58. Questions for the Goddess Part 3 (Magic)

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A/N: This is the last FAQ Chapter.

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58. Questions for the Goddess Part 3 (Magic)

What’s left were the questions related to myths.

“Bad guys being unable to see fairies… what’s the reason for that?”

“That’s simple. If there are too many Curses comprising one’s status, they become unable to recognise fairies, beings that are created from pure Gifts.
This is directly correlated to Gifts and Curses slightly shifting the register of existence of their owners.”

“Regarding Gifts and Curses—ignoring the fact that I’m on the benevolent gods’ side, and that Goleth and Gazaine were on the Evil God’s side—how are Elemia, Miguel, and all the others in <Yatagarasu> who were brainwashed, treated?
And the villains who’ve repented, or the good people who’ve been involved in evil deeds… I’m also curious about what happens to them.”

“The samsara system extends throughout the world… let’s see, it’s fine to think of it as something akin to a plumbing system.
It’s fundamentally something that exists to distribute Gifts, but the Evil God’s side has abused it, using it to circulate Curses.

“However, it’s not as if it can differentiate between good and evil in regards to the recipients and distribution of Gifts.
The thing is, Gifts have an opposing nature towards Curses, so Gifts simply can’t reach those who’ve stockpiled too many Curses.
In other words, as long as the Evil God hasn’t conferred any Curses upon them, even bad people can receive the benefit of Gifts.
That said, Gifts also have the function of purifying the mind and body of the receiver, so if one takes in many Gifts, it’ll be hard to remain evil indefinitely.
That’s why the Evil God will certainly want to send Curses to those who he intends to use as chess pieces.

“Furthermore, if the reformed villains are from the Evil God’s side, then they’ll be absconding with their Curses, so there’s the possibility that they’ll be subjected to the ‘collection’ of a Curse.
If such a thing happens in the future, have them properly shelter themselves in a safe location.
Also, regarding good people who’ve gotten involved with evil deeds, since it’s possible that they will be lured away by the Evil God’s side and be conferred their first Curse, don’t forget that there are also people who haven’t yet fallen to the Evil God, even though they’ve carried out evil deeds.”

“What about in <Yatagarasu>’s case?”

“In <Yatagarasu>’s case, they were influenced by brainwashing, so they’re special.
As a method of making them conspire with evil while at the same time being recipients of Gifts, I can only say it was very well done.
It’s a method of converting good people into villains while still remaining good people, so to speak.”

“Hm? Then this situation of good people being brainwashed in <Yatagarasu> and defeating monsters, wouldn’t that result in collecting the monsters’ Curses and being given Gifts through you?
Isn’t this unfavourable to the Evil God?”

“Well… I’m not the Evil God, so it’s not like I understand everyone of the other’s thoughts.
Firstly, the executives of <Yatagarasu> probably didn’t think that far.
I would think they only thought to strengthen the combat power in hand by hunting monsters.
For the Evil God, it’s true that his Curses get collected and become Gifts, but the ones who acquire those Gifts are those who have been brainwashed to become his own followers, so perhaps it doesn’t change substantially.
Rather, he might even think that he’s profiting because he can strengthen his pawns without granting the Curses he has in store.
Because there is a need to once again corrupt with the recovered Curses even with the ‘internecine struggle’ you spoke about.
But then, Monguenues’ thinking is extremely heterogeneous, so there are parts that only the person himself understands.”

“About Curses, can’t they be detected by magic or something?
It seems like it would be considerably easier if they could.”

“I believe Melby-san will intuitively notice apostles of the Evil God like Goleth and Gazaine.
You’ve found a good partner.”

“P-partner, you say…”

Melby writhed around with her hands on her cheeks.

“However, if the other party becomes so inclined to attempt to hide, it’s possible that even Melby-san won’t notice.
That’s right, since it’s a rare chance, let me give Melby-san an Addition.
Come here, Melby-san.”

“Y-y-y-yes!”

