Editing On a Godless Planet:Volume3A Chapter 7

==Chapter 7: Side Pocket==
[[Image:Godless_3A_p149.jpg|thumb]]
–''Always be patient.

''Always be impatient.

●

TJ had a feeling this rain was going to stick around for a while.

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“I bet the god behind it isn’t even aware they’re doing it.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Huh? When they’re causing this much trouble?”

Seito said this while they stood side by side below the roof in front of the manga club. She was on the track team, but she was on Student Guard duty today.

TJ had been following the lead of the game club and some other clubs by boiling some water for cooking when her classmate Seito had walked up.

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Don’t you have to help your athletic clubs?”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Everyone there is really good with this physical stuff. And most everyone in guidance roles are with the cultural clubs, so the captains told us to head this way and do some real guard duty.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Glad we don’t have that kind of hierarchy here.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Just answer my question.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Why isn’t Funto-kun with you?”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Hey.”

Seito frowned for a moment, but…

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“I don’t really get it myself.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Yeah, you never were the intellectual type.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“It isn’t about that.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Then what it is about?”

TJ shut off the portable stove she had borrowed from the hiking club to boil the water. The pot of boiling water was for the cup ramen sitting on the side table. Then Seito asked another question.

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Can I have one?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“If you answer my question.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“I did. I don’t really get it.”

Seito tilted her head and grabbed a cup of salt ramen, but one of the club members in the clubroom had already called dibs on that one. So…

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“You can have the seaweed ramen over there.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Oh, I love that lightly-seasoned flavor.”

“But,” said Seito.

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Funto seems to be avoiding me. He doesn’t seem to want to be in the same room as me at home and, whenever I talk to him, he gives monosyllabic answers and won’t look me in the eye.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Any idea why?”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“I’d have fixed it already if I knew why.”

''Probably so,'' thought TJ because Seito was nothing if not proactive. But if nothing in their lives seemed to explain it…

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“How long has this been going on?”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Not long after we arrived here, I think. We would sometimes go on patrol together – we still do actually – and he would follow after me like he was keeping his distance.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Do I need to get involved?”

“Well…” said Seito, looking up into the rainy sky while removing the ramen packaging. She started to stick the packaging in her track suit pocket but stopped. TJ took it instead.

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“We are from the same mythology. If I feel like it and have the chance, I’ll see what I can do.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Oh, but don’t pry too much. While I don’t get what’s causing it, he does act normal when he calls Raidou-senpai over to our place or when he’s at the arcade.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“And you’re okay with that?”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“I think it’s more a problem for him than anything.”

●

Seito opened her ramen cup’s lid and opened the seasonings.

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“It’s just, if he doesn’t like me anymore, I’d prefer it if he just came out and told me. If he only wants to see our house as a place to sleep at, then so be it.”

So why didn’t he do that?

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Does he want to preserve our relationship? He’s the one forcing himself to do something he doesn’t like, so I’m going to pretend I haven’t noticed until he says something to me.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Being a couple sounds like a pain.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“It can be. Or at least, it seems to be for Funto.”

Then Seito looked down at the pot and compared it to her ramen cup with opened lid.

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“How am I supposed to get the hot water in here?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“You have to remove the contents, scoop the water into the cup, and then put the noodles back in.”

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“…”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Kidding.”

Touto pulled a ladle out from below the table with the portable stove on it.

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Use this.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Do you always eat snacks like this?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Yeah, I always boil the water outside. I do have an electric kettle, but I use that outside during this time of year.”

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“What time of year is that exactly?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“The busiest time of year for us. Comiket 30.”

●

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Eh?”

That was Seito’s reaction to that.

Touto was a classmate and they hung out a fair amount, so she knew some about what the manga club did. But…

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Isn’t today the 20th? And when is Comiket?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“The 18th and 19th. We’re scheduled for the second day.”

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Then it’s already too late! What are you doing?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Oh, there’s plenty still to do. To be honest, it’s mostly for the members who didn’t finish on time. Y’know, where they have to finish it up now before moving on to something else. …We are looking into some other options too.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“What kind of options?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“To see if we can redo Comiket somehow.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Is that possible?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“I can’t do it. Then again, in this world, who knows.”

