How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 164

Unresolved questions still circled in my mind, yet I swallowed them down and answered his question.

 

I already knew that asking him again, when he had sent me to the underworld simply because explaining things was bothersome, would not yield any satisfying answers.

 

Yet as if he had seen straight through my inner thoughts, he said something unexpected.

 

“You may ask.”

 

Oh? What’s gotten into him?

 

‘I was sure he’d order me out.’

 

I didn’t know what sort of debt Kephri might owe me, but strictly speaking he had no connection whatsoever to the current problem.

 

Until I, who had received the oracle of the goddess Astarte, visited his lair, he hadn’t even known what was happening right now.

 

That was why I had honestly expected him to tell me to leave the moment our business was finished.

 

While I was unable to hide my surprise at the unforeseen situation, Kephri, who had been staring at me without the slightest movement, slowly parted his lips.

 

“You know I can read your thoughts, yet you still freely insult me. Quite the guts you have.”

 

Unlike his calm expression, the words that came from his mouth were nothing short of vicious.

 

For a moment I even doubted whether I had heard correctly.

 

“…”

 

Because of that, I missed the timing to deny it, and the interior of the small cabin quickly sank into an awkward silence.

 

I was frantically turning my head, trying to smooth things over somehow before the air grew any heavier, when a hypothesis suddenly brushed through my mind.

 

‘Wait. But if he can know every one of my inner thoughts, doesn’t that mean he also knows I had no intention of criticizing him?’

 

Perhaps, in his own way, Kephri had been attempting an ice-breaker for my gloomy self.

 

“…Please don’t say such scary things. This isn’t an insult; it’s purely my extremely subjective opinion.”

 

Of course I had no confidence at all, yet remaining silent like this seemed worse, so I deliberately raised my voice and played the clown with a brazen air.

 

“From my perspective, Lord Kephri seemed like someone who wouldn’t care what the other gods did or what became of humans.”

 

“You saw correctly.”

 

He replied dryly.

 

Judging by the fact that someone who was reading my innermost thoughts in real time offered no particular rebuttal, it seemed he had truly tossed the words out without much weight.

 

‘Whew, I thought my heart was going to drop out of my chest thinking he was seriously angry.’

 

It was hard to distinguish how much was serious and how much was a joke, so I was thinking it would be better if he refrained from this kind of teasing whenever possible, when Kephri’s voice cut through my wandering thoughts.

 

“So, your questions?”

 

“Ah! Um, that is… Well.”

 

The conversation that had briefly strayed returned to the main topic, yet I couldn’t readily open my mouth.

 

There were so many things I wanted to know that I was stuck deciding what to ask first.

 

‘There’s no time limit anyway, so should I just ask everything one by one?’

 

I felt sorry for Fenrir and Yves who would be waiting outside, yet this might be my last chance to resolve my doubts.

 

After careful consideration, I made my decision and was just about to voice a question when…

 

“I will answer only two.”

 

He, who had been silent, belatedly added a condition.

 

Somehow it felt like something given had been taken back.

 

‘If I’d known it would be like this I wouldn’t have hesitated and just blurted out whatever came to mind first.’

 

Regret washed over me, yet judging that I couldn’t change Kephri’s mind, I shook off the disappointment and carefully began the preamble.

 

“Before that, there’s one thing I’d like to confirm. Is that all right?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“What I’m really curious about is… you said even the god who gave me a blessing didn’t know…”

 

“I have a rough idea.”

 

Before I could launch into a proper explanation, Kephri cleanly cut me off.

 

“However, it isn’t certain. It’s merely a conjecture based on your memories and the information Astarte sent.”

 

“Please tell me!”

 

Excited by the hope of finally hearing even a small clue about Nanna’s purpose for the possession, something I had never managed to grasp, I slammed both hands down on the table and sprang to my feet.

 

“If possible, please explain it in detail. I beg you!”

 

“Don’t get your hopes up too high. Even I cannot know Nanna’s ultimate goal.”

 

“There’s a separate ultimate goal?”

 

“Probably so. Unlike someone, Nanna is not known to have a hobby of observing humans. Especially not to the point of deliberately issuing a strange oracle.”

 

He spoke with a nuance that suggested he knew Nanna and Astarte well.

 

‘Come to think of it, I never heard which god’s vessel Kephri is.’

