Tower of Wisdom
Satou here. Just like you’d always imagine a king living in a castle, I picture a mage living in a tower, although I can’t remember exactly which piece of media put that idea in my head. A tower seems like it’d be impractical to live in, doesn’t it?
“Finally… We finally reached land…”
“Land hooo! I see the shooore!”
The moment we made landfall at the City-State of Kalisork, the wood-carving brothers couldn’t contain their joy.
There was an enormous spire at the center of the city that must have been the “Tower of Wisdom,” surrounded by several other five- or six-story towers and buildings. This city-state appeared to excel in architecture and engineering as well as the magic and academia for which it was best known. There were a lot of unusual ships and rafts in the harbor, too.
“Revived.”
“Whew, it stank to high heaven in there…”
“I didn’t know normal ships rocked back and forth so much.”
Mia, Arisa, and Lulu all gulped down deep breaths of fresh air.
I kept an eye on them as I used the Search Entire Map spell to collect information about the City-State of Kalisork. At a glance, the place was at least free of Unique Skill holders, demons, demon lord worshippers, and other such potential troublemakers.
“Ha-ha-ha, the inlet sea isn’t so bad. I hear it’s many times choppier on the open ocean.”
One of the wood-carvers smiled brightly at us and went to greet the Karion Central Temple priest who’d come to collect us. We followed to do the same.
“Welcome to Kalisork! Karion Central Temple will provide lodgings for everyone who’s presenting an entry at the main festival. While spouses and families will be sharing rooms, we must ask that you do not engage in any sins of the flesh whilst staying under the roof of the Holy Goddess Karion, please.”
Did you really have to look at me while you said that?
“Master! Look up! There’s magic carpets and pots flying up there!”
Arisa jumped up and down with excitement as she pointed at the sky.
I did think about making “magic carpets” when we were playing pretend Arabian Nights, but I never expected to see the real thing. I was curious how they worked exactly.
“Are there any witches flying on brooms by chance?”
“Not that I know of, miss. However, I believe there is at least one individual who rides a wooden Pegasus.”
Arisa looked disappointed at the priest’s response.
“…The vice city Sibe was destroyed?”
Suddenly, my “Keen Hearing” skill picked up an alarming conversation.
If I remembered right, the “vice city” Sibe was known as a den of pirates and criminals where stolen goods and contraband were bought and sold.
“Apparently they pissed off the red dragon and it burned the whole city to ash, even the pirates in the harbor.”
“Serves them right. I bet some greedy Sibe thieves snuck into the red dragon’s lair in search of treasure.”
I thought about the dragons I’d met, like the black dragon Hei Long and the sky dragon.
Yeah, I could see them destroying a whole city easily enough.
“They woke the red dragon during its dormant season? Yeah, no wonder the city got destroyed.”
“Let’s just hope it stays their problem and not ours.”
They were certainly talking like it was some distant disaster.
I guess they weren’t too worried about the awoken red dragon going on to wreak havoc on an unrelated city.
“Is something the matter?”
“No, not at all.”
I didn’t really care if a bunch of villains reaped what they sowed.
However, I do want to say a prayer for any innocent people who got mixed up in the fire.
“Well then, let us proceed to the temple.”
We boarded the carriage and headed to the central temple.
The other wood-carvers all rode in the cargo carriages instead, stubbornly insisting that they wanted to travel with their pieces.
The harbor was full of dockworkers and fishermen and such, but once we left that area, there was a drastic uptick in the number of robed scholars and mages walking around.
While the total with magic skills was still less than 30 percent of the population, that was still far more than any other kingdom I’d seen.
“The temple has come into view.”
“Is that it right in front of the big tower?”
“Yes, since Goddess Karion is said to rule over ‘wisdom,’ the Tower Master kindly permitted us to build our temple directly in front of the Tower of Wisdom.”
That giant tower must be the Tower of Wisdom, then.
