On a Godless Planet:Volume2A Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Zoom![edit]
–Hey! Hey! You there! Look this way!
●
“…”
What am I even supposed to say? was Kido’s honest thought while accepting a paper cup of coffee.
She had most likely come here to say goodbye.
“Most likely” because she didn’t know what was happening in this divine world.
…But my general response would be to say goodbye.
Saying she had forgotten something here was only an excuse. She had wanted to say goodbye to the people she had helped and had helped her. Calling that something I forgot is going a bit too far, isn’t it? But…
…I did not expect Izumi to barge in!
●
“Wow! Wow! Thank you so much for taking time out of your summer break to visit us, busty upperclassman! Every ounce of my big boobs worship goes to Senpai, so I can’t actually worship you, but please let me do what I can as part of my more generalized big boobs worship! Oh, I’ll occasionally stare at your chest, but I’m only looking at your boobs, so don’t get the wrong idea! Just so you know, the only thing in my mind then will be ‘they’re so big!’ Now, take a seat! Hey, Kuwajiri! Get this lady a beer! Do you really not have any!?”
“We do have coffee if you want it.”
“N-no need!”
“Kido-san, we’re doing our club activities, so feel free to join us for a bit.”
“N-no, um, I…”
Eshtar suddenly turned her way with a big smile. She was holding a bag of Caramel Corn.
“Open this!”
●
“Yeah, those bags are surprisingly tough to get open.”
“If you only open the top to eat it yourself, you run into problems later because the bag is so deep and the opening so narrow.”
“Oh, I use chopsticks for that. They’re handy for a lot of snacks.”
“Chopsticks, huh? I was thinking of learning to use those, so maybe I should start practicing.”
“Wow! Will Senpai ever stop proving she’s the best!? Imagining you getting your hand all covered in snack dust and then pouring the last bit into your mouth would be a wonderfully wild departure from your normal behavior, but at the same time I didn’t want to imagine you were on the same level as Mucho! But you’ve saved me from that dilemma with the genius move of using chopsticks!”
“It does sound like a good i- hey, wait! I don’t pour the last bit into my mouth!”
“Really?”
“Yup! It had never occurred to me, so I’m definitely trying it out next time! I’d always hated having to throw the bag away with some left at the bottom!”
“So does that count as not wasting food or being uncivilized?”
“I am so sorry.”
●
After Kido neatly opened the back of the bag and handed it back, the high-level 5th Generation god smiled at her.
“Thanks!”
“You’re welcome. But…”
She looked in front of her. The board game was already set up, probably for the second round.
“Now that we’ve got more players, we can have the couples play as teams and pair the others up however works. Kido-chan can be with-”
“I’m fine playing on my own.”
“Okay, okay. Then let’s go like that.”
Kido listened to the Shifu-san while Izumi scooted his chair closer to his god. They viewed their payment cards and then looked to the board.
They work well together, she noted.
●
“U-um, we’re going to choose not to assassinate anyone!”
“Yeah, that is one playstyle.”
“Right. It should help balance out what we saw in the last game.”
“Because we have a serial killer among us.”
“Excuse me?”
“One god makes an assassination the instant two agents land on the same space.”
“A-and what’s wrong with that!? I won, didn’t I!?”
“A great example of how not worrying about appearances gives you an edge.”
“Right, right. Baaaack in my day, one of myyyy bottom-level memberrrrs turned on me, so I went straight to a caaaataclysm on the first turn.”
“Wow, Yomoji-chan. You basically are the rules, aren’t you!?”
●
Bilgamesh focused on this newcomer who wasn’t actually new. But he did not look directly at her. He kept her in the corner of his vision while he viewed the game board.
He noticed her watching the human.
…Mh.
The human and the lifespan god were discussing how to use their funds in the game and his eyes were clearly on her chest. But he was a big boobs worshiper, so maybe that was fine. It was normal for him, anyway.
But as for the goddess named Kido…
“…”
He thought she laughed quietly.
In relief, it seemed.
