『YOU LOT, READY!』
『GI GA(HA)!』
The citizens of the picture book simultaneously punched with their right
hands at Nemea's command. This morning training was the mandatory
daily training for all the folks inside the picture book. Nemea followed his
lord's instruction and taught martial arts to all the picture book's folks in
rotation.
Nemea was the beast god, the beast who had gained divinity. He had
reached his place amongst the gods after defeating the infamous evil god.
Then, he had taken the name of the king of divine beasts, Nemea, because
he took pride in being the strongest martial artist amongst the gods. But
then, he had been slapped right on the face, and he realized that he was
nothing more than a frog in the well.
Keeping aside his monstrously powerful lord, Nemea couldn't help but feel
dejected upon finding that he couldn't even beat his lord's subordinate, the
dragon god Fafnir. Even now, the number of his lord's subordinates that
could beat him kept increasing in number.
Naturally, Nemea had no intention of falling behind anyone in martial arts,
except for his lord. However, it was a completely different story when they
fought for real. The extremely nonsensical ability of his lord to collect any
and every mythical monster or god to serve him was only the tip of the
iceberg.
Nemea's abilities had evolved even further after the contact with his lord's
soul by using the mysterious picture book as the intermediate. He felt as if
his newly gained power was a gift from his lord.
Originally, [Gods' Ordeal] was a place that served as the greatest trial
for a god to become a great god. Anyone who came to take the test was
unimaginably strong. Being qualified to take the test itself was enough
proof of being a strongman. The problem was that could an already
unimaginably strongman gain even more power and evolve into an even
more powerful existence? Maybe, no one would expect that such a feat was
possible.
Thus, Nemea had always wondered just what kind of existence his lord
was? The lord had never told them the truth and just said something that
could only be regarded as a joke by all the folks inside the picture book; he
said that he was a human. Nevertheless, Nemea had never heard about a
nameless god with such a nonsensical power, even by gods' standards.
Still, he knew some people who didn't care about his lord's identity. For
example, the people currently offering their prayers in front of his lord's
house.
『… OO, Our supreme ruler!!
Forgive us, the weak and lowly bugs!
Forgive us, the stupid bugs!
Forgive us, the incompetent bugs!
We, the bugs, have the honour to receive your patronage and live in the land
you rule!
We, the bugs, will destroy every foolish mob who dares to disturb you, our
supreme ruler!
…』
Girimekhala was an evil god. His subordinates mainly included evil gods or
other wicked beings. The scene of a god, albeit an evil one, offering prayers
was comical. But, Nemea knew that they were dead serious with their
prayers. His lord was their faith.
He knew that his lord was the most sacred existence for Girimekhala and
his group. Therefore, they offered such ambiguous yet heartfelt prayers
every morning in front of his lord's house.
Opposing them were the dragons. Leading them was a giant, golden dragon
with seven heads standing in front of his lord's house.
『SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE WILL YA! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF
PRAYING!』
Girimekhala's three eyes glared at the golden dragon, who led the dragons,
while still maintaining his praying posture.
『Ye are the ones who need to shut up! You being so noisy in the morning
is disturbing our supreme ruler!』
The golden dragon with seven heads, Ladon, fired back at Girimekhala.
『Disturbing you saaay! Are you mocking our faith!?』
『Showing respects to our supreme ruler is enough, but one must know
their limits!』
It was a quarrel between two great factions. Nemea didn't really care about
it. However, he knew that things were about to turn into a brawl, which
would disturb his lord's morning.
『Stop it! You're in front of Our Supreme Ruler's presence, you know!』
Maybe because he realized this after hearing Nemea's calm voice, but
Girimekhala immediately left for his world, leaving the dragons sprawling
here.
Nemea was puzzled that the Girimekhala faction and the dragons were
never tired of their useless quarrels.
Nevertheless, he knew that they were not actually on bad terms. The reason
for their quarrel was nothing more than the difference between faith or
loyalty they showed to his lord. Although most of the folks in the picture
book, Nemea included, were like them, the two factions stood out in this
regard.
Ladon and the dragons revered the supreme ruler, their lord who possessed
a special title called 『Dragon Slayer』, by offering meat and fruit they
frequently harvested in their world inside the picture book. Moreover, there
was another reason for Ladon and the dragons' zealous loyalty.
「Good morning.」
「Good morning, nodesu!」
『Good morning~.』
Nemea's lord, Fafnir, and Fenrir came out from the house.
『EVERYONE, ATTENTION!』
The picture book's folks, who had been immersing in their morning
training, straightened their backs at once upon hearing Nemea's command.
They cupped their hands together and bowed toward the house.
Ladon and the other dragons also straightened themselves and bowed
toward the house.
『Our supreme ruler, this is the meat and fruit harvested from the picture
book. Please take our offerings.』
Ladon respectfully spoke as he put down mountains of food ingredients on
the floor.
「Thanks a lot. Faf won't be able to eat all of it. Since that's the case, let's
have a banquet today. I remember that I received some delicious cider from
Shuten a while ago.」
Shuten was a fierce god who governed liquor. Although they were rather
moody and workaholic, the liquor they made was the best in the world.
「Banquet, nodesu! It's a banquet, nodesu! Ladon, thank you very much,
nodesu!」
When Fafnir hugged Ladon, Nemea saw that the dragons' expressions
turned into that of a grandfather spoiling their grandchildren.
Fafnir was the other reason the dragons showed their loyalty every day. The
dragons were head over heels for Fafnir; they used every chance to make
her happy.
Nemea's lord then turned his face toward the entrance of the house, toward
the silver-haired woman who let out a yawn as she came out from the
house.
「Kyuubi, you can cook, right? Give me a hand.」
He ordered the silver-haired woman.
「My pleasure!」
Kyuubi closed in toward Nemea's lord at once and put him into her
embrace with an extremely delightful expression. She was really happy that
she had the chance to be of some help to her lord.
Kyuubi and Fenrir were amongst the recent additions to the picture book.
They often went out to explore the dungeon along with Nemea's lord. They
were close enough with the lord to intrude and sleep in his house.
「Tell Girimekhala and the others too. Well then, prepare for the banquet,
everyone!」
Everyone let out a cry of joy upon hearing their lord's order and went off to
prepare the banquet.
Nemea could only look at that seemingly impossible spectacle with a
dumbfounded expression.
The ones gathered here were mythical beings or gods, who were normally
in conflict with each other. Due to their uselessly high pride, it was
impossible to see them moving together at once in one command. It was
impossible for other great gods to do the same thing as his lord.
『I really have no idea what is inside the head of my lord.』
Although he once again realized the greatness of his lord, Nemea quickly
moved around to help with the preparation of the banquet.