#101

In a polytheistic system, the position of the Main God is more unstable than one might think.

In Greek mythology, Cronus devoured his own children for fear of being usurped. Zeus, too, feared the birth of a being who would surpass him.

But has the God of Christianity ever trembled in fear that he might lose to Satan? Not a chance.

To truly dominate a world, one must become the sole god. The victory condition of Conclude is exactly that—becoming the sole god. Even if you joined hands with one of your subordinates, you had to screw them over in the end.

It didn’t necessarily mean killing them; it was enough to damage their Divinity so they were no longer a god. Though they would wail and beg for death, as that state was more miserable than dying…

‘…What if letting the Othergods run wild is just a way to create a reason to sweep them all away later?’

Loclem is the god of Order and ‘Condemnation.’ This meant he became most powerful in the presence of sinners.

If there is a human you want to kill? Just make them commit a sin.

If there is a city you want to burn? Just ensure there is no one in that city who hasn’t sinned.

If you want to reset the world once…

‘…This is a thought I can’t even tell Athanas, so I was planning to just bury it.’

Of course, so far, this was nothing more than speculation without any evidence.

If Loclem found out I was imagining such things, he might be so appalled he’d strike me with divine punishment. He’d probably say, ‘They say a pig sees only pigs in others; just how vile is this soul to dare conceive such a possibility?’

‘But there’s no evidence yet to refute this hypothesis.’

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the wax tablet.

If I let this guy babble as he pleased, perhaps I could find a clue?

And if the information I uncovered turned out to be nothing special…

‘Then I’ll report it to the Inquisition.’

If it were Casimir, she would be able to ‘condemn’ the God of Records personally.

Furthermore, since Casimir had been influenced by me, I could persuade her not to believe the God of Records even if he tried to drive a wedge between us.

‘I’m a bit reluctant to use Forced Persuasion, but my life is on the line…’

Having organized my thoughts, I wrote my question.

‘Why is it important that Oblivion doesn’t work on me? What secret do you know?’

‘Library, return, this state, delivery, difficulty.’

‘Are you crazy?’

Threatening him with the head of the research institute and then telling me to visit the library.

Do I look like I’m actually going?

‘I can’t believe you without any evidence. You could be lying.’

‘Evidence, library, when return, will show, believe me.’

‘Nope, I don’t believe you.’

I’d rather follow a cult solicitor than step foot in that library believing this bastard.

‘I have no intention of taking a risk when I don’t even know if that secret actually exists. I won’t go even if you threaten me. Tell the head of the research institute or don’t; do as you please. Without evidence, I’m not moving.’

As I wrote the answer, the letters twisted and flipped. I couldn’t tell if it was expressing emotion or pondering a response. Only after a long while did the shape of readable words appear.

‘Order, evidence, removes, that is, evidence.’

Of course, I said it was readable, not that it made sense.

‘What the hell is this nonsense?’

The fact that there is no evidence a secret exists is the evidence that a secret exists?

It’s like saying since there’s no evidence of a crime, I’ll add the crime of destroying evidence to the charges for an aggravated sentence.

‘That can’t be evidence. Give me something else.’

The letters wavered again. This time, the answer was faster.

‘Not apostle, person, ask, Oblivion, name.’

‘Why the name of the God of Oblivion?’

The moment I tried to ask for more detail, the letters changed first.

‘Three days, wait, I, limit, goodbye.’

“Wait…!”

Before I could react, the letters scattered and vanished.

I tried writing a question belatedly, but nothing happened.

It seemed to have returned to being an ordinary wax tablet.

‘…Was this a consumable?’

Was it an item with a limit, like it could only deliver ten messages?

‘Then you should have only delivered the truly important stuff!’

Why waste the few opportunities by repeating the same things?

Is his intelligence that low?

‘Should I just report this to the Inquisition right now?’

I seriously considered it.

I began to doubt if this deficient fellow actually knew the secret of Order.

‘…For now, I’ll decide after checking about the God of Oblivion tomorrow.’

I rubbed the wax to erase the sentences I had written. Since I had three days, there was plenty of time to visit the Inquisition.

* * *

The next day.

I first asked Elamin.

If Elamin, who was neither from the Empire nor a priest, knew it, then the name of ‘Oblivion’ would be common knowledge.

Of course, I wasn’t an idiot, so I didn’t abruptly ask if she knew the name of the God of Oblivion.

“…You’re curious about how many subordinates there are? Well, I’ve heard some gods can only exert power in specific regions. If you include those minor gods, wouldn’t there be a vast number?”

Elamin listed the gods she knew, but the God of Oblivion was not among them.

‘Should I visit the Pantheon?’

Next, I questioned Athanas.

Since I had experienced what happened in the Main Hall, I could ask Athanas directly about Oblivion.

“…I knew that the Blessing of Oblivion existed, but I have never heard of its name or legends. I’ve never met a priest of Oblivion either,” Athanas said, knitting his brows.

“Now that I think about it, it is strange. To be a being powerful enough to bestow a blessing on everyone who enters the library, yet for the name not to be widely known…”

Athanas added that it was certain the God of Oblivion was not in the Pantheon.

‘Does this make sense?’

It’s impossible for an obscure, low-tier god with few followers to possess such powerful Divine Power. For a god, influence is a kind of level.

For example, suppose a subordinate in charge of ‘freshwater’ has a low level and can only grant a ‘Blessing of the Brook.’ Then, even if the Main God who rules the entire continent borrows the Divine Power of freshwater, they can still only create a brook.

‘The blessing cast on the Main Hall is incredibly powerful just by its scale.’