Had something about the human and the lifespan god put her mind at ease? Also…
…She’s injured?
She had a healing spell bandage wrapped around her right hand. And he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“––––––”
His superior had good intuition. She likely had her own thoughts on the matter. The Norse gods had probably noticed as well.
But what did the smile and the injury mean? He didn’t know anything for sure.
“I order the red agent to assassinate the blue agent.”
“The serial killer strikes again!”
●
The result of the game caused quite an uproar.
And it ended unexpectedly quickly, so we played several more rounds. But…
“Yay! We got 2nd place overall! Senpai, your pacifism is a winning strategy!”
“Thank you very much. Although I think it was really the others self-destructing.”
“Yeah, we were too focused on too many things, so we never really made a move to win. I wish there was some kind of boost item we could use.”
“We were always so busy fending off the serial killer our funds were drained.”
Kuwajiri, who had been dead last the previous time they played this, had unexpectedly made it to 3rd place on a team with the club head.
“This was the second time and we played several rounds, so I had all of your payment patterns analyzed by the end.”
“Doooon’t forget my top-tierrrr reads.”
And to the surprise of almost no one…
“Wait, how did I end up in last place!?”
“What country is stupid enough to spend all their money on assassinations?”
“Do you even know what the aim of the game is?”
“I am so sorry.”
But that meant the overall winner was of course…
“Hee hee. Even I can win a fair amount if the game doesn’t involve luck.”
●
Kuwajiri once more recognized Kido as a threat.
“To be blunt, I’ve never once beaten Kido-senpai in a game that doesn’t use dice or a roulette. And I struggle against her in roll-and-move games like Monopoly that don’t involve the luck of a roulette.”
“But my results plummet once luck is a factor.”
“I would be a poor excuse for a knowledge god if I decided to rely on luck.”
She really did think that.
Knowledge could not be shaken by luck. Even if its contents were unknown, it existed in a solid form. That was how information worked, so…
“Kido-senpai is a threat to a knowledge god who gathers information and uses it to accurately guide people.”
“This isn’t anything so serious, Kuwajiri-san.”
“But Kido-chan isn’t the type to attack us in a game.”
“I just prefer spending my turns advancing my own position rather than hindering my opponents. If a game had a separate turn specifically for attacking, I would use it.”
“I can tell she’s strong.”
“Really!? Take that, Kuwajiri! You’re finally getting your juiced desserts for all your days of looking down on me! How does it feel!?”
Kuwajiri responded with a snort of laughter.
“I feel fine since apparently my just deserts only come in the form of losing board games. Why should I care if it doesn’t affect my real life?”
“Oh, yeah!? Wanna try it!? You don’t know how much of a nuisance I can be! Your real life is about to get affected like you wouldn’t believe!”
“Sumeragi, you really are a nuisance when you get in Spelunker mode. Try not to fall from any high places this time.”
“What is Spelunker mode?”
“You didn’t see the records for that one? That was when he rollbacked several times consecutively.”
●
Shifu saw Kido’s expression change.
…Oh, was that the wrong thing to say?
But Kido was a decent enough goddess. Maybe that was why she managed to blank her expression before responding.
“You.”
She spoke to Senpai-chan.
“Izumi is going to lose so much if you don’t do a better job. I know I am not one to talk, but do keep that in mind.”
“O-okay! I-I’ll be more careful!”
Senpai-chan was being very respectful.
“Huh? Does Senpai-chan know what kind of god Kido-chan is?”
“I believe she knows her role in the terraforming, but she does not know her identity. And I don’t think Kido-senpai knows what kind of god Senpai-san is. She may have seen the records, but her Iwanaga identity is generally kept a secret.”
“Yeah, but I know Hatoko-chan is telling people outside. Kido-chan might have heard from her.”
How would Kido-chan react if she knew? wondered Shifu, but knowing Kido-chan, it wouldn’t change a thing.
Kido-chan’s warning was accurate, if harsh. Because due to Senpai-chan’s temperament, she and Sumeragi-chan were more or less supporting each other.
