Lewd Wisdom (2)
"S-sorry. I won't do it again."
Monica knelt on the floor, hands raised high in apology.
I picked up the bizarre comic book she'd drawn and flipped through it.
An all-purpose Munchkin butler devotes himself to his lady, they lock eyes, and love blossoms.
Nothing particularly special about the story.
Except that the butler was modeled after me from my past life.
"……."
"Apostle... um, well, you see..."
"Enough. I get it. Lower your hands first."
Monica dropped her hands and rolled her eyes, gauging my reaction.
...At least it's not a guy-on-guy story. Small mercies.
I could see why fanfiction based on real people from my past world was taboo. A shojo manga where a guy looking just like me (heavily idealized, but still) spouted cringey lines? Unbearable.
Thud.
I slammed the book shut, unable to take any more.
"So. Does this book really need to go to her?"
I turned to Wisdom's apostle, who stood awkwardly beside me, waiting.
He was eyeing how Courage's apostle—the one who'd knocked him flat—was apologizing to me like I was the boss.
"Uh... well......"
"Name's Rian. Feel free to drop the formalities."
No matter that he was our constellation's apostle and the continent's richest man—publicly, he was just a commoner academy student. Lowly compared to noble-born students or other apostles.
It was natural for him to speak casually to me.
"I-I'm... no, I'm Pater, servant of [Lewd Wisdom]."
Lewd Wisdom...
A constellation name for the goddess of wisdom?
...Hold up.
Lewd?
I recalled the constellations I'd met and the sins that had corrupted them.
Sacrifice lost to sloth. The magitech genius drowned in wrath. The King of Ten Thousand Demons steeped in pride.
Sloth, wrath, pride.
Wasn't lust one of those sins too?
Then maybe the "lewd" modifying this wisdom goddess was her sin.
The Magitech Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath says there's potential, but isn't lewdness different from lust?
-...Sure, but still.
If she wasn't eroded by the sin of lust, it'd be even weirder.
A constellation's name embodies their divinity and authority. Unlike our investors, corrupted by sins, other gods usually had epithets drawn from their life stories, elevated to divine concepts.
If this wisdom goddess wasn't influenced by sin, then her inherent lewdness was baked into her very divinity.
A natural-born lewd pervert goddess of wisdom. Not even the goddess of love.
The Magitech Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath nods, thinking the goddess of wisdom probably isn't that much of a pervert.
According to the magitech engineer, the goddess of wisdom was as much a shut-in as our investors—maybe worse.
She hadn't left her domain since ascending. No other gods had even seen her.
Everyone knew she was female only because her apostles on the mortal plane spilled the beans.
-Then we should make contact, right?
The Magitech Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath agrees—contact her through this apostle to gather intel. But stay vigilant; the Abyss might crash the party if sins are involved.
-Got it.
Good thing I had the magitech engineer here. He was more reliable than that clown demon god—except when he cracked his dumb jokes and laughed at them alone.
-Tell the others for now.
"Mm, Pater. I heard the goddess of wisdom needs this book."
"Indeed."
"That girl over there made and distributes it, but the main character is modeled after a real person."
"Is that so?"
He muttered about it not being about the butler and tilted his head. "Yeah. And unfortunately, that person is someone I serve. So I can't just hand it over."
The character's me, so yeah, I have rights.
"Money's no issue."
"It's not money she wants."
Using an R18 book starring me as bait to approach a goddess. Felt weird.
"What does she want?"
Pater pushed up his glasses, the lenses glinting.
"I'd like to speak with the goddess of wisdom you serve."
"......With her?"
"Yes."
"Any reason you can share?"
"Nothing complicated, but..."
I couldn't spill about sins eroding constellations when we weren't even sure she was a victim.
"I've had a question for the Lady of Wisdom for a while now."
"Hm......"
Pater crossed his arms, staring me down.
Did my reason sound fishy?
"Should be fine. But I can't decide alone. I'll ask her."
He brought his right hand to his ear.
"Yes, it's Pater. ...No, found it. But there's a minor snag in acquisition... Yes. Exactly. ...To the constellation... Yes, yes."
No device in his hand, but he muttered like he was on a call.
No mana fluctuation.
Divine comms via her authority?
Didn't seem like direct god-talk... More like chatting with a higher-ranking apostle.
A wisdom goddess pulling off remote comms? Makes sense.
"Good. She approves."
Pater lowered his hand after the call.
"She'll summon you now."
The goddess of wisdom summoning me?
How? She never leaves her domain.
Hummm.
Suddenly, my vision rippled around me.
"This is......"
My sight spun like I was blackout drunk, consciousness sinking deep.
Flash.
I opened my eyes in the center of a vast, darkness-shrouded temple.
...Gods are gods, huh.
Maybe I'd underrated them after dealing with our flawed investors.
Pulling a mere mortal into her space? Trivial for her.
Whumm!
A massive statue right in front of me glowed intensely.
[She wishes to ask you something.]
Her incarnation? Her divine words echoed with awe-inspiring reverence—enough to drop me to my knees if I weren't used to gods.
"Yes, that's right."
[What do you wish to ask?]
"Have you ever felt dominated by some emotion? Like shackles tightening around you."
I tested if I could read her thoughts, like with the demon god.
Silence. No dice.
The demon god's mind was open on first meet; not here. Avatar, not true body? Or no sin corrosion?
[......Why ask such a thing?]
"I've met several constellations lately... and discovered 'sins' corroding them. Planted during ascension, suppressing them."
[Suppression...... suppression......]
She trailed off, like it rang a bell.
[And? What of those constellations?]
"We removed the sins somehow. They're back to normal."
Our constellations weren't hiding my identity anymore, so it was fine to say.
[You have a way to break the shackles binding gods?]
"Yes. Though not by my power alone. I'm the apostle of the Dream God."
[......Dream apostle?]
The statue tilted its head slightly.
"Yes."
[Impossible. The Dream God has no apostle. I know everything on this continent. If so, my shackles... Wait!]
Excitement crept into her bored tone.
[The true Dream Apostle?! No lies in those words!]
"...Yes? That's right......"
What? Why this reaction all of a sudden?
Hummm.
Light gathered before me.
The fluffy mass swelled, shifting into human form.
Flash.
A girl in her late teens or early twenties burst out, arms awkwardly spread.
"Th-then show me! Knowledge from worlds beyond my sight!"
Her voice was fragile, girlish—not the majestic divine speech from before.
I couldn't help but gape at the goddess of wisdom's true form.
Not just her sudden appearance, but—
Squelch.
I'd never imagined a goddess popping out with something long jammed down below.
Drip.
Drip.