Ch.8181. A Constellation With a Questionable Love for Humans

“Uh…”

The gazes of the two women were peculiar.

Black Sun was like a stray cat entering a home for the first time.

Vera seemed like a house cat watching that stray.

“She’s my follower.”

“Ah…”

I quickly stepped forward to help explain the situation.

Only then did Belladis’s expression soften a bit.

*Grip.*

Black Sun, seemingly sensing the awkwardness of the situation, stood beside me and grabbed the hem of my clothes.

“Father God…?”

“Yeah, she’s still quite shy around strangers. You know how it is, right? All our people have painful pasts.”

“Ah…”

Vera’s expression showed understanding.

When you think about it, it wasn’t wrong.

‘She did suffer a lot in the past.’

Mainly in terms of faith and doctrine.

The lives sacrificed due to past missteps were truly regrettable, but wouldn’t it be better to do well from now on?

‘I’ll take responsibility.’

In fact, it’s a miracle that a constellation would obediently listen to me.

After all, they were divine beings.

“I’ll be with her today. Vera, you should rest.”

“Yes…”

Leaving behind a rather disappointed-looking Vera, I walked around the Sanctuary with Black Sun.

“M-me, a follower…”

“It’s just a temporary identity. Besides, didn’t you want to see how things work around here?”

“That’s true, but…”

I took the hesitant Black Sun toward the commercial building area first.

“Let’s put on a hood first.”

I searched my inventory for equipment suitable for concealment and placed it on her head.

I also instructed Black Sun to hide her presence as much as possible.

“Come on, buy it! Get it here!”

Merchants were enthusiastically soliciting customers.

Food stalls emitted delicious aromas.

Workers were happily going about their jobs.

“It feels like… a completely independent country.”

“That’s because I raised it with that purpose.”

My Sanctuary was a place that exuded a distinctly human atmosphere.

Rather than the secretive, rigid atmosphere often portrayed in media, it had a somewhat freer feel.

“Want to try a skewer?”

“N-no!”

“Really? They’re delicious.”

I bought two skewers from a food stall with practiced ease.

“I said I don’t want any…?”

“I’m going to eat both of them myself.”

She’s more self-conscious than she appears.

The skewers sold in the Sanctuary boast an exquisite taste that can’t easily be found in other countries.

As I put a piece in my mouth, the warm juices hidden inside the meat seeped out.

“Mmm.”

Damn delicious.

“…”

Each skewer had five large chunks of meat on it.

After I had eaten three of them, I noticed someone staring at me from the side.

*Gulp.*

Black Sun, unfamiliar with the food of this world, was unconsciously swallowing her saliva.

“Have a bite.”

Seeing an opportunity, I brought the new skewer I was holding to her mouth.

“Mmph?!”

“I wouldn’t offer you anything bad. Just try one bite.”

A somewhat rude suggestion.

But Black Sun, surprised by the meat pushed up to her lips, instinctively opened her mouth and took a bite.

“…!”

Her eyes filled with surprise, and then she carefully began to move her jaw to taste it.

I wiped the sauce from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief.

“How is it?”

“T-this is…”

“Delicious, right?”

I didn’t really expect her to admit it was delicious.

Constellations tend to think that straightforwardly agreeing with others lowers their dignity.

So I made it natural for her to affirm it.

*Munch munch.*

Black Sun silently chewed the meat, then slightly lifted her head to swallow.

The action itself was an affirmation to my question.

“Want another one?”

Black Sun looked at the skewer in front of her as if entranced.

“…Yes.”

“Alright.”

I watched her with satisfaction, then placed the skewer in her hand.

Our exploration of the Sanctuary streets continued after that.

Shops selling high-quality fabric, stores with cute dolls, and even blacksmiths creating formidable equipment.

The people of the Sanctuary were living and breathing just like those in other countries, each looking forward to tomorrow.

“…They look happy.”

“I worked pretty hard to create this kind of scenery.”

I did what you might call some aggressive spending.

It was an unavoidable choice to create the utopia I dreamed of for the order.

‘Companies need to make a living too.’

Back then, I just hoped the company would stay healthy.

If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have even had such hopes.

“…How?”

“That’s an industry secret.”

While satisfying Black Sun’s curiosity about the capitalist underpinnings, I took some time to think.

‘What should I do next?’

I had shown her around the streets at Black Sun’s request.

I showed her the differences from other orders and gave her some fresh perspectives.

What remained was finding a way to apply this to someone who still held conventional constellation concepts.

‘Emotion.’

Somehow, I needed to imprint the beautiful romance of this world onto Black Sun.

By creating a reward psychology, I could help her become a kinder, more normal constellation.

‘Just like me.’

