An hour later, Lia watched as her Goshujin-sama tucked himself into a sleeping roll that he made with the legendary shield.
They had made a makeshift cabin like they had in other places of the forest. A few logs chopped with their blades while Goshujin-sama arranged the foundation with his magic. And then after slotting everything into place and making sure the inside was dark...
For the first time since Lia had met him, Goshujin-sama closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Sylvia sat next to him, her violet eyes glowing in the dark as her fluffy tail waved. "...He's really sleeping, Lia."
Lia smiled. "He is. I'm happy."
Yes, Lia was happy.
Because she knew already. How many days Goshujin-sama had stayed awake and kept watch while they rested. How much he pushed himself in a superhuman way to train them as well as teach them.
In the last week, Goshujin-sama had taught them how to fight, hunt, prepare food, prepare shelter, alternate watch while the other slept... every life skill they would need to survive on their own.
And now it was time for them to apply that skill for his sake. Their turn to watch over him.
So Lia was happy. Because, even if just a little, it was her chance to pay him back.
And it looked like Sylvia felt the same from how delighted she seemed watching Goshujin-sama's steady breaths.
Lia smiled and then shifted her attention to the surroundings instead. Since Sylvia was keeping a direct eye on Goshujin-sama, it was redundant for her to do the same.
So, resting a hand on her sword, the one that Goshujin-sama made her from the bones of a fierce wolf that she defeated the other day... While holding the hilt of that blade in her hand, she swept her crimson eyes across the surroundings.
Of course, there was nothing.
There never was around Goshujin-sama unless they hunted for one.
Lia wasn't sure why... and Goshujin-sama just said it was a skill he had.
But either way...
"We're clear, Sylvia!"
Sylvia smiled back at Lia and said, "That's wonderful." She idly kept staring at Goshujin-sama, her violet eyes soft with adoration. "Master needs his rest. ...I don't think he's had the chance to properly rest since he arrived in this world."
Lia paused to consider that. Then her heart ached a bit when she realized that was probably true.
Because Goshujin-sama had been alone.
Summoned to a foreign world against his will, told to fight to the death against terrifying monsters, and all while lacking a proper weapon and companions...
Goshujin-sama trusted them now and had them. But... they had also been slaves. Still were. Even if they wanted to betray him, they couldn't.
And that made Lia's heart ache. Because it meant that this entire time, their Goshujin-sama had been fighting alone, day and night, forcing himself beyond his limits.
While those limits were definitely much greater than a normal human's should be... he still had limits.
But now...
Lia let out a warm smile as she watched their Goshujin-sama sleep, his face soft and relaxed. "...Rest well, Goshujin-sama."
For now, they would keep guard.
That was what they were there for, after all. And it was the least that she and Sylvia could do for saving them from that hell.
===
A dreamless sleep. But one that replenished me in ways I didn't know I was lacking.
When I opened my eyes, the sun was just starting to set. At the same time, the sky had turned into a beautiful orange hue, marking the turning point from day to night.
Storing my sleeping roll back into my inventory, I looked towards Sylvia, who was sitting nearby and carving a block of wood into... me?
Sylvia looked up when I glanced over. Smiling, she said, "Welcome back, Master. Did you have a good rest? It seemed like you were."
I smiled back at her and said, "I did." I got up to stretch and said, "Turns out I was more exhausted than I thought I was."
Homeostasis Mk III definitely helped with my health... but at the end of the day, the brain needed time to process and sort through the experiences I'd accumulated.
The cold and harsh weight that had been keeping me sharp had dimmed a bit. Not completely. I WAS still in survival mode after all...
This world was definitely my enemy still.
But I felt more relaxed at least.
"Where's Lia?"
Sylvia set the figurine aside and said, "Lia went to prepare dinner. She shouldn't be too far..."
A soft thud echoed from nearby, followed by Lia's bright voice. "I'm back, Sylvia! I hunted a boar and some rabbits! I even drained them properly too, just like Goshujin-sama taught us!"
Sylvia giggled and said, "See?"
I chuckled. "Alright. Seems like I can definitely count on you two now. I don't have to babysit you anymore, do I?"
