On a Godless Planet:Volume2A Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Switch

Is it my job’s fault I can’t relax?

Or is it someone else’s fault?

●

“I may not be one to talk, but isn’t it a little soon for another inspector after Eshtar?”

Hatoko may have taken a liking to the library.

She was currently leaned over the railing to look down at the basement book storeroom.

“What do you think? As a guiding scarecrow, that is.”

“Hard to have many thoughts when I don’t know who it is.”

Her conversational partner did not get up from the chair behind the counter.

“What’s today’s tea?”

“I can make some if you want.”

“Don’t bother. I was just curious what you had ready.”

She opened two Revelation Boards: a Mesopotamian clay panel one and a Shinto torii one.

She checked a few local social media sites, but nothing was happening yet.

“It’s supposed to be the 90s, so you should avoid using so many ‘anachronistic’ technologies.”

“Revelation Boards provide divine revelation, don’t they?”

“Any idea who it is?”

“A goddess,” said Hatoko, her eyes on the motionless screens. “A strict one. Well, the Olympus gang are almost all that way, but it explains why my intel network hasn’t picked up anything.”

“Oh, dear.” Scarecrow nodded. “So you were aware of that flaw in your network?”

“You won’t last long as a prostitute without some self-awareness. We were even the first business to become philosophical.”

“Like what?”

“Seeing someone off is business. Not seeing someone off says don’t come back.”

“Well, at least you’re devoted to your work.”

“I enjoy good company, but I hate the loneliness afterwards.”

“Is that so?” Scarecrows stood up. “I’ll make some tea. In the meantime, you can search for a book that will make for good pillow talk.”

“I said not to bother.”

“And I’m free to decide it isn’t a bother.”

“I see.” Hatoko considered checking out the book storeroom downstairs. “This new inspector is powerful.”

“What makes you say that?”

“To avoid my intel gathering process, they must be a strict goddess. But what does it mean for no one else in their group to say anything either?”

There was only one real answer.

“She’s their boss. Just like Bilgamesh and Ki couldn’t talk about Eshtar because she was their boss, this inspector must be the other gods’ superior. The Olympus gang are the bigshots of the 7th generation, so I wonder who’s paying us a visit.”

●

“I wonder who’s coming.”

They arrived at Sunagawa’s Bikkuri Donkey at just past 6 PM. While their group had worked to fix the river spirits, Senpai-chan and the idiot had gone shopping with Eshita-chan, dropped the bags off at her place, and then regrouped with the others.

They were a little late, but it was still summer. The evening light shining in the window was still bright. Almost too bright.

They chose a table they could sit across from each other at and crammed eight chairs around it.

“Okay, we need a quick meeting.”

Eshita-chan opened a bag of Karamucho and the idiot reacted.

“Tiiiiiiime out, Mucho! You can’t pop open a bag of Karamucho the instant you sit down at Bikkuri Donkey! Yeah, they’re your namesake, but how bout checking the menu first!? Listen, Mucho! Bikkuri Donkey is affiliated with Koikeya!”

“Doooon’t think that’s the real issue.”

“Sorry, just a habit I’ve picked up. I’ll stop at this one bag I’ve already opened, so can we get talking?”

Shifu looked to Bilgamesh.

“I am so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for this.”

“Yeah, why do you keep apologizing!? Are you trying to give Mesopotamia a bad name!?”

“That’s you, idiot.”

Shifu worked to calm them down and Tooru spoke up while scooting forward in his seat.

“So we’re dealing with Olympus now? That’s going to be a pain on the Auth Spell and political fronts.”

“Why the political front?”

“Olympus doesn’t have many fighter gods, but they have more than enough Machiavellian and technical gods to make up for it. They push fighting to the background and increase their influence through political connections with other mythologies.”

“Their best fighter is Zeus, second best is Poseidon, and third would maybe be Ares or Athena.”

“How strong are they?”

“Hmm.”

Tooru had to think for a bit. Shifu knew what he was trying to say, but she let him handle it.

“To be honest, there’s a problem beyond simple strength there.”

“What kind of problem?”

It was Kuwajiri-chan who responded. She first gave Shifu a glance to ask permission, so Shifu curiously gestured for her to continue.

“The Olympus gods, especially the male ones, cause a lot of problems with their infidelity. The instant Zeus, Poseidon, and so on find a woman they like, they confess or even forcibly do the deed. They don’t care if that woman is a relative or even an animal.”

“So they’re into furry stuff!? That’s a major mythology for you!”

