“Sigh, whatever.”
After a long time with her forehead resting in her hand, Rina swiped her face and spoke. As her hand passed near her mouth, her voice became slightly muffled.
“…Now that it doesn’t matter who climbs higher, I’ll tell this story as you said.”
“Huh?”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
Hearing this made me furrow my brows.
“Well, of course I won’t go and spill it somewhere. I was planning to keep this to myself until the end anyway. Didn’t I already say when I started talking? ‘The reason I can’t tell anyone’? What the heck do you think that meant?”
“…”
Rina’s right eyebrow twitched as she heard me. It looked like she had a lot to say, but she clenched her teeth with her eyes closed. And then she let out a long breath through her nose.
“Okay… I got it. For now…”
When Rina finally calmed down, she said that with a strained voice, her teeth so clenched that what should have been ‘I got it’ sounded more like ‘Eul-eu-dseu’.
I left Rina to rub the back of her neck gently and turned my gaze toward the other kids. They all looked at me as if I was full of nonsense. I mean, I did tell them the story after they asked for it, so if they made those faces, would I feel tempted to share more next time?
Well, even if they looked eager to hear more, I had no intention of telling them again.
“Any other questions?”
At my question, everyone shook their heads. They didn’t seem particularly satisfied, though.
“…”
Silence hung in the air for a moment. I didn’t even know how many silences it had been since I started talking.
“Oh, but…”
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Aurora clapped her hands.
“So, Clara saved Rina’s life, huh?”
Honestly, it didn’t feel like it went that well from my perspective. I originally wanted Rina to go through nothing at all, but she ended up being used as a hostage by a high-ranking demon and got her face all swollen.
If you think about it, it would be more accurate to say that due to changes caused by me crossing into this world, Rina ended up staying alive rather than I saved her.
“I suppose you could see it that way.”
But if I explained it that way, I wouldn’t be able to show off in front of Rina, right? How could I stand that? If I hadn’t revealed my origin, it wouldn’t have mattered if I really saved her or not, but after revealing part of my origin, it became a story I could use anytime.
So, I puffed out my chest and said, “That’s great, Rina!”
Aurora seemed to be trying to lighten the mood with those words, but Rina, with veins popping on her temples, didn’t seem to think it was great at all.
No, to be precise, her expression indicated she didn’t like that she owed me even this much.
But what can you do? It’s the truth.
Anyway, it’s true she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for me, right?
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Rina after hearing Aurora’s words. Rina glared at me, her face flushed red. As if she was about to say something, she opened her mouth and then shut it again. After repeating this a few times like a broken video, she finally managed to say, “…Thank you.”
“Huh? What?”
I held my right hand up near my ear as if I hadn’t heard her properly. Of course, my new body had much better hearing than the body I used in my previous life, so I heard it all. I just thought it was too good to let it slip by with just one hearing.
“…I said, thank you.”
It sounded like ‘Geum-deu-geu’ because she was clenching so hard, but still, I was satisfied with that.
“Eh, it’s not like I did it for that, anyway.”
As I waved my hand dismissively, Rina sighed again and wiped her face with both hands. I imagine Rina’s facial skin probably got about 0.1mm thinner today.
“See, Clara? Rina says that too. No one is going to be angry about what you’ve done in this world.”
Is that really the case, though?
There are tons of different types of people in the world. Just not long ago, didn’t I hear it directly from the President? That there are people trying to impose their twisted sense of justice using my name or trying to somehow gain profit? Some of those who have suffered immense misfortune will definitely hold resentment toward me.
Why did it take so long to come here?
Why can’t that generosity encompass the entire world at once?
Moreover, even such questions could arise from someone who isn’t the Creator God. Besides, I have no idea how to respond if I were to receive such questions. After all, it is what it is.
But, well.
“Is that right?”
Since there are plenty of people who express gratitude like Rina does. Even if my initial intention wasn’t to receive gratitude, being able to hear such words from people is a stroke of luck in itself.
“So, of course. Otherwise, so many people wouldn’t follow you.”
Linea, who was standing next to me, placed a hand on my shoulder and said so.
“Is that right?”
If I had come to this world much earlier, long before religion was properly established, I might have been treated as just a cult. If it were the time when magic was just emerging, and demons and devils started rampaging, it would have been lucky not to be accused of being a witch.
In fact, when reading about this world’s chaotic period, there are accounts of nameless heroes and those who wield holy power being unjustly killed. Among them, there are certainly well-known cases. The power of the church in this world can be attributed to the countless people who died in the name of Ariel back then.
But, I didn’t deny it. Linea’s expression wasn’t incorrect either.
Is that so?
Whatever my intentions were, the things I did ultimately left positive results. People who like me like me for that reason.
“Yeah.”
I murmured softly.
Maybe at that moment, I was smiling.
