On a Godless Planet:Volume3A Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Chuck Rock[edit]
–Pack your bags and head to the land of dreams (tentative).
●
TJ said “now, then” and faced Mr. V.
“What do you wanna know?”
“Why don’t you start with your motive?”
TJ thought about that.
And eventually arrived at an answer.
“Do I even have one of those?”
●
“Yeahhhh, sometimes you just want to do it for noooo reason.”
“…”
“Athena, he means in Populous. In Populous. Okay?”
“Yeah, just pretend that’s what he meant! Okay!?”
“Well, now any relief I was feeling is gone!”
●
“The thing is,” said TJ. “We’ve been really busy with Comiket. And we’re still working in the clubroom now.”
“Huh? Kuwajiri! What day is it!?”
“The 20th. Why?”
“Huh? Isn’t this year’s Comiket on the 18th and 19th?”
After a pause, Sumeragi raised his voice to a shout.
“That was yesterday and the day before yesterday! I should’ve gone!”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well,” said Sumeragi. “I didn’t know about it! Or maybe I did, but I forgot!”
●
I heard someone go “ohh…”
“…?”
I looked back to see the male guard god frantically straightening up.
“Oh, um, it’s nothing!”
“Hm? If you’ve realized something, please do tell us.”
His girlfriend lightly elbowed him in the side.
“Don’t say anything stupid, okay?”
“Do you have something to say?”
“Well, um…”
After some hesitation, she continued.
“We were just realizing how much the rollback makes him forget.”
●
This time, it was me going “ohh…”
“S-sorry. Did Sumeragi-kun forget something critically important?”
“No, there wouldn’t be anything for him to forget.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She answered my question.
“We aren’t part of your team and we don’t help Shinto with the terraforming at all. Yes.”
“Oh…that makes sense.”
“Right. So, well, even if he did forget something about us, we barely know each other. We’re basically background characters for him. It’s just…”
She paused for a second to look at him before continuing.
“He really does seem to forget a lot.”
“Then I have an idea.”
“What kind of idea? If you don’t mind saying.”
“I don’t mind.” I nodded. “I don’t forget what happens and Sumeragi-kun and I talk about all sorts of things, so even if he does forget something again, I can tell him about it.”
So…
“If there is anything you want to remember, tell Sumeragi-kun. He will probably tell me about it.”
●
“Approved!”
“Kido-chan, you’re really going full-throttle today, huh?”
●
TJ had a thought while watching that upperclassman god.
…Senpai-san is really kind.
She also seemed naive and like her good will could lead to misunderstandings, but that was all about how much distance you kept from her. And the way she asked those two to tell Sumeragi instead of telling her was her way of keeping her distance.
Maybe that intention would be understood and maybe it wouldn’t.
And after seeing that show of “distance”…
…I should be able to trust her.
TJ was a bit twisted in her own way. She had seen and learned far too much as a creator god, but speaking of learning…
“Come to think of it, doesn’t that mean anything we tell Sumeragi-shi is leaked straight to Senpai-san?”
“Yeah, that’s right! I’m a squeaky clean kinda guy who keeps no secrets from Senpai! I’m an open book to her, so she doesn’t even have to think about stalking me!”
“Douhai-san, what have you done?”
“Thank you for playing the mother-in-law role so well! But it all just kind of happened!”
What was she even talking about?
●
“Anyway,” began Raidou, his eyes on Sumeragi.
“I honestly assumed you went to Comiket this weekend, but you didn’t?”
“We had that camping trip last week, remember!? And then Kido-senpai stayed with us, so I was so excited I bought a game at Will’s Sato Musen on Friday and ended up playing it all weekend!”
“In other words, you did the same thing you always do.”
“What game did you buy?”
“I recently got a Mega Drive, but when I bought Rastan 2 before the camping trip, I was all like ‘Huh? This doesn’t feel right. Is there something wrong with me?’, so I bought Shadow Blasters to check.”
“Oh, that side-scrolling fantasy action game? How’d it go?”
