Chapter 433: The Pantheon, and the Gods’ Lottery.
Chapter 433: The Pantheon, and the Gods’ Lottery.
“Areh? Where is this?”
The place I was brought to by Karen nee-san was not the usual room I always met the World God in (although it feels weird to call that place a room).
A pristine white marble floor, and huge white pillars lined up to either side. Outside, the usual sea of clouds stretches out beyond the horizon.
Directly in front, beyond a flight of stairs, stood a large temple-like structure.
Above, the sky is clear without a single cloud—wait, they’re down below, right. There’s no cloud, but there is a bright rainbow in the form of a perfect circle. The deep blue sky in the center of that circle feels like it would draw me in.
“This way-nano yo.”
Karen nee-san pulled on my hand and started walking.
“Wa, wait up. What is that?”
“The Pantheon-nano yo. A public space used by all the gods… It’s like a spot to hang out, basically. The one who made it was the Creation God-sama. Everyone who’s here is either a god or a god’s dependant-nano yo.”
Pantheon? I know about the royal castle of Demon Kingdom Xenoas, Pandemonium though, are they related?
As I was dragged into that place by Karen nee-san, the scenery around us changed all of a sudden. Even though we were supposed to be inside a building, this place looks like the inner courtyard of a castle. There are various plants around, with a grassy lawn that covers the whole area, and there’s even a fountain in the center.
“What the heck is this…?”
“There’s a lot of different places and rooms here, but there’s no special way you need to take to get to them-no yo. You can go anywhere you want, following any path you choose-no yo.”
Any path… So you’re telling me there’s no set routes in this place? There’s a limit to how strange it can get…
People around us, who are lazing about around the courtyard we’re passing through, looked at us with interest. Those people are all gods, I suppose. I guess that sparrow-like bird which is flying over there is also a god’s dependant or something like that.
It might’ve noticed my gaze; the bird flew towards us, and landed on Karen nee-san’s shoulder.
“Oh, Love God. Is that the rumored new god?”
“Yep. We’re in a bit of a hurry, Flight God, so I’ll talk later-nano yo.”
“Haha. Aren’t you cold today.”
Umu. He’s not a dependant but an actual god. Sorry I gave you the wrong label.
“It’s fine, I don’t really mind. Well, let’s have a nice talk sometime.”
“Eh? Ah, okay.”
Saying that, the Flight God flapped his wings and left. Did he read my mind? Well, he is a god. I guess that much is to be expected.
“It’s been billions of years since World God-sama has last had a dependant, so everyone’s interested in you-no yo. Touya-kun is actually a bit of a celebrity in this place-no yo. Well, there’s a bit of a problem we have to deal with now because of that, though…”
“Eh!? Did I, do something bad?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong regarding yourself-no yo. The thing is… Oh, I should talk about it once we arrive-no yo.”
I have no idea what’s going on. In any case, with me being dragged along by Karen nee-san, we passed through the courtyard-like place, went into an arch-shaped door and entered another building.
… We should’ve entered another building, and yet.
Even though this was supposed to be in a building, it was the outside. No, is this even the outside? I can’t tell even that. While the same sea of clouds could be seen in the distance, underneath my feet are a variety of different flowers all blooming in profusion.
Here and there, the same white pillars I saw with the temple earlier could be seen standing. Since there’s only the pillars there and nothing else, it almost feels like looking at Egyptian obelisks.
It’s like heaven, this place… I guess I’m not actually that far from the truth with that. Or rather, wouldn’t heaven be below this place? Since this is the Divine Realm and all. I don’t really know.
“Yaa, you finally came.”
“Areh? Kousuke ojii-san?”
Before I noticed, the Agriculture God, Kousuke ojii was standing in front of me. And besides him, there’s also the Hunting God, Karina nee-san.
“For now, everyone has calmed down. The annoying ones are being supressed by the Sword God and the Martial God. Sheesh, what a bunch of troublemakers.”
So said Karina nee-san in an exasperated voice, but I have no idea what any of that is supposed to mean.
“Can you guys just explain to me already? Exactly what is going on here?”
“Un, I think it’s best if you asked World God-sama yourself about that. We’ll be following along too. Now, let’s go.”
Kousuke ojii began walking. In the end, there’s no choice but to follow for me, huh.
As we walked on amidst the pleasant fragrance of the flowers, eventually, sakura-like trees began appearing, and pale-colored petals started drifting through the air.
