“Us minor gods are made up of this intangible divine aura, so we just started sliding out of the portal down to Earth. Like this.” Nattyan put her arms up and wiggled her body in demonstration.
“We’ve been trying to get back ever since, but it’s hard to swim up against a constant waterfall of divine aura. Even worse, we lost most of our powers when we fell to Earth.” Both Sewatari and Nattyan’s shoulders drooped, and they sighed. I couldn’t tell if it was a genuine display of disappointment or if they were exaggerating to get the message across to a human like me. “It was all we could do to keep physical forms like this, and there was no way we’d be strong enough to return to our world. All the minor gods who fell here ended up coming together to survive.”
These gods suddenly found themselves lost in an unfamiliar world. As uncharitable as it was to think about, it had probably been pretty funny.
“We were in total panic mode. We used the last of our power to fix the memory of the guy who owned the land where the aura was falling, taking it over along with the structure built on top of it. Then we started the game company right where you’re standing.”
“Why games?”
“I thought you’d ask that. Us minor gods need a constant supply of divine aura, or we can’t survive. We can be away from it for a few days, but we can’t use our powers when it isn’t close by.”
If they could use their powers, we probably would’ve had an easier time escaping from those corrupted god players.
“So we were stuck in Hokkaido, where the aura was pouring into. We needed to find something we could do without leaving this office space, and it just so happened that there was a game development company already here in this building. I guess you’d call that fate, huh?”
Was that a joke? I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or not. And what had happened to the people who had worked here before? Part of me didn’t want to know.
“Divine aura is generated by people’s faith in gods. Without that, we’d simply disappear. We created our game both to secure followers and to make ourselves the money we needed to survive in this world.”
Fair enough.
Still, I wanted time to process all of this absurdity. I rotated it in my mind, trying to make sense of it, but all that did was generate more questions.
“I guess that’s all for now,” Sewatari said. “Anything more would just confuse you at this point. We’ll explain more later, so it’s your turn now, Yoshio-kun. Questions? Concerns?”
“Is it possible to send Carol and Destiny back to their home world?” I asked without hesitation. Carol, Destiny, and the woman in the corner all turned toward me at the mention of their names, candy in hand.
“Right, that’s the biggest concern here. I think it is possible.”
Relief washed over me. I exchanged a glance with Carol. She beamed.
Sewatari said, “I know that sounds like good news, but I’m afraid there is a ‘but’ coming.”
Carol and I paused mid-high five to look at Sewatari. She bowed with her hands together.
“It’s nothing major,” she promised. “We just can’t send them back immediately. Give us a little time, and it should be possible.”
“Really?” I didn’t want to be caught off guard by another “but.”
“Like I said, the divine aura is flowing down from our world like a waterfall. It’s easy to drop something into the pool below. It just flows down with the water. But trying to bring something up from the pool to the top of the waterfall again is basically impossible.” Sewatari gestured to the fish tank and her mug again to explain. “The offerings were easy to bring to this world, since they followed the flow of divine aura. Trying to send things back, though… I mean, if we were able to do that, we wouldn’t be stuck in this world ourselves.”
Of course. Why would they stay in another world if they didn’t have to? If it were so easy to go back, they wouldn’t have bothered setting up a whole game company just to survive.
“And even if we could fight back against the flow of aura and make it to the top, the portal is too small for us minor gods to get through. It used to be bigger, but it looks like the major gods patched it up to stop too much aura from getting out.”
“It’s way too tight for us to get through.” Nattyan demonstrated by making a ring with her fist and poking her finger through. She didn’t seem to realize that gesture could be wildly misinterpreted.
“Wouldn’t that mean sending Carol and Destiny back is impossible?” I asked.
“The divine aura affects us gods much more than it does humans and monsters. How should I put it…” Sewatari turned to Nattyan for input.
Nattyan pointed to herself as if to confirm Sewatari wanted her to explain, then began rocking her head back and forth in thought. “Uh, let’s see…well, we’re made up of aura, so for us it’d be like swimming against a muddy, flowing stream. Since humans and monsters don’t really have any aura, for them it’d be like swimming through a still pool.”
“Yes! That’s it! Good job!”
Nattyan grinned bashfully at Sewatari’s praise.
“In other words, it’s easier for humans and monsters to fight the current than it is for gods. The portal is a perfectly fine size for you. We just need to make a few adjustments, which will take some time. Not much, though!”
“Okay. Please…send them home!” I bowed my head down so hard it nearly slammed against the desk.
“Please!” Carol chimed in.
I just had to trust them, and wait, and be satisfied that they were doing their best.
“Leave it to us! Oh, and I wanted to ask you something. While we’re fixing up the portal, d’you want to do some work for us?”
“Uh, excuse me?”