*
“Our Goddess thinks so, too.”
Baal, sitting next to me with his elbow on the table and his chin resting on his hand, spoke.
“What do you think?”
“…”
Ariel didn’t respond.
“That person is evidently acting on their own will. It’s not just at our request or plea. Well, that may have been the case at the beginning, but looking at how the world has changed now, I’d say that initial motivation was nothing more than trivial encouragement. They aren’t corrupted by power, nor do they become conceited despite being revered by others. They’re quite the noble hero of ancient tales.”
“…”
Ariel, who had been staring at the floor, slowly lifted her gaze to look at Baal. It was hard to read the emotion in her sunken eyes. Perhaps it was guilt. Baal had seen that face a few times in the last 500 years. Especially during the last 50 years, when no saint or holy child had appeared, he’d seen that expression quite often.
“Hmm.”
Baal stared at Ariel for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and spoke.
“I think I understand the reason you feel that way. Perhaps it’s because things have grown much larger than you thought?”
“…”
“Or maybe that existence, who was supposed to ‘know the future and work to save the world instead of the gods,’ turned out to be far kinder than we anticipated. I should have seen it from the very beginning. The reason for their death was even a sacrifice for a child, and it’s amusing to think that a human who, upon grasping the situation, would ask about that child’s condition has the same thought process as a regular human.”
Baal moved the hand resting on his chin and tapped a worn-out notebook on the table with his fingertip, pulling it towards himself.
The notebook didn’t have any particular title written on it. The contents were the same. Without even properly naming it, it was just a story where a child displayed their fantasies. An incomplete novel without an ending and without any fully developed storyline that once contained the future of a world.
Now, it was so off from that future that it didn’t hold much meaning anymore.
“In the end, it seems to align with the warning you gave.”
Ariel said with a bitter smile.
“My warning? I think that my warning doesn’t match the current situation at all.”
“You said it’s good to shed the arrogance of thinking you can predict everything just because you’re a god.”
“Ah, that warning.”
Now it was Baal’s turn to offer a bitter smile.
“A valuable lesson learned from my bitter failure.”
Baal exhaled softly.
“What I wanted to say isn’t related to that warning at all, but whatever. After all, the current situation is far from the prediction I made back then, so that arrogance applies to me as well.”
“…”
“…”
The two shared a brief silence.
“I have experienced what it is like to apologize to those who died because of me. In fact, I’m still doing so. Thankfully, due to the goddess on the ground doing an excellent job recently, I hardly have to see any of their faces anymore, but even now, it’s a situation where no one can avoid being sacrificed. What kind of words do I hear every time?”
“…Do they tell you there’s no need to apologize since it’s the work of the gods?”
“Exactly.”
Baal said while tapping the cover of the notebook with his finger.
“When beings that aren’t gods look upon gods, they see far more than what they see with their eyes. While they may not clearly recognize what that is with their heads, they can sense something deeply in their hearts. They instinctively see something beyond us and either realize their guilt and fall into horror or feel joy in having met a god.”
He raised his hand again, resting his chin on it.
“And even before I say anything to them, they’ve already forgiven me for what I did to them.”
“…”
“One who has sinned must seek the one they sinned against to ask for forgiveness in the afterlife. Unless the other person forgives you, that sin won’t easily vanish. But then, what should I do about the sins I’ve committed? Should I accept the forgiveness I receive before I get to apologize as full forgiveness?”
“…”
“Even if I want to believe it’s okay, I can’t accept it. Can I truly move on as they say? Is it safe to breathe a sigh of relief because I’ve been forgiven?”
“I think I understand what you’re saying.”
Ariel said in a sorrowful voice.
“Even if we wish to apologize to the one we wronged, if they don’t think it was wrong from the start…”
“Right.”
Baal let out a small sigh. Then he silently gazed at the notebook before him.
“That’s what I wanted to say.”
*
The more I had work I didn’t want to do, the faster the time for doing it felt like it was approaching.
I felt that way now.
Still, the stories of me being a Creator God or Supreme God were kept under wraps. The idea that I might have created this world was not something I mentioned, even among my friends, and the talk about being a supreme god was rather easily settled by my request made directly to the church.
“No matter what happens, I will keep it a secret!”
The knight of the Saint Knights, who was delivering my request to the Central Church, knelt on one knee in front of me and said.
…Honestly, it felt quite burdensome. When I was treated as a goddess, I never imagined there would be places above this. Yet, finding out there were more places to ascend to was a bit much.
I was worried that the church might truly swallow the central government. Ever since it was officially announced that I was a goddess, the government had been holding its breath. News and newspapers have been filled with topics about the church, and there were high expectations for the upcoming thanksgiving prayer.
It was a thanksgiving prayer where the goddess herself was participating. If someone dared to disrupt it, they would instantly be branded as a heretic and face public outrage.
