Hiya! I'm Ariana, a local shopkeeper in a small town in a boring city in a peaceful country.

My great grandmother used to be someone important; someone strong enough to plunge the entire world into doom and darkness.

A great witch of destruction!

She is the reason someone as talentless as me has a miniscule amount of mana.

When I was younger, I had lived in a desert country.

When I had gone out to play with sand together with my friends, I came home all sweaty, so my mother gave me water to drink.

I told my mother that I would like to share water with my friends, and she agreed.

I brought the pot to my friends before--

"Oh no~ It seems that I am falling~"(monotonous)

I hit my head on a rock before fainting. The last thing I saw was a small plant budding near where the water fell...

------

"But... milady... that's odd. Magic didn't exist from the world we came from (Modern Earth), but magic to turn a desert country into a tropical summer paradise? Isn't that, like, unbelievably powerful?"

Plague stared at me with disbelief as she drank tea with a troubled expression.

Plague, Conquest, Death and I were sitting around a table.

I was telling them about how my entire country changed overnight.

"No~ Don't be silly~ the emperor uses magic like that all the time, so it's not exactly uncommon."

I told her with a small smile. It's not like I'm powerful or anything, no, no, I'm just an ordinary girl.

Sitting in front of me was a handsome man with heterochromatic eyes, one blue, one brown.

His yellow/gold hair was a testament to his oddness, as he is the first being I had ever seen with such hair color. Then again, he is not human, after all.

He was in an ornamental white armor adorned by intricate designs with the color of white as a base and gold along the edges with sapphires as jewels.

He was a tall man, and I find him to be strange as he wears his armor indoors.

Conqueror. The 1st seal of the impending apocalypse.

Sitting on my left side was a world-class beauty who wears a facial accessory she stated would amplify her vision.

She had green eyes and black hair and she was wearing cozy but unfamiliar clothes she called "pajamas."

Her eyelashes were long and she seemed to be at the height of perfection.

I think she's the only normal one among them, considering the way she acts and treats me. She always comes home really late, however.

She never eats here. Sometimes, she doesn't even sleep here.

Plague. The 3rd seal of the impending apocalypse.

Sitting on my right was a being feared by all. Wearing a black robe with plated armor, the grim reaper with his skeleton head stared at a device.

Death's form often changes. Sometimes, it has a helmet on. Sometimes, it is a rotting corpse, sometimes already rotten, sometimes just a skeleton.

A being that eternally teeters between the boundary of life and death.

Death. The 4th seal of the impending apocalypse.

Conqueror had a strange, unquestioning smile on his face as he sipped his tea leisurely,

"Ah, yes, yes~ It is milady's magic, after all~"

He nodded repeatedly in a carefree manner.

I left it at that with a smile as I sipped cold coffee.

Death was quiet as it stared at its "tablet" contraption.

It is a magical object that manipulates light to show it its list.

Yes. That list. Death's list.

On its free hand was a beautiful teacup, full of hot tea, of course.

Plague glanced at Death without moving her head before beckoning me to come closer to her.

The moment I did, she moved even closer to whisper something to me,

"Milady... we're immortal, so we don't really need sustenance. Consumption of different kinds of delicious food is still a luxury enjoyed by us, however. But Death... he doesn't have taste buds. Or organs."

I frowned in his defense,

"B-But I didn't want him to feel left out!"(so I got him some tea, too!)

He? She refers to him as he? Then me too, I guess.

Death turned his head to me.

"Eep!"

I unconsciously let out a yelp.

He stood up and I felt his gaze.

"Mine own mistress."

M-Me? Yes, yes. That's me, yes.

"Y-Yes? W-What is it, Death?"

He opened his skeletal mouth and an eerie mist came out from his throat.

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"Thee can calleth me by mine own nameth, mine own mistress."

As he spoke, the cold chill on my back disappeared, as if it was an illusion.

He set his "tablet" down on the table before holding the teacup with both hands,

"One shall not f'rget this kindness as longeth as one exists."

Before gulping down the entire drink in one go.

*break*

Including the cup.

Losing all my nervousness, I smiled as I spoke,

"What's your name, then?"

I knew full well what it was, but I felt like it was only polite to ask him first.

I feel like... a connection between us is beginning to form.

"T'is Thanatos, mine own master. Prithee colours me, one needeth to reap some souls."

