Epilogue: Idle Chatter Between Goddess and Giant
◇ The Ancient Giant's Monologue ◇
I bid farewell to the children of man and traveled along the leylines. My first taste of freedom in fifteen million years was satisfying indeed.
I floated to the surface. This must have been the western portion of the continent. I saw bountiful forests in all directions. And yet...
"...I do not like it."
The elementals were languid, as though they were holding their breaths. It was a far cry from the age when we Titanea had walked the surface. What I felt instead was their presence staring down from the heavens: the Sacred Deities.
I asked the elementals. They said that the surface had changed.
Sickening, isn't it?
"...Ah, Lady Noah." She was the youngest child of the Titans I served. The rest of her kin were long since captured by them, but she was the only one imprisoned above the surface. A tragic one, indeed.
Could you not call me "tragic"?
How rude of me.
"...I have only just now awakened after a long imprisonment......................... What
a coincidence that one with eyes that could see through the Sacred Deities' seal just so happened to appear." That seal was not so feeble as to be undone by any normal human. And that dungeon had a spell of concealment cast upon it; it should have been difficult to notice.
Of course that wasn't a coincidence. I made it happen. I gave that merchant a temporary divine power through my dagger. The effect's gone by now, though.
Ah, so that was how. But if memory serves, that boy wasn't Lady Noah's believer. She said her acolyte was the one named "Makoto," did she not? Was that one truly suited to the task?
Don't start that. I'll put that boy to work in due time.
My, my. She seemed to have quite the expectations for this believer. I'd asked the elementals about Lady Noah's prior apostles, and indeed, they had all been powerful mages or superbly skilled swordfighters. Compared to them, this elementaler boy seemed rather weak and lacking in talent.
Tee hee.
"Lady Noah, is something the matter?"
Rest assured, Makoto Takatsuki is the greatest.
"...I beg your pardon?"
Makoto Takatsuki is the greatest apostle I've ever recruited.
"...He certainly didn't appear that way."
His mana reserves were scarcely enough to cast a spell or two before running dry, and his elemental magic was still untrained. Yet, despite it all, he was brash enough to challenge one of the Gigantes. This was not a combination well suited to surviving very long.
That boy will turn this world on its head. Just you wait and see.
Lady Noah giggled, apparently quite pleased with herself.
"Incidentally... Lady Noah, the acolyte you used one thousand years ago brought chaos upon the world. The elementals told me about
how poorly that attempt ended."
...You know your stuff.
"Even in my stone seal, the elementals brought me tidings of the
world above... I'd heard that Lady Noah, despite being a lone Titan, had kept fighting the Sacred Deities every chance she got..................... Even if
those fights rarely brought results."
I screwed up last time. But this time, I'm taking it slow. I'll have those bitches up on Olympus crying at my feet.
Her voice revealed, in bits and pieces, a dark thirst for vengeance. I was shocked that she could produce a tone so dripping with hatred. Oh, my cute Lady Noah, how corrupted you've become.
Hmph. I'm still plenty cute.
"Yes, of course, right you are... Lady Noah, whose divine, dazzling
beauty is hailed as the greatest of the Titans—your merest visage would entrance human, animal, and demon alike. I'm certain that the boy lost all reason the moment he laid eyes upon you and became your believer He must be so smitten that he can think of
nothing but my dear Lady Noah. "
Uhhh, yeah, totally... Her response sounded stilted.
".. Is something the matter, Lady Noah?"
Nothing at all. By the way, what're you gonna do next, Pops?
".. I plan to travel this world in search of my sealed brethren."
Yeah, that's a good idea. If we want to bring the fight to the Olympian gods, we'll need to be completely prepared.
"So, you've yet to give up on that... But for now, you can only
command a single acolyte. You may have the temporary ability to control those who touch that dagger but there's little you can do
with that... Which reminds me... Strengthening the boy's
friends. that was your order, Lady Noah, was it not? You secretly
sent it the moment I was freed from my seal."
Sure did. Good job, Pops. I already gave that boy my blessing, so all I can do now is make his party members stronger.
"My...you're quite generous to this one. Particularly when you treated your previous acolytes like insects..."
Rude. I did nothing of the sort.
"Hmm... Which is to say...that this spectacle is a means to some end. You didn't give the believer in question a single order, did you?
Though...it appears that he's aiming for the Seafloor Temple where you're imprisoned. To be honest, I can hardly imagine him being capable of it..."
Don't worry, I've got a plan. Heh heh heh...
Lady Noah really did seem to enjoy talking about this new follower of hers, Makoto Takatsuki. I'd never heard such a voice from her before.
"...I suggest you not place too much hope in this believer." I was getting worried. Perish the thought, but could she have possibly fallen for this acolyte?
Don't worry. I'll handle this.
It seemed like she had every minute detail planned out, so I had no choice but to follow her lead.
"...Take care, Lady Noah."
Be sure to tread with caution. You don't want them to notice.
And with that, I heard no more of Lady Noah's voice. Now then, I had my brethren to search for.
◇ Makoto Takatsuki's Perspective ◇
"I must say, my esteemed Tackie—that giant was quite the fine fellow!"
We were on our way back to town. Fujiyan was certainly energetic.
"Oh yeah, Boss, why did you ask for that giant's finger'h?" Nina inquired.
"Ah, I was curious about that too," I said.
"Do ho ho, I'll have you know that this giant's finger is a magicite containing incredible energy. The amount of energy stored in this digit alone could level an entire nation were it to be used as a weapon."
"What?" Lucy exclaimed, distancing herself from Fujiyan. "Isn't that kinda dangerous?"
"Worry not, it's perfectly safe when handled carefully," Fujiyan assured her. "But I must say, this adventure has yielded quite the return!"
"Sure did!" Nina agreed. "I got a powerful blessing out of it'h!" Fujiyan and Nina were all smiles. When I glanced at Lucy...
"Tee hee hee..."
She was cuddling her staff which the giant had modified. She'd tested out her new ground magic spells earlier, and from the looks of it, that weapon was shaping up to be pretty useful. She said that, for now, she could activate magic just by concentrating mana inside of the staff. It was far from fuel-efficient, but that method was a good fit for somebody with as much mana to burn as Lucy.
Everyone seemed pretty satisfied.
I looked over the Dagger of the Goddess. Considering the day's adventure, I couldn't help but find her behavior suspicious. She'd normally warn me well in advance to be careful or to run away. But this time, she intervened directly, with timing that almost seemed calculated. And who did we find at the end of that dungeon? None other than an ally of the goddess.
It was all just a little too perfect.
I was the first believer of a goddess who had zero. But—and this is
something I'd only found out recently—I can see and even converse with her, which makes our rapport something different.
There's a word for our bond, and it's "apostle." The priestesses were a sort of apostle too.
An apostle sees their god's form. An apostle hears their god's voice.
Should an apostle worry, their god will give advice.
Should an apostle become lost, their god will show them the way. Should an apostle pray, their god will grant them their blessing.
Pretty sweet deal for the apostle. Except for one thing:
An apostle can never defy their god's orders.
If a revelation were given from on high, the apostle had to carry out their god's decree, even if it cost them their life. That was just how it was.
Now, what did the goddess tell me, again? "Become strong."
"You'd better not die that easily." "Go forth."
But of course, those were "requests." They weren't orders. And besides, I was weak. An apprentice mage with lower stats than most people you'd find on the street. As I am now, I probably couldn't
hope to carry out the goddess's orders. But I should be able to one day.
Whatever her true "request" is.
And so began my journey of full clearing this world with my goddess.