Thus, Sia came to reside in my temple.
“Never thought I’d get to see the gods I’ve only read about in books! It’s exhilarating!”
“Glad to see you’re full of energy.”
“Yeah! I think becoming a god was a great decision!”
She began fulfilling her thirst for exploration by meeting countless gods. To Sia, who was both a mage and a scholar, the Divine Hall was the perfect environment to satisfy her intellectual hunger.
And as Sia conversed with gods, they too found joy in discussing the arrival of a human-turned-god, finding it intriguing. A win-win situation indeed.
“Your name is Volcanus, right? The god of invention and blacksmithing! I heard you were once part of the Olympian faction!”
“Yes, that was long ago… Now… I have no ties to them anymore.”
“Is that so? But records clearly mention your name as Hephaestus…”
“T-That’s… my dark past… Please, forget about it…”
Is she really enjoying this?
Anyway, while some gods felt uneasy watching Sia enthusiastically dig into their dark histories and investigate the history of the gods, they refrained from showing it upon realizing I stood behind her. Besides, Sia hadn’t caused any major accidents while exploring everywhere, merely satisfying her curiosity.
So there shouldn’t be any big problems…
…Right?
—
The goddess of magic, Siendia. Sia blended seamlessly among the gods at the Divine Hall.
Other gods began accepting her as a human-originated deity who simply enjoyed listening to stories, delighting in compiling their knowledge into books. When her temple was completed, Sia remodeled its interior into an enormous library, filling it with her own writings.
While Asherat grumbled incessantly about how there wasn’t even a resting space due to the entire temple being converted into a library, and how Sia kept occupying one of my temple’s rooms…
Anyway, Sia had been preserving much divine knowledge and history within her temple.
But… isn’t creating libraries more suited for the god of knowledge rather than the goddess of magic?
When asked why she created the library:
“Library? It’s just a hobby, you know.”
“Hobby?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I expected to encounter diverse knowledge after ascending to the Divine Hall… but there was nothing!”
The gods didn’t bother creating libraries since most believed they could simply remember everything themselves.
Of course, this has led to some lost knowledge when certain deities were exiled from the Divine Hall.
“There aren’t any gods willing to endure the hassle of writing books. Since gods don’t die unless affected by external factors, they don’t feel the need to record their knowledge.”
“But that’s wrong! Knowledge must be preserved, maintained, and passed down! That’s why books exist – to share knowledge with others!”
Sia paused briefly before shouting:
“So! I turned my temple into a library! For preserving more knowledge! And sharing it!”
Though confidently declared…
“Are there any gods using this library?”
Gods are arrogant beings bound by pride and self-love, unlikely to readily accept others’ knowledge.
Would such beings read books filled with foreign wisdom?
“That’s…”
Naturally, no gods used Sia’s library.
In fact, many might not even know the library exists, given gods tend to ignore anything unrelated to their own divinity.
“You know well that unread books are no different from piles of paper, right?”
“Ugh…”
“Though gathering and preserving knowledge is noble, using your temple solely for a library no one uses seems troublesome. Perhaps restoring it would be…”
“Then I’ll just find users!”
“Users?”
“As long as someone uses it, it doesn’t have to be gods, right?”
What exactly is she suggesting? Who else besides gods would use a library at the Divine Hall?
I thought…
“Hey Tia! We’re getting lots of visitors!”
Somehow, Sia’s library had become a popular spot.
Just…
“These aren’t gods using it, are they?”
“But many people are using it.”
Sia chose not to create a library solely for gods, but for those yearning for knowledge – meaning it served those on the land below.
“Of course, not anyone can access my library’s knowledge!”
“Are there restrictions?”
“Of course! One book as entrance fee. From those who offer a book, I select the truly desperate for knowledge and allow them to read my books in their dreams.”
“In dreams?”
“Yeah. Can’t give out physical copies, you know.”
Indeed. Hence, the faint figures seen clutching books in Sia’s library.
Through dreams, she temporarily brings human consciousness to the library to read. Like a dream-library concept.
“This way, the library grows without me needing to write books, though I did set a limit on the number of users.”
I couldn’t respond to Sia’s confident declaration.
Hmm… She’ll likely get scolded by Asherat eventually.
Ah, now that I think about it, I still have a wish ticket remaining for Sia…
Regardless, I can’t evict her from the temple. Yup.
Wait. What does Sia plan to do with that wish ticket?
—
“Mom, what’s this human doing here?”
One day, Sagarmatha suddenly appeared, observing Sia busily writing new books in one of my temple’s rooms.
“Sagarmatha? What brings you to the Divine Hall?”
“Thought something might be up since mom’s being quiet.”
Something’s up because I’m quiet? As if I always stir up trouble!
I do have times of quietness, like hibernation! Hibernation!
“So, who’s this human?”
“She may look human, but she’s actually a goddess. Though she originated from humans.”
Sagarmatha glanced at Sia again, shaking her head slightly.
“To us, she appears as merely a human pretending to be a god.”
“Well, naturally that’s how you’d see her.”
Even my young ones treat me like a novice, so it’s unsurprising they’d look down on Sia, who originated from humans.
“Still, a goddess originating from humans… like those beastmen before. Mom seems to overly favor other lifeforms.”
“Is that so? I didn’t intend to…”
“Mom’s thoughts seep into her actions regardless.”
Hm. But isn’t it fine for the Goddess of Life to favor life?
Isn’t cherishing life natural for the Goddess of Life?
“Still, after reducing the number of gods so drastically, increasing them again feels off.”
“One or two additional gods shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“While that might be true numerically, other gods could resent seeing humans elevated to divinity after they themselves were halved.”
Indeed. They might perceive it as discrimination.
Combined with favoritism towards life.
“Well, let them resent if they wish. Such resentment itself is their individual freedom.”
And I’ve already provided entertainment to resolve such grievances.
Minor complaints likely won’t surface.
“Hmm. If mom thinks so… I won’t press the matter further.”
Sagarmatha quietly approached me.
“Still, please don’t focus solely on humans. Occasionally look at us too.”
“So that’s what’s bothering you.”
I gently stroked Sagarmatha’s head as she leaned against me.
Despite being an ancient deity, the god of dwarves, and the tallest mountain, to me she’s just a cute child.
Don’t all children sometimes want to act coquettish with their parents?
For a moment, I merely stroked the softly murmuring Sagarmatha’s head.
“Ah, right. There was another reason I came looking for mom.”
“Another reason?”
“Yeah. Another reason.”
Why did the heavy-footed Sagarmatha personally visit the Divine Hall?
“What’s the reason?”
“I think something’s happened to Sylphid. I wanted to ask if mom knows anything.”
“Sylphid?”
Has something happened to Sylphid?
“Sylphid usually travels the world with the wind, circling near me every year around this time before heading west… but this year, only the wind arrived without her. Mom, do you know anything?”
“Hmm… Not particularly.”
Sylphid, who enjoys freely wandering without constraints, hasn’t been doing so?
This is… quite suspicious!
“Hmm. If mom doesn’t know, probably no one does.”
It’s slightly worrying. Could they be causing trouble somewhere?
“I should probably check it out.”
“Yeah. Please, mom.”
It’ll be faster for me to search rather than having the heavy-footed Sagarmatha wander around looking, unless it’s deep underground.
