The Unnamed Sage
“Um… may I ask the reason?”
“People have been coming up here more often lately. Thanks to that, the time I get to listen to stories has shrunk way down.”
It was a childish reason. Controlling access to the mountain over something so trivial.
Yet Sunya neither scolded nor admonished Inanna. A noble goddess had no reason to care about others’ opinions, and in truth no need to. Nothing he said here would change her mind.
“Thank you.”
Above all else, gratitude filled him.
“For what?”
“You remembered that I once said I found it uncomfortable mingling with people.”
“……”
Inanna’s words caught in her throat for a moment.
“You acted for my sake. How could I not be grateful?”
Somehow it felt embarrassing. It was true, yet admitting it outright somehow felt like losing.
“What are you talking about? I did it for myself, okay? Stop with the nonsense and just tell me a story.”
It was not a lie. Gods could not lie to begin with. But they could stay silent or talk around the truth. In truth, Inanna’s decision to restrict the mountain had been mixed with her own selfish desire.
“If I misunderstood, I apologize.”
Of course, to Sunya it was nothing more than a clumsy excuse. Watching him smile, Inanna knew he saw through it.
“……In the first place, you said dealing with people is hard, yet you don’t stop them from coming.”
“Even though facing people makes me uncomfortable, part of me still feels lonely. That’s why I live in this half-measure of a way.”
“There you go with the weird talk again.”
“Heh heh……”
“You really live in such a complicated way. If you like something, you like it. If you hate it, you hate it. Why do you talk as if it’s neither?”
“This is just the idle talk of a man with a full belly. Please take the words of a mere eccentric lightly and let them pass.”
“Hmm…… I don’t think that’s it.”
Inanna thought of her relatives dwelling in the heavenly palace. When the world was first made they had been so busy, yet now they spent most of their time idling about. At best they made half-hearted efforts to gather human faith. To young Inanna, the lives of the gods seemed endlessly dull. They neither aged nor died by nature, so there was no progress. With time that was essentially infinite, they felt no desperate drive to accomplish anything before death. At their core, the lives of the gods were utterly numb.
Sunya was different. To Inanna he was a type of person she had never seen before—not merely among humans, but among the gods as well. He knew a great deal, like Enki, yet he was nothing like Enki. Because he usually walked with his eyes nearly closed, it was hard to read him. He never spoke of his past, so she had no idea what kind of life he had led. He never grew excited; he showed not even a ripple of emotion. He looked like an outstanding warrior, yet he neither overestimated his own strength nor turned craven even when he complained. At the same time he lacked the seasoned edge of a battle-hardened veteran. It was simply his nature.
Everything that made up Sunya felt like a riddle. Rather than unpleasant, it was mysterious. Of course it might only seem that way because they had not known each other long, but in her eyes he was a man like an onion—peel after peel, with no end in sight.
“Ah, enough. I wasted time on pointless stuff. Hurry up and tell me a story you know.”
“Yes, yes. Then I shall continue from yesterday’s tale of the ‘War of the Stars.’”
The moment Sunya opened his mouth, Inanna was drawn into the story as always. The tales he told went beyond mere novelty; there was something higher about them. The primitive stories of the time mostly focused on the achievements of their characters. In Sunya’s stories, however, achievements were closer to mere byproducts. The main material was complex, fatal destinies and the anguish and conflict of the people who faced them. Allies became enemies and enemies became allies, and there were always rational reasons why they had no choice. Listening, one almost felt as if the figures in the tale were truly alive.
“I have a question.”
“Please ask.”
“In the stories you tell, something called a ‘practitioner’ appears. How is that different from a priest?”
“If a priest is one who walks a path that already exists, a practitioner is one who seeks the path.”
“……I don’t get it. Say it simply.”
“First of all, the two are not opposite concepts. But if one must distinguish them, priests are those who follow the will of the gods. To them, the will of the gods is justice and truth.”
“That makes sense.”
“Practitioners are those who seek the truth for themselves. Even if someone beside them tells them the answer, they do not accept it as the answer. You can think of them as people who deliberately leave the easy road and choose the hard one.”
“So a practitioner is just another word for an idiot?”
“That’s not wrong. But one could also say that practitioners are slow yet certain. Just as you can only truly feel how rugged a mountain is by climbing it yourself.”
“You can know a mountain is rugged without climbing it yourself, can’t you?”
“You can only guess. No matter how thoroughly the goddess explains the ruggedness and grandeur of Mount Ebih to people who have never even seen it, they can do nothing but speculate.”
“Mmm…… I understand what you mean, but then aren’t they completely different?”
