Mimir fell silent. She rolled her unfocused golden eyes to look at me. After staring at me for a long while with a dazed expression, she nodded her head. Then she looked back at AA and opened her mouth.
"We are aware of the fact that a great catastrophe has occurred on the surface. We know that the Demon King was resurrected, then defeated, and that Evangeline is plotting the Demon King's resurrection. As the guardian of this sanctuary, we cannot leave this land to capture Evangeline, but we are willing to help you both materially and spiritually. This is the will of Mimir."
"What you're saying is..."
"But rules cannot be broken. He who does not pass the Trial of Mimir can obtain nothing, and the Essence of Mimir can only grant a single wish. Therefore, we propose a simple test to you. This is the will of Mimir."
To put it simply, it was this. They knew all hell was breaking loose up there, but they couldn't just help because of the rules. So it meant they would help after giving us a simple, nominal test. AA looked at me and said.
"I..."
"It won't feel right for either of us if we end it like this, will it?"
I said it with a smile, but I was rotting on the inside. Because I truly knew nothing. The only thing I knew about Elven history was that Elves also have sex between men and women to produce descendants. It was almost a certainty that I wouldn't know whatever question they asked. In the worst-case scenario, we could both fail the quiz and no one would get the reward.
It would be far more possible to just apply buffs and fight a hand-to-hand combat battle. That way, even if I lost, AA would get the reward, and if I grit my teeth and gave it my all, there might be a chance. AA nodded her head. From her perspective, it must look like I was making a concession.
Fuck. What a relief.
Seeing that we had reached an agreement, Mimir nodded her head again. Golden eyes and golden hair. The hair wriggled as if it were alive, stretching out in all directions. Mimir once again opened her mouth.
"In that case, I propose a duel between the two of you. You will both fight in a virtual space I create, and the winner will take all the rewards."
I nodded my head. This was better. AA looked at me and lightly clenched her teeth. Even if she didn't say it, AA was probably dying to beat me to death. After she finished speaking, Mimir bowed her head deeply again. The light emanating from her body faded, and her hair, which had been waving in all directions, drooped limply, making her float in the air like a hanged Barbie doll.
As Mimir, who was weakly shaking her body, stretched out her hand, a jet-black ball formed at her fingertips. Both AA and I flinched. As Mimir opened her hand wide, the black sphere rapidly grew and rushed to engulf us. I reflexively tried to dodge, but the sphere expanded too quickly for me to move.
In an instant, darkness washed over us. Submerged in the darkness, we shook our heads and opened our eyes again. We could see stars. Tens of thousands of stars were drifting in the sky. Beneath them, Mimir was floating gently. She was looking at me and AA with an expressionless face.
"I will explain the rules. This is the will of Mimir."
Mimir raised her hand to the sky again. The stars floating in the sky began to descend. Staggering back and forth, the stars fell with a strange movement, like a pendulum on a clock chain. Both AA and I couldn't help but be surprised as we carefully observed their movement.
What was falling were not stars. They were human heads. Glowing with a pale light, dozens of Elf heads were falling from the sky. Heads of various ages, from bearded old men to young adults, were pouring down from the sky like snow. Mimir pointed to the heads circling around her and spoke.
"Mimir is a sanctuary that serves the great spirits of the Elves, and the will of the great ancestors itself. All decisions are made by the spirits belonging to Mimir, and this is the will of Mimir."
"Heeheeheeheehee!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Hehehehehehehe!"
The spirits were snickering. The Elven ancestors must have all been manic or something fun must have happened recently. Startled by the spirits floating around as just heads, AA sidled up next to me. I asked.
"Are you scared?"
"Huh? Ah, no?"
AA hardened her expression as if she wasn't scared and looked forward again, but she soon averted her gaze after seeing the ghosts grinning. The spirits looked at each other's headless forms and began to whisper amongst themselves.
"Aigoo! It seems our young lady is scared of us!"
"Quick, make the bodies! Make the bodies!"
"Are you two about to get married?"
White, tentacle-like stems sprouted from the spirits' heads. As if weaving a skein of thread, the stems intertwined to create the form of a human body. The Elven spirits were all wearing burial shrouds. The spirits, dressed in shrouds similar to white priest's robes, looked at the two of us with joyful expressions. One of them pointed a finger at me and said.
"That's the bastard who just committed indecent assault on Mimir, right?"
"Hohohoho! The Peta Family has completely failed at child-rearing! Completely failed!"
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
AA glanced back at me and shook her head from side to side. Then she spoke in a small voice.
"I tried to stop him."
It seemed all the ancestors here had seen me harass Mimir by touching her buttocks and poking her nipples. I felt my ears burn. What kind of humiliation play was this. I felt like I'd been caught masturbating by others, and it felt terrible.
"Heueuk... Heueueueuk...! Uwaaaaaaaah!"