What does that have to do with it? wondered Shifu. But by that standard, I guess we’re major too.

“Anyway.” Kuwajiri-chan chose her words carefully. “Our Norse mythology has all of that too, but Olympus has a lot more of it.”

“We don’t have much room to talk either, but why do they have so much of it?”

“That comes how Greece came to be.”

Kuwajiri opened a Revelation Board and displayed a map of the Balkan Peninsula in the Mediterranean.

“I will be starting well into the past, and this will include some digressions. Because this should help give us some hints about who this inspector is.”

“Let’s hear it.”

●

Kuwajiri nodded at the superior god’s request.

“In the distant past, humanity invented many things in the lands they scattered across while migrating from Africa. For example, at around 12,000 years BCE, they had established some level of agriculture instead of relying wholly on hunting. That means they moved out into the fields and established a society that grew their villages. Bronze tools first historically appeared in Mesopotamia before 3500 BCE. And what did the appearance of bronze tools lead to?”

“Largescale war. Superior bronze weapons could defeat stone or copper.”

“Copper? Like the police who fought mobsters?”

“The metal. They used copper tools. Get it?”

“D-don’t make fun of me! I know what copper is! The 10-yen coin’s made of it.”

<It is actually made of an alloy with some tin and such in it, but it is mostly copper, yes.>

“Hold on. Wait. So after saving up a ton of 10-yen coins to buy Senpai’s CD when it comes out, I’ve turned myself into a Bronze Saint!?”

“With 1-yen coins, you would’ve been a Steel Saint.”

“Wouldn’t that be super weak to heat?”

“D-don’t destroy my dream! Oh, and I’m the Saint of the Banana Zodiac and my special move is a banana up the ass! I shout Galactic Death Enema when I use it! Anyway, just thought you’d all like to know that!”

“Sumeragi-kun! Sit! Sit!”

“Ah ha ha. You’re in trouble now, iiiidiot!”

“I don’t want to hear that form you!”

“But, Sumeragi-kun, I’m not planning to put out a CD.”

“That just means there’s something wrong with this world! Hey, Balancer! Fix it!”

<I have no intention of dignifying this ape’s insanity with a response, so please continue.>

Kuwajiri ignored the idiot and lowered her head toward Bilgamesh.

“Impressive.”

“What was?”

“The reference to copper. See, if you want to be proper…”

“Copper and proper? Are you a poet now?”

Senpai-san laughed a little, but she Kuwajiri could forgive.

●

“Anyway.” Kuwajiri continued her explanation. “When looking at the history of civilization, the proper classification puts the bronze age immediately after the stone age, but copper was actually used toward the end of the stone age. Copper is easy to process, so it was the first metal humanity used alongside stone. By 7000 BCE, they were mining it. By 6000 BCE, they had figured out how to melt it. And once they could make, proper co-…”

She just about said “proper copper tools”, but stopped when she saw the idiot’s excited gesturing.

“They could make actual copper tools.”

“You…you…you betrayed my expectations! You won’t get away with this, you monster!”

“Please stop biting the napkin while you speak.”

“Oh, you don’t like the napkin biting!? Then I won’t do that part! ‘You…you…you betrayed my expectations! You won’t get away with this, you monster!’ …That better!?”

“Die.”

That boy was like a storm she had to weather. That sounds like a song lyric, she noted while Raidou continued the discussion.

“So by melting down the copper, they could use molds to mass-produce things, right?”

“Oh, yes. That is correct. There weren’t very many people back then and there was even less equipment, so it all belonged to the royals and nobles at first. But the bronze age was not until 3500 BCE, so they had actually started mass-producing copper tools about 2500 years before that. In some areas, they had even almost fully shifted from stone to copper by around 4000 BCE, so the short period before the shift to bronze is sometimes known as the copper age.”

She addressed Bilgamesh now.

“Before, you said the creation of bronze tools led to largescale war. Then what was the result of the copper tools toward the end of the stone age?”

“That is simple enough. It created a people with superior tools who had laid the groundwork for mass-producing bronze tools once the bronze age arrived. In other words, it set the foundation for a great conqueror.”

●

Kuwajiri nodded at Bilgamesh’s response.

“Correct. Thank you. Being a bronze age civilization did not mean you could mass-produce bronze tools the instant they were invented. That breakthrough required already possessing the resources, knowledge, and personnel to pull it off.”

“Bilgamesh-san, were you the king who made that breakthrough?”

