Chapter 147

To cut straight to the facts, it’s pretty much impossible for Baal to win a race against Sylphid.

Without any sort of instant teleportation trickery—just pure speed alone—and especially if it’s a race limited to using avatar forms… well, only someone at my level could possibly beat Sylphid in that scenario.

Hence why…

“Are you really sure you don’t need help?”

“Yeah! I’ll somehow manage!”

Baal boasts with all his might. Though I can already see how this will play out, I do absolutely nothing.

And as expected…

“I WON!!!”

I watch as Sylphid crosses the finish line set up at the far end of the western world.

Hmm… As suspected, I should’ve interfered. Baal is still way off in the distance, while Sylphid has already arrived and is jumping around like a lunatic.

It was an unfair contest from the start, so there wasn’t much else to be done…

“Of course! No one can beat me in a race! Hahaha!”

Sylphid acts immaturely despite being a young deity. My child, but…this is somewhat embarrassing.

“But Mom! What happens now? Does that mean I become King of the Gods?”

“Hmm…”

I sigh lightly while looking at Sylphid’s playful grin. In this kind of situation…

There’s no choice. Time for some cheating.

I pull out a pocketwatch hidden within my embrace.

The race didn’t take long, so just a small adjustment will suffice.

After rewinding the clock, I press the recording button attached to it.

Simultaneously, the world rewinds.

Everything except me goes back in time.

All existence reverts.

Though reversing long periods of time negates everything accomplished during those moments, which isn’t pleasant, doing it briefly shouldn’t cause issues.

Thus, I return us to the start of the race.

At the easternmost edge of the continent, where Baal and Sylphid are about to begin.

While other children anticipate Sylphid’s victory near the finish line, I move quietly without drawing attention.

Alright, let’s lay a little trap here for Sylphid.

With a flick of my finger, a wooden table and chairs appear along with various foods laid out neatly.

A tiny delay mechanism—enough to hold Sylphid back momentarily.

Of course, this brief pause won’t ensure Baal wins, but it might give me enough time to persuade her.

Sure, it may feel cowardly, but creating a God-King is rather important to me.

If Baal doesn’t become the God-King, that responsibility will fall on me, and my workload will pile up once again like mountains.

That’s unacceptable!

Even if it means breaking the rules, I must intervene!

So, after preparing freshly baked apple pie and carbonated lemonade, I wait patiently for Sylphid’s arrival.

“Ah! Mom! What’s all this?”

As she runs toward the goalpost, Sylphid stumbles right into my trap.

“Since I already knew the outcome, I just wanted to talk to you for a bit.”

“Talk? Then I’ll quickly head to the finish line!”

“No, stay here for now.”

“But the finish line is right there!”

“There’s something we need to discuss before you cross that line.”

With slight dissatisfaction, Sylphid sits down at the table.

I slice her a piece of apple pie and continue.

“Do you know why I’m trying to make Baal the God-King?”

“Hmm… Is it because he’s your favorite or something?”

“Not likely.”

I shake my head slightly as Sylphid takes a bite of the pie.

Crunch! The sound of the crust breaking fills the air.

“It’s simply because he’s necessary.”

“God-King?”

“Yes. The God-King.”

I pour her a glass of lemonade and hand it over.

“You’re aware countless gods keep popping up uncontrollably, right?”

“Yes. That’s why chaos reigns everywhere.”

Uncontrolled gods behave worse than wild animals. Their half-baked powers only make things worse.

Thankfully, most instinctively understand their existence originates from human faith, so they avoid directly harming people—but not always kindly.

They terrify humans plenty.

“Right now, we need someone to manage these gods.”

“Why don’t you handle it? You’d do better than some novice godling.”

“Do you want me buried under endless work?”

Even now, my responsibilities stack higher than ever. Adding divine management would only multiply them further.

“Sure, I could theoretically do it…but at great cost.”

“Great cost…?”

“Yes. For example…the brief time I spend with all of you.”

Sylphid stays silent.

“The point is, I’ll soon have even less free time. To prevent that, we need a God-King. And our best candidate so far is Baal.”

I glance at him running far away.

Young, weak—but holding the essence of the sky itself, he possesses immense potential.

“If not him, then who else among the gods?”

“Assign it to someone else?”

“Like who?”

Excluding Ifrat, Thetis, Yggdrasil, and Sagarmatha who remain stationary…

Shamash, god of law, justice, and light, might technically be capable…but I don’t want to overload him with more duties when he already handles quite a lot.

Which leaves Sylphid as the only remaining option…

“If you took the role, you’d have to sacrifice certain freedoms. Would you be okay with that?”

“Sacrifices…?”

I nod slightly.

For someone who’s lived freely until now, taking responsibility and managing unruly gods would surely be difficult.

Especially for a wind god like Sylphid, who values freedom above all else—it’d be completely incompatible.

“Freedom.”

“Freedom…”

“Would you be willing to give up your freedom and dedicate yourself to managing the gods?”

After pondering briefly, Sylphid shakes her head.

She knows herself well; hence the quick answer.

“This wouldn’t allow me to do anything fun.”

“At least for now, passing the task to Baal seems wisest.”

Sylphid swallows the last bits of her pie dramatically.

“Though I dislike it…there’s no other choice.”

“Exactly. There’s no other choice.”

If only there were another trustworthy candidate to entrust this to…

Everyone else already shoulders their own responsibilities. There’s no spare hand left to play.

“Well, our chat is over. Let me return to the finish line.”

“Yes, thank you for the delicious meal, Mom.”

Sylphid says this, then mimics yawning exaggeratedly.

“My belly’s full, so I’m a bit sleepy. Since that brat still has a long way to go…I think I’ll nap for a bit.”

“Go ahead.”

Leaning against the nearby tree stump, Sylphid drifts off to sleep. Meanwhile, I return to the finish line to observe the inevitable result.

Naturally, Baal wins.

—

The rabbit laughed upon seeing the invisible turtle.

“Haha! There’s no comparison!”

With the finish line just ahead and no sign of the turtle, the race seemed boringly one-sided.

Feeling slightly bored, the rabbit yawned.

“Let me take a short nap. It’s not like the turtle will pass me anytime soon.”

Leaning against a nearby tree stump, the rabbit closed its eyes and soon began snoring loudly.

Meanwhile, the steady turtle continued moving forward step by step until spotting the sleeping rabbit.

How careless—to nap during such an important race! The turtle clicked its tongue disapprovingly before walking past the rabbit.

By the time the turtle reached the finish line…

“Hot dog! How long did I sleep?!”

The rabbit woke up startled, only to see the turtle crossing the finish line.

— [Folk Tale: The Tortoise and the Hare]

—

“Sylphid, wasn’t that a bit too careless?”

“Meh. Sorry about that. Just thought I’d catch forty winks.”

Well, races are races. Though I never imagined Sylphid would actually fall asleep…

Anyway, Baal’s victory!”

“Even if we raced again, I wouldn’t lose next time. But yeah, I accept defeat this time.”

Good. Two down. Four to go, I think. Things are going smoothly so far.

No need to take lives or anything drastic yet. Hmm…if only there weren’t any plot twists, this could proceed peacefully.

“So, am I up next?”

Next in line, Yggdrasil steps forward toward Baal.

“My test is simple—I want you to fix the elves’ picky eating habits.”