Chapter: 208
Dreams are data reconstructions formed from the subconscious.
So, it’s not strange that the fragment of information I read from the goddess appears in the form of a dream. It happens sometimes.
Just as vague anxieties and predictions can manifest as prophetic dreams.
The meaningless scraps of information took shape in front of my eyes, shrouded in the ambiguity of a dream. A mannequin-like figure, gender unknown, gazing up at the sky while having a conversation with someone.
Perhaps it was just talking to itself.
I stood back as an observer, watching the spectacle unfold from a distance. Though I couldn’t see the face due to pixelation, I could tell the atmosphere was dead serious.
Facing the setting sun, that someone was fervently expressing something.
The content of the exchange was unclear. Something about a cake being delicious, an intense hatred for mosquitoes, and plans to go to the beach this summer. Completely out-of-context nonsense.
Since it was a dream, it seemed like my mind filled in the gaps wherever I was in the dark. I brushed it aside, thinking that what the dream wanted to show me was probably something else entirely.
I waited patiently.
It felt as if three days had passed, yet it could have been a fleeting moment. Perhaps that fleeting moment felt like three days because it was so painfully boring. In dreams, grasping the passage of time is a perplexing task.
Then, suddenly, a striking sentence popped out. Finally.
“The king must, by duty, castrate their emotions.”
It’s safe to say I never thought about this; this is definitely information extracted from the goddess.
What a bold statement.
Someone states that those who aim to stand above others must possess a rust-free iron heart. This doesn’t merely signify a lack of compassion.
It’s saying one must not be swayed by emotions, remaining eternally unchanged.
How many kings have succumbed to their transient emotions and irrational judgments, plunging the world into chaos? While the king makes poor decisions, the ramifications are shared by all.
War, blood, unending sorrow and rage—how meaningless and tragic it is for a minor emotion to spark such tragedies.
If even a king can be so, what of the king among kings, the god who oversees heaven and earth?
“Thus, the being that reigns over all must, to prevent malfunctions caused by emotions── inevitably be a mechanical deity.”
With that determination, the brief dream came to an end.
===============================================================
Most matters unfolded smoothly.
The boy rescued his sister. He even received a bag of silver coins to ensure a happy life going forward, provided he didn’t suffer from any unfortunate accidents.
We achieved our initial goal. We identified all those involved in the plot to rescue or not rescue the queen, and we recovered all the intel related to the “Queen’s Information” detected in the territory.
“…It seems a little short, though.”
“Of course, we lost some to the divine power beam.”
Evil God-chan frowned suspiciously as she looked at the liquid contained in a glass flask, but if that survived a goddess beam and didn’t disappear, it might as well be a Succubus God instead of a Succubus Queen.
The high-density pillar of divine power that fell into the Elmest Territory had become quite the issue. We had to be summoned to the lord’s mansion to explain the situation.
In the lord’s office, a middle-aged man was buried beneath a mountain of papers; he was the temporary territory administrator sent to Elmest. He wore an expression as if he had two holes poked in his stomach.
“Wh-what on earth happened…?”
“Well, you see.”
As I explained, since we were fighting the dark sorcerer, the goddess must have taken pity on us and provided support fire…
I couldn’t reveal the truth.
Of course, I wanted to keep the secret, but more significantly, I felt they wouldn’t believe me. If I laid it all out, it would turn into a bizarre story.
In truth, there’s something strange in my head, which is at odds with the goddess. I managed to pull a fragment of that unwanted guest out, making it into a physically capable hologram and then… discarded it.
As a result, the corrupt priest, who believed in the goddess while serving the Succubus Queen, ended up consuming that information, which prompted the goddess to shoot a divine ray…
It was unbelievable and far too risky to voice.
I decided to send a separate report to Irid. I would hide the details about “that thing,” but I thought I should share the information I obtained from the goddess.
Speaking of the goddess, my left arm had sustained severe injuries. Naturally, after thrusting my arm into the heat beam, that was expected. Right now, I was essentially wrapped in bandages and a supportive cast.
It’s fortunate I can cast self-hypnosis to reduce pain; otherwise, I might not have been able to sleep at night. It still throbbed painfully.
Of course, I did try inviting a priest to treat me. Since the Goddess Church in Elmest had been obliterated, finding a healer wasn’t easy. However, I managed to come across a female priest at a nearby orphanage.
“I can’t feel any divine power. That’s strange…?”
“Oh dear.”
