It had taken a very long time just to get this far.

“... H-how long has it been...?”

“Hmm, let me see. About 281 years?”

It was such an absurdly long span of time that it begged the response, What on earth are you talking about? But it was no lie.

It would have been unfamiliar territory for Seo Jio, an ordinary art teacher, or Giovanni, a priest whose life had been cut short. But with his identity as the evil god Arjio now dominant, Jio had spent those neither long nor short years with the man without much difficulty.

Still, even for an evil god who had lived for centuries, devoting his time to helping a single person was unfamiliar. It had made for a rather fresh and enjoyable experience.

“And another two months and twenty-one days or so on top of that.”

“... What?”

“You seem to find it hard to believe. I'm sorry, but it's true.”

He had devoted longer than expected to the man's rehabilitation, but it hadn't been much of a problem. Whatever the mages who had used Jio's home as a laboratory had done, time flowed faster here alone.

'So there was a reason my house stood firm through all those harsh years.'

Considering that the man's condition was worse than he had expected, Jio had made a few further adjustments. While 281 years, two months, and twenty-one days passed here, only about ninety-four years had gone by in the Black Forest outside the ruins, and roughly three days on Earth.

Jio felt proud.

“Only I could have brought you around so quickly. Had anyone else helped you, they could never have dreamed of doing it in this little time. I imagine it would have taken at least another thousand years just to get this far.”

“Th-thank you.”

“No need for thanks.”

Jio was the one who felt deeply grateful to the man for becoming 'human' again.

'There were times I wondered whether he was too far gone and I ought to give up.'

Fortunately, whether he had a strong will to live, some conviction tied to it, or was simply born resilient, the man had followed Jio's guidance to the very end and made it this far.

'He did ask me to kill him a few times...'

Well, the man himself didn't remember.

“...”

In that case, he might have forgotten calling me, too. I wonder.

'What a shame.'

Had the man been well, he would have promptly kidnapped himself a friend. But even an evil god as wicked as Arjio had no intention of pulling such a dreadful con on someone this frail in body and mind.

He had succeeded in turning him into a person. Now it was time to turn him into a pig. And turning someone into a pig required at least a little trust.

“Now then, may I talk with you about a few things?”

“... Ah, of course.”

“I'd like to know your name.”

“... My name...”

“Can't you remember?”

“... No, I can. Remember, I mean.”

Perhaps because it had been so long since he had held a conversation, the man stumbled a little, but he carried on admirably. It was nothing short of a miracle.

“It's Ater.”

“A fine name.”

A name made from 'A,' meaning steadfastness, and 'ter,' meaning righteous conviction. He didn't know who had named him, but wasn't it a name full of care? Surely its bearer had known wholehearted love and faith.

'We're not close enough for me to ask about his family background.'

Just as he thought that, the man asked a question.

“May I ask your name?”

“Mm, of course. You can call me Jio.”

“... Pardon?”

“Jio.”

“That's a bit... Well.”

“Ahaha!”

Apparently the name 'Jio' sounded strange to Ater, too.

“Then call me whatever you like.”

“No, even so, don't you think that's a little inappropriate?”

“I'm sorry, but I have no name.”

Ater pressed his lips shut.

“...”

“Why that look?”

“I'm sorry.”

“You've done nothing to apologize to me for. You look like someone who would say anything, appropriate or not, but you're surprisingly sensitive. I suppose one really shouldn't judge by appearances?”

“What, would I have to be out of my mind to curse out my own savior...?”

“Oh, splendid indeed. Very commendable.”

Once Jio had restored Ater to something resembling a human being, his first impression had been that the man probably had quite a sharp tongue. Those prickly eyes and firmly set lips. He looked like a man of strong convictions, with the backbone to shout that something was wrong even with a blade at his throat.

Though that might also have landed him in trouble of his own making.

'It seems my impression was right.'

Perhaps I have a talent for reading faces.

'Being able to talk back that much after ending up like this is no small feat.'

