"Tourists, huh..."
Setsuna smiled. That description was not wrong.
D was more perceptive than he had expected. As the system administrator and god of this world, D's conceptual existence was similar to the gods of the Goblin Slayer world.
However, D was not quite as malicious or insane. Everything she did was for entertainment and slacking off.
Whether it was cosplaying as a high school girl in an island nation or reincarnating her entire class into another world, her motivation was the same.
"Come over and talk."
Setsuna cleared his throat and lifted some of the restrictions surrounding the Astral Express.
Ordinary people could play with ordinary people on the planet below. Naturally, he would deal with this world's "god."
Whoosh—
A mass of black, humanoid energy appeared in the seat opposite him.
"Wow—what is this? It's so cute?!"
She immediately noticed Pom-Pom inside the carriage, rubbed its head, then squeezed its large ears.
"Whaaaat?!"
"What's with this passenger?!"
Pom-Pom jumped in fright.
"Change your appearance. Don't you normally use a human form?"
Setsuna gestured with his chin as Himeko carried over a tray and served the two of them drinks and refreshments.
Hum...
The black silhouette twisted and transformed before him.
It became a girl with waterfall-like black hair and a beauty so perfect that she seemed unreal.
She was even dressed in a Japanese high school girl's uniform, her expression bearing the indolence and composure unique to a deity.
"Ah, I'm a little pressed for time. If I stay away too long, they'll notice."
D examined the train's interior, then turned her attention to Setsuna.
Ordinary people could be seen through with a single glance, yet even while sitting face-to-face with him, she could not discern anything about the man before her.
He seemed like a vast sea of stars, immeasurably deep.
"Should I call you D, or Wakaba Hiiro? No... compared to that little spider below, you're the real Wakaba Hiiro, aren't you?"
Setsuna asked with a smile.
"You transformed yourself into a high school girl so you could enjoy student life on Earth, only to get caught in a joint attack by the Hero and Demon Lord that dragged your entire class into the blast."
"Then you stuffed your memories into a spider and made her serve as your substitute in another world. Mm... you certainly know how to have fun."
The school explosion had occurred because an attack from the Hero and Demon Lord had somehow been redirected toward D.
After the explosion, she could have simply revived the students. Instead, out of a desire for entertainment and to continue slacking off, she reincarnated them into another world.
To prevent anyone from discovering that her true body was still slacking off on Earth, she implanted her high school memories into a spider.
She made the spider adventure through another world in her place as Wakaba Hiiro while constantly monitoring her every move.
"You know quite a lot, don't you?"
Wakaba Hiiro looked slightly surprised. Resting her head on one hand, she gazed at Setsuna.
Everything he had said was correct, down to the smallest detail, as though he had witnessed it personally.
"So, Mr. God from another world, what have you come here to do?"
"Do you want your tourists to become genuine otherworlders here and experience my game?"
Wakaba Hiiro asked.
"More or less what you think. I brought them here to have some fun in a new world."
"And to conquer this world and expand the Starsea Empire's territory while they're at it."
Setsuna answered.
"Oh?—"
Wakaba Hiiro drew out the sound as she propped up her head and looked at Setsuna.
"Conquer the world? That's quite a bold claim."
"Then why aren't you doing it yourself?"
"For the same reason you didn't reincarnate into that world yourself."
Setsuna took a sip of tea.
"Oh. Fair enough."
Wakaba Hiiro understood.
Once a god on her level personally intervened, the future would become a predetermined conclusion, stripping away much of the entertainment.
That was why she spent most of her time observing the spider and the others from the sidelines.
The other party presumably refused to enter the game for the same reason.
Hum...
An unfamiliar energy surged through the train. Wakaba Hiiro supported her head with both hands and stared at Setsuna as she quietly released a wave of magical power.
She was probing Setsuna with her own strength.
As a fellow "god," she wanted to see whether this man could be incorporated into the system she had created and whether she could interfere with him using her administrator privileges.
Rumble!—
A shrill sound echoed through the carriage, as though time and space themselves were being torn apart.