So…
“No, you can’t blame Senpai for that! I’m the one who keeps rolling back, so it’s my responsibility!”
●
Shifu saw Kido’s expression change.
…Oh, was that the wrong thing to say?
She had a reason for thinking that again. But more than that…
“––––––”
Kido-chan fell silent too briefly for anyone to notice.
She said nothing. She didn’t react. But that was a reaction in and of itself.
She was blanking her expression to hide something. And then…
“…I see.”
She nodded like she was accepting something. And she smiled.
“If that’s the way you see it, so be it.”
●
Oh, this isn’t good, thought Ki.
She didn’t know this goddess seated diagonally from her. But she had the vibes of a fairly high level or “strong” goddess. She likely had a decent Divine Rank. But…
…That was a bad move.
The human had defended his god. That was perfectly fine. And his repeated rollbacks had in fact been the result of his weakness.
A god in that situation could have gotten out of it without rolling back.
But that wasn’t the point for this goddess called Kido.
She couldn’t write off the human’s rollbacks as “well, he is only human”. So…
…Was she saying to protect the human?
Ki wasn’t sure. But she could tell that goddess was worried about that idiot. That was why she felt anger over his rollbacks and had given a warning to limit that in the future.
But why had Kido suppressed her feelings just now?
…There’s only one possible reason.
The human worshipped the goddess that Kido wanted to caution.
So she had suppressed her feelings.
She had suppressed her anger so as not to upset the human. But…
“–––––––”
The human had still defended his goddess.
●
This was a tricky one.
That was Ki’s opinion. She had once had a misunderstanding like this with Bilgamesh and they had even become enemies at one point.
She had known it would be easier to apologize, but it had been so hard to find the chance.
…This is the same.
Kido had encountered a misunderstanding with the human she cared for.
She was trying to keep him from harm because she cared, but she had only hurt herself in the process.
She had smiled and let it slide, but…
“–––––––”
Ki wanted to say that was wrong. Maybe this was none of her business, but that was exactly why she needed to speak up now. She knew how painful it was to for a misunderstanding to remain unresolved. And this Kido goddess had said she would soon be heading back home. So…
“Hey.”
Just as she was about to speak up, she felt a light tap on her side.
“–––––––”
Bilgamesh was responsible. He had stopped her. And just as she wondered why…
“…is what I thought at first! But when I thought about it more, I realized that’s not it, Kido-senpai!”
●
Kido had no idea what he had just said.
“Hwuh!?”
That’s not it?
What’s not what?
…Eh?
To be honest, that really got me down. I’m not naïve enough to believe my intentions will always get through, but to have them taken the completely wrong way still hurts.
So what could I do but suppress my emotions and pretend they don’t exist?
I had to suppress my anger and irritation. That way I could pretend the pain of being misinterpreted doesn’t exist either.
Because that is the only way to protect myself.
So that was what she had done. And yet…
“Listen up, Kido-senpai! I swear on your big boobs I mean every word of this!”
“Eh? U-um, go ahead?”
“That multi-rollback Spelunker mode was because Mucho messed with my settings! So, Kido-senpai! Senpai and I are both innocent! If something about this pissed you off, make sure you take it out on Mucho!”
“Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Don’t blame everything on me!”
<Do you think you have any room to complain after all the trouble you caused?>
“So anyway,” said Shifu-san with a sigh. “The point is that was an unprecedented situation. But if you ask me, it wouldn’t have happened if you had been there, Kido-chan.”
●
Kido sighed.
“–––––––”
She understood now that her intentions had been understood.
What had Izumi been thinking when he said that? She didn’t know it was only coincidence or if he had decided he needed to say it because it was the truth. But…
“Honestly.”
The pain inside me is gone.
She no longer felt the need to blame anyone, which probably meant there had never been a need. And…
…Izumi.
You defended the person you most care for and then you still had it in you to show concern for me.
I don’t know what this business with Eshtar is, though.
Regardless, she knew she had to say something. So…
“Honestly,” she said. “It was careless of me to speak without checking the records first. But…”
But…
“Nothing would please me more than for there to be no issue.”
