The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 206: Ice cream and I forgive you

”...!! P-Pandora, you okay?” Zephyra took me out of her lap and checked me urgently. I was bleeding quite a bit from the nose, but I was careful not to get myself or Zephyra dirty with my blood.

”I’m fine, Zephyra, don’t worry...” The pain I felt has already passed, and the bleeding has reduced.

’I’ve exhausted my authority...’ The system warned me not to do what I did again. The authority to do that in the system has to be at least 10% or higher, and I clearly don’t have that yet.

That’s why I was ”punished” by the system with a terrible headache, so bad that I thought my head was going to split, but I endured it and completed my threat, in the end, this was useful.

The morale of the people was raised to the maximum, and with the revelation that I am a goddess, my enemies will be more cautious.

”Freya, bring me a handkerchief before I unnecessarily soil my dress.” Freya quickly pulls a handkerchief from her clothes and hands it to me. I put it on my face to clean the blood.

”Freya, give me a general report on the current public opinion.” I ask while carefully cleaning the blood that had run down.

”...Well, first about the speech, about 70% of the population loved it, and the rest are composed of Beast men who were bothered by it.”

’The reaction of these animals doesn’t matter that much.’ The demonic people liked it, so it’s great.

”The public’s reaction to today is excellent, since today is your birthday, a party in the city is being held and will take place tonight at the same time as the party in the castle.”

’As I imagined, a threat to the world was a good choice.’ I’m tired of being so passive about this, just waiting to be attacked.

”Freya, during your classes with Aokistu, prepare the army for war. I’m planning to be the one who takes the direct offensive this time.”

”...May I...know who it will be?” Freya asks.

”Dwarves, we’re going to exterminate them. After all, they’re a useless race.” They are a small race that doesn’t negotiate with demons, and they all live in a single place.

”Your Majesty, may I know why exterminate the dwarves?” Freya questions, in theory, picking a fight with them has no use.

”Rats and crows.” I say only those two words to her. It was something I discovered from the black market of the human kingdom, the same human with whom I negotiated in the past has another crow with him.

And the shadow crows pass me information when destroyed. I had even set aside that I had the crows as great information collectors. What I discovered is that the dwarves are building something for the humans.

”The dwarves are trying to build or rebuild a so-called...divine beast? Or something like that.” The information came somewhat cut off, and a lot of trash came along with it.

”!!!” Freya seems shocked. I’m not entirely sure what a divine beast is, but it clearly seems problematic.

”Understood, Your Majesty. I’ll see what I can do. Do you wish to participate in this war?”

”No, there’s no reason for me to participate in this.” I have other plans that won’t be interrupted to deal with these land eaters.

”...Zephyra seems bothered. Does it seem bad for you that I’m like this?”

”...”

”Get used to it. I won’t change, even if it’s your request. I’ll kill and kill and kill to get what I want.” I feel no remorse for this. These land eaters are not allies, there is no reason to let them help the humans.

”W-Well...could you just threaten them, or at least not exterminate them?” Zephyra speaks hesitantly.

”Denied. Zephyra, threatening them won’t work. I don’t have all that authority to threaten someone and have that person stop acting, and I also can’t risk letting a potential threat arise, understand?”

The dwarves are clear allies of the humans. I don’t know why they want to stay with the humans, but they are clearly my enemies and don’t like me.

Of course, there is a greedy minority that even makes secret trades with the demons, but these minorities are irrelevant and charge dearly.

”Don’t confuse pity with utility. I just didn’t exterminate the beastmen for their utility. They are relatively simple beings who live on the basis of strength, but dwarves are not like that.”

”They are intellectual and brutal beings who would never accept something like me ruling them. Zephyra, do you think I’m something the races can peacefully accept? I’m an abomination in their eyes.”

”And I won’t do anything to change that view. They are right to see me that way. I’m a cruel monster, and I don’t need them to see me any other way!”

”Okay...” Zephyra just agrees.

”Zephyra, don’t get sad about others...it irritates me. I hate that you worry about others, but don’t think about me. If I leave them alive and die because of it, how would you and everything I fight for be? Don’t be stupid.”

”I am a being with very superior intellect and mental capacity. My actions are not guided by a mere desire to kill. I’m doing what’s best for me and my kingdom.”

”You are a queen. Act like one. Your king and your people come before anyone else! Nothing and no one besides me matters. The kingdom is in second place for you. I am the one who must always be first in your mind.”

