Within my inner subspace, Mera and Smoothie were getting along just fine. To my surprise, they were watching two fey beings, Mufy and Vintelo, having a match in a board game similar to chess.

The five maids were doing the tasks as they were programmed to do.

"Mother, you're back. Stop spying on us!"

"Oops, was it that obvious now? Ahaha." I spoke through Snowberry, the maid with silvery white hair.

"Yes."

It took me some practice to learn how to shift my consciousness between bodies. My main body was currently in the same subspace, set on autopilot walking on a lake. As to why it was do that, I just thought it would be amusing to copy what a historical figure did even though no one was watching.

"Anyway, I'm just letting you know I'll be taking one for a task. Also, Mera, I know you're impatient, but I still have a meeting to attend to. After that, I'll go check out the state of that country. Only once I am prepared will we move onto the next phase, got it?"

Mera's expression had shifted from joyful to tense when I had shown up.

"Thank you. But, please, hurry."

"Wait, what about me? I want to go play!"

"Smoothie, if everything works out, maybe I can take you to watch the Hero King Selection Tournament. Sit tight!"

"Okay, I'll be good!" She replied cheerfully.

On the other hand, Mera expression only turned grim.

"Mera, don't worry, I've already defeated the Hero King. I'm just doing a bit of cleanup work."

My statement left her in a state of visible confusion and disbelief with her jaws slacked. Though, who could blame her for thinking that?

The two fey beings, unlike Mera, were completely unfazed, super focused on the battle before them.

Of the five maids, I had trouble picking one to send to the other side. They all had pieces of my soul but they weren't fully autonomous meaning their will was extremely weak. Since that was the case, I added a bit more of my soul into one of them and tried to create some sort of ego so that it could properly handle unforeseeable situations by itself.

"Hmm... This is tough. I guess it'll be similar to Smoothie except it won't have any special abilities to assist it."

Not all abilities and traits could be copied or replicated. Moreover, I couldn't create abilities and traits out of thin air. I simply didn't have the privilege. Even if I did have the privilege, there was no guarantee the other side would support this system which meant everything could be for naught.

"Subspace or main space, that's the question... Guh... Screw it, I'm sending her in."

If there was anything I could do to increase the probability of success of this operation, I would have done so already. Snowberry's combat ability was strengthened manifolds. Her intelligence, it was enough for daily function. Last but not least, her durability was enhanced by altering her entire bodily structure into that of an automaton.

She could operate with either electricity and condensed mana. Within her core I had installed a state of the art mini quintessence generator that I shamelessly copied from a ship engine that I had seen in my previous life. Having an endless supply of energy was essential!

Truth be told, I secretly spent weeks holed up in a time-adjusted subspace bubble unknown to anyone else using [creation] to modify Snowberry until I was satisfied. Her interior had a complete overhaul. Her outer appearance remained the same, of course, but she now was indestructible by normal means. She was a combat maid with silvery white hair!

I stared into Snowberry's eyes.

"Are you ready?"

She had gone through countless trainings and tests in the past few days. If she wasn't prepared then no one was.

"I am ready." She said with an expressionless face.

If I truly wished for her to be fully conscious with emotions and a soul core, I would have to age her hundreds or even thousands of years in a pocket of my subspace. Moreover, even if I did age her like that, there was no guarantee she would become gain a soul core. In addition, the thought of leaving myself in a solitary confinement for thousands of years was just too cruel thus a couple weeks would do for now.

"Comrade Snowberry, it's up to you now. You have one mission. Retrieve the sword and return safely." I gave her a solemn command.

"Understood," and off it treaded, crossing into the Netherworld.

"Hmm... Should I wait for myself or no?"

Waiting was stressful but it was my duty this time. I could only hope the there was no other Netherworld entrances connected to that world. Otherwise, the time flow would be completely messed up and I might even miss the tournament.

To make sure that wouldn't happen, I sent Blueberry into my residence back in Vera. She was tasked with observing the passage of time away from public eyes. I definitely wouldn't want Kanoko to catch my clone doing strange things if things got messy.

