The Goddess Joins Soul Net

After her outing to the Black Magic Tower, Orphea had returned to the solitary cell of her convent.

But there was one thing that had changed, unmistakably, from before.

She had avoided meeting people because she hated them—because being forced to witness the true face of humanity disgusted her so.

And then... she had discovered a world that was like a miniature of human society, one she could enter without ever meeting a soul.

The 1st-level spell for connecting to Soul Net.

Orphea remembered the spell Elsy Bwenner had handed her personally, of course. She remembered every syllable of it.

At first, it had been nothing more than curiosity.

Within the Holy Fire Order, no one troubled her. They simply brought her meals and left, praying silently that today, please, she might be in a better state. Total abandonment, dressed up as mercy.

Which left her with nothing to do and oceans of spare time—time she had once spent, always, in conversation with the Goddess.

But for the first time, Orphea resolved to fill those hours with something that was not the Goddess.

"The Holy Fire Order."

First, she searched for her own order on the Portal Page. She wanted to know what people thought of it.

"Goddess Yurs, Lady of Fire and Purification."

Next, the name of the Goddess she served.

How was the Holy Fire Order received by the people? What image did the Goddess hold in their hearts?

That investigation, begun in earnest, naturally led her to one particular kind of net page.

Galleries.

An ocean of letters and images, overflowing with information, gossip, and pure unfiltered nonsense.

And her Soul Net exploration—started out of simple curiosity about her own order and its Goddess—

"The Adventurer Gallery? So a place like this exists?"

"There's even a gallery made by priests gathering together? The Exorcism Ritual Gallery? Insider tips on banishing demons and evil spirits? Ooh?"

"For things like this, seeing it directly beats letters and images every time... a video link attached? Kraken? There's a video site too?"

—sank, in the blink of an eye, to depths from which there was no return.

So deep she forgot to eat, forgot to drink.

So deep that even speaking with the Goddess became a chore.

And to the Goddess, that sight was profoundly, terribly unwelcome.

"Yesterday, in a dream, the Goddess herself came to me and spoke. She said that Saintess Orphea's heart has drifted away from her."

"I'm... sorry, what?"

"Something must be done. What would you have us do?"

The Goddess had spoken a single word to the Pope—the most capable and best-connected of all her servants—and the Pope, in an assembly of the Order's high priests and high inquisitors, had declared the Goddess's concerns openly and without shame.

High Inquisitor Akram, upon receiving this news, went straight to Elsy Bwenner to pour out his troubles.

And Elsy Bwenner—

"Community addiction and... Kraken addiction? You want me to fix that?"

"I hear you received the title of Court Jester from His Majesty the Emperor, and with it the order to take responsibility for everything that happens on Soul Net. This is the same. Take some measure regarding the Saintess. I'm begging you—do something to restore the bond between the Goddess and her Saintess!"

And so, gnashing his teeth and swallowing the bitter herb, Elsy had no choice but to throw himself into the project of curing Orphea's Soul Net addiction.

Well. It didn't work. Not one bloody bit.

So the next thing I tried was a somewhat harder-line approach.

I actually did block her. And, miraculously, shockingly, Saintess Orphea broke my block.

And so began an escalating war of blocks and evasions.

I threw everything magic could offer at the problem, but the Saintess...

Honestly? Let me be frank.

Her mastery of the soul was terrifying.

Shrinking her soul. Hiding it. Altering its wavelength so completely that she logged in looking like an entirely different person, and so on.

I had no idea how souls were manipulated or by what mechanism—so no matter how I tried to block her, failure was the only option available.

Frankly, it frightened me.

The Double-Curse Emperor had at least been a black mage of real standing, but the Saintess was showing me what a human chosen by a god could actually do with divine power.

If she ever decided to raise hell the way that emperor did, with talent and authority like hers...

Oof.

Chilling just to imagine it. Genuinely.

To put it in terms of Earth's IT landscape: the Saintess was the ultimate hacker.

In the end, after trying everything I could think of and getting wrecked at every turn, I had to concede—halfway, at least.

Seriously, what am I supposed to do when she's literally reshaping the wavelength and form of her own soul to slip past sanctions?

I don't know the first thing about holy magic!

"The Goddess and the Saintess had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a great quarrel yesterday, I'm told."

"I could tell. She unloaded on me over chat, furious that the Saintess was trying to control her."

"...She was always so quiet, so gentle, so obedient. How did she become... this, all of a sudden?"

