Of Gods and Men

"Hmm... I think he's in the wrong here. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I-I know, right?!"

"Quite right. Put another way, this just shows how little faith he has in you. In

other words, he doesn't trust you. He can't believe in you because he thinks

that if he were in your shoes, that's what he'd do. He knows he'd definitely fail

in your position, so how could he trust you?"

"You're right... I think this helped clear up my doubts. I'll break up with him. I

can't be with someone who doesn't trust me."

"Yes, I agree, that would be for the best. There are plenty of good men out

there to choose from."

"Yes! Thank you very much, Lady Karen!" The female knight rose from her

seat, bowing her head respectfully as she left the room. Karen saw her off with

a wave of the hand.

This gazebo-like structure at the corner of the training grounds was a popular

relaxation spot among the female knights. Come noon, they could be seen

carrying their lunches there.

However, on occasion Karen could be found seated there. At those times, the

gazebo became a refuge where the troubled sought advice. Though it went

without saying, her advice extended to romance-related topics only.

While it was women that mostly sought her counsel, at times men

approached her for advice as well. That should come as no surprise, for love

troubled all without regard for gender. But to receive advice from the Goddess

of Love herself was something one could normally only dream of.

"I should think eavesdropping is unbecoming of a king."

"Ha, so you did notice me." I revealed myself, lifting my [Invisible] spell. Her

expression was so earnest that it piqued my interest somewhat.

"You take giving advice more seriously than I'd have thought."

"This is my area of expertise, after all. Knowing what one desires, what advice

they wish to hear, is second nature to the Goddess of Love." Karen puffed up in

pride.

"Hmm? So what you just said there wasn't really your opinion?"

"Of course it wasn't. Well, to be quite honest, I don't know if it justified

breaking up, but that was what she wanted. She simply couldn't bring herself to

go through with it. I merely gave her the push she needed."

Is that really okay...? But, well, when people seek advice, they've already

found their answers within themselves. They simply wish for someone to judge

and reinforce those answers. And through that, they can affirm they're not

mistaken. Maybe that's all that love advice really boils down to. There isn't a

single, correct answer. It all comes down to the person in question.

"The order here has many female knights, which means just as many troubled

hearts. Though that includes the men, as well."

"You don't say? So that makes you something of the counselor here, doesn't

it?" Roughly thirty percent of our knight order were married. Those were

mostly soldiers given to us by Eashen, originally Takeda shinobi under Tsubaki's

command, in addition to men under the command of the Takeda Elite Four.

Those were, for the most part, men.

The newly appointed knights, however, were mostly single.

In this world, one comes of age at fifteen, and by the age of twenty most are

married.

But that applies only to the townsfolk. Adventurers in search of glory often

only sought marriage after retirement, and married later on in life. Though,

they may marry someone younger.

Many of the applicants to Brunhild were former adventurers, and as such

being unmarried after the age of twenty wasn't uncommon.

With this many single men and women in one place, one might expect them

to hook up and marry, but naturally, things didn't go quite as well as one might

wish.

Put simply, our women didn't seek marriage.

And within our order, they had reason to object to the prospect of

matrimony. Typically, an order of knights consisted mostly of men. Female

knights either didn't enlist, and if any did, they were either nobles or joined

through favors and connections.

But Brunhild had no regard for gender, so female knights were more common

here compared to other places. Women who couldn't become knights in other

countries gathered here. Coming from such a background, they endeavored so

as to not be inferior to the men, and marriage was of a low priority to them.

The head of our order was a woman, in fact. Lain.

Many of them sought lovers but shunned marriage, like the female knight

from earlier.

"Isn't this bad for them, though?"

"Not particularly, no. But it is true that women are placed in a disadvantage if

they prioritize their position so much that their age catches up with them. Quite

a few men prefer younger brides, not unlike a certain someone." Karen grinned

broadly. I walked right into that one. Though it was true my fiancees were all

younger than me, besides Leen.

"Do they avoid marriage because they don't want to start a household?"

"Well, that's part of it. They've finally become knights, so they don't want to

give up on their careers. Even if both husband and wife work, once children

come into the picture, everything changes. It's a complicated matter." Even

though the order allowed its knights to be married, it was still an issue. We had

no qualms about married women becoming knights. We could appoint them to

a safer brigade that deals in the castle's duties if they wish.

But it was true that children complicated things. They couldn't leave their

children in the care of neighbors all the time.

