The Era of the Gods (2)
Of course, just because you’re born as the god of the heavens doesn’t mean you automatically become the king of the gods. Gods are inherently prideful creatures who refuse to bow to anyone else. Ah, excluding me. I’m off-spec.
“That’s why being born as the god of the heavens doesn’t make you the king of the gods.”
“Why not? If you’re the god of the heavens, aren’t you above everything? Wouldn’t that make you perfect as the king of the gods?”
“You can’t become king just because of a superior birth. Kingship is established when others delegate all responsibilities and duties to you.”
In that process, you have to persuade them sufficiently, or seize it through force accompanied by violence, or go through various other steps. But fundamentally, that’s what power is. It’s not like you become king just because some strange woman lies in a pond and hands you a sword.
“Hmm… I don’t get it!”
“Yeah. That’s understandable.”
Even as the god of the heavens, he’s still just a young child. It’s only natural he wouldn’t understand these complicated political matters.
“Then let me explain it this way. A king is a being recognized by others, right?”
“Mm… Yeah! Recognized! A king is!”
“But what if a significant number of them refuse to recognize you as king?”
At my words, Baal pondered for a moment before flashing a bright smile.
“Crush them with force!”
Hmm. Is raising this kid to be the king of the gods really the right call? He might turn into a massive tyrant at the drop of a hat. No, no. Education. Let’s believe in the power of education. Even a spoiled brat like this can become a fine king with proper guidance, right? Anyone can walk the right path with the right teachings.
“What if there are beings stronger than you that you can’t crush with force?”
Baal thought long and hard at my question.
“I don’t know!”
He gave up on answering.
“What should I do?”
Looking at Baal’s innocent face as he asked me, I couldn’t help but smile faintly. No matter how much he’s the god of the heavens and all that, he’s still just a little kid.
“In that case, you persuade them.”
“Persuade?”
“Yes. Persuade.”
If you can’t handle it with force, then convincing them with words is the answer. Of course, blurting out “Hand over the throne of the king of the gods!” won’t convince anyone. You have to persuade them well.
“For example.”
I conjured a small piece of candy out of thin air and handed it to Baal as I spoke.
“Suppose you have one piece of candy like this.”
“Candy…?”
“It’s a sweet treat.”
By the way, it was green grape flavor. Classic candy flavor, right?
“Can I eat it?”
“I gave it to you for the explanation, so hold on for a sec…. No, I said hold it.”
“Yummy!”
Baal popped the candy into his mouth before I could even finish. Grr…. Well, it was just an example anyway. Let’s keep going with the explanation.
I ignored Baal’s cheeks bulging from the candy and continued.
“In a situation where you have one piece of candy, suppose someone needs the candy you have.”
“Mm.”
“That someone really needs the candy but is weaker than you, so they can’t take it by force. In that case, they come and talk to you.”
“Talk?”
“Yeah. Talk. They say, ‘I’ll give you something of mine, so give me your candy.’ Something like that.”
Baal nodded slightly at my words.
“That’s what persuasion is—saying things that change your mind.”
“Mm…. No way! Not giving it!”
Baal suddenly started wailing.
“No, it’s just a hypothetical.”
“Then you won’t take my candy?”
“Yeah. Eat it all yourself.”
“Yay!”
Baal grinned innocently. Hmm. Whatever, I guess it doesn’t matter.
“Anyway, that’s persuasion—talking in a way that sways someone’s heart. Got it?”
“Mm…. Kinda!”
“Good. ‘Kinda’ is better than nothing.”
At least he’s pretending to listen. That’s something.
“You’re still young and weak since you were just born. Just declaring yourself the king of the gods could earn the resentment of the other gods.”
“Resentment?”
“It means they’ll hate you.”
Hmm. Since Baal’s still little, I should use simple words. Anything too hard and he won’t get it.
“Especially my children—they’ve existed since ancient times. They might hate you just for proclaiming yourself king of the gods.”
“Mm…. Is that bad?”
“Yes. Very bad.”
Shamash is close to the heavens thanks to her association with light, but the others aren’t.
“So, you need to go to each of my children one by one and persuade them.”
“Mm…. Can I do it?”
Baal looked a bit worried. Smiling softly at him, I said,
“I’ll help you, so don’t worry too much.”
The most fitting being for the throne of king of the gods is obviously me, but I don’t want to do it. If I push this kid forward as a proxy, they’ll get the picture, right? Besides, it’s about time there was someone to oversee all the gods. An era where gods are popping up everywhere. The age of the gods. Without someone to manage them, it’d turn into chaos in no time.
“Alright, let’s go. Time to persuade the others.”
“Yeah! Nice to work with you, Gaia!”
Gaia, huh. It’s awkward, but kinda fresh. And so, I set off with Baal to persuade my other children.
This world is overflowing with gods.
It wasn’t like this in the old days, but now, in an era brimming with faith, gods are springing up everywhere.
Even small mountains house mountain spirits, and tiny streams have water spirits flowing through them. Massive trees at the entrances of human villages are possessed by gods who protect the villages as their guardian deities.
Truly, the age of the gods.
An era where natural objects gain faith, awakening as gods with budding egos.
Of course, to receive faith as a god, you need to be large or revered enough for humans to offer it.
Hmm. So that’s why other humans or animals don’t receive faith? Humans don’t worship other humans as gods, after all. Even if a human did get faith, they probably couldn’t use it properly. A human becoming a god…? Probably nothing much.
Anyway, back to the point.
This world is full of gods.
And even the smallest ones are stronger than humans. Gods born from a certain power possess the ability to wield that power freely.
Even a god born from a tiny stream can drench passersby with water.
If you leave such gods unchecked, the world would fall into utter chaos. They’d fight neighboring gods, reshape terrain in wild brawls, and hurting humans would be a given.
To prevent that, there needs to be someone to manage the gods.
There needed to be.
If I weren’t the most likely candidate for that role, there’d be no problem!! No! I’m already swamped as it is!!!
Answering humans’ prayers, extending the lives of the desperate a bit! Managing newly born lives! Checking the underworld’s workload! Helping out when the underworld backlog piles up!!! Smacking the cloud whale’s lazy ass when it zones out and neglects work!!! Mediating disputes between races!! Overseeing the lizardmen’s various events!!! Warning humans in dreams if they’re about to cause serious trouble from overambition!!! Watching the dwarf-elf racial wars to ensure no issues!!! Visiting beastkin gods now and then to play with them!!! Stopping Sylphid when she throws tantrums and whips up typhoons!!! Coaxing Shamash when she whines about not wanting to work because of all the pointless trials!!! I even went to check on a god the giants believed in, only to be shocked by an even bigger giant—but that father giant was such a slacker who wanted nothing to do with anything, so I left him alone!!
My other children aren’t slacking either, but they only handle their immediate surroundings…. So most stuff between races or outside their domains falls on me! At this rate, I’d need three bodies and it still wouldn’t be enough!
And now gods are sprouting up like weeds, and you want me to manage them all? Are you insane? Me doing that?!
“That’s why I plan to give this child the throne of king of the gods to manage the others.”
“Pardon?”
“We were wondering why you suddenly summoned our incarnations…. The king of the gods?”
My children. Shamash, Ifrit, Thetis, Sylphid, Sagarmatha, Yggdrasil. Gods born from natural phenomena that gained egos even before the age of gods.
They looked at me and Baal with puzzled expressions.
Perfect. Time to persuade!
If I can convince these kids, the rest will fall into place!
“I am the god of the heavens! Baal!! The one destined to become the king of the gods!”
Baal shouted that, then grabbed my hand and added,
“And the mate of Gaia!”
Ah, we’re screwed.