Bonus Short Stories
Chat with a Goddess (Volume 8)
“I’m heading back,” Ira said. Now that she’d given her confident declaration that we could win against Iblis, she stood, stretched her limbs, and moved to leave.
“Oh, already?” Eir asked.
“Hey! We’re celebrating Makoto’s victory,” Noah said. “You should stay.”
The pair of them each grabbed one of Ira’s arms.
“L-Let me go!” Ira protested.
“Come on! Calm down.”
“Over here.”
Then, the two goddesses began dragging their smaller compatriot along.
◇ A Few Dozen Minutes Later ◇
“Why does being the Goddess of Fate make me so busy?!”
Ira was completely...gone. Red-faced, she slammed her now-empty cocktail glass down onto the tabletop.
“Oh no... She’s ranting,” Noah remarked.
Eir shrugged. “Well, she’s got a lot of stress built up.”
In contrast to how sloshed Ira was, the other two goddesses were gracefully drinking wine. As for me—
“Makoto Takatsuki! Are you listening to me?!”
“I-I am.”
—I was stuck with Ira.
Help!
I looked at the other two, but they just smiled back, wishing me luck with their grins.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a celebration for me?!
“Why?!” Ira raved. “I correct it and correct it again, but history keeps changing strangely! What’s going on?!”
“Th-That sounds tough.”
“Also...! Why’s it my job to give the mortal races skills?! There are other goddesses, so why can’t we split it up?! Right?!” Her pained face now turned toward Eir.
“Well, you’re the only one with the right to give skills,” Eir pointed out. “It’s a cushy job, right?”
I was impressed that Eir managed to smile back and answer so calmly.
“Wait, so you gave me my Water Magic and RPG Player skills?” My troubles in the Water Temple suddenly rushed back to the fore. If this fun-sized goddess had given me stronger skills, I would be invincible...
“Nope, that wasn’t Ira,” explained Noah. “I might not have mentioned it before, but otherworlders are given skills at random when they arrive—Ira doesn’t choose them.”
“Yep!” exclaimed Eir. “Irrie investigates them and writes down the explanations in their Soul Books. It’s just a coincidence that a lot of otherworlders get weird or strong skills.”
“I see...” That was indeed what I’d been told in the Water Temple. Guess I’d just gotten unlucky.
“Bizarre skills just give me even more work...” Ira griped. “And this time there was even a Class Change...” Her face twisted, and she was clearly recalling some bad memories.
Huh. There was a skill called a Class Change...?
Still, Ira seemed totally run-down. I’d imagined that she would have a way nicer lifestyle—after all, she was the goddess of a rich country like Cameron.
“Well, it’s all good,” said Noah. “I mean, I was so bored until Makoto came along.”
“Roses is pretty small, so I don’t have to do much,” Eir admitted.
“Yeah, Eir, all you do is hang around here with me. You should do your job.”
“It’s fiiiine. Besides, you’re lonely.”
“I am not. Go back to Roses already.”
“No way! Dun wanna...”
“You’re such...” Noah trailed off, exasperated. “Well, whatever. What’re we playing, then? MomoTetsu?”
“Sure, a hundred-year match.”
“Again?”
The two of them started setting up their game. They were like uni students with too much time on their hands...
Across the space, Ira was staring at them bitterly. I thought she looked sorta upset, so I poured her a glass of the most expensive-looking drink I could find and then slid it in front of her.
She looked at it, a confused gasp escaping her lips.
“What’s this for?”
“Good work making the Northern Front Plan a success. Let’s keep this momentum going against Iblis.”
A lot of unforeseen things had cropped up, but without Ira’s Future Sight, even the initial plan would have been difficult to execute. We really needed her to keep the predictions coming.
She looked blank for a second and was probably reading my mind because the next moment, her expression turned happy.
“Makoto Takatsuki... You’re a better person than I thought.” Red-faced still, she pulled me by the shoulder. “So... Why don’t you leave Noah and become mine?”
“Well...” I fumbled for a refusal. “I...appreciate the offer.” I could hardly accept it, though.
“Hey! No poaching my believer!” Noah cut in, her sharp ears picking up the conversation.
“I’m her only one, after all,” I added.
“I suppose that’s true,” Ira said, releasing my shoulder.
“Come on you two! Join in!” Eir cheered, dragging us in front of the console. I hadn’t known what to expect...but it definitely wasn’t the original PlayStation.
S-So retro...
“I don’t have time for games!” Ira protested, but eventually, she joined in.
It’d been a while since I’d played a full-length game of MomoTetsu, so in the end, I had a lot of fun.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login