I am back – Chapter 194

Pia, who was supposed to be quite strict about these things, wasn’t really shocked by the magic we just saw.

“Isn’t it better to just ask about such ambiguous matters?”

Pia, after thoroughly reading the magic formula, turned to us who were sitting there nervously.

“Ask who?”

“Of course, the Goddess!”

Pia looked at me as if she were shocked that I would even ask such a ridiculous question.

“Ah…”

Indeed, when it comes to judging whether something has gone wrong or not, the Goddess’s opinion is the most reliable. But I mean, if I ask her just anything, she might get angry.

The Goddess always respected people’s free will. Or rather, not just respected it, but often talked about it as if it were a sacred boundary that even she couldn’t violate.

So, searching for the Goddess just because an important choice was in front of me… felt a bit off.

“Is it really okay to bother the Goddess with this?”

“Then what else should I ask?”

Pia tilted her head, pondering my question.

Hmm…

Well, people tend to pray to the Goddess and spill their worries, so while I can’t ask her to make my decision for me, I thought it might be okay to ask her if this is a dangerous deed or if it’s something morally wrong.

“What if the Goddess says no?”

“Then, of course, it would mean no, right?”

Dana asked carefully, and Pia answered with a gentle smile on her face. Once I heard that, though, I felt kind of deflated all of a sudden.

“The only people who can talk directly to the Goddess here are Siyun and me, so let’s hurry and go ask her!”

“…No, if you say it like that, the others around us will be shocked.”

Although my companions had seen it a few times, the Princess and my older sister looked genuinely appalled.

“What’s the problem? It’s not like anyone is dying.”

No, if you say it like that, people will be even more frightened.

…If I think about it, it technically is talking to a being from the afterlife, though.

However, I think Pia, who had been able to talk to the Goddess since she was very young, had no idea how it sounded to others when she said it.

Well, I guess there’s no help for it.

“Okay, then. Let’s hurry and ask!”

I nodded my head, and Pia beamed at me.

*

“…Uh, I was watching from above, you know.”

The Goddess spoke, as if she had been waiting for us, just as we arrived at the Grand Temple.

In fact, we didn’t come to the Grand Temple ‘in person.’ It was more like we envisioned the Grand Temple as we remembered it and invited the Goddess. If the Goddess didn’t intend to respond, we wouldn’t hear a thing.

“So, you’re saying the child has come to consult me about a problem? ‘Me’?”

“…Uh, is that not allowed?”

Seeing Pia answer without any hesitation, the Goddess rubbed her forehead.

“No, it’s not that it can’t be done, but…”

As she said that, the Goddess swept her hand across her face and turned to me.

“So then, if it’s okay, are you planning to have a child?”

“Yes, that’s right…? Ah, of course, I plan to make proper preparations and have a kid only after establishing things post-wedding.”

I answered like that, then hurriedly added,

“…”

The Goddess just stared silently at me before shrugging.

“You should be fine. After all, you’ve faced the Demon King.”

While I thought that facing the Demon King was a different kind of ordeal altogether, I didn’t feel the need to bring that up.

“Anyway…”

The Goddess looked back and forth between us and asked again.

“So, you came because of that magic to create a child?”

“That’s right.”

At my response, the Goddess wore a somewhat blank expression.

“If you and your… partner are dating against their will or in a purely transactional relationship, I would have opposed it without question. I’ve seen how that turned out in the past. Even if the child was born healthy, they wouldn’t have had a normal upbringing. If the parents’ relationship is that bad, how could it be a normal family?”

At those words, I flinched internally. My sister and I… we thought of ourselves as normal, but whether the people around us saw us that way was a different issue.

Even if the child had no issues with their character or body, they would certainly have an unhappy childhood. And that’s not something the Goddess would want.

“However, I believe you two will manage just fine. If you clearly inform the people around you, there shouldn’t be a serious issue. I might be able to help a little… well, that is something you both need to figure out.”

The Goddess then gave me a slight smile.

“Honestly, it’s not an issue of my permission. If you want to have a child, go ahead. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the magic itself. Magic is simply about reproducing naturally occurring phenomena to bring about certain results. In fact, there’s no magic I can outright ‘forbid.’ If humans want to do something, they just do it.”

“But you could send a representative of the Gods.”

“Well, that’s really not an easy task either. We have rules set among ourselves. Even a God can mess things up while trying to make their world a little better. However… Yeah, if humanity’s choice crosses a major line, that might be an option.”

The Goddess shrugged her shoulders as she said that.

“But at least this magic isn’t crossing any lines. It won’t lead to any insane results, nor will it cause the destruction of humanity or the collapse of the world. So rest assured… I’ll pray that you can have a beautiful child with your partner.”

“…Thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude to the Goddess, who looked oddly calm compared to usual.

Well, she’s still a Goddess I’ve only seen a few times. It wouldn’t be strange if she had a side I hadn’t seen before.

“Okay, go on and have beautiful love.”

With a wave of her hand, the Goddess said that, and Pia and I shared a moment of startled glance at one another.

But it seemed the Goddess had nothing more to say.

“…Seriously, asking something like this from someone who has never even given birth…”

I thought I heard the Goddess mumble something as the consciousness began to fade away.

*

“How was it?”

As I opened my eyes again, my sister’s face was right in front of me, asking.

Not that she was just close. I mean, she was practically glued to me.

Wait, saying she was glued is odd. I was sitting in a chair, and she had placed her hands on my shoulders, leaning her face in very close, staring at me intently.

“Um…”

Looking at the Goddess’s expression, I didn’t think she’d said any empty words or lied, but I couldn’t say it looked entirely good either.

It was… how can I put it? It felt like a ‘sage time’ expression, maybe? In any case, something like that.

An expression that seemed to say, ‘Do I really have to answer such a question?’

“Oh, she said it was okay!”

Instead of stumbling for an answer, Pia said with a bright smile.

“Oh, is that so?”

When I asked, Pia nodded her head.

“Yes, the Goddess always explains things clearly! At least she wouldn’t have said anything unpleasant or lied about this magic!”

“Um, really…?”

If Pia said so, then it must be true.

After all, Pia had been talking to the Goddess for much longer than I had. I also felt the Goddess wouldn’t say anything different when she knew our situation.

But still, that expression from earlier…

“Oh, that is—”

But as my expression didn’t clear up, Pia seemed to want to explain something but quickly shut her mouth.

After looking into the air for a bit, she said,

“Oh, she said you don’t really need to know that!”

“R-Really?”

“Yup!”

Somehow, the stark contrast between the Goddess’s ambiguous expression and Pia’s upbeat response made everything feel so off.

“Well, whatever. If the Saintess says so.”

While I was deep in thought, Dana, who was next to me, snatched the scroll from Pia’s hands and said,

“More importantly, you should decide on a date soon. This isn’t an easy magic, you know. You have a bunch of preparations to make, and it’ll take time.”

“R-Right…?”

“Yeah. And you also have to prepare the place.”

“The place?”

As I kept asking, Dana looked at me like I was silly.

“Well, obviously, to create a child, you have to mix bodies, right? You didn’t think a kid would just pop up out of nowhere, did you? There has to be at least a minimal connection of souls.”

“…….”

“And besides, you guys have already done it before, so you should know how—Gah!”

Pia quickly covered Dana’s mouth before she could spiral out of control there.

“…Our mage tends to blurt out anything when excited. …I’m sorry.”

At Pia’s words, I couldn’t help but let out a bitter chuckle.