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The king, after much hesitation, knelt before the queen and Asterios to beg for forgiveness.

Asterios, seeing the king’s posture, was flustered and didn’t know what to do.

“Well, look who’s brazen enough to show their face.”

The queen didn’t seem inclined to forgive easily.

“Your Majesty…”

“You pretended not to hear me after I told you countless times, and now you think I’ll accept your apology?”

The king was as silent as a mute who had just swallowed honey.

If the king had any sense of conscience, he wouldn’t be able to utter a word.

“But how was I supposed to know my grandmother was a cow beastman? My mother didn’t say a word about it.”

Hmm. No conscience at all. To be talking in the midst of such turmoil.

Is it that being a king makes one this shameless, or is it just this person is inherently shameless?

“How can you even think of me, your wife, as a woman who committed adultery! Am I really just that lowly in your eyes?!”

“At that time, I was just shocked that the child… no, the kid was born with horns…”

“Again with that! You were about to call this child a monster! He’s your son! What kind of father calls his son a monster, you fool!!!”

At the queen’s fierce words, the king shut his mouth.

Truly, he can govern a nation but not his own household.

“Well then, shall we let the third party slip away now?”

I tugged at the nervously fidgeting Asterios while speaking.

“Thus, as promised, I will take Asterios with me.”

“What?! What do you mean?!”

“It’s a promise with your husband. In return for resolving the source of the problem, I will take this child with me.”

At my words, the queen looked extremely flustered and began shouting at the king again.

“What do you mean?! Why on earth would you make such a promise?! That child is only 14 years old!”

“But… that is….”

“Stop stuttering! Speak clearly! What on earth does that mean?!”

The queen shot daggers at the king. At this point, he was starting to look a bit pitiful, so maybe I should intervene.

“Well, even if I take him, it’ll be just to keep him company while traveling the world. After about one to two years of wandering around, I’ll have him back, so don’t worry.”

“But… we’ve just reunited… can’t you give us a little time?”

Ignoring the sulking queen, I turned to Asterios.

“Your mother says this. What do you think?”

Asterios, despite his large frame, mumbled in a very small voice.

“If it’s okay… I want to spend a little time with my mother. Just a few days would be fine.”

Hmm. Despite his size, he’s still just a child inside.

Well, at 14 years old, having been thrown into a maze at a younger age, it’s only natural he’d miss his parents.

Then…

“I’ll give you seven days. After that, you must come with me.”

“Seven days….”

Asterios nodded faintly, but the queen seemed dissatisfied.

“After years of being apart, only seven days….”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll leave right now.”

At my blunt words, the queen nodded as if she had no choice.

“It might be a short time to catch up after years apart, but I suppose I should be satisfied just that you brought him out of that maze. Very well.”

Only then did the queen seem to accept the situation. After all, complaining further would get her nowhere.

So…

“I will return in seven days. Prepare for departure by then. Oh, and ease up on scolding the king.”

That idiot has probably thought long and hard, suffering quite a bit too.

Though the result of that thought process turned out to be the worst.

Thus, I left the palace, leaving Asterios behind.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

A week’s time.

Short if one thinks about it, yet long if felt.

Giving Asterios this much time, I—

“Shamash.”

“Yes! Mom! You called for me!”

Shamash appeared as if waiting to be summoned, ready to respond at any moment.

“Long time no see.”

“It’s been around 300 years. Not that long, though.”

“Right, it was 300 years. But somehow, you managed to notice where I was.”

“Of course! It’s your business. And… I realized during last year’s trial of the rat beastmen.”

The trial of the rat beastmen?

Oh, you mean when I judged the leaders of the rat beastmen and Maybel’s grandfather?

Now that I think about it…. I had given a verdict under Shamash’s name at that time.

“I watched that trial, and I felt your aura nearby. When you didn’t call for me, I figured there must’ve been a reason, so I let it slide.”

“I see.”

Well, Shamash probably keeps an eye on most trials. If I was nearby, he’d sense it right away.

