Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

Back in my subspace, it was cleanup time.

If it wasn't for my quick wit, I would have accidentally stepped into the Netherworld. A spherical gate centred around the sword had enveloped the entirety of my outer layer subspace. Thankfully, the second layer was unaffected by this phenomenon.

Anyway, I had to enlarge the outer layer subspace to enter it without interacting with the ominous black gate.

"Aww... How am I supposed to retrieve the sword? You don't expect me go to some other dimension, do you? Hey, Lightsplitter, why do you have to do this to me?" Since there was no reply from that sword, probably because it was too far, I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, a trip to the Netherworld it is...?"

I had no knowledge of how time flowed when multiple subspaces were involved. In the first place, I had no clue if this Netherworld was a subspace or a main space. A subspace followed the laws of the main space it was derived from. A main space was completely independent and could have separate laws of physics and a completely different system.

The easiest way would obviously be to seal the sword away. However, there was the chance the sword could eventually reconnected with that world and link up with the Hero King or another hero in the near future. I wasn't going to leave it to chance.

"Actually, I should ask Oortez about it."

Oortez, being the walking library he was, was eager to get on my case.

"The hero's sword, Lightsplitter, you say... I would love to get my hands on it." He spoke calmly as he stroked his chin yet his eyes told a different story.

Yeah, it's never going into your hands, pal.

"Where exactly is the Netherworld? This is my first time hearing about it."

"It's exactly as the name intended. It's where souls go after they die, well, normally. The sword seems to be able to open a gate directly to that world, though, a one way trip."

"That would be the last place I want to go. I'm thinking of just sealing that sword forever but you know, I kind of want to study it."

"Ahh, ahh! So you do understand me! I am not alone in this world after all!" He spoke passionately, forgoing his original calm demeanor. 

I grimaced and added, "You misunderstood..."

"It's okay. Don't be shy, milady. I will support you with to my fullest."

He replied with a smug grin.

Yikes, he's irredeemable. He definitely needs to breathe some fresh air and touch grass.

"Fine, fine, whatever. The biggest issue right now is I can't shrink that Netherworld Gate. Do you have any idea on that matter?"

"Hmm... Can you not drain energy from it? It should be powered by soul energy."

"No, unfortunately, the sword is in a different world. Energy simply cannot flow out of that gate. As you said, it's an one way trip. If it didn't have a contract with the hero, I wouldn't mind dialing the time flow. But, even so, it might not affect the flow of time in the other world. I don't want to risk it and have it teleport itself back to the hero once a link is re-established."

"Then, why not just kill the hero?"

"That would mean going back on my words. I'm an honest, down to earth person so I can't do that." I responded with a straight face.

Actually, if I killed the Hero King right there, the country would suddenly be one without a leader. That in itself was not a problem but I just felt that it was better if the resistance group took action and killed the king. I would like to stay out of their internal political struggles as much as I could.

"Oh right, do you know anything about the guardian or demon at the elf country?"

"I'm not interested in that backwater country. But, since you asked, hmm... From what I recall, one of the higher up demons is managing it. That one is quite the trickster. No one truly knows his identity."

"I see. I'll have to do some of my own investigations then. Thanks for the information."

"Milady, when will you provide me with an assistant?"

"Look, I'm busy. I'll get to it when I get to it."

I quickly brushed him off and took my leave.