The Outer God Needs Warmth

It’s been a week since I started living at Betga.

One man walked into the house and asked me,

“Who are you?”

Late at night. A man covered in soot and smelling of grease entered Betga, looking like a thief. He was so startled to see me that he ran back outside, only to return with a confused expression.

“This is our house, right?”

It’s understandable that he would react that way with an unknown girl here. But I knew him from Victoria’s memories.

“Are you Morris Bet?”

“Uh, yeah. Who are you? A friend of my daughter?”

“Something like that. If it’s Beatrice, she had to leave for an urgent matter at work suddenly. As for Victoria…”

I pointed behind me.

“Hey! I can cook too! Behold! This dazzling alchemical radiance! Huh? Dad?”

Victoria, who had brought out a grotesque dish, waved her hand with a smile.

The meal she was supposed to be making was a vegetable stew of ratatouille, which typically involves eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, bell peppers, and so on. However, it had the unique twist of having fruit and mustard sauce thrown in.

Just for reference, the last two ingredients weren’t on the original recipe.

It’s her own creation, after all.

“That’s our dinner.”

A look of regret passed across Morris’s face. Since it’s food made by his daughter, wouldn’t it taste good if he tried it?

Anyway.

After a brief self-introduction, the three of us sat at the table and had dinner.

Surprisingly, it was much tastier than expected, and I finished all of mine, while Morris and Victoria barely managed to eat a few bites before leaving most of it.

“Finish it all. Especially the person who made it.”

“Ugh.”

I watched as Victoria picked at her food.

Morris? He’s a victim in this case, so he stayed quiet, but what family wouldn’t eat if their daughter asked for help in consuming her own creation?

Unless the dad is some genius and doesn’t think clearly, but since both parents worked, Victoria was often left alone.

I guess that’s all there is to say.

“You said you tasted it while you made it, right?”

“I did! It was edible! And Bell enjoyed it, didn’t she?”

Well, things like mustard were in there to season the stew, so that might be true. But after the second bite, the flavors started fighting each other, which made it strange. Plus, tasting when really hungry and when full is different, isn’t it?

And Victoria’s argument could be sidestepped like this.

“I lived in a time when it was hard to find spices.”

In the first era, we ate decently cooked food, but in the second, spices were nearly unavailable. Thankfully, with Cheonma around, we managed to obtain some, but not as abundantly as we can now.

“Really, it was like that back then?”

“Uh, Tori, is this person someone who has lived a long time?”

No wonder Morris looks so restless.

He might have thought I was the same age as Victoria and had been speaking casually this whole time.

“Yep. I might be older than both you and Mom combined.”

Morris suddenly got up, stiffly hesitating as he tried to greet me, but I stopped him. Beatrice adapted easily, but this guy looked strained.

At least once they both consumed enough nutrients to be at a decent level, we did the dishes. During that time, Victoria filled Morris in on what I had been through.

Mostly it was about Victoria’s adventure.

A little while later…

“So, you came from another world?”

“Yes, my savior, Dad!”

Though I’m her savior, the future I chucked is probably a complete mess, so in the grand scheme, it might be bad.

I kept that part hidden from Beatrice too, and I plan to keep it that way in the future.

Anyway.

Victoria rambled on, showing Morris the abilities she gained, completely unfazed by the soot and oil clinging to her clothes.

In the first place, Victoria chose the job of a winding knight because of Morris. So, it’s not strange.

If anything, it just adds to it.

After finishing the storytelling, Victoria began to show off her abilities.

She conjured moisture from the surroundings to form droplets or dispersed them into thin air.

Morris, who had been watching in wonder, suddenly got up and dashed somewhere. And after a moment…

He came back carrying a box full of various tools, ready to measure Victoria’s powers.

Some of the tools looked familiar from my memories, while others were completely unknown. He used them to examine the floating water or equipped various measuring devices onto different parts of Victoria’s body.

“How on earth does this work?”

“Why, Dad?”

“I don’t see any magic power involved. I can’t figure out the strength required to create this bizarre phenomenon. Even spirits typically generate unique occurrences using the magic energy around them…”

Morris’s gaze turned towards me.

“What kind of law is governing this?”

He seems to be the curious type; the one people often say is like a scientist. But I shook my head.

I have various memories and information, but I’ve never really done anything with it. There are several suspicious items among Daegon’s or Primordial Heavenly Sovereign’s memories, but claiming to know would be shameless.

“I don’t know either. Not everyone who contracts will exhibit psychic abilities, and even those who do, rarely have the exact same powers. They do tend to differ from one person to another.”

And that psychic ability usually grants the power to solve whatever problem the user is facing at that moment.

