Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

"...Could it be that you are a god of the underworld from a foreign land?"

"This is it,"

Faced with Ereshkagil's question, she thought for a moment and smiled:

"I do indeed govern a part of the underworld."

Hearing her say that, Ereshkigal's eyes lit up, but he quickly composed himself and asked in a serious tone:

"Even if we are both gods of the underworld, trespassing on someone else's territory is not a friendly act; it can even be seen as a provocation against me."

"So, goddess of the underworld from a foreign land, what is your purpose in coming here?"

"Based on your answer, I will take corresponding measures."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding temperature dropped a few degrees, a silent warning from Ereshkigal.

In response, Fujimaru Ritsuka scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly and smiled:

"Actually, I don't know how I got through it."

"I only remember that I was sleeping, and when I opened my eyes again, I was here."

"Eh?"

Ereshkigal paused, then, seeing that her expression didn't seem to indicate she was lying, he became somewhat conflicted:

"In that case..."

Fujimaru Ritsuka's answer was clearly unexpected, leaving her unsure how to handle it and looking somewhat bewildered.

—As expected, Ereshkigal is still my favorite.

Seeing her like this, Fujimaru Ritsuka was the first to relax and smiled:

"In any case, it was indeed I who trespassed into the underworld first, please allow me to apologize."

Seeing that she was also very friendly, Ereshkigal's attitude softened, and he nodded, saying:

"Since your appearance was unintentional, I won't hold it against you."

"However, this is not the underworld you belong to, so please leave as soon as possible."

"Forehead……"

Upon hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression showed some hesitation.

If she wants to go back, she can probably only do so by physically creating a large hole in the top of her head to open up the human world.

However, if that happens, Ereshkigal will probably treat him as an enemy immediately.

Or, could you ask them to escort her away?

Just then, Fujimaru Ritsuka remembered what had happened during the day and suddenly had a new idea.

So, somewhat embarrassed, she made a request to Ereshkigal:

"Um, may I stay here for a while?"

"Temporary stay? Of course—"

Ereshkigal raised an eyebrow in surprise, then instinctively prepared to shake his head in refusal.

Seeing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly added:

"Of course it's paid!"

As she spoke, taking advantage of Ereshkigal's inattention, she took a blood-red flower from her [Treasures of My Subject], offered it to Ereshkigal, and smiled:

"How about we take this as payment?"

"Huh, what's this?!"

Looking at the blooming flowers before him, Ereshkagil's eyes widened in disbelief.

"It...it didn't wither?!"

The underworld is a world of death, where no life should exist and is not permitted. Not only animals, but even flowers, plants, and trees will wither and die instantly in the underworld.

That's why Ereshkigal was so shocked, because the flower that Fujimaru Ritsuka was holding was still in full bloom, showing no signs of withering.

Fujimaru Ritsuka explained with a smile:

"It is called Manjusaka, also known as the flower of the other shore. In our area, it symbolizes death and the underworld, and is also a flower of the underworld that blooms in the netherworld."

"The flower of the underworld... how could there be such a flower..."

Ereshkigal murmured to himself, his gaze fixed on the red spider lily in her hand, his eyes filled with surprise and longing.

Then, suppressing her intense emotions, she cautiously asked:

"Is it really possible for you to give me something so valuable?"

"Is it valuable? It's a specialty of our underworld. These flowers grow everywhere, so it's not that bad."

"Flowers were blooming everywhere..."

"This can't be a fairy tale, can it?"

Hearing her say that, Ereshkagil imagined such a scene, and his envy was almost overflowing.

"of course not."

Fujimaru Ritsuka simply placed the red spider lily in her hand and smiled:

"It is very suitable for the environment of the underworld. As long as it is planted, it will not be long before a sea of ​​red spider lilies blooms here, right?"

"A sea of ​​flowers...!"

Looking at the bright and beautiful, genuine and fresh flowers in his hand, Ereshkigal felt himself becoming somewhat delirious, or rather, blissfully fainting.

