Goddess, Why Are You Doing This?

I didn't believe gods existed.

So if someone had suddenly appeared and declared something like, "I am the goddess who protects this country," I was fully confident I would dismiss them as a madwoman without a second thought.

…If this were South Korea, that is.

The problem was that this place was inside a novel.

And in this world, gods truly existed.

That existence was the goddess standing right before my eyes—Eru.

Of course, she wasn't the omnipotent deity people usually imagined.

If I had to put it, she was closer to the Constellations that show up in fantasy novels.

On top of that, she carried restrictions that made intervening in reality difficult, so leaping out like this was a rare occurrence.

With Eru appearing before me in this fashion, my bewilderment was only natural.

Why on earth?

"Um…."

Um? What?

"You are truly adorable, nira."

What?

"To think a petite yet cute little girl would clear this one's trial! How wonderful. I am so happy."

No. What did she just say?

Is this really the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Eru I know?

In the original work, Eru had not been particularly pleased at first when the Original Protagonist became the owner of the holy relic.

The previous masters of the holy relic had all been geniuses born with exceptional talent, they said.

But what about the Original Protagonist?

He's outstanding, sure, but not overwhelmingly so.

He was a growth-type protagonist who improved little by little, after all.

In short, Eru was a goddess who preferred overpowered munchkin protagonists over the hardworking kind.

Still, since he had cleared the trial, she had no choice but to hand over the holy relic.

In the end she falls for the protagonist who never gives up and keeps challenging himself, though.

By the middle of the story her early dissatisfaction vanished entirely, and she turned into the sort who would hand over her liver and gallbladder without hesitation.

I myself was hardly a talent that measured up to a munchkin, so I had honestly expected the same reaction the Original Protagonist received.

No—I hoped for it.

I simply wanted to snatch the holy relic roughly and then fade into a forgotten existence.

But.

"For the first time a little girl—and a cute one at that—has become an apostle!"

Watching Eru bounce around in pure frenzy, I could only feel that something had gone terribly wrong.

Setting aside the fact that Eru's condition was a little off…

So this is the holy relic.

I had finally gotten my hands on the long-awaited bow.

It glittered gold, looking for all the world like something priceless.

Well, it really is priceless…

If selling it had been possible, I would have done so without a second thought.

But the holy relic was engraved with a seal that prevented anyone but the one recognized as its master from using it.

As I turned the bow this way and that, I suddenly froze.

Heart ribbons?

Heart-shaped ribbons were tied to both the upper and lower limbs of the bow.

"I wanted to redesign it so it would suit a cute child like you, but sadly that was impossible with an object of this nature, nira."

Noticing my puzzlement, Eru continued with a regretful look.

"I at least managed to decorate it with ribbons, but it still seems rather disappointing."

I wasn't disappointed at all.

If anything, I wanted to rip the ribbons off.

"It's fine. I'm grateful for the thought alone."

Even so, one could not say such a thing to the giver of a gift—especially when that giver was a goddess.

"How can you be so kind…! Yet this one's heart still cannot rest easy."

"It's fi—"

Before I could finish, Eru clapped her hands once.

With a sharp sound, something appeared in front of her.

Thud.

An object floated before me, wrapped in yellow light.

It was none other than a quiver and a translucent pebble.

"Therefore I shall bestow these two upon you as well, nira."

Anything given by a goddess was naturally far from ordinary.

And my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prediction proved correct.

Anyone who became the master of a holy relic gained the ability to perceive things related to the gods.

That was why I could grasp the effects of the items Goddess Eru had given at a single glance.

"Heehee. You look quite surprised."

Goddess Eru spoke with a delighted little smile, while I simply stood there with my mouth hanging open.

Of course I did.

These… are items you only get much later, aren't they?

They were the two things Goddess Eru bestowed only after she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had fully recognized the Original Protagonist.

In the original story the Original Protagonist never even met Eru; he obtained only the holy relic and that episode ended there.

I, too, was no munchkin like him.

At the very least I was nowhere near the level of those Eru had acknowledged before.

For her to give me these…

She acknowledged me?

I had acted little differently from the Original Protagonist in the original work.

The reason her reaction had changed so drastically came down to one single fact.