”Think before you speak or act. Will this make me happy? Will I like this? Is this safe for me? You should always question, choosing what’s best for me.”

”I-I understand...you are my number one, and I should have thought better. If they kill you, I would be very sad and alone...”

’If I die, you die, but it’s good you didn’t say anything.’ No one needs to know that.

”It’s okay, Zephyra. I understand that you are sweet and can care about others, even if you’re a bit manipulative.” I try to be cute with her to cheer her up.

’Tsk, why care about these vermin?’ I don’t like this. She doesn’t need to question me, just love me. This decision is the best. Dwarves are problematic builders.

”Now, Zephyra, let’s forget all this, okay? We have a party, and today is my birthday! You don’t need to understand the complex politics, just leave everything to me and enjoy your perfect life with the best of everything.”

”You’re right! I should enjoy what I have. Politics is too difficult for me.” Zephyra agrees.

”Great...”

”...” Zephyra lifts me off the ground and hugs me tightly as she goes to some place in the castle. I guess everyone likes to carry a cute thing like me.

”Where are we going?”

”To get ice cream...I mean, to the kitchen.”

”You really like ice cream, don’t you...”

”Yes, I do.”

”Your smile is beautiful.” I compliment her.

”...” She gets all shy with the compliment.

”You should smile more. The world is rotten, but there are still many nice places and people, so you can ignore how bad the world is sometimes.”

”Pandora is very mature...how do you manage to be like this, being so young?” Zephyra asks as she takes me to the kitchen.

”...I’m not really that mature.” I was a child in a box all the time until now. I guess there’s a difference between being mature and having already seen the rot of the world.

”I think I just know how bad everything can be, so I know how things work. The world is not a bed of roses, and I won’t turn it into one. The world is cruel to the weak, so I’ll be strong.”

”...So you’re just strong?”

”Yup, everything comes down to strength. I’m not mature, I’m strong, and I can sustain my ideologies. If I were weak and said all the things I said, I’d just be called crazy.”

”Well...you’d be a very cute crazy one.” She tightens the hug.

”Hahaha” I laugh at this statement. Cuteness is not really my thing.

”Zephyra, have you ever looked at the sky and wondered what might be up there?”

”Well...I have, when I was younger.”

”And do you wish to go there and see?”

”No, I don’t think so.”

”There’s your answer.”

”My...answer?”

”You were seeking freedom, so you wanted to go to another place. But now you’re satisfied with what you have, so you don’t see the need for it anymore.”

”Oh...y-you’re right, I really wanted to explore the world...to get out of that dark room.”

”Well, I’m like the ocean. You’ll have plenty of time to explore me with a lot of freedom.”

”Just be careful, because the calm in the deep waters can hide something dangerous.” A warning. I let her explore my body and feelings as she wishes.

But making it clear that there is a limit that she must not cross. I have my own limits and boundaries that I don’t want anyone to invade.

”Okay, Pandora, I don’t want to go so deep and take risks. Look, we’re here!” She speaks cautiously, avoiding the threat with 100% success.

We both enter the kitchen, and soon the cook comes and bows to us. He brings a tray of ice cream that Zephyra takes with a smile and brings with me. We walk to my room, and upon reaching the room, Zephyra speaks to me.

”You know...I love ice cream...do you like ice cream?”

”Yes, it’s delicious, so I like it. It’s cold and sweet, so I find it quite interesting as a dessert.” It’s a good dessert, although it doesn’t replace a good blood.

”Pandora, I love you.” Zephyra says with a smile as she places the tray of ice cream on the table and invites me to sit on her lap.

”I love you too!” I sit on her lap excitedly. She takes a spoonful of ice cream and starts feeding it to me carefully.

”How is it? Is it delicious?”

”Yes, it’s very good.” I savor the ice cream, happy with the interaction. What makes me even happier is that Zephyra herself was active in the moment without me having done anything or hinted that I wanted it.

”You know, Pandora...I forgive you.” Zephyra says as she takes a spoonful of ice cream and tastes it.

”For what exactly?” I didn’t quite understand what she’s forgiving me for.

”For hurting me...for hurting me a lot to have me. It must be difficult for you to have all these feelings, so I forgive you. I love you too much to stay angry.”

”Hehehe, thank you, dear. I also love you too much and don’t want to hurt you again.” I laugh in a somewhat childish way, indicating my happiness.

”Hmmm” The spoonful of ice cream seemed sweeter than anything I’ve tasted lately. What a wonderful gift. My birthday started terribly, but it should get better from now on.