All Jio had done was restore the man to human shape. Ater would still have memories of that cramped prison, where he had spent hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. That he could nonetheless converse this easily was entirely to his own credit.

Seen that way, he clearly hadn't been an ordinary person.

“...”

And the evil Divinity had a faint recollection of that face.

'... Was he one of the heroes at the forefront...?'

A diligent human who had devoted himself to looking after his companions even as he shouted at the top of his lungs, every cry betraying his prickly temperament. A hero the evil god Arjio had seen and fought in person.

Jio had remembered that in the thirty-first year of helping the man with his rehabilitation.

'Anyway, putting that aside.'

He stared at Ater.

“...”

“... L-looking at me like that won't make it right. How could I call a person a beast?”

“I really should have majored in physiognomy.”

“Pardon?”

“Let's see.”

Jio examined the man's condition.

“I imagine you must be hungry.”

“... Ah.”

Ater blinked as though the thought had never occurred to him.

“... I sup...pose so. Eating...”

“Is something humans must do.”

“...”

“Does the idea repel you?”

“... No, it doesn't.”

“That's a relief!”

Now this was a miracle. Wonderful news. It had been so long since anything entered his stomach that it might as well have grown mold, yet he had no aversion to eating. His mental fortitude was truly admirable.

“I was going to find another way if you really couldn't bear it.”

He had briefly considered an IV drip, but a human who had endured such torment was unlikely to welcome a needle in his body. Jio could also infuse energy directly into him, as he had done for the past 281 years.

But even if nutritional injections kept a person alive, they would still get hungry.

“I've taken quite good care of you all this time. Your stomach may be empty, but whatever you eat shouldn't cause any trouble. If you think of anything you'd like, tell me.”

“... Can you make whatever food I ask for? Wait, has the world perhaps improved while I was in there? I'm sure those... those bastards said the world had ended.”

“Ah, don't worry. It most certainly did.”

“...”

After staring at Jio in disbelief, Ater groaned.

“... Before the mages died, they said the world was gradually falling apart and shrinking. Could you tell me what state it's in now?”

“That's easy enough to tell you.”

Looking after the man wasn't all Jio had done during his stay in the Animal Kingdom.

“Do you know about the world the court mages forcibly created?”

“... Ah, that false world? Another stretch of land above the earth?”

“So you do.”

“I kept hearing the mages chatter while I was locked in there. I wasn't lucid enough to remember much, but when I was feeling a little better... I memorized as much information as I could, in case I might find a way to escape the prison.”

“Remarkable!”

Even trapped in that horrific prison, rather than resign himself, he had kept his resolve burning: Just you fucking bastards wait until I get out. No wonder he had recovered so quickly after being confined for so long.

“Anyway, in that false world...”

“Yes?”

“A new civilization has arisen.”

“... Ah...”

“You look as if you expected that.”

“... No, I wouldn't say I expected it. It was simply something I imagined.”

What could Ater have done, trapped in that cramped prison for so long?

“All I could do with that endless time was dream, hallucinate... or think deeply. Among those thoughts, I sometimes wondered what it might be like outside these ruins by now.”

He gave a hollow laugh.

“I thought they might all be dead...”

“Do you resent them?”

“For what?”

“For not coming to save you sooner, despite having established a civilization.”

“... A little.”

The man hesitated before continuing.

“But that isn't their fault. If a new civilization arose up there, the world we originally lived in would have become the false one instead, and ended up underground. In that case, there's a good chance the history of that era was erased. These ruins would naturally have been forgotten, too.”

“Sound reasoning, but there's something else I should tell you.”

“Ah, I'm listening.”

“This new civilization hasn't been around as long as you think. About nineteen years?”

During his stay in the ruins, Jio had gone outside whenever he could to help the beasts survive in various ways. With his occasional visits and assistance, they had built up their world. Only recently had they established a civilization on par with that of the humans before them.

“Until then, they were living in the Black Forest.”

“... How can people live in the Black Forest? Even those supposedly great court mages couldn't endure it and died...?”

