A few more months had passed somehow.
Encia’s books continued to steadily sell, and Encia’s fame grew even louder. There was even a movement among some mages to nominate Encia as an elder of Procyon.
“Why isn’t it working?”
Encia still hadn’t become a god. No, she hadn’t even noticed the seed of divinity that had seeped into her soul yet.
Even though the faith gathering around Encia had already surpassed what most minor gods possessed, Encia remained human.
“Ugh… What’s the problem…? Tia, do you know what’s wrong?”
I hesitated for a moment on how to phrase this. Should I tell her that transcending her human body would make her a god? Or that ending her life as a human could instantly turn her into one?
That’s not what she wants. Humans are destined to die eventually, but I hope Encia will fully enjoy her life before putting a period at its end.
I don’t wish for her to kill herself just to become a god.
「There are some clues, but nothing is certain yet, so I’ll hold my words for now.」
“What clues?! Tell me!”
「Let me wait until I’m sure. If there’s one thing certain, the faith gathered around Encia is already enough to become a god.」
Enough faith to become a god. All the prayers towards the God of Magic from mages were flowing directly to Encia.
If those prayers didn’t have a clear destination, a completely new God of Magic might have been born by now.
But Encia hasn’t noticed this faith or divinity within her.
As if she wasn’t allowed to perceive it.
“Ugh… If Tia says so, there must be a solid reason.”
Encia sighed softly after saying that. But honestly, if I told her everything, she’d probably abandon her life as a human right away.
I want her to savor her life as much as possible.
“Since I’ve gathered enough faith to become a god… why can’t I ascend? Is something still lacking?”
「Well, umm…」
“Nah, this won’t do! I can’t stand it anymore! Anything worth knowing must be pursued! That’s the spirit of inquiry you taught me, Tia!”
「Yes, I did teach her that mindset, but now isn’t the time to unleash such curiosity…」
“No! While you were gone, I thought a lot about this! There’s no guarantee you’ll always be here! Even without you, I need to figure this out myself! If I sit back and do nothing, nothing will ever happen!”
「It’s a good attitude, but right now…」
“Alright! Time for research! I’ll obtain all knowledge about faith, divinity, humans, and gods!! Tia, will you help me?!”
「Ah, well… sure…」
I reluctantly responded to Encia’s dramatic declaration.
She’s such a troublesome child, really…
—
First things first: what is faith? What is divinity? What is a god? We need to start by exploring these unknowns. In that regard, I suppose I’m lucky—there’s a god among gods right beside me.
「Just so you know, I can’t teach you everything.」
“Why?! Are you betraying me, Tia?!”
「It’s not betrayal! There’s knowledge too overwhelming for a human to handle! Such knowledge cannot be shared!」
“But knowledge should be spread widely, shouldn’t it?!”
「There’s also knowledge that shouldn’t be revealed!!!」
“You’re being unfair!!!”
Unfair, yes—but there truly is knowledge that shouldn’t be revealed!
Like the foolish beings hiding deep underground, or the original forms of spirits scattered across the world, or how all life evolved from slimes! And many other things!
Revealing them alone could cause tremendous shock!
—
“Hmm. If Tia insists so strongly, there must be a valid reason. Instead, teach me what you think is safe to share. Got it?”
「Yeah, sure… probably…」
Probably safe, right?
So Encia began her investigation with my help, delving into gods, divinity, faith, and believers.
Research on various deities. Research on the histories of countless gods. Investigations into divine rosters. Studies of the gods worshipped by different races. Even explorations of various legends.
After countless investigations…
“What exactly… is a god…?”
Encia sat in her chair blankly, like someone who had burned everything bright white.
「Exactly.」
“No, Tia yourself is a god! What is it?! Incredible! Anyway, incredible!!!”
「Your vocabulary is shot, Sia.」
“Ahhh! Whatever! The more I investigate and research, the less I understand! What is a god?! How do they gather faith from believers?! Does it happen naturally?! Do they lack tangible bodies?! Do they only exist as souls?! What is going on?!”
「I have a proper body, you know?」
“Tia is an exception! It’s clear now that the Goddess of Life, Tia, stands above other gods! Including Tia in the same category pollutes the data beyond repair!”
「Is that so…」
She looked slightly deflated.
“I think I understand that divinity is the attribute a god holds. Surely, I must possess the divinity of the God of Magic.”
Correct. The divinity inside Encia was the divinity of the God of Magic, Siencia.
“So then, does the belief of believers turn into faith that naturally flows toward their deity? Exactly what process does it go through? What kind of gods are born from accumulated faith? Do you need divinity to gather faith, or does faith gather first to create divinity? Which comes first?!”
「It’s like trying to figure out whether the chicken or the egg came first.」
Strictly speaking, when fear and reverence converge, many people’s beliefs form, giving birth to divinity. So faith gathers first, but…
One difference is that while faith gathers around a target, that target may not necessarily gain divinity but inspires reverence.
Ah, except for me and the children.
“Of course, it’s natural for divinity to attract faith, and I’ve confirmed through Tia that I possess the divinity of the God of Magic. But why can’t I feel it? I don’t get it! I really don’t understand!”
Despite having more divinity than lower gods, Encia couldn’t sense it.
Is it because she’s alive, possessing life? Because she has a tangible body? Is it because gods change according to belief, but Encia, who cannot change due to belief, cannot become a god?
Can living beings not perceive divinity?
But if divinity resides within Encia like this… isn’t that strange?
In the midst of these thoughts, a memory buried deep in my mind resurfaced.
Wasn’t there someone who gained divinity while alive?
You could call them a sage-god…
Ah! Maybel! Maybel once became a god while alive! She held the power of a deity while alive by gathering the faith of rat beastmen! I completely forgot about this!
Maybel, the guardian deity of rat beastmen, who led countless rat beastmen and founded Rattkinia, later became a guardian deity in the Divine Hall after death—but she was definitely a living entity with divinity, akin to a sage-god!
Of course, Encia and Maybel differ in many ways—the process of gaining divinity was different too.
Encia collected prayers through her books, unknowingly accumulating faith from people praying. Meanwhile, Maybel directly gathered faith from countless rat beastmen for herself.
Encia invoked the fictional entity, Siencia, the God of Magic, to gather faith. Maybel simply directed faith toward herself.
They were similar yet different cases.
「Strictly speaking, the issue might be that the divinity gathered around Sia is technically aimed at ‘Siencia,’ the God of Magic, rather than a clear target. Also, the fact that people praying don’t know where their prayers are going could be problematic.」
“But, however! Siencia is a name we created by mixing mine and Tia’s names! Is the name the problem?!”
「Maybe it’s because there’s no definite target. And the fact that people praying don’t know where their prayers are headed could also be an issue.」
Back then, faith was clearly directed toward Maybel. Those are probably the key differences.
“Hmm… Then, what should I do? Should I legally change my name to Siencia?”
「Well, I doubt that would solve it.」
Names carry power and can affirm one’s existence, but I don’t think that alone will resolve this.
