Chapter: 147
To be honest, it would be impossible for Baal to win a race against Sylphid.
In a pure speed competition, without any teleportation nonsense, and just using their incarnate bodies… Only someone like me could possibly beat Sylphid.
So,
“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
“Yep! I’ll figure something out!”
Baal boasted confidently. The outcome was already pretty clear, but I didn’t intervene at all.
And naturally,
“I won!!!”
I watched as Sylphid crossed the finish line she set up at the western end of the world first.
Hmm. I definitely should have stepped in. Baal is still way back there, while Sylphid has already arrived and is jumping around in glee.
It was an impossible match from the start, so what can you do?
“I told you, there’s no one who can beat me in a race! Ahahaha!”
Sylphid’s reaction was a bit immature against the young god. She’s my kid, but… it’s a little… embarrassing.
“But Mom! What happens now? Does that mean I become the king of the gods?”
“Who knows?”
I sighed softly as I watched the playful Sylphid. In this situation…
There’s no help for it. Time to consider some sneaky tricks.
I pulled a watch out of my pocket.
The race itself didn’t take that long, so a little adjustment should do the trick.
I rewound the watch hands and pressed a button on it.
And at the same time, the world rewinds.
Everything except me shifts backward.
This entire world rewinds.
Rewinding a long time feels like negating everything done in that time, which I’m not thrilled about, but a short rewind should be fine.
That’s how I ended up back when the race was about to start, at the eastern edge of the continent where Baal and Sylphid were about to take off.
While the other kids were buzzing with excitement about Sylphid’s certain victory near the finish line, I quietly moved, careful not to be noticed.
Okay, time to set a little trap for Sylphid.
I snapped my fingers lightly, and instantly, a wooden table, chairs, and a spread of various foods appeared.
Just a brief moment. A trap to distract Sylphid.
Of course, this tiny delay alone won’t guarantee Baal’s victory, but I should be able to convince Sylphid.
Some might call this cheating, but making Baal the king of the gods is a pretty urgent matter for me.
If Baal fails to become king, that responsibility will certainly fall back on me, and then my workload will skyrocket again.
No way I’m letting that happen.
I’ve gotta stop it, even if it means bending the rules!
So, after preparing a steaming, fresh apple pie and a fizzy lemonade, I waited for Sylphid to show up.
“Ah! Mom! What’s all this?”
While dashing toward the goal, Sylphid got caught right in my trap.
“Oh, I knew the outcome was certain, so I just wanted to chat with you for a bit.”
“Chat? Then I’ll quickly run to the goal and come right back!”
“No, let’s stick with this for now.”
“Huh? The goal is right in front of me!”
“We need to chat now, while you haven’t crossed the finish line yet.”
At my words, Sylphid plopped down at the table with a slightly annoyed expression.
I cut her a piece of apple pie and said,
“Do you know why I’m trying to make Baal the king of the gods?”
“Hmm. Not really. Isn’t it because you like that guy?”
“No way.”
I shook my head slightly, and Sylphid took a bite of the apple pie. I could hear the crust crackling.
“I just need him for something.”
“The king of the gods?”
“Yep, the king of the gods.”
I poured lemonade into a glass and handed it over to Sylphid, saying,
“You know countless gods are popping up all over the place right now, right?”
“Yep. That’s why everything’s so chaotic.”
Uncontrolled gods are even more troublesome than wild animals, since they have just enough power but aren’t properly managed.
At least they seem to get instinctively that human faith created their existence, so thankfully they don’t harm humans.
But there are plenty of gods who still manage to scare humans in ways that don’t involve killing them.
“We really need someone to control those gods.”
“Can’t you just do it, Mom? I bet you’d do a better job than that clumsy kid.”
“Are you saying you want me to just keep working and ignore everything else?”
At my words, Sylphid quietly took another bite of pie.
“Even just now, my workload is insurmountable, and on top of that, I’d have to manage the gods? Sure, I could do it if I had to. But I’d have to sacrifice a lot of other things.”
“A lot of other things…?”
“Yep. For example… the little time I get to spend with you all.”
Sylphid didn’t reply.
“The bottom line is, I’m going to get even busier. To avoid that, I need a king of the gods. And the best candidate for that is Baal.”
I glanced at Baal running in the distance.
He’s still young and weak, but he’s packed with potential since he possesses the heavens themselves.
“Then, why not let another god take over instead of him?”
“Let them? Who would that be?”
“What if you gave it to one of us…?”
Excluding Ifrit and Thetis, who just chill in one spot, and Yggdrasil and Sagarmatha. Shamash has already made quite a name for herself as the god of law, justice, and light, so maybe she could handle it.
But I wouldn’t want to pile even more work on Shamash, who’s already swamped.
That leaves Sylphid as the last possible candidate.
“If you take this on, you’d have to give up other things. Are you okay with that?”
“Other things?”
I nodded slightly.
For someone like Sylphid, who has lived so freely, taking on responsibility is bound to be… challenging.
Especially managing those arrogant, overly powerful gods—it’s totally at odds with free-spirited Sylphid.
“Freedom.”
“Freedom…”
“You’d have to surrender the freedom as the wind god and put effort into managing the gods. Can you do that?”
At my words, Sylphid pondered for a moment and then shook her head slightly.
She knows herself pretty well; the answer came quickly.
“I can’t do either, can I?”
“Basically, the best option left is to pass it on to that kid.”
Sylphid shoved the last piece of pie into her mouth and chewed with some frustration.
“I’m not happy about this. I really hate it, but… I guess there’s no other choice.”
“Yeah, no choice.”
If only there were someone more reliable to hand it over to… that would be great.
But every other kid was already tied down to something, leaving me with zero options.
“Alright, now that the chat’s done, I’ll head back toward the goal.”
“Thanks for the delicious meal, Mom.”
Sylphid said that and then pretended to yawn.
“I guess I’m feeling a bit sleepy since I’m full. That little kid has a long way to go, so I’ll just catch a few Zs.”
“Sure, go right ahead.”
Sylphid leaned against a nearby tree trunk and closed her eyes while I returned to the goal area to see how things unfolded.
As expected, the result was Baal’s victory.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The rabbit laughed while staring at the invisible turtle.
“Haha! It’s not even a fair match!”
With the goal just ahead and the turtle nowhere in sight, he figured it would be a boring race, but the disparity was staggering.
Out of boredom, the rabbit let out a small yawn.
“Maybe I’ll catch a quick nap. The turtle won’t get very far while I’m sleeping, anyway.”
The rabbit nestled against a tree stump near the goal and soon began snoring.
And the turtle, steadily making his way step by step, noticed the sleeping rabbit with his loud snoring.
Sleeping during an important race to decide the winner… The turtle clicked his tongue softly and continued walking past the rabbit steadily.
When the turtle finally reached the finish line,
“Whoa! How long was I asleep?!”
The rabbit jolted awake and looked around.
And then he spotted the turtle crossing the finish line.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Sylphid. Weren’t you a little too careless?”
“Um. I’m feeling a bit embarrassed. I just intended to take a short nap.”
Sylphid smiled sheepishly.
“Well, a win’s still a win. I didn’t expect Sylphid to take a nap there, but… Anyway, Baal wins!”
“I definitely wouldn’t lose if we raced again. But I have to accept the outcome.”
Alright, that makes two. Four left, right? So far, so good.
No life-taking dramas needed. If things stay this smooth, we’ll be just fine.
“Then it’s my turn, right?”
Next in line, Yggdrasil stepped forward in front of Baal.
“My test is… I’d like you to fix the elves’ picky eating.”
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