“I'm sorry, but these inhabitants look more like beasts than the humans you know.”

“Ah, ah, aaah...”

Ater clutched at his hair as understanding seemed to dawn.

“... Aaaaargh...”

“Oh dear, are you all right? Do I need to soothe you again?”

“... I'm not having a fit. You don't need to worry...”

“You poor thing.”

Accepting that beasts had finally displaced humanity and become the new humanity did seem painful for a human of the old era. Seo Jio knew the feeling, too, and could fully sympathize.

'I had my own moment of losing my mind like that.'

How flabbergasted he had been to see an office worker breathing fire when he first stepped outside the portrait. He had even wondered whether this was how elderly people felt when they couldn't keep pace with the times.

'It's probably even worse for him.'

At least Seo Jio had still looked like everyone else. For Ater, a race that had fought humanity as its bitterest enemy had become the new humanity. How absurd and numbing must that be? He couldn't know for certain, but it had to be terribly confusing.

Jio let Ater lose his mind for a good while before the man asked another question.

“Th-then... What level of civilization is it? Is it similar to the one I remember?”

“Er... I would say it's a little better.”

Making the false world into another real world would have been impossible without Arjio's help in the first place. His tastes had therefore found their way into quite a lot of it, and he thought it was probably better than in the days when Ater had lived as a hero.

'The war had already been going on for a long time back then.'

They had scraped together every last resource and anything else they could find to keep fighting. He had brought things back up to their prewar level—what one might call this dimension's golden age—so perhaps Ater would find it unfamiliar.

“Well, that's why you can ask for anything you'd like to eat.”

“... How could a civilization of that scale be built in nineteen years?”

“No, the reconstruction itself began ninety-four years ago. They weren't building everything from nothing, but truly 'rebuilding,' so naturally it took less time to establish a proper civilization. By nineteen years, I meant how long the current civilization has been stable.”

“Then they must have modeled it on the prewar civilization. I don't know whether that would suit the beasts' physical needs, but they would have adapted or made changes themselves, so...”

“And your meal?”

“... Why are you so obsessed with eating?”

“People need to eat.”

“You're not wrong, but...”

“...”

“...”

In the sudden silence, Jio gave his usual light smile.

“You look as if you have something to say. I'll hear you out myself, so go on.”

“... No, I...”

“What frightens you so?”

“... I...”

Ater hesitated before speaking.

“... Jio.”

“Yes.”

“...”

His lips moved, but no words came out. Hesitation had frozen his tongue.

Could he really say this aloud? Even as Ater wrestled with the question in his dazed mind, he raised his gaze to study and analyze the young man's face.

He had the appearance of someone of noble blood. He was adorned with all manner of jewels, and though the origin of his clothing, pieced together from cloth and leather, was impossible to place, it was free-spirited and beautiful. At the same time, he looked immensely strong.

But...

“...”

How could such a person exist in this world, in these circumstances, in this place?

'And could anyone really spend nearly three hundred years looking after me alone?'

No, they couldn't. Even if the other man belonged to a new humanity born with the advent of a new era, a human would still have limits to what he could endure. This being had gone far beyond them.

Lowering his gaze, Ater saw the clothes draped lightly over that body. He saw lumps of minerals that could only be a hindrance in battle. He saw bare feet, smooth and unblemished, standing as though this harsh labyrinth full of curses and traps were nothing at all.

“...”

Were there even any other humans left? Beings in that shape, the same shape as himself? Remembering what the young man had said, he thought there probably weren't.

'He explained the history of this era to me from outside the human perspective. Without the slightest discomfort, as though it were only natural, so effortlessly...'

Ater knew what sort of concept, what sort of being, had such a nature. At last, he spoke the name of the being before him, the one wearing the form of a courteous young man.

“... Ar... jio.”

“Excellent.”

“... Ah...”

It really was him.

After staring blankly at the evil god for a long while, Ater bit down hard on his shriveled lips and cried.

“...”

He looked as though he didn't even know why he was crying.

(To be continued)