There Is No Country for Gods (4)
“Is a god really descending?”
“Look at this crowd… If this isn’t a real descent, what is it?”
“If a real god appears, what do you think they’ll say? The empire’s future? Or maybe the future of whoever they see first…”
Even though she was traveling incognito, the fact that an imperial princess—normally so reluctant to leave the palace—had come in person had swelled the citizens’ expectations to a fever pitch.
Some waited with bright anticipation, hungry to hear their futures. Others already fretted that the truth might not match the life they imagined. A few had even brought offerings to present to the goddess.
“Wow… Sir Evan, you can see everyone from up here…”
“I know. I don’t usually use my ability like this either—it’s pretty incredible. That said… it’s almost time.”
According to the astrologers’ prophecy, Livia’s descent would occur at 17:53.
And right then, the minute hand moved.
“I-it’s fifty-three! Where’s the god…? Where is the god?!”
“So it was a lie after all? Figures. A god? How ridiculous…”
Astrologers’ prophecies were usually vague. Something like, In a few days one of your secrets will come out, or Be careful with water for a week. From the listener’s point of view, most people had more than one secret, and “be careful with water” could mean anything from drinking water to bathwater—it only sowed confusion.
This prophecy of a divine descent, however, had accurately named fully five of the six journalistic questions. Judging by that alone, the odds that a god had truly arrived were extremely high—close to nine in ten.
In other words… the god has already descended and is mixed in among this huge crowd. That’s the way to look at it.
People had vaguely assumed a god’s arrival would come with flashing light and the earth splitting open. That was why they were so confused. But the goddess had simply appeared among the throng without fanfare, and no one had managed to find her.
Every god possesses, quite literally, divine beauty. If she had descended with her full appearance revealed, she’d have been spotted no matter how many people were here. Which means… she almost certainly covered herself with something like a robe.
To an ordinary person, spotting a robed figure from a height where the crowd looked like ants would have been nearly impossible. I was different. Distinguishing friend from foe and reading a wide field of vision were indispensable skills for a commander on the battlefield. Finding someone in a robe slipping out of a crowd this size was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Not that one… not that one either… that one’s close, but it’s a man. And that one… found her.
A small figure in a green robe. While everyone else was roaming the square hunting for a god, this person had the hood pulled low and was cutting straight out of the plaza in a single line.
According to the encyclopedias, Livia was a petite woman. The robed figure leaving the square was more than worth checking out.
“Your Highness. I believe I’ve found her.”
“Have you? With this many people, there’s no need to go down and cause a scene. Let’s follow from above until the goddess leaves the square and reaches somewhere quieter.”
“Understood.”
Livia was the goddess of the astrologers. She would almost certainly head straight for the astrologer who held the strongest faith in her. All we had to do was greet the goddess first and invite her to the imperial palace. With that plan in mind, we began trailing the figure we suspected was the goddess through the air.
“…She fell.”
“…”
“Even a god whose divinity is weak, once they come down to the mortal world, shouldn’t be someone an ordinary nation can match… right? And yet a goddess is… falling over?”
“…It’s a first for me as well.”
After that, the goddess kept trying earnestly to push her way free of the crowd, only to trip or get shoved aside at every turn. She seemed so rattled by her own situation that she began to flounder in pure panic.
“…Sir Evan. I don’t mean to dismiss your ability, but… is that really a god?”
“O goddess…”
“W-well then, let’s pretend we’re with her and go help. At this rate we’re going to see an actual goddess cry.”
“Yes… understood.”
With distinctly mixed feelings, Her Highness and I descended to a nearby alley beside the goddess’s latest fall, stepped off the iron plate, and approached the goddess who was now making a tearful face after being shoulder-checked again.
“Hoho! Oh, Lia, you clumsy thing… Come on, take our hands.”
“Eh…? Eh…?”
“That’s right. Let’s go.”
“Ehhhhh?!”