Seito trusted Touto enough to believe that. She was fairly special.

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“If one of our creator gods says so, I can believe it.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“It’s not really worth complimenting me over.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“But you’re ranked so much higher than me.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“And there are others higher than me.”

Seito more or less knew what Touto meant.

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Was it two weeks ago when Tokyo was destroyed while we were eating dinner? Funto tried to escape carrying his X68000, but couldn’t get away. We had Balancer remake everything based on the ‘creator god insurance’ we never thought we’d have to use.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“I can’t do anything on Yomoji-san’s level.”

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Yeah, the super major league is on another level altogether.”

But anyway…

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“So that’s why the club head is out boiling water?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“I’m a second year head, right? The tradition is for the head to let the younger members have Comiket and I decided to go along with that and focus on the behind-the-scenes stuff.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“So it’s the underclassmen in there?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“During this busy period, there’s no cooking allowed in the clubroom. If the manuscripts get damp, it can hurt morale and sometimes even leave visible stains.”

Touto removed the wrapping from the other ramen cups too. She must have been preparing food for the entire club.

And all of a sudden…

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“We’re having a quick meeting of the gods in the courtyard this evening.”

[[Image:godless_beset_awate.png|50px]]

“Wait, really?”

●

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“Really.”

Touto looked at the box of cup ramen and thought.

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

…''Where should I dispose of the yakisoba water?

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“Oh, I can use that for my ramen water.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“That water would come with a lot of oil, making it super high calorie.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“I run track.”

“Fair enough,” decided Touto. The way Seito had realized what she was thinking was very much a Seito thing. She got right to it without having to ask first.

''Funto-kun must have a hard time keeping certain things from her,'' thought Touto.

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“To answer your initial question, if whoever’s causing the flooding knew they were doing it, I think they would have turned themselves in already.”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“What makes you think that?”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“If they were doing it maliciously, there are better ways they could have done it. And if they couldn’t control it themselves, they would have come forward to get help. The only other option I can think of is that they find all the chaos amusing, but…”

[[Image:godless_beset.png|50px]]

“But if it was that, they would show up to see our reactions or release a statement.”

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“The Shinto representative has asked all the creator gods and water gods in Tachikawa to attend tonight’s meeting of the gods. A pigeon arrived to inform me earlier.”

So…

[[Image:godless_TJ.png|50px]]

“There should be some excitement this evening.”

●

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“So what’s this meeting of the gods?”

I was in the library for the first time in what felt like forever. After returning from the terraforming, Senpai and I came here to research what kind of building we should make our base.

That said, I didn’t know a thing about architecture and, because Senpai could only make a shrine out of rock, it had to be modeled after a shrine.

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“I don’t even know where to begin understanding the structure and function of another kind of building to create it.”

And so we were looking through the books with some advice from Scare-senpai.

[[Image:godless_scare.png|50px]]

“Instead of learning architectural techniques, I would recommend contacting gods from different mythologies and learning what kinds of buildings they use. History resources will have diagrams of the cities and structures from different parts of the world in different eras, so you can start learning from there.”

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“I-I see! Thank you so much!”

And so we were checking through those resources, choosing ones even I could understand, and loading them in a cart when that topic came up.

Pigeon-senpai overheard Scare-senpai talking about it with Librarian-senpai via Revelation Board and she told me about it.

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“So what is a meeting of the gods?”

●

Bilgamesh had a knowledge of architecture, so Kidou was accompanying him to assist the human. Kidou had known Shamhat was spending a lot of time in the library, but…

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“So is it a limited meeting of the gods?”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Limited!? Like limited to only the ones with big boobs!? But then they’re excluding Kuwajiri!”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Part of me hopes the idiot shouting in the library will be crushed to death between the pages of a book, but another part wants him to live because that’s less work for me.”

[[Image:godless_kido_awate.png|50px]]

“Th-that sounds like a complicated feeling.”

Shamhat laughed quietly at this exchange. She looked to Scarecrow and…

[[Image:godless_pigeon.png|50px]]

“May I say something?”

[[Image:godless_scare.png|50px]]

“Well, Omokane-san isn’t here, so that should be fine.”