The priest also explained that the “Tower Master” was a role similar to a king in other nations, while people called “elders” were in a similar position to the nobles of other lands.
“Ice?”
“Yes, Mia. It is a mystical ice temple, I declare.”
Technically, the building was made not of ice but crystal, reinforced with Earth Magic and alchemy.
The holy seal of Karion on the front wall was the only part that used vermillion crystals, resulting in a rather stylish effect.
“Sparklyyy?”
“See-through, sir!”
“It’s amazing that they made a building out of ice.”
“Well, some people have traveled the galaxy in a spaceship made of ice. It makes perfect sense that there would be a temple made of ice, too.”
Arisa casually referred to a certain legend of a galactic hero who founded a democratic nation.
While I knew she was joking, the other kids seemed like they were taking her story seriously. I informed them that it was actually made of crystal.
“It looks even more mystical in the winter, when snow piles up on top,” the priest informed us.
Now that would be cool to see. I resolved to visit again in the winter sometime.
“There’s an awful lot of people in robes here, not just priests.”
Arisa nodded toward the believers walking along the temple paths, many of whom appeared to be scholars or mages.
“I imagine many of them are here to visit the library within the temple.”
“There’s a library in the temple? Is it open to the public, then?”
“No, I’m afraid it’s not open to just anyone, as there are many valuable theological and historical texts stored in the temple library.”
Authorized personnel only, huh? I didn’t care about the theological stuff, but I was a little curious about the historical texts.
We walked through a narrow passageway and entered a spacious cathedral.
“There’s something floating, sir!”
“Book?”
“It is surrounded by vermillion light, I observe.”
Indeed, there was a golden book floating above the altar, surrounded by a red barrier. As I watched, the geometric patterns forming the barrier shifted and changed, likely to make it more difficult to analyze the spell.
According to my AR display, the book inside was called the “Book of Wisdom” Karisefel.
The binding was inlaid with a red gem I didn’t recognize called a “wise spring stone,” and the cover was decorated with orichalcum instead of gold leaf.
As we walked toward the altar to take a closer look at the floating book, someone called out to the priest who was escorting us.
“Do we have visitors, Priest Temuto?”
It was a priestess with fox-like eyes. I suspected she would look great in a schoolteacher’s outfit.
“Yes, these are some of the artisans who created statues to submit to the festival.”
“I see. May the blessings of Goddess Karion be upon thee, artisans.”
The priestess uttered a quick blessing and left.
“That was Head Priestess Maiyah. She is an ‘Oracle Priestess’ who can hear the voice of the goddess most clearly than anyone in Karion Central Temple.”
As I listened to the priest’s explanation, I gazed at the Book of Wisdom and the mythology depicted on the wall behind it.
It was a similar story to the picture book about the gods that I once read to Pochi. Partway through, it shifted to focus on the history of the Flue Empire, and then to the foundation of the City-State of Kalisork.
“Piiink?”
“I would say it’s more vermillion than pink, don’t you agree?”
Tama and Liza were looking at statues carved from reddish rock salt, placed in the middle of the depiction. Evidently it looked pink to Tama.
In addition to people, there were also figurines of beasts and monsters.
“There’s something written on the pedestal.”
“It says, ‘On the transition from living creature to immortal being, and repudiation of its irreversibility.’ Sounds like the title of a thesis paper. ‘Each of the red salt statues are inscribed with the topics and fields of research of the scholars who donated them.’”
Intrigued, I looked at each of them in turn. Several of them sounded fascinating, including “Changes and differences from primitive magic to modern sorcery,” “Did levels and skills not exist when the world was first created?” and “On the relationship between modern sorcery and the Evil God.”
However, they couldn’t include the entire theses on the limited space of the pedestals, only a tiny taste of each subject.
“Are the rest of these written down somewhere?”
“It’s all collected in the temple library. I believe they are kept in the great library of the Tower of Wisdom as well, but the only other copies likely to exist would be in the personal collections of whomever wrote them.”
