My Daughters Are Regressors

It was a massive and heavy door.Even with all my might, I could only push it open little by little.

Goooo—

Was this the pressure Sisyphus felt when pushing a boulder up a mountain? My thighs strained and my calves screamed under the tremendous weight.

"Hah—"

I put strength into my legs and shoulders once more. Suddenly, I felt something explode from my heart with a bang—, and a refreshing energy seeped into my fingertips and toes.

Crreeeeeak—!

The door finally swung wide open.Seeing this, Tywin said quietly.

"...To think you'd open an ancient door with brute force. Who solves problems like that?""I do."

I answered casually while looking around to see what was beyond the door. What could be in there that required such a sturdy door and an impressive password?

"It doesn't seem like much of a space."

There was just an area extending with tiny stars embedded in the ceiling. Just as I was wondering if my recent calorie expenditure had been pointless, something caught my eye.

Flutter—

It was a creature making an odd sound.

"A bird?"

That's right.It was a bird.Looking closer, I saw a bird about the size of a wagon sitting nestled in the center. Or rather, it was sprawled over its nest.

"So it's you."

I immediately realized this giant bird was the being that had been calling me from underground.As if it had also noticed my presence, it made a sound like a generator running - wooooong— and lit up its body like a light bulb.

That's right.Its body was like a light bulb.

More precisely, it resembled a mass of countless light bulbs combined into one.Because of this, its body began to shine endlessly, becoming almost too dazzling to look at directly.

『I am Arnanna, the Demiurge of Incandescence.』

The bird spoke.Rather than speaking, it was more like a voice that seemed to burrow directly into our minds.

It would naturally be noisy if someone was clamoring inside my head, but that voice was as soft as a feather, so it was less jarring than expected.The content of the story was also surprising.

"The Demiurge of Incandescence?"

It was a name I'd never heard before.I glanced at Brigitte, wondering if she knew anything about this, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

"It's a name I'm hearing for the first time too. But it's not that surprising. There are countless deities in this world. Still, if it's in the sun god category, it must be a powerful being worthy of being worshipped as a main deity."

Brigitte frowned and seemed to be examining the glowing bird before us from various angles.As Brigitte said, in this world, the beings worshipped as great gods were related to the sun or light, like Yahweh or Narmir.

This Arnanna, the Demiurge of Incandescence, was probably the same.At least ten thousand years ago, it would have been worshipped as a great god.

"Was it you who caused the Great Annihilation that destroyed the Babylonian Kingdom and turned the sea into a desert ten thousand years ago?"

I asked.I vaguely felt that the being before us wasn't evil, but I still felt I needed to make sure.In response to my words, it slowly nodded its head.

『That's right. Although it wasn't intentional.』

Not intentional?As I was wondering what that meant, the glowing bird spread its wings with a whoosh—Then the feathers extending from its wings scattered towards the air, reflecting a strange light like an aurora.

"A video?"

As Salome questioned, the light distorting in the sparkle of the feathers played something like a video.It depicted the once-prosperous Babylonian Kingdom of ancient times, and showed how it met with sudden annihilation, forcing people to leave their homeland.

『They called me down to earth to build an eternal empire of the sun. But my incandescence was beyond what humans could endure, and everyone who remembered me perished.』

I see.Unlike Nocturne, it wasn't malicious, but was it the kind that caused harm just by existing?Isn't that what the sun is like too?

When it's far away, it's warm and bright, but if it comes too close, living things can't withstand it and would evaporate without a trace.The bird before our eyes was the sun, and people received retribution for trying to carelessly obtain the sun - that might be a good way to put it.

Pat—At that moment, Naru jumped towards the bird.And then she started circling around the bird, looking like a child who had discovered something very interesting. Which was actually the case.

"It's a huge bird! It's warm! Molumolu's friend?"

━Meowwww.

"But it seems to have little strength!"

Little strength?Now that I heard it, Naru's words were right.

This Arnanna, the Demiurge of Incandescence, should have been a being capable of emitting light and heat intense enough to evaporate the sea in a single day.But now, its light was closer to a mass of light bulbs than the sun.Moreover, even that light was flickering and gradually losing its radiance.

『My existence will soon meet its end. I've become exhausted after being trapped in this prison for so long. I couldn't escape from here.』

Extinction, huh?I took in that story calmly, but Cecily, with her rich sensitivity, seemed quite sad about it.

"To be trapped for ten thousand years and then die... It's too sad! Since it's a bright and splendid bird like a chandelier, we should take it with us and raise it...!"

That was a good idea too.

"If we bring that bird to the ballroom, everyone will surely look up to this Cecily von Regdoll...!"