[[Image:godless_pigeon.png|50px]]

“Then,” said Shamhat, spreading her arms a bit. “It’s limited to creation gods and mother earth goddesses.”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Eh!? So only Yomoji and busty gods are allowed!?”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“I think you’re narrowing it down too much there.”

[[Image:godless_pigeon.png|50px]]

“Shinto will be in attendance. Along with Norse, Egyptian, and…”

Shamhat looked to one of the gods here: Kido.

But when Kido noticed, she gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“I will not be taking part. Because I am not a mother earth goddess.”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Hm? I thought your Api was one.”

“Right,” agreed Kidou. This felt like violating her privacy a bit, but they were on the same side here. So she had gathered what information she could on Api. And…

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“Herodotus of Greece said you were the Scythian mother earth goddess.”

[[Image:godless_kido_awate.png|50px]]

“I want to just say ‘oh, dear’, but this is hard to explain.”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“I think I understand. People make similar misunderstandings about us.”

The knowledge god stepped away from the bookcase and turned to look at Kidou.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“That is the view of history’s winners.”

●

Kidou saw the human react to the knowledge god’s statement.

The idiot struck a pose up on his toes and…

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“A view only allowed for the winners, you say!? So like after I win a game and get to stare at the loser’s big boobs or look up at them from a low angle!? But why would I need to be a winner!? I do it all the time! Yes, there are no winners or losers here – it all began with Senpai, me, and a universal love of big boobs! Senpai! Purify my eyes for me later, okay!?”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“If the Tachikawa police station were functioning, I would call them right this instant.”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Oh!? Oh!? What’s that!? You can’t control me without going to the cops!?”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Because the Japanese police won’t give me more work to do like some others would.”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“In my era, they would interrogate you. And when you went too far, they’d punish you.”

[[Image:godless_scarecrow_awate.png|50px]]

“Isn’t there a problem when going too far is a ‘when’ and not an ‘if’?”

Probably so. But then another idiot reacted.

[[Image:godless_pigeon.png|50px]]

“Wait! That might be a different kind of ‘view’!<ref>The Japanese word being used here is pronounced the same as the Japanese word for necrophilia</ref> But that’s one thing I can’t do in bed! Because I’d have to be dead first. ...Oh, I get it! They just have to go to the underworld for it! Right, Enkidu!?”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“You really need to tame your love of mastering all things sexual.”

''I’m not exactly the intellectual type myself,'' thought Kidou while asking the knowledge god a question.

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“So what is this about the view of the winners?”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Well, Greece was the conqueror of the Mediterranean, but their records are written based on their own values.”

●

Kuwajiri was a little nervous.

Because she was directly talking about Kido here.

When viewed as part of their side, she trusted Kido a fair bit. That was partially because Kido was a much better player when they played games in the clubroom, but it also helped that she was so calm and relaxed.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

…''A non-Norse god I can hold a normal conversation with is a valuable thing.

Lately, she did seem to be getting a bit out there when it came to the idiot, but she was still better than Senpai-san.

[[Image:godless_senpai_warai.png|50px]]

“Kuwajiri-san? Why did you pause and look my way?”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Cause she’s jealous of your big boobs, I’ll bet! I’m right, aren’t I!? What else could it be!?”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“I’d rather not explain, so let’s go with that.”

The idiot said something more, but Kuwajiri ignored him. For now…

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“It took a bit of interpretation for the Greeks to view Kido-senpai as a mother earth goddess. To help explain Scythian culture to Greeks, they put the Scythians gods in the place of the Greek gods. That is why they ended up referring to Kido-senpai as the Echidna and had the Scythians be born between her and Hercules. Based on that, Kido-senpai was compared to the Greek Gaia. But…”

Kido continued from there.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“I may have been the god who gave birth to the Scythians, but the Scythians had no mother earth goddess.”

●

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Eh? No earth god? What do you mean? Can you have a world without one?”

Kuwajiri-san answered Senpai-san’s question. She walked from the bookcase and with a book in hand.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“A mother earth goddess is either a goddess who gave birth to the world or a goddess of the land who is the mother of all things. This is a concept seen since ancient times and I think it likely goes back to the greatest god in the Pangaea Mythology. So this is an idea that was passed down from ancient times, but…”

She took a breath.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“There are some conditions where it fails to be passed down.”

