Chapter 56: Field Trip
Fwip
“Lord Yvell! There is something of grave importance that I must inform you about!”
“Huh? Wuh?"
Early in the morning, a certain silver-haired goddess wandered into my tent. The surprise pulled me out of deep slumber, leaving me awake, a little disheveled, and still processing what was happening.
My disheveled state didn’t seem to bother Esphera. She was already at my side, grabbing my hand and tugging me along as if there wasn’t a moment to spare.
“Please! We must hurry!”
“E-Esphera? What is it?”
“It is Snide! I spotted him leading men to Gnomewood.”
“Oh.”
Well, isn’t he quite eager today? I thought it would take him a few more days to try something so bold after receiving a divine warning, but I suppose old age making elders stubborn beyond saving is a universal thing.
I scratched the back of my head as the gears in my brain finally began to turn. Esphera’s eyes widened at my calm, energy-barren voice and unbothered expression.
“W-Why do you seem so disinterested in the matter?!”
“Esphera.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Are you not forgetting something?”
“Huh?”
I casually pointed at the rings of light floating behind her back, flickering as if reflecting her sense of urgency.
“You are a constellation.”
“Yes?”
“A sun goddess that controls day and night.”
“T-That is correct, but what does that–”
“You control time.”
“... Ah!”
I guess Esphera can still be a little PON every now and then. Pretty moe. Moe moe kyuuun~
God, my brain’s still fried, and I’m starving. Better deal with that problem first before I completely demolish a delicious WcDonnie’s breakfast meal.
The pause button is a powerful tool in almost every colony sim, after all. I find it harder to think of a colony sim without it.
“We should send Ori and baby Sylvie to Earth first, so they do not get caught up in the time freeze. Oh, and maybe send that spirit we made the other day back to the spirit world for now. We cannot bring that spirit to Earth, after all. That would make for an unwanted uproar.”
“Yes!”
“Oh, and, Esphera?”
“Yes, Lord Yvell?”
“What do you want to eat for breakfast?”
“It feels weird, walking through the world while time is paused.”
“Even though this is the result of my own powers, it still feels strange to see everything frozen in place. Even the falling leaves hang suspended in the air.”
Nom, nom, nom.
Nom, nom, nom
Esphera and I wandered through the time-frozen Gnomewood forest, eating as we went. I was tearing into a double-decker Egg WcDuffin, while Esphera munched on a spicy salmon mayo rice ball from an Eleven-o-Seven.
She said she was curious about the famous convenience store she’d read about in her textbooks, so she wanted to check it out and grab some food before returning. I also picked up some ramyun to restock our supplies.
I have no idea what textbooks she was reading that mentioned Eleven-o-Seven. She said they had expertly drawn illustrations on every page, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a textbook like that.
My best guess would be manga, but that doesn’t really count as a textbook. Sure, there’s educational manga out there, but I seriously doubt Esphera would use those for studying.
Ding.
“Oh. I got a message from Ori.”
I opened up Chaos and scrolled through my DMs.
OriOP:
can you stream your pov in our private server? i want to see what a time-paused world looks like
“Oh, yeah. I could do that, huh?”
How time worked between Earth and Elynthys was a complete mystery to me. Even Esphera didn’t seem to fully understand the principles, despite having the power to manipulate time on Elynthys.
So far, the way time’s rules apply differently between the two worlds has actually worked in our favor. That’s why I can still chat with Ori online, even while this world is frozen.
UTOPICWorldBuilder:
Let me finish my breakfast first. Then, I’ll start streaming.
I casually swallowed the WcDuffin whole, like a certain pink menace, and tucked the wrapper into my pocket before grabbing my phone again. Esphera watched with curiosity as I held it horizontally in front of my face.
“Lord Yvell, what are you doing?”
“Streaming. Ori wants to see what it’s like, walking through a world frozen in time.”
“Streaming…? Ah! I remember reading about that in my textbooks!”
