Chapter 983: Chapter 983: The Screw-Up Trait Is Still Performing Reliably
"So, you’re not going back to your own world, and you’re not heading to the new world either. Why are you just staying at my place?"
To Bell, Ishtar—who had been hanging around his house this whole time—was like a piece of chewing gum. Incredibly sticky, and annoyingly hard to peel off.
"Because I’m bored, of course."
Ishtar gave the same excuse she always did.
"The Singularities I used to stay in are all preparing to contract. They’re clearly getting ready to move into the new world, so the tense atmosphere over there has completely disappeared. Even the King of Magecraft has stopped pulling tricks."
"Before entering the new world, there’s nothing interesting going on there anyway. And they’re basically preparing to leave the world altogether. In that situation, I can’t really go around doing anything too outrageous. After all, there are still quite a few humans over there who are my followers."
It sounded dignified enough, but Bell immediately poked a hole in Ishtar’s fantasy.
"Your only follower is that priestess, right? Are there any other followers of yours left in ancient Babylon?"
"Who says there aren’t... I definitely have followers. There’s no way it’s just Siduri."
Her voice wavered badly. It was obvious she herself wasn’t very confident that she even had a second follower.
That half-baked answer earned her Bell’s blatantly disdainful look, which instantly shattered Ishtar’s composure.
"Ah! It’s all that Singularity’s fault! I’m the goddess of nature and bountiful harvests, and I also govern love, fertility, and war. But in a chaotic place like that Singularity, even if I granted blessings of abundance, who would be farming at a time like that?"
"And love and fertility were even worse. In that kind of chaos, who would still be thinking about romance or childbirth? In the end, the only thing I could use was war!"
Talking about it only made Ishtar angrier.
If the timing hadn’t been so awful, her Authority would have attracted plenty of followers in any normal world. In ancient times, harvests, love, and childbirth were all crucial. But at such a disastrous point in history, none of those powers could properly take effect.
On top of that, the villages around Uruk were constantly under threat from Magical Beasts, and the population was dropping at an alarming rate.
With barely any people left, where were her followers supposed to come from?
Still, Ishtar quickly pulled herself out of her rant.
"Once we get to the new world, my Authority will definitely let me gather a lot of followers."
Seeing how smug she looked, Bell couldn’t help pouring cold water over her enthusiasm.
"I think you should get one thing straight first. Before heading to the new world, your Authority was already taken back."
"...Huh?!"
Ishtar froze stiff mid-daydream. She had clearly forgotten all about the part where her Authority had to be returned.
A textbook case of dropping the ball. Bell shook his head slightly, complaining to himself in silence.
She really lived up to her reputation as a goddess who always disappointed people in exactly the ways they expected.
"Precisely because all gods have to start from scratch in the new world, everyone ends up on the same starting line. Gods who used to complain about their poor starting positions finally get a chance to lift their heads."
"After all, shaping a divine essence and Authority isn’t something you can finish overnight."
"And that’s exactly why all the gods understand that the new world is a completely new stage. The divine essences and Authorities they create won’t even be anchored to the world itself, and there’s still room for further advancement."
"Otherwise, why do you think the gods from both worlds are already itching to move?"
It was, without exaggeration, the best opportunity the gods had ever been given.
Whoever could create the strongest divine essence and Authority would be decided purely by their own ability. Any god with real talent could seize this chance and soar.
That was exactly why all the gods valued the three months Bell had given them so much. Because after those three months, a completely unprecedented scramble for followers would begin.
"Gilgamesh has already thrown all his energy into preparing for what comes after those three months. He’s started thinking seriously about competing with the gods himself."
Ishtar listened, looking stunned.
"That guy actually plans to do something like that?"
Bell simply smiled faintly at her reaction.
"How could he not? The gods have toyed with his fate to that extent. Even Enkidu’s death—he’s put all of it on the gods’ tab."
"In the past, he didn’t have the power to act. But now, that’s no longer the case."
"Every god—including Anu—has been dragged down to the level of a mere demigod. For Gilgamesh, this is the best opportunity he’ll ever get, and probably the only one."
"So tell me, do you really think he wouldn’t seize it?"
For a moment, Ishtar was left completely speechless.
The image of Gilgamesh sharpening his blade popped into her mind, sending a chill straight down her spine. It felt as though her neck could be cut at any moment.
"Th-then... he’s not going to take revenge on me, right?"
Only now did Ishtar realize just how bad her situation might be. Thinking back on everything she’d done to Gilgamesh in the past, she couldn’t help wondering if he’d kill her the moment he gained the upper hand.
"Probably not. The old Gilgamesh might have thought that way, but the current one likely wouldn’t."
...
"Huh? Why not?"
Ishtar’s not-so-bright head still hadn’t realized how obvious her advantage was.
"As long as Ereshkigal remains the goddess of the Underworld, Gilgamesh won’t risk offending her just to kill you. No one understands better than him what kind of authority the Underworld goddess holds."
"And he also needs Ereshkigal to grant protection to his people. So at most, he’ll just curse at you a bit. He probably won’t seriously try to kill you."
"..."
Ishtar was left speechless again. She never would have imagined that the one protecting her in the end would be that shut-in goddess who always bullied her.
One glance at Ishtar’s complicated expression was enough for Bell to know what she was thinking.
"With Ereshkigal backing you, you should think about how to squeeze some benefits out of Gilgamesh instead. He won’t mind letting his people give you a bit of faith, since he’ll need your Authority to build a better nation in the new world."
"That said, there are some things you’ll have to talk out with Gilgamesh yourself. If you keep stubbornly clashing with him, you’ll just stay under Ereshkigal’s protection forever."
Ishtar’s expression shifted rapidly as she processed that. In the end, her posture slumped, but the usually carefree, indifferent look in her eyes now carried a hint of determination.
"Hmph! Fine, I’ll talk to him. Negotiating with that golden glitterbox? I can totally handle it!"
