----------------------------------------
The Goddess of Love’s Divine Domain, Eliza’s House (Kyle POV)
----------------------------------------
The first thing I did was gather the ingredients for the omelettes. I opened the ice element magic circle powered fridge and grabbed a couple of fresh eggs, various spices, salt, and some strips of bacon. I first chopped the bacon into fine pieces, and then after mixing the eggs, spices, and a pinch of salt to a perfectly uniform consistency, I opened the drawer next to the stove and picked up two red crystals.
You see, in Aias, technology hasn't exactly advanced to the level of Earth’s, but in exchange, the study of alchemy, which refers to mainly magic circles and formations along with the materials used with them, has taken its place. Everyday appliances like the fridge that's being kept cool by a magic circle under it constantly lowering the temperature inside, and the red crystals, called ignition crystals, that I'm about to light the stove with, are what replaced technology in Aias. Most of these things, like, for example, the ignition crystal which just provides fire elemental mana, can even be made by alchemy apprentices, with the more complicated things, like the magic circle powering the fridge, requiring professionals to make. The best part is, most normal alchemy circles for household appliances don’t use much mana, and therefore can subsist just using the mana in the atmosphere, while those that do use a lot of mana only require a source of some kind for the mana they need. This source can be a person, but in most cases, it’s usually just a refined monster core. So that means, as long as I have monster cores, even a manaless like me can use them as much as I want.
I put one of the ignition crystals into the slots on the side of the stove and after turning it on, a small fire appeared on the stovetop. Then I grabbed a large frying pan from the rack next to the stove before starting to melt a small amount of butter on it. After approximately 30 seconds, the melted butter formed a thin layer across bottom of the pan and I scattered the diced bacon bits around. A few more moments passed as I let the bacon cook a bit before slowly pouring the egg mixture into the frying pan.
Sizzling noises and the delicious aroma of a bacon omelette spread to the table behind me before the glint in my eyes turned sharp as I wielded my spatula. Now, it was time for my trusty Excalibur to make his appearance. I first made sure the omelette was cooked evenly, then carefully folded the edges of the omelette over with precision beyond even the most skilled surgeons back in my world. After folding the omelette over perfectly, I let it sizzle in the pan for a few more seconds before I decided it was time for the finale. I placed a plate on the counter nearby and flipped the omelette high into the air as the wind generated by the sudden movement of the frying pan caused the flames from the stove underneath to flare up after it.
It was fast! The fire itself seemed to want to devour the perfectly crisp omelette, however, while the fire was fast, my Excalibur was still faster! I tightened my grip on Excalibur before my arm let out a burst of acceleration.
"Secret Technique! Swallow Reversal!" (Kyle)
In an instant, my Excalibur had sliced through the omelette to split it into three perfectly even pieces while my other hand let go of the frying pan, grabbed the plate, and caught all three pieces of the omelette perfectly.
I turned around smoothly and placed the plate onto the table where Eliza and Olivia were sitting as the flames died down behind me. Eliza was still out of it, but Olivia was clapping as she looked anticipatingly at the omelette. I gave a smug smile at the work of art I had just created before turning around with my eyes closed and taking off my imaginary headband.
"It wasn't mu-" (Kyle)
I froze. And it was at that moment that I realized I had miscalculated. While wallowing in my excitement and pride, I had forgotten something very important.
I had forgotten about the frying pan.
I instantly opened my eyes hoping to catch it before it broke anything in the kitchen, however, it was too late. What I opened my eyes to was not the sight of the familiar kitchen I had grown accustomed to, but the shadow of a flying frying pan centimeters away from my face.
The only thing the frying pan was going to break was my skull.
A sickening bonk sounded out in the kitchen as the frying pan smashed into my face like a meteor, and there was complete and utter silence for a second after I fell backward onto the floor with the frying pan rolling next to me. A moment later, Eliza fell off her chair and was rolling on the ground while hysterically laughing as Olivia came over to help me up.
"Are you ok, Ky? Are you hurt anywhere?" (Olivia)
I looked up at Olivia who had crouched over my body and put her left hand on my head with a worried look on her face.
"You know, you might have looked more like an angel if you weren't eating with your other hand." (Kyle)
Yep, in Olivia's right hand was an empty fork which used to have a piece of the omelette on it. That particular piece of omelette was now inside her mouth as she helped me up off the floor.