Seeing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka laughed:

"I'd like to offer this flower as payment in exchange for staying here for a while. What do you think?"

"That `s a deal!"

Ereshkigal clenched the flower in his hand and nodded frantically:

"Stay as long as you like! You can stay as long as you want!"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 438 Ereshkigal's Little Secret

Fujimaru Ritsuka suggested staying temporarily because she considered the plan they had proposed during the day.

According to the original plan, the next day Gudao and the others would come to the Underworld with Gilgamesh to fight Ereshkigal.

But if nothing unexpected happens, Gudao should have already had contact with Ereshkir on his way back to Uruk after successfully recruiting Ishtar and taking her with him, and learned that she was not an evil goddess.

In reality, Ereshkigal joined the Alliance of the Three Goddesses not because Gilgamesh claimed he had betrayed the Sumerian people.

On the contrary, the other party has a deep love for humanity, but chose to protect humanity in her own way, that is, in the way of the goddess of the underworld.

Specifically, Ereshkir was pessimistic, believing that the destruction of humanity was irreversible. Therefore, he intended to preserve the souls of the remaining humans of this era as much as possible, at least allowing them to continue living in the underworld.

That's why she worked so hard to create gun cages, hoping to collect more human souls so that they could immediately have a place to live after arriving in the underworld.

This method is somewhat similar to the behavior of The Lion King in The Sixth Singularity.

Therefore, although Gilgamesh and the others' plan is to defeat Ereshkigal, as long as Gudao has not been mind-controlled by Hinakiko-senpai, Ereshkigal will eventually join them, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Back to the point.

She had originally planned to go to the Underworld with Gudao and the others, mainly because she was afraid that they would attack Ereshkigal without saying a word.

Although the possibility is probably very small, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Therefore, considering their plans, Fujimaru Ritsuka decided that since Gudao and the others were going to come to the Underworld the next day anyway, she might as well just stay here and wait for them to arrive, saving herself the trouble of running back and forth.

It's only a day, so it's not a big deal for her.

On the other side, Ereshkigal was holding a red spider lily and carefully planting it in the very center of the temple—although it was called a temple, it was actually just a rather plain and unadorned flat area.

The moment the red spider lily was placed on the ground, its roots took hold and its petals became more vibrant, just as Fujimaru Ritsuka had said, making it perfectly suited to the environment of the underworld.

"—!"

Ereshkigal squatted on the ground, staring intently at the flowers before him, his eyes sparkling, and the corners of his mouth unable to suppress a smile, his joy overflowing.

"My underworld finally has flowers...!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka stood to the side, watching this scene with a smile.

At this moment, Ereshkigal seemed to remember something, and quickly looked over, asking somewhat flusteredly:

"Speaking of which, does it need watering? Will it get sick? And what about its nutrition...?"

"I can't possibly answer all these questions at once."

Fujimaru Ritsuka gestured for the other person to relax, then smiled and said:

"Watering it can indeed make it grow faster, but doing nothing is perfectly fine too."

As she spoke, she took out a small cup of water and gently poured it onto the head of the red spider lily.

This is not ordinary water, but water from the river in the realm of Paramita, which is the underworld she governs, and she calls it the Yellow Springs Water.

Lianhua didn't know what specific effects the water had, so she brought some for little Leonardo da Vinci to experiment with.

What we now know is that the Yellow Springs Water possesses a very strong concept of "death," and is nothing short of poisonous to any living being, but harmless to the dead, such as spirits.

In addition, Yellow Spring Water is also a very precious and mysterious material.

For the red spider lily—

The water from the underworld flowed down its petals to its roots, where it was completely absorbed. Then, to Ereshkagil's astonishment, the roots of the red spider lily split open, and a second, a third, sprouted at a visible speed...

What was originally a solitary red spider lily has, in the blink of an eye, increased to five plants, forming a small clump.

Ereshkagil exclaimed in shock:

"It's transformed into a sea of ​​flowers—!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka chuckled: