Witness

"Friend…?"

In front of me, there is a dumbfounded Goddess.

"Yeah. Friend," I repeated.

"Isn't it… that super cheesy concept humans invented…?" Yoko asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, that's an interesting way of seeing things, but yeah, I guess." Her forehead frowned, her eyes full of suspicion, she kept looking at me without saying anything. I think she was trying to find ulterior motives in my request. "What are you so suspicious about? I just want a friend," I told her. "I hate to say this, but I'm not really good at socializing. The maids and the butlers are really nice at the mansion, but in the end, they're still servants. They are under contract. Besides, if it's you, I'd have nothing to hide. You understand my point?"

"Actually, I don't," Yoko responded. "Why would you want to hide anything? And did you just say 'maids'? 'Butlers'? Are you saying that you're living with humans, right now?"

"Well, pretty much. Long story."

"I just don't understand… It doesn't make any sense. I think my head is going to explode at any moment… Actually, ever since I met you, nothing makes sense anymore. Your whole existence doesn't make sense…"

"Hum… That's kind of offensive, you know?" I said, with a slight tone of irritation.

"Whatever," she shrugged. "I'm done trying to understand. I'll be your friend. Not like I had a choice, anyway. You did create me after all. I guess I owe you that much."

"I-Is that so…? Then I'll be in your care."

Yes!! First friend, GET! It is quite different from what I have been imagining, but I guess this will do. Instead of being a cute girl, my first friend is an arrogant Goddess who is a thousand times older than me. Thinking about it, it is pretty awkward. I think we both thought the same thing, as we stared at each other blankly, without saying anything for a while.

"Right. By the way, how should I call you?" Yoko suddenly asked, breaking the silence. "We seem to have agreed that 'mom' is out of the question. I can accept the fact that you're the Creator and my… Parent… but I still have my pride. And it's not like I can call you by your [Name] either. I mean, you are the Goddess of All Creations. That would be inappropriate and disrespectful."

"Is that so? Well then, Lynett or Lyni is fine. That's how I'm being called among humans," I answered.

"Lynett? Sounds like a mascot name," she said bluntly.

"D-Don't say that… I like it."

She shrugged. "No need to feel bad about it. Humans were never original when it comes to names."

"Is that supposed to cheer me up…? Yoko you… I should have called you Naruto or Swiper…"

"Naruto? What does it mean? Is it an insult or something?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really…" I muttered.

She narrowed her eyes, clearly not believing me.

"Anyway… Returning to the main topic, who is the intruder?" I asked, immediately changing the subject. "How come you haven't gotten rid of him yet? If it's a Low God, it should be easy for you, right?"

"That's exactly the problem…" She sighed. "It's not a Low God. If he had been one, I would have killed him already."

"… You sure don't do things by halves…" I said, as a forced smile appeared on my face.

"Don't give me that look. I'm not impulsive enough to kill a Low God without a reason. As useless as they are, they're still my colleagues' creations. I would have given them a warning first, just like I did with you."

"Oh… So it's not a Low… A Mid?"

"Yeah…"

Wow… Two Mids? I'm starting to understand better how she ended up blowing half of the forest away. Still, I'm pretty lucky. Who would have thought I'd end up meeting two of my Mid Gods so fast? I wonder which one is it…

"I just can't get rid of him…" Yoko continued. She marked a pause, and then she looked up at me, her eyes full of blame. "Because somebody created us to be all on the same level, even if we each have our own specialties, it always ends up in a tie. It's not like I can prolong the fighting either. Until now, we were lucky, but if this keeps going, there will be human casualties."

"Eh? So you do care after all!" I exclaimed.

She shook her head. "Don't misunderstand. I couldn't care less about them. But I don't want to have Naia on my back. She doesn't like it when we kill her beloved humans."

Obviously…

"So, how are you going to deal with him?" I asked.

"I won't. You will."

"Eh?"

A smirk slowly appeared on her face.

"Up until now, there was no one above us, so there was no one to judge. Thus, settling disputes between Gods was often a delicate matter and it could last decades, or centuries," she explained. "But now that you're here, it changes everything. You're the Creator, he'll listen to you. One word from you, and he'll back down. Right, friend?"

Yoko strongly emphasized on the "friend." She totally expects me to take her side on the matter. Well, if she's the one who has been invaded, I guess it's a given.

"I'll see what I can do…" I muttered.

"Good. Let's go."

I glanced at her, a little surprised. "What? Now?"

"I want him out as soon as possible. I can't stand his presence…" She grunted. "And don't worry, in my fox form, it'll only take fifteen minutes to get to him."

"Is that so…? Well, it's fine, I guess…"

"Hum… Y-Your Holiness…?" A small voice suddenly called out.

Who spoke? Turning my gaze to the direction of the voice, my eyes fell upon the man who brought me here. Yoko's worshipper. Crap… I had completely forgotten about him. Was he here the whole time? So he heard everything, didn't he? No, wait… Yoko created confusion with all her attacks, maybe he didn't hear…

"What? You're still here?" Yoko asked with an indolent voice, turning to him. "I thought you had run away. How come you're still alive?"

That's not what you're supposed to ask, Yoko… The man did not answer. Instead, he simply lowered his head in shame. In order to confirm my suspicion, I tried calling him out.

"Hum…"

"Y-YES?!" He responded hastily.

His body immediately stiffened up as he looked up at me. The eye-contact didn't even last for a second. As soon as his eyes met mine, he bowed, burying his face in the ground.

… Well, with such a reaction, I guess I can forget about the possibility of him not knowing. No. Even if he didn't hear anything, he definitely saw me toying around with Yoko, treating her like a pet. Seeing this, even a child would have understood that I was above her. She is supposed to be his Goddess. Of course he'd get intimidated by me after seeing the way I act with her.

Damn it… I got careless. I was too focused on Yoko that I completely forgot about his presence. What should I do now? Disposing of the witness? It doesn't seem like a pertinent choice, the poor guy didn't do anything wrong… Should I ask Yoko to do something about him? No, not a good idea. I'm pretty sure she will just kill him.

Threatening him? It is less safe, but I guess that is the only option I have.