When I asked, the priest said that only bishops or higher had the authority to grant permission to enter the temple library.
After giving a rather generous donation to the temple, the priest led us to our lodgings. We were given a spacious, well-furnished room, which could have been thanks to that donation.
Since there were still two days until the festival, maybe we could do some sightseeing and try to visit the Tower of Wisdom?
“It looks even bigger from directly below, huh?”
“Berry biiig!”
“Hawk-eye-doe, sir!”
Pochi definitely didn’t know what Hokkaido was. Arisa must have taught it to her as a catchphrase.
“It’s not as big as the Sky Tree, of course, but it looks taller than Tokyo Tower, wouldn’t you say?”
“It’s actually a little shorter than that. But taller than the Eiffel Tower, I think?”
I told Arisa the information from my AR display.
While its height was in that range, the Tower of Wisdom was wider than a radio tower, making it look even larger.
At the very least, I’d never seen a building of this size outside of the architectural structures of the elves.
The area around the tower was set up like a park, where anyone could walk around or take a break.
“There are a lot of people in robes around.”
“Yes, they all look like they’re having very intense discussions.”
I saw some people arguing heatedly, and a few older folks lecturing students while drawing figures and formulas on the ground.
“Here. Wrong.”
“By Jove, she’s right! There’s an error in this magic circle!”
“Remarkable, young lady. We’ve been mulling over this problem for three months, and you solved it in a matter of seconds!”
I turned around at the sound of shouting only to see that Mia had poked her head into a group of students drawing magic circles on the ground.
“Which private school do you attend?”
“Why, she might even be a graduate.”
“Wrong.”
“Mia is neither a graduate of nor a student at a private school, I append.”
Nana spoke up behind Mia, then picked her up by the armpits and carried her away.
“Rude.”
“You mustn’t wander off alone, I declare.”
Mia formed an X in front of her face to protest being treated like a child; Nana was unmoved.
We headed for the entrance to the tower, ignoring the conversation behind us: “Is she an exchange student?” “What if she’s a visiting professor at the tower…?” “I would take her class.”
“Master, there’s gatekeepers.”
About fifty yards away from the tower, there was a moat, walls, and a heavy gate; on either side of the gate stood heavily armed guards, both elite warriors with levels in the 30s.
“Hello there!”
“Hello, little missy from a foreign land. Sir, do you have business in the Tower of Wisdom?”
The guard’s first statement was a response to Arisa, while the second half was addressed to me.
“We’d like to peruse the books in the great library. Is there some special permission required?”
My main goal was to investigate whether there were any leads on how to turn the chimera people from the Kuvork Kingdom back to normal, although I also wanted to climb the tower and enjoy the view.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. Only those with permission from the elders or students from prominent schools are permitted inside. Besides, this tower is our equivalent to a royal castle. I can’t let anyone in without permission.”
A royal castle, huh? In that case…
“Well then, please pass this along to your superior, if you wouldn’t mind. It’s a letter of introduction from His Excellency the prime minister of the Shiga Kingdom.”
“Shiga Kingdom? Seems too elaborate to be a prank. All right, I’ll make sure this gets into the right hands.”
Despite his dubious expression, it looked like the guard was going to pass it along properly.
I told him that we were staying at the Karion Central Temple, and we left the area.
“How’d you get that letter of introduction, Master?”
“When I was appointed Vice-Minister of Tourism, they gave me official letters to all the major nations we might visit.”
It didn’t cover every nation, of course. The only ones I had for the western part of the continent were addressed to nations that had central temples or diplomatic relations with Shiga Kingdom. I didn’t even have a letter to Lodolork Kingdom, where we stayed before this.
“I love how many bookstores there are here.”
As we toured the city, we found that there were a lot more bookstores and libraries than in most other cities.
“Lots of picture books, sir.”
“Oui, oooui?”