"We need a nursery..." A nursery, or a kindergarten. I should consult Naito

about building something.

"That said, there isn't much to do if they can't settle on anyone to marry in

the first place."

"Settling on someone to marry, huh...? People usually marry out of love in

this world, right?"

"Not necessarily. Nobles marry out of political convenience, and have their

fiancees decided for them. Parents decide for children quite often, as well.

Commoners usually marry out of love, but are often introduced to partners by

their acquaintances."

"Matchmaking, huh...?" Matchmaking or not, men and women needed

opportunities to meet. As a rule, the knights were cooped up in the castle, with

the exception of the ones on patrol. There was no way they could meet anyone

the way things were.

"Maybe we could host a mixer or something?"

"Within the order? If it's just among our knights, they see each other all the

time. It wouldn't bring anything new to the table."

"I suppose it wouldn't. They're all colleagues, after all. If that's all it took for

them to get married, they'd have all hooked up by now." In practice, we already

had couples among our knights, and some that had broken up as well. Working

alongside one's ex-lover could be difficult, and some have to be reassigned to

different postings.

"So we'd have to bring people from outside the castle, huh...? How about the

castle town?"

"There's plenty of adventurers from that dungeon earlier, but they're

wanderers, so getting them to settle down would be difficult. I doubt they have

marriage in mind."

That would be difficult, indeed. I didn't think finding someone to pair with our

male knights would be that hard. After all, knights were a respectable class.

They got a housing allowance if they married, and could build a house with a

loan. As far as professions went, they were pretty well off.

"I wonder if it's that hard to find someone for the female knights, too..."

"That's not an issue you can solve overnight, either way. You would have to

make the order a place where the knights can marry with the peace of mind it

wouldn't get in the way of their careers." That was painfully true, even if I didn't

like it.

The order would only get bigger as time went on. And with that, we'd have

more and more female knights compared to other countries. We needed a

solution. I knew better than to make an enemy out of women.

"Yo, what're you two talking about?" Moroha approached us, carrying a

wooden sword on her shoulder. Even though she'd been helping our knights

with their training all morning, she didn't seem to have broken a sweat.

Well, she is a goddess, after all...

Moroha took a seat alongside Karen. I pulled cold beverages, complete with

drinking straws, from my [Storage], and placed them in front of the ladies.

"Hmph... Marriage, is it? From the looks of it, that's the last thing on their

minds right now. Everyone's up and about, trying to liven up the country."

Moroha spoke up, sipping fruit juice from her straw. I was glad everyone was

doing their hardest for the country, but I couldn't stand the prospect of them

giving up their chances at marriage for that.

"Making the order an easier place for married knights to work in is a good

idea, but they can find someone to marry on their own. It's not your place to try

and help them with that."

"I guess you're right."

Playing matchmaker suits one's grandmother more than their leader, I

suppose. After all, some people marry without any prodding, while those that

don't probably wouldn't even if you try to help them.

"And any help coming from you, with your eight fiancees, would probably ring

very hollow."

"Definitely." The two ladies nodded in agreement. Once again, I walked right

into that one.

"By the way, everyone's been wondering about this, but are you really going

to have nine children?"

"Well, I don't really... know for sure, but apparently that's what's going to

happen."

"We're going to be aunties in a few years, Moroha. Time really does pass by in

the blink of an eye..."

No, I've only known you two for less than a year. And you're already going on

about how you'll never let anyone call you "aunt." You're getting way ahead of

yourselves...

"Things are going to become quite hectic once your kids are born, Touya. A

great many gods are going to offer their blessings to them."

"No doubt about that. The World God is a given, and Moroha and I will help

them. Even the onlookers from up there will surely give you their blessings."

"Are there really that many gods out there willing to bless us?"

I heard from the World God that the Gods of Agriculture and the Hunt have

taken an interest in me, but how many are there?

"Well, we have fewer gods compared to other worlds. In your original world

the God of Amusement and the God of Invention gave their divine protection

left and right." In that case it wasn't so much "divine protection" as it was

lending talent. It seemed that Earth was quite beloved by the gods. Many

geniuses, heroes, and great men were born, and helped make the world a

better place.

They may have brought on strife at times, but those were necessary acts for

society's development.

The God of Magic didn't seem to have any interest in my home world, though.

I suppose given it doesn't have any mana to serve as the foundation of magic, it

makes sense he wouldn't take interest in our world.

