Chapter 394: [Tales of the Gods 13] The Earth God, Necondnerun
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The Divine Domain of the Earth God, Necondnerun, is modeled after a cavity... formed deep underground.
This fairly spacious cavity is surrounded on all sides by earthen walls, with no entrance or exit.
Countless stalactites hang from the ceiling, and there are several large holes.
The sunlight pouring through those holes illuminates the lush, blue underground lake, making it sparkle, and the reflected light faintly illuminates the milky white stalagmites.
Well...
This Divine Domain is... beautifully made.
It should be...
But there's something that spoils its beauty.
Those are the sake bottles... lying around on the ground.
Necondnerun was originally a spirit who ascended to godhood over a long period of time.
Such gods are commonly referred to as 'former spirits' in the Divine Realm, and there are a fair number of them.
And they all... love alcohol.
Necondnerun, true to form, is also a lover of alcohol.
But this Necondnerun... the humanoid figure in the center of the Divine Domain, basking in the light, looking like it's made of earth... his love for alcohol is excessive.
He's drinking... all the time.
That's why even the other former spirits have nicknamed him the 'Drunken Earth Clod'.
That's how much he drinks... all the time.
Because of that, he made a big mistake a few decades ago.
That was the rampage of the tyrant Nidero.
While he was drunk and spacing out, the country he's the patron deity of was taken over by a tyrant and thrown into chaos.
At that time, he was severely reprimanded for his 'incompetence'.
He was scolded by the Great Earth Goddess, who oversees the management of the Golden Continent of Hamejika, and also by the Spirit God.
Both are imposing and beautiful goddesses.
One of them reprimanded him with fiery anger, while the other reprimanded him calmly with an icy smile.
...Both were terrifying.
He...
...Escaped into alcohol.
Because he was truly at a loss.
The tyrant was defeated, but the remaining member of the royal family couldn't have children.
And the tyrant's son... is missing.
The traditional monarchy can't be continued in this state.
But abolishing the monarchy isn't a good idea either.
This Golden Continent is a major food production base that supports the world's food supply.
The 'gold' of the Golden Continent refers to the color of wheat ears.
Therefore, stable governance is required.
If it becomes desolate and they can't grow crops, the other countries and gods will be in trouble.
Furthermore, the governance of this country requires a certain degree of divine intervention.
So the only option is a monarchy.
Because kings in this continent also serve as divine messengers, listening to the voices of the gods.
Then, since the royal bloodline is gone, they should make someone from a different bloodline king.
There are other people who can receive the voice of the gods... in other words, divine oracles, though not many.
There's no need to stick to the previous royal family.
But...
...They couldn't do that either.
Because Necondnerun, in the covenant he established with the royal family, had stipulated that even gods cannot change the king at will.
Gods are generally subject to some restrictions on their interference with the mortal realm.
Because if they use their power too freely, even if they do it with good intentions, their power is too great and could end up causing chaos in the world.
These restrictions naturally apply to political matters, so the covenant that Necondnerun established isn't unusual, and there's nothing wrong with it.
The problem is that Necondnerun... didn't prepare for an unforeseen situation like this...
Why didn't he prepare for it?
When he established the covenant with the royal family... he...
...Was drunk...!
Because he was lazy, he just copied parts of the covenants between other countries and gods while he was drunk, and combined them to create the articles.
So, on the surface, it looked like a decent covenant, but it was full of loopholes.
Anyway, because of that, Necondnerun, as the patron deity of the Ashgo Kingdom, was in a deadlock.
He had no choice... but to drink...
Sipping, sipping his sake, he gradually started to resent the royal family.
The tyrant Nidero's rampage was originally caused by the Divine Jewel that Necondnerun bestowed upon the royal family, so it could be said that it was his fault, but he ignored that fact.
He just wants to wipe out that whole family!
But if he does, the country won't survive!
But in the first place, he doesn't even know if that family still exists!
Confusion continued endlessly in Necondnerun's drunken mind.
But it was at that time.
That he received a message from the Holy Goddess, 'I found a descendant of your royal family!'!
He jumped up in a panic, holding a sake bottle, and went to the Holy Goddess's Divine Domain to check the footage, and it was indeed a descendant of the Ashgo Kingdom's royal family.
His name is Zydeo, and he was living as a thief, unaware of the meaning of his bloodline.
Necondnerun immediately tried to bring this man back to Ashgo, but the Holy Goddess stopped him.