●

Kuwajiri set her book down on a nearby table and counted on her right hand’s fingers.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“1. With a people who travel the land without a fixed home.

“2. With a people with no agriculture who do more hunting than gathering.

“3. With a people who honor death more than life.

“4. With a people who have developed their lifestyles and culture to a certain level.”

That about summed it up.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“What do you think happens when those conditions are met?”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“You get a goddess just as busty as Kido-senpai?”

''Obviously not.

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Why can’t this idiot find a way to die that won’t cause me trouble?”

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Kuwajiri-san! Kuwajiri-san! I think you got the loud part and quiet part mixed up!”

''Oops. It’s irritating how Temanko is nodding in understanding over there, but does that mean I’m narrow-minded?'' Anyway…

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Those connections are all linked. A culture that honors eating meat they have hunted over the gathering of food will treat the taking of their prey’s life as holy, so they tend to honor death more than life. This acts as a justification for hunting their prey in a negative lifestyle, so this will lead to the creation of nomadic hunters. The Scythians used horses, so they were even more mobile than most and it also increased their hunting ability. Because of this, they thought about the earth in a different way.”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Yes,” agreed Kido. “For nomadic hunters like the Scythians, the earth was not a place that provided blessings. They rode their horses to search out their own prey. And because they were always on the move, the earth was the place where they buried those who died while on the move.”

So…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“For nomadic peoples, the most important factor was the weather, which could obstruct their movement for long periods of time. And if the god of the earth is seen as a protective mother, the god of the sky is often seen as a strict father figure. Nomadic and hunting peoples tended to have sky gods rather than earth goddesses.”

“But,” she added.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“The god the Scythians worshiped most was not a sky god. It was Tabiti, the goddess of fire and beasts. In other words, of the hearth and of meat. This is actually kind of interesting.”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Is that because the weather ceased to be much of a threat once the Scythians began to make stationary settlements or developed better methods of transportation and portable homes?”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“It’s hard to say. Food gods are always popular. As for me…”

[[Image:godless_senpai.png|50px]]

“You were the god of the water sources and watering holes that had to be very important for a nomadic people, right?”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Yes. The Scythians eventually settled down north of the Black Sea, but they already had us – their gods – by that point. The Scythians didn’t have much thanks for the earth and I was a god of watering holes, so it was nothing but Greek haughtiness about their own worldview that led them to interpret me as a mother earth goddess.”

[[Image:godless_pigeon.png|50px]]

“The hotty-ness of their necrophilic view.”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“You’re getting a talking to later, okay?”

Then Balancer appeared.

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<Different interpretations of mythologies based on cultural worldviews is a very interesting topic.>

●

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<Kido, do you mind if I add some thoughts?>

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“If it is about the time difference between different Scythian settlements, I haven’t covered that yet, so feel free.”

When I said that, Balancer shook their screen a bit. That was probably meant as a nod. And…

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<The Scythians settled north of the Black Sea and became a threat to Greece and other regions, but they had actually already failed once when trying to settle.>

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Why? Was the land bad?”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“No, it wasn’t. Scythian society was too weak.”

What did that mean?

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“So like they flunked social studies but got a perfect score in health?”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Human-senpai, health scores include the practical lessons in gym, so getting a perfect score would be difficult.”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“You’re a sharp one, Temanko! But I’ll get 200% in the pure health part, so it averages out!”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Kido-senpai, please say something.”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“His enthusiasm is inspiring.”

[[Image:godless_senpai_warai.png|50px]]

“Isn’t it!?”

Kuwajiri-san stared at me with a look of utter disbelief, but I chose not to let it bother me. And anyway…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“The Scythians first destroyed the forces living north of the Black Sea, but they didn’t attack the Greece region and instead invaded the Egypt region from there. This gave them a large area of control,  including southeast of the Black Sea, east of there, the Caucasus, and West Asia. From there, the Scythians became more of a West Asian state than a Black Sea one.”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“What’re the Caucasus? Something like Coca-Cola? …Hey, what’s that look for, Kuwajiri!? Okay, yeah, I knew that one wasn’t very good, but you can’t just abandon a joke midway through! Then it’s all over for you! Don’t you get that!?”

