On a Godless Planet:Volume2A Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Gods[edit]
–The lower you are, the more aware you are of what you are
●
While the higher ups were on the second floor, the bodyguard and the underclassman god were seated at the same table on the first floor.
They were following the higher ups’ conversation on a Revelation Board, so Tenma asked a question of Kuwajiri, who was reaching for the chicken nuggets after lining up two Big Macs next to each other.
“Do Roman mythology and Olympus mythology have a complicated relationship?”
“Eh?”
When Kuwajiri looked over from the Revelation Board, Tenma realized she had screwed up.
She should have called out to Kuwajiri first instead of asking the question out of the blue. So, she chose her words carefully.
“Did you see what the others are talking about?”
“Up until the expeditions to Tang China. I already know most of that, so I tuned it out.”
She really knows how to pull off the cool act, thought Tenma. But…
“Do you know why the expeditions to Tang China ended?”
“I would assume because Tang China collapsed.”
“Yes. Tang’s position was looking tenuous, so a certain politician decided there was nothing to be gained from them. While he put off any further expeditions, Tang collapsed and those expeditions automatically ceased to be a thing. …That politician’s name was Sugawara no Michizane.”
“…”
“That was fun, so have two nuggets.”
“Why, thank you.”
Tenma took them. She only had an Egg McMuffin and corn soup, so the nuggets really added to the meal.
“So what was your question?”
“Oh, right. Do Roman mythology and Olympus mythology have a complicated relationship?”
Kuwajiri looked to the Revelation Board. The data there was displayed in a variety of charts and lists of data. It didn’t provide the higher ups’ words exactly, but…
“Oh, so that’s what they’re talking about.”
“And that got me wondering.”
“I see,” said Kuwajiri with a nod.
“Olympus mythology – or Greek mythology as it’s more commonly known – came to be in much the same way as Mesopotamian mythology. Do you know what I mean by that?”
Tenma thought about it. If she thought back into prehistorical times, she knew what Kuwajiri was getting at.
Greek mythology and Mesopotamian mythology had both come about in a group of city-states, so…
“Do you mean that a group of cities, each with their own god, waged war against each other, resulting in several gods joining together?”
“Yes. The cities started out at peace and had similar cultures, but when – for example – a breakthrough was made in the manufacturing of bronze tools, a hierarchy was suddenly established and some cities had a chance to steal the other cities’ wealth. This was before international law, so there was only one very simple rule: to the victor go the spoils. This marked the beginning of wars of conquest.”
“But I feel like the victor would also win the resentment of the conquered city’s people. What would they do about that?”
“Well,” said Kuwajiri. “That is why Japan has its purification, right? To ensure the enemy leader defeated in a conquered land is not used to spread resentment, they would be included in the myths as a god and purified through worship.”
Tenma understood this well, so she realized what Kuwajiri was getting at.
“So when the gods of the conquered cities were incorporated into the victor’s myths in Mesopotamia, it was the same basic idea as in Shinto?”
“Yes. Of course, it wasn’t quite the same as in Shinto where the ruler of the conquered land is deified. The divine right of kings was sometimes in effect there, so you could end up legitimatizing the enemy by taking in their myths as is.”
So…
“So when they did it, they had to give the gods a social structure and make sure the enemy’s god was an occupational god, not a ruler god. So…I keep saying so. But it needs to be said here.”
“So,” she said again. “Their myths were centered on nature gods, but as time passed, a lot of elements that don’t fit that category were included to flesh out and explain the situation of the divine society. The general divisions go like this.”
- Nature Gods
- Indigenous gods who were there to begin with.
- Leader God or Main Gods (usually major nature gods)
- Origin of the right of kings.
- Occupational Gods
- Work for the leader god. Usually represent a conquered group.
“Outsiders to the royal bloodline tend to become occupational gods. Those who perform specific jobs are clients and thus are lower ranked than the main gods. This is also the order in which the gods are usually added to the mythology.”
Tenma nodded in understanding, realizing anew how unusual Shinto was.
“These divisions are especially clear in Shinto.”
“When a mythology has been around long enough, so much has been added in and blended together that you end up with a lot of contradictions like a single god having multiple jobs and nature symbols or multiple gods who have the same job.