 

I had learned that Kephri was a vessel of a god thanks to the nameless god, yet I still did not know his exact identity.

 

I was only vaguely guessing he might be one of the Seven Ruling Gods when he added a remark.

 

“If you wish to hear the answers to your questions, sit back down first. It’s distracting.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Once he had me seated, he let out a light sigh and began his story.

 

“Nanna appears to be trying to create a new god using the divine power present on the surface.”

 

“What? But I heard the existing gods are reluctant to allow a new god to be born.”

 

It was something I had heard directly from the nameless god just a short while ago about the cruel actions of the gods who had issued an oracle and massacred innocent mages.

 

Kephri calmly acknowledged it as well.

 

“Correct.”

 

“Then why in the world is Lord Nanna trying to create a new god?”

 

“I already said I don’t know that either.”

 

“Ah… So that was what you meant by the ultimate goal.”

 

“Yes. My conjecture is only about the result Nanna is trying to obtain by granting excessive divine power to a human child.”

 

“But just because there’s divine power… is that even possible?”

 

“He must have carried out this experiment in order to find that out.”

 

“An experiment?”

 

“What Nanna demanded of her remained in the memories of your previous life. You didn’t notice at all?”

 

“…What?”

 

The memories he referred to were most likely those of Please Take Care of the Saintess!, yet even after recalling the original work, I couldn’t grasp at all what sort of experiment Nanna had been conducting using Selene.

 

“He made the child to whom he had granted so much divine power that even Fenrir and Huluppu suspected her of being a vessel of a god mate with other humans on the surface who possessed divine power.”

 

“…”

 

“And he repeated that process over and over.”

 

Kephri said it looked exactly like an experiment to see whether a god could be born between humans who possessed divine power.

 

Unable to find any words to reply, I only let out a small sigh.

 

It was still merely his conjecture, yet if it were true, it was far too horrific.

 

Unable to dig any deeper into the matter concerning Selene, I decided to change the subject.

 

“…If he wanted to create a new god, couldn’t he have simply asked the god of the underworld?”

 

“She has no divine power, yet she is equal. Intimidation is impossible as well. He probably never even attempted conversation.”

 

“No. In the first place, shouldn’t an omnipotent god know all of that?”

 

Even though I knew it had nothing to do with Kephri, my voice rose without my realizing it.

 

Fortunately, perhaps because he could read my thoughts, he did not grow angry and instead offered a different proposal.

 

“Instead, I will tell you the information you need most.”

 

His tone was similar to that of someone coaxing a child, which bothered me a little, yet unable to restrain my curiosity I asked back in a small voice.

 

“…What is it?”

 

“A way to sever the connection between that child and Nanna.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“It’s only a temporary measure, but it is something you can do.”

 

“Is it certain?”

 

Stopping Selene’s regressions was far more important than any resentment toward Nanna, so I shook off my gloomy feelings and pressed him on whether it was truly reliable.

 

“If your goal is solely for that child to return to being an ordinary human, then yes, it can be called certain.”

 

“Please, I beg you, tell me!”

 

“The method is simple. You absorb that child’s divine power. Continuously, until Nanna withdraws the blessing.”

 

Just as he said, it was an extremely easy matter.

 

Yet on the contrary, it was so simple and brief that it was hard to take at face value.

 

“You’re saying such a simple method can sever the connection between Selene and Lord Nanna?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Not a lie or a joke, really, truly?”

 

“I am the Sky God Anu. I swear upon my name.”

 

“…”

 

The moment I heard his name I lost all words and closed my mouth.

 

I had never even imagined that he could be Anu, the Sky God, the one among the Seven Ruling Gods who held the greatest influence and was called the king of the gods most revered.

 

Yet he continued the conversation as if unbothered by my reaction of frozen astonishment.

 

“Do you know how many gods are known on the surface?”

 

“Um… I only know that various gods exist besides the Seven Ruling Gods.”

 

“Then why do only seven gods have temples on the surface?”

 

“That… I don’t know.”

 

It was content I had never learned in the apprentice priestess classes, so I shook my head.

 

“Because the seven gods possess the most divine power.”

 

According to his explanation, divine power itself is immense and tremendous, yet if one completely exhausts that divine power, even a god will perish.

 

‘How should I put it. It doesn’t seem all that different from humans.’