"Originally, this world didn't attract a lot of attention from the gods compared

to the multitude of other worlds. The God of Amusement lost interest in it

straight away. The other gods only started caring about this world once you

showed up, Touya. Until then, this world was fairly neglected." I could tell that

much. There wasn't much religious activity in this world, and for having an

history this long, most of its cultures have stagnated. The World God did say

that if he hadn't thrown me into this world, he'd have left it be for another ten

thousand years or so.

A world forgotten by the gods... Has a depressing ring to it, really.

"We haven't forgotten about it. That's disrespectful. We just haven't checked

up on it."

"Hey, I've kept an eye on it. If I had to pick, I prefer this world to Touya's

original world, at least."

"Well, being the Goddess of Swords, you would pick this world over an Earth

that prefers guns and missiles." I bet the God of Magic prefers this world to

mine, too. I'm sure he's given his divine protection to people here in the past.

Come to think of it, Professor Babylon may very well have been one of them...

But in the end, the gods were fickle. Worlds that received their love and

attention prospered, while those that didn't stagnated. And if something were

to draw their interest to a forsaken world, perhaps that would accelerate its

development.

I want to believe that if me being here drew the attention of the gods for even

a bit, it'll be in this world's favor.

"Which reminds me, isn't the girl that recently joined the order receiving

divine protection, as well?"

"Who? Ah, you mean Spica." The dark elf Spica, who nearly died from

demoderma. I heard that ever since joining the order, she'd been showing off

quite the talent. Well, given she spent day and night being trained by Moroha, it

was no surprise she was getting stronger.

"So her divine gift is the Shieldguard?"

"Yes. She probably doesn't know it herself, but she's receiving the

protection... the talent of the God of Shields. Like me, the God of Shields has a

liking for this world."

If there is a sword, there's bound to be a shield. Since a shield is something

one cannot cut through.

"I wonder if the God of Shields is peeking in on us right now, too." I found

myself looking up to the sky. Surely the other gods weren't looking on us all the

time.

"The God of Shields didn't seem very interested in you. You don't use shields,

after all."

"Well, I use the [Shield] spell fairly often."

"That falls under the God of Magic's jurisdiction. The God of Shields is hard to

please, and won't give you his blessing unless he really takes a shine to you."

That meant he must like Spica a lot. That said, while gods could bless someone

with talent, it was up to that person's perseverance and effort to make it

bloom.

Even if the gods were to bless my children, those talents would go to waste if

they end up being layabouts who refuse to put effort into anything.

That would come down to how I'd raise them... But they weren't even born

yet. It wasn't my place to put that kind of expectations on them yet.

I turned to return to the castle, a hint of uneasiness weighing on my heart.

But as I did, I sensed a surge of magical energy coming from the northern

training grounds. The area had a designated field for live Frame Gear training,

and a field dedicated to magic training. It wasn't unusual for someone to be

using it, but who would it be? I went there to check, and found Leen and Linze,

alongside Sue and Renne, our maid-in-training.

"Ah, Touya."

Having noticed my presence, Linze ran to greet me. In her hands was a book

of some kind.

"Hey. What are you guys doing here?"

Sue and Renne focused their magic on the target in front of them, and Leen

made sure their magical energy didn't run amok. Paula was running around

too... yelling or something.

"We're practicing our magic. Sue is working on her Light magic, and Renne on

her Wind magic. And I'm practicing this." Linze presented the bulky tome she

was holding, but I couldn't read the letters on the cover.

Is this ancient spirit script...? I activated [Reading] to try and make sense of it.

"Encyclopedia of Composite Magic...?" Composite Magic? That's a field I

haven't heard of before. Some kind of ancient technique?

"Composite Magic is a school that focuses on combining two types of magic

and utilizing them at the same time. For example, there's a spell called [Fire

Storm]. Originally, it was a composite spell of fire magic and air magic. Over

time, it was simplified into what is now known as the [Fire Storm] spell of the

fire element. In its original form, it was far more powerful."

"Ah, so it degraded." To be exact, it didn't degrade so much as it changed into

a spell a common practitioner can cast.

Even if you were to put up a race car only an F1 racer could drive for sale, the

common people could never use it. You'd be better off selling them an easy to

handle, light motor car.

And eventually, the race car would lose its place to the otherwise inferior

model, and in time be forgotten entirely.