What kind of textbooks were you reading, exactly?
Ding.
Oh, fuck. I forgot Ori and I weren’t the only ones in the private server. Did someone else besides us really just join this early in the morning?
Ding.
9A-Corvet:
Yo, waddup. What y’all doing?
Ah, fuck. It’s Luke. Of course it’s him. Talk about terrible timing.
9A-Corvet:
Oh, is this a camping stream? This forest looks really weird.
OriOP:
corv, leave
9A-Corvet:
No way. This looks interesting. Are you guys on a movie set or something?
Shit! I can’t exactly kick him off the channel—I don’t have the server mod perms. Do I just end the stream here?
“Lord Yvell, we have arrived. It looks like Snide’s group was still in the middle of encircling the area before I paused time.”
9A-Corvet:
Who’s that cutie? And why is she dressed up like that? And who are those dudes? Are you guys larping IRL?
OriOP:
vell, end the stream
9A-Corvet:
Dont end the stream, bro. I wanna watch.
This is turning into a mess fast. I should just end the stream here and figure out a way to explain things to Luke later.
To be honest, I’m not confident I can lie to him. He’s always been good at reading people, so I’ll need a really convincing explanation if I want to fool him.
But that’s a problem for another day. I need to focus on the task at hand first.
“This is ass…”
Sigh.
Tap.
9A-Corvet:
Yo, why did you end stream? Bro, tell me whats going on.
OriOP:
ill talk to him, vell
UTOPICWorldBuilder:
Much appreciated.
Now, for Snide.
As we neared Snide’s group, it was clear they were mid-stride, sneaking toward the gnomes’ homeground. Armed to the teeth, you’d think they were dressed for war. This didn’t look like ordinary hunter gear.
They wore basic wooden armor that covered the vitals and limbs but limited mobility, and carried short spears for flexible forest combat. They didn’t seem to have any shields or helmets.
Maybe that’s a technological upgrade for another time—whenever war becomes more common in this world.
“What do we do now, Lord Yvell?”
“Study the area carefully. Take note of the positions of all of Snide’s men—and the gnomes, too. We’ll need as much information as possible to make a solid presentation.”
Once we start setting things straight with our usual theatrics, we’ll need to make full use of every scrap of information we can gather. Positioning is everything in theater, after all, so we need to take note of it and make sure the stage is properly set for a divine revelation.
But before that…
I crouch down to the ground and start pulling out some blue-colored weeds.
“Lord Yvell, what are you doing?”
“A little revenge.”
I casually approached the time-frozen Snide and stared at his wrinkled, angry face. He had his spear ready, carefully maneuvering through Gnomewood’s strange shrubs.
People always say to respect your elders. Normally, I’d follow that rule—but every rule has its exceptions, right?
So, casually, I stuck the blue weeds into his nostrils. Now it looked like Snide had overgrown blue nose hairs sticking out of his nose.
Pffft…
Esphera seemed to find it funny too—I caught her holding back a laugh when I glanced at her.
Time to scope out our next grand stage.
After spending a few hours surveying the area, it was finally time to take a breather—and not a short one, either.
While we were at it, I realized Esphera might need a bit more time to figure out the assignment I’d given her. She was working a little too hard, zeroing in on every tiny detail and losing sight of the bigger picture.
“Lord Yvell, this place seems perfect for a divine descent, does it not?”
“Are you saying that because it is quite spacious, and lots of people are around here?”
“That is correct! Surely this would make for an excellent landing spot when you enter the scene!”
“Esphera, look up.”
“Huh? Okay.”
“What do you see?”
“Blue leaves. A lot of—oh.”
“Yeah. The flora in Gnomewood is… weird. Even with all this open space, the trees still block a lot of the sky.”
I gestured upward.
“Instead of descending from above, it’d be better to just teleport me in—like we did with Snide. Otherwise, we might end up starting a forest fire.”