It seemed that “Divine Punishment” also included a divine power-blocking effect. Without such a function, wouldn’t I be able to endure it with self-healing while stuck in that light pillar?
Thus, until natural recovery reestablishes itself, my left arm was completely incapacitated. Unlike other wizards, I didn’t need to form a bond with others for fair dealings, so losing my fighting ability wasn’t an issue.
But complications arose…
Yuna was genuinely furious. Not just a little upset, but enraged.
In her anger, there wasn’t a trace of an expression. She appeared like an emotionless doll, devoid of joy or sorrow. She was still.
Yet, another form of her emerged. With burning eyes, she shot me a resentful glare, a different version of Yuna. The two shapes converged as they spoke.
The two Yunas routinely spoke and acted identically, perfectly indistinguishable from one another. It was as if two perfectly overlapped sheets of paper. There was no need to separate them.
However, both this time and last, when Yuna was hurt emotionally, there was a clear distinction. One was the sad Yuna, the other was the angry one.
Yuna oscillated between the two states, eventually speaking from the angry side. Sparks flew from her eyes, causing the surrounding area to shimmer with sharp colors.
“Why did you do that? I told you it was dangerous!”
I spoke cautiously.
“I, uh, got greedy. I thought if I gathered information this time, it might accelerate the removal of ‘that thing,’ and I actually obtained considerable intel…”
“You promised to trust me. You know I’m acting for your sake. Yet, you still chose to risk it… You could’ve died!”
“…”
Though it was a fleeting moment for me, I had my calculations. I thought the chances of dying from being swept up by the goddess’s ray were incredibly low. However…
If I missed my footing and got sucked into the beam or if she amplified the output and range to finish me off, things would have gone horribly wrong.
It seemed Yuna was greatly shaken by the mere fact that I had taken such risks.
Yuna would push the Bennett party into a molten pit but made it her mission to protect me. The reason she broke various rules and stuck by my side was, presumably, for my sake.
So perhaps, that’s why my Tower Master was feeling even more resentful.
She lowered her big eyes slightly, and the surroundings turned a dim hue of blue. The sad side.
“Did you think I’d no longer be able to trust you because I failed to remove your ‘thing’ and ruined the session?”
“…That’s not it, Tower Master.”
“Then why go to such lengths to gather information?”
“It was for us.”
I just wanted to break free from the singular headache. I acknowledged my malevolence, but I never intended to be engulfed by “that thing.”
I didn’t want to see Yuna looking wicked.
However, it appeared that my efforts reflected poorly on her. Had she done better from the start, I wouldn’t have had to take such risks… It seems that’s what she believed.
“I should have done better.”
Yuna indeed put forth effort. She had genuinely helped. It wasn’t perfect, but who in this world is perfect? To demand someone’s absolute perfection after they extended kindness and assistance is shameless.
It wouldn’t do to allow her, who acted for my benefit, to belittle herself. Hence…
I was about to say something to Yuna when──
“…I just want to be alone for a bit, sorry for blowing up.”
“Wait, Tower Master…!”
Swish swish.
Before I could take hold of Yuna’s hand, she transformed into a butterfly and scattered into the air. My hand flailed in the void. Ah, the Cthulhu session… is she still concerned about that?
What now?
With arms crossed, Pingbalez, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, spoke softly.
“For the sake of the goal, I can accept losing an arm or so. But seeing you get injured does hurt my heart.”
“…Did I mess up?”
“No, practicality is separate from emotions. You did well to acquire priceless information. But shouldn’t you compensate us for the terror we felt? How about a little charm?”
“Not to you, Pingbalez. You’ve got a history of falling head over heels for the queen, making it a 1-on-1 thing.”
I responded to the joke with a joke, but I didn’t feel amused. I had a lot to say to Yuna, yet little came to mind. I wasn’t sure how to express my feelings.
Why does my mind, which effortlessly rolls when deceiving others, turn clumsy now?
⋯⋯⋯⋯.
It looks like I’ve found yet another reason to meet the love expert Bennett.
===============================================================
My romantic situation is my romantic situation, and work is work.
Having acquired information at such a cost, I should properly sort things out and tie up loose ends. I crawled up the outer wall of the inn.
This isn’t some sudden attempt at burglary. It’s just that Evil God-chan was on the roof of the inn. Does she have a cat-like tendency to climb to high spots?
Just like when she lay on a branch last time.
Using my magical powers like glue to scale up, I spotted Evil God-chan from behind. She sat like a frog, staring up at the sky. To get her attention, I snapped my fingers once.