"Hmm... It's certainly interesting. This [Invisible Arrow] spell seems useful." I

named a spell that caught my eye as I flipped through the tome's pages. It

almost sounded like cheating, though.

"Yes. That's a composite spell of Light magic and an arrow type spell. I believe

even I can cast it." Linze spoke up cheerfully, but it looked like a fairly high-level

spell. Using Composite Magic required proficiency in multiple types of magic,

otherwise it wouldn't work.

"Come forth, o Light! Shining Duet: [Light Arrow]!"

"Come forth, o Wind! Swirling Duet: [Wind Arrow]!"

"Impressive." Sue and Renne fired their spells. Several arrows of Light and

Wind, perhaps too weak to be called a barrage, fired at the targets. And for

both, only one met its mark and destroyed it. The other arrows failed to hit

their target and dispersed.

"Not bad. See, barrage magic doesn't require aiming too carefully, because

one of them will probably hit the target. But still, if you're firing these kinds of

barrages, try to have every arrow hit. Like this."

Leen recited an ice barrage spell, and all the arrows crashed into the target

one after another, leaving the target in pieces at the blink of an eye.

"Wow, impressive! No wonder they made you Brunhild's court magician... Oh,

Touya!"

"Hey there. Good job, you two." Sue and the others rushed over to me,

having noticed I was there. Sue had an aptitude to Light magic, but before

meeting me the most she could cast was an elementary [Light Orb] spell.

Seeing her work so hard to improve drove home how hard she was searching

for what she could do.

"I see you're working hard too, Renne."

"Yep! I-I mean, yes! Lapis said that a first class maid has to know how to fight,

too."

What in the world is our head maid teaching a kid...? But maybe that's to be

expected, given that she formerly served in that intelligence unit.

Leen walked over to us as well, and suddenly came up with a suggestion.

"You came at just the right time, Darling. Could you teleport a Fang Boar

here?"

"Huh? I could, but what for?"

"To finish up today's session. Combat training to illustrate the difference

between a mobile and static target. And also, the castle is running short on

some ingredients."

A Fang Boar was a magical beast also known as a Long-Tusked Boar. As its

name implied, it had long tusks, and was a worthy challenge for fledgling

adventurers. Its meat sold for a good amount, so much so that newbies in the

guild scrambled for the chance to lay their hands on it."

But its violent charge was a force to be reckoned with. One could be severely

wounded if they took it lightly.

"Just the two of them against a Fang Boar? I'm not so sure that's a good

idea..." I sneaked a concerned glance at them. Leen heaved a sigh and parted

her lips to speak.

"There is such a thing as being too overprotective. They've been growing

stronger and more mature by the day. And if things turn sour, the two of us can

take care of it." That was true enough. Leen was a tougher teacher than I

thought, though.

"We'll be fine, Touya. Believe in us."

"That's right! Everyone's been teaching us and we really have gotten

stronger!"

Hmm... They're really insistent on it, so maybe I should just let them try it. Like

Leen said, if it gets too dangerous, I'll just defeat it myself.

I looked up a Fang Boar's location in my smartphone, and found one in a

nearby forest. It was walking around within the country, so I could use the

[Gate] spell to bring him from anywhere.

Let's do it, then.

I teleported to the forest I found the boar in. The Fang Boar was cautious of

my sudden appearance, but I opened a [Gate] on the ground beneath him and

dropped it into the training grounds.

When I returned, I found Sue and Renne already engaging it.

"C-Come forth, Wind! Bulwark of Gales: [Air Wall]!"

"Bugah!" The wall of wind that Renne created repelled the Fang Boar's

charge.

"Now, Sue!"

"R-right! Come forth, o Light! Shining Duet: [Light Arrow]!" Sue's arrow just

barely missed its mark. The knocked back Fang Boar recovered and darted into

a rush, avoiding the three arrows fired toward it.

"Wh-Why you!" They fired a few more shots, but none hit.

There's no way they can do it like this. They're not thinking ahead.

"Come forth, o Wind! Swirling Duet: [Wind Arrow]!" Renne fired an arrow

barrage of her own, but the arrows all missed just like Sue's. Even if they try

firing indiscriminately, they'll never hit...

"Wha...?!" As the Fang Boar rushed past, an arrow wheezed right besides me.

That almost hit me! The two of them are getting so worked up, they can't

even see what's going on around them.

