Chapter 177. Reorganization (3)
Anagin put on a serious expression.
Unlike his usual self, he rested his chin on his hand and sank deep into thought. As if he were genuinely worried.
“Haaah.......”
Then he let out a deep sigh before placing a hand on the female subordinate’s forehead.
“Are you sick somewhere?”
“Get your hand off me!”
The moment his hand touched her forehead, the female subordinate twisted her head away in irritation and slapped Anagin’s hand aside.
“Judging by that temper, you don’t seem sick.......”
“So you don’t believe me.”
“Don’t say it like I’m the bad guy here. If a woman who kidnaps people suddenly says she’s a god, it’d be weirder to believe her immediately, wouldn’t it?”
Anagin wasn’t mocking her. He was honestly speaking his mind.
Perhaps because she still had some conscience left, the female subordinate couldn’t refute him.
Wasn’t it true? A supposed god working under fish-worshipping cultists and luring in people.......
Not only was it hard to believe, but even if it were true, it was hard to even comprehend how one should process that information.
The kind of story normal people couldn’t believe, and shouldn’t believe.
However, Anagin wasn’t exactly normal, so he decided to think about it from the opposite angle.
After all, the current situation itself had already gone far beyond normal.
“...Fine. Let’s assume you really are a god for now.”
“You suddenly believe me?”
Even when he said he’d believe her, the female subordinate still complained.
Anagin shrugged.
“There’s no real loss in believing you. Honestly, I’m curious what kind of bullshit you’re going to say too.”
“If you’re mocking me— ”
“Was asking me to save your siblings a lie?”
“.......”
“If you really want to save your siblings, shouldn’t you stop worrying about your pride and at least try to go along with what I’m saying? Otherwise nothing’s going to get done.”
“.......”
The female subordinate tightly shut her mouth.
The entire situation clearly felt deeply humiliating and frustrating to her.
Judging by the trembling at the tip of her nose, she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment, but thankfully, she didn’t actually cry.
As if enduring it, she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Her mouth too.
“...Continue what you were saying.”
For perhaps the first time, the female subordinate lowered her pride.
It was surprising.
Whether she was truly a god or not, her desire to save her siblings seemed genuine. Which only made things more puzzling.
If her siblings were gods too...... then how had they ended up captured by the Barbaroi Cult? No, before that, how had the female subordinate herself ended up in such a state?
‘I should start by digging into that.’
Having made his decision, Anagin immediately asked,
“If you really are a god...... then why did you end up like this?”
It was a somewhat rude statement, but also the most direct and concise question possible.
Why was she wandering around as a prisoner in human form?
If she were a god, shouldn’t she just crush everything through sheer power? She was a god, wasn’t she?
‘Damn, I’m getting confused in a completely unexpected way. Are gods actually not that special?’
Just as all sorts of thoughts began filling his head, the female subordinate spoke.
“Being a god doesn’t mean you can do everything.”
“Go on.”
“We each have our own domains and roles, and we can’t recklessly overstep them.”
Anagin nodded. He had already heard something similar at the Chiron Tower.
“And the stronger the gods are, the less freely they can interfere with the human world. Direct intervention is even more forbidden.”
“Why?”
Deep disappointment lingered in Anagin’s voice.
For someone aiming to become a god so he could do whatever he wanted, it wasn’t exactly pleasant news.
Just as he was about to wonder whether she was simply making things up on the spot—
“Because the Great Twelve Gods made that promise.”
The Great Twelve Gods. The representative gods of Hellas.
Most practitioners sought to receive their blessings.
Anagin was becoming increasingly interested in this conversation.
“Why did they make such a promise?”
“To preserve the balance of the world.”
It was a short answer, but Anagin roughly understood the point.
If powerful gods rampaged however they pleased, things would definitely become chaotic. It seemed they themselves had feared that and imposed restrictions upon themselves.
Maybe because he was discussing a topic he had never once considered before?
It felt like several questions that had vaguely lingered in the back of Anagin’s mind were beginning to clear up.
For example, he felt like he finally understood why the gods granted blessings to practitioners.
Wasn’t it strange? Gods were supposed to be overwhelmingly powerful beings, so it always felt odd that they handed out blessings to humans.
But if they had restrictions like this, it made sense.
If they couldn’t directly interfere with the human world, then using humans to accomplish things would naturally become necessary.
That sounded far more believable than vague nonsense about justice, goodness, or order.
‘Though honestly, even that still feels a little incomplete.’
He wanted to dig deeper into this topic, but Anagin exercised restraint and stayed focused instead of derailing the conversation.
Limited time and opportunities had to be used wisely.
“So how much are you personally forbidden from interfering with the world? You said stronger gods can’t interfere freely, right? Doesn’t that mean weaker gods can interfere to some extent?”
Perhaps because Anagin had pointed out something important, the female subordinate’s brows slightly furrowed.
“I—no, we can manage the seas. That’s the duty our father entrusted to us.”
