Chapter: 183
Maybel had become the god of mice, but as of now, there wasn’t much she could do in her divine capacity.
Unifying the opinions of the mouse beastfolk who believed in her and leveraging her faith to become a little stronger—those were about the limits of her abilities.
She didn’t really have any true powers or the ability to perform miracles yet. For now, she was just a slightly more powerful mouse beastfolk.
However, once more rat beastmen came to believe in Maybel, her strength would certainly grow. But for now, that was not the case.
“Becoming a god… I thought there would be some sort of enormous change, but it doesn’t seem like it,” she said with a hint of disappointment.
“That’s because you’re still alive,” I replied. “Once you’re dead, you’ll feel it more intensely.”
“Well… I’ll wait until I’ve lived my life and faced death to experience that.”
The limitations of a living human body, after all!
Anyway, after Maybel and Ella put the rat beastmen under control, the very first thing they did was… punish the leadership of the rat beastmen.
These were the ones who had tortured many due to the strange voice that echoed from underground, along with the ones responsible for killing Maybel’s father and Ella’s husband.
They were also the ones who had attempted to massacre the people of Armen and use them as sacrifices.
After enduring a rather harsh interrogation at Ella’s hands, they confessed all their schemes.
Indeed, they had planned to poison Armen’s water supply, among other preliminary plans.
If that failed, they would provoke conflict with other city-states, instigate a war, and then sneakily open their gates to the city.
And if that too didn’t work… their final resort was to simultaneously collapse the underground town and the sewers below Armen, causing the city to sink into the ground.
The voice from underground had promised to protect the rat beastmen in exchange for their success, offering eternal life to the leadership behind the plan.
Apparently, that promise was only made to the leadership, as the others seemed completely unaware of it.
Well, now they were all battered and broken, locked away in prison.
They had divulged all their plans, and with no more information to extract, they had become useless.
Thus, the leadership revealed the entirety of their conspiracy to the other rat beastmen, and their punishment was, of course… death.
The crimes were severe, and given that they had hidden the truth while advancing their plans, the majority of the rat beastmen supported the punishment.
Among those being sentenced, it was a bit surprising to see Maybel’s grandfather.
From what I gathered, he had planned to unite the smart Maybel’s father with the renowned adventurer Ella to create Maybel, who would become the embodiment of a god. Hmm.
Wait a minute. Does this mean he caused his own son to die? Used his own child to create a god of mice?
For the sake of their race, he had pushed his own child into such situations and even risked his life.
That was truly horrifying.
Anyway, those who had plotted were all judged in the name of Shamash, the god of law and justice, and sentenced to death according to Shamash’s verdict.
At the final moment, Maybel’s grandfather desperately tried to plead for his life by invoking their blood relation… but Maybel was not so easily swayed by her grandfather’s pleas, someone she had never met before.
Instead, she became even angrier upon realizing that her own kin had tried to harm her and her mother.
Well, after all those who conspired were executed and the matter was settled…
“What will we do with this village…?”
“What, Rat Hole Village?”
“Yes. Since it was created for their schemes… I feel we should do something about it.”
Hmm. That’s true. Having a village like this around wouldn’t bring any good.
It couldn’t do any farming, as it was underground. Since it’s an isolated village, trade was out of the question too. Anything they tried would just draw the ire of Armen.
Most importantly, this village was designed for the ceremony. It was no longer needed.
“I think it would be best to abandon this village and move to a better place,” I said.
“Seems that way, huh?”
“Yeah, right.”
But even if we move somewhere else… where exactly should we go? Hmm…
“How about near the village where you grew up?”
“Huh? That rural village?”
It was a bit remote, but I thought it would be a suitable place to sort things out.
“That place… hmm… but…”
“Is there something you don’t like about it?”
“No. It’s a familiar place, which is fine, but… is there anywhere nearby to gather the rat beastmen?”
Hmm. To gather them, huh.
“If there isn’t, can’t we just create a place for that?”
At my words, Maybel had a slightly dazed expression for a moment before nodding in understanding.
“Yes. Well, why would the Dragon Priestess have something that’s impossible? She can create anything and solve anything in an instant, of course.”
“Is there a thorn in my words somehow?”
“No. I was just curious if the Dragon Priestess really has no limits. Each one of those things is challenging for beings like us, but she can handle it effortlessly.”
Hmm. Well, she does indeed have that level of ability.
“I do it because I can. It doesn’t mean I’m omnipotent.”
“If that’s not omnipotence, then what is?”