“So, have you been well in the meantime?”

“Yeah. Busy, really. Over time, the number of humans keeps increasing while the offenders don’t decrease, and it’s tough keeping track of all the trials happening everywhere. I almost wish I could multiply myself to handle it all.”

“Well, anyone can fantasize like that.”

In reality, I created fragments to delegate the workload.

Otherwise… I wouldn’t have been able to afford the luxury of hibernation.

“How is the Divine Hall?”

“Well… there’s bad news and worse news. Which one would you like first?”

“Bad news and worse news?”

Isn’t it usually good news and bad news?

“Let’s start with the bad news.”

“Starting with the bad news… Baal has been shattered into pieces.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Why is Baal falling apart? Isn’t he supposed to be diligently working as the king of the gods?

“Well. The beginning stemmed from that thing called fragmentation? The method of splitting divinity into many pieces. That was the start.”

“Why?”

“Overwhelmed with his responsibilities managing the gods, Baal was inspired by my fragmentation as Goddess of Life.”

Hmm… Is that a problem just from splitting?

Even if one divides divinity, it shouldn’t be a big deal… wait.

“Baal and I are different cases.”

“Yes. You’ve been a powerful entity long before becoming a god, so splitting your divinity wouldn’t pose a problem. In comparison, the power of that unique divinity is just a grain of sand in an expansive desert next to your main body.”

“But Baal isn’t like that.”

Baal was a god born from the faith directed toward the sky; his main body could be considered that vast sky.

That sky holds no power. It merely spreads in all its vastness.

Baal, a god born from the collective faith directed at that vast sky, would naturally weaken if he split that divinity.

“Baal divided his divinity to create fragments. He sent one to each of the factions of the gods.”

“The factions of the gods, such as Olympus?”

“Yes. Olympus, Ennead, Aesir, Lokapala… and others as well. However, it seems there was a mistake in splitting the divinity… he divided the fragments such that their total divinity was comparable to what he had left.”

“What?”

Dividing divinity to similar sizes? Then…

“If the fragments incite a rebellion, won’t he be unable to suppress them?!”

“Yes. Baal thought his fragments wouldn’t unite against him, and they didn’t, but… another issue arose that complicated the matter.”

That fool is really something.

By the way, another issue? Something else happened amidst this?

“So, where is Baal now?”

Given the situation, I must resolve any issues as they arise.

Whether by physically confronting him or persuading him with words, I need to reassert control over Baal’s fragments and reunite them.

“Here comes the worse news. Baal… um, right now, he’s in a state where his divinity is scattered and his faith is lost, leaving only his soul remaining.”

“What?”

No way, why would he end up like that? What on earth happened?!

Did the world face a calamity while I was asleep?! It can’t be! Why is Baal in such a state?!

“While you were in hibernation, a lot happened. Among those events… an enormous explosion occurred deep in the sea.”

“Deep in the sea?”

“Yes. An explosion in the deep sea. Fortunately, we managed to cooperate with Baal and Thetis to contain it and prevent a major disaster…”

Shamash shook his head gently as he spoke.

“Though we could hold on, Baal, weakened by splitting his divinity, couldn’t sustain it fully. We warned him countless times to retreat due to the danger, but that idiot kept insisting…”

Shamash sighed.

“Claiming he had to protect the land where you would live, he overstepped and ended up shattered. All we could save was his soul.”

“Ugh….”

I could only let out a small sigh.

“As a result, the world was safely preserved, and incidentally, a new continent emerged from the sea, but… the price was steep. Since then, the position of the king of the gods has remained vacant.”

“Such a monumental event should’ve reached my ears upon waking from hibernation.”

“Everyone kept it a secret. If the rumor spread that the world almost faced destruction, others would become uneasy. And besides, we managed to avert it.”

“Though Baal sacrificed himself.”

Shamash nodded.

“That fool also had unfortunate luck. It just so happened that due to splitting his divinity, he could not survive… Had he not divided, he could have held on.”

At Shamash’s words, I could only let out another sigh.

 

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