CH643

“Guys, there’s really no need to look so guilty about it,” Ben sighed. “I really don’t care about whatever you all felt you had to do in the ancient history of this planet.”

“Both Myriad and Helori showed up long after it was done anyway, those two are guiltless,” Nare said. “There were a lot of reasons we felt justified in it, we were all desperate when we first arrived after having lost so much, we just wanted whatever bit of security we could get.”

“None of us blame you, Nare,” Helori consoled. “It’s a feeling every one of us felt when we made our way here, a couple sacrifices… Well, what’s done is done and it did help. Empty skies, it went beyond expectations, didn’t it? The system works better than intended.”

“And juvenile gods are no different from animals,” Myriad added. “Nothing to feel too guilty about.”

“Or infants,” Nare countered. “They had no choice but to figure things out for themselves which is why they’d take so long to manage their sapience and grow farther from there, and I’d helped take their future. Whatever the reason, the crime is mine no matter what came from it.”

“Okay, but I wasn’t bringing this up to make any of you feel bad,” Ben told them. “Sure, maybe that was a pretty utilitarian way of managing things but seeing as how it did in fact work out as intended and was for the express purpose of helping everyone else is something I can’t exactly judge you for.”

“Then what was the point of bringing it up at all?” Nare asked in the end as he pushed past the memories of just what he’d done.

“I want all of the information you have on how the system was built and functions, obviously.”

The statement got him some strong reactions but he didn’t really care. That was something he’d wanted for a while, being kept from him because it supposedly involved things mortals weren’t meant to know. Seeing as how he’d figured out that that something was the choice and sacrifice the gods had made to produce it, there was officially nothing to keep him from using that information to his benefit.

Whether it was right or wrong, whether the gods had slayed divine beasts or infants, none of it mattered at that point. He may not have known if he’d have been willing to do the same in that situation but he wasn’t going to be judgmental about it. He hadn’t been in the same impossible situation and if he somehow managed to live past the third wave to see whatever horrors would be left beyond it, he was sure he’d be willing to cross plenty of ethical lines by then as well.

Maybe even a lot sooner than that.

He ignored that thought as it squirmed in his head, instead just wiggling his fingers, waiting for Nare to give in as the god just shook his head and materialized a library of books for Ben to read through, thousands of them on that one singular topic.

“Okay, sweet, you’re the best. And since it looks like I’m going to be busy for a little while, sorry but could I ask you two to do me a favour and explain what happened to me to any other relevant gods? Maybe mention the few thousand prisoners I’d dragged to the planet and how the new blessing on my soul wasn’t my idea and that I haven’t been turned traitor by a demon god? Pretty pretty please?”

“Alright,” Helori nodded, content to brush past the apostle’s elusive sense of ethics. “This is probably the sort of thing we’d best manage sooner than later so we’ll be back in a bit.”

“Mmh, I’m sure this is going to end in another meeting so Myriad, best start thinking on how you want to approach things. There’s going to be a few angry voices aimed at the boy.”

“There always is,” The cube muttered as the two left, expecting Ben to jump straight into work from there but getting something completely different as the boy’s face slipped, the relatively positive attitude changing to one far more worried as he began pacing around. “Ben?”

“Myriad, can you be honest with me? Like, really really honest?”

“I’m always honest with you, Ben. Now what’s going on?”

“Man, I hope that’s true, but okay, sure. In that case, am I your apostle or am I your friend?”

“What? You’re both, now what’s this about?”

“No, I need you to pick one. When you think of who I am to you, am I your apostle first or your friend first?”

Myriad still had no clue where that was coming from but he could see how heavily the question was weighing on the mortal with him, giving the god no choice but to give his promised answer.

“You are my friend, Ben. As much of a pain as you can be, I didn’t spend the last month worrying about you because of the prospect I might need someone to fill your role.”

“I see. That’s good, that’s good, you’re my friend too,” He sighed, even if that alone wasn’t enough to clear his concerns. “In that case, I have a question I want to ask you as a friend so just remember what you said before about always being honest with me buddy. Whatever the answer is… Well, I won’t judge and we can talk about whatever the history might be, we can figure something out, okay?”

“Ben, seriously, what are you-”

“Are you related to Oaun?”

“What? The demon god you encountered? No!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“But like, really really?”

“Yes, really! Ben, I have no clue where this is coming from or what could have possibly made you worry about that.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Okay, that’s good,” He said in relief, almost collapsing in it. “That’s really good. I was only a little incredibly worried.”

“But why?”

“You look like him.”

“Angular?”

“To my sacrilege,” Ben told him as he tapped an eye. “It’s hard to explain but when I looked at him, he looked more like you than any other god I’ve ever seen, give or take a few billion times more power on his part.”