“No, Mesopotamia was already in the bronze age in my time. I was the 5th king of the Uruk city-state and my focus was on protecting my kingdom. Royal authority of the region was passed between the regional city-states, but I brought it more permanently to Uruk.”

“The kings of Uruk before Bil were known as ‘King of Uruk and Ruler of Sumer’, but Bil really did become king of it all.” Ki smiled bitterly. “And since the royal authority was passed around, it belonged to the city-state of Kish before it came to Uruk, and at around 5500 BCE, Alulim, the first king, ruled the city-state of Eridu. In our culture, he’s conceptually the oldest king. Oh, and the first half-god, half-human was created during that same period.”

“Yeah, that’s certainly a digression. But if there are so many records, why is Bil-chan the only one people see as historical? Is it cause of the ‘He who Saw the Deep’ story?”

“There is a record of the Sumerian kings known as the Sumerian King List, but before Bilgamesh, all their reigns are listed as lasting centuries or even millennia, suggesting they are only myths.”

“My reign is listed as 126 years, but other records have been used to work out a general time period for my reign. I reigned at around 2600 BCE. The historical existence of other kings in the region at around the same time have also been more or less confirmed.”

“So you were like the border between myth and reality. Another way you’re half-god and half-human.”

“Really? You mean Apology Man isn’t that important after all?”

“Just so you know, Apology- no! Sorry!”

Kuwajiri made a terrible mistake and quickly bowed in apology, but…

“Oh, I don’t mind at all! Ah ha ha! Apology Man!”

“This is mostly your fault!”

Fortunately, his boss was lenient. Shifu was also waving her hand dismissively, telling her not to worry, but Kuwajiri knew she was going to feel bad about it once she got home. She told herself to be even more careful when that idiot said things.

But anyway…

“His fame is also because cuneiform, humanity’s first writing system, was developed after the beginning of the Uruk Dynasty that he belonged to. During his reign, the writing system was standardized with around 1000 words. That is why he had a story written about him, which then spread. His records helped spread the standardized writing system.”

●

Sumeragi nodded and then clapped his hands.

“Oh, I heard a similar story in world history.”

<This is world history, idiot.>

“Nope, you lose again! It’s Mesopotamian history! And here you are all smugly saying ‘werld histerry’!”

“Regionally speaking, it’s Sumerian history, you idiots.”

<W-wait just a second! Don’t include me in this! I demand a correction!>

“And if she doesn’t correct it?”

<Then I give up. Because I am a well-made AI.>

“Then let’s go with that.”

Balancer turned their back, but she ignored it. For one, she knew what that idiot had been trying to say.

“I imagine it was similar to how the Bible helped spread the printing press during Europe’s Protestant Reformation.”

And…

“I think Bilgamesh’s story started with a historical base and was fleshed out from there. With him, it could happen nearly in real time, while the previous kings were only written about as a part of the past. That probably made it harder to tell if they were real or not.”

Do you get it?

“It is hard to confirm the existence of kings that predate writing. You might discover their tomb, but you won’t know whose tomb it is without any writing.”

“Writing kicks ass! But how can you ever figure it out without writing?”

“Later records might provide a detailed description of the tomb or the tomb might be marked with a known symbol of the king instead of with writing.”

“The Mesopotamian gods all have distinctive features and each city had its own patron deity, so that is also used in some cases.”

“I show up in those ancient records too, but under the name Inanna. Just goes to show how super important I am!”

“So a prehistoric hag is trying to show off while munching Karamucho in a Bikkuri Donkey?”

●

Kuwajiri saw Enkidu tilt her head and look to Eshtar.

“This prehistoric hag has caused us a lot of trouble.”

“S-so what!? Cute goddesses like me don’t age!”

“Is that why this lifespan goddess scares you so much?”

“…”

“Don’t worry?”

“Now I’m more scared!”

Shifu quieted everyone down, so Kuwajiri continued.

“That is why the pre-Bilgamesh kings are seen as mythical. Especially the ones from before the great flood that had such an influence on the later mythology. So…”

So…

“If you view them as a mythology, they fit in between the 4th and 5th generations. And as they settled the land that would later be known as Mesopotamia, they spread out, established city states, and finally began waging war. This continued through the copper age, but came to a swift end during the bronze age.”

Finally, she told herself.

That had been a long digression, but she was back on topic. She wrote out the historical progression on her Revelation Board, but not as a list of kings.

“Let us discuss civilization and the rise and fall of city-states.”

• The hunters and gatherers begin agriculture and move out into the fields.

↓

• They develop villages, the population grows, they begin to amass wealth.

