The Sage's Story
At first, it had been nothing more than curiosity.
A strange pull had been there, yes, but at its root Inanna kept seeking Sunya out of sheer interest. He was a kind of man she had never encountered before—one who neither flinched before her nor let his emotions show, even while wearing that sly little smile.
The stories he told were every bit as mysterious and captivating as that first impression. Each one felt as if it had come from an entirely different world. The longer she listened, the larger the questions in her heart grew.
Just who are you?
Who are you, to know so many tales?
What kind of life have you lived?
Why do you never come down from Mount Ebih?
Why do you live alone?
Where on earth did you come from?
Everything about him was a riddle. Sunya himself was the riddle.
“You… just what are you, Sunya?”
Even if I ask, you won’t answer, will you? Everything about you is secrets. You’ll just brush it off again.
“Even if you ask what I am… I can only answer that I am myself, I’m afraid.”
The reply to her half-asleep murmur made Inanna start awake, eyes flying open. What met her gaze was Sunya looking down at her—and an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Wh-what? Where is this?”
She sat up in a fluster. A strange embarrassment washed over her. She hadn’t felt this way even when she had been completely bare.
“You lost consciousness for a moment. My house isn’t fit for putting anyone to bed, so we’ve come down to the village at the foot of the mountain. This is the village chief’s house.”
For a small village the place was fairly large—though to a noble goddess it was only a modest step above a cave. Such trifles, however, meant nothing to Inanna.
“…You weren’t human?”
“As I’ve said before, I consider myself human. A little different from ordinary humans, perhaps.”
“A little different. Are you going to keep talking in circles?”
“Simply put, through cultivation I obtained something akin to the immortality and authority the gods possess.”
“Cultivation? You’re saying a human can become a god with just that?”
“Special cultivation is required, of course. If you wish, I can explain it.”
“Then explain.”
“First you would need to understand three concepts: Prana, Chakra, and Nadi.”
“…And those are?”
“Prana is power itself. Chakra is the source. Nadi is the channel through which that power flows. Every living being possesses them. The composition differs somewhat, yet even the gods have these three. Through cultivation one may expand or refine them… Shall we stop here?”
Seeing Inanna already looking dizzy, Sunya let out a quiet snicker.
“So basically you used some kind of magic and became a god. That’s how I should take it?”
“There’s no harm in understanding it that way.”
“But I’ve never heard of anything like this. Even Grandpa Enki probably wouldn’t know. How do you—”
The door behind them opened and a young woman rushed in, throwing her arms around Sunya.
“Ugh!”
“Sage! If you’d arrived you should have said so!”
She was a healthy, copper-skinned beauty. Without the least hesitation she rubbed her bare breasts against his back; the flush on her face made it plain the act was deliberate.
“M-Miss Kubatum? Please step back for a moment.”
“I’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t I? Enough to be called an adult now, right? And I hadn’t seen you in so long I was starting to wonder what had—”
Kubatum’s words died. Inanna was staring at her with eyes sharp as axe blades. Ordinarily Kubatum’s temperament would have met that glare head-on, but the sheer spiritual pressure froze her in place.
“Uh… uhh… uh??”
Her body trembled. Cold sweat beaded on her skin; her heart hammered wildly. If she could have, she would have fled on the spot or pressed her forehead to the floor.
Who is that woman? Why has my body been like this since earlier? Come to think of it… I’ve seen her once before…
“Miss Kubatum, would you mind stepping outside for a moment? I have something to discuss with this lady.”
The moment Sunya spoke, the crushing pressure filling the room vanished as if it had never been.
“Y-yes! Of course!”
Kubatum scurried out, half-afraid she might be called back.
“She’s still a child. I hope you won’t hold it against her too strongly.”
“A child? She just said with her own mouth that she’s all grown up.”
“Children always go around claiming they’re adults.”
“…Was that aimed at me?”
“Of course not.”
Inanna glared. Sunya only shrugged, that sly smile still on his lips.
“More importantly—what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t keep asking back when you already know!!”
Her shout shook the house like an earthquake.
“I’m asking if you’re going to have sex with me! If you’re going to be mine!”
“…You’re being rather direct.”
“Answer me already!”
Even under that command Sunya did not speak at once. He rested his chin in his hand and considered something carefully. The longer the silence stretched, the more restless Inanna became. To make the greatest troublemaker of the divine realm wait like this—if her relatives ever learned of it, they would be struck speechless.
“You asked me once to tell you my story, didn’t you?”
At last, after that long endurance, Sunya opened his mouth.
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not changing it. Since Lady Inanna desires me, I judged I ought to tell you what sort of man I am.”
He opened his eyes. Anguish and quiet melancholy lived in their depths.
“I have committed a great sin.”
“So? Are you trying to say you’re unworthy of a goddess’s love?”
“That isn’t wrong. But more than that… I simply felt I should tell you.”
While speaking he rose smoothly to his feet.
“Yet this doesn’t seem the proper place to speak of it.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“Please come tomorrow to the place where my house once stood. I will tell you everything there.”
“Why not here?”
“There are several reasons, but first I still have something left to do.”
“Suddenly?”
“It isn’t sudden. It’s something I do every day.”
“So I’m asking what that something is.”
“It’s a little difficult to say…”
“Are you going to masturbate or something?”
“No.”
Sunya scratched his head.
“It isn’t an act fit to show others. If you insist on watching, however, I don’t mind.”
“Then show me.”
“Very well. But it can’t be done here; we must climb Mount Ebih. I left the whetstone there.”
“We’re going right now!”
Inanna flung aside the blanket she had been under and tried to rise—only to stagger and nearly fall.
“Careful.”
Sunya caught her about the waist and steadied her. For an instant the soft touch of her skin made him stiffen; then he continued as though nothing had happened.
“You overexerted yourself rather badly last night. Your strength is spent; moving on your own will be difficult.”
“…Then carry me on your back.”
Sunya, who had been about to lift her in a princess carry all the way to the summit, tilted his head.
“Must I?”
“Yeah.”
“If that is more comfortable for you.”
He turned and took her onto his back. Inanna at once looped her arms around his neck and locked her legs about his waist.
“My breasts are bigger than that girl’s earlier, right?”
As she said, the pressure and breadth he felt now bore no comparison to Kubatum’s. Inanna herself found a strange pleasure in rubbing her chest against his broad back.
“…You planned this from the start.”
“Planned what?”
“Nothing.”
He did not forget to wrap her naked body in cloth so that no one else might see.
“A-are you leaving already, Sage?”
Outside the house, Nibar came forward with an anxious look.
“You may stay longer if you wish.”
“No. I’ve already imposed enough.”
“And the lady behind you…?”
Nibar carefully gauged Inanna’s mood. Even though her appearance had changed, he seemed to recognize who she was.
“Don’t mind her.”
“Y-yes. Please go in peace.”
Nibar bowed from the waist. The other villagers likewise found Inanna difficult to approach. The fear and reverence in their eyes were so familiar to her that they stirred nothing at all.
Once they were beyond the reach of those gazes, Sunya rose straight into the air.
“Come to think of it—the reason I can’t sense divinity from you is because you were originally human?”
Inanna asked as they flew.
“No. Ordinarily I restrain my divinity out of consideration for others.”
“You can restrain it this thoroughly?”
Amazing. Gods could hide their divinity, and its radiance lessened greatly while they slept. But to suppress it so completely that even fellow gods would mistake one for a mortal—that was nearly impossible.