Chapter 977: Chapter 977: The Four Stages of the New World’s Emergence
"No wonder."
Freya finally understood why Bell had insisted on warning the "Miniature World" so early. If the two "Worlds" hadn’t forced him to come back and rest, then wouldn’t he have already started the next phase of construction as well?
That realization honestly left Freya speechless at how foolish Bell could be.
"To mess around like that in those conditions... your brain really is broken."
With that, Freya more or less delivered her final verdict on Bell.
To be honest, if Bell were truly that kind of person, Freya would rather he be a little more carefree. Unfortunately, that just wasn’t who he was.
"Once in a while... just once in a while..."
Bell knew he was in the wrong and responded with an awkward chuckle. He wisely avoided elaborating on how he’d been tormenting himself for mental breakthroughs. Otherwise, Hestia would probably latch onto that and lecture him for hours.
"You think I believe that?"
Freya shot him a flat look. She knew Bell far too well to believe that this kind of recklessness happened only "once in a while." If anything, this guy probably treated "once in a while" as a daily routine.
"You gave three months for the humans and gods of this world and that world to prepare. So how much time are you giving yourself?"
"Uh... three months?"
"..."
Hearing that answer, Freya covered her eyes again. She knew it. Those three months were clearly because Bell himself needed nearly that long to recover. Otherwise, why would he ever spare three whole months for gods and humans?
"Hestia!"
Freya called out without hesitation.
"Huh??? Me?"
Hestia clearly hadn’t realized why she was suddenly being singled out.
"Hestia, starting today, you’ll be watching Bell during the day. He’s not allowed to leave the house."
"O-oh. Okay."
For a moment, Hestia was overwhelmed by Freya’s pressure. Once she recovered, she felt Freya’s wording was a bit strange, but she still agreed. She didn’t go out much anyway, and if she could stay with Bell, she was more than happy.
"There are six of us here and seven days in a week. Aside from Hestia having Bell to herself for two days, the remaining five days will be split between the rest of us. Of course, if you want to overlap, I don’t mind."
At that moment, Bell was the one who reacted the fastest.
He weakly raised his hand and looked at Freya.
"Um... what about my opinion?"
Freya immediately rolled her eyes.
"You still think you get a say? With your recovery ability needing three months just to stabilize your condition, how good do you think you are right now?"
"And if we don’t keep an eye on you every day, you’ll just run off and start messing around again."
"Having Hestia watch you during the day is specifically to stop you from sneaking out. You already have the nerve to slip away when we’re around. What do you think you’d do if it were just Hestia?"
That hit Bell right where it hurt.
Hestia was his biggest weakness. Everyone else was just as important to him, but Hestia undeniably carried the greatest weight. If Hestia was the one keeping an eye on him, Bell would never choose to sneak outside.
And Freya clearly understood that. That was exactly why she felt safest entrusting Bell to Hestia during the day. With Hestia watching him, there was no room for error.
"As for the nights, those are our individual times, and also your time to rest."
"Since these three months are what you decided were necessary for rest and adjustment, then you won’t be running around outside during this period. If you’re recuperating, then recuperate properly at home. Understood?"
Freya’s arrangement was clearly meant to pin Bell firmly at home.
She knew very well how bad Bell’s condition was. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given himself three months to recover. Since he’d already decided to recuperate, then these three months were to be spent properly, with no running around and no stirring up trouble.
Resting properly would only help his recovery.
Bell could only look helpless. He’d known his family would overreact, which was exactly why he hadn’t wanted them to find out in the first place. But what could he say now? It wasn’t exactly a bad thing.
"I understand."
It seemed there would be no testing of anything for the next three months. What a shame.
Still, Bell couldn’t really complain. The three-month rest period was his own conclusion, after all. So there was nothing more to say. For the next three months, he’d just have to stay home and quietly stabilize his realm.
That said, even if he was resting, work on the core could still proceed. Compared to recuperation, core construction was basically something he could do on the side. Otherwise, truly resting for three months would be unbearably dull.
With the most important issue settled, Freya finally felt some of the worry in her heart ease.
Bell’s schedule had essentially been locked into staying home and recuperating.
Hestia was Freya’s final trump card when it came to controlling Bell. Once that card was played, even Bell would have no choice but to behave and rest properly.
After everything settled down, Freya raised another question.
"So, about the structure of the new world. How do you think it should be handled?"
"Gods and humans will mostly be mixed together in their actions and daily lives. For gods, establishing their own faith is probably the most important thing. And in the early stages of building faith, conflicts between them are inevitable."
"The earliest faith wars are essentially battles over territory and influence. Gods with enough influence can expand their achievements, increase their presence in human hearts, and gain a certain amount of faith."
"Faith is the key to a god’s growth, and also the key to reconstructing their own myths and authority. So from the beginning, gods and humans should be given enough autonomy."
"Once that stage is complete, the second stage comes next. That is, gods and their subordinate humans forming special groups, similar to the familia in Orario."
"Of course, a single group wouldn’t contain just one god. It would be a collective of many gods. At that point, calling them familia might not be appropriate anymore. They could be called divine groups, or ’alliances.’"
"The third stage is gods and humans supporting each other and steadily moving forward together. Humans find paths upward, while gods gain clearer routes for advancement."
"As for the fourth stage... that probably won’t truly begin until Mother-sama, Miss Ryougi, and I officially enter the two-digit realm. It’s not something we’ll see anytime soon."
Bell could almost picture the entire process, from chaos to order.
But once the fourth stage arrived, that order would be disrupted again, giving rise to a new wave of chaos.
Of course, that was something to worry about only when the time came.
"So, Bell, do you think the few of us are suitable to form a divine group together?"
Freya’s question suddenly carried a much deeper meaning.
