“No can do.”
Asherat spat out words as cold as an icy blade.
Not that I was asking her to make Encia a god or anything—just inquiring about her thoughts on the matter. But for her to be this cold!
“Isn’t it the Goddess of Life Herself who placed restrictions so new gods wouldn’t easily appear and so gods wouldn’t directly descend to the land?”
“And now you want to make someone a god just because they tweaked magic a little? That’s breaking the very rules set by the Goddess Herself!”
Asherat crushed my argument with cold, logical precision.
“And wasn’t there quite the controversy when many beastmen were made into guardian deities for the Divine Hall? I heard that even back then—it was before I had proper personality—but other gods were furious! Things quieted down only after the number of gods was reduced.”
“Huh… Was it really like that?”
“Yes! Though I doubt such stories would’ve been told in front of the Goddess of Life herself! The situation was apparently quite heated among the other gods! It only settled down after measures were taken.”
“Was it really…?”
“If that’s the case, maybe this time we could make an exception….”
“Something impossible remains impossible.”
Asherat cut me off with icy finality. But wait—I said I’d grant Encia’s wish…
“No matter how much the Goddess of Life handed out Wish Tickets, creating gods like this isn’t allowed. And what even is this ‘Wish Ticket’ nonsense anyway? Does handing one out mean any wish gets granted without question?”
“That… well…”
“Anyway, I oppose this. And if we asked the other gods, their opinions would likely be the same.”
“Ugh…”
“Not only that—if she wants to become a god, she’ll have to gain divinity herself. Until then, focus on being the Goddess of Life.”
Thus, my attempt to grant Encia’s wish hit a dead end from the start.
If even Asherat, my close subordinate and split soul, opposes this… there’s no way the other gods would agree.
The resource called human faith grows proportionally to the population but has a fixed total quantity. Adding more gods means each gets a smaller slice of the pie.
Other gods would surely side with Asherat here.
Ugh… What should I do?
Honestly, I could disregard all the other gods’ opinions and push through anyway, but I don’t want things escalating to the point where they force me onto the vacant throne of the King of Gods. That’d just lead to a mountain of troublesome work.
No thanks! Absolutely not!!
So, finding another method would be better.
For instance… Encia gaining divinity herself?
Unlike the Age of Gods when gods popped up left and right, obtaining divinity now isn’t easy.
With higher thresholds in place, ordinary levels of faith aren’t enough to ascend.
Spreading rumors or exaggerating won’t cut it anymore either.
Hmm… What to do?
First, I should talk to Encia. Maybe she has some good ideas.
—
“Hmm… As expected, huh?”
“So you suspected this already?”
“More or less. Even if Tia is the Goddess of Life, turning someone like me—a mere human—into a god isn’t exactly simple, right?”
Back in the day, making gods was far easier—even twelve at once!
“But still, if Encia can just obtain divinity, becoming a god should be possible, right?”
“Right. If she can obtain divinity…”
Truthfully, divinity is an enigmatic concept. It’s the mysterious force where countless prayers gather, elevating one’s existence to a higher plane.
How willpower exactly factors into this process remains unclear, but alas, we must use it regardless.
“What exactly are the conditions for obtaining divinity?”
“Faith acquisition leads to ascension. In the past, spreading manipulated rumors worked since news didn’t travel far. But now…”
“Nowadays, information spreads quickly. Fake rumors about nonexistent gods get debunked fast. It’s inconvenient.”
“Still, receiving prayers should suffice, right?”
“Typically, yes. When many pray to a deity, their faith flows toward them.”
That gathered faith sustains gods’ existence, powers their miracles, serves as material for greater divinity, and acts as currency among gods. It’s like HP, MP, and experience points rolled into one commodity.
Obtaining faith isn’t easy though…
Except for me.
“Honestly, if I gave Sia some of my own faith, she could become a god, but then she’d be completely subservient to me… which would be troubling for her.”
“Why would being subordinate to Tia be troubling?”
“Well… imagine her as a sentient puppet.”
“A slave?”
“Exactly. A slave. She’d be unable to defy my intentions, forced to act against her will, bound by an invisible collar.”
My closest examples might be Asherat and Hades. Though they’re given some independence, they remain extensions of me. Should I reclaim my faith, they’d dissolve back into me instantly. They exist solely because I allow it.
Like sentient puppets, you could say.
Remember when I turned several beastmen into gods? Sharing my faith caused complications until I separated their divinity and restructured everything carefully. It was tedious.
“Still, being subordinate to Tia doesn’t sound too bad.”
“What?”
“But Tia’s different from other gods. The Goddess of Life wouldn’t mistreat a subordinate deity, right?”
True. I’ve always respected Asherat and Hades’ individuality.
And while I let Quetzalcoatl do as he pleases, as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, it works.
But they stem from me, parts of myself, fragments of my essence. Encia is fundamentally separate. Comparing her to them wouldn’t be fair.
“Regardless, being bound to someone isn’t ideal. She might be forced against her will.”
“Tia wouldn’t ask her to do something like that, would she?”
“She might not now, but people change.”
Encia pondered deeply. Yes, hearts do shift.
So no collars.
“Then there’s nothing we can do. We need a new approach.”
“An approach?”
“Yep. A new approach.”
Encia smiled faintly.
“The key is receiving many prayers, right?”
“Yes.”
“So if we find a way to make many people pray to me, wouldn’t that count as acquiring faith?”
“That… is technically true.”
“Means don’t matter as long as we get the prayers! Right?”
“I won’t deny that… but how?”
Changing hearts is no easy task. Why is Encia so confident?
“Here… let’s use the power of books!”
“The power of books?”
In Encia’s hands lay her own creation: Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia.
What does she plan to do with that?