●
I saw a tear fall from Kido-senpai’s eye as she said that.
And a moment later…
“You made her cry!!”
“Eh!? Wh-who did!? Is there some invisible person here who made Kido-senpai cry!?”
“It was you! You! Who else would I mean!?”
“That makes two.”
“A-and I was the first!”
I loved the way Senpai made sure everyone knew that! But while I didn’t quite understand it all…
“I know I’ve increased my emotional conversation skills, but I didn’t think it was enough to bring tears to people’s eyes.”
“If the skill levels up the more you use it like in FF2, you talk so much you’d have it maxed out in no time.”
“Which would mean it’s time to throw it out and start over again.”
We both agreed on that point, but then I slapped my own cheek. That wasn’t it. That wasn’t it at all. But, um…
“Kido-senpai, are you alright?”
She wiped the tears away with a composed expression.
“These are not tears of sorrow, anger, or frustration. But…”
But…
“I am relieved. I am glad I do not need to criticize anyone – including myself – over what has happened.”
●
“Now,” said Kido.
I need to change the subject, she decided. So…
“What now? Should we play another game?”
She would leave after they finished that. And she would prepare for the return home. But while she considered that…
“–––––––”
Shifu-san and Raidou-san exchanged a glance. Raidou-san then nodded and…
“Kido, do you have 3000 yen on you?”
“Wh-why do you ask?”
“A club fee! Think of it like a club fee!”
“Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of a Shinto goddess! I mean you, Senpai”
Does he know that sounds like a threat? wondered Kido, but Douhai-san was looking the other way, her shoulders trembling.
I think I know what that’s about, so I should send her a Revelation Board.
●
“That was really cute of Izumi, wasn’t it?”
“Um, yes! It was! It really was! S-sorry. It caught me off guard, so it filled my gauge too fast!”
Am I supposed to know what that means?
●
At any rate, Kido pulled 3000 yen from her wallet and handed it over the table to Shifu-san.
Izumi stared at her chest and drew mountainlike curves in the air with his hands, but she decided it interpret that as part of his worship. I really don’t think you need to draw the same curves below your chest, Douhai-san.
“Senpai! Kido-senpai’s are bigger than yours, but don’t worry! My big boobs worship was imprinted on your boobs as deeply as a baby duck on whatever it thinks is its mother!”
“Th-thank you?”
“If size was all it took, he’d be worshiping me.”
“Verrrry logical.”
“Does logic mean something different here?”
But she had paid her club fee. 3000 yen. She saw it as a goodbye gift.
Then Raidou-san spoke up.
“Okay, Kido has paid her fee for the summer club camp, so now we need to decide where to go.”
“Excuse me!?”
●
“W-wait. What are you talking about!?”
“Well, Kido. Before you showed up, we were discussing where to go for our club camp.”
“No, no, no, no. You just made that up!”
“Nope. We were, weren’t we, Sumeragi-chaaan?”
“Yup! I said I wanted to go somewhere I could see Senpai in a swimsuit! For some splashy fun.”
“Splashy?”
“The splashiest!! So I say we go to the beach or the river and have fun! Then we can start some terraforming on site for no real reason! How does that sound!?”
“When you put it like that…”
“No, wait! I can’t do that!!”
●
“Is she easily pressured into things?”
“It’s more that she’s a super nice person. The nicest god you’ll ever meet.”
“But I think now’s the time to stop pressuring her.”
●
“In that case,” I said. “How about we go swimming, Sumeragi-kun?”
“Eh!? For real!? Yes! Yes! And another yes! If I get to see you in your swimsuit in the great outdoors, I’ll dig a hole in the riverside or beach and prostrate at the bottom! If you crouch at the edge of the hole to look down, I’ll smoothly shift into a back prostration!”
“Kido-chaaan?”
“––––––”
Kido-san took a slow, deep breath. And…
“F-fine, I’ll go! Satisfied now!?”
●
Kido knew she had been set up.
She was sighing over that when Yomoji-san spoke up.
