Extra Story: The Gods on Earth
Gain and the other gods had taken up a space of Earth’s divine realm to observe its human occupants.
“So, that manager of Ryoma’s was another victim of the Earth gods...”
“He would succeed in everything in life with minimal effort until the moment he met Ryoma... So he blamed Ryoma for his newfound difficulties in life.”
“The fact that he took his success for granted and slacked off on his academics or other hard work in life, and that he blamed his failures on Ryoma was his own fault, so I don’t have sympathy for him there.”
“Kufo has a point. His predicament was simply a result of how he treated Ryoma when he was alive. He would have been in a different place if he had stopped to consider his actions before Ryoma passed, like Baba did.”
“That’s true. He was being led to make Ryoma suffer as well, but he learned his lesson in time, to prevent catastrophic consequences. Otherwise, he would have died in that car accident, or lived the rest of his life a paraplegic.”
“Destiny has collected a lot of its debt, it seems...”
“That whole company was built like a cage to keep and torment Ryoma by bending and twisting destiny... It has no reason to exist now that Ryoma has passed.”
“There were more people at that company who treated Ryoma unfairly... But the company won’t last much longer, and it looks like losing a job for a human in this day and age can be very hard on them. Most of them will break up with their significant other or fall ill as they lose their job to make up for their actions... Some of them really are hopeless, though.”
“You sound mad, Lulutia.”
“Something bothering you?”
“Well, I am the goddess of love, after all. There’s this girl in Ryoma’s department; she took advantage of men noticing her looks by making them buy her expensive clothes and jewelry, making them pay for excursions... It’s not that she equates love with money, she only sees it as a tool to rob others of their money.”
“I noticed someone like that too. A boy who has a whopping roster of fifteen long-distance girlfriends at different cities he’s been to business trips on. As the god of life, I could commend his strong drive for preservation, but it’s not healthy or fair by any means.”
Gain, Kufo, and Lulutia maintained the guise of a nonchalant observation as they silently spoke with each other about another topic entirely.
Have you noticed? Gain asked.
Yep. Looks like we overstayed our welcome, shoddy security or not.
Two of them. No animosity, at least, and not very powerful. Are they just scoping us out?
Can’t say. They may be concealing their powers... They have definitely noticed us. An attempt at communication may prove better than fighting or running. Thoughts?
Sounds good to me. We’re the ones trespassing, anyway.
I don’t want to fight if we don’t have to.
Having reached an agreement, the three gods turned to the presence they felt, and called out to them.
“Gods of Earth, we would like to talk to you.”
“I know we didn’t knock, but we don’t want any trouble.”
“We’re not going to fight. Could you show yourselves?”
Their calls were met with silence.
“What to do... I don’t want them to get the wrong idea about us...”
“Should we just leave, or...?”
“Hmm... If they do attack us, we can’t just lie down and take it...”
Just as the three took a defensive stance, expecting the worst...
“Wh-Whoa! Hold on! We don’t want to fight either! You have the right to remain silent!”
“Stop rambling like an idiot. They said they’re not here to fight... And what, are you going to arrest them? It sounds stupider when you’re freaking out, ready to bolt.”
A couple of gods appeared in the form of a young male and female wearing business suits.
Looks like we can talk to them.
Just as Lulutia expressed this thought, the frazzled goddess of Earth produced a business card from her pocket.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ishigami Yokota.”
“Oh, thank you...”
“What do we do? Don’t we have to return our own ‘card’?”
“That’s what businesspeople do in Japan, anyway. What can we do?”
“Don’t worry. We don’t always have cards either. Seeing as you’re gods from another world, I’m sure you have different cultures.”
“Thank you for understanding. I am Gain, the creator of Seilfall.”
“God of Life, Kufo.”
“Goddess of Love, Lulutia.”
After those greetings, eyes gathered at the man in the suit.
“What.”
“Excuse you! We’re introducing ourselves!”
“Not to these trespassers, I’m not. Not like we have names to give, anyway. Let’s get this over with and get out of here.”
“Seriously, stop it! We were going to talk this out peacefully!” cried the goddess, looking apologetically to the gods of Seilfall.
“No need to apologize to us.”
“We are trespassing.”