He said as he took his tablet and headed to the door.

"Going to reap some souls, then? Okay~"

Thanatos... hmm... Thanatos... Natos... Natos? Nats... Ah!

I know a good nickname for him!

Conquest was in a daze while Plague watched the exchange with pouted lips.

"Bye, Natsy~ See you later~ Come back safely, okay?"

I called out to Thanatos as he left.

Conquer spat out what he was drinking at Plague in a spectacular manner.

Plague-- ...Opened her mouth and caught all the incoming tea(and spit) with her mouth.

...Eh?

What was that...?

I don't know how to react, so I simply turned to the door again.

Thanatos was still there.

"Natsy? Still here? I thought you would reap souls now?"

Conquer covered his mouth with one hand as his cheeks reddened while Plague sipped tea while watching interestedly.

Thanatos turned his head shakily, I could hear his jaw rattling,

"N-Natsy...? Art thou... perchance... referring to me?"

I tilted my head in wonder,

"Yes? Don't you think it's a wonderful nickname, hmm, Conquest?"

I turned my head to Conquest with a smile.

He was trying hard to suppress his grin and tried very hard not to let his lips separate.

Oh, he must like the name as well!

"Y...es... m-milady... i-it's... snrrkk.... such a great name! It... eheh... fits Death perfffft---ectly!"

Hearing his words of approval, I smiled once again and turned to Thanatos.

"Excellent! Umu! Oh, still here, Natsy? Go on, then~ You don't want to be late! Be home before dinner, Natsy~ Say, Plague. Have you seen War around?"

"A...Aye... mine own... mis...tress."

Thanatos spoke weakly before finally leaving.

As he left, I turned to Plague, who had seemed to be waiting for Thanatos to leave as well.

"War had left early, milady."

Plague answered quickly and briefly, like a secretary.

Left? Hmm. I wonder where he went.

The only reason I keep them here anyway is so that they aren't independent and start destroying the world~

Oh no~ how terrible~

"Where did he go? Why?"

I said with a tilted head and a small frown.

Plague and Conquest looked at each other, before Conquest spoke,

"He's... well... he can't deal with women well, I guess."

"What does that mean?"

I didn't understand, so I asked.

Plague and Conquest looked at each other again.

This time, it was Plague who spoke,

"War is... he's afraid of--"

Suddenly, the door opened.

"I'm home."

A man with red hair came.

Who's this?

"Ah, War is home now, milady."

Conquest smiled a matter of factly.

War? His hair was red? I didn't know. He always wore a hood, even indoors.

I came up to him and it was then that I realized he was a hulking giant of a man.

Oh my~

"Ah, War! Another skirmish? Your face is all bloody!"

I scolded him like a good master.

"Plague! Hand me a wet towel!"

"Yes, milady!"

Plague immediately fulfilled my request and I wiped the face of the strangely still War.

"Huh... how odd. You're quite obedient today, War."

I said as I wiped off the blood.

Huh? How come his face is still red?

Conquest turned to Plague with a wondering look,

"Dude... you think War is..."

Plague didn't even turn to look at Conquest,

"Yeah. Paralyzed. He's too scared to even move."

Conquest facepalmed,

"I thought so. For a killing machine, he can be such a pansy."

---------------

on a normal day...

Ariana: Hey, Plague?

Plague: Yeah?

Ariana: How come you're not like the rest?

Plague: What do you mean, milady?

Ariana: I mean... Natsy has his list, right?

Plague: Yes?

Ariana: And War likes to fight.

Plague: Well... not really likes to, but... ugh... uh... yes.

Ariana: And Conquer... he's a weirdo.

Plague: Yes.

Ariana: Then what about you, Plague? I thought you were the incarnation of disease and famine?

Plague: Well... I used to bring forth calamity and famine, often starving out the people and killing them off with diseases... But I got eheh... sick of it.

So I stopped doing it.

Ariana: So... you don't spread diseases anymore?

Plague: Well... not exactly.

Ariana: What do you mean? Do you still spread epidemics?

Plague: Sort of...

Ariana: Then how come I'm not sick?

Plague: Because I'm straight, milady.

Ariana: ...Straight?

Plague: Yes, milady.

Ariana: And that... means...?

Plague: AIDS, milady. I spread AIDS.