It seems that this man, Zydeo... is going to meet a hero and become his companion.
So she can't let him be taken away.
Even if she says so, he's the one who'll be in trouble if he can't bring Zydeo back.
But since the Holy Goddess is the one who found Zydeo, he couldn't push her too hard.
The Holy Goddess is also a dazzling, imposing beauty.
Imposing beauties are scary...
So, they negotiated.
As a result, in exchange for some mana, it was decided that Zydeo would leave the hero's party during their journey and be handed over to Necondnerun's country.
But there are a few conditions.
One of them is to make Zydeo king until the hero defeats the Demon Lord.
She wants to have a 'burning development' where 'the hero, surrounded by a large number of Demon Lord's army, is rescued by his former comrade, who became a king and led an army'.
He didn't really understand what she's talking about, but anyway, as long as he can get Zydeo, that's fine.
Necondnerun gladly signed the contract.
The events are proceeding exactly according to the Holy Goddess's scenario, and he ended up paying a higher amount of mana than the market price, but he didn't realize that.
...Because he was drunk.
Now, after a while, Zydeo finally arrived in the Ashgo Kingdom.
Observing him for a bit, he immediately realized that this man had no interest in the throne.
It seems he's planning to perform the 'Ceremony of Abdication' as soon as the preparations are complete.
Because of the contract with the Holy Goddess, it's troublesome if he quits being king right away.
But... after the Demon Lord is defeated... he's free to do as he pleases.
No, Necondnerun actually... wants him to abdicate.
Because... he's holding a grudge against Zydeo's bloodline.
It was their fault that he got scolded.
He can't forgive them.
So, after the 'Ceremony of Abdication' is over, and the throne is officially transferred to another family... Necondnerun was planning to punish Zydeo with a divine punishment... and kill him.
That'll give him some satisfaction.
Ahh, just imagining it makes the sake taste better.
Necondnerun was in a good mood.
And then, his drinking buddy, the Water Goddess, came over, so naturally, they started drinking together.
The Water Goddess was going on and on about the 'Guardian Sacred Beast' and 'cooperation to punish the culprit with divine punishment', but he was pretty drunk, so he forgot the details.
And so, they drank, and drank, and drank...
Before he knew it, Necondnerun had fallen asleep.
It seems the Water Goddess went home at some point.
He was lying alone in the center of his Divine Domain, basking in the light pouring down from the ceiling.
"............"
He slowly sat up, holding his splitting headache... or rather, since his head is made of earth, it's actually cracked.
Did he oversleep?
How many months has it been since he fell asleep?
Thinking vaguely, he dug into the ground.
What emerged from the ground after a while was a display.
He uses this display to check on the mortal realm.
He casually turned it on with a familiar gesture, and an image appeared.
And then...
"............!?"
He was surprised.
The Ashgo Kingdom's royal capital...
...While he was drunk and asleep...
...Was completely ruined.
"...!? ...!? ...!?"
He hurriedly switched perspectives, checking the situation in various places.
And then, when the screen switched to the footage from the camera secretly installed in the royal castle garden...
...Right at that moment, something that he thought was lost... the Divine Jewel... fell on Zydeo's head!
"This is divine will!!"
"Indeed, indeed!"
"The gods also want His Highness to be king!!"
"""""UOOOOOOOOOH!!!"""""
The people around him, seeing that sight, started spouting random nonsense.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
That's not divine will.
It's really, truly just a coincidence.
In fact, the god is planning to kill that man later.
...But before he could correct them.
Zydeo, thanks to this incident, was completely recognized by the people as 'the king chosen by the gods'.
Now that that has happened...
...Even a god can't just say, 'I don't like this guy, so I'm going to kill him'.
Consistency must be maintained.
Even after he abdicates, if he kills Zydeo, the people will be confused, "Eh, but the gods recognized him as king, right? Why did they kill him!?".
And then, their faith will waver.
Necondnerun's power will dwindle.
That's troublesome.
That's very troublesome.
He doesn't want to lose his power.
For a god, power means mana, and it's something that can be exchanged between gods, like money.
In other words, if he loses power...
...He won't be able to buy... sake...
Well, because of that...
...The future where Zydeo was killed due to the Earth God, Necondnerun's, petty grudge, is gone.
Necondnerun felt unsettled for a while, but...
...There's nothing he can do about it now.
So, with a gulp...
...He drank some sake.
Finally, the epilogue begins in the .