“Yes, and I’m sure you have your own business to attend to.”
“I am really sorry,” said Ishigami. “If I could explain... The only gods of Earth who have names are famous ones remembered in myths or still worshiped today.”
“Like they’re the celebrities, and we’re nobodies. Weaklings like us aren’t known, and we don’t have a name.”
“What about the name you just told us...Ishigami Yokota?”
“I’m sorry. That’s a sort of alias I prepared ceremoniously, kind of. In Japan, there is a belief that a god inhabits every object; I’m a god that lives in the rock next to the field owned by [BEEP] in [BEEP], [BEEP], [BEEP] Prefecture.”
“Right... I noticed your name was written with the characters for ‘farm,’ ‘next to,’ ‘rock,’ and ‘god.’”
“Uh, but what was that weird noise when you were saying—”
“Censoring. Nowadays, privacy and protection of personal information is a serious matter, even in the divine realm. When we say any personal information, we are automatically censored.”
“Sounds like the gods on Earth have things tough as well.”
“Just get to the point,” the suited man said, summoning a black, rectangular box by his side, shattering the pleasant air of small talk.
“What are you doing?! You can’t just whip out that ridiculously insidious thing, like you’re ready to fight! We have the chance to talk it out, so we could have eased into it!”
“Shut up. You’re not the one forced to hold this ridiculously insidious thing. I don’t want it on me for another second more than I have to.”
“I understand that, but...” Yokota rubbed her eyes before turning back to the gods. “I’m sorry about that. We really don’t hold any animosity towards you.”
“I believe you, after our conversation. But what is that...?”
The male god opened the box to answer the question. The pitch-black box contained a pair of swords that the gods knew well.
“That’s...”
“The swords Ryoma’s dad left for him!”
“Why— How are those here in the divine realm?!”
“I’d be happy to explain. But first, would you care to tell us why you are here in our world? It would surely make this conversation progress more smoothly.”
“Hm... Understood.” Gain explained why they were trespassing on Earth’s divine realm, encouraged by Yokota’s humility.
“Thank you. That clears up some things, and we should be able to answer your questions.”
“Great to hear. I have many questions, but first, what now?”
“We will not attack or detain you. Do feel free to examine the circumstances surrounding the dearly departed Takebayashi Ryoma all you like. And perhaps get in some sightseeing across the country while you’re at it.”
“Wait, really?”
“We’re from another world, you sure you can trust us?”
“Japan is relatively open to students and tourists from overseas, and the divine realm shares that philosophy. We have no need to let people in with animosity towards us, but as long as you’re coming with a sincere interest in research or culture, which seems to be the case here, I see no issue with that. Your actions just now do make you at least somewhat trustworthy.”
“Truth be told, our bosses knew about you guys for a while. Apparently they let you be because you weren’t doing any harm.”
“Really?!”
“They actually helped you out, I think. Wasn’t it easy to get info from downstairs?”
“Oh, my...”
“And here I thought the security was lacking... They let us in.”
“No, you were all very good at infiltrating. We only discovered you because of the disparity in the development of our worlds, and that you were unaware of the rules in our divine realm. You left behind an access log after your research.”
“An access log... Like a file. Isn’t that a computer term used by humans?”
“It’s not just a computer thing, but yeah, something like that.”
The gods were a bit despondent to discover that they would have naturally been found out with a record of their actions on the side of the Earth gods, but soon found their next question.
“Could you tell us why these swords are here?”
“A higher god used their power to obtain them. Spirited away, you could say.”
“That leads us to another question. Why are you presenting the swords to us?” Kufo asked.
With a pained expression, Yokota squeezed out, “We want you to take these with you.”
“To our world, you mean?”
“Yes. There are a few reasons for our request. The first, as you can see, is because these are no ordinary swords. Their creator, Takebayashi Musashi made these, quite literally, by pouring his soul into them. A miraculous feat, achieved through his gods-given talent, years of training, and incredible determination. The swords have become cursed, seducing those who behold it, corroding their minds and driving them to madness. Humans in our world have no means to fight their allure. If these swords had remained in the human realm, they would have changed hands from human to human, bringing about death to their holders and those around them.”
