God (7): What Is Justice?

Justice. The right path. What truly is the right path? Even after abandoning my humanity and tending to countless lives through eons unimaginable to any human, this was a concept I couldn't quite grasp. What does it mean to be right? What is justice? It all felt so vague and distant.

Yet this simpleminded, narcissistic, troublesome child is supposed to take responsibility for such an elusive idea? I didn't think she could pull it off.

「Anyway, I'm amazing now! It's fine if Mom praises me! When small, frail humans fear the darkness, they call my name!」

Well, the title of Light Goddess made sense enough... I'd known for a while that she was light itself. What worried me was the Justice and Law part.

"What do you think justice is?"

「Justice? Hmm... Whatever I think is right!」

See? No real thought behind it.

"And what do you think is right?"

「Of course, that I'm beautiful!」

Was this kid really okay as the goddess of law and justice?

「Anyway! Now that I'm so great! I'll rule the world in Mom's place!」

Huh? "Shamash. What do you mean by that?"

「Mom was tending the world long before we showed up, right? I don't know how long exactly, but an eternity! But that's no good! Mom needs rest too!」

"Rest...?"

Did I... need something like that...?

The world was vast, and lives were plentiful. Creating an environment where all those lives could thrive without major issues wasn't easy. But I'd always thought I was handling it just fine. For me to take a...

Rest? She sure knew how to crack a joke.

「No matter how amazing Mom is, running nonstop forever has to be exhausting. So let Mom rest, and I'll rule the world!」

Hmm... Thinking like that for my sake—she wasn't just some empty-headed kid after all. But that couldn't happen.

"And how exactly do you plan to rule the world?"

「How...? Hmm... Just sprinkle some warm light everywhere, I guess.」

"And then?"

「Then? Uh... Make some rules, and death penalty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if they don't follow?」

"Anything else?"

「Else...? They'll probably just live fine on their own, right?」

I let out a small sigh at Shamash's words. "That's exactly why it won't work."

「Huh? Why not?! If everyone just lives well on their own, there's no problem! If they squabble a bit, I'll punish the ones in the wrong! Isn't that enough?」

"I wish the world's problems solved themselves that simply."

If you could just smack the wrongdoers on the head and call it a day, how convenient life would be.

"Alright, then. Let me pose a problem. Two women are fighting over a baby, both claiming it's theirs. What verdict would you give?"

The famous Solomon's judgment. A wise verdict exploiting a true mother's love to save the child. Not a hard puzzle, but what would Shamash say?

「Huh? Two women fighting over one baby? Uh... Does it have two moms? That'd be nice~」

Two moms...? "No, that's not it. One of the women is the baby's real mother, the other a thief coveting it. But you don't know which is which. How would you judge?"

「Hmm... Only one real mom... Hmmm...」

Shamash pondered for a long while before hesitantly speaking up.

「For such a ridiculous matter, I'd have both women who dared summon a god decapitated.」

"You're serious...?"

「Story's not over yet. Once I give that verdict and make it seem like I'm really going to behead them, the baby thief—whose life is on the line—won't want to die, so she'll confess she's the thief, right?」

Uh... Hmm... Why did that sound kinda convincing?

「From the moment a goddess of law and justice like me is summoned, it's a grave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trial anyway. So lock the thief in prison, let the real mom take the baby. Good, right?」

"What if the real mom claims she's the thief?"

「Then she doesn't deserve to be a mom, does she? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She'd be abandoning the baby to save her own skin.」

"And if... neither yields the baby to the end?"

At my words, Shamash thought for a moment before slowly replying.

「That's really tough. Hmm... No helping it. Can't tell mom from thief, so behead both. Baby goes to an orphanage. Unavoidable sacrifice.」

Whoa... Psychopath... No, I'd thought I'd given her plenty of emotional guidance as a child. How did she turn out so ruthless?

「Humans are countless anyway. Killing one more won't make a dent. Honestly, summoning me—the goddess of law and justice—for something so trivial means they were prepared to risk their lives.」

Hmm... Was it the difference in position between a human king and a goddess of law and justice? The gap between humans and gods was vast. A difference in perspective... Maybe. Her words felt half-right, half-wrong.

「Otherwise, threaten to split the baby in half, but if neither yields, only the innocent baby dies. Telling a mom in that situation 'Just make another baby!'—I couldn't stand that.」

Uh, hmm... Was that how it worked? Come to think of it, Solomon's judgment assumed the real mom truly cherished the baby... If she didn't have that maternal love, it was horrifying to even imagine.

「Kill an innocent baby, or kill the mom and thief. One or the other. And if splitting doesn't reveal the mom, only the poor baby dies...」

"Is that how it is?"

「Yes. Better to kill the thief for sure—even if it means an innocent dies—than let a guilty one go free.」

No, that last bit was dangerously wrong. Where did presumption of innocence go? Uh, hmm... Divine perspective? Thinking one ant among billions of humans was expendable? This needed fixing. Otherwise, she might kill a hundred innocents to punish one guilty soul.

Alright! Time to beat some sense into Shamash. Presumption of guilt is no good. Even in an era without human rights, a goddess of law and justice can't think like that! Ah, maybe that's why—no human rights yet, so this mindset... The very concept of human rights was far in the future.

Her thinking wasn't that strange. Still, correction was needed. Couldn't let innocents die.

「For such ambiguous cases, wouldn't it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be easier to just make a way to detect lies and truth? Mom, pretty please?」

"Hmm? A favor?"

「Yes. When judging, so many sinners try to lie to me. It'd be great to read their minds and catch the lies.」

Read minds to detect lies... Hmm... Mind-reading wasn't hard. Fine. She'd already ascended as goddess of law and justice—better to give her tools for smoother judgments than nitpick. But that didn't excuse correction!

"True, that would make verdicts easier."

「Right? Please, Mom! With that, I can handle human trials myself! No more worldly hassles for Mom! I could discern right from wrong perfectly!」

"Alright. I'll make some method like that."

A spell to read minds for verification. I'd already made magic linking bodies and minds... Just tweak it for temporary, one-way reading.

That aside. "But on that method—I'll overlook it this time, but punishing the guilty even at innocents' expense? Can't ignore that."

「Huh? But... there are so many people in this world. They summon me constantly for trials. Faster to kill the obvious ones, interrogate the unsure, execute on confession. Killing a few more won't dent the population.」

"That's exactly what's wrong. Classify crimes by weight—let humans handle light ones, you take only life-or-death heavy cases. Your workload shrinks too."

「But... then fewer trials for me to watch! Trials are so fun!」

Watch...? [Shamash. Appear before me.]

I infused my low voice with power and summoned Shamash. A dazzling lump of light began taking form before me. I seized that form in one hand and forged an avatar from it.

A golden-haired beauty appeared before my eyes—Shamash in human form.

"M-Mom?!"

Stunned by her sudden body, Shamash panicked. I swung a power-packed fist at the top of her head.

KAANG!

And so, to punish the errant Light Goddess, the Creation Dragon swung her might.

For a moment, the world lost its light.

Thus, a solar eclipse came to pass.