Pochi and Tama delicately cradled their newly purchased picture books.
“You really loaded up this time.”
Normally they narrowed their selections down to one or two each. This time around, they’d bought five or six.
“Arisa said that reading aloud is good for a feeties, sir.”
“Um… I see…?”
I’m not sure if that theory about unborn fetuses applies to eggs. Then again, some people play music for their plants, so I couldn’t argue against it. Besides, it never hurts to have more picture books.
“Mrr, spellbooks.”
Mia puffed up her cheeks grumpily.
“If we meet someone important from the tower, we’ll see if we can get permission.”
We’d quickly learned that you needed special permission to buy spellbooks in this kingdom.
“Master, I have returned, I report.”
“It appears that even ordinary civilians are allowed to climb that tower, Master.”
“Thanks, Liza and Nana.”
I’d sent the pair ahead to investigate.
Since I remembered that there were several other towers in the city, it had occurred to me that we might be able to see the sights from one of those for now.
We paid the entry fee at the tower and climbed up.
Since Pochi kept stumbling on the steps, I held her hand for most of the way. Maybe I should have told her to at least take the egg belt off when going up stairs.
There were a lot of sightseers, even though it was relatively expensive to get in. The people of the city must be fond of heights, too.
“That’s a great view, all right!”
“Aw yeeeah?”
Since the railing was high up, Arisa and Tama climbed up to hang off it and enjoy the view.
Pochi started to jump up after them, only to get worried about her egg and change her mind.
“Come here, Pochi.”
“Thank you, Liza, sir.”
Liza lifted Pochi up so that she could see the view. What a great older sister figure.
“Beat uuup?”
“Pochi knows about this, sir! It’s from a battle, sir!”
“Was there really a battle here, too…?”
“Don’t worry, it was more than half a year ago now.”
A scholar in a robe reassured the anxious Lulu.
“Kalisork City has many mages and golems, as well as the great Tower Master. Even if the savages to the north come after our harbor, we can chase them off easily. We’re perfectly protected.”
“Precisely! Why, those barbarians’ artillery cannot even singe our outer walls. The worst they can do is burn the fields and orchards outside the city.”
“That is a matter of life-and-death for those who live outside our walls, you fool! Do not speak so lightly of it!”
“I-I’m sorry, Professor!”
The scholar scolded the student for taking such a casual tone.
“Generally, the Spring Masters, the witches, and mages of the smaller towers will drive the savages off, but this time the attackers wove around their territory and invaded all the way here. Even savages can learn their lesson, it seems.”
The scholar explained that powerful witches and mages would build towers over small springs, like “spirit pools” or “monster pools,” and defend against outside invaders.
Maybe they were like the old witch of the Forest of Illusions that bordered Kuhanou County in Shiga Kingdom?
I thanked the scholar for sharing such interesting information.
After we enjoyed the view for a while, we descended from the tower to check out some other sightseeing spots.
“Candy.”
“Yummyyyy?”
We all snacked on some malt candy we’d bought from a candy seller.
Here in Kalisork, there were a lot of vendors selling this sort of thing out of buckets or boxes.
“There are a lot of sweets in this kingdom, aren’t there?”
“Yes, Lulu. The galette we ate earlier was delicious, too, I report.”
“Maybe using your brain really does make you crave sugar?”
“Could be. When I worked as a programmer, I was always loading up on sugary snacks like chocolate and candy.”
Arisa and I nodded sagely.
Of course, we’d have to be careful, since too much sugar could spell doom for your physique.
…Hmm? What’s that smell?
“What’s up, Master?”
“Sniff, sniff… smells like cob-fee, sir.”
“You got it.”
There was a place that looked like a coffee shop nearby. I decided to check it out.
Although it was a little different from the coffee shops in Japan, it was definitely still a place where you could get light snacks and enjoy a hot drink.
They appeared to offer food as well, so we went in for lunch, too.