Looks like my food is more important to her than my well being. Am I really that worthless to you, Olivia? I'm gonna cry you know!
As my tear ducts began to fill up again, Eliza's laughter finally died down and she rolled over to me on the floor.
"Well, looks like you're ok. It's a good thing that your skull is the thickest one out of all of ours." (Eliza)
In case you're wondering what Eliza means, she's talking about how hard my body is. And no, not in that way! Anyway, looking at Eliza's physical appearance, if it really was that way I would have to go turn myself in at the station afterward, that is if this world's version of the FBI didn't come knocking first. But to get back on topic, she was referring to how I refined my physical body with the power of the natural laws.
You see, since I originally didn't have mana, I couldn't use body reinforcement magic at all, and so, I was always physically weaker than everyone else. Even after I got the ability to ‘use’ mana, reality was cruel and no matter how hard I tried, I, unfortunately, could only ever use one type of magic, manifestation magic. So I still couldn't use body reinforcement magic to make myself stronger. However, after studying alchemy and magic circles to the point where I was a grandmaster in order to make up for the magic I couldn't use, the solution I had come to for my relatively weak physical strength and inability to use body reinforcement magic was to imbue my physical body with the power of one of the natural laws of Aias to strengthen it. Imbuing my body with the natural laws was basically like enchanting a weapon, but instead of enchanting a sword or something with mana, it was enchanting my physical body with a natural law, which in this case was the natural law of death. And it hurt like hell when I did it! I really felt like I was going to die, but I barely lived, and now the strength of just my physical body alone without magic or armor is on par with top tier body strengthening magic using mana. So in reality, Eliza is right, my skull is definitely the thickest out of all of ours. Trust me, it used to be way thicker when I was at the peak of my strength too, my physical body was around the level of top-notch body strengthening magic using natural laws, but nowadays it’s just sitting around my current level since I don’t exactly have the mana to manipulate natural laws and sustain that level of imbuement anymore.
I let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Now, let's eat before the food gets cold." (Kyle)
"Okay." (Olivia)
Olivia went back to the table while I got up off the floor with Eliza, picked up the, now dented, frying pan, and sat down at the table next to her. After a few minutes and some small talk, we finished eating breakfast and the three of us went to do our own jobs until lunch.
Well, although I said that we all had our own jobs, the sad truth is that only me and Olivia were probably going to do them. Knowing Eliza, she's either just gonna goof off or sleep until lunchtime, and judging by how tired she was this morning, she probably stayed up late last night reading romance novels or something and will most likely be sleeping while I clean our small cozy house and Olivia is finishing the work that Eliza didn't do yesterday.
I washed the dishes in the sink, then got the cleaning supplies out of the closet, and started tidying up the house while Eliza went off to her room to ‘work’ and Olivia went off the study room to actually work.
After cleaning up the kitchen, the bathroom was spotless as always, the living room just had a few pieces of garbage left here and there by Eliza, and my ‘room’ had nothing to clean anyway, so I just wiped all the windows in the living room before going to Olivia's room, which was neat and tidy like usual. I made her bed and dusted the shelves full of old accounting books before wiping down the windows in there too. Next was usually the study room, but I decided to leave it for last since I didn't want to bother Olivia when she was working, so I went to the only other room left in the house, Eliza's room.
"Hey, Eliza, you awake?" (Kyle)
When I knocked on the door and called Eliza there was no answer except the faint sound of snoring, and so, left with no other choice, I completely ignored whether or not I had Eliza's permission and entered her room anyway.
What? I need to respect her privacy? I could've just come back later when I got permission? Well, let me tell you something, Eliza never, ever cleans her room, and I'm pretty sure if I left her in there until I got actual permission to go in, which would probably take a couple months since she doesn't want anyone else to see how much of a slob she is, she would drown from all the random junk and garbage she throws around on the floor.
I opened the door using the master key that Olivia gave me a copy of, and, as expected, Eliza was fast asleep in her pajamas hugging onto the same fluffy purple pillow she had earlier. Scattered around her were several romance novels and some empty snack bags. I cleaned up all the snack bags on the bed, put the books back on the shelf, put a blanket over Eliza, cleaned the windows, and tidied up the messy mountain of paperwork that Eliza had left on her desk. The slight jingling of the chain on the collar still clamped around my neck as I moved around made Eliza mumble a bit before rolling around, but she still stayed asleep in the end. Well, at least she wasn't snoring anymore.