We're already raising a strange creature like Molumolu, so it wouldn't make much difference to raise one more glowing bird. However, the glowing bird Arnanna shook its head.

『There's really not much time left now. I was just waiting for someone, anyone, to hear my last story. Now I can finally rest. Before that, I will only leave behind proof that I lived...』

Flutter— Flutter—As the bird flapped its wings, the dark underground cavern lit up like day. It wasn't really daytime, but the high-dimensional magic circle drawn around emitted a white light.

『I wanted to leave this place... But it was impossible with my power. I hoped someone capable would find me. Oh, you who cross walls... I entrust my will to you...』

The light from the magic circle began to seep into me.The flow was so intense that it was like a stream of water being sucked into a drainage hole in a dam.

"...Ah, the bird...."

While I was absorbed in this strange light, Hina let out a regretful voice. When I came to my senses, I saw that the brightly glowing bird of incandescence had turned to dust and was scattering.It must have no longer had the strength to maintain its physical form.Seeing this, Tywin spoke urgently.

"Answer my question! I—"

『Young lady, the question and the answer are always in your heart.』

The bird answered without even hearing the full question.The question and answer are in the heart?Couldn't anyone say something like that?

Rustle—Finally, the bird turned to dust and completely vanished.

But nothing much had changed.Only the impression that it had been incredibly bright but now it was okay remained in my heart. That's when Naru raised her hand as if she had discovered something.

"Oh, holy shh...! There's an egg!"

What Naru lifted was indeed an egg.It was oval-shaped like a bird's egg and quite large, about the size of a volleyball.An ostrich egg?

Seeing that it was a bit larger than that, it didn't seem like an ordinary bird's egg.Could it be Arnanna's egg?

"Judas, are you okay?" Brigitte asked me.

"Just now, an enormous rush of power was sucked into your body.""That's right."

What the dying being gave me was will.A strong will to leave this place.That will was enough to awaken something that had been sleeping deep inside me.

Rumble—!At that moment, the ceiling shook.Everything around us cracked and an enormous amount of sand began to rise up to our knees in an instant. Seeing this, Cariote shouted urgently.

"It looks like the pyramid is about to be submerged in sand again. If we stay here, we'll be trapped and buried alive...!"

Cariote is someone who doesn't usually get flustered.So her shouting must mean the situation is critical.

"Let's give it a try. Everyone gather around me."

I spoke to those around me.

When the children, including the nymph thieves and adults, gathered in a circle around me, I lightly tapped my foot on the ground.

Pat—Then something amazing happened.

The surrounding scenery changed in an instant, and we found ourselves about 10km outside the collapsing and sinking pyramid.It could truly be called teleportation.In this situation, Brigitte was astonished.

"Judas, did you just imitate dimensional gate magic?""No. To be precise, dimensional gate magic imitates this."

Pat—

I lightly tapped my foot again.This time, the scenery changed again and a cool oasis appeared before us.This whole process ended with just two foot-taps.

* * *

"Mwehehe, it's very regrettable, but the sugar rocks... were all used up when we shook off the Sphinx...!"

Kupanoi delivered shocking news to the people of the oasis village. The story was that the nymphs had used up all the sugar that had been responsible for the oasis village's livelihood.

"Therefore, we cannot return it...!""N-No way...."

As people began to cry or despair at this news—Kupanoi added more words.

"Instead, we will allow the sale of nymph ditch water...! Nymph ditch water is more valuable than sugar rocks...!"

With those words, all the nymph thieves plunged into the oasis with a splash. Then they immediately started splashing around, and seeing this, the village chief Jethro was shocked.

"Y-You nymph bastards! What are you doing? Not content with stealing our sugar rocks, you're even muddying our oasis!"

"Let's drive out the nymphs!""Nymphs! Vile Nymphs"

People's attitudes suddenly turned vicious.If this continued, the nymphs might face a very nymph-phobic expulsion.Just as I was wondering if I should step in, Chief Jethro stopped in his tracks.

"Wait..., is the oasis water becoming clearer? How is the oasis water becoming clearer when the nymphs are splashing around? I don't understand! The taste...."

Slurp—

After tasting the oasis water, Jethro was surprised.

"I've never tasted such refreshing oasis water before! It even invigorates the whole body! It's amazing! This quality would be good enough to sell in Marduk's market!"

"Mwehehe, that's right...! We nymphs have the talent to turn spring water, ditch water, and stream water into nymph-friendly water...! It will maintain this state for at least 100 years...!"

There was a lot I wanted to say in many ways, but I just kept my mouth shut.When it came to nymphs, thinking too much was a losing proposition.

Anyway, the oasis village and the nymph thieves reconciled dramatically. Whatever the process, the important thing was that everything worked out well in many ways.