“Fufu. Calm Down.”

The goddess smiled as she said that, but there was a vague fragrance of the forbidden.
The goddess gently brought her lips closer to Melby as though loving a flower―

*Snap*

She was flicked by something invisible.

“Ah, ow ow…”

“A-are you alright?”

The moment the goddess was to kiss her, something like a wall of light suddenly appeared, obstructing in between the goddess and Melby.

The goddess said in indignation,

“Good grief! That child doesn’t change!”

“That child?”

“Attiera, the god of magic, views me as a rival.
Certainly, because I handle all of the skills as a whole, magic skills are also under my jurisdiction.
Attiera doesn’t like that and told me to ‘hand them over’, but it’s difficult to separate the magic skills alone.
Melby-san is a being created by Pioneer Elves who are apostles of Attiera, so to that child, she is like a grandchild.
Hmm… I wonder what I should do.
――That’s it.”

The goddess raises her head and looks at Melby.

“Melby-san, will you let me see your potted Rainbow Cactus plant?”

“O-okay.”

Melby retrieved the aforementioned mysterious organism from her dimensional storage.
It’s the cactus with flower blossoms.
I feel like it has grown a little bigger compared to how it was before.
In the short time I haven’t seen it, the colour of the flowers has changed to silver.

“Melby-san, have you tried using [Appraisal] on this?”

“Yes, the first time I used [Appraisal], it appeared to be fine to give it mana, so I gave it some of my mana every day.”

“Can you try using [Appraisal] one more time right now?”

“Yes… E, eehhhhh!?”

Ah, so she really hadn’t noticed.
Since I have a chance, I also use [Appraisal] once again.

《Tushaaravati
3 years old
Rainbow Cactus? (tree form) / Magic Organism

Level 1
HP 3/3
MP 291/291 (29↑)

Abilities
Anti-substance spray ★☆☆☆☆ (sprays sap that can be used to decompose harmful microscopic substances and microoganisims)

Skills
• Legendary
[Growth Control] ―
([Dimension Magic] 1)
([Aurora Magic] 1)》

Yup, still just like a mysterious organism.

On top of its maximum MP steadily increasing, it even acquired an ability without us knowing.
Abilities should be an “innate ability” but was it something that could increase?

“Rainbow Cacti have the peculiar trait of absorbing mana to produce flowers and bear fruit.
Nevertheless, they usually wouldn’t turn out like this.
At any rate, I’ll give this Tusha-chan the ability to detect Curses.”

The goddess tried to kiss the rainbow cactus, but a thorn pricked her lip.

“Ow.”

The goddess grumbled cutely, then she blew a kiss to Tushaaravati.
…If she could do that, then she should have done that from the start.

Melby’s mysterious pet absorbd that kiss, and let out 2, 3 pulses of rainbow-coloured light.

I immediately use [Appraisal].

《Tushaaravati (《Mysterious Organism》)
3 years old
Rainbow Cactus? (tree form) / Magic Organism

Level 1
HP 3/3
MP 291/291

Abilities
Anti-substance spray ★☆☆☆☆

Skills
• Mythological
＋[Detect Waves] 9 (MAX) (A Gift from a benevolent goddess, detects the unearthly wave motions emitted by the Evil God’s Curses. Effective range has a radius of 500 metres.)
• Legendary
[Growth Control] ―
([Dimension Magic] 1)
([Aurora Magic] 1)》

Ooh, it looks like quite a useful skill.

I mean, even the titles have increased.
I guess the goddess also thought of it as a mysterious organism.
The requirements for a title were “many people calling someone by a certain name in awe”, and “if the one designating the name has great influence on their surroundings, the influence on bestowing a title also increases”, right.
As I expected, it looks like the goddess’s one vote was heavy.
As for me, my influence in regards to bestowing titles upon others apparently became greater because of the effect of the 《God of Virtue’s Blessing (Kannumarne)》, so it might also be due to that.

“Can’t I possess it?”