↓

• To support the population, agriculture becomes the central focus and the villages grow into cities.

↓

• The mass-production of copper tools increases productivity. But war breaks out between cities who want each other’s wealth and authority.

That about summed it up.

“Now,” she said. “What form would the mythology take with a history like this?”

●

Kidou thought about it. She honestly had no idea why they were talking about her home when this had started out as a discussion about Greece, but…

“Oh, I think I get it.”

It finally hit her.

“This is the same, isn’t it?”

“The same as what?”

“As Greece. They developed city-states in much the same way as our Mesopotamia, didn’t they?”

“If so, what form would their mythology take?”

She’s interesting, thought Kidou. I thought she was being rude when she bowed to Bil before, but now she’s testing me.

What was the difference there?

…Is it knowledge!?

This knowledge god would readily test a god with superior divine rank.

She ignored ability and power and instead focused entirely on knowledge.

So Kidou knew she had to respond in kind.

“It’s the same pretty much everywhere. Each city-state…no, it goes back further than that. When each ancient village was established, it would have a god of its own. And as those villages grew into cities, they would ‘gather’ the gods of the other villages and towns by absorbing them, combining with them, or conquering them.”

So…

“All of those nature gods weren’t part of a single mythology to begin with. But as the villages living in each natural environment gathered through war or merging and developed into large cities, all of those gods were brought together as well.”

●

“Correct. It’s simple enough when you think about it, but during humanity’s migration from Africa, they could not have any gods associated with a specific location. They might have gods with a global scope, like a Mother Earth or a heavenly god, but they couldn’t have a local god like the god of the such-and-such river. However…”

“They gained those local gods as they settled down and created villages?”

Kuwajiri thought about Bilgamesh’s answer, but…

“Initially, the villages would only be a few families, which meant a narrow scope of lifestyles. Villages like that would not interact with many natural environments, so they could not create and manage a large number of gods.”

“True. A village by a river would probably create a river god and one by the ocean would probably create an ocean god. At first, those gods would be worshiped without even having a name. That makes them a lot like the river spirits we saw earlier or the ‘mermaid’ river spirits found in Mesopotamia, right? But over time, the people would see a ‘personality’ in the natural changes and specific incidents, so they would give those gods a name or image.” Senpai-san placed a hand on her chest. “Much like the Shinto concept of a local god with its main shrine, the god associated with the natural environment most familiar to each village would become that village’s patron deity, wouldn’t it?”

At that point, everyone gave an “oh” of realization.

“As the guardian deities were taken in through the absorption or conquering of villages, they ended up working for the guardian deity of the village taking them in.”

“Yes. Do you see now how the nature gods of the Laurasian Mythologies ended up with families and hierarchies?”

The process described here explained it.

“The lands with Laurasian Mythologies were lands with long histories of war between city-states and the like. As city-states fell, the nature gods gathered together, so the myths and the relationships between the gods point to the history of conflict between the humans. So even when there was no direct influence between different Laurasian Mythologies, they tend to follow a pattern with a similar structure and society.”

“Um, then what about the Olympus group from Greece?”

Kuwajiri nodded and called back up the original Revelation Board image of the Balkan Peninsula.

“Much like Mesopotamia, Greece had developed walled city-states as far back as 3500 BCE, during the stone age. Their villages and cities each built temples to honor their patron deities. And as they fought wars, joined together, and split apart, the Greek mythology was created. …To return to our initial discussion, do you see now what it means for their male gods to be unfaithful in the extreme? You can interpret that as the city-states of the male gods attacking and destroying the city-states of the female gods.”

And…

“The even more frightening part is that those male gods are not the most powerful figures in Greek mythology.”

A few of them responded with “eh?”, but she ignored them.

“The most powerful and frightening part of Greek mythology are its goddesses. They chased their unfaithful husbands to the depths of the earth, killed other gods after only light provocation, and, well…they are a lot.”

●

“…”

“Just when I think you’re introducing them as a good example of how a civilization develops a pantheon, you throw that one in there.”

“So the goddesses rule in the end, huh?”

“Moooonotheism makes things soooo much easier.”

“Yes, the couples in our Norse mythology honestly get along relatively well all things considered. If anything, it’s the top level of goddesses that are unfaithful, but there still aren’t as many of those stories as in other mythologies.”

“Meanwhile, our top goddess is a complete moron.”

“H-hey! I’m a goddess of victory, so I’m strong! Don’t make fun of me!”