There were many varieties of coffee on the menu. Mocha, Bullman, Kilimanjaro… all were famous coffee-producing areas in the Saga Empire.
“I’ll take a cup of Merica, please, and whatever meal you recommend.”
I decided to order the blend I didn’t recognize.
The girls seemed to think that coffee was too bitter; they all ordered blue green tea or herbal tea along with lunch sets.
“We’ll take a round of the squirreltail yams with honey for the table, too. And a ‘squishee,’ please—I’m curious.”
Arisa boldly requested a mystery dessert from the menu.
“All right, here are your squirreltail yams with honey. The squishee will take a little longer.”
The waitress left a large tray at our table and left.
“They look like candied sweet potatoes.”
Since they were cut into cubes, we all sampled them.
“It’s sort of like a sweet potato, just a little on the dry side,” Arisa remarked.
“I think the sweetness comes from the honey on top. The yam itself isn’t sweet on its own.”
A true chef to her core, Lulu analyzed the taste of the yams.
The “squishee” arrived a little while after the rest of the food and drinks.
“Is it agar-agar, maybe? Ooh, it really is squishy and soft. It’s chewier than warabimochi.”
Since Arisa seemed to enjoy the squishee, I tried one as well.
Huh. Reminds me of tapioca.
I asked the waitress about it, and she explained that the squishee was made from the starch of the squirreltail yam.
She showed me a raw squirreltail yam at my request. It looked nothing like the cassava plant, but I might be able to make tapioca pearls with them. I’d have to buy up lots of squirreltail yams before we left Kalisork City, just in case.
“Maybe there’ll be a bubble tea boom in this world, too,” Arisa joked.
That did sound like fun.
If it was possible to grow squirreltail yams in Shiga Kingdom, the Echigoya Company cafes might have a hot new menu item on their hands.
“Wow. There’s even more dolls here than in Lodolork Kingdom.”
Having returned to the Karion Central Temple, we took a peek at the hall where the statues and sculptures had been brought in. There were over a hundred of them in total. In addition to wood carvings, many of them were made of stone or plaster. Some even seemed to have mechanical functions like living dolls.
We’d brought back snacks for the craftsman brothers who came with us, but it didn’t seem like the right time for a handoff, since they were both inspecting the submissions from other kingdoms with intently serious expressions.
“Master and Tama’s sculptures are perfectly on par with the other submissions.”
“Of course they are, Arisa. Look, some of the artisans are even dancing in front of Tama’s statue.”
I followed Liza’s gaze to see several craftsmen and priests swaying as they gazed at Tama’s artwork.
If I didn’t know any better, the scene would make me think that there was some kind of magical effect on the statue.
“Such magnificent modeling.”
“Yes, sir. It looks as if it might spring to life.”
A foreign craftsman and his apprentice were looking at my statue.
I felt a little bashful hearing such earnest praise of my work.
The next day, on a recommendation from the temple, we went out to a shopping district with clothing shops, alchemists, and so on.
“It’s strange to see alchemist shops between the clothing places.”
“Apothecary.”
“Some of the shops sell raw materials for formulation, too.”
We snacked on some candy sticks we purchased from street vendors while we went window shopping.
“Mew?”
Tama’s ears perked up, and she peered around the area.
“What’s the matter?”
Just as I asked Tama this, I heard angry shouting in the distance.
“What? You say you don’t have any money?!”
“Aye. No matter how many times thou may ask, the answer shall be the same. Thou shalt refrain from asking pointless questions.”
A muscular candy seller was arguing with a pretty young girl around Lulu’s age.
“Was she trying to dine and dash?”
“Arisa, have we seen that girl somewhere before?” Lulu asked.
“Now that you mention it, I do feel like I recognize her a little. Maybe it’s just because she looks like you from behind, except with white hair?”
I had to agree with Lulu and Arisa. The girl looked oddly familiar.
“Doll?”
