After chatting with the two teens for a while, Yoze was able to gather their names. The oldest teenager was Zeke Griffin, the local blacksmith's son, and he was 15 years old. And the youngest teenager was his Leak Griffin, who had recently turned 13 years old.
As for the teenager who had run away at first sight of Yoze, his name was Yek Thunderbird. Even though he wasn't the youngest among the trio, he was unfortunate to inherit his father's small height.
With the small amount of time that Yoze talked with these kids, he found that he was right that the town was experiencing a rapid growth spurt. When Yek was a small child, he remembered that the town was much smaller and only had around a hundred people at most.
However, in the next ten years, he experienced the town's rapid growth and enjoyed the benefits of rapid modernization. Not only did the town's child mortality drop drastically, but everything related to people's health also improved.
This, of course, could be attributed to the changes in technologies, but for Zeke and Leak, this growth was only due to one entity. The god defeated the town's other gods and instilled his magical power into this cursed land.
"Are you talking about Eternal Justice?" Yoze asked.
"Oh, you know about our god! I knew it; our god's light was spreading across the corrupted world. Eventually, we will be allowed to leave the village and spread the message of justice!" Zeke's eyes sparkled with excitement as he thought about the outside world.
"Of course, I know about Eternal Justice. That is one of the reasons I came to the town, so I can learn more about it." Yoze said with a smile.
"Well, listen here, child, the glory of our lord can't be understood by simple preaching. You must know the story of his creation and his journey to become the god we know." Yeke said with a cheeky smile as he tried to imitate an adult man.
"Before you start, how about we find somewhere we can sit? I don't want you to accidentally catch a cold while telling your tale." Yoze said.
Yeke nodded and led Yoze and Leak to a small shop that was still open. The shop was his favorite place to get noodles since the food was good, the prices were low, and they were open until very late.
After entering the shop, Yeke and Leak sigh with relief as they feel the warm air in the shop warming their flesh and bones. They didn't realize until then that they were freezing while standing outside.
Yeke and Leak both took a seat at their favorite booth in the shop and got comfortable before they realized that Yoze had taken a seat on the floor. Even though he was sitting, he still remained taller than they were when sitting on chairs.
Though they wanted to ask if he wanted to sit with them, when they heard the slight creaking sound coming from the floorboards below Yoze, they didn't say anything. This might have been a nice shop, but it wasn't built for an outsider like Yoze, who was at least 8 feet tall and must weigh a ton.
"So, did you mean, what you said that your lord wasn't originally a god? How did he become the Eternal Justice and help your village grow to this size?" Yoze asked after seeing Yeke and Leak had gotten comfortable.
"Yes, the story began like this. Our god originally was just an ordinary boulder in an unknown village. This village was wrecked with corruption, and the people suffered from injustice for as long as they could remember."
"No matter who tried to rebel against the people controlling the town, they would be killed without another thought. Nearly half of the entire village was slaughtered after mere decades and on the brink of collapse."
"It was barely surviving due to the persistence of the villagers to not allow their home to be destroyed by darkness. It was truly a hopeless situation for them to be in, and even the most hopeful villager couldn't see a way out of their misery." As Yeke told the story, his eyes began to water as he felt that the villagers' suffering was unfair and couldn't imagine the pain they were going through.
On the other hand, Leak was balling his eyes out as he tried his best to hold back the tears but failed miserably. He could use the napkins on the table to wipe away his tears and runny nose.
After using a few seconds to calm himself down, Yeke continued with the story.
"Anyways, the village suffering eventually touched the boulder's soul and awakened him from his slumber. His birth caused the world to tremble; the sea of clouds that had formed above the village was split apart, revealing the beautiful, comforting sun."
"With his birth, he summoned a young man from the village and asked him if he wanted to stop the injustices of the world and if he wanted to end suffering. If he wanted to bring evil to justice and allow those wronged to have their souls rest in peace." As he told the story, Yeke's eyes began to glow with excitement as he recounted the young villager's words passionately.
"The young man said, 'I will give the entirety of my being to the cause of ending injustice and eradicating the world's evil! I will not rest until I have saved every woman, child, and man and punished all those who have evil in their hearts!"
In his excitement, Yeke stood on the table as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "The divine rock laughed with joy. The boulder exploded before the young man and turned into a white powder that entered his body."
"After fusing his being with the newly born boulder, the young man's eyes flashed with golden lightning, and his flesh and bones evolved into a higher existence as he transformed into Eternal Justice that day."
"Do you understand? Eternal Justice is the greatest thing to happen to this world where the gods have abandoned humanity. As for the village that was wrecked with corruption, how could eternal justice allow it to fall?"
"To this day, Eternal Justice has guided the village to eliminate their corruption and bring law and order into the village. He has guided the village to become more powerful and vibrant every day until it has grown to the point where a thousand people call this place home with pride in their hearts." Yeke said with his eyes sparkling as he felt proud about their village being the starting point for Eternal Justice.
"Smack!"
Just as Yeke was about to continue singing praise about all the wonderful things that had happened to the village since Eternal Justice, he felt someone slap his head. As if instinctively knowing who it was, he shivered as he turned around to see an angry old man wearing a thick leather apron.
"Boy, what did I tell you about jumping on the table!? This is a place for people to eat, not a place for your dirty shoes, get down this instant." The old man said angrily.
"Yes, Father."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m