Chapter 978: Chapter 978: The New World Hasn’t Moved In Yet, but the Authority Is Ready
"It’s doable. After all, this is a period of scrambling for faith, so it’s understandable that you’d want to get involved. But at the beginning, what you’ll be facing is like thousands of troops trying to cross a single-plank bridge. Even with plenty of humans around, it won’t be easy to secure stable faith."
"I figured it would turn out like that, so I made some preparations for you in advance."
In truth, Bell had long since prepared their initial Authority. He made sure Hestia and the others could acquire it immediately and step back into the four-digit realm without delay.
With a casual wave of his hand, six twenty-sided dice appeared at once. Different types of Authority floated quietly in front of each goddess.
"???"
The six goddesses stared at the dice hovering before them, question marks practically written across their faces.
They looked from the polyhedrons containing Authority to Bell, who had just produced them, and for a moment none of them knew what to say.
Hephaestus, being the most composed among them, was the first to recover and couldn’t help asking.
"Bell, where did you even get these Authority from?"
"Hm? Didn’t I mention it before? ’Human History’ and I are pretty closely connected. You could say I’m another facet of ’Human History.’ I even almost crossed straight into the two-digit realm because the connection was too deep."
"You did mention that."
Hephaestus remembered him saying it and looked at Bell with a strange expression.
"So that alone is enough?"
Bell spread his hands, looking completely innocent.
"I just thought you might run into trouble like this, so I wondered if I could handle your initial Authority for you. Then ’Human History’ gave me the Authority that best matches each of your mythologies."
He emphasized it deliberately. He really hadn’t done it on purpose.
He’d only casually thought about the problem and considered how to help Hestia and the others obtain their Authority. Then ’Human History’ had simply handed over the answer. No, more accurately, it had thrown the whole solution at him in one go.
Bell had more or less come to his own conclusion about it.
"Maybe ’Human History’ decided this was something I needed to deal with, so it just subconsciously helped me take care of it."
"..."
Faced with help this extravagant, the goddesses honestly didn’t know what to say.
Their own Authority hadn’t even been reclaimed by the ’World’ yet, and the Authority that belonged to them was already in Bell’s hands, neatly laid out in front of them.
"What about Zeus and Hera?"
Hestia couldn’t help asking, which made Bell scratch his head helplessly.
"I did think about the old man and the grandmother, but judging by their personalities, they probably wouldn’t accept it. Don’t let the old man’s usual flirting fool you. When it comes to certain things, he’s incredibly stubborn. The grandmother’s the same."
Bell had considered Zeus and Hera’s Authority, but precisely because he knew their personalities, he dropped the idea almost immediately.
Both of them were stubborn to the core. Once they set their minds on something, they wouldn’t budge.
"Hera definitely wouldn’t."
Freya paused briefly, then answered with certainty.
"That woman has an extreme level of self-confidence and an incredibly forceful personality. She wouldn’t casually accept something given to her by others, especially not something like Authority."
The other goddesses nodded in agreement. Zeus was harder to judge, but Hera was exactly that kind of person.
To them, Hera’s image was firmly set as someone strong-willed, resolute, supremely confident, and driven by overwhelming execution.
With that understanding, they all grasped Bell’s reasoning.
Hera truly wouldn’t accept it.
"And I think the old man and the grandmother might end up having a race over Authority."
Bell continued.
"Maybe at first it’s just to spur each other on, to push each other to write their mythologies faster and convert them into Authority through ’Human History.’ But even then, there’s probably a desire to see who comes out on top."
Bell always saw Zeus acting carefree and joking around, but when it came to matters of principle, that old man would never back down easily. Entering the new world would likely mark the start of their competition.
Given how complicated their relationship was, Bell was sure that handing over Authority directly would never be accepted by Zeus or Hera. So he didn’t even try.
"Once we enter the new world, I’ll keep an eye on things. After all, besides the old man, there’s also a Zeus from the other world competing for Authority. During that struggle, I’ll make sure to help him intercept it first."
Helping was inevitable. The real trick was making sure the person being helped never realized it.
Bell did have a bit of a protective streak.
If the one competing with the old man for Authority were Odin, Bell wouldn’t interfere at all. Odin’s runes had helped him every step of the way. There was no way he’d turn around and stab him in the back.
...
When it came to matters that needed intervention, Bell knew exactly how to handle them.
With his connection to ’Human History,’ just a brief word from him was enough to have everything behind the scenes taken care of.
Of course, this wasn’t an intentional gift. It was more like a restriction placed on the counterpart deity from another world who was competing for Authority.
Done this way, it could be carried out almost without anyone noticing. Aside from Mother-sama and Miss Ryougi, Bell was confident no one else would detect it.
"I don’t really know the Zeus from the other world."
"Oh, right. We also need to prepare the Authority for Erebus and Ereshkigal."
Bell suddenly added.
"I’ll handle that later. The Underworld of the new world needs to start construction too, and Mother-sama’s concept of reincarnation has to be set up after the Underworld is complete."
As soon as he started talking about it, Bell felt like he couldn’t sit still anymore. This was something only he could handle.
After all, neither Mother-sama nor Miss Ryougi could directly contact ’Human History,’ so they couldn’t coordinate in advance to shape the necessary Authority.
Thinking that, Bell looked up at Loki.
"Loki, help me contact Erebus and bring him to our place. As for Ereshkigal on the other side, I’ll have Ishtar notify her. These two Underworld gods need to get moving."