“Yes, Mia. She has perfect features like a doll, I concur.”
“No.” Mia shook her head. “Satou’s.”
“My…doll?”
I tilted my head and gazed at the girl for a moment. Then I realized what Mia was trying to say.
She looked exactly like the wooden statue I created.
Curious about the girl’s identity, I looked closer until more information appeared next to her in my AR display.
“Guh!”
I almost choked when I saw.
Because all it said was…
UNKNOWN.
All of the girl’s information was displayed as UNKNOWN. I couldn’t “Analyze” her.
I’d only seen this phenomenon twice before: once with the mysterious little girl who appeared during my battle against the Dogheaded Demon Lord, and once with the Evil God’s Spawn.
Come to think of it, when Doghead called the girl “Parion,” she didn’t actually confirm or deny it. Her voice and overall vibe were very different from the one I heard in Parion Province, which made me think the little girl might not have been Parion at all.
“Don’t you back talk me! If you ain’t gonna pay, I’ll knock you out and turn you in to the authorities, dammit!”
The candy seller flew into a rage. I hurried over at near instant teleportation speeds, stepping between them and catching the man’s fist.
Otherwise, he might have gotten turned into a frog or trapped in a painting or something for attacking such a mysterious being.
“Outta my way!”
“I’m so sorry for the trouble that my young friend here may have caused you. Here’s the payment, as well as an extra tip. Please find it in your heart to forgive her.”
The candy seller accepted the silver coin I offered him and stormed off in a huff, looking frustrated that he didn’t get to express his pent-up anger.
“Thou shouldst not have interfered. Insolence shalt be punished.”
“No, there was no need for punishment. He was only angry because you took candy without paying for it.”
“I didst grant him compensation. A word of gratitude from my lips is worth a thousand gold coins.”
From the look on her face, the girl was dead serious.
“My name is Satou. Could I ask for your name, young lady?”
The girl stared at me for a moment, then nodded once and revealed her identity.
“Karion.”
If she was telling the truth, then this young girl was really a goddess.
“Isn’t that the goddess’s name?” Arisa pointed out.
“Aye. I am a goddess, hallowed be my name. Thou shalt show me reverence.”
As she said those words, everyone present except for me immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.
I checked my log but didn’t see any signs that she had used Psychic Magic or anything of the sort.
“What art thee?”
You could at least say “who.”
“Why dost thou not bow thy head? Thou shalt explain at once.”
“I’m not sure how to answer that. Maybe because I’m not part of your religion?”
That applied to all of my companions, too, but I genuinely didn’t know the reason, so I just responded with the help of my “Fabrication” skill.
“Intriguing. I shall grant thee the honor of accompanying me.”
“Uhh, okay then…”
I was so caught off guard that my instinctive response was decidedly impolite.
“Thou shalt show more gratitude.”
Well, for now…
“Could you let my friends raise their heads, please?”
That would be a good place to start.
“Is there anywhere in particular that you’d like to go?”
“Thou shalt choose. Do not disappoint me.”
I decided to show Karion around alone rather than risk anything happening to my companions. As much as Arisa protested, she relented when I pointed out that it was too dangerous that the goddess could evidently force them to obey her every whim.
By now, they had probably left Kalisork City and changed into their gold armor to wait on standby.
Since I was worried I’d stand out walking around with Goddess Karion, I put on the sort of robe a priest might wear and pulled the hood down over my face.
“What brings you to the mortal realm, Goddess Karion?”
“An excellent vessel was offered up to me.”
Ah, so she was sightseeing in the human world out of curiosity just because she acquired a vessel? Whoever gave her that was a real pain in the neck—no, wait a minute. Come to think of it, she did look just like the statue I made.
“Could it be that the ‘vessel’ you’re referring to is the statue carved from the World Tree that’s in the central temple?”
“Aye. It fits most splendidly.”
Dammit. So I was the culprit all along.
