---

Chapter: 249

“So, you all. Be free.

Come across many gods, and believe in the god you want.

You have the right to be free. You have the freedom to believe in the god you want.

You shall be free.”

This was the final task to become the hikikomori goddess: reducing the number of my believers!

As part of that, after delivering a revelation about the freedom of faith, I passed almost all the responsibilities of being the Goddess of Life onto Asherat.

I had left some vague words in the revelation for the followers to drift away, so the number of my believers should decrease… right?

After that, I started examining the corpse of the headless ogre.

I had sent Talos to bring it here. Time to poke around at it.

It’s a pity it’s headless, but there’s nothing that can be done.

The ogre’s body itself was tougher than an orc’s. Its bones were as strong as steel. Its skin was so tough it would resist even a steel blade, like the hide of a wyvern.

The tendons were incredibly strong too. If you made a bowstring out of them, you wouldn’t be able to pull it without exceptional strength.

The muscles were relatively weaker compared to the tendons or skin, but “relatively” is the key word here. The source of the ogre’s amazing strength likely came from its muscles, which could stretch and shrink like a rubber band.

The internal organs felt like they were a size larger than those of an orc. The lungs, swelling like balloons, and the digestive organs filling its body. This means such guts are needed to maintain this kind of physique.

Well, since the organs were packed inside, if even a single blade went wrong, they would be damaged, but thanks to the ribs and muscles acting like armor, the organs were protected… Ordinary blades wouldn’t pierce through them.

Oh, and there was one thing that caught my attention… that being the chlorophyll in its skin.

When it was a goblin, it could manage its minimum life activities just by photosynthesizing through that chlorophyll, but that was impossible for an ogre.

It could photosynthesize to some extent, but the energy produced was so weak that it couldn’t guarantee its survival. Did it sacrifice survivability for strength? Or was it made into a body incapable of searching for food?

Well, I don’t know for sure… but it felt like a pretty dreadful body.

Other than that… its heart, which was even bigger than a typical human’s, was quite impressive. It must have been this large to pump blood effectively throughout its massive body.

And the most crucial part: the mana stone.

A fist-sized mana stone attached to its heart. Comparable to the mana stones of lesser dragons like wyverns.

Inside that mana stone, I could clearly see a mass of darkness gathering.

Wow… I wouldn’t have guessed that much darkness was packed in there.

I took out the hero’s sword and touched it to the mana stone, and the fragments of darkness within the ogre’s mana stone were sucked into the diamond in the hero’s sword.

The darkness inside the diamond visibly increased. It was my first time seeing such a significant increase from just one mana stone.

For a moment, the thought of creating a goblin breeding ground on the surface to easily collect fragments of darkness crossed my mind, but… I could somewhat predict what might happen then.

Let’s stop with the pointless thoughts. Yeah.

Still, I had a pretty good idea of what this ogre, and by extension goblins, were created for.

Monsters that absorb magical power and continuously evolve. The bigger the horde they command, the more magical power they gain.

Monsters that hold endless potential due to magic.

That idiot… Wasn’t it trying to grow ever more and create a monster suitable for its own body through that evolution?

Even though an ogre, evolved from an orc, could stand against a drake, how strong could a further evolved monster become?

If the ground were filled entirely with goblins, what kind of powerful monster would arise?

I don’t know for sure, but there’s a possibility a being rivaling dragons could be born, right?

Well, since I’m busy exterminating any visible goblins, such a monster probably won’t ever be born.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Time in the world passes quickly.

The King of Knights, Lucius Altirius Caesar, has passed away at the age of 117. Cause of death: old age. In an era where the average life expectancy is around 60, 117 is an unprecedentedly old age.

After finishing the post-war dealings following the war with Greenskinned, he handed over the throne to his eldest son. After that, he spent a decade touring the nation he had built.

Perhaps wanting to see the shape of the country he established and ruled, after touring around with only a few attendants, Lucius returned to the capital of Romania, Sirius, and quietly spent his time, having no involvement in state affairs whatsoever.

The first time he appeared in public again after seclusion was due to the death of his son, who passed away due to illness.

This happened when Lucius was 82, and his son was 58.

Thus, Lucius’s grandson ascended to the throne, and not long after his grandson’s death, his great-grandson took over the throne.

The King of Knights, Lucius Altirius Caesar, passed away at the age of 117.

A descendant of ancient Arcadia, a hero who rose to protect his homeland, a knight recognized by the gods, and a warrior who fought against monsters threatening humanity—the king among kings who founded a vast nation passed beyond the realm of death.