“But in Shinto’s case, the gods’ jobs were organized before the myths were compiled, so the divisions are nice and clean. To be clear, that doesn’t normally happen.”
Kuwajiri sighed.
“But that’s probably hard to appreciate when you’re a part of it.”
“You don’t really think about if your experience is normal or not.”
The higher ups seemed to be amusing themselves by comparing themselves to other mythologies in this way, but Tenma was a deified human, making her a new addition to the mythology. She found a lot to learn from these outside perspectives.
But there was one thing she was curious about, so she asked about it.
“The upperclassmen acted like Shinto was unusual for being updated a few times, but aren’t the Mesopotamian and Greek mythologies the same? They were effectively updated when the cities merged.”
●
Kuwajiri reassessed Tenma.
…I thought she was a knowledge god, but that isn’t quite right.
She did not just gather and provide knowledge. She questioned and pursued knowledge.
When Kuwajiri thought about it, she thought Tenma was better described as a god of learning.
This was fascinating. Shinto already had Scarecrow and Omokane as knowledge gods, but they also had this god who kept all that knowledge in motion.
In other words, she was a god of wisdom.
Kuwajiri concluded that Shinto’s selection of gods had been a practical one rather than just being about looking impressive and keeping up appearances. So instead of finding the questions annoying, Kuwajiri answered as a knowledge god.
“Mythologies belong to the regions they come from. In Mesopotamia and Greece’s cases, the people were scattered across the region when populations were still low and then created gods based on their respective lands. So at that point, their myths only amounted to individual stories about specific gods and about their local society. They hadn’t been compiled into an overall ‘mythology’ yet.”
What happened then?
“With Mesopotamian and Greek mythologies, the wars of conquest between the cities led to the joining of their gods and the compilation of their mythology. That means their mythology was only completed after the superior cities finished their conquest. But what about Shinto mythology?”
“Japanese mythology also began with lots of local myths. But…”
“But by the time they were complied into a mythology, they had mostly been gathered together already and were just waiting to be compiled. That was when a political use was found for them, so they were incorporated into the process of reworking everything to support the divine right of kings. The divine right of kings is circular reasoning where the king creates a myth that supports his claims, but in Shinto, that came first and most of the nature god myths were added in afterwards.”
Do you see what I mean?
“In most mythologies, the history of dealing with natural threats came first and they were combined by the history of warring factions. But in Shinto mythology, all the history and other factors were already gathered and they were reworked for domestic purposes. You could say that makes it an artificial mythology, but you could also say it was a clever move.”
“I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”
Maybe so, but Kuwajiri had no intention of stating her respect any more clearly than that. She was bad at giving compliments.
And she had something else important to say.
“Now we have established that Shinto mythology came to be in an unusual way. And we have established that the usual way is for conquest leading to a joining of gods and a compilation of myths into a mythology. But now…”
“Is there some other way of doing it?”
“There is,” confirmed Kuwajiri.
“If conquest is the natural path to compilation, then there is also an unnatural, peaceful path. There is a way for the gods to be joined into a complete mythology without any fighting.”
“What is it?”
“You don’t know? Japanese mythology probably did something similar.”
●
“Kubiko-kun, from what you can see on the Revelation Board, how are the two downstairs doing?”
“They seem to be enjoying themselves a lot by exchanging knowledge.”
“Good. We need Sugawara-kouhai to learn as much as possible about being a negotiator. You only have to win in the end, so don’t be afraid to expose your ignorance now, Sugawara-kouhai!”
“Eavesdropping is bad manners, you know?”
●
How could a mythology come together peacefully?
Kuwajiri explained.
“Let’s say a region starts out with a basic mythology based on local spirits. No technological breakthrough occurs there, so the cities get along well enough and form something like an alliance of states.”
What would happen then?
“Their myths would travel between states along with the people, naturally bringing them together. But since they are an alliance of different states, those myths would not be compiled into a unified mythology. However…”
The knowledge god spoke up there.
“That would be different from the counties outside that alliance, wouldn’t it? While they’re doing things peacefully, places more like Mesopotamia and Greece would be rapidly combining their gods and constructing a solid mythology.”