“I-I see…”
“I understand that you want to grab everyone’s attention at once with the whole divine descent idea, but it would be more efficient to just call out to everyone nearby telepathically.”
“Oh, I had not thought about that!”
“Hm…”
Despite being a constellation, Esphera looked genuinely tired. And a tired mind doesn’t exactly work at peak efficiency. So, I decided to change course on the spot.
“How would you feel about visiting Earth for a bit?”
“What? Why?”
“You seem tired. A little physically, but mostly mentally. Am I wrong to assume so?”
“... You are right. I may have been overthinking things lately. Ever since you gave me that assignment, I have been trying to account for every possible angle to make sure it succeeds.”
“Even though that assignment was just about establishing moral foundations—and not about the theatrics of our next divine presentation?”
“I… That is correct…”
I nodded my head in understanding.
“I understand that you are eager to see this through quickly, and I appreciate the enthusiasm. But if you rush too much, you will trip over the smallest details. You need to pace yourself.”
“I-I see…”
“Let’s take a short break and head to Earth.”
“Earth?”
To be honest, I was feeling a bit homesick myself. It’d been a while since I’d spent any real time around civilization—setting aside those brief stops at places like WcDonnie’s and Eleven-o-Seven.
It could be good for Esphera, too. After all, what better place to learn about human civilization and its moral frameworks than a world where humanity has reached a point of near-global prominence?
Think of it as a learning trip for her. In many ways, it’d be a short vacation—but it would still be an educational experience.
“Of course, we should bring the others along as well. Come—let us return to camp and let them know the plan.”
As much as I wanted to head back to Earth for a quick pleasure trip of my own, there was still the matter of Luke. I could use this time to explain things to him properly. I doubted Ori could keep him distracted for much longer
“You know, now that we’re all here, your condo’s pretty small, huh? We can barely fit in here together.”
“Why does everyone always comment on how small it is?”
“I mean, isn’t this basically closet-sized?”
“It’s enough for one person, damn it. That’s all it needs to be.”
We were back on Earth now, my condo restored to its rightful spot in the building. My neighbor shot us a few weird looks when we returned, but aside from that, nothing particularly eventful happened.
“Graille, how are the clothes fitting you?”
“They are… a bit tight…”
“... Urgh…! And you, Esphera? How’s the outfit?”
“Ori! These clothes are wonderful! Truly, you have excellent taste!”
No, Esphera—that’s a nun outfit. Why did Ori do that—ah, I guess I’d just gotten used to seeing her in more casual clothes meant for outings. I forgot she was that kind of woman.
Still… a nun outfit on Esphera somehow worked. Paired with her long silver hair, it looked strangely fitting. Come to think of it, there are a lot of characters like that in anime, aren’t there?
Anyway, now that we were back on Earth, we’d decided to dress Graille and Esphera in something less conspicuous. Their usual outfits drew way too much attention, so they needed something more modern.
For some reason, no one seemed to mind Ramube walking around with his massive frame—probably because people assumed he was just some eccentric furry in a really expensive, convincing fur suit.
Naturally, Ori handled all the clothing. She put Graille in something casual but stylish—tight jeans, a long-sleeved flowy shirt tucked in, with matching heels—while Esphera was given nun cosplay.
Still, though… couldn’t she have dressed Esphera in something more normal? I mean, Graille got a perfectly reasonable outfit.
Ugh. I really don’t get this woman sometimes.
We didn’t have any real plans at the moment. Aside from letting Esphera spend some time here to study, everyone else was basically free—except for Ori, who wanted to head out for a bit to take care of her bills. She mentioned getting a hefty sum from someone she knew and decided to pay everything in advance.
I wasn’t too worried about Ramube—he knew how to keep himself busy, being a surprisingly organized gorilla with a wide range of hobbies.
Graille, on the other hand, was still relatively new to Earth, even more so than Esphera. That left me curious about how she planned to spend her time.
“Do you have any concerns about your temporary stay here, Graille?”
