A year had passed since the battle with the Goddess. This was basically no time at all to Lufas and the others, who could live hundreds, if not thousands, of years. However, that wasn’t so for the rest of the world. It had only been a year, but a year was long. Just a single year was enough for the world to change and for people to start moving on.
The role of watching over them and gently guiding them on the correct path had been foisted on the Goddess of the Moon, Dina. In both title and action, she was the acting Goddess as well as the one with the most authority on the moon’s surface. She’d never stopped being one of Lufas’s subordinates however, so Lufas was actually the one with the highest authority. She was more useless than a cat though, so in the end, Dina was still on top. This was something Lufas herself admitted. While she was great at defeating her enemies and gathering more land and followers, she was not well suited for governing once things were peaceful.
Of course, Lufas’s very existence acted as a deterrent, and for now, there was meaning in her just lounging around, relaxing. In that sense, Lufas probably wouldn’t leave the top seat for a while.
Also, the Conquering Twelve Heavenly Stars formally welcomed Dina and Orm into their ranks as the dual Snake Charmer seat. Now, they were the Imperial Thirteen Heavenly Stars. Yes, Imperial. Not Conquering. There was no more need to conquer and force people under their thumb.
“Lady Dina, I have gathered the documents for you.”
“Thank you very much, Libra. Please leave them over there.”
On the second-to-top floor of Maphaahl Tower, which had been moved to the moon, Dina was hard at work. Here, she managed everything from dealing with various troubles on Mizgarz to balancing the ecosystem, deciding the weather, and detecting—and, if possible, stopping—any natural disasters, like earthquakes, that might occur.
If any countries threatened to cause chaos throughout the world, it was possible to cause an earthquake or other such disaster in order to put them in check as well. Luckily, there had yet to be any countries like that. Still, humans were creatures that could grow accustomed to peace. Though they had still been grateful for peace over the course of this meager year, continuing like this for several more years would probably mean there’d be those who would grow...unhealthy ambitions. There were still many nobles who were rotten to the core, like Debris, so Dina’s worries never ceased.
“This is hopeless,” Dina said.
“That’s why I told you already, Dina. You should just solve all this in a flash with your divine power, and use it to brainwash some new puppets and replace them or something.”
“You’re in the way, Lady Alovenus. Please do not enter my office.”
“So mean!”
Dina treated a girl who looked exactly like her as a nuisance.
Her facial features were basically the same as Dina’s. Only the color of her hair, which turned gold around her nape, was different. Her clothing, unlike Dina’s, was a white dress with a blue cape. She was the Goddess Alovenus, whom Lufas had fought.
Of course, this wasn’t the actual Alovenus. If she were to descend here herself, it would cause the universe to collapse, so this was one of her avatars instead. Unlike Dina’s case, though, it was an avatar made of divine power, as well as something made to be possessed by the Goddess that had no will of its own. In other words, Alovenus was, in fact, here, just in a different body.
It was just a small detail, but Lufas was the one who had created her current avatar. Alovenus herself could not adjust her power well enough, and it seemed any avatar she tried to make this way ended up a strange size. It was no wonder why Alovenus had only ever made naturally birthed avatars.
“You know I’m a goddess, right? I’m your original too! I’m the most important being in all the universes, you know?! You should worship me more, care about me more!”
“Libra, please remove this useless person from the premises,” Dina ordered.
“Understood.”
“Heeyyyy!”
In response to Dina’s command, Libra grabbed Alovenus by the nape of the neck and dragged her out of the office, eventually throwing her outside of Maphaahl Tower packed into a cardboard box marked with the words “do not pick up.”
It didn’t matter that she had been thrown out of a window several thousand meters up; she was an avatar of the Goddess. She wouldn’t take even 1 damage, and even if the avatar died, it wouldn’t affect the true Goddess.
Libra—who had just thrown out the Goddess, and her supposed true master—simply turned right around and returned to the office as if nothing had happened.
“By the way, Libra, have you seen Miss Lufas?” Dina asked. “I haven’t been able to find her since this morning.”
“No, I have not.”
“I see. There are a couple things here that I’d like to ask her opinion on...” Dina said, seemingly troubled as she looked out the window of the tower.
Mizgarz is as blue and round as always. I’m sure it’ll be that way tomorrow and the day after as well. Not to mention for years, decades, and centuries to come. It’ll still stay just as round and blue. The age of strife is over, so there shouldn’t be any more conflict that can change the face of the planet.
Both Mizgarz and its moon were swaddled in peace today.
＊ ＊
On the surface of Mizgarz, several kings of different countries gathered together in Svel’s palace, discussing matters at a round table. There was Laevateinn’s Alioth VI; Gjallarhorn’s Merak; Draupnir’s Emperor Beahr; Blutgang’s king accompanied by the Mizar golem; Svel’s king accompanied by Megrez as his advisor; Hrotti’s king, who now presided over a country making a miraculous recovery; and Mjolnir’s ruler, Benetnasch. Also in attendance were Skíðblaðnir’s king, Pisces, and Nectar’s queen, Aquarius.
They discussed the state of affairs in each of their countries as well as the import and export of each country’s local specialties. This was something that would never have happened until recently. This was especially true for Benetnasch’s presence, which was something akin to a miracle.
“Then we will donate fifty million el to support Hrotti’s restoration. In exchange, they will prioritize us, Mjolnir, when exporting goods.”
“Thank you very much, Vampire Princess.”
“Wait just a second there, Benet. You can’t just monopolize things. Blutgang will also be sending a group of engineers, so send some goods our way as well.”
Benetnasch was usually thought of as a meathead, but she was surprisingly good at administration. If she weren’t, then she wouldn’t have remained the monarch of her country for over two hundred years, unlike a certain muscle-brained conqueror. Unless Lufas specifically was involved, Benetnasch actually tended to be quite calm and intelligent about things.
After that, discussions continued, only ending when the sun began to set.
As soon as the meeting was adjourned, Benetnasch stood up and left. There were no guards with her, even though she was the ruler of a country; nobody would be so reckless as to try to lay a hand on her. She didn’t need guards. Benetnasch by herself was the strongest military force on Mizgarz.
This didn’t apply just to her though. Megrez, Merak, and Pisces had also come without guards. Aquarius had come with Ganymedes, but he was more like her means of transport rather than a guard.