“No. Priests can become practitioners in the act of interpreting the gods’ will, and practitioners often refer to the gods’ will while seeking the truth.”
“……I think I sort of get it.”
Inanna sank into deep thought. Watching her, Sunya unconsciously wore a gentle smile. It reminded him of the days when he had taught his disciples. He hoped that even something small from this conversation might lead her to some realization.
“Then are you a practitioner, Sunya?”
The words that left Inanna’s mouth a moment later were outside his expectations.
“……May I ask why you thought that?”
“Just because. You seem like an idiot somehow.”
“Pardon? Pfft—!”
Laughter burst out of Sunya. He laughed for a long while over something so trivial that Inanna stared at him with strange eyes.
“……What’s so funny?”
“No, it’s truly nothing. I haven’t lived all that long, but this is the first time anyone has ever called me an idiot.”
He broke off mid-sentence and laughed hard again. What could be so amusing? Inanna felt a pointless surge of spite.
“Then I guess you’ve only ever met idiots.”
“That may well be so. This ignorant fool is so overwhelmed by the great enlightenment the goddess has bestowed that he does not know where to put himself.”
“……You’re mocking me right now, aren’t you?”
“No, not at all. It’s just… rather novel, shall we say? Heh heh……”
As Sunya’s laughter continued, Inanna unconsciously puffed out her cheeks. Why did everything she did look so adorable? That same impression drifted through Sunya’s mind.
Pat.
“Huh?”
“I mean it. I cannot tell lies.”
Sunya placed his hand on Inanna’s head and stroked it as if she were praiseworthy. At such a rude act she should have exploded in anger at once, yet strangely her heart pounded so hard she could not. Her face flushed bright red, and for a while she could only stammer like a fool.
“W-what do you think you’re doing?! A mere human!!”
She swatted his hand away and tried to threaten him, yet to Sunya the girl still looked lovable.
“Yes, yes. I shall be more careful from now on.”
“Grr!! Just you wait!!”
With those words Inanna fled the spot as if running away. The sight of a noble goddess fleeing from a mere human might have invited all sorts of thoughts, yet to Sunya right now Inanna was not a goddess but simply a young girl, so he took no special notice. Children of that age were often easily embarrassed by small things, were they not? His thoughts went no further than that.
Come to think of it…… I have quite a bit of time left today.
Inanna had left earlier than usual. A faint sense of regret lingered, yet as always Sunya went inside and sharpened his knife with the remaining whetstone.
Shhhk, shhhk.
Once, twice…… He pushed and pulled the blade exactly one hundred and eight times before he stopped honing the edge.
……It still seems a little early to sleep.
He looked forward to tomorrow. It was a bit earlier than usual, but getting a good night’s rest a little sooner would not be so bad.
“?”
Just as he was about to lie down on the straw bed, he sensed a presence outside. It was still some distance away, yet “it” was coming straight toward where Sunya was.
“……It would be impolite to stay indoors when a guest has arrived.”
Sunya stepped out of the house. Then he quietly fixed his gaze on the undergrowth some distance behind the dwelling.
[Uuuuuh……]
A grotesque sound reached him. It was nothing a human could produce. Of course Sunya had never once thought the visitor who came in the dead of night was human. Climbing a mountain at night was uncommon enough, and the presence was so overwhelming compared to a human’s that it made his skin prickle.
“Welcome. I do not know what business brings you here so late, but if there is anything I can help with, I shall gladly do so.”
As always, Sunya greeted the other with a kind smile.
[Help me?]
Then the visitor stepped out from the undergrowth. Its appearance was far removed from a person or any ordinary living thing. It looked as if darkness itself had been gathered into a mass and human legs attached to it. A pair of eyes was visible, yet they had no lids and bulged outward, giving a grotesque impression.
Its form was peculiar, yet Sunya knew what it was. It was a fallen god. For one reason or another a god’s mind had collapsed while the body lived on, resulting in such a monstrous shape. Most had nothing that could be called a self and acted only according to specific urges, so they might as well be beasts. In later ages humanity would call such things “demons” and the like, but the name was not particularly important.
[Help me? You?]
“Yes. Provided it is something I am able to help with, of course.”
Sunya was sincere. Even demons sometimes returned to being gods once more.
[Then help me.]
“Please tell me.”
[I’m hungry.]
“Hmm, that is troublesome. There is nothing to eat in my house.”
Sunya scratched his head. Watching him look awkward, the fallen god spoke.
[It’s fine.]
In that instant a massive mouth stretched open and came right up to Sunya’s face.
[Because I can just eat you.]
Crunch!!