After subduing all the Resistance goons and gathering them together, we made our way to the prison where they had locked up the children.
It seemed there was a variety of ages gathered, but the majority were young girls who looked like they were barely in their teens.
While I was holed up in my room searching for a way to bring back Lord Deus, this kind of thing was happening outside.
I pulled a stunt that was anything but savior-worthy.
Snap!
As Meiru snapped her fingers, the locked door of the prison swung open, and the ropes and gags binding the children vanished.
“It’s all right now. You can come outside.”
With that, the kids cautiously walked out one by one.
So, about thirty of them?
That’s quite a haul.
“I contacted the Oria Temple. The holy knights will be here soon. For now, just hang tight.”
Saying this, Meiru approached the children to calm them down.
Though she looked icy on the outside, her warm and gentle nature shone through…
But is this how an Apostle in charge of the entire Oria was doing things?
Going in solo to solve the mess and waiting for the holy knights…
Isn’t that a bit inefficient?
It seemed like these incidents were happening because I wasn’t there to command everyone.
When I get back, I’m definitely making some adjustments to the overall system.
Meiru was elegantly dressed as an Apostle, but I put on a gloomy robe on purpose to pretend to be her assistant.
Maybe that’s why all the kids were clustering around Meiru, showering her with thanks.
After all, it was Meiru who took down the Resistance goons once the barrier was destroyed, so they probably saw her as their savior.
I stood back a bit and watched Meiru interact with the children.
This was the grown-up version of Meiru.
Could this be a future Meiru I didn’t know?
Even though she appeared cold on the outside, her heart was still warm.
But she never really let her true feelings show.
That’s why she always treated others with such chill.
And now here she was, treating the kidnapped children like a mother.
I could feel how she had matured over the century.
Mother…
Suddenly, Lord Deus came to mind.
How would she have handled this situation?
“Uncle.”
Then came a sweet voice from beside me.
Turning my head, I saw a girl who looked like she was barely in her teens gazing up at me.
She had purplish hair and was cute enough that I figured she’d make a lot of boys swoon once she grew up.
“Who are you, Uncle?”
A child coming to me rather than Meiru?
What a peculiar child.
I was about to open my mouth to say I was the Apostle’s assistant with a chuckle.
“Wait? Son. Luke. Ugh. Your hair is weird. What’s this? Memories? Dreams?”
Shocking words came tumbling out of her mouth.
Son?
Luke?
What did this child just say?
In an instant, I activated my [Power].
Visions flooded her mind.
It was Deus’s memories.
Memories of Lord Deus that involved me.
These weren’t just made-up words.
Countless memories were surfacing in her mind.
Deus’s memories were inherently within her.
Which meant she was a part of his…
“Gah!”
The girl suddenly fell to her knees and began to writhe on the floor.
She couldn’t withstand the pain.
And gradually, her soul’s presence began to fade.
It was an instability that hinted at imminent dissolution.
I placed my hand on her head.
Just like that, she fell into a peaceful slumber.
The ‘Omniscient’ [Power] revealed to me.
The reincarnation of Lord Deus… that’s what it was.
To save me, she used my ‘Gift’ despite holding an unstable divinity and then was on the verge of vanishing.
Normally, when a god perishes, they dissolve into nothing.
But since Deus lost his divinity and became part of me, his soul bounced back and nestled in a nearby place.
Inside the body of a child in a poor neighborhood in Oria.
That was probably why I couldn’t resurrect Deus even if I created a similar holy vessel.
She was existing as a human, not vanishing.
But why hadn’t the ‘Omniscient’ [Power] revealed this to me before I faced her?
Her very reincarnation was done through an abnormal method, which meant some of Deus’s memories remained within her.
Had these memories resurfaced only when she met me again?
However, those memories were inflicting great pain on her.
And along with her presence dimming.
Deus’s memories were consuming her.
Because of her incomplete reincarnation.
And because she had entered a human body as the one true god, even recalling parts of her past life was threatening her very existence.
Her past life, the bond with Deus was leading her down the path to dissolution.
I found Deus’s reincarnation, but…
I shouldn’t let her recall her previous life.
Is it impossible to reclaim the Deus I know…?
The reformed Deus without the memories of his past life.
Should I simply watch her start over as a human?
Just approaching her would surely trigger memories of her past life.
If that happened, who knows when Deus would vanish again.
And if she perishes this time… I wouldn’t be able to see her again.
If that’s going to happen, wouldn’t it be better to just support her from a distance?
*
The holy knights took all the children who were held captive to Oria and sent them home.
Except for this child, the reincarnation of Deus.
The moment she woke up and saw me, if she recalled her past life, it would be a disaster, so I took a completely different avatar.
A newly created avatar with no connection to Luke whatsoever.
Thus, since I was an unfamiliar presence to her, she didn’t seem to recall any of Deus’s memories.
It was bittersweet, but does that count as a good thing?
When I asked her, she said she didn’t have parents like the other kids.
She just came to her senses on the street as an orphan.
So, with no name or place to return to, she existed.
I asked Meiru to send her to the Oria Temple.
Meiru assured me she would take good care of her.
I had to make sure nothing happened to her.
Her reaction was just like any other young girl.
She was delighted to have warm water,
Excited about the variety of food, and satisfied with a comfy bed and clothes.
But this girl was the reincarnation of Deus.
Or perhaps if Deus had grown up normally, she might have enjoyed such a life.
Her childhood was surely ruined by the human empire.
I decided to give her a name.
Lily.
My name from my past life.
I keep worrying about this.
She is both my mother and my daughter.
I want to reclaim Deus, who sacrificed herself for me.
The problem is, the very process of reclaiming Deus would make her disappear from this world.
It’s a dilemma.
Meiru, unaware of anything, treated Lily like a junior priestess.
That’s the identity Lily currently holds.
Unlike the other priests, she was a priestess under the watchful eye of Luke Christos.
I watched over Lily from heaven, searching for a way to reclaim Deus safely.
This time, I wasn’t just holed up but ruling the continent properly while looking for solutions.
Yet, I still couldn’t find an answer.
What should I do?
How can I meet Deus again?
Then one day.
“Hey, you filthy girl.”
“…?”
“You’d better respond if you’re being called.”
“Me, me?”
“Yeah, apart from you, is there anyone else dirtied by the streets here?”
I saw three senior priestesses from the Oria Temple surrounding Lily.
“I don’t get it. Why is a filthy street rat like you becoming a priest like us!”
“Do you even know how hard we worked to get this priest position?”
“You don’t know how difficult it is to become Lord Deus’s priestess while you got lucky and caught the Apostle’s eye!”
“U-uh, I don’t really know, but… I respect all the seniors…”
Thud!
One of the priestesses flipped the stew pot over Lily’s head.
“Respect, respect. You lot are all the same. Pretending to be friendly in front while talking behind our backs about fallen nobles!”
“Just because your noble status disappeared, you think you’re the same as us?”
“N-no, I’m…!”
Seeing that, I lost my cool.
Boom!
“Ah, hiieek!”
“What the heck!”
In that moment, I descended in my avatar form right there.
These people have crossed the line with someone they shouldn’t have touched.
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