第１０５４堀：女神への対応 (Part1)
**Chapter 1054: Dealing with the Goddess**
**Side: Yuki**
"So, this woman is the goddess?"
"Yes, that is correct, Hairen-sama. However, she isn't a follower of Luna-sama; she appears to be part of the Intermediate God faction."
"Ah, so she’s the same as Aquenoki, then. No wonder she looks like a middle-aged hag."
Hairen stared at the woman, who was currently trussed up like a roast and unconscious, and blurted out her honest impression.
Well, she was certainly beautiful, but there was something sharp and bitter about her. She was the type of woman I didn't have around me. She radiated an aura of absolute self-confidence and a tendency to look down on others. She had that specific vibe of a middle-aged woman who was beautiful, but whose personality had prevented her from ever settling down.
"And besides, why on earth did you call me here for something like this?"
"Well, you’re a goddess too, aren't you? I thought there might be some common ground. Besides, I didn't just call you."
"Well, Lilishe-sama, Nonoa-sama, and Hifie-sama are all fine, but we are firmly in the Luna-sama camp. Do you really think this will lead to a productive conversation?"
"Whether it leads to a conversation or not is something we won't know until we try. That’s why I asked you to come. If you’re both goddesses, there’s a chance you can talk, right?"
"Ugh, I understand what you’re saying, but..."
Exactly. If they were both goddesses, maybe she would listen to them a little better. That was why I had gone to the trouble of gathering them.
Just as I was thinking that, Lilishe tilted her head.
"But—what are we supposed to talk to her about? I think it would be better to just hand her over to Luna-sama right away, don't you think?"
"I agree. This goddess is part of the Intermediate God faction. Since she is a rebel, wouldn't it be better to hand her over to Luna-sama immediately and let her be punished?"
It was true; if I just wanted her disposed of, I would have done that myself. But the reality of the situation had become a bit more complicated. I figured I should explain that now, since I would absolutely need these goddesses' cooperation moving forward.
"That’s the thing—I can't just do that. If I leave it to Luna, we won't be able to extract any information. She was blathering on about how she got her hands on a Dungeon Core, how much she knows about using it, and how she 'took care of' the Dungeon Masters Luna had chosen. I can't rest easy until I verify all of that."
" " "Ah..." " "
Right. During her battle with Surakichi-san, this goddess had let some truly damning information slip. She claimed to have finished off the Dungeon Masters in this region. Unless I could verify that information, I couldn't just hand her over to Luna. If Luna just deleted her, all that data would be lost forever. For the sake of the future, I had to extract the information from this goddess.
Actually, come to think of it...
"Yuki. It's already too late."
"Huh?"
Hairen pointed behind me with a wry smile. Standing there was...
"Yoo-hoo. Looks like you managed to capture one of the Intermediate God faction's goddesses quite securely, didn't you?"
Luna stood there, acting as if her presence was the most natural thing in the world. I hadn't even noticed her arrive. She must have teleported.
*Damn it.* Why did she have to show up and make herself the center of attention at a time like this?
"Haa... Luna. Don't do anything unnecessary. I want to gather information first. At the very end, I want you to use your 'Goddess Power' to extract the data and verify it against what we've gathered."
I spoke to her as calmly as I could, fearing that if I seemed too hostile, she’d just go on a rampage. I really didn't need any more chaos.
"I know, I know. I want the information from this one too, so I won't do anything reckless. Besides, it seems the Intermediate God faction has started moving in the shadows."
"...You aren't the one pulling their strings, are you?"
That was exactly why I hadn't wanted to contact her—the possibility that Luna was involved in this behind the scenes. She was the type to create enemies on purpose just because she thought it would be "interesting."
...Well, honestly, I wanted to believe that a woman who spent her days at home binge-watching recorded dramas wouldn't go out of her way to create more work for herself, but I still wanted to clear that suspicion up.
"As if. I wouldn't let small fry like this escape just for some trivial game. If I wanted to, I'd just squash them all at once. Honestly, when their ability is this low, they aren't that easy to find. There are gods in this world like dirt, and some are even disguised. Do you really think I'd go out of my way to hunt for them?"
Well, that was true. If she could wipe out nuisances that easily, I wouldn't be caught up in this mess to begin with. Then again, for Luna, this world was basically at the level of, "If Yuki can handle it, then it's fine, right?"
Still, she said something else that caught my attention.
"Hey, what do you mean by 'there are gods in this world like dirt'?"
"Hmm? Did you actually think there were only a handful of gods in this world that you could count on your fingers? In Japan, there are eight million of them, you know? You're quite naive, aren't you?"
"No, that’s just a concept. It’s a metaphor for 'there are many.' Aren't gods here supposed to be unable to sustain themselves without faith or magic power? You said most of them vanished because of that, didn't you? So why do people claiming to be gods keep popping up everywhere I go? Is this some kind of 'God-is-not-here' scam?"
What was this, some kind of "Going Out of Business" scam? Like a store that puts up a "Closing Sale" sign but stays open forever?
"Well, most of them probably did vanish, or lost their magic and turned back into humans. But you have people like Hifie there, Noble of the Ex Kingdom, or Hairen and Aquenoki—beings who lived on as spirits made of pure magic. Since they were human to begin with, it’s only natural that some of them would be quite tenacious."
"...That’s true, I suppose. But my job description shouldn't include 'God Extermination,' should it?"
"That depends. Actually, you haven't 'exterminated' the ones here, have you? But if they get in the way of the magic depletion phenomenon, then 'God Extermination' will definitely be on the menu. Didn't we talk about this before? That we’d have to deal with the people who opposed me and those who don't acknowledge you eventually?"
"Now that you mention it, we did have that conversation."
I really did take on a troublesome job. I had to investigate the magic depletion phenomenon, and on top of that, I had the idiotic condition that I had to handle the cooperation of various nations and negotiations with the "gods" (lol) using only my own power. Any normal person would have thrown this job away.
And now they wanted me to handle diplomacy to conduct the investigation? Are they stupid? Let the diplomats handle the diplomacy!
*Sigh.* It’s really too late for that now.
"By the way, what are you planning to ask this goddess? About the enemy's background?"
"Yeah, that was the plan. I thought I'd change my approach this time."
"Change your approach?"
"Yeah. Just because she's part of the Intermediate God faction doesn't mean she caused a global panic like Aquenoki did. She just went a little wild in the middle of the battlefield."
"Yuki. Do you really call that 'going a little wild'? Lilishe-sama, what do you think?"
"Um... I wonder, don't you?"
"No, Lilishe. You should clearly and firmly deny that. Because of this goddess, many soldiers who stood up to protect their country have fallen."