While walking, I realized the figures of people appreciating the flowers could be seen here and there around us. These people are probably gods as well. They’re looking our way, too.
Honestly speaking, it’s not a great feeling. It’s as if I’m being treated as a rare animal or something. I wonder if I’m just too paranoid about it.
“Ohh, it’s good for you to come.”
“Ohh, it’s good for you to come! Nyahahaha!”
Underneath a noticeably larger sakura tree, the World God sat on top of a goza mat. Besides him, there’s the Alcohol God, Suika, hugging a tokkuri. And besides her, there’s the Music God, Sousuke nii-san as well, holding a harp.
“Sorry to call you out like this. Well, sit down first.”
For now, I followed World God-sama’s instruction and sat down on the goza. Somehow, this goza has an amazing texture. Is this really a goza?
“To tell you the truth, there was actually a banquet held today for the gods. It’s a good opportunity for everyone to gather, so I talked about the resort plan to them. That since Touya-kun agreed to be the manager, it looks achievable now. When everyone heard that, they were very interested and happy at the news. They were raising a whole ruckus celebrating the chance to go down to the mortal realm openly.”
“Ah, that one. The thing about how gods would go down and spend some time vacationing as a normal human?”
“That’s it. However, speaking about that… We actually got onto the topic of your wedding ceremony as we talked. When I said that myself as well as the Love God, Sword God and others will be participating as your family members, they started complaining, you see. Give that chance to them too, were their words.”
Eh? What does that… How did the topic of my wedding ceremony come up while they were talking about the resort plan?
“Basically, it’s this-nano yo. If they attend your wedding ceremony as your family member, they would get to go down to the mortal world before other gods, is the implication. An advance team for the resort plan… Or rather, more like special invitation guests, I suppose.”
“Eh, the heck is that?”
“It would be bad if we arbitrarily decided on your family members without you actually being present, you know. So I called you here. Speaking of the empty positions, it would be your parents, siblings, uncles and aunts, cousins, stuff like that…”
“Wa, please wait a second! I’ll be troubled if you just go and increase my family like that!”
I already have 8 gods as my family by now, you know. Although my direct family is only World God-sama as well as Karen nee-san and Moroha nee-san.
Plus, although the world we live in is different, my mom and dad are still alive too. I would definitely feel reluctant to call someone else as my father or mother. For grandpa though, I already had 2 from both my parents’ sides, so that one I don’t really mind that much.
“Well, I do agree with you on that-no yo. It’d be annoying for me too if some weird people became my father or mother-no yo.”
“By weird people, what do you…?”
“Touya-kun, could you call that Flight God from earlier your dad-no yo?”
“… People’ll think I’ve gone crazy, won’t they.”
“I’m glad you understand-no yo.”
I mean, he completely looks like a sparrow. When I looked around more closely, among the gods looking this way there are some weird people… Gods…? There too. Like people with their heads being that of cats or birds. They look like Egyptian gods or gods from somewhere around there… Completely different from the gods I know about.
Well, there are people like werecats among the demon races, so even if they had gone down to earth, people will just be curious about them and it won’t cause a huge ruckus; but still, if someone like that was to become my mom, that’d be a bit too impossible.
“Isn’t it fine even if they’re not my family? Things like friends from my hometown, people who have cared for me in the past… It wouldn’t be weird if we invited people like that to my wedding ceremony anyway.”
The instant they heard those words, the gods around me all raised a loud cheer of “Uooooooh!”. Uwa, that scared me!
“So you do get it, new god!”
“That’s right! Everyone should get a chance!”
“Exactly! We want to stretch ourselves and relax too!”
What, are there so many people who want to go down? Are gods all so free?
Although, apparently not everyone here is enthusiastic. They’re split into the gods who want to spread their wings as soon as possible, and the gods who are thinking they’ll go down sometime in the future.
“Is that really ok? At this rate, everyone will go down-no yo? If those bunch created any problems down on earth, it’s you, Touya-kun, who have to take responsibility and deal with them-nano yo? We as your support staff will also help, but…”
“Eh!? Wait, that’s what will happen!?”
I became very anxious when I heard Karen nee-san whisper next to me. There’s no way gods who go down to earth will not cause problems!
“Everyone, calm down. Even if we say his world will become a resort world for the gods, it does not mean we can go to that world and do whatever we want there. The mortal realm has its own rules, and if we ignore them, we’ll be smearing dirt onto his, and by extension, onto the World God’s face with our actions, after all.”