We stepped up on either side of the fallen goddess, each took an arm, and linked elbows to lift her to her feet. For all the grand title of “goddess,” once she was on the mortal plane her body was no different from a human’s. Unable to keep up with what was happening, she could only look back and forth between Her Highness and me and let out little shrieks.
“Hohoho!”
“Hahaha!”
“Eek…!”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Livia, goddess of the astrologers. I am Ekaterina Cardein, Fifth Princess of the Cardein Empire. And this is my escort knight, Evan Farcion.”
“Evan Farcion. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Ah… y-yes… yes…”
This… is a goddess?
After carrying her into a reasonably empty alley and setting her down, we offered our greetings. The goddess still had no idea what was going on; she stood there trembling all over.
“…We took the liberty of intervening for a moment in order to protect Lady Livia.”
“Ah… ehh… I-I see… that’s what it was… I-I had no idea…”
At our explanation, the goddess somehow managed to still her shaking. She unclenched the arms she’d been hugging around herself, reached up, and pulled back her robe.
“A-ah… hello…? I-I’m… L-Livia… the goddess of the… astrologers…”
When she shed the green robe that had hidden her face, the beauty that appeared was overwhelming. Green eyes that called to mind a vast meadow. Bright grey hair in a short bob, braided here and there. Overall she had the cute look of a small animal, and her petite frame seemed sculpted for the sole purpose of being loved.
I forcibly suppressed the urge to scoop Livia into a hug as she looked up at me with those gentle eyes, and instead asked the question that had been bothering me since before this outing even began.
“If I may be so bold… why did Your Divinity choose to descend in the square rather than at the Pantheon?”
“Ah… th-that is… when we were deciding on the place of descent, the people beside me were trying to help with this and that, and by accident they just…”
“Ah… I see.”
“B-but they didn’t mean any harm…! And honestly, getting to see the people of the lower world this close was… kind of amazing. It wasn’t bad.”
“Well, that’s a relief, at least…”
So the high-flying gods of the heavens had tried to help with every little thing and accidentally dropped her into the square. What a pitiable goddess. Then again, if someone like her were getting ready to leave somewhere and fussing over preparations, I would probably jump in to help too.
“Um… if you have the time, could you take me to Galardision’s residence…?”
The goddess looked up at us with trembling eyes.
The more points of contact we create with the goddess, the better. We should accept for now.
Understood, Your Highness.
“If that is Your Divinity’s will, we shall gladly escort you.”
“Th-thank you…”
“You should put the robe back on first. Your Divinity’s appearance draws far too many eyes in the mortal world.”
“Hm? Ah… yes…! You’re right…”
“As for Galardision, I know him as the foremost astrologer of the empire… Is that correct?”
“Yes… Sion should already know and be waiting…”
Galardision. The empire’s greatest astrologer, and a famous eccentric who insisted on personally verifying whether his own prophecies came true. His most celebrated anecdote involved betting everything on a single prediction that he would not die that day—and firing a gun against his own temple. The astonishing part was that a firearm he cleaned and oiled every single day simply failed to go off. Neighbors who rushed over after hearing the shot later testified that he had been humming and dancing for joy because his prophecy had been correct.
“Well then, shall we be on our way?”
“Ah… w-wait a moment… Evan… just stand there for three seconds.”
“Pardon?”
Crash—!
Barely had the goddess finished speaking when a flowerpot smashed down onto the exact spot where I would have been if I had taken even one more step. Of course, even without her warning I would have dodged at the last second—but it was still plenty dangerous.
“Thank you, Your Divinity. I nearly had my head cracked open.”
“Ah… n-no… it’s nothing special for me.”
“It may be nothing special to Your Divinity, but to us it is a remarkable gift. Have a little more confidence.”
“Y-yes… Evan is… kind…”
“…We should get moving, Sir Evan.”
“Yes. This way, then.”
And so we set out for Galardision’s residence. Strangely enough, for the entire journey afterward, Her Highness did not speak a single word.