By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter 2

Chapter 10, Episode 2: Status Report

After such a rushed departure, I realized that I hadn’t given Glen a way to contact me. Still, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he showed up one day and said that he found me by following his gut feelings.

So I decided not to worry about it anymore, and came to the church at the town nearest the Sea of Trees. I gave a donation like I normally did and offered a prayer in the chapel.

“How’s it going?” Kufo greeted me in the divine realm.

“Hello... Oh?” I realized there were only five gods today: Kufo, Gain, Lulutia, Fernobelia, and Meltrize.

“Everyone else is off working,” Lulutia supplied. “Like checking for other demon lord fragments, and other boring stuff we have to do to maintain the world.”

“Today, we want to talk about your reward and to treat your curse because it’s been a while since we last saw you,” Kufo said. “But take a seat. You’ve just come out of the Sea of Trees.”

It was hard to grasp the enormous scale of it, but I was sure the day-to-day work of managing the entire world was quite arduous...even if the usual coffee table and set of tea that materialized before me conveyed anything but urgency.

“Thanks. I made it out okay, as you can see. I thought I’d report to you about your request,” I said.

“No need for that,” Gain chimed in. “We were watching you closely until you made it out of the thick of it. In short, you completed our request without a hitch. Isn’t that right, Meltrize?”

“The souls of the dead were released. If that monster—Korumi—won’t use that power again, you don’t need to kill him.”

“Good!” I said. That’s what I’d thought the gods would say, but it was a relief to hear it from their lips.

“Don’t worry. He is another life that we the gods look after. Even though I am the goddess of death and sleep, my job is not to bring death to the living. It is to watch over the dying, protect them during their peaceful sleep after death, and prepare them for their next life. Death need not come when it is not needed. We needn’t worry unless he decides to use his power to bind souls again. If that happens, I will send you to end him.”

“Understood. I’ll make sure it won’t come to that,” I said.

Meltrize nodded, her blank expression tinted with almost imperceptible approval. “He can use any other powers as he pleases.”

“Even Necromancy? I feel like magic that deals with the Undead interferes with their souls somehow,” I said.

“It is generally forbidden, but not entirely,” Meltrize said.

That sounded like a riddle to me, so I turned to the others.

Fernobelia explained, “To oversimplify in the interest of time, a soul is composed of more than one part. Depending on how you conceptualize what a soul is, there are different ways to divide it into its components. For now, imagine that a soul has two parts: the outer layer and its core. We only forbid interfering with the core of a soul. The kind of magic known as Necromancy only interferes with the outer layer, which is permissible—that is what Meltrize means.”

That explanation made sense, except I wondered how well-defined that line between the outer layer and the core of a soul was. Korumi hadn’t realized he was using his power to bind souls...

“That monster is a rare exception,” Fernobelia added. “Interfering with a soul’s core is no easy feat. That’s why Necromancers often attempt it, considering it some ultimate achievement of their craft. For the most part, it’s impossible to interfere with the core unintentionally.”

“The most common form of Necromancy is to turn a corpse into an Undead monster,” Lulutia said. “When a creature dies, most of their soul—especially the precious core—immediately returns here. Humans may find it disturbing or violating to have their corpse reanimated, but we see it as permissible because it has nothing to do with the soul’s core.”

“Souls are delicate by nature. It has an outer layer to protect the core that mustn’t be damaged. When the outer layer is damaged, it can heal to a certain degree and even make the soul stronger, like muscles being trained,” Kufo added.

The comparison of soul to muscle made sense, but it also seemed very similar to slimes.

“Then you have a good enough grasp,” Gain said. “Just to be clear, we don’t condone treating the living inhumanely in the name of researching Necromancy.” Even though he’d said it as a casual warning, something about his tone caught my attention. Maybe because it pertained to the human soul, but I felt like they were telling me not to try that kind of magic, despite them saying they had no problem with surface-level Necromancy.

“Are you sure you don’t have a problem with Necromancy?” I asked.

“Sometimes you read us like a book, Ryoma... It’s true that Necromancy itself isn’t the problem. We were just thinking about a Traveler who abused it in the past,” Kufo said.

“Which isn’t your fault, so you don’t need to limit yourself for our sake,” Meltrize said.

“Now you’re only making him curious,” Lulutia said.

“There’s not enough time to go into that—we need to treat his curse,” Gain countered.

“It could be a useful cautionary tale, but we’ll have to save it for another day. Right now, Ryoma is due his reward. Here.” Fernobelia handed me something as if to try and clear the awkward air—a leatherbound book with gold lettering that exuded craftsmanship, care, and a long history all at once. Its cover read “Book of Creation.” It reminded me of Tekun’s gift to me. Was this another divine relic?

“Precisely. This is a divine relic of my creation, with the same function as any chapel in the mortal realm,” Fernobelia said.

“So if I pray to the book, I can come here from anywhere?” I asked.

“Yes. As treatment of your curse progresses, it will be more difficult for you to go into crowded places—like churches. With this, you can come to the divine realm for your treatments without having to risk going into a crowd,” said Fernobelia.

“That would be great!” It really would. I hadn’t been worried about exposing myself to crowds yet, and now I would never have to dodge them and sneak into chapels to have my curse treated.

“On top of removing your cursed energy, you still plan to work with us, don’t you, Ryoma?” Gain asked. “Then it’s also in our best interest to make it quicker and easier for us to speak.”

