In one corner of the God Realm, two figures sat opposite each other in a hanging garden filled with colorful flowers.
A silver-white-haired woman and a girl faced each other across a table, cups of black tea placed before them. They resembled sisters, yet one was an expressionless woman with long hair, pure white clothing, and ideal proportions. The other was a young girl, her expressions shifting constantly, with semi-short hair, black clothing, and the appearance of someone much younger. Apart from the color of their hair and eyes, one could almost say they were complete opposites.
[Heeeyyy~ Shiro, let’s do some girlstok~]
(T/N: She referred to koibana (girl’s talk), but used a word that sounds like koibana when spoken.)
[Girlstok?]
[It’s when girls get together and talk about their love lives!]
[……I don’t remember Kuro having a gender, though?]
[Well, I have the appearance of a girl now, so you could say I’m a girl!]
Kuromueina’s words came with a cheerful expression, while Shallow Vernal responded blandly, her voice devoid of any inflection.
Though one is a God and the other a Demon, they’ve been friends for a very long time. They often chat over tea like this, and today, as usual, the conversation started with Kuromueina bringing up the topic out of the blue and Shallow Vernal calmly answering her.
[See, even Shiro thinks you’d like to experience love, right?]
[I don’t really think so, though?]
[This is where you’re supposed to say you do, even if it’s a lie!]
[Well then, even if it’s a lie, I guess I’d like to try it.]
[Unn, unnn. In that case, I’d be happy to talk to you about it!]
Even though Shallow Vernal responded without any emotion, it seemed like Kuromueina was either used to it or didn’t mind at all, continuing the conversation as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
[But Kuro’s never been in love either, right?]
[Ugghh… T-That’s totally not true! I’ve had confessions multiple times before…]
[As far as I know, all the people who confessed to you were “women,” though?]
[……I’m totally popular.]
[Rather than popular, though, in your case, most of them didn’t just have feelings of love for you—they were practically “worshipping” you. Doesn’t that mean you’ve never felt love yourself?]
[Uuuggghhh……]
Upon hearing Shallow Vernal’s honest words, spoken in a voice devoid of any intonation, Kuromueina’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, looking crestfallen.
It’s true that many, whether Humans or Demons, hold Kuromueina in deep affection. However, as Shallow Vernal pointed out, the majority of these feelings are not romantic—they are ones of worship and loyalty. Additionally, Kuromueina herself is one of the most powerful beings in the Demon Realm as the Underworld King, making it rare for anyone to harbor romantic feelings toward her.
So, despite her earlier confident suggestion, the reality is that Kuromueina, too, has never experienced love.
[I-I just haven’t had the chance yet!!]
[How many years do you think you’ve lived?]
[……A-About 18,000 years……]
[That number sounds a lot younger than I know you are.]
[I’m a girl! I’m allowed to fudge my age a little!!]
[That doesn’t really make much sense to me…]
Even though there’s still no intonation in her voice, Shallow Vernal has a faintly dumbfounded expression on her face. To change the direction of the conversation, Kuromueina decided to forcefully steer it back to the previous topic.
[Anyway, we’re going to have a girlstok today!]
[I don’t mind, but what are we going to talk about?]
[Hmmm… I guess we’ll start with our preferences! What kind of boy would Shiro like to fall in love with?]
[Let’s see… First of all, as a prerequisite, I think he should be someone I’m genuinely interested in.]
[…With just those few words, you’ve basically eliminated almost every being in this world as a candidate…]
There really aren’t many beings that Shallow Vernal takes an interest in. Or rather, even Kuromueina, who has known her for a long time, can count on one hand the number of people she actually cares about.
In the end, Shallow Vernal’s response essentially meant she had no intention of falling in love.
[How about you, Kuro? What kind of partner would you want?]
[Hmm. For me, I’d want a cute child~~ Someone who’s anxious because they don’t know anything, but still has the desire to learn. I’d want a child I could teach all sorts of things like that~~]
[That sounds like your definition of a baby bird, doesn’t it?]
[Ughhh… That’s true, but… if I’m talking about someone I like, it would be a child like that…]
[Even if you found someone like that, don’t you think neither of you would have romantic feelings for each other, since you raised that child yourself?]
[Uggghhhh… N-No, that’s not it! It’s like, after meeting a child like that, I’d feel this spark! It’d be like fate bringing us together!!]
[…It’s because they’re all girls, isn’t it?]
[Uggghhh… Why aren’t there any boys who make me feel that spark~~]
After her sharp, expressionless tsukkomi pierced through Kuromueina’s heart once again, she looked crestfallen, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
It’s true that Kuromueina had met some special beings among her favorite chicks over time… But they were all female, and none of them were male.
[Hmmm. Love is quite complicated, isn’t it?]