We decided that Graille and Esphera would stay with Ori for the time being. Since they were still relatively new to Earth, it made sense to keep an eye on them and handle any issues early—before they turned into something bigger. That was why Ori volunteered to look after the two of them.
After all, who knows what kind of disaster a constellation could cause if they so much as sneezed the wrong way on Earth?
“Um… Sir Yvell, if it would not trouble you, I would like to consult you about caring for Sylvariel… and possibly the other high elves to come.”
“Oh?”
What’s this about?
“After witnessing those humans brutalize you—and that gnome—I realized how important it is to give my children proper education early on, so something like that doesn’t happen again in the distant future.”
Wow. Spoken like a real parent
Though technically, you’re supposed to be her goddess, not her mother.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to handle that, but I did know someone who might. Someone with a wide network of connections. A certain rich, tanned guy who’d wandered into our channel earlier while I was streaming.
Luke.
“I think I know the right person who can help. I’ll reach out to them soon and see what we can do.”
“Thank you, Sir Yvell.”
“And as for Esphera…”
I’d considered having her watch some historical documentaries on UTube to help with her assignment on establishing a moral framework, but…
[Top 10 Human Myths You Won’t Believe Involved Aliens!]
[Aliens Constructed the Pyramids of Egypt - DEFINITE PROOF!!!]
[New World Underneath The Earth! A High-tech Ancient Civilization Found!]
[7 Reasons the Earth Is Definitely Flat (You Won’t Believe #4)]
Fuck.
UTube might be a bad influence on her. I needed her to learn somewhere more proper.
I couldn’t just send her to school, but there was the next best thing—a place most people in the internet age forget still exists: a library.
I showed my phone to Esphera and pointed to a location on the map app.
“There should be a library over here, a few streets down. Do you see it?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Ori’s heading off to pay her bills, and… I am not so certain you would want Graille tagging along.”
“I can do perfectly fine without her!”
“I heard that, senior!”
Oi, don’t just start a fight out of nowhere. I had to steer things back on track.
“Do you think you can get there on your own?”
“I can read maps just fine, Lord Yvell! I should be able to manage!”
“Perfect. I need to take some time to meet with the contact I mentioned earlier, so I cannot come with you. Remember to return to Ori’s place when you’re done studying. Ori will take you and Graille to show her place, so make sure you do not cause any trouble for her.”
“I understand!”
I suddenly felt like a teacher warning their student on a school trip. Too bad I never got to use that degree properly—otherwise, I’d probably be teaching humans instead of constellations.
“Alright. Dismissed. Everyone may disperse now.”
“About time.”
“You sure you’ll be fine on your own, Esphera?”
“I will be fine, Ori! You worry too much! I am a constellation, after all. What trouble could possibly befall a noble constellation such as myself?”
“It’s because you’re some dangerous cosmic entity I’m worried you might end up destroying the city…”
“What was that, Ori?”
“It’s nothing. Just go. I need to find my membership card before Graille and head to the store to buy Sylvie some new diapers. After that, I’ll leave Graille at my place, so if you come back early, don’t start any fights while I’m away, alright?”
“I understand!”
“I sure hope you do…”
Shortly after leaving Ori’s place on the way to the library, Esphera quickly found herself in trouble.
“Help! My bag was stolen!”
A disheveled, pale young woman with glasses—looking like she hadn’t slept in days—had her sling bag snatched in broad daylight. The thief was already running when Esphera suddenly appeared in front of him, teleporting straight into the path.
“Is that a fucking nun–”
SMACK!
Thud…
With her superhuman strength, Esphera delivered an uppercut straight out of a fighting game. The thief went unconscious instantly, and the bag tumbled to the ground.
Thud!
“Oh no! I hope nothing fragile was inside the bag!”
A detailed catalogue on guns and various historical weapons, and a book on the history of World War II slid out of the unzipped bag.
“Mhm? What is this?”
