"What did you do?" One asked, looking at the two of them with indifference.
"I- I-" Fifty-eight stuttered, her eyes bulging nervously.
The minor god looked at the girl quizzically. Beth knew that one mistake could land the girl in trouble. And through the accusation of being an accomplice, she too could get punished. At that moment, she was glad, that unlike Fifty-eight, she didn't have the urge to tell people all her secrets. Beth cleared her throat.
"We were just talking about meals." She said, looking at her feet. She was not great at lying, and the one she was lying to was Number One. If she were not careful enough, it would land both of them in trouble. With an awkward smile, she looked up at the minor god and continued, "I had given her half of my loaf the other day. She can't stop feeling guilty about eating it."
"Is that so?" One asked Fifty-eight with a smirk.
It was obvious to Beth that the woman was unconvinced.
"Y-yes, Number One!" Fifty-eight stuttered nervously.
The minor god's smile vanished immediately. In the blink of an eye, she took out the voluminous book that she seemed to carry around everywhere. Beth licked her lips nervously. Why did the woman's lack of reaction scare her more than anything? If she were to at least say something, she'd be able to guess what she was thinking. But this was like hitting on an ice-wall.
She remembered hearing her tell the others that she knew who planted the tree. It could either be herself or Fifty-eight. But the woman gave nothing away. Had she misheard it then? Beth wondered.
"You should cut down on your diet, Fifty-eight. You might not be able to work as hard if you keep gaining weight." One said, keeping her eyes on the book.
"O-Okay Number One," Fifty-eight replied meekly.
Beth raised her brows. Was that allowed? Was body shaming allowed in heaven?! What kind of-
"You two can head over to the North today." The woman said, closing her book shut.
"The North?!" Fifty-eight exclaimed, panicking.
"Yes, clean the sewage." One said, narrowing her eyes at her coldly, "Is there any problem?"
"But-"
Beth gritted her teeth. The girl was worse than her. At least she was not this obvious. Grabbing her hand, she yanked her behind herself.
"There won't be any problem, Number One," Beth replied before the girl could say anything else.
One nodded. "Good. Now stop standing there staring at me and get to work." She said, waving at them dismissively, "I don't have all day."
"Yes, ma'am," Beth replied, turning away from the woman.
She dragged her companion with her, knowing full well that if she let her alone with the minor god, the girl would do something stupid. It was obvious from the way she was looking back again and again towards the place that One stood. As they took a turn to the adjacent street, she finally relaxed letting out a sigh of relief. Beth let go of her grip on the girl as well, suddenly feeling conscious of her action. Never had she held a human in that manner. It was awkward and felt weird.
"Phew, that was a close one," Fifty-eight exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest.
Beth shook her head in regret. "What am I going to do with you?" She asked aloud, wondering why she had even taken up the responsibility of keeping the girl safe.
---
As the heat of the afternoon sun pushed on her head, Beth fanned her face with her small hands. Though she hadn't moved a limb to work for the past three hours, she felt tired and bored. How much longer had she to sit in the sun like that? She wondered, taking another sip of water from her bottle lazily.
Fifty-eight had been doing the work seriously for some time. She was lucky like that. Since she got the girl as a partner in work today, she wouldn't have to do anything at all. She could sit back and relax, but it was too sunny to do so. With a sigh, she got up from the dusty ground and started walking around. Ensuring that there was no one anywhere near them, she turned towards her companion. She had questions to ask.
"You told me that someone got punished for planting a tree. What was that about?" Beth asked, lowering her voice.
She had noticed at yesterday's dinner that though people knew that the road leading to the Northern part of the town was sealed off, no one seemed to know why. And for some peculiar reason, the slaves that she had spotted talking about the tree was nowhere to be found. If her guess was right, the minor gods were taking care of the issue silently, removing everyone who seemed to know anything about the incident. The situation worried her. If that was true then, what would happen to the one who planted the tree in the first place? She wanted to know.
"Some slave stole seeds from the granary in the upper town. He was caught before he planted it though." Fifty-eight replied, stopping her work.
"Shame," Beth replied with a shrug. "But why would he want to plant a tree?" She asked, intrigued by the incident.
Had people before her tried the same? Were there other systems going around? If so, it wouldn't be much time till they figured it out. Number One didn't seem to react at all to her appearance as well. Something was definitely fishy.
"For its fruit," Fifty-eight said, cutting through her train of thoughts. "The poor thing must have thought that if he ate what the gods did, he too would become like them."
Beth raised her brows, surprised by the answer. "Is it true?" She asked.
Her companion shrugged. "I don't know. It is rumored among us slaves to be true. But no one who had tried has lived to tell the tale..so.." Fifty-eight trailed off, shaking her head.
Now, this was interesting. She should have gotten herself a fruit from one of the trees in the greenhouse to test the theory. If only she knew of it before, she thought, shaking her head.
"I see. Do you know what a Winged Golden Pear is?" Beth asked, licking her lips nervously.
Fifty-eight nodded. "Yes, why?"
"Just curious," Beth replied with a shrug.
The girl stopped what she was doing. Putting her tools down, she looked to her left and right to make sure that no one was around. Satisfied with what she found, Fifty-eight moved closer to Beth.
"Legend says that eating the Winged Golden Pear can help you reincarnate on earth." The girl said in a hushed voice, "But no one has seen the plant before. It only grows somewhere up there." She said, pointing towards the direction of the upper town.