"That a cute little girl like you should be forced to fight for this country… what a truly pitiful thing, nira. But there is no need to worry. This one shall support you with all her heart."

That reason was simply that I was a girl.

Reina was one of the heroines of this novel.

Naturally her appearance was rather good.

Petite… and cute, yes.

The black hair made her look a bit plain, but she was still on the cute side overall.

Whatever the contents might be, the exterior was what it was; from Eru's perspective, the idea of someone like me fighting must have been deeply worrying.

So she had given me everything she could offer at the moment—that much was certain.

"Thank you."

There was no reason to refuse what was being offered.

"How very polite you are as well."

"Thank you for the compliment."

After exchanging a few formal words with Eru, I simply waited for her to disappear.

Zzt, zzt.

Eru's body was crackling with static.

It was proof that she, who normally could not intervene in the mortal world, had forced her way here.

Before long she would be forcibly returned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to her own realm.

"Kh. The restrictions…. At this rate, I shall forge an apostle contract of my own accord and be done with it, nira."

Here it comes.

The apostle contract.

It meant one had been truly acknowledged by Goddess Eru.

Becoming an apostle allowed one to use a fraction of Goddess Eru's power.

More than that, it granted her full, unreserved support.

No—without sealing the apostle contract, Goddess Eru's aid would end with this single occasion.

That's plenty.

Nothing in this world is free.

If you receive something, you must give something in return.

What Goddess Eru desired was peace for the world—and the defeat of the apostles of the evil gods.

Naturally that was extremely dangerous work.

And above all else…

Once you become an apostle, the evil gods will stop at nothing to kill you.

If I became an apostle I would no longer be able to step away from the main story even if I wanted to.

Fighting apostles was not my job.

It was the Original Protagonist's.

I had intercepted this holy relic, but several more still remained.

If the Original Protagonist claimed those, the main story would continue as written.

…I hope that's how it goes.

In truth I already suspected it might not.

But even so, there was no reason I had to take on the Original Protagonist's role, was there?

I was by no means a righteous person.

I was not someone who would throw my own life into the fire just to save the world.

Someone like me could never do it in the first place…

I shook my head.

Whatever the reason, I had no intention of forming an apostle contract with Goddess Eru.

"You need only say you agree. Quickly—there is no time, nira."

Goddess Eru moved her lips urgently.

Looking at her, I…

"Ah, child?"

…toppled straight backward.

To be precise, I pretended to faint.

I had just finished a grueling battle against the golem.

Ceryll, who had fought beside me, was already unconscious, so there was nothing strange about me collapsing next.

I kept up the act of being unconscious until Goddess Eru vanished completely.

Meanwhile, Anin Strauss waited outside the dungeon, fretting herself raw.

Her nails had been chewed so far down that there was nothing left to bite.

A full week had passed since the dungeon break occurred.

Only now had they finally obtained the chance to enter and rescue the students.

"Don't worry too much, Teacher Anin. The investigation showed it wasn't such a dangerous dungeon break. I'm certain the two students are still alive."

Even the other teacher's consolation could not make Anin smile.

"Those children enrolled only recently…. Moreover, this is their very first time entering a dungeon."

If they had been second-years, or at least familiar with dungeons, it might have been different.

No—even then she would have worried, yet of all things they had to face this under the absolute worst conditions!

"We must hurry and rescue them."

"Teacher Anin, haste will only make things worse. If even you end up in danger…"

Ignoring the other teachers entirely, Anin strode toward the crack in the dungeon.

Just as she was about to slip through, she stopped short.

The dungeon was disappearing.

"The dungeon has been cleared…?"

That meant the students inside had defeated the boss of the dungeon break.

Because it was a break that had occurred in a low-rank dungeon, the boss would not be overwhelmingly strong.

Even so, it was not a boss that two mere students could bring down through simple cooperation.

Impossible!

Two students who had only just enrolled.

Two students who had entered a dungeon for the very first time… had cleared it?

It was not entirely without precedent.

But the only ones who had ever managed such a feat were the heroes of past generations.

I knew the freshmen who entered this year were extraordinary, but…

Anin's eyes, previously drowned in anxiety, began to sparkle.

As if answering that light, the dungeon vanished completely in a burst of radiance, and in its place two female students appeared.