A couple of days passed uneventfully.
I made sure not to reveal myself, contacting only Amon through our shared connection. He had been with the mercenaries. Despite the initial anger he received, the women quickly came around and decided to let him stay by their side. They were not exactly friendly with him, but they feared and respected Amon, which was already enough.
He had grand plans to convert more humans and establish a mercenary group that would earn me Divinity Points, but I made him stop. Amon and my only two human believers would have to stay low and avoid any risk of revealing that I had more than one Authority.
In the meantime, I observed Eriavel and constantly scouted the entire forest and its surroundings, making sure Noah’s forces would not arrive unnoticed. With Dick now searching for another army to infiltrate, I had lost my only source of information, so I had to be extra careful.
Aurelion was also in my realm, forbidden to leave without my command. He trained day and night, proving that he did not know the meaning of the word exhaustion.
That, unfortunately, was exactly what I had been feeling.
Even as a human, I had been nothing but an introvert. I always preferred staying at home, playing games or watching something while enjoying a good meal. Going out with friends once a week was already enough for me, and usually, all the noise and communication exhausted me so much that I would spend the next six days recovering my energy before seeing them again.
That was why, despite my initial worry and fear, I had loved being alone in my realm. With all the entertainment available to me, I never grew bored or eager for actual conversation.
But with Aurelion and his constant thumping and grunting, I was slowly being drained of my energy.
Well, I did not dislike him, nor did I want him to leave. All I wanted was a little quiet.
“Aurelion,” I called, eager to make him stop.
He froze mid-swing, then planted his glaive into the misty ground between the roots of the Crimson Guardian’s projection.
Turning toward me, he walked over, the scarlet feathers on his wings shivering with excitement.
“My Liege,” he said.
“Have you considered the plan I shared with you?” I asked, glancing toward the two dummies I had created.
Two crimson, ghostlike figures hovered at the edge of my realm, on the opposite side from the God of Beggars’ core. They were round, with tiny tentacles acting as limbs.
I had created them as an experiment, giving each one a single thread of thought focused solely on my plan to deceive Noah. I wanted to see what conclusion two different versions of me would reach when allowed to consider the same problem independently.
This method was far more comfortable than letting multiple threads of thought run freely inside my mind, where they often spiraled out of control. I had no real connection with the dummies, so their thoughts did not drift passively through my consciousness. Once I allowed them enough time, I would absorb them and see what they had managed to think through and deduce.
Assuming my experiment worked, of course.
Aurelion raised his head, locking his crimson eyes on me.
“I have considered it,” he said. “But I fear my Liege will be disappointed.”
“Tell me anyway.”
He leaned slightly to the side and scratched his chin with his steel glove.
A new mannerism.
He had slowly begun to develop a personality. It was a fun thing to watch, almost like a child’s journey into adulthood, only at a much faster pace.
“My Liege, my understanding of higher beings is limited,” Aurelion said. “Instead, I will offer what I would have done if I were a powerful deity at war with another god.”
You ARE a powerful deity…
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I frowned as he paused, his gaze shifting to the misty ground. After a short moment, he spoke.
“If I were convinced I was stronger than my foe, then I would march with all my force and…”
“Let’s say you are not sure whether your opponent is weaker than you or not,” I cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. “What then?”
Aurelion nodded, his eyes darting around as if he might find the answer somewhere in the mist swirling through my realm.
“Then,” he said finally, “I would lure my foe into a trap. I would try to lower their guard, or search for powerful allies. There are many ways to win a battle, and sometimes even a small uncertainty can change everything.”
He frowned, taking a short pause before continuing.
“In my fight against the god, I would have lost if not for your blessed warrior. He was far weaker than I. In a direct battle, the god would have defeated us both. But our foe’s overconfidence, and his ignorance of our abilities, ultimately won us a battle we probably could not have won without my King’s help.”
I nodded.
Perhaps Aurelion was simply repeating what he thought I believed, which was also most likely close to what I suspected Noah was planning. Or perhaps he truly thought that way. It was impossible to say for certain.
Maybe I should tell Amon to look for information about the God of Justice. Maybe Athena as well…
I still had plenty of time to properly consider everything. Perhaps even my dummies would be able to provide some interesting perspectives.
My eyes shifted toward the two red, ghostlike figures.
I felt a growing desire to test whether my experiment had succeeded or not.
The moment I moved toward the dummies, Aurelion also turned toward his glaive.
Fuck… not this again.
I considered creating a special space for Aurelion, isolated from the rest of my realm. The idea felt good. Not only because it would give me some peace and quiet, but because I felt Aurelion needed a place of his own. My realm was his home as well, after all.
Then I noticed his glance toward the Window as he passed by it, curiosity sparkling in his eyes.
“Do you want to use it?” I asked, a small smile forming on my face.
He flinched and turned toward me, flustered. Even his giant wings swayed awkwardly.
He truly was like a child when he was with me.
“Come,” I said.
I flew to the Window and waited until Aurelion finally shuffled over, his steps so slow that I genuinely wondered if he was afraid I would punish him.
“I’m not sure if you can use it,” I said. “Try.”
The feathers on his wings shivered once more, and a small smile briefly widened his mouth.
“How do I use it, my Liege?” he asked.
“It follows my will. So maybe you should also try to influence it with your mind,” I suggested, though as I said it, I doubted the idea myself.
Aurelion stared at the Window for a while. Then he closed them, a serene expression settling over his face.
The Window did not react.
After a moment, he tried touching it, but his hand passed through the image as if the Window were a portal.
Why did I never think of touching it before?
I was disappointed with myself, but I shook the thought away and considered how to help Aurelion.
“Tell me what you want to see, and I will shift the Window. That should work for now. Later, I’ll think of a proper solution.”
“I…” He hesitated. “I would prefer to observe the velmoryns more.”
“That is easy enough,” I said, willing the Window to zoom in on Eriavel.
The image of Amon and his small group eating quietly in a tavern disappeared at once. The Window zoomed out, the settlement Amon was staying in shrinking rapidly before the view shot toward the edge of the continent. It crossed the desert, passing several castles and villages, until the giant forest finally came into sight.
It passed through a couple of small scout outposts the velmoryns had established. Most were built high in the trees, with hollows carved into the trunks, large enough for a grown velmoryn to rest inside.
The Window passed a few more outposts before finally reaching Eriavel.
It was dusk, and the velmoryns, dressed in thick fur coats, were walking toward the Crimson Guardian with solemn expressions.
What is happening?
I willed the Window to move closer to the giant tree.
Hundreds of velmoryns had gathered, heads lowered, laughter and conversation missing. All except the few dozen standing behind the corpses, their eyes dull and fever-bright.
I had completely forgotten.
The funeral.
A few dozen velmoryns had died when the God of Beggars descended. Other than Lucas and Lyle, no one unlucky enough to be close to him had survived.
The velmoryns were preparing for a grand funeral, if an event that causes only pain and sorrow could even be called grand. They would mourn, pay respect to the dead, support the grieving, and finally bring the bodies to the grave, where more than a hundred new trees would grow from their corpses.
But there was one part of the funeral that bothered me.
The first funeral I had witnessed had ended with me granting my believers Essences created from my divinity and the life force of dead velmoryns. It was a new tradition I had started, one meant to root me deeper into their culture.
But now that I was pretending to be a god in slumber, what was I supposed to do?
Ignore the velmoryns and their dead, or risk revealing that I was very much awake?