A dull thud echoed through the room. I jumped to my feet to check on Kaori-san and found her hunched over, clutching her face.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.
"I hit my nose... God, that hurts," she groaned. "At least I didn't hit the cutting board. That would've been a total hygiene nightmare..."
Even in the middle of a breakdown, she was still worried about food safety. I suppose I should expect nothing less from the owner of a diner.
Kaori-san stayed doubled over for a few moments, but eventually, she straightened up as the initial shock of the pain subsided. Her nose was a bit red, and I noticed a thin, shimmering film of water covering it.
"Wait, Kaori-san, what's that water on your face?"
"I'm icing it. I'm actually a bit of a prodigy with water magic, so I can manage a few tricks like this."
"I see."
"But putting that aside... a blessing from the Creator God?!" she cried out. "No, no, no. I don't care if you're the Pope—I just can't believe it. People don't just meet the Creator God! That doesn't happen!"
Honestly, her reaction was perfectly normal. Shiro-san was the Creator of this entire world; the number of people who could actually get an audience with her was vanishingly small. Excluding the Supreme Gods, I figured only Kuro and Eden-san were really in that inner circle.
"It is as the shopkeeper says," Olivia interjected. "Securing an audience with Shallow Vernal-sama is nearly impossible, even for those with immense political power. When it comes to direct conversation, it is a feat beyond even the Gods, save for the Supreme Gods."
"R-Right?" Kaori stammered.
When Olivia offered no further context, Kaori looked at me with pleading eyes. It seemed she didn't have the heart to press the Pope for details, so she was turning to me for help. I’d known I would have to explain eventually, but doing it in practice was proving to be quite a hurdle.
"If I explain all the details, we'll be here all night, so here's the short version," I started. "I was able to meet her thanks to an introduction from Kuro—the Underworld King, Kuromueina."
"From Kuromueina-sama? Does she have a direct line to the Creator God? Well, I suppose she's the Actual Representative of the Demon Realm, so it makes sense. I see... so you spent months getting close to her, and she eventually introduced you?"
"Actually... I received the blessing on my fifth day since coming to this world."
"I don't even know what to say to that."
Kaori-san stared off into the distance, her eyes glazed over. I couldn't blame her. Even to my own ears, saying it out loud made me realize just how impossible it sounded by the standards of this world.
"M-My common sense doesn't apply at all... Kaito-kun, you're a terrifying child. But still, for her to introduce you to the Creator God, you must be on incredibly good terms with Kuromueina-sama."
"The Underworld King, Kuromueina, is one of Miyama Kaito-sama’s lovers," Olivia stated matter-of-factly.
"Wait... am I dreaming? Is this some kind of lucid dream? Yes, that has to be it. I hit my head and passed out. Haha... okay, let me just pinch my cheek—ow! That really hurts. My cheek hurts, my head hurts, and now even my stomach is starting to hurt..."
Kaori-san looked utterly shell-shocked. I could practically see her brain short-circuiting from the sheer volume of information being dropped on her. I had plenty more to explain, but she clearly wasn't in any state to process additional shocks.
"Hold on... 'one of'?" Kaori whispered. "I'm starting to get the feeling there are other people on that list who are just as terrifying..."
"There are indeed—"
"Stop right there, Olivia-san! Let's put a pin in that conversation for now."
"As per Miyama Kaito-sama's will."
I quickly cut off Olivia, who was about to launch a blunt follow-up attack on the already overwhelmed Kaori-san. I knew Olivia didn't mean any harm, but her lack of a filter was lethal.
"I know you have a lot of questions, Kaori-san, and I promise I'll explain everything eventually. But it's a long story. Why don't we take it slow and go through it one step at a time?"
"T-True, that would be a big help... Honestly, I was struggling just to keep my head from spinning."
"I'll tell you more whenever you feel you have the mental breathing room for it. For the record, I do have other lovers, and they're also incredible people, so please... try to stay strong."
"All I feel is dread. Everything so far has been nothing but outrageous information that's overturned my entire worldview, and yet there's still more..."
Given the precedent with Lilia-san, I knew things would get troublesome later if I didn't explain. However, expecting her to handle all that information at once was just too much. I planned to visit Kaori-san's diner often in the future anyway, so I figured I could just break it to her bit by bit.
Serious-senpai: "Outrageous information, isn't it? But the terrifying thing is that this is still just the tip of the iceberg... When you have an ordinary person character like this, it really makes you realize all over again how absurd Kaito is."