I did not get it at all. But anyway…

[[Image:godless_kido_awate.png|50px]]

“Um, the Caucasus are a region located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to the east. West Asia is a vast region continuing south from there.”

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Um, um, so where exactly is West Asia? When people mention Asia, I think of China and that area, but what is West Asia?”

She seemed to be missing some important information. And at times like this…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Excuse me. God of learning?”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Yes, this would be a job for me.”

●

Tenma expanded a Revelation Board. It displayed everything from Japan and the east end of Eurasia to the beginnings of the Mediterranean Sea to the west. That meant the map had the Black Sea on the far west end, but…

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“This includes a lot to the south too. It only just barely leaves out Australia.”

With such a large map, she decided to expand the Revelation Board nearly up to the ceiling.

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“The area with Russia to the north, Japan to the east, Indonesia to the south, and south of the Black Sea to the west, is broadly referred to as Asia.”

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Isn’t that a really big area!?”

''Shouldn’t you have learned this in middle school?'' But come to think of it…

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

…''The terraforming lead may not have completed her compulsory education…

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“Y-you just looked at me and thought something negative, didn’t you!? I can just tell!”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“No, to me it is a positive thing. A student in need of education is a wonderful thing. With a generous enough offering, I will purify all difficulties standing in the way of your learning.”

She made sure to advertise. That was important.

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Now, let’s get this over with quick since it’s not directly related to Scythian history. This is the entirety of Asia, which can also be called Asia Major. It of course can be divided into smaller parts.”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“So like the sirloin, the fillet, or the roe!”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“––––––”

The Scythian representative was a little too easy to make laugh.

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“Our region is in there too. What division does it fall under?”

[[Image:Godless_3A_p165.jpg|thumb]]

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Thank you for responding normally. For the division, let’s start by looking at the Caspian Sea. From east of the Black Sea, continuing on east past the Caspian Sea, and to the western end of China is called Central Asia.”

And now the rest was simple enough.

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Let’s go clockwise.

“North of central Asia and spreading out to the east and west is North Asia, which mostly includes Russia.

“South of North Asia and east of Central Asia is East Asia, which includes China and Japan.

“West from there is Southeast Asia, which includes Vietnam, Thailand, and the islands scattered across the ocean.

“Further west, continuing west from India, and following the coast to south of the Caspian Sea is South Asia.

“And the rest is…”

After Tenma split up overhead diagram, a hand went up.

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“West Asia is...there? Are you sure that’s right?”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“What do you mean?”

She did actually know, but she decided to ask regardless. Human-senpai pointed at the diagram.

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“You started at the Caspian Sea, right? And then right of- I mean east. Started to say it like this is Rastan 2. Anyway, east of the Caspian Sea is Central Asia.”

But…

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“You then went around clockwise chopping it up into north, east, southeast, and south, returning to the Caspian Sea from the south. But…”

The terraforming lead caught on there.

[[Image:godless_senpai_shinken.png|50px]]

“If ‘central’ is east of the Caspian Sea, you would think ‘West’ Asia would be to the west of it.”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Do you have a question?”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“A big one. I’m sure you know very well what that is, but west of the Caspian Sea includes the current Soviet Union, Ukraine, and Belarus. Geographically, that is narrowly defined as Eastern Europe. It isn’t Asia.”

●

“That’s right,” Tenma agreed.

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“East of the Caspian Sea is Central Asia. South of it is South Asia, but West Asia is not across the Caspian Sea to the west,” she said. “West Asia is the region covering the southern Caucasus found between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea as well as the Arabian Peninsula.”

She split the diagram as she explained this. Looking at the map…

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Now, technically speaking, there is not land ‘due west’ of there. It is west of South Asia, but the shape of the Arabian Peninsula causes it to jut out further south than some of South Asia. So in a way, Southwest Asia seems like a more accurate name.”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“Why are they named after the cardinal directions and center when they don’t form a circular shape?”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Because this is all from Europe’s point of view. The word Asia originally referred to ‘the east’ from the perspective of the Greeks and Romans.”