When Kousuke ojii raised his voice, the celebrating gods around went “umuu” and became silent again. As expected of the person… God with the most common sense among the gods who have come down to our world.
“Then, Agriculture God. Just how should we choose the members who will be invited to that wedding ceremony?”
A huge man who looks to be at least 2.5m tall with his upper half bare asked. He wears a robe like the chiton worn by ancient Greeks which is hung on his left shoulder, and his bulging muscles could be seen in the uncovered areas. What’s more, he’s constantly making body builder poses as if to show those muscles off.
“We will decide that from now on, Strength God. It’s for that reason that he was called here.”
Strength God. I see, the god of power, huh. I’m convinced.
“Around how many people would you be fine with?”
“Uun, even if you ask me that… What does Karen nee-san and everyone else think?”
World God-sama asked me thus, but I couldn’t really make a clear decision, so I threw the question to Karen nee-san and the others who were besides me. The matter of gods should be left to their fellow gods to resolve. I mean, I’m technically almost one of those gods too, but.
“Nn, it’d be trouble for us if too many come down at once… For a number we can take care of, around 10 would be the max?”
Ten people, eh… Well, as long as they aren’t people who would cause a lot of trouble, that should be fine.
“And for those who’ve shown model behaviour while down on the ground, they can stay longer as backup supporters, how about that?”
“Ahh, that’s good-no yo. That way, the next time a group come down we can increase the number.”
Karen nee-san snapped her fingers at World God-sama’s proposal. Eh, they’re gonna increase…?
“Would it really be fine? If they seriously went and ran amok, we wouldn’t be able to keep them in control, would we…”
“There won’t be people that wild, don’t worry. Everyone, in the end, wants to experience a pseudo-life as a normal human, after all. And if something really happened that you cannot handle, I’ll do something about it. You’re still in your training period, so it’s natural that your superior would take responsibility for things like that.”
Muu. Well, I guess I can rest easy if you’re willing to say that much. I guess with so many backup, it should be fine… Right?
“So we’re fine with settling on 10 people? Of course, they won’t be going down right now. The selected gods will be going down in batches over several occasions before the time of the wedding ceremony.”
“Eh? Un, well, if it’s that…”
So in the end, the number of gods in our world will increase again… There’s already quite the number now, too. Even excluding World God-sama, we have 7 gods living there already.
“Regarding those ten people. To be honest, one of them is basically already set. There’s the promise I made, remember? I’ll be sending a person who can fix the broken world barrier of that world.”
“Ahh, yes. Now that you mention it.”
The godly barrier that protects our world from outside threats is full of holes thanks to the Phrase. It seems that someone with considerable skill and finesse is required to fix it. Of course, it’s impossible for me to do it, and Karen nee-san and everyone else who lives with me are also a bit too rough around the edges to do it. So World God-sama told me he will send a suitable person down to do it… Eh,
“Owowowowoww!”
“Sorry for being rough around the edges-no yo. It’s easy to read thoughts in the Divine Realm, so you better be careful-no yo~.”
Karen nee-san pinched my cheeks. Say that kind of things ahead of time, please!
“What are you guys doing… Well, it’s fine. I’ll be sending that person down first ahead of everyone else, that’s fine right?”
“It’s something I requested of you, so of course. I don’t mind.”
“Sorry about it. Then let me introduce you.”
When World God-sama clapped his hands together with a *pan*, an old lady suddenly appeared behind him.
Her hair is white, and she looks to be around her seventies. She looks like an elegant grandma in her white kimono. Even though she’s dressed in an Eastern fashion, her eyes are blue. I wonder why, even though it’s our first meeting, I somehow feel a sense of familiarity towards this person.
“That’s because I’m also a dependant of World God-sama. Just like you.”
“Ah, I see.”
The old lady answered with a smile. Or rather, I got my heart read again. Damn. Would my heart stop getting read if I get used to it?
The old lady sat down next to the World God on the goza. When they sit together like that, it feels like they’re an old couple or something.
“This person will be in charge of the barrier repair. An upper-ranked god, the Spacetime God.”
“Nice to meet you, Touya-kun. For the moment, I’m in the position of being your grandmother.”
My grandmother? So she’s placed as World God-sama’s wife, huh. They do look good together, to be honest.
“Well now. Look good together, you say.”
“Umu, it’s a little bit embarrassing to hear that.”
The two of them laughed together with a bit of embarrassment. Arya, it leaked again. My thoughts are just leaking all over the place, aren’t they.