“Oh, I think I get it. You know you can’t trust her to do anything, so the rest of the gods work hard to ensure her victory?”

“I am so sorry.”

“In Shinto, my sister’s husband suspected her pregnancy was the result of infidelity, so she set fire to the delivery room while she gave birth to prove she was innocent. Also, Izanami chased after Izanagi when he came to Yomi. I think that’s about it, though.”

“Senpai-chaaaan? How did Omokane-chan introduce you again?”

“…”

“Oh.”

“Senpai doesn’t count! She’s the most powerful because she’s so wonderful! And if she doesn’t like some other god, they die of old age! Mucho over there is ready to be made into goddess jerky at any time!”

“I-I really don’t think you’re helping, but thanks anyway?”

●

“Well, you get the picture.”

Shifu decided to sum up what her underclassman had said.

“I get the picture that it’s all a huge pain.”

“Indeed. I thought the Greeks were part of the 7th generation, which was so heavily influenced by our Mesopotamia and Egypt, but based on how their mythology came about, it sounds more like they’re 5th or 6th generation.”

“They were influenced by me, weren’t they?”

“Aphrodite of the Twelve Olympians corresponds to you.”

Yes, they were still influenced by a few other mythologies. But…

“A lot from their age of war is left in the myths, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Greek mythology became more of a ‘narrative’ after the 7th century BCE. Herodotus compiled that and gave it the overall story we know today. It was later fleshed out by the tragedy-loving Greek poets, but the stories of infidelity and revenge would have existed before that, just with different meanings. Records of victories and the resistance of the vanquished can be seen in the stories of the gods.”

“And the goddesses were the real threat there, huh?”

“So if this inspector is a goddess, we’d better be careful.”

What a pain, thought Shifu. She was a goddess herself and she knew she could be trouble or a pain at times. And…

“If this inspector is from such a pain-in-the-ass group, we could run into problems separate from how powerful they are.”

“How so?”

“A so-so fighter who is constantly flashing a knife and attacks on a whim is more of a pain than a master swordsman who only uses his sword in battle.”

“Can you explain it with a boobs metaphor?”

“Sorry, but I’ve got Shifu.”

Shifu laughed and slapped Tooru on the back.

Just then, Revelation Boards appeared next to them all. They were from…

“Listen up, everyone. Have any of you fought a battle recently?”

●

What is this about? I wondered.

“Does our work during the day count as a battle?”

“No, I checked near there, but it falls within the bounds of divine work and doesn’t count.”

“What’s going on, Omokane-chan? Are you plotting something again?”

“Maybe,” she said in something close to a laugh.

I knew her well enough to know that meant she had something in the works. And…

“If it wasn’t you, then someone else activated a combat field. It stretches from east to west, from Okutama to here.”

●

“Where are you headed?”

Scarecrow and Shamhat were walking toward Tachikawa Station from the direction of Showa Memorial Park, but…

“I’m on my way to Daiichi. What about you?”

“Oh, to the basement food section? I love how many unusual things they have there.”

Shamhat’s footsteps were light. What looked like thick-soled sandals were actually single-tooth geta.

“Are those popular right now?”

“You should probably read more than just library books.”

She said that, but she had ended up selecting 5 library books on different topics and borrowed them with a library card. Still…

“If I kept magazines around, you would never leave.”

“I already never leave because you serve tea.”

Scarecrow knew that was only a joke. Regardless, they appeared to have the same destination.

The Daiichi Department Store was a 6-story building west of Tachikawa Station, but the stores and buildings along the curving road blocked it from view when approaching from the west.

The ramen shop, cram school, and more all had their lights on as the two of them walked along the road.

“The sounds in this place really make you hungry. That gyudon place isn’t a chain, is it? Are you familiar with it?”

“I am, but I’m on my way to Daiichi.”

Maybe it was a scarecrow thing, but she did not give much thought to detours.

“What do you do at Daiichi? Eat?”

“You aren’t going to buy one of those 100-yen burgers at the food shop, are you?”

“I tend to go for the fresh-squeezed fruit juice and San Morino. What about you?”

“Kotobukiya has the resin I use to repair books. And the tailor on the 1st floor has the leather I use for covers, so I stop by periodically.”

“You really like your work, don’t you?”

“You never told me why you’re here.”

“I did: I tend to go for the fresh-squeezed fruit juice,” she said. “So how are things going?”

“With what?”

“The terraforming.”

●

Oh, that, realized Scarecrow. She upped her pace a little since the Daiichi Department Store had finally come into view.