“Kido-kuuuun?”
“Yes?”
“Woulllldn’t you preferrrr to have fuuuun?”
“…”
“This isn’t about that.”
“But,” she asked. “You haven’t decided where to go yet, have you? So where will it be?”
●
I raised my hand.
“It’s summer and swimsuits are a must, so the beach?”
“I don’t think that would work.”
“Huh? How would it not work, Kuwajiri? Oh, I get it! The summer sun would reduce your alcohol content! …Boy, can you ever glare! Some people out there are into that, you know? That’s a free tip for you!”
“Shut up.”
Kuwajiri began to ignore me and raised her hand.
“All of the hotels will be full at any summer retreat or entertainment destination.”
“Really? Even in this highly developed world?”
“Maybe not in the world as a whole, but Tachikawa is in Tokyo, which makes things difficult.”
●
Kuwajiri opened a map of Tokyo and the surrounding areas. She felt like they had touched on this topic before, but…
“Tokyo does not have any beaches.”
“Even with Tokyo Bay?”
<During the rapid economic growth of the 1960s, the beaches were built over and the ocean was polluted. Policies were implemented in the 80s to improve the water quality, but the effects of the initial phase only prevented the pollution from getting worse and that remains the case in the 90s. Tokyo’s ocean water only recovers enough for swimming in the 2010s, meaning it took half a century to recover from the pollution.>
“That is a long time…”
“My point is,” said Kuwajiri. “If we want to swim in the ocean, we have to travel all the way to Kanagawa, Shizuoka, or Chiba. If we do that, the transportation becomes a problem.”
“There aren’t any train lines going straight to the beach?”
“Correct,” replied Kuwajiri. “And that is true for Chiba, Kanagawa, or Shizuoka. For example, if we were planning to visit a Shonan beach, we would have to take the Nambu Line from Tachikawa to Musashi-Kosugi and then transfer to the Tokaido Line.”
<You could also take the Chuo Main Line from Tachikawa to Hachioji and then transfer to the Yokohama Line. But either way, it would take some time.>
“If we consider this a club camp, we can afford some travel time. The question is whether or not we can find somewhere to stay the night.”
Raidou was right. But the problem there was evident from what they had already explained.
“So anyone in Tokyo who wants to go to the beach has to take a long trip to Chiba or Kanagawa?”
“Correct. That makes daytrips a challenge, so a lot of people opt to spend the night. However, that adds the visitors from Tokyo to the local population, so finding a vacancy at this point would be difficult.”
<Japan was enjoying a national outdoors boom in the 90s, so the demand for beach trips was even higher than normal. Four-wheel drive vehicles capable of off-roading sold like hotcakes, so the people who didn’t want to bother with taking the train both ways would drive to the location and, if the beach was too crowded, visit a nearby mountain instead.>
“Anywayyyy, it sounds like the beeeeach isn’t an option.”
Yomoji was the club head, so that settled that.
“Then,” said Shifu. “Let’s forget about the beach and come up with some other options before next time. How does that sound?”
“N-next time?”
“That’s right.” Shifu nodded and turned to Balancer. “Now, how about we do some terraforming? It’s been a while.”
●
Kido realized that question was actually meant for her.
She was clearly being dragged into this terraforming. So she felt a need to show a little resistance.
“My cooperation with Shinto has nothing to do with the terraforming.”
“That’s true for us too. We’re not directly involved in the terraforming, but we can still provide advice and protection.”
“It’s allll about doing whateeeever you can.”
“Although Shinsei can barely help at all since he can do anything.”
“Yes, he’s really more of a stopper or insurance in case something major happens.”
I see, Kido sighed. And…
“Th-thanks for joining us!”
“…”
She nodded.
“Very well. I can accompany you just to observe.”
●
While I watched, the first to “disappear” were Raidou-senpai, Apology Man, Mucho, and the Busty Mesopotamian.
Oh, we’re going to “reality” again, I thought while Shifu-senpai said something.