Crack, crack—
Wakaba Hiiro exerted even more power, causing the carriage to tremble under the magical fluctuations.
The scenery beyond the windows shattered like glass as countless fractures ripped through space.
She felt as though she were confronting an enormous mountain that she could not move in the slightest.
"Don't make trouble in here. If you want to fight, we can go outside."
Amid the violent energy storm, Setsuna set down his teacup and pressed one hand downward.
Boom!—
The magical power dispersed instantly. Everything returned to normal, and the carriage became perfectly calm.
"!!!"
Wakaba Hiiro could no longer summon even a trace of her power. She stared at him as though she had seen a ghost.
That brief test alone had confirmed that she was absolutely no match for the man before her.
For Setsuna, beating her would be little more difficult than it would be for her to beat the spider and the monsters below.
"Wow—you really are incredible."
"..."
Setsuna snorted.
"Come with me later. I can give you a place where you can slack off and seek entertainment as much as you like—under my rules, of course."
"Bring Meido along too, the one who's always dragging you back to work. Oh, the two of you manage Hell and the Underworld, so you might as well go play with Ereshkigal."
Wakaba Hiiro was a pleasure-seeking habitual truant, while Meido was a god of equal rank who had spent years dragging the slacking D back to work.
"Hah?!"
Wakaba Hiiro looked over the information Setsuna handed her.
A god's comprehension was extraordinarily high, and in an instant, she understood the general situation of the Starsea Empire.
Compared to the two small worlds here, Earth and the other world between which she traveled, the other party controlled a true empire spanning countless worlds and was constantly exploring new universes.
She felt that traveling to new worlds in search of entertainment was indeed a good proposal, far more interesting than remaining here to observe the natives.
"Can I leave Meido behind?"
"No, but I can make sure she doesn't interfere with your slacking off or gaming."
"...Tch."
After thinking for a moment, Wakaba Hiiro nodded.
"Deal."
The two clinked their cups together.
Setsuna knew better than anyone how to handle pleasure seekers. All he had to do was give them a platform where they could discover even more entertainment.
"Then... what about this place?"
Wakaba Hiiro pointed toward the planet below.
"You came here to give them somewhere to play, while I want to observe how the reincarnators perform..."
"Uh, so now we can watch them together? Adding real otherworlders to the game might make it even more interesting."
Since their goals were similar in a certain sense, Setsuna felt that her suggestion was not wrong.
"Mm. Let's see how they clear this world."
Setsuna looked down below with her.
Whoosh—
Wakaba Hiiro opened her system interface.
"You don't mind if I make a few more adjustments to the world and make things more interesting, do you?"
...
Below, inside the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
"Ooooooh, I'm flying!—"
The spider glided through the air while Jibril carried her.
For the first time, she realized how wonderful it felt to cling to a powerful backer.
"So, what are we doing next?"
"You're far too weak right now. Don't you have any way to become stronger? At least hurry up and change classes into a humanoid form."
Silver Wolf studied her for quite some time.
"Should we take you back and have the Commander grant you some power? Can a spider monster withstand imaginary energy?"
"...I remember Aha once stuffed Emanator-level power into an insect and tried to send it into the Genius Society. Unfortunately, it failed, and the insect died too."
"Shouldn't a spider monster be a little tougher than an ordinary insect?"
"Hah?!"
The spider was horrified.
"No, no, no!!! That method sounds completely wrong no matter how you think about it!"
"I have a better way!"
She waved her forelegs.
"Just like in a game, I only need to kill monsters and level up!"
"Hm, are we considered a party right now? Your levels must be really high, right? In that case, we can challenge much stronger monsters..."
"Wait, will I even receive experience that way?!..."
Question after question poured out of her. Judging solely by her internal monologue, the spider was undoubtedly a chatterbox, though to outsiders, she appeared exceptionally quiet.
"We'll know once we try. Besides, I was just looking for more people to fight."
Jibril looked around.
"Come on, who's the highest-level monster in this world?..."
"No, wait! Why should I have to choose? Wouldn't it be easier to kill them all?!"