“Whosoever offered up that statue shalt be granted divine protection.”
I don’t need any, thanks.
“Thou shalt find the person who offered the statue at once.”
“All right. We can ask when we go back to the temple.”
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“How strange.”
Karion stopped walking and looked up at me.
“What is?”
“Thou dost not obey a goddess. I cannot see thy thoughts. Most fascinating indeed. I shall uncover thy secrets yet.”
Having someone boss me around with a blank expression was getting a little old.
Unfortunately, the fact that I didn’t immediately obey her order had apparently piqued her interest in me.
Wait, does that mean she can read people’s thoughts except for mine?
“You don’t want to go to the tower?”
“No need. I have already seen it. Thou shalt guide me elsewhere.”
I tried changing the subject only to find out that she’d already hit the major sightseeing spot.
“You must have caused quite a commotion at the tower, hmm?”
“Nay.”
“Wait, really?”
“Aye. For I did not desire a commotion.”
“And since you didn’t want it, it didn’t happen?”
“Aye. Humans shalt comply with my desires.”
Wow. I guess being a god has its perks.
“So why haven’t you come to the mortal realm before? Because you didn’t have a vessel?”
“Nay.”
“Why, then?”
“The cost. A shrine maiden wouldst break, and it consumes too much of my divine power. Thou shalt refrain from needless waste.”
Now that she mentioned it, I heard once that Holy Magic has a spell that can bring a god down into the user’s own body.
“Is it really that costly?”
Karion stopped and stared at me again.
“Thou hast many questions. Thou shalt refrain from excessive prying.”
I didn’t want to make her mad, so I stopped asking questions and focused on showing her around.
“If possible, I would appreciate it if you’d call me ‘Satou’ instead of just ‘thou.’”
“What is that?”
Karion ignored my request and pointed at something in the distance.
“A windmill. Looks like it’s being used to grind flour.”
“And that?”
“A cafeteria. It’s a place where people eat. Doesn’t look like it’s open at the moment.”
“I see. And over there?”
The goddess kept peppering me with questions, as if everything she saw was brand-new to her.
“How’s it going so far, Master?”
“She seems to be having a good time seeing the sights.”
“Aye. The information content in the mortal realm is negligible. Their speed of thought is far too slow. However, it is strangely fun to experience such an inefficient world.”
As I was reporting back to Arisa, Karion casually joined in on the private telepathic conversation.
“G-glad to hear it. It’s never a bad thing to have fun.”
“Aye. The pleasures of a physical body are mysterious. Most fascinating indeed.”
I guess gods don’t have physical bodies in the divine realm.
“Want to go find something tasty to eat, then?”
“Aye. I am intrigued by the concept of ‘taste.’ Thou shalt introduce me to the finest delicacies.”
“How about that, then?”
I spotted a street vendor walking down the road and headed over.
“What is that?”
“She’s selling hard candy.”
“I shall eat it.”
The goddess started strolling toward her. I quickly got there first and paid for the candy, handing it to Karion.
“’Tis sweet. Much harder than the chewy malt candy. And that?”
“Those are galettes. There are two kinds, sweet ones and savory cheese-filled ones.”
“I shall eat both.”
Karion shoved her half-eaten hard candy into my hand and headed to the galette cart.
After one or two bites of each galette, she handed both of those to me, too.
Evidently she wanted to do a lot of taste testing.
“And what is that?”
“A street performance.”
Karion spotted a performer with a golem in one corner of a plaza and ran over to watch.
He was using a small knee-height golem in a similar way to a trained monkey.
“Mister, the flip! Do the flip!”
“Maybe once we get a few more donations.”
“C’mooon, I wanna see the fliiip…”
The kids who were already gathered watching the show were badgering the man for a flip.
“Donation.”
Evidently intrigued, Karion tugged on my sleeve and demanded that I make a donation. Her eyes were glued to the cartoonishly dancing golem.