I still don't understand though. Why even have this collar on me if you're not gonna use it anyway! It's just humiliation play at this point.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
After making sure everything was clean in Eliza's room, I went to the study room and knocked on the door.
"Olivia, do you mind if I come in to clean." (Kyle)
"No problem. Come right in, Ky." (Olivia)
I opened the door and saw Olivia seated at the desk doing some paperwork. She seemed pretty focused on her work though, so I quickly cleaned everything around her before I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon.
"Olivia, it's about time for lunch. I'll go wake up Eliza, so just meet me in the kitchen in a couple of minutes." (Kyle)
"... Sure." (Olivia)
I left the study room and returned to Eliza's room where I tried in vain to wake her up. So after failing to wake her up, I just decided to carry her back to the kitchen. I heard her mumble some stuff again in her sleep, including my name once or twice, while she curled up closer to me in my arms, but it seemed that she was still dreaming about her constant emotional abuse of me when we got to the kitchen and I put Eliza down onto a chair before starting to make lunch.
I decided that today's lunch would be grilled cheese sandwiches, and so, after having left the new frying pan on the stove this time, I made some simple grilled cheese sandwiches. I placed the plates with the grilled cheese sandwiches on the table as Olivia walked into the kitchen and sighed once she saw that Eliza was asleep again.
"Lady Eliza, wake up already! It's lunchtime! You’ve been sleeping since breakfast!" (Olivia)
Olivia shook Eliza until she woke up with a yawn. Eliza rubbed her eyes then smiled when saw the grilled cheese sandwiches.
"Yay! Looks like it's grilled cheese for lunch today." (Eliza)
Well, I felt bad for Eliza after the whole pancakes episode this morning, so I thought I would at least make up for it with her favorite for lunch, grilled cheese.
After we ate lunch, I went outside to trim the hedges and weed the garden, while Olivia dragged Eliza with her to apparently discuss something important. Eh, it's probably just gonna be her nagging Eliza for skipping out on work again, or maybe she finally found out about Eliza eating the pudding that she tried to hide it in the back of the fridge.
----------------------------------------
Eliza’s House, Study Room (Olivia POV)
----------------------------------------
I honestly felt a little out of it as I dragged Lady Eliza to the study room with mixed feelings, but there was something important I had to discuss with her. Something that would change our lives forever. I sat down in the chair in the study room as I faced Lady Eliza kneeling on the floor.
"Wait, Olivia, I swear it wasn't my fault that the pudding that you hid at the back of the fridge disappeared three days ago!" (Eliza)
"Wait, what! I knew it was you! It was even my favorite flavor!" (Olivia)
I felt the urge to berate Lady Eliza bubble up inside of me, but I resisted it and calmed down my emotions after a moment. I don't know if it was the somber expression on my face that gave it away, but it seemed like Lady Eliza realized it was actually something important this time. She got up and looked at me with a serious face as I took a deep breath.
"I'm angry... but that's not what I have to talk to you about right now." (Olivia)
"What is it then?" (Eliza)
"... It's about Ky. I got word from his highness, the God of Light, that... Ky's sentence is up. His highness told me that the deal he made with Ky was that he would be restrained for a thousand years, and if he didn't do anything wrong during that time, then he would be banished to the main plane and granted his freedom again… At my monthly meeting with him yesterday... he told me that we need to release Ky by the end of today... He'll still technically be our responsibility, but... we no longer have the right to restrain him in our divine domain. And unless he does something wrong again, he'll have nothing to do with us anymore... I’m sorry I kept it from you for so long, and... I hope that my acting was good enough this time to at least give you a few more blissful moments together... but our time’s up... so… what do you want to do, Lady Eliza?" (Olivia)
Lady Eliza just stared at me in silence for a few moments, but despite her blank expression, I know she was feeling hurt deep down inside because... I was too...
It was a silence that felt empty.
I don't know when it was, but somewhere along the line, Ky wedged himself into our hearts and the moment he made it in, this household went from a family of two with an unfortunate guest, to a family of three.