“When I started playing Shadow Blasters, I was all like ‘Huh? This doesn’t feel right. Is there something wrong with me?’, but it was still possible the problem was with side-scrolling action games, so I’m waiting for XDR to be released next week.”
<Why do you insist on choosing those bizarre games?>
“D-don’t be rude! Mega Drive games are coming out regularly now, so we should rejoice at the variety available to us! I will admit it seemed like a bit much when when Shadow Blasters had a boss called Vampire Warrior and named the monk’s special attack Great Thunder.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
<The Mega Drive was released in October of 1988, but for a long while not many games were released for it. Until mid ‘89, there were months without a single game release. This stabilized in late ‘89 and now, in mid ‘90, games are being released every week or every other week.>
“In ‘89, not a single game came out in January. We live in paradise compared to that!”
“And yet only those bizarre ones come out?”
“They are not bizarrrre!”
<By the way, the famous F1 racing game Super Monaco GP came out on August 9, so why didn’t you buy that, ape?>
“Well, y’know…you can’t jump in it.”
“Jump? But there is no jumping in F1, is there?”
<A top-down game called Monaco GP was released for the SG-1000, which was the predecessor, or ancestor really, of the Mega Drive. It was supposedly based on F1, but it had bridges crossing the ocean, construction sites, dirt zones, and even the ability to make your car jump.>
“So kind of like Bump ‘n’ Jump for the DECO. I think we have Buggy Popper, the Famicom version, back in the clubroom.”
“I love going really fast to jump over the obstacles or clear a broken bridge. I still play it by attaching a Mega Cartridge to my Mega Drive.”
<So to sum up, the ape was so busy playing bizarre games he forgot to go to Comiket.>
●
TJ raised her hand in an “anyway” sort of way.
Once she had everyone’s attention, she spoke.
“So while Sumeragi-shi was gaming, we were at Makuhari Messe for Comiket. After we returned, we joined with those who had stayed in the clubroom. And while we worked, all this happened.”
So…
“You should find me on the security cameras at the train station, at Messe, and at the convenience store where I did some shopping. The automata should have seen me too. And on the way back last night, you should find evidence of my presence at Tachikawa Station and such.”
“I see. That gives you a clear alibi.”
“Then what about a motive?”
“What possible motive could I have to want it to flood after I got back from Comiket?”
“Your book didn’t sell and you wanted to get back at the world?”
“Wouldn’t I flood Makuhari Messe? And any shrines to gods of business?
“Also,” she said.
“We got a shutter spot this time, so business was booming.”
“That’s so cool!”
●
“What in the world is a shutter spot?”
“Comiket is where a ton of circles go to sell their doujinshis, but you can tell which circles are popular by where they’re positioned in the event hall. Most are on the ‘islands’ formed by rows of in the center, but the popular ones are along the walls to give people room to line up for their more popular stuff.”
“A spot by the shutters at the entrance is the best and that’s where we were.”
<For C38 at Makuhari Messe, the shutter spots were on either side of the shutters rather than blocking them.>
“So that means you weren’t left with a bunch of unsold books.”
“In fact, the flooding happened after we got back to our clubroom, so we’re basically stuck here and still haven’t had a chance to get back home.”
“Oh, that explains why you were using the shower room when we got here.”
“The plan was to celebrate at Horai south of Tachikawa Station today.”
“In that chaotic structure by the south entrance? Horai is on the second floor, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“A lot of warehouses and such were built in Tachikawa after the war, but those kind of fused with residential homes, creating a complex three-dimensional structure just outside the south entrance.”
“For some reason Kyo-Tako is in two buildings with a ramen shop in between.”
“I’d wondered if they competed with each other, but the fried rice at Sapporo Ken in between is pretty good, so Shifu and I go there every once in a while.”
“We always get some gyoza to go.”
“Is that where you get the gyoza you sometimes share with me?”
“Did we get sidetracked because of me this time?”
●
“So you have no motive. In fact, the flooding is a nuisance to you.”
“Yeah, I really want you to fix it and soon.”
“On the other hand, this flooding really is my style.”
“Hm? You mean it matches your authority well?”