“Humans are beings that fluctuate at the threshold between good and evil, so the observation results won’t be stable.
Even in your previous world, when you place an astronomical telescope on the surface, light from the surface is reflected by the atmosphere and the precision of observation worsens, right?
On that note, Melby-san is a being made with a Gift as a base, and Tusha-chan is――Well… An existence that is hard to put into words, yet has no components that would interfere with [Detect Waves].
….For now.”

The goddess said as she stared at the rainbow cactus.

“What? Why?”

“To begin with, Melby-san is peculiar among fairies.”

“Eh? Are you talking about… Me?”

“For fairies that have lived for a long time, their mentality changes and they become easily distracted, so as to decrease their mental burden.
They’re mischievous and capricious.
That’s why, normal fairies are unable to temper their skills, or spend tens of years on developing needed tools like Melby-san.
If someone with a long lifespan were to continue concentrating on something, they would fall mentally ill.”

“Eh… But I don’t really…”

“That is Melby-san’s peculiar trait.
When Melby-san was newly created and had yet to amass an ego, she encountered the shocking incident of her master, Alfecia-san, being sealed, correct?
This is just my guess, but I wonder if that had a significant effect on Melby-san’s mental formation.”

“Do you know anything about Melby’s master――Alfecia-san?”

“She was one of the seven central figures among the Pioneer Elves.
Back then, the gods teamed up to give those seven elves divine blessings.
There were plenty or resources because there was only a small number of people, and the apostles on the Evil God’s side were also powerful, so it could be said that that had been inevitable.”

“What about your apostles?”

“…They fought with the Evil God’s apostles and died.
For Alfecia-san to be the only one remaining alive would be, if I had to say, largely due to her role as the logistical support.
The one in charge of Alfecia-san was Attiera, so I don’t really know the details though.”

It’s something we’ll find out once the seal is released, so this much is enough.
…Melby seems like she really wants to ask more though.

“Gazaine said that the Evil God was originally a comrade of the gods, but is that true?”

“Hmm. Yes, and no.
About the origin of this world, and the relationship between the benevolent gods and the Evil God――do you want to know?”

“Yes please!”

A chance to hear about the creation myth of this world from a god directly doesn’t come too often, okay.

“Let’s see, firstly, us benevolent gods weren’t originally gods of Marquekt.”

“Eh…? Is that so?”

“That’s right.
You have also read history books so you may already know, but what do you know about Marquekt’s calandar?”

“The thing called Absolute History?
There was only the ‘absolute’ history, and nothing about events prior to that era was recorded no matter where I searched.”

That was what was written in the history books in the study at the Viscount Chrebl residence in Corbette Village.
Incidentally, the current year is AH 1294… No, the new year started while I was in the Nest, so it’s 1295.

“It’s not that they weren’t recorded, they just didn’t exist in the first place.
In the first year of Absolute History, us benevolent gods came to this world, and while confronting the Evil God, we started liberating the people who were the Evil God’s slaves little by little; that was precisely what happened that year.”

“So you’re saying that the Evil God was originally the god of this world?”

“The answer to that is, as I said earlier, both yes and no.
It depends on your definition of a god.
If someone who enslaves everybody and enjoys the discord of those souls can be called a ‘god’, then the answer is yes. If not, then no.”

“What happened to your former world?”

“Our former world was facing a crisis of destruction due to a stellar abnormality.
That’s why we decided to bring the survivors along and migrate to this world.”

“Stellar…”

I was surprised at the term that suddenly popped out, but when I think about it, it might not be a particularly strange thing.
Rather, another world without stars would be harder to imagine.

“If it’s a stellar crisis, then wouldn’t it be fine if you moved to another star system?”

“How could we do so?”

“How, you say… By using a spaceship or something?”

“Even in your former world, a spaceship that was possible of performing interstellar travel hasn’t been developed yet, right?
Rather than migrating to a star many light years away, it’s easier to migrate to another world.”

