The barefoot, white-haired woman descended from the sky as if walking down steps.
The shattered space behind her was smoothed out by a pair of invisible hands like wrinkled woolen cloth. From the expression with which she looked over, a slow and melodious movement emerged from everyone's hearts, revealing a fluffy little head with large eyes surveying the surroundings.
A small beast picked up a violin and began to sing, and melodious verses echoed through the vast, green forest.
—She stood before Mori Tsukisa, expressionlessly clutching the thick green book in her arms and pushing up her glasses.
"Hello." She was gradually adapting to the environment, and even her conversation began to flow more smoothly. However, her voice still lacked any emotion, sounding as cold and stiff as an electronic synthesis.
"Hello, daughter."
Mori Tsukisa stood up with Nagini's support—good, this time she finally had a Mama who was about the same height as her... Looking levelly at the literary geek girl, Mori Tsukisa grinned: "Thank you. That was a close call this time."
Unexpectedly, the other party exposed her with confusion: "A close call? Hadn't you already decided?"
"I knew long ago about your plan to call for me in your heart."
Her eyes behind the black-rimmed glasses were both sincere and serious: "If calculated by the time of this World, you called for me many days ago."
"'If I get into danger because of this ugly black cat, I'll just have to call for Mama,' is that what you thought?"
"I originally intended to descend secretly while those women were away." The white-haired woman blinked, looking like she didn't understand: "But when I put down my pen and looked over, you were just chatting with a minor deity on a rooftop; you weren't in any danger."
"So I sat back down and continued watching the livestream."
"Are you angry? Daughter."
Arrietty:...I wasn't even there yet. Nagini:...Bastet:...Was that the first time we met?
Mori Tsukisa!
"You had it all planned out, didn't you, Master?" Nagini smiled with relief, not feeling sad because Mori Tsukisa hadn't told her: "No, I'm actually very happy."
"Do gods even watch livestreams?" Mori Tsukisa pouted: "Can you guys perceive it just by me thinking about it in my heart?"
The white-haired woman nodded blankly and pointed a finger at her ear.
"Yes. Because you are important, we have a clear division of labor. Based on everyone's free time, different Mamas are assigned to watch over you."
"I was assigned to the 'Daughter Adventure Livestream Zone' for this period, which is why I could..."
"Please wait a moment..." Mori Tsukisa raised her palm with a complicated expression, doubting if she was deaf: "It's seeing, not hearing? What did you just say?"
"I was assigned to the..." The woman repeated blankly, her mechanical sentences and even her previous expressions being perfectly imitated: "Daughter Adventure Livestream Zone. What's wrong, daughter. Didn't Oshtur and Source tell you?"
Mori Tsukisa put her hands on her hips in disbelief, she was about to explode with anger! She didn't even notice the name of the mother whose head was full of perverted trash; she opened her small mouth and bombarded the woman in front of her, throwing out a bunch of grievances.
"You guys are invading my privacy!!"
"How can you do this and not even tell me!"
"Oshtur!! And that perverted trash!!"
"They even said 'it's hard for me to see you,' and I was actually moved by it!"
The woman in front of her couldn't understand Mori Tsukisa's anger. She scratched her cheek, and when she tilted her head, a golden symbol appeared above her.
An elegantly shaped, palm-sized... question mark.
?
Arrietty:...No, not a single one of them is normal... and I was actually looking forward to it.
"Yes, it is indeed hard for us to see you." The woman seemed to have figured something out. With a look of realization, she slapped the cover of the book in her left hand with her right hand.
The question mark above her head turned into an exclamation point.
!
"There are many of us on shifts, and it takes a long time for it to be one mother's turn to watch your livestream—furthermore, peeking at one's own bloodline across dimensions requires a massive price."
"Our energy is used to open the dimensional path. Once the livestream begins, the mother in the 'Entertainment Zone' watching the livestream will have her energy continuously drained to maintain the channel."
Continuous consumption... it sounded tragic and wasn't very pleasant to hear. Only then did Mori Tsukisa slowly calm down, clutching her chest as she asked: "So... you guys paid a huge price just to watch me?"
"Yes, just to watch you. Other things are not worth mentioning." This sentence of the woman's also swept all the creatures present into the category of 'not worth mentioning,' yet she looked as if it were only natural.
"Alright..." Mori Tsukisa hummed twice as a way of letting it go, and then asked in passing: "So you guys... surely not every one of you has that much energy to be consumed, right?"
A question mark appeared over the white-haired woman's head again.
?
"I mean, not every 'Mother' is willing to consume a large amount of energy just to watch me adventure..."
After all, if it was just a few who were willing to pay, Mori Tsukisa could still accept it. For example, that perverted trash from the Source World, or Oshtur... or the airhead in front of her.
If it was just that they didn't mind the energy and just wanted to see her, the girl would still be quite happy.
"How could that be?"
As it turned out, the woman who heard the question acted out of character. She showed a standard smile and answered sincerely: "Watching one's own daughter is something every mother loves to do."
"Besides, that 'continuous' energy being drained is... just a trivial thing to us."
"Like...?" The woman tapped her chin, a gesture that looked extremely familiar to Arrietty because Mori Tsukisa often did it: "Like with your current wealth, would you feel distressed about buying a lollipop?"
"You wouldn't, and neither would we."
"So..." Mori Tsukisa spoke with difficulty, she already knew the answer to the question: "So you guys..."
"So we are all your loyal viewers and the mothers who love you the most. Not a single one of us would miss your livestream when we're in the 'Entertainment Zone'; that would be a complete waste of God's gifts." The white-haired woman explained solemnly: "If a mother chose not to watch because she was distressed about the energy consumption—"
"Hmm... it's said that one has already offered a price of three Universes to buy a single opportunity."
"But it seems no one is willing to sell."
"Compared to watching you travel, it's far too cheap."
Mori Tsukisa didn't know what a breakdown felt like, but if the other two mothers were present right now—she didn't care if she could beat them or not, she would definitely smash their heads in!
"They're all big liars!" The girl stomped her foot and glanced at Bastet, who was hiding in the corner shivering.
Bastet: How did I get dragged into this too?
Seeing her daughter's cute, huffy appearance, the white-haired woman covered her mouth expressionlessly.
Another symbol appeared above her head.
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