Chapter 193
A temple dyed entirely in pure white. There, the Goddess Luan sat with a teacup in front of her.
Franz sat opposite her. Since it was a place he had already visited several times, his actions were incredibly natural.
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Yes, please.”
Franz rarely accepted the Goddess’s offer, but he did so this time.
It was because today, unlike usual, there was something he wanted to hear.
Clatter-.
As the Goddess gestured lightly, a steaming teacup appeared on the table.
Creating something from nothing, it was truly something only a Creator could do.
Even though the result was just a single teacup, it was clear that she possessed the same power as the Demon God.
Franz immediately picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea.
“It has an excellent taste.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Then I would like to hear the reason you called me here.”
Franz said as he set the teacup down without making a sound.
He could somewhat guess what she was going to say. She would definitely talk about what happened with the Demon God.
As one of the two Creators, she must have been watching everything unfold.
“There are several reasons I called you, but first, I wanted to thank you. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for the world. If it weren’t for you, the world would have surely walked the path of ruin.”
“It’s not really something worthy of thanks. As you said, if the Demon God had been left alone, the world would have been ruined, and then I would have died too. In short, it couldn’t be helped.”
He had merely made an unavoidable choice in order to survive.
If there had been someone capable of subjugating the Demon God in his stead, he would have hidden somewhere and protected himself.
He didn’t have any particularly noble mindset, so it was awkward to receive thanks.
“Even so, the meaning of your actions does not fade.”
“…Let’s move on to the next topic.”
If they talked about this any longer, he felt like he would get goosebumps all over his body.
Praise was something he couldn’t get used to, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Then next, I want to apologize to you.”
“I don’t know what you are apologizing for.”
“Dealing with the Demon God is my role as a fellow Creator, but you ended up shouldering all of it.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. It would be better for a fellow Creator to fight rather than facing the Demon God with a mortal body.
Afterward, Franz was able to hear a slightly more detailed story from the Goddess.
“I thought Humans would be fully capable of doing it. Their potential sometimes far exceeds my thoughts as a Creator. But that was a mistake. In the end, I ended up forcing a sacrifice.”
Luan believed in the potential of Humans and bestowed five armaments upon them, telling them to oppose the Demon God. And she devoted her remaining power to restoring the world destroyed by the Demon God.
In the end, the Five Heroes succeeded in defeating the Demon God at the cost of their lives, but it remained a regret for her.
“Actually, the reason I asked you to gather the items was to recover my power. I could somehow tell that a threat was approaching.”
Franz, who had been listening to the story, suddenly felt something strange.
Since the damn holograms told him to gather the sealed armaments, he naturally thought it aligned with the Goddess’s will. But looking at it now, wasn’t it a separate matter?
What would have happened if he had brought the armaments to the Goddess?
Since he wouldn’t have followed the holograms' will, would the world have walked the path of ruin?
Since he had already defeated the Demon God according to the holograms' will, it was a rather meaningless assumption. However, his nature as a Mage, unable to hold back when seeing the unknown, couldn’t stay still.
Even so, it wasn’t like he could do anything right away, so he had no choice but to listen to the Goddess’s story.
“But a slight problem arose in that part. You merged those five tools into one. I don’t know how on earth you did it, though.”
Franz didn’t know how that happened either.
If he had to guess, he could only say that the power of the World Tree Staff and the power Luan possessed caused some kind of reaction.
“I apologize for that.”
Whatever his personal reasons were, he had used Luan’s items as he pleased, and since her plans were greatly derailed because of it, it was right to apologize.
“That’s fine. It was resolved safely, too.”
“Then are you saying there is another problem?”
“That’s… it turned out that way, sadly…”
A deep worry cast over the Goddess’s face. It hadn’t been this bad even when the World Tree visited, so the problem seemed bigger than expected.
And that was the correct answer.
“The power of the staff you carried around has entirely seeped into you.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean…”
“You’ve come to harbor my divine power in your body, so I should say you’re in a state of being a half-god.”
Countless question marks appeared in Franz’s mind.
It was so sudden that his brain stopped thinking.
“I know it’s bewildering. I’ve been continuously looking for a way, too. But your body is so strange that it’s not easy.”
“My body is strange, what does that mean?”
“You’re an outlander, aren’t you? A person from Another World. So my power doesn’t reach you well.”
The Goddess spoke as if it were obvious, but Franz was incredibly confused.
It was because he thought the Goddess naturally wouldn’t know.
It made sense, as even though his mind came from elsewhere, wasn’t his body that of this world’s Franz Gilbert?
From what part did she find out exactly…
'[Let’s stop thinking about it.]'
Franz cleanly emptied his mind.
With sudden events piling up not just once but multiple times, his head wasn’t doing its job properly.
It wasn’t particularly urgent, so he could think about it later.
Anyway.
“Does me being a half-god mean I can use a god’s power too?”
“W-well? This is a first for me too, so…”
He could just try it out himself right now.
Franz casually gestured in the air.
Then, a long, torn-shaped rift appeared in the air.
“Uh…? I-it seems like it really works…? But where does it lead…”
“U-uwaaah?!”
Before the Goddess could even finish her sentence, a scream was heard from beyond the rift, and someone soon rolled out and fell to the floor.
“W-what is going on?!”
That someone turned their head this way and that, looking around, and their green hair swayed softly accordingly.
“It’s been a while. I brought you here because I wanted to see you for a moment.”
“I wondered what it was… You really startled me.”
The World Tree reacted nonchalantly and got up, but soon realized something was strange and tilted her head.
“Why do you have that power…? Wait, then the one who called me here was also…”
“Well, it just happened somehow. And it is true that I was the one who called you, World Tree.”
The World Tree’s jaw dropped as she shifted her gaze to the Goddess.
Then the Goddess stealthily avoided her gaze as if she had committed a sin.
“I think I roughly know what happened. Since it wasn’t your intention, how could I say anything.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“More importantly, you went through a lot dealing with Tiamat. Thanks to you, my children and the spirits were able to stay safe. I shall express my gratitude on their behalf.”
“…Those are undeserved words.”
“I’ve become indebted to you twice now, so I don’t know how I can repay you. Ah, taking this opportunity, why don’t you receive my power as well and become a complete god…”
Just as the World Tree was about to say something absurd.
Naturally, the Goddess wasn’t one to just sit back and watch that.
“How much karma are you trying to give to someone who is already suffering enough?!”
“Did you really think I meant that sincerely…! It was obviously a joke…!”
“Anyway, no. He’s the person who will become my child’s husband, so I can’t make things hard for him. I also plan to get my divine power back somehow.”
“Ehh?! How is he your child’s husband? He’s my child’s husband.”
The World Tree and the Goddess began to bicker pettily. He definitely remembered hearing similar conversations several times, so they were consistent in many ways.
Could this work too?
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, the mouths of the Goddess and the World Tree immediately shut.
But that was only for a moment. No matter how much Franz had become a half-god, there was no way he could be a match for the two of them.
Still, since he managed to calm them down, it could be said there was some payoff.
“Then I will head back first.”
Franz said so and created a rift in the air.
Normally, he would have needed Luan’s help to return, but now there was no need for that.
Just as Franz was about to enter the rift.
“Franz, when you return, won’t you look after my child? She probably has something she wants to say to you.”
The World Tree said with a face full of worry.
It seemed something had happened to Hera…
“[I can just ask her when I get back.]”
Franz thought so and took a step forward.