I bowed and stepped down from Naiarotop’s body. As I approached the rift in space, Lunaère grabbed my hand. “Kanata…are you really going? It could be dangerous…you should say no. Or I should go instead…”
“Thank you, Lunaère-san, but…I think it would be dangerous not to do what he says.”
I had no clue what this boon was, and, honestly, I didn’t really care. The god was being pushy, but if I refused and made him angry, there was a chance I could ruin Locklore’s newfound freedom. I might not like this god, but I had to keep our interactions pleasant.
“Kanbara Kanata…it goes without saying that you must come alone. I will not accept others accompanying you or taking your place. However…I do not particularly mind if you choose not to come,” said the Highest God.
“If that’s the case…I’ll come alone,” I said.
Lunaère stepped back with a look of apprehension. “Okay…”
I smiled at her to try and reassure her. Then I put my hand into the rift and was sucked in.
The next moment, I found myself in an entirely white space.
A simple platform of stone appeared before me, then stairs rose up, stretching off into the heights as if to say, Come on up.
I climbed, step by step. At the highest point, I arrived before a massive throne. On the throne was a…something. Maybe a hundred feet tall, even. Its outline was vaguely human shaped, but its colors and its form couldn’t be described with any words I knew. It looked strange. And I couldn’t focus on its face, like when your head was filled with haze.
None of this felt real. Just looking at the being wasn’t enough for me to figure out if this was real or something I dreamt up in my head. I was forced to acknowledge that this being was the leader of the higher beings. He was something totally different, even from Naiarotop.
“I am grateful for your efforts, traveler from another world, Kanbara Kanata,” he said. “There was no real need to call you here, but I did wish to meet with you face-to-face, just once.”
-9-
“YOU DON’T APPEAR in good spirits. Do you dislike me?” he asked, looking down at me from his throne.
“…It’s all too much, I honestly don’t really know how I feel. Locklore wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for all of you higher beings, after all.” I stopped there for a moment, then said, “Why did you call me here? I just happened to get rescued by Lunaère, and just happened to reach a high level… The people around me kept saving me, and I just got swept along until I found myself defending Locklore. Then I fought Naiarotop. I don’t think there’s anything I can do for you.”
“Just swept along, hm? How humble. You are the human who defeated a demigod. Don’t worry. I won’t be asking anything of you. I told you…I called you here so that I may grant you a boon.”
“A boon…” That was what he’d said. “You’re the highest of all gods. What would you want to give me?”
I honestly wasn’t expecting anything. There was nothing I wanted at this point. We made it so Locklore would survive…so both Lunaère and I survived. By the time we got the higher beings to agree to maintain the world and not interfere with it, I actually didn’t want anything to do with them anymore.
“That is for you to decide. The only thing I want from you, is for you to entertain me with whatever answer you give,” said the Highest God.
That…sounded like he was basically going to grant me one wish. This was the leader of the beings that created a world just for fun. If he said he could grant me any wish, that probably wasn’t a boast; it was likely the truth.
“Though, I don’t wish for you to go crazy and ask for something outlandish,” he added. “I simply want to hear what you want now that you’ve made it here.”
“So…high-level magic can create worlds and grant people’s wishes, meaning this is completely open?” I asked.
“High-level magic…? Ah, it seems you misunderstand. The magic ranking system is for no other purpose than to limit the Lower Gods’ power. None of the Higher Gods have ranks on their magic, or levels.”
I couldn’t stop the sigh slipping out. We had just managed to beat Naiarotop. He was a Lower God, made so that his power level was dropped down within the same realm as us humans. Now I was realizing that even he was just a puppet of the Higher Gods.
“The Lower Gods are merely dolls given the ability to use any magic that falls within the ranked system. There is nothing binding me—I have no limits. I have the power to grant any and all wishes. Don’t worry about any limitations. I am truly all-knowing and all-powerful,” said the Highest God without hesitation.
“That…must be incredibly boring,” I muttered. Having everything you ever wanted, without limits, granted immediately? That didn’t sound all that different from lying in bed forever daydreaming. And then I realized what I’d said and hurried to fix it. “Uh, I mean, no offense.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha…” The god covered his mouth with his hand, trying to stifle his laughter. “Incredibly boring…? Yes, you would be right. That is why I imposed the bindings and created the gods in my continuous search for something, some being, to entertain me.”
I probably should have realized this sooner, but it might be better not to say more than I had to. At first glance, this Highest God seemed friendly and genial. It made it hard to believe he was in charge of someone as cruel as Naiarotop. But he was probably only like this with me because I was one of the few beings to ever entertain him. One wrong step and I might anger him, which could cause something so horrible I couldn’t even imagine what it would be.
I thought about my wish. Was there something I should ask for here? I managed to reunite with Lunaère. I prevented Locklore’s destruction. I stopped the higher beings from meddling in the world.
What if I asked him to destroy all the higher beings, including himself? Would he do it? That was what Zoras really wanted, and I owed him a lot. I personally couldn’t care less about the higher beings at this point, but I did have reason to carry on Zoras’s revenge for him.
…No. If I did that, I risked angering the Highest God. I couldn’t do that. Asking that would put Locklore back into peril, which I didn’t want.
“There…are some things I left back on Earth that I miss,” I said. “I have family there, and my parents’ grave. I want to go back to visit…and then go back to Locklore. Can you do that?”
That’s what I said after thinking for a while. It wasn’t something I could ever do without the help of a higher being.
“Huh…I told you I could grant you any wish, and you ask for something so humble. I will not grant that wish.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s boring. It’s less entertaining if you use petty wordplay to broaden the scope of the boon I will grant. You want me to send you there, then bring you back. Depending on how you look at it, that is two wishes. You may choose only one. If you wish to return to Earth, then that is the end of it. I will not allow you to make a return trip.”
…Going back to Earth would be a one-way journey. And since he said he didn’t want any wordplay, I couldn’t use the classics of saying I wanted him to temporarily send me back to Earth, or ask him to increase the number of wishes by two or something.
“Think hard. I could even…turn you into a Higher God if you so wished. You wouldn’t be as all-knowing and all-powerful as me, but you would be capable of accomplishing anything you might imagine. You would be very much welcome to join our ranks. You could have anything, you could create worlds, live forever…”
“I’m sorry, but…I don’t want to play with other people’s lives, and I don’t want to live forever.”
And the Highest God himself was proof that being all-knowing and all-powerful was torturous boredom. I could see that for myself.
I closed my eyes and thought for a while, then slowly said:
“I wish…”