Ch.410The Federation of Inma. Mount Kavalaia (1)

“So that’s Mount Cabalaia.”

The peculiarly shaped mountain, strangely divided between its upper and lower portions, catches the Sun’s eye.

Around the middle of the mountain ran something like a thin, long band. Above it stretched lush forests, while below it were densely packed houses with smoke rising from them. Perhaps that line served as a kind of boundary marking the division between humans and monsters.

Despite the disappearance of those who once enforced the ancient covenant, the humans below the mountain dared not think of climbing above. Whether this was to preserve tradition or to show respect to the monsters who died protecting them, I cannot say. Only the fact that the ancient covenant is still being honored continues to this day.

The abundantly grown trees on the mountain are like hair covering a head, and the leaves scattered by the wind continuously flow down the mountain like a waterfall.

And the humans below silently receive what falls, maintaining their daily lives while handling the affairs of the human world.

And there, the Sun himself has arrived.

“Prepare for landing. The space seems limited here as well, so we’ll descend by shuttle.”

“Yes, my lord.”

While the commander of the honor guard prepared the shuttle, Victor closed his eyes and read the minds of his subjects below.

Fear and awe. Emotions mixed with worship and adoration surged like waves, but he was no longer swept away by such emotional torrents.

“It had an effect.”

Though the sentence lacked a subject, its meaning was clear. Having witnessed the Sun’s divine punishment through cruel torture and inhumane executions across the world, naturally they too would be gripped by fear of receiving such “punishment.”

While there is no meaning in a life maintained by fear, there is meaning in a life lived avoiding fear. After all, isn’t human history just a grand struggle to escape the terror of death and destruction? Victor desired to remain a wise ruler, but he had no intention of ruining his reign by becoming a dark ruler buried in goodness and mercy.

When forced to choose between a tyrant and a dark ruler, people invariably choose the tyrant.

One could call it hypocritical or pretentious, questioning whether this so-called Sun god truly wishes to save humanity, or to save the Sun and Moon, or perhaps just to see the end of the adventure he started—or if he’s merely stumbling forward to fulfill a mission he became entangled in after somehow ascending to godhood. Such criticisms cannot be avoided.

Because they’re all true.

He doesn’t want to be hated, but he also dislikes when others don’t listen to him. So he resorts to violence.

While claiming humans should be able to stand without gods, he spreads powerful divinity and blessings wherever he goes, demonstrating enough influence to turn even atheists into zealots.

He wants to save humanity. But not knowing how, he first aims to unify the world. He wants to save the Sun and Moon too. So he will return the world to darkness.

He also wants to see the end of the adventure. After all, Victor is fundamentally an adventurer.

And yes, he is consumed by his mission. Honestly, who could have predicted he would become a god when he started his adventure? Since he himself never expected it, he can’t deny that he’s barely keeping up with the macroscopic movements of the world beyond his control.

But there’s nothing people can do about it. What could they possibly do? If a god comes to their doorstep and they refuse to open the door, they face complete annihilation.

So they kneel. They worship. And they obey. Powerless mortals are destined to submit before the majesty of gods, even if those gods are of their own making. It’s precisely the same principle as with swords and guns—though made by humans, humans cannot withstand them.

“My lord. The shuttle is ready. Your companions are already moving.”

“Hmm. I’ll be there shortly.”

This is the power of a god. Fear it.

For if you don’t, you’ll no longer be able to fear anything.

*

The shuttle descended slowly.

Slowly enough to give the mortals below sufficient time to compose themselves and prepare to bow their heads before the god.

With a hissing sound like air coming to a boil, the being who could evaporate even the sea descended onto this earth along with his subordinates.

“Welcome to Mount Cabalaia.”

The old man said this while bending his knee and bowing his head.

“Hail to the Master of Fervor.”

At that, everyone in the street bowed their heads in respect, and the soldiers of the honor guard struck their weapons against the dry granite ground, creating an intimidating atmosphere.

“Rise, old one. What are you?”

“I am Kamikata Miller, the priest of this mountain.”

“A priest?”

The corners of the Sun’s mouth twisted strangely. A priest—he had seen mayors and village chiefs before, but this was his first encounter with someone holding such an antiquated position.

“As a priest, what do you do? To whom do you offer sacrifices?”

“We offer them to the monsters who protected us and to the ancestors who brought us into being.”

“And what do you offer as sacrifices?”

“For the monsters, meat and grain; for the humans, alcohol and fruit.”

“I see.”

The Sun didn’t probe further. There was little point in playing twenty questions while prostrated on the main road, and it wasn’t particularly important lore anyway. If he had to guess, offering meat and grain to monsters was likely to supply food to creatures that surely ate dozens of times more than humans, while offering alcohol and fruit to humans was simply because that’s all that remained.

“Now rise. I am ready to explore this land. What wonders lie dormant in this mountain where humans and monsters once lived as one?”

As Victor spoke, Kamikata rose from his place and began walking somewhere, leaning on his staff.

“Follow me. I will take you to the most sacred place on this mountain.”

“Oh?”

The most sacred place, he says. How bold to speak of such things even in the presence of the very source of all divinity. Of course, since there was no malice in him, Victor didn’t particularly punish him.

Following Priest Kamikata led them to a barren open space. Looking closely, one could sense a strange absence of human energy in this land. Even without using divinity, it was naturally perceptible… How to describe it? A peculiar fear emanating from nature in its purest form, untouched by human hands, had seeped into this place.

How curious that this place, with an atmosphere like a haunted ruin, would be considered the most sacred. What could be the reason?

“This is where the monsters first arrived and made a covenant with our ancestors who lived on this land. Monsters above the mountain, humans below. The rule was established that monsters would protect, and humans would produce.”

“Indeed. So this is the place.”

He immediately understood why such a strange energy could be felt. This wasn’t merely a place untouched by human hands, but land that had been under the claws of beings who possessed intelligence before humans. What name and form did the first monster have, who offered protection in exchange for meat and grain…

“Before the monsters went extinct… once a month, on the 20th, we would pile food here. Mountains of meat and grain. The monsters would take it and bring back waste in return.”

“Waste?”

“Leftovers… peels or grain sacks. And wild animals from the mountain that were too tough to taste good. And logs made from cutting down huge, lush trees, even raw ore scraped from open veins… Quite a variety of things were placed on this land. Our ancestors processed them for their own use or exported them to make a living.”

“I see. A kind of recycling. But even so, there must have been conflicts.”

Naturally, humans are extremely expansionist and self-centered creatures. Especially as refugees from an empire that championed human-centrism, there must have been humans who resented having to obey monsters and not being able to freely utilize the resources above the mountain.

“Of course. But our ancestors dealt with such people according to their own laws.”

“Their own laws?”

“Follow me. I’ll show you the first legal code.”

“Interesting.”

However, as evident from Mount Cabalaia being designated as a landmark, those dissenters couldn’t have exerted much influence. The Sun moved his steps toward the place where the legal code—both the reason for and perhaps the result of this—was kept.