On a Godless Planet:Volume2B Chapter 45
Chapter 45: Tempo 03[edit]
–Do it with a brisk motion.
●
“I’m back.”
Still in my released manifestation, I returned to the top of the dam where the others were waiting for me.
I sealed Oktobasilia Drakon in my phase space. And…
“Thank you. Kido Abinae has returned.”
While they cheered, I raised my hand toward Douhai-san, who was also in her released manifestation.
“You saved me back there. Um, is this the appropriate response?”
I high-fived her. Then I high-fived Izumi too.
“I’ve given you a lot more work, haven’t I, Balancer?”
<How should I put it? Having one more person to keep that god-awful human out of trouble is more than worth the price.>
“Can you not just come out and say what you really mean?”
●
Anyway, I thought while smiling at Sumeragi-kun who was speaking to Kido-san in her released manifestation.
And I spoke to Balancer.
“There was one questionable move from before that I get now.”
<What was that? If you mean that idiot’s bizarre actions, a lot of them seem to be ultimately meaningless.>
I was referring to something else.
“When we were all buying meat together, there was a moment when you got all sulky and wouldn’t give us some nutritional information, right?”
<Yes, there was. What about it?>
“It was Kido-san who stopped your sulking. She said something about your knowledge helping with the terraforming, but in the end, she said something to you that settled it.”
Thinking back, I knew what that must have been.
“She said that you would have to handle Sumeragi-kun’s health management if she left, didn’t she? And that you quite like Izumi.”
<Hmph! I will tell you the same thing I told her: you are gravely mistaken about that! But...yes, that is what she said.>
Balancer continued quietly.
<And I do think Kido should handle those things herself. Because I am a clever AI.>
“That’s true,” I said before something occurred to me.
“B-Balancer, you need to help me secure a position for myself there!”
●
While everyone else was excited and huddled together, Ki noticed someone else sighing a short distance away.
...Demeter.
She was seated on a remaining edge of the weir, but she was staring at Mr. V and still-unconscious Salacia.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Eh? Oh. Everything I thought needed to be done here has been dealt with. So my overall objective as an inspector is complete.”
But…
“Once word of this gets out, Olympus will be attacked on the DC.”
Ki looked to the side, at the human who was with the others.
“Hey, human. Do you want to make any protests about what happened here?”
“Eh? Yeah, you bet I do!”
The human approached. Kido clearly wanted to say something, but she managed to blank her expression. This was what it meant to let the human decide. And once he was in front of Demeter, he performed an upside-down fully-prone prostration in a single brisk movement.
“Thanks so much!!”
“What in Hades are you doing!?”
“Hey, don’t get shy on me, Olympus Boobs!”
“A new low for his nicknames.”
Ki had to agree. The Shinto negotiator pointed at herself, but it wasn’t a contest. It isn’t, okay?
But the human looked back while walking toward Kido, Senpai-san, and the others.
“I’m sure a lot happened, but if Mr. Vomit and his wife are okay with it, then that’s good enough for me. As for Kido-senpai, she’ll be with us forever now. And ultimately it comes down to the fact that I’ll forgive you for everything because you have big boobs.”
“At least you’re consistent.”
“It’s my faith, after all! Oh, but I do have one thing to say, Olympus Boobs.”
That was…
“Since my mom didn’t have written language, she would have disappeared. I know it was the written records of a bunch of different places, but thanks for keeping her around.”
“Even though we turned her into a monster?”
“My mom’s my mom and nothing more than that. Call her a monster and you’ll have me to contend with.”
“And what will you do about it?”
“I’ll stare at her boobs to purify her sins.”
“What language are you speaking?”
Get used to it. But Demeter smiled a little. She raised her hand toward the human, who had his back to her, and to Kido who stood past him.
“Well, do try to get along. ...Balancer, what’s your decision?”
<When comparing the repairs needed to this divine world against Kido’s released manifestation, I consider the latter to be far more valuable. The former is only an extension of my routine work, but the latter was a complete unknown. Thus, I am willing to view this as a private matter between a couple and within a family. I do not interfere with the private lives of the gods. Because I am a clever AI.>
●
Tenma saw Kido and Senpai-san return to normal.
To Tenma, that felt like a ceremonial return to the group, but was that only because she was a former politician? But…
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“The Scythians, who Kido-senpai comes from, traveled between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. They were conquerors and a threat to the Greeks, yet their culture and civilization was transmitted eastward.”
