Etranger

“You look down on me too much. I’m a little saddened by that. If I talk to you, I know that Biyeon listens, too,” Dite said as she followed San.

“Oh, did you know? I feel like I got caught. Shall we continue then?”

“We always persuade humans where and when they are the most vulnerable. The human race is highly dependent on physical vision. Though it’s paradoxical, I believe it’s best when I show god’s presence and power so that humans can see with their own eyes. Also, such illusions are what the gods are good at.”

“I agree,” San said as he picked his ears.

“Seeking believers and faith… were easiest when building good relationships with those who ruled over large human populations. Every ruler with a god’s grace succeeded. Much of this is due to possessing information.”

“Conversely, it means that gods chose human power. Is my understanding correct?”

“It’s similar.”

“By the way, I’ve been curious about something for a while. Why do gods want to be worshiped by such filthy humans? We humans don’t care whether ants worship humans, but why do you want to receive so much attention and faith from us?” San asked with a serious expression.

Dite’s face became slightly distorted. She bit her lips and glared at him but soon lowered her gaze again.

“To be a person who blasphemes and laughs at the gods so easily!”

“I thought it was funny. I only just realized that gods existed after coming to this ‘fantastic’ world. Additionally, it wasn’t like our first meeting was elegant, heavenly, and sexy… Oh, maybe you don’t know this concept… anyways, our first introduction to the gods wasn’t pleasant from the start, right? Besides, your gods were customers and we were products to be sold to them, so we didn’t exactly start off on the right foot. Has any of that changed now?”

“…”

“I guess you don’t want to answer my question? If you feel bad, you don’t have to answer. Anyway, I was rather relieved that a god was not an omnipotent being. It must mean that there’s something wanting, some sort of weakness, right? What would that be?”

“Don’t you already know?”

Dite opened her eyes wide and looked at San. She was pouting a little in front of him. There was even a little anger mixed in as well.

“I know?”

“You are ‘dominating’ me. How would you explain that?”

“What’s this nonsense? How am I dominating you?”

San tilted his head. Dite became visibly angry at his unthoughtful answer.

“I have been ‘purified’ so that I can only listen to the Goddess Diana. This purified self…. must now listen to and follow your requests! There must be no reluctance on my part in following your requests either. Just as your crew members are changing, you are changing me. What does this mean?”

“That’s a very good phenomenon. However, the expression of domination is a little too much. Didn’t you willfully agree to the contract? What you’re describing is called ‘camaraderie’ in our world. However, I don’t have any plans to bother you, so you don’t have to act or feel awkward. Does that resolve your concerns?”

“That’s not what I’m speaking of…

“Is it that hard to understand? When a person speaks this seriously, shouldn’t you believe it?”

“You want me to believe what a human says…?" Dite stuttered.

“Then? Who are you going to trust? Let me rephrase. There are two paths. You choose which path to take. Is it good to be suspicious of everything and always live in a state of fear? Or, is it better to believe in someone and possibly get betrayed once? Which one is wiser?”

“…”

“It depends on one’s taste, but I’m the latter. It’s hard to explain why. But, if I trust someone, others will also believe in me. Isn’t that the original form of insurance? You’re anxious because you doubt us.”

“That’s not the full story,” Dite seemed to plead.

“I’m not sure what it is with you, but we’re going to keep our side of the contract. Doubting each other doesn’t help much. I think I’m starting to understand why you felt you were being dominated by us.”

San exhaled a long puff of smoke and threw his cigarette butt out. The butt instantly dismantled and scattered messily in the rain.

The cigarette smoke dispersed after being exposed to the falling rain. Only a light odor remained.

“What do you understand?” Dite asked.

“You’ve never believed in a person…”

“…”

“But you go around and say god is great, so others should believe and trust blindly?”

“…”

“If there were people who doubted, you probably went around and silenced or killed those people, right?”

“…”

“Isn’t it weird? How can you tell others to believe in a god without believing in the believers? Isn’t it very unfair? People never trust someone who doesn’t return their trust.”

“…”

“That’s the difference between your kind and us humans. You said your gods dominate the flow of information? You don’t believe in anything because you see and hear too much. Look at this sword. There’s no one asking, ‘Do you believe in this sword?’, right? Why? Because there’s nothing uncertain about this sword. There’s no fool who says ‘believe’ when they ‘know’.”

“…”

“But people’s beliefs are different. From the start, everything is uncertain. One could be betrayed. But, still, we must trust our backs to each other. If one’s unlucky, one might be struck down by a sword. However, the more we trust others with our collective uncertain future, the less likely we are to be betrayed. And you know what’s even better?”

“…”

Dite frowned. She didn’t know why she was feeling a tightness in her chest. It was terribly frustrating.

“Faith sometimes makes one do crazy things. One can even accept getting hurt by someone else that one trusts. Can you ‘believe’ this situation? If you understand this, your god will have better luck with housekeeping in the future, understand?”

“Do you… understand what you just said?”

“I don’t completely understand, I just feel like I can.”

“Why is that so?” 

“Well…”

San glanced over at Biyeon. Dite suddenly felt that San seemed much more relaxed.

