Chapter 68

Time flows onward.

During that time, various events transpired, but nothing particularly important, so I’ll briefly explain and move on.

The priest who discovered that the cause of the plague which stole his wife and children’s lives was due to unattended corpses asked me about how to dispose of them, and I simply said:

“just burn ’em.”

Since the plague spread because of improperly handled bodies being left out in the open, it’d be best to at least burn them if there’s no time to bury them.

However, humans seemed rather reluctant to cremate their dead. Is it because they see it as desecration? Even though whether burned or buried, the body will eventually rot down to bones anyway.

So I decided to spread a little rumor.

[Offering the deceased’s corpse to the Sacred Flame can alleviate some of the sins weighing upon their soul. However, the Sacred Flame eternally burns within a scorching volcano deep in the desert, untouched by human hands.]

Might as well boost the Ifrit’s reputation while I’m at it.

That poor kid is kinda lonely all alone, so spreading this idea of the Sacred Flame burning away impurities might help, right?

[While not quite as effective as offering to the Sacred Flame, burning the corpse until only bones remain can alleviate an extremely tiny amount of sin.]

You know… “extremely tiny” as in practically negligible when it comes to actual judgment.

Though, the main purpose here is preventing disease from spreading by burning corpses.

If we could properly bury every body right away, we wouldn’t need this, but that’s impossible. For example… during war.

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

Humans and other races continued to expand their territories.

The most widespread were humans, along with beastmen who lived among them.

Elves spread throughout the Great Forest centered around the World Tree. Dwarves burrowed into the mountains around Sagarmatha like ants. Lizardmen, while unable to significantly expand their territory due to humidity and temperature requirements, still maintained a fairly large area thanks to early settlement advantages.

Giants… despite increasing in number to a few hundred, still occupied a rather pitiful amount of territory compared to other races due to their small population, even though each individual claimed vast areas.

Dragons? Most either wandered the world as pilgrims serving the Goddess of Life or stayed holed up in caves. The ones staying put did so either to guard their Golden Eggs and Hatchlings or because they just preferred solitude. Something along those lines.

Thus, dragons don’t really have defined territories.

And so, each race continued to expand their domains.

But this couldn’t go on forever. Suitable habitats are limited, and most have already been claimed by other races.

Eventually, war became inevitable.

Well, so far wars have only occurred between human city-states! Humans haven’t started wars with other races yet!

The harsh forests and steep mountains serve as natural fortresses for elves and dwarves. The freezing cold of giant territories is too severe for humans to easily invade.

Lizardmen? Even their children can shatter rocks with their bare hands. Are humans foolish enough to pick fights with such beings? We’d call those people suicide attempters instead!

Thus, humans could only wage war against other humans.

While the human population has grown considerably, there are no specialized soldiers or mercenaries yet. Armies consist solely of conscripted adult males.

Under these circumstances, the average city-state can muster around 300-500 troops.

With promises of reward, some manage to gather reinforcements from allied city-states through effort.

Resulting in average battles involving around a thousand troops.

Iron weapons are still rare, used only by commanders. Most equipment consists of bronze or stone tools. Armor is rudimentary at best, made from bone fragments or thick leather.

Despite this, these insufficient armies still swung violence at each other.

Hmm… As expected, human greed knows no bounds, repeating the same mistakes… No, full-scale warfare hasn’t happened yet! They’re just engaging in half-hearted power struggles and ending conflicts quickly!

In an era where every adult is precious, neither side would want casualties to escalate too much. Thus, battles tended to end before becoming too serious.

Also, since they’re still at the city-state level without firmly established ethnic identities or nations, they didn’t engage in genocidal warfare. It was more like minor territorial disputes.

Watching these humans, I let out a small sigh. Should I stop these wars?

Is it natural that conflict arises between cities and nations just as it does between individuals?

Even if I have the power to stop it, would halting these wars truly benefit humanity?

Human history is the history of war. Human development parallels the evolution of warfare.

If I stopped all wars, would human society stagnate?

I sighed again. Hmph… Sometimes I regret having such a distinct personality.

If I were a purely mechanical deity, I could just process what’s given to me and move on. Hmm.

I don’t know. I truly don’t know which way is better.

Maybe… the best course of action is to simply step back and observe.

Anyway, I turned my gaze away from the intense squabbles of humans and other races.

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

After finishing up business in the Underworld, I began working on something.

A long-delayed project to catch someone annoying.

A fishing rod-like device to reel in Erebus, who’s hiding somewhere underground.

Equipped with properties specifically targeting Erebus for tracking, capture, and containment, making escape impossible.

Sure, it might seem excessive, but Erebus started it! That idiot caused unforgivable actions driven by greed for Wish Tickets, shattered the scales I lent him out of fear, and made me experience pain for the first time.

Well, maybe not the first time… I remember wing cramps when I was first born in this world.

Anyway, since Erebus messed up, any extreme measures on my part are justified!

Thus, I took hold of the fishing rod I created.

Made from Erebus’ own darkness, this line should be able to penetrate the earth and find him wherever he’s hiding.

With an automatic tracking function, leaving the line deployed should eventually lead to capturing that idiot.

Shall we try some fishing then?

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

Erebus had existed as pure darkness deep within the earth ever since gaining self-awareness.

The pitch-black depths where no light reaches. That place of absolute darkness is Erebus’ domain.

So I waited patiently with the darkness-based fishing line deployed.

Even after the priest who served the Goddess of Life passed away and became an administrator of the upper levels of the Underworld following my instructions… the fishing line remained still.

Even as faith in the Sacred Flame spread and a new religion formed around it… the fishing line remained still.

Even when a princess ventured alive into the Underworld to revive her deceased father… the fishing line remained still.

How much time passed?

When the city-state of Arcad merged with neighboring states to become a proper kingdom, the fishing line finally began to move.

Finally, I’ve found Erebus! Quickly grabbing the rod, I reeled in the line, taking nearly a full day to finally see what was caught at the end.

Finally… after all this trouble, I’ve caught my foolish son…

“Hmm?”

I looked at what was dangling from the end of the line.

Clearly designed to track and capture Erebus… all that was there was a faint wisp of darkness.

Uh… um… so…

“Erebus?”

The faint wisp of darkness merely twitched at the end of the hook, unable to give any response.