"Master Akram, frankly, there is nothing I can do technically. She performs miracles that alter her soul's very wavelength and form to dodge my sanctions. What more can I possibly do from here?"

"Is there no way to make the Saintess lose interest in Soul Net on her own, and return to the Goddess?"

"I checked her access logs. She's been reading Net Novels lately. Seems completely hooked on romance titles."

"..."

"There's no way. As long as Soul Net exists, there will always be new content—and as long as there's content, the Saintess will always be on Soul Net."

No one on earth could stop the Saintess's Soul Net expeditions. Not the Order. And I had half given up on her myself.

And so it seemed the affair would quietly die down.

But that was my mistake.

Because the single most important party involved had absolutely no intention of letting it end this way.

I really...

In all my lives, I really...

I had gone to bed because of Soul Net, of all things, and woken into a dream where a god descended upon me directly and demanded a conversation. Who could have seen that coming?

Blazing flame, radiant and magnificent.

Within that surging fire, the purest white and the fiercest blue existed side by side.

Wreathed in solemn radiance, her face hidden from view, the Goddess looked down upon me.

It was a scene that made my very bones tremble—and yet...

"My beloved child. The child I chose with my own hand rages at me, saying that I ruined her life. She rages that I forcibly granted her a power that permits her to reach the world through Soul Net alone."

Why did every word sound so achingly familiar to me?

Wasn't this just the fantasy version of what every parent of a teenager says? "My kid's always on their phone and their games—won't say a word to me anymore."

"What must I do for my beloved child's heart to return to me? What must I do for her to come back—the child who once smiled at me—out of Soul Net and into my arms again?"

I swallowed, again and again, my mouth bone-dry.

The being before me was, in the most literal sense, transcendent.

If she grew angry, neither political logic nor economic logic would protect me the way it had with His Majesty the Emperor.

I would simply be obliterated.

"I am but a single mortal, my Lady. Surely the other gods possess greater wisdom than I."

So the first strategy I chose was hoarding my words.

Why should I be the one making judgments here?

Just pass the buck to the other gods and be done with it.

But.

"Soul Net is a magic and a culture that first appeared in the Wirod Dimension. Elsy Bwenner. Even the other gods cannot pass judgment on domains that are not their own. Therefore the answer must come from you. How am I to win back my child's heart?"

Yeah. No escaping it, of course.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Stay calm.

Don't panic.

Stop thinking of the thing in front of you as a god.

She's just a parent who wants to reconnect with her kid because of the internet and video games. That's all. Just a parent.

"The harder you try to force her back, the further the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Saintess will drift from you. On that one point, I am certain."

I opened my mouth carefully.

"Then you would simply leave things as they are?"

"No, my Lady. I only ask that force and control not be the means. Show her that experiences exist outside of Soul Net. She began Soul Net for fun—so show her that life beyond it has its own fun, its own worth."

The internet is fun.

So show the child that the world beyond the internet has value and enjoyment of its own, and naturally she'll find her own balance between the two. That was the escape route from internet addiction devised by yours truly, a man who once lived knee-deep in forums.

"That child hates me. She hates the power I granted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her. And because of that power, she fears meeting the world and its people. How am I to teach a child who fears life beyond Soul Net the joys that lie beyond Soul Net?"

"That's where communication comes in, my Lady. Do not try to suppress what she loves. Join it yourself. Build a bond with her—and then, slowly, use that bond so the Saintess can stand on her own. So she can face the world outside Soul Net, in her own time."

"How?"

"You said the Saintess hates her power, yes? Then show her how that power can be used for good. Show her how it can cleanse the world. Soul Net, just like the real world, has people with wicked hearts—people who deceive and destroy others for their own gain."

"You would have me purify such souls?"

"Yes, my Lady. If reality frightens her, let her begin purifying online, where she feels safe, and build her confidence there. And throughout that process, you remain at her side, always. Show her that her power is not a curse, but a talent she can wield."

That was my roundabout way of saying: please keep the Saintess by your side and use her as your lifetime Padak, my Lady.

And one more thing, while I was at it.

"My Lady... have you considered trying Soul Net yourself?"

"I? On Soul Net?"

"Show her, through action, that you love what she loves. Nothing in this world will capture the Saintess's heart more surely. Start with chat. Who knows? A little chatting might deepen into real conversation between you."

At my words, the Goddess fell silent for a long moment.

But after much deliberation, she seemed to decide to follow my advice.

"How does one create an account on Soul Net?"

For the first time in history—

This was the moment a divine being connected to Soul Net.