The Goddess's Past, and an Uninvited Guest?!

I opened my eyes to a gentle breeze. Outside, dawn was just beginning to break.

"Whoa, look at that fog."

The mist hung thick, but rather than feeling ominous, the atmosphere itself was mysterious and dreamlike. The wind, the air I breathed—everything felt different from usual. Truly peculiar.

I looked down at the sleeping goddess. Without thinking, I stroked her hair. Soft. Cool, maybe from the breeze. And fragrant.

"A sleeping goddess. Cute. She's even prettier like this—so innocent."

A chuckle slipped out. Just looking at her made me happy. I let out a short sigh, glanced outside again, and stretched.

"Goddess, craftsmen from the capital should start arriving today or tomorrow. It's not a huge sum yet, but we'll begin restoring your temple. I'll have to earn more a few more times, but I'm not afraid."

I'd promised, after all. To restore her temple. I felt awkwardly self-conscious for no reason, scratching my head with a shy smile. The goddess was still lost in dreamland.

"Ah, I should gather some firewood."

The fireplace was out of spare logs. We'd be staying here a while longer—I couldn't let her get cold. Though I wasn't sure if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a goddess even felt the cold.

I stepped out into the fog-drenched world. The characteristic dampness of mist clung to my skin. On my way out, I finally noticed the main quest clear notification.

Huh. I've started getting a stat or two over a hundred. Even so, that's basically just regular knight level in the Empire. Still a long way to go.

A new main quest. All right, let's do this! Everything about this moment felt brand new.

If summers back home had been like this, it would've been legendary.

Damp or not, as long as it's cool. I laughed at myself.

I was crossing the temple grounds toward the forest when my body suddenly lurched.

"Huh? Why am I...?"

My body kept swaying, like something was draining the strength right out of me. I grabbed for a nearby temple wall, trying to stay upright. It wasn't easy. I slumped against the wall and collapsed. What the hell—have I been having too much sex lately?

"Ah, augh, what the hell is this..."

And then my consciousness went out.

I opened my eyes.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Someone was running—loud, frantic footsteps. It was the goddess.

Huh? She's awake?

But I couldn't call out to her right away. A strange, hazy feeling left me just nodding my head.

"Uh, uhh... Goddess! Goddess, where are you going?"

I finally managed to speak. But she didn't even glance at me—just blew right past.

Damn. That hurt. Seeing her like that.

I sprinted after her, trying to catch up. Just a little more, just a little!

Thud-thud-thud, huff.

I reached for her arm—and my hand passed right through, like I was grabbing at something that didn't exist. I was just waving at empty air.

"Huh?"

I looked down at my hand. The one that didn't exist wasn't her—it was me. My entire body was translucent. Fuck, what is this?

What's going on? Did I collapse and die? Am I dead? Then this place is...?

Only then could I take in my surroundings. The scenery had the faded quality of an old photograph.

"What the hell is this? Is this the afterlife? Doesn't feel like it. A dream?"

I kept looking around in a panic. Wait—this is where I just was, isn't it? But where's the temple? The temple's gone.

Fuck, where did the temple go? Wait, did the workers already clear away what little was left? Already? That can't be right.

My head was a mess. I was wandering around, trying to find something—anything—when a song reached my ears.

It was a beautiful woman's singing voice. Not far away, people were cheering and clapping.

"Wooooaaahhh!"

Clap-clap-clap-clap!

I headed over. Quite a crowd had gathered. I pushed straight through them. The singer came into view. It was the goddess.

Wait, she can sing like this? She's never even mentioned singing.

I kept watching. Her song went on and on. She sang of nature, of humanity's prosperity, reaching even the profundity of the cosmos. A sweet timbre, effortless vocal power. Just listening made me feel better, like strength I didn't have was welling up. The goddess looked truly happy as she sang.

She looks happy. Of course she does. The goddess is the best...

I smiled without realizing it. But she looked... different somehow. As the song ended, she bowed her head.

"Thank you, everyone. I may be nothing but a foolish young woman, but my dream is to be a singer! I want to heal you all with my songs, and honor the greatness of nature!"

Wait... I misheard that, right? Why is the goddess speaking so politely? And her dream is to be a singer? She's a goddess.

That's not like her at all. Where's the arrogant dignity?

I stared blankly. I couldn't make sense of any of this.

The crowd cheered, encouraging her. The air was thick with nothing but passion, energy, and joy.

CRACK. CRUNCH!

Then something went wrong. A tree came flying, snapped in half. I turned—figures encased in deep violet armor burst into view.

"Keghekh!"

They scanned the area, then immediately fell upon the people. The peaceful gathering became a slaughterhouse.

"AAAAAGH!"

SLASH. SPURT! CRACK!

People died one after another. The goddess sat down in shock.

"No... the vanguard of the Outer God Tribe, again...!"

She trembled with fear, tears of despair streaming down her face. One of the vanguard who'd just cleaved a person in half turned toward her. Oh, this is bad.

"Goddess! What are you doing? Run! Get out of here!"

I ran toward her, frustrated. Then I heard hoofbeats from somewhere. I turned my head—a unicorn had appeared and was forcibly pulling her onto its back.

"Fuck, what's that now?"

Where even is this? No—this feels like an entirely different era. The unicorn carrying the goddess broke into a full gallop. I threw everything I had into chasing after them.