“We? Your younger sisters?”
“Yes. The flow of the seas, the ecosystem, the weather, the currents, the structure. And if it’s necessary for our duties, we can also grant blessings to villages and practitioners.”
“That’s impressive. But that’s not really an answer to my question. Why are you like thi—”
“We can’t fight.”
“.......”
Anagin was so caught off guard he couldn’t say anything for a moment.
Gods entrusted with the enormous responsibility of managing the seas couldn’t fight? It sounded like some absurd joke.
“Do my words sound like a joke to you?”
“No. The situation itself feels ridiculous, but what you’re saying doesn’t sound like a joke.”
The female subordinate stared at him suspiciously before letting it go. She seemed to believe his explanation.
“My turn to ask.”
“......Go ahead.”
“If you can’t fight, how do you protect yourselves?”
“Normally, there’s no need to fight in the first place. Unless we, including my younger sisters, desire it, nobody can even meet us.”
“Then why were you captured? Who were you trying to meet?”
At the foolish statement, Anagin immediately asked.
The female subordinate briefly made a pained expression before avoiding the question and changing the subject.
“......And in case problems ever arose, Father granted us elementals to protect us.”
“Ah, Horse-head.”
Anagin recalled the water elemental with a human body and a horse’s head.
For the first time, he started thinking the female subordinate might genuinely be a god.
Her explanations oddly made sense, and it explained why Horse-head had tried to save her. Especially the strangely arrogant attitude, too.
Honestly, Anagin still couldn’t fully believe the woman before him was truly a god.
Anyone in their right mind would probably feel the same.
Still, he hoped she really was one.
Because if she wasn’t, then this entire fascinating story would just be complete bullshit. And wouldn’t that feel disappointing?
“What’s with that expression?”
The female subordinate seemed to read something from Anagin’s face and became wary.
“No, it’s just. I kind of hope you really are a god.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, if you had elementals protecting you, why did you get captured?”
Even while frowning as though she disliked Anagin, the female subordinate continued the story anyway.
“We were deceived by the humans here.”
It was too fitting to call a mere coincidence.
To think she had been captured by the people of this fishing village.
No wonder her expression had looked terrible the entire way here.
Still, it didn’t make sense. How could gods be deceived by humans? And even if they were deceived, how could humans subdue gods?
‘Ah, could it be the Barbaroi Cult?’
At that moment, Anagin came up with one possibility.
The Barbaroi Cult. They had claimed they knew a method to directly steal power from gods, and if that were true, then maybe it was possible.
If those bastards had helped the villagers capture the female subordinate’s sisters, it would explain things. They probably borrowed the fish god’s power.
Suddenly, the previously unbelievable story began to feel strangely convincing.
“So you ended up like this because your younger sisters were captured after being tricked by this village?”
“.........Yes.”
Perhaps because admitting it was deeply humiliating, the female subordinate answered only after a long silence.
Based on what he had heard, Anagin tried piecing together the overall situation.
The Barbaroi Cult had used the villagers and a barbarian god to capture the female subordinate’s younger sisters, then used them as hostages to control her as well.......
He still couldn’t completely believe it, but at this point, trusting her for now didn’t seem like a bad idea.
The story itself was pretty interesting. Things like the promise between gods.
Just hearing all this made the trip feel worthwhile.
However, not all his questions had disappeared.
“Why did they only let you out?”
“It’s not that they released me. I’m still half-bound myself. My power is tied together with my sisters’.”
The female subordinate repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hand, as though longing for the strength she had lost.
That explained why she had been helplessly captured and reduced to a prisoner by the Magno mages.
“So right now, I’m not much different from a normal human. I can’t grant blessings immediately. But if I recover my power along with my sisters—”
“That’s strange.”
“I am not lying.......”
“No, that’s not what I mean. Even if your powers are sealed, it’s strange that they’d release you and use you like this. There’s no reason to… do that, is there?”
It was an extremely reasonable point.
Even if her power was sealed, using a god for tasks like this wasn’t just wasteful—it was inviting danger.
Maybe it was due to the twisted desires of those who worshipped barbarian gods, but honestly, that alone didn’t feel sufficient to justify the risk. It felt like she was performing some important task here.
Of course, even that was just speculation.
There were still more things he didn’t know than things he did.
‘For now, let’s move past this part. It’s not something I’ll figure out just by overthinking it.’
Anagin organized his thoughts, and silence settled heavily around them.
Perhaps disliking that silence, the female subordinate spoke in an uncomfortable voice.
“Do you still doubt my words?”
“Hm? Ah, honestly, yeah.”
“.......”
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not that I can’t believe your story specifically; it’s just too far outside my expectations. I’ve never really thought about meeting a god before. Even though I became a practitioner to become a god myself.”
“You want to become a god? You??”
“Yeah. Got a problem with that?”
The female subordinate wore an expression that screamed she had many problems with it and tried to say something, but Anagin spoke first.
