Pioneering the Apocalyptic World - Chapter 123
Chapter 53: What I turned a blind eye to
At the altar. While I was praying to make holy water, I heard the sound of someone’s footsteps coming from behind.
I guess that someone doesn’t want to bother me while I was making holy water, it refrained from calling me out as I knelt in front of the statue of the God of Creation, so I decided to finish my work first.
When I took a deep breath and stood up, I turned around and saw the Earth God waiting for me.
“Sorry I made you wait?”
“Oh, no I’m just taking a walk. There’s nothing in special to talk.”
“Is that so.”
However, I felt a little reluctant to just say, “Then this is it for me.” and leave, and since I wasn’t busy, I decided to enjoy a chat.
“How are you feeling?”
“Well, thanks to you, I’m recovered quite a bit.”
The earth god answered while turning her head and shoulders. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain, so I wonder if she’s close to making a full recovery.
Mentioning ‘full recovery’, I suddenly remembered one thing and asked the Earth God a question.
“Earth God, will you return to your own domain after recovering?”
Just as the area where Bartle Village was located was the domain of the god of wind, each god has their own area of responsibility. In the game, they stay there and help the creator god manage the world, and also gave advice to the players.
I don’t know whose territory this base is in, but unless she happens to be in charge of it, I wonder if she’ll go back to where she came from? I’ve had this question for a while.
“No, I plan on staying here and assisting Promethea for a while.”
“By the way, which god’s domain this place is?
“This place… This place is also Wind god’s domain.”
Oh, is that so? Should I say that it’s surprisingly large, or should I say that the world that’s large?
Hmm, I would like to release Wind God as soon as possible, not only for the sake of Bartle Village, but also for our own sake… But there are no clues yet.
“Promethea says that things aren’t going well in my realm either. So I’m sorry, but in any case, I can’t go back to without the help of a Miko.”
“I see? Where is your domain?”
“It’s northeast from here. It’s adjacent to Wind God’s domain, so it’s not that far.”
Hmm. Does that mean that it would be at east of Bartle Village? Unless the Creator God specifies something else to prioritize, it might be a good idea to make that my next destination.
“Well, as you can see, we’re small group, so we might not be able to do much, but if there’s anything you need, just let us know and we’ll prepare as much as we can… Excluding alcohol.”
“Hey!?”
The earth god raises a voice of protest, but I can’t hear it~.
Aside from that, we really can’t do much. Besides me, the only person who seems to be able to deal with the Earth God is Fricka, who was a priest in Alness Village.
After all, there were not many people. Even including Regulus and Liese, there were only six people. If we recruit applicants from other villages, there will probably be some who will come, but since it is an important base, it’s difficult to simply relocate people to here. In reality, we can still manage with this number of people, so I don’t really feel the need to increase the number of people.
The earth god had a sour expression on her face, but as if it was some kind of revenge she asked a question with a grin,
“By the way, Rion, which one are you going to choose?”
“Which one… What are you talking about?”
“It’s obviously that’s about Uru or Fricka. Ah, there’s also the option of choosing both?”
“… Huh?…… Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”
Wait, what is this god asking about???
Well, you might be able to guess that if you look Fricka’s attitude with me, but where did Uru come from? ?
Well, Uru is also an important person to me, but I’ve never thought of her in ‘that way’…
As I stammered and couldn’t answer the sudden question, the earth god’s expression changed to one of being astonished.
“… If you don’t have the desire to do it, it would be kind of you to politely refuse them. Well, judging by the look on your face, it doesn’t seem like you’re not interested at all…”
Huh? Did I have that look on my face…! ?
I started touching my cheek in a panic, but it’s obviously I can’t see it.
“Or is there some reason why you can’t make a decision?”
“Eh, uh, we’re the same sex, and it hasn’t been that long since we met, and it’s not something we can decide on that quickly…”
“… It doesn’t seem like that’s the reason, though?”
“…”
After being forced into a corner by the earth god, I thought about it again.
… No, there’s no need to think about it.
??That’s because I’m from another world…
“The Earth God knows that I came from another world, right?”
“That’s right.”
“… The God of Creation has told me that I can’t go back, but… I still haven’t given up on going back.”
I don’t know what means the Creator God used to bring me to Asteria.
That’s why I thought, I can’t let go of the idea `If I can come here, I can also go home.’.
If you go to a place, you can come back by following the same way you came.
… But maybe it’s a one-way trip. Like as the water from the waterfall only flows from top to bottom.
On top of that… If the Gods recover all their power, wouldn’t it be possible to climb that waterfall?
I wish I could ask her quickly if I’m really can’t go home, but… I haven’t been able to ask yet.
It’s simply a matter of timing, but I am afraid of being reminded that I can’t go home, or I am just running away and postponing my decision by pretending to go home?
“Ah… I also haven’t heard any details about that from Promethea either…”
As I look down, the somewhat reserved voice of the earth god falls upon my head.
And with the following words?
“Promethea said that she asked Rion’s soul to come to this world…. But the living beings in Rion’s world can survive without souls… Can an empty body survive?”
“…… Eh??”
My heart pounded and made a particularly unpleasant sound.
“In Asteria, you can’t live with just your body or just your soul. That’s why, not only Rion’s soul, but also that body was prepared as a vessel.”
Creatures with only souls either die quickly or remain as undead ghosts.
Living things that only have bodies will either fall into a what is called vegetative state and go into an eternal sleep from which they will never wake up, die, or remain as undead zombies.
Either way, there are only two choices: death or undeath. Well since the undead are also dead, is it actually just a single option?
So what about in my original world?
Regardless of my current state of living in Asteria, the existence of souls has not been proven over there. Therefore, life and death will be determined only by the condition of the body, regardless of the presence or absence of a soul.
If we replace the soul with consciousness, is my body without consciousness… Alive or dead?
If it’s alive, my family might have taken my body to the hospital and my body might have been able to survive despite having many tubes connected to it.
But… If it had died, there would already be no place for my soul to return to??
“??”
In the first place, even though it was due to a misunderstanding, I came here without any explanation to my family.
Even if they were to keep my body alive, after causing a lot of trouble, can I go home happily saying, `Actually, I went to save another world…’?
No, since they’re taking the trouble to keep it alive, wouldn’t it be a waste of money if I don’t go home even if I get scolded a lot for it?
No, no, since the creator god says I can’t return, my body is dead after all??
“…H-ha??”
As I kept thinking in circles about this and that, I couldn’t continue breathing properly.
Am I breathing in? Am I breathing out?
Before that… Am I really alive right now?