Chapter 163

“God of the Sky?”

Upon hearing my story, Huang Dong-gyeong’s expression gradually transformed into one of utter bewilderment.

Well, it’s only natural. If someone were to say they’re searching for a god no one has ever heard of, anyone would react that way.

It might be a tale as fantastical as a fairy tale, but my gut feeling was telling me there was something about the King of the Gods.

“Is there any solid clue?”

“Thanks to obtaining a small piece of a stone tablet, I started looking, but aside from that, there’s absolutely no clue.”

“No clues at all, huh? You sure did pick an interesting thing to search for.”

“My intuition is speaking to me. There’s something in this name.”

Huang Dong-gyeong’s expression turned slightly skeptical after hearing my words.

“Just intuition, huh… Hmm… Honestly, it’s hard to believe, but… well, there does seem to be some inexplicable force in your intuition.”

Huang Dong-gyeong grinned and nodded.

“How about we place a bet on this reckless gamble?”

“Hmm… As much as it pains me to say this, are you really okay with it? To be honest, the chances of coming up empty-handed are quite high.”

“What do I care? My life’s been nothing but a series of gambles anyway, so adding one more won’t change much. And besides, a forgotten god… Hmm. There are many forgotten gods, but the title ‘King of the Gods’ piques my interest considerably.”

Huang Dong-gyeong burst into laughter and said,

“With low chances of success, but great honor and wealth if we succeed—sounds like a gamble worth taking, doesn’t it?”

At his words, I also nodded.

I, too, had started my investigation based on this insignificant fragment of a stone tablet, sharing the same thoughts as Huang Dong-gyeong.

That’s why I understood how he felt.

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

Baal and Shamash established various rules and conveyed them to the gods.

Apparently, they put some thought into it. Summarizing roughly:

1. Prohibition of arbitrary descents of gods to the land, except for those whose main bodies already reside on earth.

2. Direct combat between gods is forbidden. Especially the act of directly stealing another god’s followers.

3. Cultural boundaries have been drawn so that gods cannot trespass into other cultural zones where their influence doesn’t exist.

Well, spreading faith through believers wasn’t restricted, but anyway, that’s how things were roughly organized.

Because the gods fighting each other had become tiresome, even the less aggressive gods mostly welcomed these new rules.

And then…

“What happens if we violate? Why include Gaia’s punishment?”

“But Gaia is acknowledged by all the gods. If Gaia herself punishes, wouldn’t all the gods accept and understand it?”

Shamash, who was standing behind Baal, also nodded. This guy… using me for his own purposes…

“Mom, can’t we just drive him away?”

Sagarmatha began grumbling without even glancing at Baal, seemingly truly annoyed.

“Why does Baal have to come here and ruin my alone time with mom? I hate this.”

“Sagarmatha, calm down. It’s necessary, isn’t it?”

“But I don’t like it! Why does Shamash have to come here and interrupt our special time together?”

The unusually talkative Sagarmatha—what a troublesome child indeed.

“Calm down, it’ll be over soon.”

“Yeah… hurry up and finish.”

After calming Sagarmatha by offering her my lap as a pillow, I turned to Baal and Shamash and spoke.

“Let’s wrap this up before Sagarmatha gets angrier. So, what’s the current state of the gods?”

“Thanks to the new rules, they’ve calmed down a bit. Conflicts have ceased, and most are focusing inward.”

“That’s good news.”

With fewer disputes among the gods, this is certainly a positive development. Hmm…

“There’s one request from the gods though…”

“A request?”

“Yeah. A request. Actually, directed towards you.”

To me? A request from the gods?

What nonsense are they trying to get me involved in now?

“What kind of request?”

“They want you to name them.”

“Name?”

Baal gave a slight nod.

“What? Suddenly names? Did the other gods not have names?”

That doesn’t make sense. There couldn’t be gods without names…

Hmm, maybe they just want new ones? To discard their current names?

Why don’t they just stick with their original names? They all have them anyway.

“This is such a bothersome task.”

“Sagarmatha.”

I covered Sagarmatha’s grumbling eyes with my hand.

She really dislikes Baal, huh.

“The gods promised to faithfully follow the rules if you grant this request.”