“For now, I’ll believe your story. Personally, I want to believe it. But. I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“The blessing you said you’d give me. You can’t just hand it out freely, can you?”
“I said it was a deal. If you save my younger sisters, then I promise I’ll grant you a blessing.”
“That’s not what I was asking.”
“......?”
The female subordinate looked confused about what he meant. She even seemed slightly wary, as though suspecting Anagin was trying to scam her somehow.
Had she been scammed a lot before?
“It hasn’t even been a year since I became a practitioner, but I’ve figured out a few things on my own.”
“Stop dragging it out and say it already.”
“This blessing thing. There are conditions attached when you grant them, right?”
“.......”
“And silence means yes.”
“What’s the problem with that?”
The female subordinate asked as though she genuinely didn’t understand.
Anagin nodded.
“It’s a fucking huge problem.”
* * *
He finished his conversation with the female subordinate.
It hadn’t been a conversation with any concrete gains, but personally, Anagin didn’t think it was bad.
After all, assuming the female subordinate really was a god, he had heard quite a few valuable things.
Like how the gods couldn’t recklessly interfere with the human world because of the agreement made by the Great Twelve Gods, or how lower gods that weren’t part of the Great Twelve secretly carried out duties within the human world while hiding their identities.......
Among all of it, the most interesting topic had been blessings.
Because it confirmed that Anagin’s guess had been correct.
‘There are two conditions required to grant a blessing. One is compensation, and the other is a clear hierarchy.’
Just as Anagin had expected, receiving a blessing required merit—or more precisely, compensation.
It felt strangely satisfying that a random guess he had made had actually turned out to be true.
And honestly, it wasn’t bad news either.
If he saved the female subordinate’s younger sisters and received a blessing in return, that would be a pretty decent deal.
However, the problem was the second condition.
As implied by the phrase “granting” a blessing, blessings couldn’t be received within an equal relationship.
There absolutely had to be a clear distinction between superior and subordinate. At least formally.
Which meant Anagin had to kneel before the female subordinate.
And Anagin refused.
If it had been an equal exchange where both sides simply gave and took what they owed, he would’ve accepted it, but because of that second condition, Anagin rejected the deal.
‘Why?’
‘In case you didn’t hear me before, I have no intention of begging for blessings.’
‘But I said it was a deal.’
‘And you also said there has to be a superior and subordinate relationship.’
‘That part can’t be helped.’
‘Then forget it. Or you can become the subordinate instead. Beg me to please accept your blessing and offer it up, then maybe I’ll take it.’
‘You son of a—!’
The female subordinate had completely forgotten she was technically a prisoner and started spewing vicious curses that couldn’t even be repeated aloud, and as the atmosphere rapidly heated up, the conversation came to an end.
At this rate, if they wanted to continue talking, it would probably have to wait until later.
At the very least, after the anger rushing to her head had cooled down a bit.
“You should’ve taken it a little easier.”
After Anagin finished speaking with the female subordinate, Sphinx cautiously spoke up.
“What should I have taken easier?”
“That last thing you said. About her begging Brother to accept the blessing.”
“So what?”
“If she really is a god, then those words are incredibly humiliating.”
“And it’s fine for her to demand I kneel before her when she’s the one asking for help?”
“That’s... not fine either, but still.”
“Why are you taking her side? It’s disappointing.”
“I just feel bad for her.”
“For a god?”
“Being a god doesn’t automatically mean life is good. You probably realized it yourself, Brother, but lower gods have more obligations than rights.”
“You even know stuff like that?”
“...I’ve overheard things before. And from what I heard, after she lost her powers and got used by the Barbaroi Cult, it sounds like humans put her through quite a lot. Scams, physical threats, things like that.”
Just how much had they talked about? Sphinx seemed to know all sorts of things.
Well, honestly, it did sound plausible.
Anagin had never really possessed a detailed image of what gods were supposed to be like, but because of the female subordinate, he had realized they were much more human than he expected.
What would happen if a god stripped of divine power were suddenly thrown into the human world?
It wouldn’t be much different from tossing some clueless young master or noble lady into the streets.
And once that happened, it wasn’t hard to imagine them experiencing all sorts of terrible things.
If that was really true, then her distrustful and overly suspicious personality became somewhat understandable, too.
“Anyway, then. Are you saying you’ve completely given up on making a deal?”
“Not at all. She’s still a god, so maybe she can help with something else. Like guiding us to the Barbaroi Cult’s headquarters on the island or something. I’ll try talking to her again after she cools her head a bit.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Have you thought of a way to reach the island yet?”
“I guess I’ll start thinking about that slowly from now on.”
Sphinx let out something that was half admiration and half disbelief at how utterly lacking in planning that sounded, and then Anagin spoke.
“Pinku-Pinku.”
“Hm? What is it, Brother?”
“This time, can you lend me some strength?”
He was asking Sphinx to fight alongside him.
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