“So what would happen then?”
Kuwajiri’s question was a request to see the god of learning’s knowledge and she did indeed provide a response.
“If they determined the foreign mythologies were superior to their own, they would have to update their own mythology.”
“Which is what Japan did. They wanted to boost their divine right of kings when China moved from Sui to Tang.”
“But,” continued Kuwajiri.
“Japan already had the gods and the writing since they started late, but how would you update your mythology in an earlier age?”
“Copy someone else.”
Tenma answered immediately. Yes, she really was a god of learning. So she would be able to explain her answer too:
“They would take the superior aspects of the foreign mythology and update their own inferior mythology. That would peacefully give them a mythology on par with their neighbors and assist them in diplomacy.”
●
“Roman mythology did exactly that.”
Omokane spoke into the silence. I do like how I inspired a shocked silence in Douhai-kun! More, more! But the Norse couple are only silent because they’re too busy eating their burgers to talk. That I don’t like!
But she was telling the truth.
“Roman mythology started out as a vague belief system in Rome where they really only gave names to various nature spirits. But when they began diplomatic relations with Greece, Rome realized Greek mythology was superior and decided to use it.”
“They…used it?”
“Yes. When praying to a god or constructing a temple, stories about that god’s origins are an important factor. And when your country has the protection of gods with a story behind them, a leader is perceived to have more power. So the Roman people rewrote their mythology.”
Their method was a simple one.
“They compared their Roman gods to the Greek gods and transplanted the stories of the Greek gods onto the Roman gods with the same traits or jobs. That includes the simple stories and their relationships to other gods.”
“This gave Rome gods on the same level as Greece, which also let them view their culture as coming from the gods. All sorts of foods were found in the stories of the gods and there were stories about their lands too. Same for the people’s history. The Roman people gladly accepted the new mythology that made them out to be more important.”
“B-but then…um.”
“Senpai-chan.”
Shifu stopped eating long enough to speak
“I know you’re sensitive to these things. You can come out and say it, so just go for it.”
Douhai-kun fell silent at Shifu-kun’s comment. But after a bit, she turned toward Omokane and clearly stated her thoughts.
“What happened to the Roman gods when they did that?”
She clenched her hands without hiding the strength she was using.
“The Roman gods were essentially hijacked by Greek mythology! It’s like their people threw them out for being too weak!”
●
“They used a prototype.”
Scarecrow saw Omokane reply to Senpai-san’s anger without fear.
“Greek mythology exists as a prototype for Roman mythology. Thus, Roman mythology is not Generation 7 – it is Generation 8. Which means copying over that prototype effectively dropped them down a rank.”
“––––––”
Scarecrow sighed inwardly when she saw Senpai-san at a loss for words.
Omokane had a tendency to take the villain role.
That was a bad habit, but Scarecrow knew she needed to play her own role here.
“Senpai-san. Your anger is understandable, but this is what the humans wanted.”
“…Oh.”
It looked like she had calmed down some. Scarecrow was a bit curious, so she looked over at Shifu-san who had pushed Senpai-san to ask about this. But Shifu-san held out her right palm and waved it back and forth.
Scarecrow realized Shifu-san had passed her a Revelation Board below the table. It read…
“I’m on Senpai-chan’s side, okay?”
“And you wanted Senpai-san to speak her mind so you would know if you were or not?”
“I’m just happy she’s learned to speak up for herself.”
Shifu-san was right about that.
But Scarecrow wanted to sum up the issue.
“Senpai-san, I want you to keep in mind that the myths are created by humans, so it wasn’t like the Greek gods looked down on the Roman gods or anything like that. In fact, you could even say the Roman people ensured that the Roman gods’ names would still be known today.”
But…
“It does seem unfair from our side of things. We have our reputation and pride to consider, but the humans decided their gods were ‘weak’. And when the humans updated their mythology, they used Greek mythology as a prototype, which reduced the mythology’s rank.”
“Um.”
“Yes?”
“If only all humans were like Sumeragi-kun. Then even the weak gods would get some respect.”
