Goddess Department War
"The dimensional barrier has been lifted. We should head over too."
"We should. But why are you here?"
"To claim a seat as Divine Management Main God. I know I've committed sins, but I figured a mid-level main god in the management line would be enough, so I planned to negotiate. Seeing how things are unfolding, though, it looks like sufficient divinity alone will get it approved. Let's hurry."
"Grit...! The nerve of this thieving wench—!"
"I'll return the borrowed Vitality soon enough, so quit fuming. Huh? We're late."
The divine power of the Dimensional and War God vanished from the Main God's temple. He had already space-shifted to his personal temple.
The Chief God of the God Realm faces no restrictions whatsoever.
Space movement is completely free, so there's no need to walk anywhere.
The goddess lords had become dogs left barking at a chicken that had already flown onto the roof. They were so stunned they forgot how to speak for a moment, but there was no choice except to move again in frantic haste.
There are sixteen seats for Divine Management Main God. This is no time to feel relieved.
There's no telling what else might suddenly appear.
Twelve goddess lords remained, and with one seat already taken, only three were left. On top of that, even the former Main God of the Divine Realm's own partner had suddenly risen to upper main goddess and claimed a seat. Their bodies burned with frantic urgency.
The management goddess, traveling beside Granraha while hidden, spoke up.
"There are definitely no other goddess lords besides us, right?"
"I'm not so sure anymore. When we first received our positions, the former Main God of the Divine Realm and the primordial war gods didn't verify every single past, did they?"
"We were in the middle of our own appointments at the time, so we couldn't check either."
"If the divine power is completely sealed, we can't confirm anything until we make direct contact."
While exchanging such words on their way back, they ran into yet another absurd situation.
"Huh? The number of main god level beings has suddenly jumped by four, making seven total."
"Haah...? What is this now? Are they management line too?"
Rumble.
A faint glow of lightning flickered once more in Granraha's eyes.
"These rotten bastards! They didn't show themselves when we were desperately recruiting management gods?"
"It seems they were all secretly siphoning Vitality and got caught by the Dimensional and War God. He really is capable. How on earth did he find all of them? They must have twisted the processes countless times and layered illusion devices so they could never be discovered."
The management goddess pondered how such a feat was possible and let out an admiring gasp.
"Ah—! Don't tell me he cross-checked every single one of the five hundred billion Vitality execution results against the budget? It's easy to say five hundred billion, but processing data on that scale in an instant? They said he was a main god from the mage lineage, but his computational ability is practically at creator god level or beyond. Wouldn't he be better suited as a management main god than a combat one?"
"What? That?"
"Any corruption or shortcut ultimately amounts to nothing more than a portion of the total budget execution. Compare the execution results directly against the budget and everything becomes verifiable. No illusion or manipulation can falsify outcomes beyond what was actually invested, so the calculations come out perfectly."
"There was an inspection method like that?"
When Granraha spoke as if she had learned something valuable, the management goddess gave a derisive snort.
"Vitality execution results fluctuate according to countless variables. Unless you account for everything and derive an accurate estimate, the margin of error only grows larger. Five hundred billion in execution results involves over ten million individual cases. You must consider all of them, estimate the outcomes, and cross-verify. To calculate trustworthy accuracy and derive an average, you need at least a hundredfold repetitive computations. What's more, the fact that he pulled everything out like this suggests he estimated the results down to the decimal point. Combat-type main gods could never manage that. Even we management goddesses couldn't do it in such a short period."
"Haah. There's truly nothing to be done. But what about these insolent main god level beings?"
"The Dimensional and War God has already decided to forgive all past mistakes. He'll assign the seats himself. It seems he even calculated his own tendencies before revealing himself. The divine realm has never been as sharply divided by rank as it is now. Make one mistake at a time like this and you know what happens—divine power recovery and exile to the Spirit Realm. Yet why are you rebels perfectly fine?"
"What—! Are you complaining that we're still alive? Shall I end it for you right now?"
She flared up at the blunt question of why they hadn't died after launching a rebellion, but the next words left her speechless.
"Predicting the Dimensional and War God's combat-oriented nature, the leaders of that rebellion—you—should be finished. He would have killed you all and reclaimed your divine power. Even taking past achievements into account, some form of punishment is mandatory, yet you're all unharmed. It's strange. Above all, with this level of management ability and computational power, there's no need for the clumsy oversight of combat-type main gods, is there?"
The blunt declaration that they were no longer needed in the new divine realm made Granraha snap back furiously.
"Shut your mouth and return to your own temple. How far are you planning to follow me?"
"Everyone is gathered at your personal temple. It's closest to the Dimensional and War God's temple, and all the goddess lords are there as well, so we've designated it as the assembly point."
"What?"
Sure enough, she could sense that the number of goddess lords inside her personal temple had increased. Moreover, every last one of the newcomers was a mid-level main god.
Just as I expected. They were all thieving bitches.
Granraha's eyes narrowed on their own. She moved to strike the management goddess beside her first, but the woman had already read the situation. She sprinted forward desperately and entered the temple without waiting for permission.
"Grit...! I really won't let any of you get away with this."
With one misfortune after another and an endless string of unmanageable troubles, Granraha's anger surged to the top of her head for the first time in ages. Her seal threatened to come undone on its own.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Crash—!
No longer needing to hide it, she entered the temple with the power of Sky Lightning fully released and began wielding her authority.