“Okay, let’s just say she did it.”
“Aunt, are you getting bored?”
“So how does it match your authority?”
“The quality of the flood.”
●
TJ explained while thinking this would establish some things for later.
“The floodwaters are freshwater. And instead of a flash flood or tsunami that happens all at once, it was a gradual flooding. That’s a lot like when the Nile floods. Of course, that washes up a bunch of mud and other crud, so this isn’t exactly the same.”
“So could you cause this flooding with your authority?”
“Nope.”
The reason why was simple.
“The Nile’s flooding isn’t caused by local rain. Way upstream, deep in the jungle, it splits into the White Nile and Blue Nile. The rain that falls up there joins together and causes flooding in Egypt.”
Meaning…
“Our idea of flooding is a rise in the river’s water level with no accompanying rain. I can see why the people of Egypt assumed it was the a mysterious act of god. But this flooding is different. It has the clear cause and effect of the rain and flood.”
“Then…the quality is similar, but it’s fundamentally different?”
“That’s right. …Or to look at it in reverse, the origin doesn’t fit, but the freshwater aspect means I could probably help control the flooding later on.”
●
Mr. V nodded and turned toward Kido.
“I see no issues regarding motive, authority, or alibi.”
“Agreed. And I saw the flooding inconveniencing her this morning.”
A few of the girls nodded in agreement.
That settled it. Mr. V raised his right forearm and…
“Egyptian mythology – both Thoth here and Sokar from before – are not guilty!”
●
“I notice you didn’t go as far as calling them innocent.”
“I-I suppose a god with a past in official government work would notice that!”
“This whole inquiry seems like an official job to me.”
●
“Let’s move on then.”
Since they had gone over their assumptions at the start, the inquiry was progressing smoothly.
They had all been discussing things – so much that they sometimes nearly forgot they were trying to identify the culprit – and some others had joined in as well.
…We might be from different mythologies and of different ranks, but we can still talk like this.
This was a new discovery for Neptune who had mostly only ever interacted with the Greek gods.
Kido was probably in a similar situation. She had come to this divine world to resolve the issue related to her child, so she wouldn’t have been planning to interact with the other gods.
Things had changed.
What did it mean that this divine world was so different from the virtual manifestation location? He wasn’t sure if it meant anything at all, but…
“Well, I appreciate that we can speak so openly. Next up would be…”
“Yeah, that’d be me.”
Now here was someone he couldn’t speak openly with…
●
Demeter stepped out into the courtyard and spoke.
“Can’t you just declare me not guilty?”
“This is an inquiry, so I would appreciate it if you did this properly.”
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying I’ve done something wrong?”
Listen up.
“Not once in my life have I ever apologized to anyone for doing something wrong. Not once.”
“Aunt…To be fair, I think that comes naturally to you.”
Damn straight, thought Demeter.
“Besides, I am faultless when it comes to motive, alibi, and authority.”
“Oh? You really don’t have a motive?”
“Weren’t you listening? I was planning to visit TDL, but this rain forced me to cancel those plans. Are you trying to say I would do that to myself?”
“Yeah, if you were going to do it, you would have gone to TDL and then flooded Tachikawa to harass us.”
“…”
“Now why didn’t I think of that?”
“Aunt! Aunt! Stop saying things like that! It worries me!”
“Calm down, Athena. Even if I had planned that, it would mean I screwed up the flooding part.”
“Like you had it on a timer but set the wrong time?”
“I’m not that stupid.”
“I have a question for Athena.”
“What is it?”
“I assume Demeter uses an alarm clock to wake up in the morning. Did it wake her up this morning?”
“…”
“No comment! I invoke my right to remain silent!”
“Demeko-chaaaaaaaan.”
“Sleeping in isn’t a problem if you still arrive on time! I could have made it to Tachikawa Station if I rushed.”
●
Kido raised her hand, feeling the need to interject.
“Since I no longer have any hard feelings against her, I will say that I doubt Demeter would harass us like that.”
“Yes, see? I wouldn’t do that.”