I waited, and waited, and waited.

Half an hour later, the spherical Netherworld gate began to shrink.

"This is good... This is good! Looks like she was able to disable that sword properly."

In a matter of minutes, the gate completely disappeared. Only the sword, Lightsplitter, remained in its place.

"Wait, where's comrade Snowberry!? Where did she go? I spent so much time on her..."

A few hours passed.

While I waited for her to show up, I examined the sword in question. Since it was a living entity, technically, I reviewed all the contracts etched in its soul. From what I could tell, the contracts were only with heroes, likely Hero Kings or their candidates. Apparently, at the end of each Hero King's reign or upon their death, the sword would eat up their soul.

What a sad fate...

While the Hero King was alive, the sword was a Hero King's most deadly weapon of mass destruction. To activate certain unique traits, soul energy had to be fed to the sword. The more soul energy was fed, obviously the more power the sword could exert.

Currently, only one contract was active. The sword itself was actively trying to energetically link back to the Hero King who it was contracted to. However, I had severed the energy link and kept it disconnected. Now that I had access to Lightsplitter's soul, I was able to erase the contract completely since equivalent exchange had been sufficiently met. To be honest, this sword should be called "Soul Eater" and not Lightsplitter.

[Request for contract.]

Hmm? It wants a contract with me? I guess it doesn't just go for heroes? Declined! I'm not about to feed it my soul energy. No thanks!

[Request rejected.]

This weapon was just too dangerous. Mortals shouldn't possess such dangerous ancient artifacts. Perhaps there was a good reason why the first general Hero King possessed it. For example, that hero was keeping it away from falling into the hands of demon. Whatever the reason, it was now in my possession, safely sealed away in a subspace bubble. 

In the end, Snowberry didn't return. She was probably trapped on the other side.

I sighed tiredly, "It was nice knowing you, comrade Snowberry. I hope we'll meet again in the future, farewell."

To be honest, how the sword managed to return was a mystery to me. Well, it wasn't like I was clueless but rather that I didn't want to follow through.

Having a part of myself explore another world separately wasn't a bad thing. If I ever decided to retrieve Snowberry, she'd be filled to the brim with knowledge of the Netherworld.

With one task completed, it was time to move on. I swapped with Blueberry who was still in Vera. Luckily, she was well hidden enough that no one spotted her though it had only been several hours in this world.

"Kanoko, I'm back! You seem to have recovered."

"Speak for yourself. So? How did it go?"

"Hold on, there are eavesdroppers."

I quickly set up a soundproof barrier around us.

"It's probably those sent by the royal family. Don't worry too much about them." She replied.

"Ah, well, anyway, I defeated the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard."

"Details. Terms." She said with impatience while her hand beckoned me to spill everything.

I recounted the battle and the aftermath, including snatching that ominous sword from the pitiful king of a country. The terms were my own.

"I see. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Come on, Kanoko. Have some faith in me! I should be considered a legend by now."

"A living legend? I wish I could see from your perspective how you could be so carefree."

"Don't mind the details. Next up is a visit to the Abyssal Gate. Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice? Well, my schedule is free for the next few days. Let's go."

"Wait, wait, Kanoko," I held up my hands to stop her, "if you have a free schedule, why are you in your office? Go play with your friends, make memories, find a husband or something? We can delay our trip."

"Berry, how long do you think mortals live?"

"Ahh... Sorry, my condolences. Enn... How about this, you and I can be friends? I'll be around to play once a while. If you like, I could even invite you to play in my own little world. What do you say? It's a once a lifetime opportunity."

She smiled warmly, her cheeks a bit flushed, "Thank you for the offer. You don't mind someone like me as your friend?"

"A friend is a friend. Let's be friends! Though, I can't promise you I'll stay out of trouble."

"That's fine. I'll be sure to clean up after you."

As simple as that conversation might have been, that was how our relationship changed from acquaintances to friends, a mutually beneficial one at that too. She was very beautiful by my standards, and extremely dutiful and caring. If she wasn't so serious, she would be more likeable in my opinion.