"A... nose?" I say.
"Your nose!" the goddess confirms cheerfully, turning to face me.
Horror floods through me.
"My nose?" I repeat, my voice rising. "You're taking my nose? How will I breathe? I'll die immediately!"
She tilts her head, her expression amused.
"Oh, Kaito. You really don't understand how this works, do you?"
"Then explain it to me!" I shout.
"You won't lose it entirely," she says, walking toward me with slow, deliberate steps. Her hips sway with each movement, the glittering outfit catching the light. "It's more that it will be... under my control."
"Under your control?" I repeat. "What does that mean?"
She stops right in front of me, so close I can feel the warmth radiating from her body.
"It means," she says, reaching up to tap my nose with one gloved finger, "that I decide when and how your nose functions. Watch."
And then she stares at me.
Immediately, I feel it.
My nose—it stops working. Just like that. One moment I'm breathing normally, air flowing in and out through my nostrils.
The next moment, nothing.
It's like my nasal passages have been sealed shut.
I try to breathe through my nose. Nothing. Not even a hint of airflow.
Panic rises in my chest. I gasp through my mouth, but there's something deeply wrong about not being able to breathe through my nose.
It's like a fundamental part of my body has just stopped functioning.
"What—" I gasp. "What did you—"
And then, just as suddenly, my nose starts working again.
But this time, I smell something.
Something incredible. The most amazing scent I've ever experienced. Like flowers and fresh bread and coffee and everything good in the world all at once. It fills my nose, overwhelming and intoxicating.
I inhale deeply, involuntarily, drawn to the scent.
And then it changes.
The beautiful smell vanishes, replaced instantly by the most horrific stench I've ever encountered.
Rotting meat. Sewage. Decay. Vomit.
All of it concentrated into one unbearable assault on my senses.
I gag, stumbling backward, my hand clamping over my nose and mouth.
But I can still smell it. Through my hand. Through everything. The stench fills my nose, makes my eyes water, makes my stomach heave.
And then it's gone.
Just... gone. Back to normal. I can breathe normally again, smell nothing but the faint sweetness of the goddess's perfume.
She's laughing.
"See?" she says, her golden eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Your nose is mine now. I can turn it off. I can make you smell wonderful things. I can make you smell terrible things. Whenever I want. However I want."
She steps closer again, running a gloved finger down my cheek.
"It's going to be so much fun to play with," she purrs.
I'm shaking. Actually shaking.
The thought of her controlling one of my senses, being able to torture me with smells or cut off my breathing at will—it's horrifying.
"Why?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's entertaining," she says simply. "And because you're mine, Kaito. Every part of you. And I'm going to take you apart piece by piece until there's nothing left but a broken toy for me to play with."
She smiles, that same bright, cheerful smile.
"Now then," she says. "Time to try again!"
Before I can protest, she reaches out and touches my chest with one gloved finger.
"Good luck!" she says cheerfully.
And she pushes.
I don't fall this time.
The world just shifts.
The clouds disappear. The golden light fades. Everything blurs and spins and—
I'm back.
I'm standing in the narrow alley between two buildings.
The same alley where I died.
But I'm not on the ground. I'm standing. And I'm holding something.
I look down.
The wooden bowl of stew is in my hands. Still full. Still warm. The bread is clutched against my chest, still wrapped in cloth.
I blink, disoriented.
This is... this is right before I ate. Right before the poison killed me.
I've gone back in time again. Five minutes before I died.
Which means the food in my hands is still poisoned.
I look at the stew—the rich brown broth, the chunks of meat and vegetables—and my stomach churns.
I need food. I'm starving. But this food will kill me.
Slowly, carefully, I set the bowl down on the ground.
I'm not eating that.
I unwrap the bread and stare at it. Is the bread poisoned too? Or just the stew?
I don't know. I can't risk it.
I drop the bread next to the bowl.
My stomach growls, angry and empty.
But I'm alive. I'm alive and I still have my nose.
Well. Sort of. The goddess controls it now. She can turn it off or make me smell horrible things whenever she wants.
I reach up and touch my nose, feeling the cartilage, the skin. It feels normal. But I know it's not. Not anymore.
"Fuck," I breathe.
I need to get out of this alley. I need to get back to the forge. Renna is expecting me. I need to work, earn money, get a weapon, get the sword.
That's still the plan.
That has to be the plan.
Because what else can I do?
I take a deep breath—relieved that I can still breathe normally for now—and start walking back toward the main streets.
Away from the poisoned food.
Away from the tavern.
Toward whatever fresh hell is waiting for me next.