“Etto, by Spacetime God, you mean a god that controls time and space and things like that?”
“Ee, that’s right. To fix the world barrier, you have to take out the ragged parts altogether and replace them from scratch. However, doing that would leave your world defenseless and also take quite some time, right? In my case, I can repair the barrier by rewinding its time, so none of that issue would occur, and it’d be far easier than remaking a new one.”
Hahah, I see. Five thousand years ago, the barrier was repaired temporarily by the rampage of the white and black [Crown]s, Albus and Noir. So she’s doing something like what they did.
“Since rewinding it all at once may cause some creases to form, I’m planning to rewind it bit by bit. It’s like weaving something. During that time, I’ll be intruding at your castle.”
“Ah, yes. I don’t mind that. What should I call you…”
“Right… Tokie. I shall name myself as Mochizuki Tokie while on the ground. So you can call me Tokie obaa-chan.”
“Tokie obaa-chan…”
“Ee. Best regards, Touya-kun.”
Saying that, the Spacetime God… Tokie obaa-chan smiled. Somehow, I feel at ease when I saw that. She seems like a proper god. Oops, shouldn’t think about unnecessary things. I’ll get my heart read again.
“And in the end, how will we decide the remaining members anyway?”
“Since ancient times, we’ve used drawing lots to decide such things…”
Lottery, huh. Well, omikuji is a pretty famous tradition. It might be appropriate for gods to decide on matters with. The hopeful gods around us all seem to be okay with that too.
“Of course, the usage of your divine powers are forbidden. I’ll be watching for that. No divination or clairvoyance too, okay? To make it impossible to cheat, the lots shall be made by Touya-kun here.”
Eh, me? Well, if you tell me to make it then I will, I guess.
When I asked about how many people will participate, the answer was nearly a hundred. Isn’t it too much… I wonder if gods are really this free… Curiosity kills the cat, and boredom kills the god, I suppose.
If I were to make a lot here, it would have to be the form of the omikuji you see in shrines, wouldn’t it. A cylinder-type with a small hole at the top from which you can shake out thin sticks.
I made a simple hexagonal prism-shaped box, and put in stick-shaped lots inside. Ten of them have their tips painted gold, and the other normal sticks number over a hundred.
Close the lid with a small hole on top of it and it’s done.
I passed the omikuji box to Suika.
“Alright now, line up properly-no da~. People who don’t follow the order will be disqualified~. They won’t be able to drink the delicious liquors down on earth~. Nyahahahaha.”
I could hear several gods swallow audibly after that. Please don’t increase the number of drinkers anymore…
After that, several people repeated the routine of shaking the box to take out a lot, then sitting to the side, discouraged, for a while. Although, since the possibility still exists, they would line up at the back of the line again.
Everyone was shaking the box like they’re praying. The notion is just weird, you know, since they’re gods and all…
Even though people were constantly getting discouraged by the lot they drew, it’s still quite a big ruckus.
“This is kinda fun too, isn’t it.”
“Right. Everyone here doesn’t really have a lot of opportunities to make merry like this.”
The old couple was drinking tea by a small tea table brought out of nowhere. Or rather, World God-sama and Spacetime God-sama. They sure are relaxed… No well, I guess it’s fine, but.
Suddenly, a fanfare similar to the level-up sound of a certain famous RPG rang out. When I turned around, the Music God, Sousuke nii-san was playing a trumpet.
“Nyahaha, jackpot~!”
“Uooosha!”
“Geh.”
Besides Sousuke nii-san who’s on trumpet and Suika, there’s the totally macho Strength God from earlier. While holding a stick with one end painted gold, he’s doing another sweltering pose to show off his muscles.
…I’ll ask Takeru ojii to take care of Strength God-sama, un. It’s impossible for us.
“It’s going to take a while, so you take a break too.”
“Ah, sorry about this.”
The Spacetime God… Tokie obaa-chan poured a cup of tea for me from a teapot. Ah, there’s a standing tea stalk. Every time a god poured tea there’s a standing tea stalk; I wonder if it’s something that’s supposed to happen… I guess only the gods know.
While thinking about something stupid like that, I drank the tea as I glanced at the gods who were shaking the omikuji box to the side. Un, delicious.
Haa. God, please don’t let anyone troublesome draw the lucky lots.
“I can’t do anything shorthanded too, you know.”
“Right, of course.”
My heart got read again. Nmou…
- Pixel