第４２０堀：神々が動くその理由 (Part2)
“For now, once Faide eats the ice cream he made and realizes who we really are, I’ll meet him directly and bring him over to our side.”
“No. You need to use me as a buffer first.”
Just as I was getting motivated, Seraria threw cold water on the idea.
“Wait, wouldn't it be a problem for the Queen to go?”
“Listen. Your true standing is overwhelmingly higher than mine. On my end, I can just play it off as going to pay my respects to Lady Lilishe. On the off chance that Faide has taken an assassination contract, there’s no guarantee he won’t attack you, right?”
“I’m a doppelganger, so it’s not like it would be a problem—”
“And do you want Milly to see such a shocking sight and have a miscarriage? Besides, just seeing you get attacked would send her blood pressure through the roof.”
“Fine. I’ll stay put.”
“Good.”
*Sigh.* I feel like Faide and I could get along once the misunderstanding is cleared up, but that seems a long way off. It’s true that if Milly saw something traumatic happen to me, a stress-induced miscarriage is a real possibility. I’d better behave.
“I-I wouldn’t lose Yuki-san’s baby over something like that!”
“No, you totally would. Even I’d go blank if something happened to Big Brother. Besides, you’re stuttering, Milly.”
“Indeed. Last time, when Taiki sent Yuki flying, every single one of us lost our heads and charged in,” Deryu added.
“Ugh…!”
Milly tried to deny it, but she couldn't find a comeback after Ratz and Deryu chimed in. Yeah, for Milly’s sake, I’ll stay in the background.
“Well, setting that aside, there’s something I want to ask you,” Seraria said.
“Hmm? What is it, Seraria?”
“We know better than anyone that you’re making progress against the mana depletion. But what are the other gods and Dungeon Masters doing? I mean, I heard from Luna that they can’t do anything about it, but what exactly are they doing that makes it so hopeless?”
“Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t explained that in detail yet.”
“No. We’ve been so busy that I didn't have time to think about it, but seeing Faide made me wonder. Even if it’s hopeless, shouldn't there be *some* results?”
“Hmm. I guess there are, in a way…”
It’s a bit hard to explain verbally, so I started scribbling on a whiteboard.
“First, let’s look at my predecessors—the local Dungeon Masters. You know they haven't exactly been active, right?”
“Right. Deryu’s brother, Raie, has been a shut-in for nearly two hundred years, and his dungeon isn't particularly large. As for Comet on the New Continent, she was literally a corpse,” Seraria answered.
As she spoke, I wrote: *Local Dungeon Masters = Failures.*
“Exactly. Now, the predecessors before them were the gods. When Luna took over, she kept them on to prevent chaos, since the world would fall apart if they all vanished at once. You probably understand from the situation with Hifi and the others that these gods use faith as their source of power. If they don't have enough faith, they become no different from ordinary people, or they might even fade away or die.”
“Right.”
“In other words, gods weren't originally meant to deal with mana depletion. The order to handle that only came after Luna arrived as the successor.”
I wrote: *God’s Job = Originally gathering faith to stabilize hearts and support lives + Mana Depletion Problem.*
“So, first of all, they need to increase their faith for the sake of their own power and survival. That leads to them fighting over the people's faith.”
“Why? Isn't it common for people to worship multiple gods?”
“That’s the issue. They don’t have the concept of cooperation. Since these gods were originally elevated to godhood by the local people, they aren't about to hand over the results of their own hard work, are they?”
“I suppose not. But then, what were they planning to do about the mana depletion?”
“Clear examples of that are Noble, Hifi, Nonoa, and Nogosh. They become kings themselves, building nations and creating faith. Their logic is: if they unify the world and centralize all power and faith in themselves, then they can deal with the mana depletion.”
“…Wait, does that mean…?”
“To put it simply, they’re prioritizing world unification. Mana depletion is a secondary concern while they’re busy with their petty squabbles. You can see it with Lilishe now, right? It’s not just the New Continent; this continent, and probably every other continent, is the same.”
“They really are hopeless…” Seraria’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Yeah. Well, don’t let it get you down!
***
Just in case there’s any misunderstanding, let’s reconfirm Faide’s position. He’s someone who came to negotiate and scout the situation; he isn't an “enemy.” Since so many gods have been enemies lately, it’s easy to jump to that conclusion, but from Faide’s perspective, he was merely trying to keep things peaceful.
Yuki and the others misidentified Faide as an enemy because Lilishe was so hostile, but they changed their perception after hearing from Aslin and Firia.
As for why the Dungeon Masters are useless, that was mentioned a long time ago, but what about the gods? This chapter was intended to answer that question.
Well, they aren't much different. World conquest—that is their answer.
Though, the world will probably end before they manage it.
And so, Yuki’s main job is to struggle against these outdated, culturally stagnant individuals. I definitely wouldn't want to trade places with him.