“Umm… well, I’m not quite sure.”
What exactly is omnipotence? Is it the ability to do anything? Can one be considered omnipotent if they can turn the impossible into the possible?
Could I, who failed to govern the child I regarded as my own, really claim to be omnipotent?
“I do have my own limits.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Seeing Maybel shaking her head slightly made me smile faintly.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
After that, Maybel began sending messages to the scattered rat beastmen, arranging to meet them and starting to move to establish a city for the rat beastmen as many as possible.
Some among the rat beastmen were skeptical of Maybel’s existence as a living god, some followed with doubts, while others welcomed her with open arms.
They arrived at a plain not far from the rural village where Maybel grew up. No, to be precise, it was a place recently turned into plains.
Originally a dense forest, the trees there had all been pulled up by my magic and neatly piled as lumber.
In this freshly made plain, Maybel gathered all the rat beastmen who followed her.
The number was 10,000. Excluding those who did not follow Maybel, there were 10,000 rat beastmen standing behind her.
Having heard that the god of mice had appeared, these rat beastmen left behind their homes, their hometowns, and everything, converging here.
To feed them all, I provided Maybel with a pouch that produced food endlessly, and she filled the bellies of her future subjects.
Then, after gathering so many, Maybel shouted to the assembled rat beastmen.
“We are a weak race.”
Her soft voice drifted across the open space. The voice of a young mouse beastgirl. That voice dug into the minds of the rat beastmen.
Even those who had been skeptical, doubt-ridden, could not reject the voice of Maybel, who was claiming dominion over their kind.
“We were once in a position scorned even by fellow beastfolk, under the influence of the god of beastfolk.”
Should we call this a kind of racism? Discrimination was growing even among beastfolk based on their species.
“But now it’s different. The faith of the rat beastmen has gathered to me, and the divinity of the god of mice dwells within me. I will be the god who cares for and protects the rat beastmen, living for our race.”
As Maybel gazed around at the gathered crowd, she continued.
“So, I intend to redefine our race here. No longer just ordinary beastfolk, but those who receive the protection of the god of mice. I want to give us a new name. We will be called Rattkin.”
Rattkin. Essentially, it means the bloodline of mice.
It was the first step towards unifying the community by distinguishing themselves from others and giving them a name.
“And this land. In this newly formed plain, we will build a city for the Rattkin. The city will be named Rattkinia. It shall be land for the Rattkin.”
Well, the names Rattkin and Rattkinia were mostly given by me, but they seemed to resonate well with Maybel.
Anyway, from then on, the rat beastmen had acquired a new identity as Rattkin and began to live in their new land.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Well, it seems like we’re managing to get by.”
“The Rattkin are surprisingly diligent; they’re getting things done quite well.”
“Not Rattkin, but rat beastmen, right?”
The newly established Rattkin were starting to thrive, even better than expected.
And Maybel had gained a new power.
“This power has already proven to be quite helpful,” she said, holding a dowsing rod in her hand.
The power Maybel had newly acquired was the ability to find what she desired.
Finding new water veins, fertile land, or ore deposits—this new ability was proving tremendously beneficial to the Rattkin.
Moreover, the Rattkin had also surprisingly excelled at farming, even if they consumed quite a lot of food.
“By the way, this rice that comes from the rice plant is quite amazing. It needs a lot of water, sure, but the yield is definitely impressive.”
When farmed on the same area, rice yields more than wheat.
Thanks to that, the quantity of food for the Rattkin was now somehow being satisfied.
Oh, and I had already retrieved the pouch that produced food endlessly.
While it was nice to feed the Rattkin thoroughly, Maybel thought it might be a problem if her well-fed subjects became lazy and didn’t want to work.
“Those who do not work shall not eat.” Maybel cherished this lesson she learned from the priests in her temple.
“It’s a crop primarily grown in the East. It does require a lot of water, but given your abilities, it should be fine.”
“Yes! I can find as many water sources as needed! Thanks to that, the Rattkin can survive! And with the surplus, we can trade with others to procure what we need!”
Food is paramount in this era. First priority: sustenance.
Anyway, the city of Rattkinia was starting to take shape well.
If things continue like this under Maybel’s protection, it should blossom into a fine city.
“That reminds me, what happened to your hammer?”
“Huh? My hammer? Mom took it. She said since I have this dowsing rod instead of a hammer, she’ll use it. She was thinking of returning it to the dwarf who made it later…”
Returning it? Huh.
Well, while it’s a pretty good tool, it wasn’t enough for Maybel as she became a god.
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