The central government had acted out of line a few times, even when I was considered a saint. Even during the time I was temporarily treated as a goddess, there were still a few trying to use my name for their devious deeds.
Having made a rash move now might pull up all the acts they committed back then. No matter how much the church might not meddle if I was uncomfortable, they wouldn’t just sit back if I crossed the line. Now that they also wield public opinion as a weapon, that concern is magnified.
“Is there anything else you require?”
“No, my goddess. This alone is far more than what we expected.”
I removed my hand from the truck I had been touching. The large truck, probably meant to transport fuel, was full of water rather than oil. And it wasn’t just any water; it was consecrated holy water.
Due to its characteristics, mixed with other holy water increases efficiency tremendously, and thanks to my existence, it could be produced faster and in larger quantities than any other holy water. Requests had come from everywhere asking if they could get some holy water.
Of course, they weren’t directly saying “Make it for us!” but were sending polite letters saying something like, “If you happen to have any leftovers…” But honestly, I had a surplus of this holy water. Though it might not be as much as Ariel’s holy water, which is produced in abundance all over the world with believers and clergy, it was originally meant to be mixed in small amounts with other holy water, so not much was needed at once.
Besides, as the thanksgiving prayer approached, the number of people praying to me was on the rise again. The number of clergy from my faction was continuously increasing, and as I saw my body shining brighter, it seemed the number of believers was growing even faster.
Well, if I could just endure until early next year, the number of people praying might decrease a bit, so I just had to get through until then.
Anyway, for that reason, I had been steadily producing holy water every morning, and the white, glowing holy water was continuously spreading throughout the country.
“…”
Hmm.
Even the tank I had touched several times was glowing.
Of course, not the entire tank was shining; only the part where my palm had touched while pouring divine power was shining faintly in the shape of my palm. Since I habitually touched the same spot each time, it seemed like that section had sanctified itself.
“Is this also treated as a relic?”
“Yes.”
Turner, checking the number of trucks, nodded. He still had dark circles under his eyes, but he looked much better than when he first joined the faction.
“This is probably what it looks like from the outside, so the inside must also be shining. It might even have a certain sanctifying effect just by pouring ordinary water on it.”
“Does that mean everything I use gets classified as a relic?”
“Yes, of course, items that have received divine power like this one are treated specially. We might need to replace this truck soon.”
“…”
Are we going to end up sending it to a museum?
“Ah, or maybe just cut out this part and process it for use.”
“In any case, it means the church treats it as something above sanctified items.”
“That’s correct.”
I had nothing more to say.
It’s one thing if it was a sword or armor used by some saint, but turning a water tank into a relic just because I was working with it… It seems having a god actually descend to the land stirs up all sorts of problems.
Well, it used to be that ‘relics’ were names attached to things used by saints.
“My goddess.”
“Yes?”
As I was deeply lost in those thoughts, Turner suddenly spoke to me.
“I know this is a bit silly of me to ask, but do you know what sanctification means?”
“Isn’t it the act of blessing an object to allow it to use divine power?”
Upon hearing my answer, Turner smiled bitterly.
“The act itself is similar, but it’s a bit different from simply giving a blessing to an object.”
“Different?”
“Yes. Blessing an object means praying for protection from accidents while using that object. That’s why priests bless vehicles like cars and airplanes.”
“Then what about sanctification?”
“Sanctifying is the act of dedicating that object to the gods. It carries the meaning of consecration. In the past, only priests or higher clergy could do it… But now, who cares about that? As long as you’re a devout believer, you can use divine power even without being affiliated with a church.”
But if you think about it, aren’t the act and the result quite similar?
When I tilted my head in confusion, Turner let out a short laugh.
“Sanctification is the promise to use that item solely for the gods by dedicating that object to the gods. Therefore, a sanctified object, like holy water, technically cannot just be used anywhere.”
I was surprised for a moment.
“But you don’t need to worry. The church’s principle is that using it for people is exactly what the gods desire. The meaning of sanctification is merely to set your mindset right when using that object.”
…I had been wielding the morning star that I sanctified to hit kids on the head.
Well, now that I’m the goddess using it for myself, I guess I can let that slide.
“I just wanted to say you don’t need to worry about having more relics.”
“…Thank you.”
I bowed my head toward Turner.
Engaging in small talk during this somewhat peaceful atmosphere, I heard someone approaching us.
The sound of creaking. The sound of armor-clad footsteps.
Turning my body around, I saw Uncle Paul walking toward me. His mouth was tightly shut, and he had a helmet tucked under his arm, which indicated that the message he had to share wasn’t light.
“My goddess.”
Paul stood in front of me with a serious expression and spoke.
“Yes, please go ahead.”
At my words, Uncle Paul nodded and said with a heavy expression,
“There has been a report of a magic point appearing beyond the wall.”
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