●
<Please stop! The instant you suggested the horrifying idea of every human being that ape, my habits as a clever AI led me to simulate it! Is this how you repay me for obediently listening to your conversation!?>
“Eh!? H-how dare you simulate Sumeragi-kun without permission, Balancer! Without my permission!! But just out of curiosity, where is this simulation’s result!? Is it on your screen!? Um, I don’t see him! Where are you, Sumeragi-kuuuuun!?”
“What in the world happened to this conversation?”
●
After grabbing the screen and getting a little overexcited, I managed to calm down.
“Anyway, if the inspector is an Olympus god, that means they’re a Greek god, doesn’t it? And Greek mythology was established by warring states, so do they basically rule over Roman mythology?”
“Yes, and I have one other piece of information to report. Last night, the Roman sea god Neptune was found battling in an illegal combat field and we have arranged medical treatment for him.”
●
Scarecrow contacted the Norse couple via Revelation Board.
“Neptune also called Kido-san’s name, but don’t let Senpai-san know.”
“Eh? He what?”
“Are you only sharing this with us?”
“I figure it isn’t worth making a big deal about when it could still turn out be nothing. Senpai-san doesn’t know what kind of god Kido-san is, but she does know what role she played in the terraforming. So Senpai-san has a positive view of Kido-san. And if Senpai-san does, then Sumeragi-kun probably will too. But you two know what kind of god Kido-san is and know her connection to Senpai-san and Sumeragi-kun, so you can act accordingly.”
“So if this turns into a fight against Kido, our job is to not hesitate?”
“This is why we outsource to you. And if it does come to that, please be discreet about it. But…”
“I seriously doubt Kido-chan would be doing this.”
“I agree. But you know why I am telling you this regardless, don’t you?”
“You want us to be ready, right? So we won’t hesitate if we’re wrong about her. But if we aren’t wrong, you want us to get along with her.”
“I really hope I can find a good chance to let Senpai-chan know about Kido-chan’s circumstances as a god.”
“Didn’t you visit her last night so you could be one-one-one with her?”
“I did, but then she fell from the sky…”
“Do I even want to know?”
●
“Excuse me,” Scarecrow said, holding out her palm.
“I just had to check on a few things. Now…”
“About that Roman god called Nep-something?”
“Um, yes,” replied Scarecrow, her eyes drifting toward Shifu-san and Raidou-san.
She must have had to ask them for some kind of advice. I’m not sure about what, but…
…It wouldn’t be anything bad for me or Sumeragi-kun.
Shifu-san and Raidou-san were good friends, but since they were “outside contractors”, it was also their duty to not get involved in our business.
“I trust you, okay?”
“Senpai-chan, what does that have to do with anything?”
Shifu-san smiled, meaning this was fine.
Scarecrow also smiled while opening a Revelation Board.
“Now, about Neptune.”
“Why were we not informed about this god earlier?”
“I decided we should know what was going on before doing anything about it.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Very well,” said Scarecrow. “To prevent any problems, I planned to wait to tell you until he had left the facility this morning. The battle in an illegal combat field is a personal issue and we can’t prove it was meant to interfere with us or this divine world.”
“So you were doing Roman mythology a favor by not making a big deal about it?”
“Exactly. I planned to tell you everything, including about that. But…”
Following that “but”, Scarecrow couldn’t seem to look us in the eye.
“I wasn’t sure if I should tell you after Sumeragi-kun was hit by a car last night.”
“Sorry…”
“Don’t apologize yet!!”
“Is he the human’s father?”
I raised my hand to interrupt that conversation.
“Um, then why was Sumeragi-kun hit by a car?”
“We have a witness account from a god involved in the incident.”
●
Eshita-san’s voice played from a Revelation Board.
“Oh, the car that hit the human? Sure. It was long and white!”
“So. Does that tell you anything about the car that hit him, Douhai-kun?”
I thought about the witness account.
“Long and white…”
I thought about it and reached a conclusion.
“…Kamaboko?”
“Sumeragi was hit and killed by fish paste? That’s kind of impressive.”
Maybe that wasn’t it then.
“Okay, I don’t think it was actually kamaboko, but…Omokane-san, is there any more to that witness account?”