“The Scythians died out, but I have heard their language remained in Eastern Europe and Russia and their bloodline mixed with the Germanic peoples, ultimately forming the later knight culture.”
“Yes,” said Tenma. “At the risk of sounding off topic, there is one odd thing about Shinto mythology when compared to other mythologies.”
“What’s that?”
“When looking at human migration, Japan is thought to have been settled by a group that arrived from the south after traveling from India along the coast and a group that arrived from the north after traveling through northeast Asia. But…”
But…
“Shinto mythology shows no sign of being influenced by the mythologies in the countries along the coast from India or from the mythologies of northeast Asia and Russia. In fact, there are many areas where it seems to have directly taken elements from Greek mythology.”
“Such as?”
“The greatest monster in Shinto is the many-headed serpent named Yamata no Orochi. It is said to represent an iron-making group from the time, but it is also said to be a water incarnation representing the rivers. If the latter interpretation is correct, it is essentially the same as Kido-senpai. In China, the closest analogue is a dragon god. In India, we again see a dragon or a god with a human face and a serpent’s body, but neither one is simply a serpent. So why did this revert to the original serpent form in Japan?”
“Are you suggesting the Greek culture and civilization spread eastward by the Scythians passed through the nomadic peoples of Central Asia and arrived in Japan relatively unchanged?”
“Not really. The Scythians and the other nomadic peoples in West and Central Asia used the griffin as a symbol of power, but this never arrived in Japan. There is no genetic connection either. But...”
Tenma watched the human and Senpai-san tell Kido something with a lot of gesticulating. Probably something about cooking. Which meant…
“I think what matters is to pass along the things both parties can share.”
●
I held Senpai and Kido-senpai’s hands while we walked toward Okutama Station.
Balancer would restore the area around the dam, so all of us – including the Greeks – had decided we might as well walk.
“I really hope Balancer will restore the campsite for us.”
“I don’t hear any firetruck sirens from downstream, so maybe it’s alright?”
“If it was washed away, the stuff we had prepared for breakfast tomorrow will be gone.”
“Then we’ll have to make do with the cookout ingredients the campsite sells.”
“That would mean yakiniku in the morning.”
“By the way, Kido-chan, you can eat pork and stuff, right? I know some nomadic peoples can’t keep livestock like pigs since they’re always on the move. Do you have any restrictions like that?”
“I can eat pretty much anything.”
<Some sources say the Scythians forbade eating pork, but pig bones have been found at their archaeological sites, suggesting that wasn’t true. It is said they prized horse as the finest meat and they likely ate a lot of venison because they were avid hunters.>
“Yet in Mesopotamia, horse meat was banned.”
“Oh, and we considered pork to be ‘inferior meat’, but it wasn’t actually banned. Only horse, snake, and dog were banned.”
“Are we listing the genres we’re not into?”
“But, Kido-san, your diet fits well with Japan.”
“It does,” agreed Kido-senpai. “Once back in Tachikawa, I need to fix Izumi some breakfast the following morning.”
●
“Why does she feel the need to just floor it now?”
“She’s going full mommy mode right away, isn’t she?”
“S-so the rest of you though that was weird too? This world hasn’t completely lost its mind?”
“Senpai-san did pretty much the same thing…”
<Yes, she completely lost her mind.>
“Hey, be nice!!”
●
I watched Senpai yell at Balancer, but I also noticed a small smile on Kido-senpai’s lips.
Senpai and Kido-senpai both seemed very different now from how they had at first.
I thought this version of them was better, but there was a part of me that still liked that older version too. Regardless.
“You really are my mom, huh!?”
“Izumi? Only call me that when we are alone.”
She blushed.
“Because it is embarrassing.”
“M-mom!”
“I-I should have seen that coming.”
“Izumi may have accepted you, but I decide whether or not you are allowed in his room. At four months old, he is still a minor.”
“Is that how we’re counting it?”
I thought the same thing. But Kido-senpai nodded once and then smiled at Senpai.
“But I quite like your cooking, so I will allow you in his kitchen.”
Senpai performed a perfect prostration and everyone had to stop walking until she got back up.
“Man, this was such a fulfilling camping trip!”
I agreed. Both because of this, and…
“This trip was really worth it. It was just so much, well, fun!”
“Yeah, of the splashy sort. We got completely soaked.”
Now that you mention it, we did!
Interlude[edit]
<By the way, I recovered the pickling cooler, but the Karamucho box was washed all the way to Oume.>
<Washed away, ver.>
“Heyyyyyy! You did that on purpose, didn’t you!?”
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