"Die!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
Meanwhile, the God of Knowledge and the primordial war gods were in the middle of a celebration party for their divine power repayment. The debt that had crushed them for eons had been cleared, and every worry had resolved with ridiculous ease. For the first time in ages they felt good, so they had opened the drinks.
With the new Chief God of the God Realm this powerful, we no longer need to worry about any rebellion from the goddess lords.
The direct-line descendants who died, had their highest-grade divine power reclaimed, and were regenerated as upper gods are no longer a concern.
Thanks to the highest divine realm's support, their divine power dropped but their bodies were strengthened instead upon revival.
After confirming it guaranteed four times the training effect of the highest divine realm, and on top of that receiving full pardons for their past deeds, they admirably rushed straight to the training grounds, declaring they would join the war against the demigods.
The goddesses of the Goddess Department were in the same situation; they had run off to the development lab, so praise overflowed far more than resentment. Having personally experienced the dimensionally superior effects of the highest divine realm, everyone rejoiced that the change of Chief God of the God Realm had transformed their world into what mortals called heaven. The mood was downright festive.
Fortunately I didn't have to fight my own goddess partners directly.
The family situation resolved without major trouble. Instead I received apologies for all the past grievances, and the atmosphere has grown even warmer.
The direct descendants of the Goddess Department promised to do better from now on. As expected, the divine realm needs to be vast and prosperous to function properly.
The round table—the seat of the highest gods—had expanded eightfold to eighty seats. Although many belonged to the Dimensional and War God's complete subordinate gods, there were enough places. Their treatment as heads of household had changed.
I was encouraged to earn definite merits in the battles against the demigods and the middle world so I could be promoted.
They even granted me extra Vitality and told me to rest well today.
With all that, they had finally relaxed their long-held tension and were enjoying themselves when news from the Main God's temple nearly made them spit out their liquor and collapse.
They were shocked nearly to fainting upon learning that the former Main God of the Divine Realm's partner had been promoted to upper goddess lord, appointed as Divine Management Main God, and even made acting Chief God.
"Madam dissolved her partnership contract with the former Chief God of the God Realm and returned to the divine realm? She's an upper main god of the current planet?"
"Who healed the damage to the circle of divine power that even the Creator God judged would be better to recreate from scratch? And she's a Divine Management Main God and acting Chief God on top of it?"
"What the hell is going on?"
"Wait. What is this? Four more goddess lords have appeared in the divine realm—all of them mid-level or higher—!"
"Four more main god level goddesses."
"God of Knowledge—! What is this? Hey?"
The God of Knowledge, who had risen at some point, was seen scrambling out in a panic. From outside the tavern came his urgent shout.
"What do you mean, what is it! All the goddess lords who were hiding in the deepest corners of the divine realm, quietly hoarding every benefit, have finally come out! Stop drinking and hurry up and train! At this rate every promotion seat will be taken. If you miss promotion this time, the Dimensional and War God's personality means he won't listen to any excuses! If lower beings with weak divine power band together against superiors, every last one of them will have their divine power reclaimed. And if you fall behind in the endless competition around you, even holding your current position will become difficult!"
"What? Wait a second? There may be sixteen seats for Divine Management Main God, but with thirteen main gods already, they'll fill up in the blink of an eye, won't they?"
"The round table now has eighty seats, but at this rate..."
The horrifying prediction of what would happen if they missed promotion instantly sobered them. Chills ran down their spines.
The chance to finally rise to the highest god seat at the round table has arrived.
I've become a recognized head of household, yet if I fall now I'll be treated even worse than before.
Falling in a promotion cycle overflowing with open seats would brand them as incompetent. They wouldn't be able to show their faces anywhere.
Moreover, after watching how the Dimensional and War God had handled the goddess lords' rebellion and the former Chief God of the Divine Realm, it was clear he would ignore political considerations such as male god versus female god.
If I beg for a seat citing my past achievements and the fact that I'm a male god despite lacking ability, I'll have my divine power reclaimed on the spot, won't I?
The new Chief God of the God Realm's emphasis on nothing but divinity and divine power had been proven once again by appointing the former Chief God of the Divine Realm's own partner as acting chief god.
It was no time for primordial war gods—who were not yet complete main god level—to be sitting here drinking comfortably.
I thought that with no main god level deities around, we could claim the empty seats even if our divinity was slightly lacking.
Where are all these high gods suddenly appearing from?
Seeing that he granted Divine Management Main God positions based solely on divinity and divine power, it was obvious he would not place anyone lacking ability into high office. He was an extreme meritocrat who had given the former Chief God of the Divine Realm's partner—who had once abandoned the divine realm—the Divine Management Main God seat simply because she was an upper main goddess, and had even appointed her acting chief god.
"Damn it—! This is serious. If I end up stuck at the highest god level, I might get kicked out of the house."
"Let's go right now—! At this rate there won't even be training ground seats left."
At the God of Knowledge's shout, the other gods who had been laughing and drinking inside the tavern—celebrating the arrival of a good era—were now frantically calculating and rushing out. When the primordial war god stepped outside, the sight of gods sprinting in every direction was no joke. Having witnessed even the former Chief God of the Divine Realm's partner appointed to the critical post of Divine Management Main God based purely on ability, they had finally understood the new Chief God of the God Realm's nature: a terrifying existence who ignored justification and politics alike and valued only divine power.