastating.”

Yama sighed, raised his head and looked sadly at Novia, "My lord, can you imagine? People's awe of death has faded because of the popularization that 'death is a common thing,' which has led us, as the gods of death, to fall into extreme sorrow."

Humans will no longer fear death because they live forever, and at the same time, they will no longer fear death because death is so common. Although gods like Yama were not born from human faith, they would naturally suffer greatly from human faith. But there is nothing that can be done, since it is impossible to resurrect the dead after the end of the age of gods.

"At that time, Mott found the only remaining Grim Reapers, which were the six of us."

Yama placed both arms on the table. "As the next god-king appointed by El, although he failed to ascend to the throne, he thus possessed the special authority of 'managing death' as ​​a standard authority."

"Let me guess?"

Novia blinked. "Mott's authority is the authority to elevate death to the same level as the authority of the 'Eternal One'?"

"Yes, by elevating death itself to the power to devour all things, in other words, we can assimilate the concept of death from other mythologies."

As expected, Yama's answer was exactly what Novia had anticipated. Although he thought that Mote probably didn't know that there was an El in the Holy Grail, Mote's painstaking search for so many Death Gods must be for the power of death, to command the death of the entire mythology, which, to some extent, could be considered a step towards becoming the One God.

That's why I went to such lengths to find Erise, who has the bloodline of Izanami...

However, Novia also understood that the clues Holmes left for them a few years ago, 'Chitose Manazuru or Chitose Manazuru at the end of the Holy Grail War,' were not unfounded. There was definitely a period during the Holy Grail War when Chitose was acting abnormally.

Given Novia's familiarity with Chitose, he didn't think that Chitose, with Lucius around, would make a deal with Mott.

After all, the Holy Grail War ended and the world was at peace. From then on, the Holy Grail resided in everyone's heart because Chitose Manazuru, the victor of the Holy Grail War, wished for the Holy Grail to continue to exist and be distributed as a wish-granting machine.

Yes, the survivors only knew the reasons, not the causes.

In simple philosophical terms, reasons are subjective, while causes are objective. Reasons are often prepared for others, not for oneself. For example, when asked for a reason, people often say, "I did this for a reason," rather than, "I did this with justification."

People in the new era know that everything they have comes from the wish made by Chitose Manazuru, and she probably thinks so too. But at some point, the reason and the cause must have become confused, which led to the confusion of words and the hostile servants who disturbed Chitose at that time...

Now I guess I can only ask her another day.

Yama cautiously stole a glance at Novia, who was deep in thought, wondering whether he should say that Mote had now turned the Himalayas into his own temple... But he couldn't bring himself to say it, especially since it was happening right under his nose. It was too embarrassing.

He barely touched the roast beef and squid that he had prepared for Novia, a stark contrast to Anubis and Tiamat, who were ravenously hungry.

So Yama quickly kicked Anubis, who was happily eating.

Immediately afterwards, Anubis grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and glared angrily at Yama. However, seeing Yama push the plate of roast beef towards him, Anubis calmed down and understood his meaning.

Is this guy trying to get me to speak? No? Isn't this your fortune teller? Why do I need to step in? Sigh…

Although speechless, Anubis, who was enjoying his meal, suddenly said this: