Thus, Encia discarded her former self as a human and transferred all of her legacy to her disciple Cecil.
Many fortunes, countless books, the fame and great deeds of being a mage—even a considerable amount of magical power.
Leaving only the minimal amount of magic necessary for herself, she had transferred all her remaining magical power to her disciple.
And so, Encia shed her human form and ascended to become the Goddess of Magic, Sientia.
Well, technically speaking, since she hasn’t yet entered the Divine Hall, it’s not entirely accurate to say she has fully ascended… but let’s move on.
“Hmm… I’ve now even swapped out my brain and heart. I can no longer be called human.”
“But… even if I’ve changed my whole body, if I still consider myself human… am I not still human?”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right. What defines me is myself.”
“But now that you’ve ascended to godhood, isn’t it kind of wrong to keep thinking of yourself as human?”
“Well, then let’s just say I’m a deity who was once human. I don’t really put much meaning in having been human anyway.”
Ahem. For some reason, Sia’s calm words are sticking with me, but let’s ignore that for now…
“So… have we said all our goodbyes?”
“Yeah. I visited the graves of my parents, informed the elders of Procyon that I’m embarking on a journey from which I won’t return, and told them they could rely on my disciple for my duties. Handover complete.”
“Good. Then…”
“Are you ready to ascend to the Divine Hall?”
Sia hastily turned her head at the voice from behind.
“Tia…?”
“Yeah.”
I gave a small smile from behind Sia, and Sia smiled back in response.
“I didn’t think I’d get to see you in person for the first time like this.”
“It’s the first time. Until now, I’ve just been sending my voice into your mind.”
When Sia ascends as a goddess to the Divine Hall, someone needs to guide her. It’s an awkward task to ask other gods to do.
So I appeared before her directly.
“You look younger than I imagined. I thought you’d appear more mature.”
“Mature?”
“But you’re the Goddess of Life and Mother Earth. Having such a youthful appearance seems kinda off, doesn’t it?”
A youthful appearance, huh? Well, unless I transform each time and slightly change, I haven’t altered the fact that I look like a young girl.
Anyway, are you ready to ascend to the Divine Hall?
“Yeah. Mentally prepared.”
I extended my hand toward Sia, and she slowly placed hers on mine, gripping it cautiously—as if unwilling to let go.
“Alright, then. Let’s depart. To where the gods belong.”
The sky opened, and a rainbow descended—a bridge connecting heaven and earth.
We stepped onto the bridge, pulling Sia gently up the rainbow until we began ascending into the heavens.
And thus, Sia became Sientia, ascending to the Divine Hall.
—
“So, what’s this ‘Sientia’ about?”
“Hmm? What about it?”
“The title attached to the basic theory of magic—what does ‘Sientia’ mean?”
The bespectacled girl asked, prompting the sleepy-eyed girl to pause briefly before replying.
“Didn’t I mention there’s a prayer directed toward the God of Magic?”
“Yeah, you did.”
“The name of that God of Magic is Sientia. Also, incidentally, the God of Knowledge.”
“God of Knowledge?”
“The name Sientia carries the meaning of knowledge. Hence, the God of Knowledge and Magic.”
At this, the bespectacled girl looked slightly surprised.
“Isn’t that a pretty important god?”
“Important, sure, but the person herself isn’t too interested in spreading faith. She even asked to have her name removed from the Divine List.”
“The Divine List? You mean, the roster of gods?”
“Yeah, that.”
Hearing this, the bespectacled girl was slightly shocked.
“Could you even remove your name from that list?”
“If you ask, they’ll remove it. Just… there’s no real need to.”
“No need?”
“Of course! Gods are always trying to increase their followers among humans. Why would they willingly remove themselves from such a list unless they’re weirdos like Sientia?”
“That… is definitely true.”
“The Divine List is kind of like an advertising magazine for gods. Hardly any oddballs want their names removed.”
The sleepy-eyed girl’s explanation caused the bespectacled girl to nod slightly.
Considering how temple priests work tirelessly to gain believers…
“Maybe it’s possible because they have steady followers?”
“Steady followers?”
“Magicians. There aren’t many magicians who wouldn’t pray to the God of Magic. And scholars pursuing knowledge also likely pray to Sientia.”
“Ah, so it’s like guaranteed income.”
Not exactly a classy summary, but it wasn’t wrong either.
“Then, since I’m starting to use magic, should I pray to the God of Magic?”
“If you do, I’ll leave the academy.”
“Why? What relation do you have with the God of Magic?”
“It’s a secret. Let’s just say I have reasons. Why do you think I keep my distance from other magicians?”
The bespectacled girl didn’t understand why the sleepy-eyed girl acted this way, but since it wasn’t the first time, she simply shrugged it off.
—
“This is the Divine Hall…”
Staring at the world above the clouds, Sia couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
The sight of the Divine Hall, where many gods live, at first glance resembles a human city.
That is, except for the fact that it’s a city built upon white clouds and populated by gods rather than humans.
“Then… shall I arrange a temple for you to reside in?”
“A temple? That sounds troublesome. Can’t I just stay with Tia?”
“With me? Hmm… Since Sia is now one of the gods, it might be better to have your own temple.”
“A temple. Maybe I’ll need one eventually, but for now, I’d rather not deal with that. Please, let me stay with Tia.”
Hmm… There are plenty of empty rooms, so it’s not an issue…
Well, lending a room isn’t a big deal. Fine, it’s okay.
“Alright. My temple has several vacant rooms. I’ll lend you one.”
“Thank you, Tia.”
With that, I returned to my temple with Sia.
“Not allowed.”
A stern-faced Asherat blocked our way.
“There are plenty of empty rooms, aren’t there? One room shouldn’t matter…”
“Do you think it’s fine for random gods to wander freely in your temple?! This is the Supreme God’s temple! We need to maintain proper dignity—not something easily accessible! You already gave a room to Cloud Whale… I mean Sandalphon, and various angels come and go. Now you want to give a room to a human-turned-god?! Does that make sense?!”
“But…”
“But nothing!! Maintain your dignity! As Supreme God, your dignity!”
Grrr… The opposition is fierce. In situations like this…
“Temporary divine form LD… free trial…”
“Stop trying to trick me! You weren’t even planning to create a divine form! You just went into hibernation because you were sleepy!”
Sigh. I exhaled softly. Asherat’s rejection is too strong to argue against.
In that case…
“Can’t we let this child stay temporarily until their temple is built? They’ve given up everything to become a god, and currently have nothing.”
An appeal to Asherat’s conscience. But her harsh expression remained unyielding.
“Please, Asherat.”
“Hmph… Truly. Too compassionate for your own good. Fine, I’ll allow this god to stay in the Supreme God’s temple until their own is built.”
Asherat reluctantly agreed. Great! Persuaded!
“Sia…? Is that deity… one of Tia’s fragments?”
“Yeah, though practically, I’ve entrusted most of the duties of the Goddess of Life to Asherat.”
To be honest, if Asherat weren’t here, I’d have to handle the Goddess of Life duties myself.
I don’t want that. Listening to all those human prayers is boring.
In that sense… Asherat is like a super subordinate.
“I don’t quite understand.”
“You’ll find relationships like this sometimes.”
It’s a little disappointing, though.
