“Hm... How boring...” Such was the complaint of a woman in this clear blue space.
It was clear she was not human. Her body was a blue color, reminiscent of jelly or holy water. She was lying back after having decided to take a break from her paperwork. Humans called her the goddess of water, and she was one of the goddesses of this world. She served the chief god, observing the mundane world.
However, she wasn’t the only god entrusted with this task. She was one of many who’d been selected for this work. Though she had no problem with being a desk jockey for the chief god, it certainly gave her pause to realize that an all-powerful god like her was doing something as droll as paperwork. It was only natural to feel a little peeved, especially after repeating the same routine, day after day, for tens of thousands of years. No matter how mind-numbing the work was, though, she was able to keep it together due to the mental fortitude she received from her divinity.
However, that seemingly endless routine had ended not with a bang, but with a small snap.
“Huh?”
Someone in the Holy Land of Ryne had forcefully cut her connection. This should have been impossible for a normal human. It was a feat only possible for one who had extreme mental fortitude. Whoever it was, they were a threat.
As soon as she had determined that, she began a careful examination of all the information she’d obtained. It wasn’t much, but it was still enough to surprise her.
“Eight different world factors?!”
This was beyond abnormal. Humans were the creations of god, and should have only possessed one world factor. In very rare cases, when the human soul was reincarnated or summoned as a hero, they ended up possessing two world factors at most. However, eight was absolutely unheard of.
Disregarding the “how” of it, crossing world lines was extremely hard on the human soul, as the process chipped away at the traveler’s very existence. Journeying to a new world would already take everything a person had, so subsequent trips should have been impossible.
She heavily doubted the information that lay before her, but since it had come from divine power, it was absolute. It was impossible for there to have been any mistakes. At last, the goddess of water landed on a certain thought.
“The chief god mentioned something about a distortion... Could this possibly have been what she was talking about?”
Either way, she needed to report this, so she made a direct, emergency connection to the chief god.
“What is it? Has something happened, goddess of water?” The voice that answered was beautiful, and as much as the goddess of water wanted to admire it, she hadn’t the time.
“I’ve discovered a human with eight world factors.”
“What?!”
The goddess of water shared what little information she had, as well as her theory.
“This all sounds rather improbable but...not impossible. What is this human’s name?”
“Please hold a moment... Got it. His name is Inori Takafuji.”
“Hm... I feel as though I’ve heard this name recently.” The chief god thought deeply, and then something popped up in her mind. “Oh, yes! Someone gave testimony regarding this individual during the Lie Veracity test using the divine tool.”
“The Lie Veracity test you are referring to is the one conducted by the Maccad Empire with their divine tool, yes?”
“Indeed. According to the testimony, Inori Takafuji was summoned from his world as a hero. He was the fourth hero summoned to the Rising Sun Kingdom—in other words, an error.”
“I’m impressed by how you are able to recall all these details about such an insignificant person. You’ve truly earned the title of chief god.”
“Oh, no—I have a cheat sheet.”
The goddess of water fell silent at the chief god’s honesty. At first, she’d been taken aback, but then she couldn’t help but admire how the chief god neither put on airs nor felt the need to lie. The chief god was someone she admired from the bottom of her heart. There was no other god capable of keeping the world balanced like she did. To her, the chief god was the absolute existence.
“The testimony said that he perished. I suppose he’s still alive?” the chief god remarked.
“The divine tool was wrong? That’s not possible!”
“Not necessarily. The statement was that the human known as Inori Takafuji had perished. If he is not human, then the statement is true.”
The very little information that they had didn’t specify Inori’s race. This insignificant existence was certainly crafty. Though she’d never met him before, the goddess of water was beginning to hate him.
“What should we do? If he is the source of the distortion, then we must eliminate him. Shall we dispatch the goddess of fire? We’ve no idea of his abilities, so sending her would be the safe option,” the goddess of water suggested.
“No.” The chief goddess immediately rejected this idea. “The goddess of fire is only allowed to deal with those from other worlds who would hinder us. Direct interference with the mundane world would be overstepping her bounds.”
“Then should we leave him be?”
“No.” The chief goddess chuckled. “We simply require a more indirect method. We need only make sure that we don’t get our hands dirty.”
As she realized what the chief god meant, the goddess of water began to smile.