Biyeon suddenly turned her head to look at them, smiled, turned her head back to her students, and continued with her lecture.

“Because I’m happy…” muttered San.

“Happy?”

“I’m immensely happy… like I’m addicted to a drug. Even if I give my all, I don’t feel it’s enough…”

After speaking the last line, San shut his mouth. Dite bit on her lips tightly. There was no way for her to continue the conversation unless he allowed it. They were never equal in stature to begin with.

Rainwater from the tent fell violently onto the ground. On the ground, water was flowing through depressions created by the rainwater. The pitted ground connected together and created a clear path, leading to more and more water flowing down the created path. As more and more rainwater rushed through, the path became wider.

Dite suddenly raised her head and tried to envision their ‘path’. She saw the various paths that existed in the world. All the paths that meandered through the fields and mountains were made and flowed like the paths being paved by beings now. Dite felt that she could see a huge road spreading out, covering all those paths.

‘If you’ve never taken a sword for a human, you won’t be able to make human faith flow, even after billions of years. That ridiculous, loss-making thing is called ‘love’ and ‘sacrifice’. By the way, I guarantee that love and sacrifice is a thousand times more addictive and powerful than nectar.’

These were the words San wanted to say but didn’t say aloud.

***

The rain stopped. It had been pouring like there was a hole in the sky for three days but just stopped abruptly. The early summer sun began to scorch the ground. The earth was damp, and the sun’s rays boiled the moisture in the ground, quickly creating humid air. A feeling of dampness and stuffiness surrounded them.

“The problem has become larger.”

Sedum clicked his tongue and looked at San. In front of him, San could see the muddy water flowing like a rushing rapid and a broken bridge atop of it. The river, which was less than 50 meters wide normally, was now a flowing torrent with a width of over 200 meters. The riverbank soil was quickly eroding and collapsing into the river.

“Are there no other bridges to cross the river?” asked San.

“We’d have to turn towards the mountains on the right. Even if we’re lucky, it’ll take ten or more days to circle around to the other side.”

“What if we wait for the water to drain?”

“We’ll need at least twenty days to restore the bridge after the water level goes down. That estimate is under the premise that the broken bridge parts are intact. It’s a wetland area up ahead, so it’ll probably turn into a swampland for a while, too.”

“Then we have no choice but to go towards the mountains?”

“The problem is… there are very tricky beings in the mountains on the right.”

“Tricky being?”

Biyeon looked at Dite.

“Are you talking about the Avian People?” Dite asked.

“Not only the Avian People but also Aqua People. Now that the rainy season has begun, if these two species start moving around, the blood demons will also come out.”

Sedum frowned heavily and looked at Dite. He was looking forward to seeing what solution the priestess would suggest.

“Can you explain in a little more detail? What kind of monsters are Avian People, Aqua People, and blood demons?” San urged Dite. He had a slightly concerned expression. This was an unexpected variable.

“They are not monsters, but intelligent species similar to humans. These are beings that have been in this world for a long time, longer than humans. The Avian People are the cousins of the Hawks that you have already seen. They have a neutral stance towards humans but are very hostile to those who invade their dwelling areas. They mainly use ranged weapons and have the ability to fly, making it difficult for humans to deal with them.”

“What are Aqua People?”

“It’s another intelligent species that lives in water. People here call them ‘Akum.’ They are an amphibious species. They can live outside the water, but their main domain is the water, where they’ve developed nearly invincible skills. Even an Awakened Warrior will find it difficult to fight Aqua People in the water.”

“What are the blood demons?”        

“It’s a race that has rapidly increased in numbers recently. They’re a nocturnal intelligent species that are called blood demons because they feed on the blood of animals and other intelligent species. People here call them ‘vampires.’ They have strong combat power and tremendous regeneration power. It’s difficult for even an Awakened Warrior to fight a vampire one-on-one.”

“Why… are the races and names the same as those of Earth’s folk tales? What’s the population of each race?” Biyeon asked as she made a serious expression. The strange connection was too close to be called a coincidence.

“I don’t know. The reason they live in the Orom Mountain Range is actually to avoid humans, so no one knows how many have gathered.”

“Avoid humans? You said they were powerful, right?”

“Ever since Awakened Warriors appeared 500 years ago, the vampires have shied away from humans. At first, there was only one Awakened Warrior every hundred years, but after the rise of clans, the number of Awakened Warriors has increased exponentially. No one could stop the Awakened Warriors. Thus, it eventually led the Sages to intervene and bring balance…”

“How does it look to you? Is it wise for us to go there?” Biyeon asked.

“If it were just you two, you can probably pass without harm. However, it’ll be difficult to keep the others safe. Many will be injured and some, if not all, will die.”

“Then, we have nothing to think about,” San said, shaking his head.

   “Yes?”

“We’ll wait for the water to drain. We can’t allow a single person to die,” Biyeon replied.

“But…” Dite hesitated.

“What’s the problem now?”

“Another bout of heavy rain will come within ten days. Furthermore, the rainy season here is very long. We’ll be stuck here for at least two months. The rainy season is a little early this year. If you decide to wait, your food supplies will also run out...”

   “Damn it…”