“Will this do?”
“Oho, a silver coin! You’re a big spender, eh, young man!”
The performer stood up enthusiastically, gave me a bow of thanks, commanded the golem—then did a midair flip himself.
C’mon, YER the one who does the flip?! I almost blurted out in a fake Osakan dialect.
Karion looked as delighted as the children.
“The golem doesn’t do a flip?”
“Nah, it’s too heavy for that.”
“What if you made a golem out of lighter material, like wood or paper?”
“Wood might work, but ya can’t make a golem outta paper.”
“Nay. A paper golem is possible. Thou shalt not confuse thy inexperience and limitations with the realm of possibility.”
With that, Karion held out her hand to me.
I had a guess what she wanted, so I reached into Storage via my Garage Bag and produced a thick piece of paper, handing it over.
“Thusly.”
Karion’s eyes glowed red orange.
Red orange…?
The vermilion light flooded over the paper and caused it to fold on its own into a humanoid shape that then began to move like a golem.
Red orange must be Goddess Karion’s personal color.
Since Holy Swords and Goddess Parion’s holy light were blue, I just assumed that goddesses gave off blue light by default. In this case, maybe holy light came in colors like green and yellow, too.
“Thou shalt flip.”
On Karion’s order, the golem did a flip.
“Whoa! That’s soooo cool, lady!”
“You’re a golem-making genius!”
Karion puffed up her chest, looking pleased by the children’s praise.
Even when the kids got excited and started hanging off her, she didn’t raise a hand or use her mysterious powers to stop them.
“I shall grant thee this boon. Thou shalt continue to pray and live devoutly.”
Karion turned the golem back into a flat sheet of paper, then made a script appear on it that formed a spell, which she handed to the golem trainer.
I snapped a quick picture of it using magic; it appeared to be a spell for making paper golems.
I guess Karion wasn’t the goddess of wisdom for nothing.
After that, we continued trawling through the city, visiting food stalls and watching more street performers and minstrels.
We happened to pass by the Joppentelle workshop, which I heard about in Parion Province. I paid a quick visit, but Mr. Joppentelle himself wasn’t there at the moment.
“Why dost this transform? Human thought processes are fascinating. Thou shalt explain the design.”
“I’m sorry. If the master were here, he could explain it…”
“Understood. Thou art not accountable. How dost this umbrella transform?”
“Well, you see…”
Goddess Karion got excited about Joppentelle’s transforming devices and pestered his wife, who was tending the store, and kindly humored her.
In the meantime, I contacted Arisa and gave her a progress report. Thus far, Karion seemed harmless other than her ability to force people to obey her words, and from what I could tell, she didn’t use that ability out of any ill will.
While I had no idea why I alone was immune to her ability, equipping accessories that were resistant to Psychic Magic did make my head feel a little lighter. Maybe it would be safest to equip my companions with similar items.
“Shall we head back soon?”
I called over Karion, who seemed to have had her fill playing with all of the products in the Joppentelle workshop.
Of course, it would be rude to the proprietress to just test them all out and leave. I bought up anything that caught my interest or seemed like a good souvenir, and requested to have them delivered to our lodgings.
“I shall not return to the divine realm yet. Transmitting and receiving the experiences of a spirit avatar costs a great deal of divine power.”
Apparently this Karion was a spirit avatar—like a copy, not the real thing.
“I only meant to go back to the temple, not the divine realm. The sun will set soon, and the city streets aren’t as safe after dark.”
“Safe? There are few who couldst harm a god, aside from perhaps a dragon or demon lord. Thou shalt explain these threats.”
So dragons and demon lords can harm gods? Huh.
“Well, there will be more drunkards around, which means it’s more likely that someone might displease you.”
“Understood. I shall not seek out any such displeasure. Thy suggestion is acceptable. Thou shalt take me to the temple.”
Since Karion so generously agreed, I led her back to Karion Central Temple.
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