Meaning…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“When looking east from Greece, they called the area directly across the Caspian Sea from them Central Asia. And then divided out the areas north, southeast, and south from there.”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“Correct. And not to take the Scythian representative’s topic away, but after the Scythians ransacked the north coast of the Black Sea, they attacked and conquered West Asia.”

●

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

…''We really got off topic there.

That was Kido’s view. But she thought this would make it easier to talk about the different regions when explaining what happened at the eastern end of Europe. And…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“To continue, the Scythians conquered West Asia, but they had no real country. They were equestrian nomads, so they could not create the kind of political structure needed to rule a stationary country. So as they continued to plunder their conquered lands, they were eventually betrayed, rebelled against, and forced to retreat. They returned to the northern coast of the Black Sea.”

Now, what did it mean that they went out and then had to return?

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Yes, after returning, they made sure to learn a variety of things. They received instruction from the forces that joined them and created a Scythian settlement. They built up a powerful allied state.”

But…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Scythian culture mixed with Greek and other cultures while all this happened. War gods like Ares were quite popular and worshiped across the land. But…”

But…

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Herodotus and others explained us using the Greek gods, but that allowed us to survive without being taken over.”

“Oh,” said Douhai-san.

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“So replacing you like that was condescending, but it also allowed Scythian culture to live on in some way?”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Right. The resettlement most likely happened around 600 BCE. Herodotus was born around 480 BCE, so when he wrote his records, the resettlement would have been continuing for 150 years. And yet we remained.”

That was something to be proud of.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“The Scythians did not have a mother earth goddess. Even with so much Greek influence, they still had a unique culture. So…”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“But the Greeks were ultimately the historical winners, so they only left behind records that applied you to their framework.”

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“U-um, you mean…?”

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<Yes. In modern times, most mythologies are spoken of from a European view of history and religion. It was the Greeks who made Kido into a Scythian mother earth goddess, but the Scythians saw her as a water god. The former interpretation might be easier to understand, but that was actually the result of a difference in worldview. If you do not keep this possibility in mind, you can end up accepting another country’s view of the mythology instead of the view held by the mythology’s own people.>

Balancer looked to Izumi.

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<nowiki><I</nowiki> want you to understand that, idiot.>

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Y-you’re not even trying to help me understand it, are you!?”

●

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<Shut up. ...Listen, ape. You need to be cautious, or as cautious as an ape can be. Because unlike Senpai-san, Kido, the Norse gods, Yomoji, and the others, the mythology you can truly call your own no longer exists. Most of the other mythologies here in the Divine World’s Tachikawa are here to help with the Shinto terraforming, but they cannot directly interfere.>

“That’s right,” I said.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Izumi? The only people you and Douhai-san can truly think of as allies are the members of the game club.”

[[Image:godless_ki.png|50px]]

“Oh, you’re including us.”

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Could you turn on us at this point?”

[[Image:godless_gil.png|50px]]

“We are inspectors, so if we did do that, it would mean the Mesopotamian leadership had fully collapsed.”

Then there was no problem.

[[Image:godless_kido.png|50px]]

“Izumi? And Douhai-san too. With my arrival, the game club has all its members, but that means you will now only be meeting ‘away’ mythologies. When dealing with them, it is dangerous to not consider what point of view they are working from.”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Hey! Balancer! Kido-senpai found a really simple explanation and I get it now, but since you’re here, can you explain this using big boobs?”

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<She is saying you might encounter some flat chests in the future, ape.>

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“What the hell!? Who knew you could actually do it!? Okay! Keep it up!

[[Image:godless_balancer.png|50px]]

<span style="font-size:200%">'''<Absolutely not.>'''</span>

[[Image:godless_senpai_awate.png|50px]]

“S-sorry, but it’s that side of him that gives me lots of worship.”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“So does this mean I’m an enemy?”

[[Image:godless_boku.png|50px]]

“Don’t worry, Kuwajiri! Your boss is Shifu-senpai who has a big boobs rating of ‘great’, so you’re on our side through her! We could even say you have honorary big boobs!”

[[Image:godless_tenma.png|50px]]

“I hate that his logic holds up there.”

[[Image:godless_kuwajiri.png|50px]]

“Just drop it.”

I couldn’t agree more.

<noinclude>
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