“Why don’t you, Baal, do it yourself? I find it troublesome.”

“Gaia has been asked to do it. They apparently wish for the most powerful god to name them.”

At this, I let out a small sigh.

“The most powerful god is you, Baal.”

“I may hold the title of King of the Gods, but honestly, compared to Gaia, I fall short. Gaia wielded immense power long before I existed, and she has the most followers.”

But that was when there weren’t many other gods yet…

Hmm, maybe it’s some sort of first-mover advantage. Ugh, this is such a hassle.

Even though the number of pilgrims has decreased, there are still so many. Grr…

“A little troublesome, but please help, Gaia. Also, I think naming them could help suppress other gods. Remember, you once joked about your real name holding immense power. Other gods seem to want that strength too.”

Hmm… That was something I said jokingly to Baal. But rumors spread, and it seems the content got twisted along the way.

Hmm… Well, it’s just a bit annoying, so I guess it doesn’t matter much.

“Well, compared to my previous tasks, this isn’t much. If you compile a list of the gods seeking names, I’ll give it a try.”

It’s annoying, but what can I do?

You guys asked for it. Take it or leave it.

I’ll just slap a bunch of random names from that other world onto them.

“I really don’t like this.”

We’ll ignore Sagarmatha’s quiet complaint. Yep.

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

“So, when can we enter the Dwarven Archives?”

“When? Hmm… With permission secured, it should be ready by tomorrow.”

“In just one day? Is it really that quick?”

Huang Dong-gyeong chuckled and stroked his beard.

“It requires a bit of deception, but once I secure the permit, you can use it.”

“Can I really use Huang Dong-gyeong’s permit? I don’t have a beard like him, and I’m quite tall.”

“I’ll overlook your racially discriminatory comment. Besides, the Dwarven Archives aren’t what you think they are.”

Not what I think? Isn’t it just like a library?

“You’ll know tomorrow.”

At Huang Dong-gyeong’s words, I simply nodded.

And the next day…

“Here, I’ve obtained the permit. Use this to access the Dwarven Archives.”

Huang Dong-gyeong handed me a thin stone tablet.

A smooth surface, pitch black. About the size of an open book. Hmm, what is this?

“All necessary procedures have been completed. Just press the small button sticking out on the side.”

Following Huang Dong-gyeong’s instructions, I lightly pressed the protruding button.

Whoosh.

The black stone tablet began to emit light.

“What is this…?”

“The pinnacle of dwarven technology. A data slate… an information processing panel. Of course, it’s top secret, so keep this under wraps.”

Top secret… Indeed, I’ve never heard of dwarves having something like this.

“Press the book-shaped square in the first row. Then tap the white space at the top and write what you’re searching for in the box that appears below. It will search for relevant titles based on what you type.”

Following Huang Dong-gyeong’s instructions, I awkwardly manipulated the slate.

Smooth characters appearing on the slate. Let’s search for mythology first.

Mythology. The myths and legends of the world. The first myth and the seven gods. The Goddess of Life. Divine List (495th Edition of the Empire). Etc., etc.

This feels rather wondrous.

“Selecting a title from the list will automatically display the contents of the book. To cancel and go back, just press the arrow at the bottom.”

Following Huang Dong-gyeong’s advice, I tried operating it. The slate’s screen swiftly changed… Such an amazing device.

If humans had something like this, libraries themselves would lose all meaning.

“This information processing panel connects to the archives, so dig deep. It runs on magical power, so if it runs out, use the mana stones in this pouch. To charge, simply press the small groove at the back with the mana stone, and it will recharge automatically.”

As Huang Dong-gyeong said, there was a small groove at the back. Charging via mana stones… fascinating.

“Oh, I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. Naturally, it goes without saying that you shouldn’t try to leave Nidavellir with this slate. There’s a location-tracking spell on it, so the dwarf execution squad will chase you down.”

With that, Huang Dong-gyeong left, leaving behind the slate and a pouch.

Hmm. Greed is unnecessary. Though unfamiliar, I’ll get used to it eventually.

Thus, I began exploring various topics through the dwarven information processing panel.

Let’s start by checking the mythological records compiled by the dwarves.