Sylvia smiled. "That's right. Although we might not have as many years as Master... We ARE adults now." She fidgeted a bit and said, "I know it might seem a bit strange to Master. But we aren't children anymore. We can think for ourselves and act for ourselves too..."
I teased. "So you don't need your Master now, hm?"
"N-No! That's not what I- Hmph! You're teasing me!"
I laughed. "That's right."
Sylvia pretended to pout. But it faded into a warm smile as she looked into my eyes. "...You really are well rested, aren't you, Master? You seem... lighter."
"Yeah." I nodded. "I think I'll make a note about that. Going for three weeks without sleep is a bad idea..."
"THREE WEEKS?!" Sylvia gasped. "MASTER!"
Lia quickly ran over. "What about three weeks, Sylvia?! Oh!" She waved. "Goshujin-sama! Good morning! O-Oh! I mean evening!"
I smiled. "Evening, Lia. And I was just telling Sylvia about how I had gone three weeks without sleep until now-"
"WHAT?!" Lia gasped too and said, "Goshujin-sama! You can't do that! Even if you're a legendary hero, you need sleep!"
Sylvia nodded. "Yes! I won't allow it, Master! No more staying up so long without sleep! We're adults now, we can rotate watch!"
Lia quickly nodded. "Yes! We're big now, Goshujin-sama! We don't need you to watch over us when we sleep all the time, so you have to sleep now too! Promise!"
Sylvia chimed in and said, "Yes, promise!"
I laughed. "Fine, fine..." I smiled and pulled them both into a hug. "Promise. We're in this together now anyway, right?"
Lia gasped. But then she nuzzled against me. "Goshujin-sama..."
Sylvia tensed for a bit. But then she melted and murmured, "Master... No more pushing yourself, okay?"
"Yeah. I got it." I smiled. "And I've got a lot of things in store too."
The sleep had definitely done wonders for me. Because an idea came to mind.
I was at max capacity right now so I couldn't add anything new. But I could at least workshop it. And so...
While Lia went back to preparing dinner for us, her ears happily shifting in place as she cooked. And while Sylvia went to secure the perimeter with some makeshift barriers...
I tested out an idea with my Parallel System.
===
[Counterfeit Magic System: Solaris]
Not magic, but physics molded to replicate the concept of magic itself through extensive programming and axioms. Rather than mana, it operates by an initial mana cost to establish the framework before utilizing photons and photonic energy for its source of power.
Using the fact that consciousness itself is stored as a form of light, as well as leveraging the manipulation of energy that mana allows, a cascade of axioms are utilized to bootstrap the ability to transmute energy from the fundamental and universal premise that "energy is not created or destroyed, but simply transformed."
It is leveraging the fundamental laws of physics to recreate the fantasical nature of magic through sheer logic, rationale, ingenuity, and a replicated Von Neumann machine that can be utilized as both a normal and personalized computer as well as a system to transmute and manipulate energy to produce physical phenomenon.
Capacity cost: 10000 capacity over 24 hours for installation (may be distributed as a subprocess)
===
"Oh. Huh." I blinked and stared at the description of the idea I had and the attempted implementation.
Sylvia looked over and said, "Master? Is something wrong?"
"No. Not something wrong. Just something... interesting."
I hummed and then unloaded <Intimidate> since <Ominous Aura> did that but better.
Then I assigned that freed 5 capacity to <Counterfeit Magic System: Solaris> and waited.
===
[Counterfeit Magic System: Solaris]
5/10000 capacity assigned (~2000x duration time increase)
Estimating completion...
<Counterfeit Magic System: Solaris> will be installed in approximately 48000 hours.
===
'Hm... This could work.'
It wasn't ideal. After all, at the current rate, it would take 2000 days.
But I could modify the capacity assigned to it.
Right now, I didn't have enough to install it quickly. But considering that it was variable assignment of capacity, unlike other things I'd programmed before...
And considering this was very much one avenue for godslaying via inexhaustible firepower due to the fact that it could leverage starlight itself, which was older than any god of a single world...
I let <Solaris> continue installing itself in the background and made a mental note to shift my capacity around to maximize its installation speed in the future whenever it was safe.
But for now...
Lia's voice echoed as she said, "Dinner's ready!"
...It was time to enjoy another evening with Lia and Sylvia.