Any god in any mythology—gods, by and large, are often handsome men and beautiful women.
In Greek myth, when it was declared that the “most beautiful goddess” would receive the Golden Apple, the fact that three goddesses fell into conflict is one piece of evidence for that.
It’s certain that Atena and Hera are incomparable beauties as well.
Then what kind of god, exactly, is Aphrodite, called the “goddess of beauty”? How beautiful is Aphrodite, said by all to possess the finest looks?
“Haah, I’m bored.”
Within the royal palace of Palma, there is an annex as splendid as the king’s own quarters.
Only the king of Palma may enter, and its interior is a secret place shown to no one.
And inside that annex is a single woman.
Ever since she approached the king, the king of Palma has met no other woman.
It has long been the case that his meetings with the queen happen only in public settings, and whenever he has time—no, even making time—the king comes to this annex to see her.
“Maybe by tomorrow, this tedium will let up a little.”
Even her leisurely yawn was bewitching, and her gold hair, every time it swayed, seemed to scatter dust of pure gold.
Aphrodite. She had long since taken the king of Palma into the palm of her hand.
The king had fallen to the level of a servant waiting on Aphrodite, and at her word he could even die.
This was due in part to Aphrodite’s outstanding appearance, but also to her nature as the goddess of love. It was also the power of the girdle “Kestos Himas,” a gift from her former husband Hephaestus.
“Ng.”
Checking her looks in the mirror, Aphrodite’s mood soured at once.
Because the scar remaining at her side came into view.
A wound of the same type as Poseidon’s. Since receiving that blow, Aphrodite had been bound to the capital. Forget returning to Olympus—she cannot even leave the capital.
'It’s fine. As long as I get the Golden Apple, after that...'
In the original myth, beyond serving as the medium for the quarrel of the three goddesses, the Golden Apple had no particular efficacy.
But after Ragnarok struck without warning, the meaning of the Golden Apple changed completely.
Aphrodite did not know why, but the Golden Apple had been endowed with the effect of “restoring a god’s body.” It was obvious Ragnarok was the cause, but the process by which it happened was unknown.
If she could eat it, then even the wound that bound Aphrodite to this earth could be healed. It was the only hope of returning to Olympus.
'But to eat it, I absolutely have to receive a human’s choice.'
Before Ragnarok, the Golden Apple was not so valuable an item.
Merely a token of “the most beautiful goddess,” sufficient to safeguard the pride of the goddess of beauty.
Thus Aphrodite accepted Zeus’s proposal when he stepped in to mediate.
Divine ability and power are for the gods themselves to prove, but beauty is for humans to judge. Therefore, to obtain the Golden Apple, one must receive, by some means, the choice of human beings.
Hera and Athena accepted this, and naturally the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, accepted it as well. Not only was there no way she would lose in terms of beauty, she could not defy Zeus over such a matter.
'Thanks to that, I’ve had to go through a bothersome step, but this time for sure...'
After Ragnarok, circumstances changed.
She gained a wound that bound her to the earth, and the Golden Apple was endowed with the effect of restoring the body.
Now the Golden Apple had become an item “absolutely” necessary.
However, the Golden Apple was now under human management. Twelve Paladins guard it by cipher, taking turns. They wait for the time to present it to the most beautiful goddess.
Even if she tried to take it by force, because of Zeus’s “pronouncement,” she cannot simply get it. What is needed is “beauty that has received the choice of humans.”
Yet Athena and Hera have gone to the world of salvation and cannot come here. Zeus as well. All they can do is bestow divine power upon humans and possess them.
So must she wait without end until they descend here? If faith rises to the point the gods can descend, her chances of winning will only drop. That she could not accept.
So Aphrodite used a workaround.
To obtain the Golden Apple, it is enough to receive human choice by some method.
If a god cannot descend, use humans. Designate the most beautiful human and make it so she is chosen.
For this plan to succeed, she had to make the Paladins recognize the workaround, and she needed one more person besides the human she designated.
Thus she formed a pact with a demon. That demon was Bael.
At first, when told he had to play at being a god, Bael vehemently refused, but after some time he changed his stance. It was a ploy to drag Satan in by using the war against the gods as a threat.
Afterwards Bael, using various demons, attempted contact with Paladins or those aspiring to become Paladins, and among them a few attempts succeeded.
From Aphrodite’s standpoint, it didn’t matter whether Bael returned to the Demon Realm before war broke out thanks to his scheme, or whether war truly erupted.
What mattered was that she be chosen during the voting.
As long as she obtained the Golden Apple, everything after that was of no consequence.
'Lupina doesn’t measure «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» up to my looks, but the choice is fixed anyway.'
Hera is fake anyway. A demon is impersonating her.
Demons have no interest in winning or losing this vote.
When the voting day arrives, it is enough to endow Lupina with her attribute, and the victory is essentially decided.
In any case, with the cooperation of the king of Palma, she can watch while remaining perfectly concealed. Reclining in a cozy, comfortable car.
***
And then, the next day.
When morning of the voting day came, the capital overflowed with people.
Bruna and Lupina were already standing in the square, and the Paladins, including Charon, were stationed in their assigned places.
In front of the square, booths for secret voting and ballot papers had been prepared, and all cast ballots would be gathered for rapid tallying by magitech.
“Will a war really break out here?”
Elodie, who had arrived late last night, asked Frondier beside her.
Of course, both were wearing masks.
“If left alone, it definitely will. Even now, gods possessing humans from the Falind continent are flying this way.”