Evil God-chan didn’t flinch, nor did she turn around when she spoke.
“Here to get graded?”
“Yeah, just thought I’d check if my guesses about the goddess were right…”
“If you’re wrong, I’ll laugh at you all I want. And I’ll even throw in ‘Fool Mima’ for good measure.”
How cheeky…
Well then, it’s goddess-analysis time.
What is a goddess?
The idol of the Goddess Church, a religious group spread across the continent, and the source of the powerful divine power. I don’t know much about the doctrine, but I understand it’s not particularly violent or radical.
She has a terrible rapport with ‘that thing’, to the extent of overspending firepower to erase any traces.
A powerful being worthy of the name of a god.
Yet, there’s something strange about the goddess. She doesn’t distinguish between good and evil, bestowing divine power even when beliefs are not clear, while simultaneously delivering “Divine Punishment” to the High Priest and easily stripping Tara of her divine power.
This part is crucial. Here lies an important point.
The evil and apostate High Priest can wield divine power, yet why was the virtuous Tara stripped of hers?
Tara’s divine power malfunctioned only after she began to harbor doubts about the goddess. The deeper her doubts went, the less divine power she received until it eventually hit zero.
I thought there would be some grand and special reason behind this, given that she’s a goddess of considerable power, a formidable entity gazing down from the heavens.
But what if the truth is rather simple?
She simply stopped supplying power because she didn’t believe in herself. Without a thought on what one does with received divine power or the events that unfold, she turned off the switch as if casually flipping a light off.
Indifferently.
The reason she shot the High Priest with “Divine Punishment” was not to put an end to his arrogance and debauchery, but because she recognized and noted the data on ‘that thing’ that appeared on the blacklist.
Then, the goddess appears to be anything but a sentient being.
She merely acts once certain conditions are satisfied. It may appear foolish at first glance, but sometimes it stands solidly and resolutely. I know what to call this.
An algorithm.
“The goddess is an algorithm and a system. Not a sentient being that thinks and judges but a collection of countless manuals. The execution occurs mechanically, and there are no emotions involved.”
“That’s right, Mima.”
The World Stabilization Organization, the goddess.
Beneath the skin of the goddess that many worship lies a multitude of cogs unflinchingly clicking away.
Evil God-chan laughed.
“And…?”
“…”
And.
Yeah, I’ve got to take a step further.
There’s no problem up to this point.
Whether the god is a lecher like Zeus or an intricately crafted legal text, it’s fine either way. Especially if the goddess is more like a machine.
If there’s a set manual followed according to conditions, granting and withholding divine power, then I can definitely use the goddess.
I just need to repeatedly perform experiments to identify the criteria. And then adjust the environment according to those conditions. I wouldn’t be able to control her fully, but surely I could use her as a tool.
However, the reason my mouth wouldn’t curve into a smile despite this good news…
[Se■■purification■damage rate 24%…]
Was the fact that this vast machine was showing signs of malfunction.
And.
“…It seems there are those exploiting the goddess. So roughly, they’re being reckless enough to damage the system, right?”
“Bwahaha! Yes, the ‘Hero’ who’s meant to be born should have appeared by now… Instead, they’re holding silly competitions that aren’t even funny!”
Someone else had to have shared my thoughts; after all, it seemed at least one other person in this long history must have come to this conclusion.
===============================================================
Deep within the Church.
In the sanctuary where the goddess’s light constantly streams in, in a lavishly sacred hall.
As if gathering to pick up a candy lying on the ground, a swarm of old Cardinals clung around the young Pope, hastily whispering among themselves.
“Your Holiness, we are preparing to conduct the ceremony for selecting the heroes. Many will come to this Trumpet Hall. Among them, there will be cowards harboring ill intentions.”
“Your Holiness, we need ‘Regulation.’ May the goddess oversee this Trumpet Hall, preventing those cowards from acting recklessly.”
“Your Holiness, please implore the goddess for our sake…”
Unable to withstand their insistence, the young Pope touched the divine artifact capable of communicating directly with the goddess. The goddess, being merciful, would heed his pleas if her agent earnestly advised her.
A red warning lit up.
[Warning: This regulation conflicts with the existing 247 regulations. Do you wish to execute the task?]
However, the six-year-old Pope misunderstood the meaning of that divine command.
“I beseech you, my goddess, in this Trumpet Hall──”
In the end, he ended up forcibly scribbling a new “Regulation” into the book…
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