In his sleep, Tsunayoshi felt an itch on his nose, and his body hurried his mind awake. A flash of sharpness flickered in his dazed eyes, but it vanished the moment he saw who was in front of him.
"Good morning, Loki."
Maybe it was because the face was familiar, but right after waking, Tsunayoshi lazily closed his eyes again.
"It's not morning anymore. It's already noon."
"Already that late?"
Yawning, Tsunayoshi sat up in the bath. He really had been exhausted; otherwise he wouldn't have needed to sleep until noon to recover the energy he'd burned through. Spending time beforehand to make a restorative bath had definitely been the right call. Even though it cost a lot of stamina and focus to prepare, a good rest until midday had just about reset his body.
"Sorry. I got a little carried away last night."
"Carried away? Were you thinking about me and Hephaestus?"
"Ah? Uh…"
Should I be thinking about that…?
As he pondered, a hand pinched his cheek.
"Alright, alright. I know you're not the type to jump straight to the spicy stuff. Talk. I'm curious why you were so keyed up yesterday."
Loki cut him off when he couldn't find the words, putting it bluntly enough to make him blush.
"I tried to create the Grail of the Underworld yesterday. It went even more smoothly than I expected."
"The one you said could reverse life and death? Didn't you say using that would attract the gods' attention? Why would you make it at all?"
Loki's eyes sharpened, her tone edged with reproach—clearly worried he was courting death by making that thing.
Tsunayoshi hurried to explain. "No, Loki. I didn't make it to pull any resurrection stunt. I've said it myself: until my strength reaches a certain level, I won't make trouble for myself. I'm not the kind who does something that troublesome on a whim."
Loki stared at him for a while, then let her stern expression ease. "You'd better explain it clearly—and fast—or next comes a lesson from me, as a goddess and as the woman who proposed to you!"
The words were heavy enough to startle him, but he knew her reaction came from concern. The Grail's function would draw divine attention—of course she'd worry.
"Actually, what I want is the Grail's ability to interfere with space and causality," he said quickly. "'Grail of the Underworld' is a literal name—and a reveal of its power. It's the key that opens the gate to the Underworld.
"The Underworld is the world after death—another dimension, another space. Only the dead can enter it, yet a Grail of the afterlife is a key that leads there. To open a gate and depart implies control over space, and to pass between life and death carries the meaning of reversal.
"Based on that literal reading, I forged the Grail and tried to imbue it with interference over space, life, and causality. I succeeded. Starting with the literal meaning turned out to be the right approach."
Loki had listened without a hint of impatience, and seized the point at once. "So what you're after is its spatial interference?"
Before he could answer, her eyes lit up and she spoke the conclusion. "It's the way home, isn't it?"
Hearing that, Tsunayoshi grinned. "Exactly. I used its spatial interference to amplify my perception of spatial coordinates, and I found the coordinate—clearly and easily."
"I've found the way home!"
Understanding dawned across Loki's face; now she knew why he'd been so excited. She glanced at his bright, eager expression.
"So you were excited the whole night just because of that? Nothing else?"
"There were other reasons," he admitted. "Things we'll have to face when I actually take you all over. And, well, I have to introduce you and Hephaestus to my mom."
"I feel like if I go out and come back with two girlfriends at once, my mom's going to be shocked."
As he finished, Tsunayoshi noticed the corners of Loki's mouth lift. It seemed his answer was to her liking.
"If you spring that on her, she'll definitely be startled," Loki said. "I'm secondary—the main thing is that when you stand next to Hephaestus, it looks like there's a huge age gap."
Tsunayoshi stared, dumbfounded. "Loki, are you saying the difference between us isn't that big?"
A vein throbbed on Loki's forehead as she grabbed his cheeks again. "The point isn't me! It's that you and Hephaestus look mismatched!"
"If your mom sees you bring Hephaestus home and introduce her as the fiancée who proposed to you, I think your mom might take Hephaestus for a pervert."
He blinked, then sighed in resignation. "Loki, maybe other people's moms would think that, but my mom's a bit… dense about that sort of thing. I think she'll be really happy to see you and Hephaestus. As for the girlfriend part, she'll probably be more curious about how you both became my girlfriends.
"As for whether she'd think Hephaestus is some kind of pervert… With my mom's personality, I don't think she'd ever see it that way."
(End of Chapter)
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