The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 629: Socially awkward

I arrive inside the castle via teleportation, and since I already knew they’d all be here, they shout ”Welcome Back” the moment they notice me—my wives, some servants, and a few important figures.

”I’m back-” Before I can finish speaking, Zephyra runs into my arms with an almost idiotic grin on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. She leaps into my embrace, and I hold her back with extreme caution.

’The difference in strength is unnerving...’ I like her hug, her warmth, this affection, but if I’m not careful, I’ll completely crush her back and waist. So even though my tail is wagging with excitement, I keep it pressed firmly against the floor.

”Hey, Zephyra, I’m glad to see you. Did you miss me a lot?” My voice comes out a bit stiff. I hadn’t noticed when I first arrived just how fragile mortal bodies seem. This is my first direct physical contact with something so breakable.

”Y-Yes...” She can barely speak, crying with joy. I glance over at Delphina, who looks a little envious, and Grimm, who gives me a smile. Even Mikael is here, and he offers a positive nod and a challenging look, as if he already wants to call me out for a duel. That’s incredibly surprising, considering what an adventurer he is.

”...Does anyone else want a hug?” I ask hopefully, but no one else comes forward, which is a little disappointing, though I can understand perfectly why.

”Pandora, you... seem too dense to hug. I think that’s the right word for this situation,” Mikael says in a way that makes me glare at him.

”Don’t say ’dense’ like I’m heavy, but I get what you mean.” Zephyra only came close because she doesn’t really care if she gets hurt. Because of her trauma, she even gets a certain pleasure from being mistreated by me. For everyone else, though, getting too close must be incredibly uncomfortable.

’...’ I give everyone a silent look. Still, it’s nice to see they all gathered here for me. It’s been a while.

”Don’t worry, I’ll fix this soon enough and contact will become more appropriate. By the way, I was the one who took Lycoris, Aqua, Eclipsya, and Azazel. I put them into some training, so they won’t be here. Don’t worry about it, and let’s enjoy my return!!” I try to lift the mood.

”Now, how about we get this party started?” As soon as I say that, Grimm makes a signal and the music starts playing while maids carrying trays begin to circulate with food and drink.

Many people seem to want to come and talk to me at first, since I’d phrased things to make it clear I wanted to chat. But Zephyra takes all my attention as I grab her ass to lift her off the floor and move around with her. She just keeps hugging me with soft little sobs; she seems so happy to have me here.

”Pandora, I’m glad you’re back.” Delphina ignores Zephyra in my lap and approaches with a smile. I lean down carefully and give Delphina a little kiss on the forehead.

”I’m happy to be back and see you all again, too. I missed you quite a bit. I have a lot to tell you.” Her shark tail wags a little in excitement. She’s so cute.

”Zephyra, I’m going to put you down now, okay? How about you go to my room and wait for me there? ...I’ll give you a really nice present.” I whisper the last part into her ear. Her tail wags back and forth as I set her down on the floor.

”I-I’ll wait.” Wiping her tears, she runs for the door, nearly tripping because she’s moving so fast.

”...Delph-”

”I saw your conversation with Violet.” Before I can say anything, Grimm speaks to me. I look at her, listening to the suspicious tone of her voice. I think about what she could mean until it clicks.

”Good for you. Do you want something?” Apparently, she knows about the past I told Violet, which makes sense considering her power to see the future. But I don’t really care, not at this point.

”I don’t want much, and I know you wouldn’t care too much if I spread it around; you’d just find it inconvenient. So I’ll ask for things only up to the level where it’s worth it to avoid that inconvenience!!”

”We can also talk in private later, Goddess of the Apocalypse.” She says that in a drawn-out, almost mocking way, using my title, before slapping my ass and walking away.

’It had to be Grimm...’ Delphina goes off to talk to Tsukuyomi while I spot even False Akari here. I wave her over, and she comes to me looking a bit uncomfortable.