I can't even imagine what it will be like without him.
There'll be no more fun shenanigans anymore, there'll be no more laughter echoing through the house every day, and we won't be able to taste the cooking we've grown to love anymore.
Honestly, I'm scared...
Scared that we'll feel alone again...
Scared that things will never be the same anymore...
I stared back at Lady Eliza.
"... So what should we do, Lady Eli-" (Olivia)
"Just let Ky go then." (Eliza)
Lady Eliza cut me off before turning around to face the door. She tried to act strong, but I could see her trembling.
"... He's suffered enough, hasn’t he?... If the God of Light says Ky's punishment is over… then it's over… We'll send him back to the main plane later. Anyway, if he still technically under our watch, that means we'll still get the money and faith energy, right? It won't be that different around here, it's just that... Ky will be gone... If we want someone to clean up the house, we can just hire a maid, and we don't even need to eat in the first place, so we can save some more money since we won't need the kitchen anymore. And if we really want some good food, we can just ask the God of Cooking... I bet his cooking's ten times better than Ky's." (Eliza)
Lady Eliza slowly twirled around to face me with a trembling smile, but it couldn't hide the tears flowing down her face.
"...Everything will be fine... Right, Olivia?" (Eliza)
After I saw that, I couldn't hold it in anymore either. I got up and hugged Lady Eliza, while my own tears dripped down onto her face. I don't even know how long we stood there, but after what seemed like an eternity, eventually, we stopped crying. We wiped away the tears and got ourselves ready to go release Ky.
We had to be strong… for his sake too...
----------------------------------------
Eliza’s House, Living Room (Kyle POV)
----------------------------------------
Whew, finally finished tending to the garden and trimming the hedges into shape. It’s quite some fine craftsmanship too if I do say so myself.
It was just past 6 PM when I stepped back into the house and called out to Eliza and Olivia.
"Eliza, Olivia, are you there? I'll be making dinner in about an hour so don't forget to come down." (Kyle)
A moment of silence passed by before both of them actually showed up from the direction of the study room. For some reason, they had formal clothes on and Olivia faced me with a serious expression, while Eliza stood next to her with a similar one. I immediately got concerned and put on a serious face myself.
"Hey, what's going on?" (Kyle)
"Actually, Ky... we have something important we have to do together. Here, change into these clothes and meet us outside at the ritual grounds." (Olivia)
Olivia handed me a set of common clothes you could find anywhere. Just a white shirt, some brown pants, and a pair of shoes.
"Sure. I'll be out in a few minutes then." (Kyle)
I saw Eliza and Olivia walk away as I went back down to the basement to change.
That was a bit weird... Hopefully they just need me for some formal ceremony or something. Maybe another god is coming over... Yeah, that's probably it. After all, I can't show up in front of another god wearing a striped inmate outfit, can I?
I quickly changed into the set of common clothes, albeit with a little difficulty due to the metal collar still clamped around my neck, as a sense of foreboding overtook me before I slowly walked outside and met them at the ritual grounds in the backyard.
The ritual grounds were just a stone platform with a row of hedges around them. It was supposed to be used for formal events, rituals, or to receive guests in Eliza's divine domain, but she rarely ever uses it since not many people come over to visit anyway.
I saw both of them standing at the ritual grounds. Olivia was holding a backpack, which she handed to me as I came over.
"Here, Ky take this." (Olivia)
"What's this?" (Kyle)
I opened the bag to find my apron, a bunch of my cooking equipment, including my trusty Excalibur, a map, and a small pouch of what seemed to be money.
"This is all we can give you for now, Ky... Sorry..." (Olivia)
Hey... this can't be happening, right? It isn't what I think it is, right?
I looked at Olivia in shock, then over to Eliza as she slowly walked over to me. She stood in front of me for a second in silence before flashing a toothy grin and unlocking my collar.
The breeze that blew by made my neck feel cold. Colder than usual.
"Alright Ky, as of now, you're free to go. We just heard from the God of Light that your sentence is over, so we have to send you back to the main plane, but you're basically still on probation, so don't go around doing anything bad anymore, ok? Don't worry about us, we're still getting money and faith energy from the God of Light, so the truth is, without having to spend any of it taking care of you, we're saving a lot. We probably won't even have to think about being in debt from now on, right Olivia?" (Eliza)
"Yeah..." (Olivia)
Eliza dryly laughed a little as she stood there, while Olivia clapped and smiled back at Eliza.
