As Tiana-san and I sat chatting over tea, the conversation eventually turned toward the residents of this world, including my lovers.
"Kaito-kun, I know it would be difficult to meet everyone the way Electrone did, but I’d like to try and greet your lovers if that's alright."
"Oh? Yeah, I don't see why not... but who did you have in mind? I could call Alice, Lilia-san, Anima, or Illness-san right away, but if you have a specific preference, I can check with the others."
"If possible, I’d really like to meet Kuromueina-chan. She was your very first lover and the one who influenced you so profoundly. I won't deny I'm acting a bit like a fan, but I’d love to meet her and pay my respects."
"I see... In that case, let me check with her."
Upon hearing Tiana-san say she wanted to meet Kuro, I sent out a Hummingbird to confirm her schedule. In a way, Kuro was the safest choice to start with. While Tiana-san was easy to talk to and kind, she was still a God of an Otherworld. Someone like Lilia-san would likely be paralyzed with nerves. Kuro, on the other hand, was already accustomed to dealing with Shiro-san and Machina-san to some degree, making her the perfect person to introduce first.
A reply came back almost immediately. Her schedule was clear and she could come over right away, so I invited her to join us.
And I truly meant right away. Less than a minute after I received her Hummingbird, Kuro arrived via Teleportation Magic. The moment she laid eyes on Tiana-san, her expression turned to one of pure shock—she looked utterly staggered.
"Kuro?"
"Eh? Oh, sorry. It's just... I've never seen anyone so incomparably strong before. It caught me off guard."
"Is Tiana-san that powerful, even from your perspective, Kuro?"
"I'd say she's in a league of her own. Setting aside Shiro’s rule-breaking tricks, even the Earth God, Canalis-san, or Electrone-san are beings with staggering power... and yet, I can at least grasp the extent of their might. With this person, I know she’s strong, but I can't even tell how much. It’s like standing at the foot of a mountain and looking up at a peak that’s completely hidden in the clouds."
Just as Canalis-san had mentioned, Tiana-san was apparently strong enough to astound even Kuro, who had encountered multiple World Creators before.
Tiana-san offered a gentle smile in response to Kuro's awe, then spoke up to refocus the conversation.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kuromueina-chan. I am Tiana, and I'm very happy to finally meet you. Please, there's no need for formal speech with me. I’d be delighted if we could just interact casually."
"I-It's a pleasure to meet you too. As you probably know, I'm Kuromueina... It’s the first time anyone has called me with '-chan,' so it feels quite refreshing. I suppose from your perspective, Tiana-san, I must seem like a child?"
"I'm sorry if this is overstepping, but I was wondering... how old are you exactly, Tiana-san?"
Kuro had lived for an incredibly long time, but I suspected Tiana-san’s age was on a level that defied comparison. When I asked, Tiana-san took on a thoughtful expression.
"Let's see. You mean, how old would I be if we used this world's standards—where roughly 8,640 hours equals one year? Well, if we used the numerical units you're familiar with... it would be 7,648 nayuta, 1,023 asougi, 733 gougasha, 3,356 goku, 2,213 sai, 6,532 sei, 5,070 jun, 9,761 kou, 4,693 jou, skipping over to 3,000 gai, 2,253 kei, 8,520 trillion, 2 billion, 37 million, 289,510 years old... I think? Roughly 7,648 nayuta years old."
"I... I see..."
The only thing I understood was that it was an unfathomable number. I guess Kuro’s age really was like that of a child in comparison.
"Well, the age of a World Creator isn't really a useful metric. Time laws differ from world to world. There are World Creators who were born after me but are technically 'older' than I am. This is strictly just what it looks like when applied to this world's time, so there’s no need to worry about it."
"You really are a World Creator of incredible power and scale."
"But, Kuromueina-chan, if you can sense my power even to that degree, it means you're at the very top tier of the Almighty Class yourself. You are more than impressive enough. Besides, it’s not as if having more power makes one superior. I’d be happy if you just treated me as a friend."
"Kaito-kun, I used to think that all World Creators were bizarre, troublesome beings... but lately, I've started to think that maybe Shiro and the Earth God are just the problem children, and most World Creators are actually quite sane."
"U-Ummm, maybe it's just that everyone associated with Nebula is the sane one?"
I could see where Kuro was coming from, and I shared a similar sentiment. However, that was likely only because Canalis-san, Electrone-san, and Tiana-san had been such sensible people in a row. If I thought about the vast number of other World Creators out there, I suspected there were plenty of dangerous ones too.
Still, everyone associated with Nebula was relatively level-headed. It was a nice change of pace.
Machina: "I can't accept this. I really can't accept this... Why am I being used as the poster child for crazy people?"
Natural God: "...I'm not happy about being lumped in with the Earth God."
Serious-senpai: "...Well, as far as being 'dangerous' goes, Machina is on a whole different level. I actually feel a little sorry for Shiro being included in that example. Shiro’s just more of a natural airhead..."
Machina: "...And what about me?"
Serious-senpai: "You're just a straight-up crazy person."