“They created an elevated piece of land, so instead of lowering it, they’re talking about constructing a longer-term base on top. They’re also discussing what to do about the surrounding lava. It’s all planning work at this point, so it’s all being done in the Divine World for now.”

She kept it all very businesslike, but that would be fine. Shamhat would probably “sell” that information and use it to bring in information from elsewhere. And…

“What do you need right now?”

“Not beating around the bush, are you?”

That too was fine. It showed Shamhat was starting to look ahead.

“They want a structure for the land that will work for terraforming the entire planet. Same for the atmosphere.”

“Sounds like you need an earth goddess or a sky god.”

“If you have any connections to the 3rd generation, then I would love to hear about it.”

Shamhat laughed a little, but Scarecrow was not entirely sure if she was laughing with her or at her. However…

“I didn’t mean the entire planet. What do you need for that base you mentioned?”

“That’s a lot simpler: water. The place is all heat and rock right now, so even if they can set up a field and put air in it, there isn’t enough water.”

Scarecrow had a decent amount of terraforming knowledge, so she could keep going from there.

“And once they have a structure for the land, making it rain would cool the lava a lot more efficiently than Senpai-san’s Auth Spells. That would intensify the atmospheric circulation and they would have to control that, but water really is what they need. The work can be divided into three phases: land, water, and air.”

Without warning, Balancer appeared.

<Oh, excellent timing, Scarecrow. I am about to distort space – or a divine field, really – so will you please help manage it?>

●

“Huh? What’s this about a divine field?”

“Maybe that thing Omokane contacted us about earlier?”

Then it clicked for Scarecrow. Some real manifestation god had set up a combat field in order to fight a battle or something without Shinto’s permission.

Balancer would know about the field and the gods using it, but the AI’s neutral position kept them from providing details. However…

“Why are you intervening?”

<That is somewhat hard to discuss. I can say nothing about the gods involved, but I can say this much: This will be a problem for the ape, so please be careful.>

“For Sumeragi-kun?”

As soon as she asked, something appeared overhead at the same height as the streetlights.

With the repeated sound of a Shinto shrine’s bell ringing, light flowed in the zigzagging pattern of a shide, coming apart and binding back together. That was the Shinto-style tuning of a divine field. The next thing they knew, they were surrounded by torii.

“This way!”

Shamhat was in “a bad location”, so Scarecrow pulled on her hand. Scarecrow knew it was “bad” because of the shadow briefly shrouding Shamhat’s face.

If she had stayed there, she could have fallen to “the other side”.

“Thanks.”

“Shinto fields are powerful because they’re so good at purification and shutting out impurities.”

“You wisdom gods never stop explaining things, do you?”

Scarecrow told her to forget it before stomping a heel against the ground and clapping her hands.

“Balancer!”

<Yes, the output tuning is complete. Please check on the field now.>

With that, everything disappeared.

●

Oh? thought Hatoko.

The opening of the ether light field and the accompanying torii and shide had all disappeared. Strangely, none of the nearby spirits or automatons seemed to have noticed all that light. There were some real manifestation gods with low divine rank passing by, but they had not noticed either.

“On second thought, explanations are great.”

“Shinto fields are powerful and strict, so they don’t influence the outside world when properly opened and closed. You can thank Balancer for a job well done there.”

<Well, I can achieve the same results with my own methods, but Scarecrow won’t manage it if I don’t use the Shinto method.>

“Of course I won’t. But…”

Scarecrow looked to a gyudon shop up ahead. A man was seated in front of the door. He was in the shadow below the light shining from the window at the top of the door.

“Did you distort the field to extract him here?”

<It was an emergency.>

He was middle-aged, skinny, and unconscious. Upon closer inspection, he was also soaked. Based on his clothing…

“Was he mountain climbing?”

“Maybe only trekking?”

“Did you read about that in a magazine?”

“There is an introduction to trekking in the library.”

Scarecrow gave Balancer a look as she opened a Revelation Board. A few more of them opened around the unconscious man. They were staticky and of an unfamiliar design.

“Did you force those open?”

“I have authority over visitors.”

That meant this man conceptually qualified as a visitor. And…

“What does this mean?”

She frowned and turned to Balancer.

“This man is Neptune, a real manifestation from Roman mythology. Why was such a big name extracted from a combat field here and in such poor shape?”

She then heard a quiet sigh of a voice escape from the Roman sea god’s mouth. Even though he was too weak to move and fully unconscious.

“Kido.”

That was the surname of one of Scarecrow’s schoolmates.

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