“If she was going to do it, it would be a lot more spur of the moment and a lot more extreme and she would find some way to make sure we knew it was her. Without that, I just can’t see it being her.”
“Heyyyyyyyy! You’re not helping!”
“Also,” added Kido, ignoring Demeter’s yelling. “If you really did do it, I’m Yamanashi-ing you to TDL.”
●
Mr. V nodded after Demeter fell silent with an awkward look on her face.
“I do agree that this flooding doesn’t feel like a Demeter thing to do.”
“Grind, grind, grind…”
“Aunt! Your teeth! Stop grinding your teeth!”
Mr. V was afraid what might happen later, but he figured he would be safe with Kido here.
…Having allies is a wonderful thing!
He felt like he was forgetting the times he had fallen victim to this, but he decided to ignore that.
“As far as motive goes, I think Demeter is innocent. As for her alibi…”
“I can vouch for her.”
“You’re her niece, so I don’t think that counts.”
“We went shopping yesterday to prepare for our trip. Those cameras you were talking about before should have captured us.”
<The cameras show you buying clothes at Will.>
“I didn’t have anything wearable in my suitcase.”
“Sorry! Sorry! That’s because I squashed them with my god of war in Okutama!”
Mr. V had seen the suitcase get squashed. So…
“Balancer, about that suitcase…”
“Over there.”
Demeter pointed to a beige object to the side of the courtyard entrance.
The lacy suitcase sat next to a red one with a belt hanger that acted as a symbol. Was that one Athena’s?
<An automaton who works for me helped her buy that one. This doesn’t tell us what she was doing at night, though.>
“The suitcases are still packed for our TDL trip. Because we packed before going to bed last night.”
“Then all the evidence matches your story.”
“That just leaves her authority.”
●
Demeter raised her hand.
“I don’t have a good authority for this. I’m an earth goddess, which means I don’t operate in the phase of water.”
“You’re a harvest goddess like me, right?”
“Right. The only other thing I could control is the concept of life and death via my daughter Persephone. Long ago, that was more my main thing.”
“Also,” she said. “No one openly says it because they’re nice, but ‘anger’ too.”
●
“Really, Busty Olympus? It is true you got real mad back in Okutama.”
Kuwajiri nodded at the idiot’s comment.
Demeter was a major god, so this was something a lower level god like Kuwajiri should say instead of Shifu or Raidou.
So she did so.
“The myths occasionally depict Demeter becoming enraged and driving Olympus into famine. When her daughter Kore was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, she holed up in a cave to protest and the world really did fall into famine. Zeus had to quickly intervene.”
Also…
“Her daughter Kore, who changed her name to Persephone in the underworld, was eventually brought back, but because she had eaten the fruit of the underworld, she had to return to the underworld for three months of each year. And, well, Demeter was again furious about it and…”
“To make a long story short, you have me to thank for being able to enjoy winter sports.”
“So if a harvest god gets mad enough, she turns into a winter god!?”
“That sounds more like a cursed god.”
●
“I more or less understand, but that is quite the authority. And if the harvest in Olympus is thought to include the season itself…”
Tenma recalled this god saying she controlled life and death as well.
“You hold the fate of all the Olympus gods in your hands, don’t you?”
“Oh? Oh? Am I finally getting the respect I deserve?”
Demeter smiled bitterly and waved a hand dismissively.
“I mean, of course I do. You can effectively call me the oldest member of the Olympus gods.”
A breath.
“I guess I should discuss that to prove that my authority doesn’t include water.”
●
“Now, then.”
This was a fairly dangerous subject to discuss. That didn’t mean she could just avoid it, of course, but she did have her thoughts on the matter
…I feel like I can be open about it in this divine world.
The spread of myths could be used for mythologies to one-up each other. That didn’t happen here, probably because this divine world wasn’t in a very mythological age, but…
…Still, the human’s presence gives me a reason.
He was like a third party here. So she said it.
“You’ve probably noticed something during this discussion: we are linked at a deeper point than the simple spread of stories.”
I’m talking about…
“The 4th generation.”
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