“Long story short, we don’t want them. No good will ever come of them, so we want them out of our world.”
Yokota glared at the man. “Was that flippancy of yours really necessary?”
“Shut your pie hole. Pussyfoot around it all you like; it doesn’t change the fact that we’re trying to force our problems onto them.”
“Have you no respect for our work?! Or these gods?!”
“Respect, eh? Regardless of whatever damage they haven’t caused over here, they’re still trespassing. They take this thing, and we’ll be even.”
“Uh, could we interrupt?” said Gain. “We don’t mind a blunt approach. Let us continue.”
“Excuse me!” Yokota said. “As I was saying... The favor we’re asking of you is, in part, a small token of our apology for Takebayashi Ryoma. While these swords could only bring harm to us and our humans, they are a keepsake of his father. And, much to our surprise, Takebayashi Ryoma has never once used these swords despite keeping them until his death. While he must have built some resistance to them in his life, he should be able to now wield them without falling for the madness of the swords. And the swords themselves are exceptional, and should prove useful in combat in your world.”
“I’m sure they will,” Gain admitted. “But why show such consideration now?”
“Right. Why didn’t you give him a hand while he was still alive?”
“From what you’re saying, it sounds like you knew how the god of Earth had interfered with his destiny while he was alive.”
“That’s true,” Yokota admitted. “The one you call the ‘god of Earth’ is the one we call the Old God, the Nameless God, or the Ancient One. It has been told that it existed before the world was born, and possesses immense power. When this world was created, the Old God forsook managing the world. Accordingly, it and the various gods that rule the world now agreed not to interfere with each other in any way. Of course, any action that would affect the fate of the world itself would be another matter, but they leave each other alone for the most part. That’s why gods like us have come to speak to you.”
“I suppose toying with a human’s destiny doesn’t breach that agreement?”
“This is an excuse, but humans who worship a particular god are protected. Gods worshiped by humans do exist, and they look over their believers. Interfering with any believer would infringe on the long-standing agreement. However, there are humans that forsake their faith from tragedy, or never believe in any religion or god to begin with. The faithless population seems to be on the rise, especially in recent Japan...”
“Those humans are not covered by the agreement.”
“Unfortunately... Those of the Takebayashi clan were impacted more than others, after one of their ancestors struck a deal with the Old God long ago.”
“How about these swords? Wouldn’t bringing them here breach that contract?”
“Apparently, the Old God loses interest in their projects once they die.”
“Just curious... Why would the Old God do such a thing?”
“Back in the day, it only watched the events of the world unfold. Now, it simply repeats toying with a human and watching them die. We don’t know if there’s any meaning to it at all.”
The gods of Seilfall shared a look, confirming their agreement.
“The god of Earth— This ‘Old God’ is unforgivable, but I understand that there are gods here that are not happy with the current state of things. We’ll take these swords. Can we decide when to give them to Ryoma?”
“Of course.”
“Then I think we’ll be leaving. We have some considerations now.”
“We might want to come again if we have any questions, or something. What should we do, then? We can contact the Old God, but we don’t want to do that unless we have to, obviously.”
“Please continue to trespass. Some minuscule gods like us will be sent your way.”
“Can you be the one to see us again, Miss Yokota?”
“I would love to serve as your correspondent, but jobs are hard to come by in the divine realm of Japan... After all, the people here believe a deity inhabits every object, do they not?”
“Huh? Yeah, all the openings get filled right away, whether it’s new recruits or someone the big guys upstairs deem worthy for it getting recruited. I was appointed to carry those swords, and once we’re done here, I’m effectively redundant.”
“Things have become more efficient as we keep in step with the human world. I’ve heard that official seals are being phased out. Eventually, all the seal confirmation officers in the divine realm will be made redundant.”
“Who gives a shit about them? All they do is check to see if the right seal was used on the right document. Useless job, honestly.”
“But it’s still good, honest work. The fewer jobs there are, the more competition there ends up being.”
“I, for one, like not having a job. I don’t need that crap in my life. It’s not like we need to eat like humans do.”
“Even in the divine realm, Earth is pretty wild...” Gain muttered, and Kufo and Lulutia chuckled.
After thanking Yokota, the three gods all returned to Seilfall.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login