Oi, you two, don't even try it...
Eliza, you're an awful actor, just stop it. Your fake smile isn't showing in your eyes, the sides of your mouth are too tilted, and your fists are clenched! Olivia, your eyes are lifeless too, there’s way too much tension in your smile, and your hands are trembling while you're clapping!
... Just... stop it... please...
... My heart is starting to ache already...
... You got me, alright?...
... The joke is over now...
... Let's just go back and eat dinner, I'll even make your favorites...
... Please...
I desperately kept my tears from overflowing as Eliza started creating a magic circle where I stood before her voice started resonating in the sky, a sign that she was using her powers as a goddess.
"As of this moment, I, the Goddess of Love, Eliza Strateous, declare that the sentence of the True God of Death, Kyle, is now over. He shall henceforth be banished to the main plane of Aias at the edge of the alliance's territory and prohibited from committing evil acts. Present to witness my decree is my Heroic Spirit, Olivia Faevaris." (Eliza)
... Fine...
... If that's how you wanna play, then allow me to follow along...
I clenched my fists hard enough that my veins were pulsing. My nails broke through the skin on my palm and drew blood as I moved my right forearm to cover my face before finally letting the tears flow while screaming into the sky like a lunatic.
"AHAHAHAHAHAH! FINALLY! AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS, I'M FINALLY FREE! I, KYLE, THE TRUE GOD OF DEATH AM FINALLY FREE! I'M SO HAPPY THAT I'M CRYING TEARS OF JOY! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" (Kyle)
Only the sound of my own maniacal laughing accompanied me as the magic circle below my feet started to glow.
But eventually, the magic circle activated, I was teleported back to the main plane... and the laughter stopped.
----------------------------------------
Edge of Civilization, Entrance to the Zolran Mountain Range (Kyle POV)
----------------------------------------
"hahahahahahaaa..." (Kyle)
My broken laughter finally died out as I realized that I was back in the main plane of Aias. And after a moment, I let my right arm drop down to reveal my face covered in snot and tears as I fell to my knees and collapsed on the ground.
"GODDAMMIT!!!" (Kyle)
A rush of rage filled my head as I finally released my bloodlust again after a thousand years. The birds and wildlife nearby all scattered as the full extent of my bloodlust washed over my surroundings with an indescribable pressure while my scream echoed into the sky.
I smashed my bloody hands into the ground over and over again, forming small craters that littered the area until finally, I fell down and rolled over to see the sky.
It was a purple-colored sky. A beautiful sunset... but I didn't care...
Because it wasn't the sky in Eliza's divine domain...
It wasn't the sky that I slept under for a thousand years...
It wasn't the sky that I cooked under for a thousand years...
It wasn't the sky that I made memories under for a thousand years...
It wasn't the sky where I found a family...
It wasn't the sky which finally let me taste happiness again...
No, this sky was purple during sunset... and the sky in Eliza's divine domain was always orange...
"... So... in the end... I'm alone again..." (Kyle)
I stared at the purple sunset in the sky which was slowly melding with the tears in my eyes.
"... Always... always, alone..." (Kyle)
----------------------------------------
The Goddess of Love’s Divine Domain, Ritual Grounds (Eliza POV)
----------------------------------------
I finally let out a breath and looked down at the ground after teleporting Ky back to the main plane.
My heart hurts right now... It really, really hurts...
So why... why did you have to act so badly, Ky?
You're not fooling me or Olivia you know...
Your voice didn't have any happiness in it, your hands were bloody, and your tears were real ones.
Your laughter didn't fool anyone... not one single person...
I stood there for a moment before slowly whispering to myself as I started to tremble.
"You idiot, why couldn't you just act cold?... Just act like you didn't care about us anymore. Then it might've hurt less... You didn't understand anything, did you?... Your skull really is the thickest out of all of ours..." (Eliza)
I stood there for a moment as my eyes began to slowly tear up before suddenly, I felt someone embrace me.
It was Olivia.
Another moment passed in silence before I turned to her and we watched the beautiful orange sunset looming over my empty divine domain.