「Child of the Lost Star: …Are you serious?」

‘Got a problem with that?’

「Child of the Lost Star: On second thought, the Absolute One is right.」

Encouraged by Star Child quietly agreeing with my thoughts, I moved to what I considered the most beautiful place in the order.

“…Where is this?”

“My favorite place.”

The top of the cathedral temple.

The cathedral, built with great care, is beautiful in itself—

But the view from the top is even more breathtaking.

「Object Lv.3」

‘Shit.’

Setting aside that painful information for now, I glanced at Black Sun.

“Ah…”

From the highest point, taller than any other building.

The view from below, seen directly through a divine manifestation, captured the very essence of the Sanctuary I had envisioned.

Overall, beautiful white buildings stood erected, with streets running between them like a single pattern.

Using them as a canvas, the artwork called “Father God’s Sanctuary” was completed.

“What do you think?”

“I can feel that everyone loves you.”

‘…Huh?’

What I wanted was her impression of the scenery, but Black Sun seemed to have felt something else.

I didn’t question her words.

“I worked hard. To create this scenery.”

Instead, I decided to go along with Black Sun’s misunderstanding.

“Why… are you doing all this?”

“What do you mean?”

“You, or rather, we constellations can do whatever we want.”

“I’ve reached this position because of people like them.”

“…?”

At those words, Black Sun’s gaze turned toward me.

Her expression showed complete lack of understanding.

I wasn’t expecting clear understanding anyway.

Just this much for now.

I just wanted her to know what kind of world I was looking at.

“I’m just trying to change the relationship a bit. Instead of us simply being beings who perform miracles, we could become mutually cooperative.”

Constellations grant miracles in response to followers’ prayers.

Followers provide faith metrics to these divine beings.

And constellations use those resources to exercise more absolute power and authority.

In the end, each is indispensable to the other.

“I’m tired of beating around the bush, so I’ll just say it directly.”

“…”

“Give small amounts of divine power to other followers too.”

“But, if I do that…”

Black Sun worried that followers who weren’t yet qualified might die from the “burden.”

“I can help with that.”

The Star Link I received recently.

If I help control the divine power alongside her using that skill, it could quickly be applied to other followers as well.

“If we increase the number of followers receiving your power, the order’s influence will naturally rise.”

Then the checks from other constellations wouldn’t be too burdensome.

Above all, I’m backing her up.

“You don’t have to do it right away, so think about it slowly.”

I leisurely gave Black Sun something to consider, and for a while, we quietly looked down at the scenery.

The Sanctuary streets were still bustling with activity.

It must have been truly difficult during the void period when I was absent.

I felt guilty toward them.

Not enough to kick my blankets at night, but a feeling that clearly told me what I needed to do.

Although the situation wasn’t created by my will, now that I’m in this position, I want to do my best in my own way.

“What kind of—”

“Hmm?”

“What kind of world do you want to create?”

I looked back at Black Sun who asked me this.

Her expression was so serious that it created an atmosphere where I felt I should give an equally serious answer.

So I decided to give her a fitting response.

“Nothing.”

“…?”

“I don’t particularly want to change anything. Just like this, right now. That’s exactly what I want.”

Black Sun was silent for a while.

Coming from a constellation, my answer was probably too ordinary and unremarkable, which confused her.

If it were another constellation, they would have given an answer about desperately wanting to change the world to their liking.

‘Wasn’t the Incarnation of the Black Sun supposed to bring eternal night?’

While that might be a very desperate wish for humans, it was actually an above-average ideal among constellations.

“You really are strange.”

“I’ve always been a bit strange.”

I don’t particularly want to be similar to other constellations.

For that, the life I’ve lived has been too human.

A human-friendly constellation, that’s who I am.

“If you’ve seen enough, let’s go down.”

“…Okay.”

In fact, Black Sun still doesn’t know.

What I’m about to show her is ‘the beautiful life of humans.’

Going beyond that, I was thinking of treating her to a full set of dopamine.

#

While the Absolute One was taking a break that wasn’t really a break with Black Sun.

Several presences rose from a region in the void.

-There is a troublesome being.

A being similar to a constellation, but more ominous and unstable, spoke.

-He is different from other constellations.

-If we were to compare, he would be similar to us.

-That’s why it’s even more incomprehensible.

The beings unanimously evaluated the ‘Absolute One.’

A constellation who was dangerous like them, but whose position had become troublesome because of that very similarity.

-Still, what we must do remains unchanged.

-Shall we attack immediately?

-We must. We don’t have time.

Beings who had lost the world many times conveyed their intentions.

To destroy this false world and bring true peace.

To kill that abominable thing coiled at the source of Dianon.

The beings decided to use their respective abilities.