How could someone have such great influence yet remain unknown?

‘Is it like an esoteric sect?’

An esoteric sect refers to a religion that spreads its doctrine in a closed manner. Those who believe in such sects hide their faith. The god’s name, doctrine, and initiation methods are all kept secret; while members have ways to recognize each other, outsiders cannot tell who they are.

However, there was a fatal flaw: to maintain secrecy, new followers had to be chosen very selectively, making it extremely difficult to expand the sect’s power.

‘But if there is the Blessing of Oblivion…’

There would be no need to worry about maintaining secrecy.

‘He said that people with degrees have their forgotten memories return as soon as they enter the Main Hall.’

That means they also possess the ability to make someone live while forgetting they were even a follower of the God of Oblivion, only to have everything remembered the moment they enter a specific location.

‘To do that, they would need a plausible reason to gather in the same building periodically.’

What kind of gathering would look normal from the outside, yet ensure that someone who knows nothing wouldn’t accidentally stumble upon it?

‘…An academic society?’

Just then, Athanas, who had been lost in thought, spoke.

“I must investigate the God of Oblivion.”

‘Oh, jackpot.’

Then I can just stay put and listen to whatever Athanas finds out tomorrow.

As a goblin who hasn’t even received the Blessing of Order, I was a bit scared to go around investigating myself.

‘Athanas, who has nothing to be suspicious of, should be safe.’

“Please be careful. If they are intentionally hiding their name, the mere act of investigating might draw attention.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

‘True, Athanas is damn good at acting.’

Having been completely fooled by him before, I was in no position to give advice.

He’ll handle it well enough.

Athanas stared at me blankly.

“…Is there anything else you wish to tell me?”

“Anything else?”

“I am asking if anything dangerous happened in the meantime.”

‘Something dangerous.’

Something damn terrible almost happened.

I almost got dragged into the laboratory without a degree.

‘And he even said we’d see each other again…’

It was a threat that was still ongoing.

But I couldn’t tell Athanas this.

‘What if he says he’ll come to meet me because it’s dangerous?’

Then the next time I encounter Callister, I’ll be with Athanas.

The problem was that Callister might bring up the ‘lost item’ then.

‘Athanas would immediately realize that the lost item is something contaminated by the God of Records.’

Hiding the fact that I obtained an item linked to a traitor from Athanas?

That would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Even if I explained then that I hadn’t had any significant conversations with the God of Records, it would be hard to believe.

‘…I shouldn’t say anything until I report it to the Inquisition and screw over the God of Records.’

Then at least I could avoid the suspicion of sympathizing with a traitor.

Of course, I’d lose some trust for hiding the danger and acting alone…

‘But if I’m caught doubting Order, it won’t just be a loss of trust; the cooperative relationship will be completely destroyed.’

Between [Trust -50] and [Trust -9999], one must choose the former.

“No, nothing in particular.”

Upon hearing my answer, the crease between Athanas’s brows deepened.

‘Oops.’

Because my thoughts lingered, my answer had been unnaturally delayed.

I quickly added a clumsy excuse, pretending I couldn’t hide my guilt.

“U-um, the creatures were very well-behaved today! There was nothing dangerous at all! Really!”

“…Does saying they were well-behaved today imply they are usually fierce?”

“It’s not that, but they interfere with people, like climbing on top of books so I can’t turn the pages, or constantly asking to be petted. Since Andrea keeps them from going outside his sleeves, they seem bored.”

“…Do you keep that thing out every time you have a lesson?”

“I do.”

“Do you even touch it?”

“Yes.”

Athanas’s expression grew increasingly stiff.

‘I feel like I can hear the sound effect of trust decreasing.’

“But it can’t be helped! That creature has the ability to make people perceive it as cute.”

“Fabio, you are now…”

“Of course! I’m not saying I actually find it cute. I have Mental Defense, after all. But since I have to pretend to be affected by that ability, I have no choice but to pet it. It’s not like I touch it because I want to.”

“…And you judged that this was not a dangerous situation?”

“Well, in the end, nothing happened, right?”

‘He looks damn pissed.’

“…Fabio, did you not promise me that you would be mindful of your safety?”

I succeeded in preventing Athanas from suspecting anything else, but in exchange, I had to listen to a lecture for a whole hour.

To summarize: ‘The holy water of an Othergod’ is damn dangerous, so never let your guard down when we are together.

‘…It would have been a disaster if I’d told the truth—that the creature was well-behaved today because it was sleeping on my lap.’

My trust would have plummeted.

* * *

The next day.

As soon as I woke up, I checked the wax tablet. There was no change.

‘…As expected, it’s better not to do anything that would make Athanas suspicious.’

I pondered all night, but the only conclusion was that even if I found out Order was truly untrustworthy, there was nothing I could do.

Above all, the moment I stop believing in Order, Athanas becomes my enemy.

Just thinking about that possibility made my heart sink.

‘Regardless of what the investigation into Oblivion reveals, I must visit the Inquisition.’

Once I decided that, my heart felt a bit lighter.

Athanas, whom I met in Valentine’s prayer room, seemed the same as usual, so I relaxed.

‘Seeing as he doesn’t have a serious expression, it seems there are no horrific facts discovered about Oblivion.’

“Were there any gains from the investigation?”

“…Not many. There was nothing certain except for the name.”

“Really? What is the name?”

“The name of Oblivion is…”

Athanas’s mouth moved. At that moment, the System window completely blocked my vision with an exceptionally loud notification sound.

[

SYSTEM

: ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme’ effect has defended an ‘Intrusion’.]

‘…Intrusion?’

Chapter 102