And once again, a shrieking voice was heard. AA reflexively drew her sword, but one of the spirits grabbed her wrist and gently made her lower it. From behind the spirits, the spirit of the old man who had rushed us just before appeared. He was shedding streams of silver tears from his eyes, crying mournfully as he stared into empty space.
"This can't beeee! For such a scoundrel to be born into the Peta Family! Aigooo! Aigooooo!"
"Shit..."
It seemed he was my ancestor. The guy had come down in high spirits when his descendant showed up, only to be greatly shocked seeing me fumbling with Mimir's pussy. One of the spirits gently poked my ancestor's back, teasing him.
"In all my life, I've never seen a scoundrel who thinks of fucking Mimir. Looking at what that bastard does, he must have been a playboy who'd sleep with any woman he saw, right? Huh? Peta Arcturus. How do you mess up child-rearing so bad that a thing like that pops out? Eh?"
"Shut uuuup! Alio Festa! Aigooooo! To think my descendant is a bastard like this! A bastard like thiiiis!"
But isn't shrieking like this just because I tried to fuck Mimir once a bit of an overreaction? I couldn't help but think my ancestor was overreacting. After all, men are like hammers; if they aren't thinking about nailing something, they're thinking about smashing a head in, and that's it. In other words, it was only natural for me to think about fucking the naked Mimir.
"Then. The test will begin."
Mimir opened her mouth. As soon as she spoke, the spirits who had been laughing and joking, and even my ancestor who was shrieking at me, whimpered and shut their mouths. Once all the spirits fell silent, Mimir began to speak again.
"The two of you will tell the spirits in detail the reason why you should receive the Essence of Mimir. Then, the spirits will support the one they find more convincing and wish to support. This is the Trial of Mimir. First, Hero AA. State the reason you wish to gain power."
At the same time, a status window appeared before my eyes.
[Alio Festa participates in the trial.]
[Peta Arcturus participates in the trial.]
[Ahildern Marina participates in the trial.]
[Epsilon Meiga participates in the trial.]
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Dozens of names, presumed to be the names of the spirits, floated in the empty space. While I was reading the names, the test had already begun. AA looked around in a fluster. Numerous spirits had already gathered around her, observing her.
"I, I want to become a man!"
"Become a man?"
"She wants to become a man? A pretty child like this? What a waste."
"Why does she want to become a man?"
Every time AA said one word, the spirits would throw in one of their own, continuing the clamorous atmosphere. Amidst the chaos, AA barely held onto her sanity and opened her mouth.
"I have... someone I love! I must become a man to be worthy of that person. It may sound selfish, but that... that is my wish."
Silence fell. The spirits whispered amongst themselves and nodded their heads. For some reason, they seemed displeased with AA's statement. Mimir spoke.
"Next is Peta Lusius. State in detail the reason you wish to gain power."
"Ooooh!"
"Right! Even if he's a scoundrel, we should still give it to the Peta Family's child!"
"Of course, of course! An Elf over a human, wouldn't you agree!"
It seemed like this would be easier than I thought. I finally seemed to understand the meaning of these tests. Mimir was not an impartial being. Mimir's ancestors wanted the hero who would defeat Evangeline to be an Elf, if possible. That's why they proposed a test that was advantageous to me, and even now, they were providing me with the most favorable environment possible.
Then what I had to do was simple.
"I want to obtain great power to defeat the Demon King."
Of course, one must state the righteous argument. But the spirits only stared at me with somewhat peculiar expressions, showing no reaction.
I was a little flustered. The most stern-looking spirit among them opened his mouth.
"Speak the truth. We can see the truth. The words you just spat out, Peta Lusius, are not your true feelings."
"What?"
True feelings? What the hell am I supposed to say for my true feelings? Aren't these my true feelings?
"Even if it's an embarrassing reason, we are prepared to support you. Speak quickly."
The stern spirit kept requesting that I speak the truth. But I couldn't figure out what my true feelings were, so I just fell into thought. What the hell are my true feelings? Wanting to defeat the Demon King is a fact, isn't it? The stern spirit shouted to Mimir.
"Mimir!"
"Using a part of my power, Peta Lusius will spew forth his truest feelings from the deepest place to the spirits. This is the will of Mimir."
I felt something inside my chest being forcibly dragged up. I scowled and shut my mouth, but there was no way to stop the wave of nausea that surged up. As I clamped my mouth shut, a voice faintly leaked out from my chest as if from a speaker.
- I want to obtain enough power to be able to rape Hero AAaaaaa...
Silence fell again. AA, seemingly unable to hear the voice, was looking around at the spirits with a dazed expression. While the spirits remained silent, my ancestor began to wail again.
"Aigooooooo! Aigooooooo! Peta Sirius, you bastard gave birth to a beast! Uwaaaaaaaaaah!"
Another notification window appeared above my head.
[Alio Festa supports Hero AA.]
[Peta Arcturus supports Hero AA.]
[Ahildern Marina supports Hero AA.]
[Epsilon Meiga supports Hero AA.]
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"......Fuck."
I'm screwed.