Crows had been stationed near there as well, and Poseidon would block them for a while, but that couldn’t continue forever.
For some reason, gods still weren’t visible from the sea side. Perhaps significant time was being consumed on the Falind continent.
“Humans with divine power aren’t only in Falind. They’re here in Agoris too, and probably hiding among the crowd, waiting for the right moment.”
“Why aren’t they attacking the demons right now?”
“First, there are too many people. Second, they can’t distinguish demons from humans. Third, this vote is rather important.”
The gods here roughly understood the situation in Agoris. They would know human conflict was on the verge of exploding.
So the most obvious signal would be civil strife.
Once humans start fighting humans, there’s no meaning in gods protecting humans. They’ll try to immediately eradicate the demons pretending to be gods. In that process, the death of a human or two won’t concern them.
'Bael’s plan must be considered almost entirely collapsed.'
Bael was playing at being a god because he wanted to return to the Demon Realm, but Satan showed no movement whatsoever. Or perhaps he was just frantically busy only within the Demon Realm, and thus unseen.
'The absence of a visible gate also bothers me.'
Frondier had recently encountered Astaroth’s subordinates. They must have used a gate to cross over from the Demon Realm to here, yet Gregory still hadn’t found that gate.
“Then after this vote proceeds, will civil strife necessarily occur?”
“Whichever side the result favors, the opposition won’t accept it.”
But if Aphrodite truly exists, then most likely the Lupina she designated will receive the choice.
From the square, Frondier examined the two women, Bruna and Lupina.
'Certainly they’re beauties. Enough to be chosen as the most beautiful in the capital. Judging by looks alone, I can’t tell who will be picked.'
However, if Aphrodite wants victory, she’ll have made some arrangements. She’s the goddess of beauty—this shouldn’t be difficult.
“...Ah.”
Just then, Elodie lifted her head.
Something had caught on her mana detection.
A certain power was pouring down upon Lupina.
“Looks like it’s begun.”
Frondier nodded at Elodie’s words.
He felt it in his own intuition as well. Far over there, power was flowing from inside a parked vehicle.
Aphrodite was there.
'...Hold on. But then—'
Frondier looked at Elodie.
What Aphrodite was using now shouldn’t be magic. It should be a god’s power.
How was Elodie’s mana detection picking that up?
“Frondier, look there.”
Elodie pointed at the crowd.
People’s gazes were slowly converging on Lupina. It was the result of Aphrodite’s power at work.
“Amazing.”
Frondier looked at Lupina.
Her looks were no different from earlier, yet suddenly she appeared more attractive. And because it wasn’t done by magic, there was no sense of anything artificial.
'If the power is at that level, even Elodie—'
Right now Elodie was wearing a mask, so Frondier conjured her true face in his mind.
...Hm.
A god’s power is not omnipotent.
'There’s no particular change on Bruna’s side. If it were Hera, there’s no way she’d stay still. So Bruna’s side isn’t Hera but a fake.'
Bzzzt—
Just then, Frondier’s phone buzzed.
[Lord Frondier. It’s Arald.]
“Speak.”
[It seems Charon, as expected, does not possess divine power.]
“How do you know?”
[Considerable tension is showing on Charon’s face. His stance and expression are clearly different from the other Paladins. It appears he has sensed divine power that has just arrived nearby. He seems to have grasped the situation.]
Only grasping it now, is he.
“If possible, I’d like to quash the vote itself before it ends.”
The best way to prevent civil strife is to eliminate the very pretext.
If he could stop the vote, that would be best.
But most methods that came to mind would put people in danger, and there were too many latent threats for him to step out.
There were demons here, and gods possessing humans, and in particular, Atena possessing Carla.
Depending on what happened after the vote, he would respond—
[...Lord Frondier.]
Just then Arald’s voice over the call changed.
“Why?”
[...How should I even explain this.]
Arald, rarely, was hesitating.
“What is it?”
[...We have a problem.]
Just as Frondier was about to chide him—what on earth does that mean—
Frondier noticed it as well. Elodie beside him saw it too.
In the square packed with people, far off.
Even in such a great throng, what stood out at once was pink hair.
No—hair wasn’t the only reason.
“Ah, seriously. What’s so godly about that? My clothes are a total wreck.”
The woman muttered some complaint and, for some reason, as the crowd parted for her and opened a path, she walked through at an easy pace.
Whatever she had gone through, her clothes were torn, and she was wet from head to toe. Dust and blades of grass and such dirtied her as though she had walked from god knows where.
Her hair, her pupils, her skin all shimmered with the sheen of water.
“Ah! This is that vote I heard about on the way! The two most beautiful people in the capital!”
She didn’t speak particularly loudly. She merely voiced her admiration.
But gradually, the crowd hushed.
She didn’t know the situation.
She didn’t know the information.
Unlike Frondier’s party, she wasn’t wearing anything like a mask.
She, by her looks alone, turned those luminous eyes over the square.
She looked at Bruna and Lupina—
Cybel Forte.
“...Hmm.”
And soon, Cybel smiled faintly.
“...No way, that girl.”
Elodie opened her mouth.
Of course Elodie was aware of her own looks.
But she didn’t go out of her way to flaunt them.
For her, who walked the path of an archmage, things like appearance were trivial.
But Cybel was not like that.
She knew precisely how effective her own looks were, and unleashing that charm to its maximum was also an easy task.
Above all, it was something she did all the time.
If there were a parameter called “allure,” with it fully charged, Cybel said,
“I can’t afford to lose, can I.”
As if joking.