“Indeed there is. Let’s listen further.”
Eshita-san’s voice played from the Revelation Board.
“Okay. The car also had a red line on it!”
I thought some more about the witness account. Long and white, with a red line. I could only reach one conclusion.
“So it really was kamaboko?”
“Do you like that stuff?”
“No, no, no, no! That’s just all I can imagine from that description! So, Omokane-san, isn’t there any more?”
“Eh? Indeed there is. Let’s listen even further.”
Eshita-san’s voice played from the Revelation Board again.
“Also…oh, yeah. The car didn’t make any noise!”
I thought even more about the witness account. I could again only reach one conclusion.
“Kamaboko doesn’t make noise…but rationally speaking, it couldn’t be kamaboko.”
So…
“Kamaboko?”
“Senpai-chaaan? Try to calm down! Try to think about what you’re saying here!”
“B-but if it’s long and white with a red line and doesn’t make noise, what else could it be but kamaboko!? Now, if it was black and made noise, then I’d know it wasn’t kamaboko!”
“Is there any more to the witness account?”
“Indeed there is. Let’s listen even even further.”
Eshita-san’s voice played from the Revelation Board yet again.
“Oh, yeah. I think that kind is called an ambulance!”
“Ha ha ha. It was not kamaboko, Douhai-kun.”
“Omokane-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!? And why are you looking away too, Scarecrow-san!?”
“Well, um, by any chance, was that ambulance…?”
<Yes. It was the one you called for Neptune.>
“Scarecrow-saaaaaaaaaaaaan!?”
“Senpai-chan? We’re in a restaurant right now.”
“I am disappointed in you, Kubiko-kun. Don’t you know how to manage an ambulance!?”
“Yatsui!!”
<Now, now,> interrupted Balancer. <It was as silent as the Cóiste Bodhar and it was driving an unfamiliar street on its way back from an emergency delivery, so the ape apparently scared the living daylights out of the driver when he suddenly appeared in front of it.>
“The living daylights?”
Omokane-san played more of the witness account.
“When we showed up on the road, the bookstore was starting to close its shutter, right? So the human suddenly got this super serious look and dashed out into road shouting ‘Rastan Saga 2!’. Then the ambulance sped up.”
“It sped up?”
<The local god driver said ‘I thought he was an impurity and tried to purify it by running it over.’>
“It’d scare the living daylights out of me too if someone suddenly ran out into the road shouting ‘Rastan Saga 2’.”
“Tooru, try to be nice.”
I tried to order my thoughts on the issue. And once I was done…
“Who am I supposed to blame for this?”
“Taito?”
<Yes, he did move out in front of the ambulance when you can only move right in Rastan Saga 2.>
“Did we need to make a connection there?”
Then a hand rose. It was Kidou-san, her head tilted.
“Senpai-san, shouldn’t you have been with him?”
“Eh!? Wait! Are you giving me permission!? Is that it!?”
<Please calm down. Come back to your senses! Hurry!>
Be quiet. But…
“What were you doing last night, Senpai-san?”
I realized I couldn’t answer that question and Shifu-san wouldn’t look me in the eye.
●
<Anyway, that should be enough information on the mythologies you are likely to come in contact with. For now, anyway.>
“Yes. We know the inspector is from Olympus and we might interact with the Romans depending on how this plays out. Beyond that,” said Omokane. “Douhai-kun, won’t Sumeragi-kouhai be waking up from his rollback soon? Shouldn’t you hurry there and see what form your morning meeting takes?”
“Oh, no! I need to hurry! Balancer! I want to adjust some parts of the scenario, but I’ll tell you what on the way!”
●
The lifespan god ran out of the restaurant with a From Chubu bag in hand. She paid no attention to the pair on the first floor and Kuwajiri commented on it.
“Things have gotten a lot more active of late.”
“You mean Iwanaga-hime?”
“I mean a lot of things.”
Kuwajiri reached for the Revelation Board she had been checking during their conversation.
“What’s that?”’
“The idiot’s rollback settings.”
Part of it bothered her.
“I need to check with Kunugi-senpai about this.”
She sighed.
“Because this could mean more work for me.”
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