NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68
Chapter 68: A Small Piece of Darkness (1)
Time goes on.
In the meantime, a bunch of stuff happened, but nothing worth stressing over, so I’ll just summarize and keep moving.
The priest, having discovered that the epidemic that stole away his wife and child was caused by unattended corpses, asked me how to deal with the bodies, and I simply said,
“Just burn them.”
Since those neglected corpses were spreading the plague, if you can’t bury them, burning them is the next best thing.
But humans have this serious aversion to cremating bodies. Do they think it’s desecration? Even if you bury them, they’ll just rot into bones anyway.
So, I decided to spread a little rumor.
[Offering the deceased’s body to the sacred flame can lighten some of the sins the soul carries. However, the sacred flame burns eternally deep within the volcanic depths of the scorching desert, a place where humans can’t even step.]
While I was at it, I figured I’d also boost Ifrit’s reputation a bit.
That poor kid is a bit lonely being all by themselves anyway—might as well spread the word that the sacred flame burns away wickedness, right?
[While not as effective as offering to the sacred flame, burning the dead body to leave behind just bones can also ease a tiny bit of sin.]
When it says “a tiny bit,” you can read it as an amount that barely matters in the grand scheme of things.
Well, the goal here is to burn the bodies to stop the epidemic, after all.
If we could just bury the dead right away, we wouldn’t need to worry about this, but not all bodies can get buried on time.
For instance… during a war.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Humans and other subraces kept spreading their influence.
Humans have spread the widest so far, and then there are the beastfolk living alongside them.
The elves have moved into the great forests surrounding the World Tree, while the dwarves have burrowed into the mountain ranges near Sagarmatha like ants making a nest.
The lizardmen didn’t expand much due to humidity and temperature issues, but thanks to their head start, their territory isn’t too shabby.
As for the giants… their numbers increased, but they only got to a few hundred. Even though each of them has a huge territory, their low numbers make it look pretty pathetic compared to other races.
Dragons? Most of them are off on pilgrimages to worship me as the Goddess of Life, or they’re holed up in caves, not showing their faces.
The reason they’re holed up could be that they’re protecting eggs or hatchlings or just because they’re natural hermits. You know how it goes.
Because of this, dragons don’t really have any defined territories.
So, each race kept expanding their territories.
But they can’t keep stretching out forever. There are only so many habitable spots, and most are already claimed by other races.
Inevitably, wars would break out.
But hold on, so far, wars have only sparked among humans! Despite being humans, they haven’t declared war on other races yet!
The rugged forests and steep mountains provided natural defenses for the elves and dwarves, while the cold climates of the giants’ territories made it tough for humans to invade.
As for the lizardmen? Even their young can smash rocks with their bare hands; would humans really be foolish enough to provoke them? You could call those humans suicidal without missing a beat.
So, in the end, the only folks humans can go to war with are… other humans.
While the population’s grown significantly, there aren’t any professional soldiers or mercenaries yet, so they’re pretty much just conscripting adult males to make an army.
Under those conditions, each city-state can muster roughly 300 to 500 troops.
With some promises of support from allied city-states, they can scrape together an average of around 1,000 troops for battles.
Since iron weapons are still rare—only seen among commanders—most armaments are basically bronze or stone age. Armor? Pathetic at best, made of bone scraps or thick leather.
Still, those rickety armies were swinging violence at each other.
Ah, the timeless tale. The greed of humans knows no bounds, repeating the same mistakes… No, thankfully, we haven’t hit full-scale war yet! They’ve been throwing their weight around in a power struggle and then calling it a day!
In an age where every adult is precious, neither side wants to increase the casualties. So, they fight like it’s a game of tug-of-war before wrapping it up.
Plus, since it’s still at city-state level, their ethnic or national identities haven’t solidified, so they haven’t gone for a complete annihilation of the other side! Just a little friendly neighborhood power struggle!
Seeing them, I let out a sigh. Is it really the right thing to stop the war?
Just like humans can’t help but fight among themselves, it seems natural for wars to break out between cities and states too, right?
Even if I possess the power to stop it, is it truly in humanity’s best interest to prevent these wars?
I don’t know. The history of humans is essentially a history of war. Their development seems bound to the evolution of war.
If I stopped every war in existence, wouldn’t human society just come to a standstill?
Sigh… Maybe having a distinct personality isn’t all that great sometimes.
I mean, if I were just a mechanical god, I might have just done my job and moved along without a second thought. Hmm.
I honestly don’t know. Which way is better?
In cases like these, maybe the answer is just… to step back, let go, and watch.
Anyway, I turned my gaze away from the humans and various subraces who were diving headlong into fierce battles.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
After wrapping up my business in the Afterlife, I found myself with a little bit of free time and started crafting something.
An item I had been procrastinating on for ages.
An item to capture that irritating kid again.
It was like a fishing rod meant to snag Erebus, who’s hiding somewhere underground.
I equipped it with abilities to track, capture, and hold Erebus specifically, making sure he couldn’t escape.
You might think that’s a bit harsh, but honestly, Erebus brought it on himself! That idiot made some serious blunders!
He got so blinded by the wish that he did things he shouldn’t have and even split the scales I lent him out of fear of getting caught! Thanks to that, I felt pain for the first time in this world.
Well, it wasn’t the first time. I remember when I was born in this world, my wings hurt like heck.
Anyway, Erebus messed up, so it’s totally fine for me to go a little overboard here!
Thus, I gripped the fishing rod I had fashioned.
With this fishing line made from the same darkness as Erebus, I’d be able to reach down into the earth and snag him out from wherever he’s hiding.
And with the auto-tracking feature, if I just cast the line into the ground, I should be able to catch that goofy kid.
So… shall we go fishing?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Erebus has existed in the deep dark of the underground since he became self-aware.
The underground earth, where not even a sliver of light can penetrate, is the true domain of Erebus, filled only with darkness.
So, I waited patiently with the fishing line made of darkness cast down, eager to catch Erebus.
The child I nurtured, taught, and raised.
Well, if that kid has half a brain, he won’t get caught easily. But if I leave the line down long enough, I’m bound to snag him eventually.
A considerable amount of time has passed.
The priest who served the Goddess of Life has passed on to the Afterlife, and per my suggestion, became the upper layer administrator there. Still, the fishing line remains inactive.
Even after the faith in the sacred flame spread and a religion started worshiping it as a deity, the fishing line still didn’t budge.
Even when a princess from the east ventured to the Afterlife, hoping to revive her dead father, the fishing line continued to hang limp.
How much time has gone by?
Once the city-state of Arcad merged with its neighboring city-states and became a legitimate kingdom, the fishing line began to stir.
Did I finally find Erebus? I quickly yanked on the fishing rod and started reeling in the line. After about a day of cranking it, I finally spotted what was dangling at the end of it.
At last…! I can finally catch that foolish son who has been such a headache.
“Huh?”
I peered at what was hanging on the end of the line.
Instead of Erebus, who was supposed to be snagged by this line, there was only a faint shadow of darkness.
Uh… Umm… So…
“Erebus?”
The faint darkness just wriggled at the end of the fishing hook without voicing a single response.