[That it is.]
[Ah, speaking of which, I’ve been wondering—how do children in other worlds fall in love? Is it like how people fall in love in our world?]
[I don’t know. Should we find out for ourselves?]
[Yeah. I’ll leave that to you~~]
In the end, the two of them—both of whom had never been in a relationship—didn’t get much out of their conversation and eventually concluded that love is difficult to understand, bringing their discussion to a close.
Then, as if Kuromueina suddenly remembered something, she asked Shallow Vernal about love in another world. Since Shallow Vernal didn’t know much about it either, she suggested they look into it.
Fortunately, this year, they are holding the Hero Festival, and the one playing the role of Hero is currently traveling to various places to offer his greetings.
After receiving a nod from Kuromueina, Shallow Vernal traced a circle in the air with her finger. The space around them began to blur and tremble, and through the rift, they could see a ceremony taking place in some distant country.
It seemed to be the scene where the Hero was giving a speech—an otherworlder with black hair standing on a platform, surrounded by knights. They appeared to be in the midst of discussing something.
[It seems like they’re just exchanging greetings. By the way, Shiro, if you had to choose based on looks alone, which of the boys lined up there would you prefer?]
[I don’t really see much of a difference between them.]
[Is something wrong with your eyes, Shiro? Do you see them as potatoes? Do they all look like potatoes to you?]
[What about you, Kuro?]
[Eh? None of them have baby bird eyes, so I’m not interested in any of them!]
[……I feel like your feelings aren’t much different from mine, though.]
It seems that neither the otherworlder nor the knights on the stage caught their interest. After exchanging a few words about their lack of enthusiasm, Shallow Vernal shifted her gaze to the young man playing the role of the Hero.
[……Fumu, it seems this person has fallen in love with a woman from the “2-D” world.]
[Tsudi? What’s that?]
[It appears to be a different world in another realm.]
[Is it like how we have the God Realm and the Demon Realm?]
[Perhaps……]
Peering into the mind of the young man who had played the role of Hero, Shallow Vernal pulled out a memory related to love and spoke about it. Kuromueina herself seemed unfamiliar with the concept, waiting for the next words with a curious expression on her face.
[Apparently, in that 2-D world, women quantify their feelings for their partner using a value called “Affection.”]
[Eeehhh!? They actually measure the contents of their hearts? The things in that other world are amazing~~]
[Yes, as you interact and converse with your target, you accumulate a value called “Affection.” When it reaches a certain point, something called an “event” occurs, which seems to bring you closer to them.]
[E-Ebent? What’s it like?]
After hearing Shallow Vernal’s explanation, Kuromueina leaned forward in her chair, her face full of curiosity as she asked.
[It looks like they went shopping together and shared a meal.]
[Fumu fumu, so after meeting and talking with them, they go out and have a meal together… But, isn’t that pretty normal? I mean, even without that affexion or anything, isn’t that how things usually end up?]
[No, it seems that’s not where it ends… Apparently, after building up enough affection, you can receive a powerful weapon or some item that’s useful for your adventures.]
[So, after you get close and fall in love in another world, you get a weapon from your partner!? Not something like an accessory, or… anything like that?]
[Yes, it seems that monsters appear in the 2-D world, so it might have been a pretty harsh place to live.]
[I-I see… So there are monsters in the other world too.]
At this point, if someone from another world had heard her, there would be plenty to “tsukkomi” about. First of all, she had only read everything related to the word “love” from that person’s mind, yet there’s a glaring flaw in the information provided by Shallow Vernal, who treats everything equally.
That’s right—she perceives both the 2-D game world and the real 3-D world as the same. Since she extracts only the necessary information, without caring about the quality of that information, depending on who hears it, they could end up with a severely one-sided view from her.
Unfortunately, there’s no one here who can correct them.
[And not only that, it seems that the woman who is the target of love can grow stronger as their affection increases.]
[Eeeehhhh!? Children from another world get stronger when they fall in love!?]
[It seems so. There are even cases where they can learn magic because of it.]
[They can learn magic because of love!? …Affexion is amazing!]
[Yes, but it seems that this affection primarily exists on the female side.]
[Eh? Is that so… Then, when I love a boy from another world, we would build up affexion, and after an event, I guess we should give them a present.]
[Yes, I think it would also make it easier for you to get to know otherworlders better.]
[Ehhh~~ I’ll remember that.]
And so, another piece of incorrect knowledge from another world was born… and passed on to a small part of this world.
And fortunately or unfortunately, exactly ten years later… Not even God could have predicted that one young man would become the subject of all this incorrect knowledge.
<Author’s Notes>
Kuro’s strange knowledge about the other world is mostly Shiro’s fault.
Edit: Ah fck, didn’t notice it’s Saturday. Well, fck it.