Chapter 157

“The King of the Gods. His name might be Baal.”

A cryptic phrase etched onto a small stone fragment obtained from some old man caught my interest.

There’s no way the gods would tolerate someone above them, and it’s even more absurd to think that such arrogant gods would have a king. Yet this fragment of an ancient stone tablet outright denied that fact.

Do I trust widely known facts? Or do I believe in this tiny, insignificant stone shard?

Common sense told me to throw away this meaningless little rock, but my gut feeling screamed that something was off.

It was shouting that the truth this stone held wasn’t ordinary.

Afterward, I began investigating the stone fragment using various methods.

The material: marble. The age measured by dating magic: the Age of the Gods when they walked the land. The time when countless archetypes of myth existed throughout the world.

I couldn’t easily judge whether this tablet mentioning the King of the Gods contained truth or lies.

But… it was certainly worth investigating.

If I could uncover what happened during that era where records and relics are scarce, when gods lived among humans, great wealth and honor would surely come my way.

First things first, I need to dig up the truth behind the name “Baal,” the so-called King of the Gods.

If we’re talking about the highest god among the pantheon, the Goddess of Life would naturally come to mind—but let’s set her aside for now.

What I’m looking for is the forgotten historical figure known as the King of the Gods.

Since “Baal” is the only clue we have, let’s search through the myths scattered across the regions for mentions of Baal or similar names.

With a bit of luck, we might find another lead.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thus, the coronation ceremony came to an end.

Despite Baal’s final words causing quite the commotion, and Sagarmatha exploding with volcanic wrath—still, it’s over. Yep.

After somehow calming down the raging Sagarmatha, it was only natural to reprimand Baal.

“Baal. Wasn’t that last statement unnecessary?”

“But I needed to declare ownership.”

“Ownership of everything in this world?”

It sounded like some pirate king leaving his treasure somewhere, but let’s set that aside for now.

“Anyway, the coronation went without major issues, right? No objections from the gods in the square.”

“All the gods dispersed to tour the Divine Hall after the ceremony, so naturally there were no objections! But Sagarmatha was furious!”

I’ve never seen that child get so angry before. They say even quiet people can be terrifying when they lose their temper—and apparently, even gods are no exception.

Why did Sagarmatha get so mad? Did Baal’s words upset them?

Sagarmatha is usually so quiet, so it’s hard to tell. Did Baal’s words strike a nerve?

Thanks to that, I ended up spending some time with Sagarmatha to help calm them down… Hmm. It’s kind of worrying how easy it is to pacify these kids, isn’t it, Mom?

What if some bad guy convinces them otherwise? Well, I won’t allow anything unless it’s a proper deity or job!

“So, what does being the King of the Gods entail?”

“Hmm… well…”

I pulled out a tightly rolled Magic Scroll from my embrace and handed it to Baal.

“This is a list containing the names of all the gods in this world. Memorize it.”

The scroll was thick with countless names written on it, starting with Baal and continuing with many others. It seemed endless as I kept unrolling it.

Of course, since it’s a magical scroll, it extends infinitely and syncs automatically with GodTalk to update the divine registry. As long as GodTalk exists, the list will keep updating!

The only problem is that neither mine nor Baal’s names are included, but that’s a minor issue. After all, how often do you see your own name on a messenger app contact list?

In Baal’s case, I just omitted it. Why include Baal’s name on a list meant for Baal to read?

“Do I really have to memorize ALL of this?”

“It’d be ideal if you could, but learning as much as possible will suffice.”

Baal dropped one end of the scroll, which started unrolling itself endlessly around the Divine Throne.

If I left it alone, there’d be no room to stand near the throne, so I stopped it with my magical power and rewound it.

“How am I supposed to memorize THIS much?”

“Hmm… Can’t you?”

“Can’t!”

This isn’t going to work. Tsk.

“Besides, has there ever been a king who memorized the names of all his commoners? Kings don’t have to remember everyone’s name, right?”

“Hmm… Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Even small hills and streams have their own deities, so trying to memorize each and every one would be impossible.

It’s like asking a human king to memorize hundreds of thousands—or millions—of subjects’ names.

Ah, nowadays the population has grown into the millions, hasn’t it?

“In that case, carry the scroll around and check names as needed. And try to memorize at least the influential ones.”

“Ugh… It’s annoying, but I guess I’ll have to make an effort!”

That’s the spirit. The attitude of making an effort is important.

“By the way, does this scroll have a name?”

“Name? Not really…”

“Tsk! That won’t do! Everything Gaia touches, no matter how minor, is extraordinary! You must definitely give it a proper name!”

Hmm. Maybe he’s right. Judging by human standards, that could be true. After all, even the obsidian spear I repaired for the Lizardman is still treasured as a priceless artifact.

“In that case, ‘Register of the Gods’?”

“Too plain and straightforward. Hmm… How about ‘Divine List’? Since it’s a list of all the gods, let’s call it the Divine List.”

Hmm. Sounds similar to the Divine Hall.

Well, it doesn’t really matter. This will be in Baal’s hands going forward, so it’s best if he calls it whatever he wants.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The Divine Hall, the hall of all gods.

Since it’s said that everything related to the gods resides in the Divine Hall, it’s only natural that investigating Baal as a deity would involve the Divine Hall.

Of course, the Divine Hall is the realm of the gods, forbidden to humans, so directly entering and conducting research is impossible.

However, among the gods who favor humans, there are those who enjoy sharing their knowledge.

And among the things they share is the Divine List, known to be compiled by the Goddess of Life.

While countless names of gods appear and disappear from this list, only a portion is accessible to other gods.

And the part passed down to humans is even smaller.

Still, humans have managed to piece together their own version of the Divine List based on the fragments they received.

Though far from complete compared to the original maintained by the Goddess of Life, having some semblance of order in the chaotic regional lists was already a blessing for humanity.

This Divine List was managed by the Church of Life, though greedy individuals occasionally leaked parts of it for a few silver coins.

Which was quite convenient for someone like me conducting less-than-official investigations.

I spent some money to collect as many Divine Lists as possible, ranging from thousands of years old to recent ones.

At first, it felt like a waste of money, but after meticulously studying them over a long period, I uncovered a few results.

Firstly, among the countless names of gods, there was no mention of Baal.

Nor was there any mention of the position of King of the Gods.

Across multiple Divine Lists, numerous gods appeared and disappeared, but Baal’s name was conspicuously absent.

Initially, I was deeply disappointed.

Was Baal a false deity? Was I chasing a wild goose?

Then, a thought struck me.

What if… if Baal truly existed as the King of the Gods…

Perhaps the reason his name didn’t appear wasn’t because he didn’t exist, but because there was no need for him to appear?

Just like how the widely revered Goddess of Life doesn’t appear on the list.

Could it be that the title of King of the Gods inherently didn’t need to be listed?

Following this train of thought, I reviewed the lists again, checking the domains governed by countless gods.

Surely, if Baal was the King of the Gods, he would govern something befitting his status.

So among the countless domains of the gods—elements, the World Tree, sacred mountains and seas, vast plains and mighty rivers, even storms—there must be a vacant spot.

And indeed, there was one domain without a governing deity.

The Sky.

In mythologies worldwide, regardless of their unique systems, there was consistently no god of the sky. As if that place was deliberately left empty.

Therefore, if Baal truly existed as the King of the Gods…

He must be… the God of the Sky.