What the hell.
Mankind’s dream of advancing into space was shot down with this one line just now.

“By any chance, could the fact that no aliens have appeared on Earth also be…?”

“I don’t know whether or not there are aliens in that world, but I suppose that’s one of the most significant reasons.
To intelligent lifeforms that have mastered science and delved into the domain of magic and souls, what they should touch upon is not the intelligent lifeforms of a faraway star, but rather the intelligent lifeforms of another world whom they can have direct contact with.”

“No intelligent lifeforms from another world came to Earth either though… Ah, no, that’s incorrect.”

The goddess right in front of me was a being of such an ‘other world’.

“Although I called it migrating, it was just the people throughout the world reincarnating simultaneously.
What we brought to the other world were their souls alone, so the sophisticated civilisation achieved by mankind in their previous world ended up lost in one generation without a chance to be accessioned.”

Even in my previous life, there were webnovels where a reincarnated person makes use of the knowledge from their previous life in another world to become a peerless character, but there’s a limit to the amount of information that a human brain can hold.
Even if I was told to make a computer or automobile in this world from scratch, it would be impossible.

“But isn’t that the same for each world?
If fellow reincarnators were to exchange information together, then to a certain extent…”

“To the extent where it becomes a sophisticated civilisation, specialisation becomes extreme, and they would have to try to make existing technology a self-explanatory premise.
For example… That’s right, even an extraordinarily outstanding programmer won’t really know of things at a level where they can reproduce the manufacturing methods of hardware by themselves, right?
For argument’s sake, even if they did know, they wouldn’t have any of the equipment to make it, so it would be hard to reproduce it.
It might be possible to somehow make vacuum tubes and electrical transistors, but just how much time and effort do you think would be needed to reach the point of being able to make highly integrated electronic circuits?
Perhaps it is somehow possible to be able to reproduce up to a computer, but even so, what about after that?
If civilisation advances further, the likelihood of a reincarnator being able to reproduce the cutting-edge technology of their previous world before they exhaust their lifespan is exponentially minute.
Even simply inheriting knowledge is difficult.”

The goddess continued.

“The Marquekt that we arrived in had a much crueller environment than it is now.
Red-hot deserts and frozen tundra.
Infertile soil and polluted rivers.
An overflow of radioactive material that acted as an energy source for unique demonic beasts.
The atmosphere was thin, so strong cosmic rays would even rain down on the earth intermittently.
I wonder how people managed to survive.
In order to improve this environment, we split our power as gods on a grand scale and flooded the world with various spirits.
At the same time, we gave birth to the half-man, half-god Pioneer Elves and had them do a major cleaning of Marquekt.
In other words, the extermination of powerful demonic beasts, and expanding the range of humanoid existences.
Naturally, our plan infuriated Evil God Monguenues, and the Pioneer Elves and settlers lost their lives in successive conflicts.
However, we also succeeded in greatly shaving down the might of the Evil God’s side at the same time, and were able to release the original inhabitants of Marquekt from the collar of slavery.”

It’s a very, well, majestic tale.

“…Melby, did you know about this?”

“Uh uh… Because I was only with Master when I was small.”

I decided to swallow down the retort of “you’re still small though”.

To put it simply, the gods came from a different world and settled on this planet.
During that time, they used spirits to perform terraforming.
They released the humans who were slaves of the Evil God, but were unable to completely bring down the Evil God. Even after a thousand years has passed after their settlement, the contest of influence between them and the Evil God continues to this very day.

…In that case, just what kind of existence was considered a “god”?

I considered asking about that, but the nearby Melby’s body was appearing transparent.
No, my body was as well.

“――It looks like it’s almost time.”

The goddess says.

“About the matter with <Yatagarasu>, you were really a great help.
Your accomplishments always go beyond my expectations.
However, your body is still small so try not to overexert yourself.”

Me and Melby’s bodies were sucked up by the planet below.
I watched Melby panic and cry out “Wah, wah” as my consciousness receded――.

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