With praises for the greatness of such a King of Knights, his great-grandson wished for the name of the King to be carried on eternally.

King of kings. The greatest king since the age of the gods ended.

Consequently, his great-grandson, taking a term that referred to the great nations of the past, declared that it would no longer be the Kingdom of Romania, but the Romania Empire, and posthumously deified the great King as emperor.

And he took part of the emperor’s name to create a term for himself, so “Kaiser” became a word used to refer to the emperor, derived from Lucius Altirius Caesar’s name.

Thus, the hero who created a legend departed, while the empire that continued from that legend endured.

With countless changes contained within, the world continued to flow.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Hmm. Is life without work truly this beautiful?

Indulging in the snacks I made and living lazily—a fantastic life.

Most of the tasks are handled automatically, so this is just too convenient!

“Sometimes, I wish you’d just work a bit yourself.”

“No way! I’ve worked enough up until now! I’m gonna play! I’m gonna play to my heart’s content!!!”

“Whoa… regression to childhood… If it gets out that the Goddess of Life, said to be the greatest among the many gods, acts like this… how will the believers react…?”

“I’ve never told those believers to believe in me even once! I’ve just created life that starts from slime, tending to this world like a gardener does the garden! There’s freedom of faith in this world!

Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me if they don’t believe in me! Oh, beings with intelligence! Be free!”

“That’s the most astonishing point. This irresponsible goddess… just handing over the freedom of faith to all humans because it’s convenient for her… is she amazing, or just thoughtless…?”

Asherat, who handled my duties as the Goddess of Life in my stead, merely sighed.

Well, whatever. As long as everything runs smoothly, that’s all that matters.

I’m enjoying the luxury of lounging around. Asherat gets a significant amount of faith coming in. The humans have a god who faithfully answers their prayers.

Isn’t that a good thing for everyone?

“Is there nothing going on at the Divine Hall?”

“Even though you already know, you’re asking again. There’s nothing that’s going to be a problem.”

“I kinda figured that, but there’s still a possibility of an issue arising somewhere I’m not aware of, right?”

“Is there anywhere your gaze doesn’t reach?”

“Hmm… Deep underground?”

Deep underground is indeed out of my sight.

At my words, Asherat could only shake her head.

“Most gods at the Divine Hall are living in compliance. In a situation where many gods have lost their deities’ statuses or vanished, they think they’re fortunate to remain as gods.

Since the humans on the surface now no longer believe in just one god, many gods are satisfied with gaining faith.”

Hmm. Indeed, it was good that I ensured the freedom of faith. Right.

“Is there any god trying to leave the Divine Hall?”

“With Sirius and the twelve gods standing guard, they wouldn’t be able to escape, even if they tried.”

“Hmm… then that’s a relief. But just in case, it would be nice to have some means to quell the gods’ grievances… Hmm, maybe I should allow them to have some fun in human bodies…?”

“Eh? Fun?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Just like how dragons turn into humans to blend into the world and spend their lives, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for gods to have a similar option, right?

As long as they don’t cause trouble, it should be fine.

“…Oh wait! I’m thinking about work unconsciously!”

“Tsk.”

“I snapped my tongue! I snapped my tongue so loudly that you can hear it!!!”

As I was passing the time bickering with Asherat.

“I’m back.”

The back door of the temple opened, and a small girl entered.

A girl who looked just like me but had black hair and no horns.

She was Hades, the one created to manage the Underworld.

“Welcome! You came quite early today.”

“I shoved the work onto the other gods of death.”

Crafted as a high-intelligence automated death evaluation system, Hades could now act with one of the avatars I created as a body.

Like Asherat, she now had an independent body.

Though she herself said she didn’t need it, having a body doesn’t hurt, considering Asherat’s case.

After she gained a body, I let her use my temple as her home to assist her in navigating through various unfamiliar sensations. After all, there were plenty of empty rooms.

Asherat seemed pleased to be able to coexist with this sister-like existence.

“Hades! Welcome!!”

“Yeah, Asherat. I’m back.”

See? They’re being so friendly.

The two, looking so similar except for their hair color, getting along so well gave a feeling that was… well, hard to put into words. But hey, isn’t good just good?

As I watched Asherat and Hades interact, something brushed against my senses.

To be precise, it was the wise one left in the deep forest on the surface. I could feel something approaching the forest where that wise one resides.

Someone entered the forest that cannot be accessed without having a specific purpose in meeting the wise one.

 

---