”False Akari, how’s your life as a teacher going?” I ask the question mostly out of politeness, since the reality is I know everything about everyone here. With the Fundamentals of Creation, seeing a place’s past is easy. During my journey through the universe to get back to this planet, I saw everything that happened while I was away from this kingdom.

”Everything is great for me. I enjoy being a teacher at the academy, and I just graduated two senior classes! Thank you for the chance, Pandora. Thanks to you, I was able to stay alive and find a purpose.” She expresses her thanks while maintaining a polite tone, though it’s clear she wants to get away. I just give her a nod to dismiss her.

Looking closely, I even see Amiya. She’s with those two white dragon maids, eating the food cautiously and avoiding the more ”intense” parts of the meals.

’I feel so... out of place.’ I look down at my gray dress, my powerful divine weapon that can’t adjust to this environment so... peaceful. Unlike the abyssal environment, this place is so different that it causes me actual discomfort.

Speaking, interacting, and even touching things—it all feels almost alien to me now. It makes me stand practically frozen in the same spot like a statue, waiting for people to come talk to me. But no one does it directly, because it’s uncomfortable for them too.

’I would have preferred it if they hadn’t thrown a party...’ What irony. The girl I broke the most was the only one who approached me without any discomfort and leaped into my arms. I wonder what I’m supposed to feel about that fact.

”Aokitsu-” I look at Aokitsu, who panics upon seeing me and bolts behind Freya, who is talking to Elena.

’Strange?’ I start to wander, testing a theory, and unfortunately, within seconds it’s confirmed. There’s some kind of ”Collective Bubble” where everyone ignores me. Not out of malice, but because I’m something so displaced and so jarring to the environment that it creates this effect.

As if I shouldn’t exist here. The only ones who look at me are Delphina—because she’s a goddess and likely unaffected by this strange effect—and Grimm, who keeps giving me looks that honestly annoy me.

’If I don’t interact directly, everyone will just ignore me... but I can’t interact...’ I feel like a socially awkward child. How do I interact with other people? I already know everything that happened, so I have no genuine questions because I watched the past like reading a book.

And when interacting with most of them, all I see are easily destructible things. That makes me sigh with a certain distaste. I knew everything would be fragile, but personally feeling the fragility of existence and life is far worse than I expected.

”...” I decide to ignore everyone and approach the table, tasting some of the drinks. I turn and look at this party. Their conversation is lively; some topics are about me, but they’re spoken of as if I’m not even here. How ironic.

’It seems this is no longer my place...’ I taste a piece of raw meat. The flavor is excellent; the Abyss doesn’t even compare when it comes to taste.

”Pandora, you look frustrated.” Delphina, having finished talking with Tsukuyomi, comes over to me.

”How do you manage not to be ignored?” I ask Delphina, who is also a goddess but doesn’t seem nearly as out of place in this environment.

”...” Delphina looks around and seems to understand what I mean.

”I don’t know? It happened naturally. I guess there comes a moment when you just adjust to the environment.” She doesn’t provide a very useful answer.

”I see...” I wanted to ask her things, but what do I ask? When I already know everything, any question just feels like an excuse to talk.

”Are you feeling okay?” Seeing my expression, she asks while I sit down in a chair with more care than is needed to create magic circles, and still, I’m not even really sitting.

Mana holds me a millimeter above the chair, because if I actually sat down, the absurd weight of my dress would crush the chair and the floor, sinking down to the lower levels of the castle. Even when I walk, I don’t touch the floor, hovering just a millimeter above it.

”I am. I’m just restless. The Abyss was different in every way... now I feel overwhelmed by the absurd differences from one environment to another,” I murmur, crossing my legs.

”Well, you’ll get used to it, Pandora.” Delphina smiles at me, but I can’t bring myself to smile back at her the way I’d like to.

”Probably.” I’ll have to leave that to think about in the future. For now, I should enjoy this moment of peace. After all, I don’t know when the fight against the goddesses will begin, so all I can do is wait.