Or it offers the strongest force to satisfy one’s desires most definitively.

In a broader sense, it’s practically the same thing.

“Then doesn’t that mean you’re bestowing your power by contracting with them?”

Morris looked at me with a puzzled expression. I see where he might be confused. He might think once a promise is made with a deity, that deity grants abilities.

“I can’t wield the power that interacts with living beings generally to manifest their will in reality. So, the psychic abilities are functions meant for those who made the initial contract, right?”

At that moment, Victoria raised her hand.

“That’s right, Dad! It feels like using this power makes me incredibly hungry! But that doesn’t mean I can’t use magic!”

For reference, Victoria can use magic. Morris can too, of course. In a world that uses magic power as an energy source, those who handle it can manage a bit of magic.

Though they aren’t learning it professionally, so they only learn slightly better than an ordinary person.

It’s like how someone learning geology might also pick up bits of statistics.

Victoria levitated a small magic orb in one hand while conjuring a blob of water in the other. Then she fused the water blob with the magic orb.

They floated there without interfering with each other.

After separating them, she turned the water into steam and reclaimed the magic.

Watching all this, Morris clutched his head.

“Where on earth is the heat that should be lost during state changes coming from…?”

Wouldn’t that be how abilities work?

Nonetheless, his face shone as if he’d just gotten a new toy.

“Ah, I wonder if I could also make a contract?”

Morris pointed at himself and asked.

Hmm. I don’t see a problem with that, and I’d actually want to do it. But if I casually agree to a contract, Beatrice might shoot me in the head.

Maybe because he has experience with so many contracts, he’s skeptical about the one with me.

It’s just a simple phrasing, but it’s being oddly interpreted.

But isn’t all human contracts a bit shady?

Sure, there can be hidden clauses that one might not realize immediately but lead to significant loss down the line.

That’s how humans form societies, after all.

What if trying to tweak the contract leads me to a disaster for being overthinky?

Thus, I don’t change the contract.

Anyway.

“Not everyone gains powers. And if we’re talking contracts, I recommend discussing it with Beatrice first.”

I formed my fingers into a gun shape and lifted it slightly.

“Mom’s a bit sensitive. If you don’t want to be on her bad side, it’s better to chat first. If she gets mad, nobody wins in this house.”

“That’s… true.”

With a forlorn sigh, Morris felt the pat on his back from Victoria.

I glanced at the two and asked a new question to change the subject so they wouldn’t think too hard about the contract.

“So, was it intentional that you both took turns coming here?”

There were many memories of Morris in Victoria’s mind. But when Morris wasn’t around, Beatrice was present.

In other words, one of them had to be with Victoria during the night.

Both of them made time for her, and the one who could manage that regularly was Morris. To confirm, I asked, and he nodded.

“I received a letter saying something urgent came up.”

“How long is Mom gone this time?”

“At least it was written she’ll be gone for three days.”

“Ah, then the contract agency must have made a mistake. If it goes beyond five days, it’s effectively a loss.”

Both of them whispered and seemed to understand.

It’s heartwarming to see such family vibes.

“Dad. You’re working tomorrow anyway, right?”

“Uh? Yeah, I guess. Why?”

If I remembered correctly, the news from the video receiver said tomorrow was a holiday.

“Then can’t we visit your workplace? This time, there’s Bell too. It wouldn’t hurt to have a look around, right?”

With pure self-interest, Victoria’s suggestion put a troubled expression on Morris’s face. When he peeked at me, I shrugged as if to say, “Do as you like,” and he lowered his head.

“Yeah. Since we can’t be together on the weekend, that sounds better. But you have to get up early. If you can’t wake up, I’ll leave without you.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Victoria’s face lit up with a satisfied smile.

It seems exciting to go to the place where a winding knight works.
Or maybe it’s the joy of being able to visit where her father works.
Or perhaps it’s both.

Tomorrow won’t be boring.

As we organized our plans for the next day, Morris suddenly grabbed Victoria’s arm, smiling brightly.

“Uh, Dad?”

“Daughter. First, let’s find out more about that psychic ability. If using it makes you hungry, it means energy is being exchanged in some form.”

“Ah.”

Perhaps sensing the ominous premonition of what’s to come, Victoria looked at me.

But I’m not her ally here; I’m equally curious to validate her abilities.

“I can help constrain things.”

“Um, is that okay?”

“You can drop the formalities with me.”

“No, then you should too…”

“My politeness is a hindrance. I can’t change it, so please understand that part.”

Morris suddenly had the expression of a punch to the gut, nodded, then started measuring Victoria’s body with various devices.

And Victoria used her powers late into the night before eventually retreating to her room.

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