“Then just give him an item for contacting us instead of a book. Like the one they had on Earth. A small, rectangular board.” Meltrize muttered as if searching her memory. With a flick of her hand, a pager materialized, looking a little too big in her child-sized hand.

“That’s a blast from the past,” I said.

Meltrize looked at me. “It’s old?”

“Pretty old, by human standards. Even by the time I died, a device that evolved from this—called a smartphone—was mainstream. Kids today probably don’t know what that is,” I said.

“Meltrize doesn’t show much interest in Earth, and she sleeps for long periods at a time. I think her intel is outdated,” Kufo said.

“It takes a lot for her to wake up,” Lulutia said.

“Everyone uses these nowadays,” Gain said, materializing a smartphone even I wasn’t familiar with. It had to be a newer model that came out after my death. Why did Gain casually have a smartphone anyway? What’s more, his thumbs flew over the screen as fast as a teenager’s as he demonstrated the device to Meltrize.

“He doesn’t just know what it looks like... He really knows how to use it,” I commented.

“He crosses over pretty frequently, so he must have picked it up while he was there. Back to the divine relic, I shaped it like a book as a disguise. The Book of Creation is the sacred text of Creationism. If anyone sees you with it, they would only think you a practicing believer. Humans—those with power, particularly—have a tendency to want anything that is rare. Something that looks like technology from Earth like a beeper or smartphone would draw too much attention. That’s why the binding doesn’t look too expensive either,” Fernobelia explained.

“Thank you for being so thoughtful,” I said. Drawing attention to myself was daunting enough when I wasn’t carrying around a divine relic.

“Something to keep in mind—this book is not an unlimited hotline to us. In order to use the same feature as the church, it expends fifty thousand units of magical energy. The book itself has the capability to store magical energy, so whenever you have excess magic, you should store it. You can take out and use the magical energy for any purpose—not just to speak to us. The book can never be marred or damaged either,” Fernobelia added.

So it was a portable church and magic crystal—a magical energy power bank—all in one! “Thank you... You’ve thought of everything.”

“Your reward needs to match your work,” Fernobelia said again. “Considering how this whole thing was my responsibility to begin with, I tried to reflect that in the features I added to the relic. And...let’s see. You did collect your grandparents’ inheritance, didn’t you?”

“Yes. That’s all I’ve done with it so far.”

“I recommend going through what your grandmother left you—especially her books. At least keep all the titles in mind. They should contain some knowledge that will aid you in the future. The Sage—Meria—had remarkable knowledge.”

“Got it,” I said. If it came at the recommendation of Fernobelia—the god of magic and academics—the information I’d find could be priceless. I’d go through the books sooner rather than later.

“Done talking?” Meltrize asked, returning from Gain’s crash course on how to use a smartphone.

“Yes. Fernobelia gave me a wonderful reward,” I said.

“Good. Then we’ll start treating the curse.”

“Sorry you haven’t gotten a chance to relax since making it out of the Sea of Trees, but we want to take care of it while you still have plenty of time up here,” Kufo said.

“No problem. I’ll use this book to come talk to you all soon,” I said. The gods might have thought that I was cursed because of their slipup in the past, but I considered it an accident if anything. I was just grateful that they were treating it for me. I told Kufo as much and laid down on the table they set out—the gods handled the rest. Soon, my mind faded away, and I felt my body grow lighter and lighter... Is this what a general anesthetic feels like? 

***

I woke up suddenly with the sensation of falling.

“Oh, you’re up,” Kufo said.

“How do you feel?” Lulutia asked.

It took me a moment to remember where I was. “Mm... Fine. My head’s a little foggy. I feel like I overslept.”

“It was a long journey in and out of the Sea of Trees,” Kufo said. “Even with all of your conveniences, you must have been exhausted. You were asleep for a while, so it’s almost time to go.”

“Got it... Thanks for the treatment. I’ll use the book that Fernobelia gave me to come back in a week,” I said.

“No need to make an appointment,” Gain said. “We are available most of the time. Why don’t you go see the people who are waiting for you? Come back once you’ve settled down.”

Meltrize took a step forwards. “One last piece of advice. You should study magic—hexes, specifically.”

“What?”

“You were trying to build a base in the Sea of Trees to grant Korumi’s wish. That is one way to go about it, but there are other means. With magic, you can make it so Korumi can interact with people in cities outside of the forest,” Meltrize explained.

It took me a heartbeat for the facts she gave me out of the blue to sink in. “Really?!” That was important information too.

“You already have all the knowledge you need,” Fernobelia answered. “If you craft a spell that meets your goal, you can have him interact with humans. His powers would weaken, but that, too, is up to you and your spellcrafting.”

Just then, my surroundings began to shimmer. “Perfect timing,” I grumbled.

“It is. Think it over,” Fernobelia said, like a teacher assigning homework.

“If you can grant Korumi’s wish in any capacity, the less likely it is that he will meddle with the souls of the dead again,” Meltrize added in her businesslike manner.

“Fernobelia, Meltrize...” Kufo chastised lightly.

“They’re both saying it for your sake, believe it or not,” Lulutia said.

“Take your time and have patience,” Gain added.

My body was soon wrapped in light...leaving me with only the voices of the gods and the thought of one more thing to study.