“We send the physical gods in first to make sure things are safe over there. Senpai-chan and Sumeragi-chan are sent last.”
“Understood. I am ready when you are.”
With that, Kido-senpai disappeared along with Kuwajiri and the club head.
“Now, then.”
Shifu-senpai opened a Revelation Board and exchanged a glance with Balancer.
“Senpai-chan, Sumeragi-chan? Do either of you have any questions about Kido-chan? Oh, but this isn’t the time for complaints or backbiting. I accept you have a right to say things like that, but don’t expect me to agree with you.”
“Kido-senpai seems like a nice person and I don’t like talking behind people’s backs either, so I’m fine with skipping all that.”
<Is that why this ape openly says things he should really keep to himself?>
“I also think Kido-san is in the right about the things she says.”
“Senpai, you’re surprisingly pro-Kido-senpai! Is this like that phrase? Busty birds of a feather flock together? Do you two create some kind of resonance together? Oh, and that would explain why Kuwajiri isn’t here.”
“I want to kick him, but we can’t afford that kind of time loss right now.”
I didn’t want to cause trouble for a busty girl, so I settled down. And…
“Does Kido-senpai not like me?”
“It’s not that! Not at all! The opposite, really!”
“If you say so, it must be true!”
So that was true. But…
“Why would such a tall and cool busty girl start calling me by my given name like that? Did I lend the Buddha some land or money in a past life?”
“Um.” Shifu-senpai leaned back some. “Oh! You’ve completely forgotten, haven’t you!?”
●
Oh, I thought in newfound understanding. So after a bit of hesitation…
“You have met Kido-san a few times in the past.”
Sumeragi-kun responded with an obvious lack of understanding on his face. I didn’t see why he had to let his jaw drop and his eyes widen quite that far, but then I remembered that silly faces was his specialty.
“I don’t believe it… I might not worship her like I do you, but how could I forget someone with such big boobs? Is my faith that weak!?”
“D-don’t let it get to you!”
“No! I can’t let this go! My identit…iden-titties?”
“Is it that hard for you to say it normal?”
“Your identity?”
“R-right! My iden-titties! Damn, I did it again! I just can’t help myself, but I’ll practice and make sure I can say it right by tomorrow! Anyway, my ‘that word’ is at risk here!”
“Really?” Shifu-san tilted her head. “Forgetting someone with big boobs is that big an issue?”
“Yup! It threatens the word I’ll be able to say by tomorrow!”
“Until recently, didn’t you forget Senpai-chan and me every morning?”
Sumeragi-kun’s brain worked for around three seconds. And…
“Oh, yeah! Then I guess it isn’t that big a deal!”
●
“Th-that was fast! Are you alright, Sumeragi-kun!?”
“Perfectly! My brain is working 100% normally! And a self-report is the best way of knowing that’s true!”
Shifu-san rotated her index finger next to her head a few times, but where did she learn that gesture?
At any rate, I spoke to Sumeragi-kun.
“You have interacted with Kido-san in the past just like you had with me. And since she has chosen not to say anything, I will respect that decision and not tell you anything more.”
“Okay! You’re special for me, but you also ground me, so that works for me!”
“I think Kido-chan just wants to make sure you two are working well as a team, so once the terraforming starts, she’ll probably decide to leave.”
I thought so too.
“Really? I bet I knew enough to know that in the past.”
“Sumeragi-kun.”
When I called his name, he turned toward me with eyes sparkling.
“Kido-senpai might be irritated with me for my memory loss at times, but I can’t blame her for that! I just have to value the new memories I can make with her, right!?”
I thought about that and found an immediate answer.
“I think that would be best.”
“You don’t feel at all jealous, Senpai-chan? This is directing some of his resources elsewhere.”
“I-I just don’t like the position Kido-san is in right now.”
And…
“Besides, I already have dibs on Sumeragi-kun.”
Sumeragi-kun’s prostration was expected, but why did Shifu-san wordlessly instruct Balancer to transfer us?
| Back to Chapter 10 | Return to Main Page | Forward to Chapter 12 |