"Hah, hahh."

I could see the vanguard chasing at near-supersonic speed.

I'm losing my mind. How are those weak-looking bastards that fast?

I ran with everything I had. I'd barely shaken the vanguard when the location changed.

On a hillside, I saw a unicorn bleeding out, dying. The goddess was crying.

"I'm sorry. You're all so good, I want to protect you! But I don't have any power... You never said a word even when an orphan like me leaned on you, depended on you... *sob*."

It was closer to wailing. And even as she held the unicorn protectively, she couldn't sit down properly. There were dandelions where she would have sat. She'd taken that awkward stance so she wouldn't crush them.

I could feel her love for nature.

When the unicorn breathed its last, the goddess walked toward a lake, tears still in her eyes.

She cried out in desperation, then threw herself into the lake.

SPLASH!

And she never surfaced again. It was unbelievable.

"What the...?!"

The surroundings began to warp and distort, as if space-time itself were twisting. Then the scenery changed again.

Before I knew it, I could see the temple I knew. A group of people were praying there.

"Goddess, please, rain for our lands!"

"Our crops are failing..."

"We'll offer a sheep. Please!"

Isis, who had been an ordinary young woman, had become a goddess. She emerged from the temple and snorted.

"You fools! You don't even try, and you dare pray to me?!"

When the people recoiled in surprise, she shook her head.

"I have no need of your sheep. Just this once, I shall grant you rain. Hmph. Don't get the wrong idea. I heed you only because you are so pathetic!"

The moment she finished speaking, rain began to fall. The people cheered as it soaked them.

"As expected of the goddess! Thank you!"

The people expressed their deepest gratitude and left. So she's been a tsundere since back then.

Watching the joyful crowd, she smiled without quite meaning to, her face flushing. Like a girl who blushed easily.

So she became a goddess. She wasn't one from the start? That's something.

This isn't in any history book. I have no idea why or how I'm seeing this.

Then, at some point, the scenery shifted to a village. I could see people conspiring.

"They say magic's been discovered? We can become gods now too!"

"I've even got something called a skill."

"Making offerings to some goddess every month... isn't that getting old?"

"We probably don't even need a goddess. Honestly, I never liked her anyway."

"But the goddess... if you look close, she's pretty. I wonder how she'd taste? Heheheh!"

Humans even stooping to dirty talk. To them, the goddess was no longer worthy of respect. And then several of them stormed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the temple.

"You're no goddess. The times have changed! So either give us your body, or die right here!"

Humans trying to violate the goddess. And the goddess cutting them down in self-defense. If it had ended there, it would have been fine.

"W-wait... the goddess has gone mad!"

A boy carrying a bundle of herbs happened to witness the scene and recoiled in horror. He fled to the village, screaming.

"The goddess has gone mad, everyone! She's trying to kill us!"

After that incident, no one came to the temple. Humanity had turned its back on her.

After that, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠light radiating from her body gradually dimmed, as if she were losing her power. Left alone, the goddess hung her head, her face haggard.

"I tried to protect you. That's why I became a goddess! You filthy, wretched mortals...!"

She trembled, shedding tears of blood. After that, a group of people arrived. Even at a glance, they were no ordinary folk.

What the—nine lights on their chests? Holy shit, every single one of them is a monster.

By current standards, that was more than five people at archmage level showing up.

"We are Sealmasters. A goddess gone mad is nothing but a calamity. We shall seal her in this land!"

The Sealmasters came and sealed the goddess away.

This was the only part that matched the history books. That righteous Sealmasters had sealed a goddess who'd gone mad. And that afterward, humanity finally found true peace.

And with that, I lost consciousness again.

"Ah, aah...!"

When I came to, the fog around me had thinned somewhat. The temple, reduced to skeletal fragments, came into view. I was back.

"Hahh. That didn't feel like a dream."

What the hell was that? Why did I see the goddess's past?

She's lived through something terrible. And what's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this "Outer God Tribe" stuff?

I pressed a hand to my head and sighed. It felt like a flood of information and memories had poured in all at once—I was on the verge of overload. My head felt heavy.

Step. Step.

"Hm?"

Nearby, I sensed a presence that was familiar, yet slightly different.

Is the goddess awake? But why is it coming from the forest, not the watchtower?

The forest was still shrouded in fog. I stared hard, and as the mist gradually cleared, someone came walking through. A woman with a great figure. Wait, is that the goddess?

I started toward her, thinking it was—then stopped short. It was someone else.

"Fufufu."

Long hair of silvery violet. Deep golden eyes. Dark copper skin and a blessed figure that easily exceeded an E-cup, her entire body radiating light just like the goddess. She wore a leotard of interwoven black and gold, with additional skirt panels at the hem that gave it the look of ancient ceremonial dress.

A woman I had never seen before held something in her hand, a smile lingering in her eyes. It was a scepter with an eye set at its very crown.

"Ah, at last I have found it!"

"...Who are you?"

"Me? I am the daughter of Isis."

"What...?"

What kind of bullshit is that? But the woman had something even more shocking to say.

HUMMMMM!

The moment she finished speaking, a fierce halo blazed behind her. Just looking at it was painful.

She approached slowly, a cold smile spreading across her face.