The Fang Boar switched from flight to fight, and started charging toward the

two of them. I shifted my focus to Renne and Sue, my defensive spells at the

ready.

Sue began chanting her spells.

"Shimmer forth, Light! Dazzling Brilliance...!"

Oh no....

"[Flash]!"

"Buah?!" A blinding flash of light erupted from Sue's hands.

I was fine since I instinctively shielded my eyes with my arm, but the Fang

Boar was directly blinded and scurried away in a panic.

Sue then fired more arrows toward it. Like before, none of them hit, but the

Fang Boar's movements were certainly duller.

"Buahoh!" One of the arrows finally hit its mark, and sent the Fang Boar

tumbling. As it tried to get up, Renne fired her magic arrows at its neck, and the

boar fell silent.

Whoa, they actually beat it.

"Yes! I did it!"

"Alright! Great job, Sue!"

"...Sixty points, I'd say." Leen abruptly cut their cheering short.

She's strict... I think at least seventy would be fair.

"Seventy points, I'd say."

Linze isn't going easy, either. True, it didn't go as smoothly as a hunt should,

but that's what you'd expect from first-timers.

"What did we do wrong?"

"For starters, you take too long to invoke your spells. You have to take your

invocation time into account if you want to shoot down your prey. There's no

getting around that. Renne has to consider her surroundings better. You almost

hit Darling back there. And then there's Sue. Casting [Flash] wasn't a bad idea,

but you have to let your companion know ahead of time. You got blinded and

couldn't react too, right, Renne?"

"Y-Yeah. Everything went bright all of a sudden..."

"O-Oh... I'm sorry, Renne." Sue apologized dejectedly.

"Hitting a moving target requires that much more invocation speed and

precise control. You need to have a clear grasp of the situation, especially when

fighting as a party. A mage must always stay calm and collected."

"Understood!"

"Yes, I understand." The two nodded at Leen's words. They weren't

offended... That was good.

I pulled a cart out of [Storage] and placed the Fang Boar on it.

It was still alive, but it couldn't move.

"Alright, let's take him over to Crea. We'll cook him up real good." We needed

to dispose of it before the day was up. Didn't want it to spoil. Sue and Renne

pushed the cart together and rushed toward the castle happily.

"Those two sure have grown."

"We gotta keep working hard so they don't surpass us before we know it."

Linze pumped her arms, as it to fire herself up. She was a hard worker, so I

didn't think they'd overtake her that easily, but she was right. We had to keep

improving too.

"By the way, will you be making her Frame Gear now that you're done with

Yae's and Hilde's? What kind is it?"

"Yeah, Rosetta's handling that one, but... I figured I'd take the airframe of the

core unit and combine it with a support unit... Ah... Put simply, it'll be a big

one." I doubted that the two of them could really understand what I meant, so I

explained it succinctly. I never did show them that anime, come to think of it.

"What units do you two want?"

"I don't really have any preferences... Oh, but a unit based on punching, like

my sister's, is a bit..." Yeah, that was probably too much for her. Linze's Frame

Gear was gonna be one more geared toward the support role.

"I'd prefer a unit that's good for firing huge magic blasts. But magic doesn't

work on the Phrase, so that's kind of pointless... I guess I'd like a unit that fights

directly, over a support unit." In Leen's case, her magic wasn't for hitting the

Phrase directly, but to boost her attacks. Like dropping an [Ice Rock] from

above, or propelling projectiles with [Explosion].

Yeah... It's certainly possible. Rosetta can take care of that. Hmm? I felt a tug

at the hem of my pants, and looked down to find Paula at my feet, gesturing as

if to ask "What about me, what about me?" to my face.

"Hey now... You don't get to pilot."

Paula shook her head in denial, and even got on all fours to beg.

When the hell did Leen program that...

"No, I mean... your limbs don't extend all the way to the pedals and the

controls." Paula fell over with a thud, as if realizing just that.

Did you really not know? Her acting skills were gradually getting more

impressive. I thought maybe we could make a little money from putting her in a

show or something. We couldn't copy her, since the Workshop didn't copy over

enchantments, but if we could mass-produce Paula, we could make a theater

troupe or something. They couldn't talk, so we'd need a narrator...

As I entertained such silly thoughts, I left Paula behind. She was still

continuing her act as I walked toward the castle.

Eventually, she noticed she was being ignored and tottered on after us.

Heh... Funny little thing...