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Conclusion: I Succeeded in the Gacha.

Well then. As a price for rolling the gacha, I had to part with some things I regarded as quite valuable.

In other words, I had to pay a bit of money that I had slyly taken from the women who had been tangled with me and then smacked around, as well as some precious stones that aren’t obtainable in this era.

…No. Let’s correct that.

It wasn’t just a bit. I got completely cleaned out.

Now, aside from my equipment and several days’ worth of food, I was nothing but a penniless wretch.

“Please let me pull until I get something good…!”

In the end, I did pull, so it was my victory, but…

It was a brief explanation, but I wonder if the God of Play understood gacha well.

He had listed various items for the gacha, aside from the strangely enhanced control of his powers.

Most of them were one-star trash characters… no, they were features that were somewhat vaguely helpful.

For example, tips for card counting while playing a similar card game or how to roll a plain die to increase the probability of landing a desired number.

I mean, unless I were a gambler, their usefulness was quite dubious.

Of course, there were definitely things that were genuinely useful. Like the power of courage that allowed me to maintain a poker face in any unfavorable situation.

If I were to classify it in terms of rank, I’d say it was a basic one-star skill.

True to the nature of the God of Play, the activation conditions weren’t about combat but limited to when my resolve was firm or during uncertain risks, unlike in battles.

At first glance, it might not seem like much… but still, having power is always a good thing.

According to its intended effects, it could help in emergencies, but there was also a bonus effect wherein the total amount of divine power I held increased, or my ability to handle it improved a bit.

Anyway, a miracle is a miracle, right?

“Ha. Then it’s really going to be okay now.”

After drawing the power that surpassed my abilities, I parted ways with the God of Play.

Now, all that was left was to hurry along the now much more comfortable journey toward the Temple of the Goddess of Love.

“Oh, I almost forgot.”

Without completing my path, I turned back toward the village I had just left.

No particular reason. I had used up all my savings on the gacha, so I thought I might as well recover a bit of emergency funds.

Nodding to myself, I activated the sound-eating steps along with my transparent cloak.

***

Even though the world had gone completely haywire, there were still those who managed to live like humans, while others lived worse than dogs.

After moving some coins from the usual criminals found in any human-inhabited area…

I continued to walk.

Following Olive’s advice, I avoided dangerous places as much as possible, only selecting safe spots, yet I had witnessed so much chaos during my travels.

By becoming better able to control my powers, it wasn’t incidents initiated by those mesmerized by my charm.

It was much larger, something I could do nothing about with my own will.

The horrors of war relentlessly tormented me at all times.

“How bitter.”

There were rotting corpses, neglected and unburied by anyone. Some had become undead, wandering around, but whether this was a case of spontaneous generation or someone’s control, it didn’t seem that way.

I merely encountered the deceased wandering around or repeating certain actions from their lives, so I lightly held a funeral for them.

Whether they were moving or still, I gathered the corpses together and burned them.

Then, using Basilieus, I adorned the soil soaked with ashes and rotten blood with some suitable flowers.

After walking for a while longer, I chanced upon a devastated village.

Interestingly, people were drowned at sea; there was no trace at all of any divine power.

They must have just left them submerged somewhere. I could roughly guess who had done that.

“Worshippers of the God of Water, perhaps?”

Such a truly inefficient act. However, it had likely been an unavoidable choice for the gods who had lost their divine entities.

While this pair stood out in my memory, I had seen countless corpses so far.

Some had died in otherwise mundane ways, while others had met strange ends, seemingly as sacrifices to a cult.

Many had suffered through looting and abuse, only to die abandoned.

At this point, it was hard not to notice.

The “safe routes” Olive had mentioned weren’t truly safe; they were merely paths connecting relatively safe areas.

And this vicinity was neither a friendly divine domain nor a corner untouched by divine watch.

Those abandoned by the gods, those who had lost their deities, or those who arrogantly swore to survive in this crumbling world without anyone’s help…

“In other words, it’s the domain of the unbelievers.”

It’s no wonder people die left and right for trivial reasons, nor that no one collects the remains.

The faith in the age of the gods was a strong bond that transcended nations and races, with its significance especially highlighted during the War of the Gods.

“Still, how can I just pass by this?”

As I did before, if there was something I encountered on my journey, and if it were a tragedy born purely from neglect, I extended my hand to do something within my reach.

A funeral for the unburied, healing for the injured, and death for those who had surrendered their inner goodness away because they believed there were no gods.

So many times, I walked this road, calmly handling what I confronted.

Before long, I spotted the Temple of Love in the distance, adorned in white with light pink decorations…

…And behind me was a long line of people.

“Huh?”

I tilted my head as I examined the features of those following me.

Because they were starving, I had roughly fed them something, and since then, a child started following me everywhere.

A family of five had followed me after I had saved them from thugs and told them to stick with me until they found a safe place.

The village that was contaminated due to the crazy weather and heaps of corpses from the war…

People who had been waiting for their deaths due to the plague had been healed by me, but for some reason, dozens of villagers were now following me, leaving their homes behind.

There were also slaves I had saved after robbing the hideout of those who intended to ambush me, or criminals who had heard rumors of me and wished to reform…

Those who had lost their worshipped god but wanted to quietly conclude their faith without harming others, and so on.

All different in origin, race, age, and gender, yet they maintained a smooth relationship within this vast community.

Yeah, I know. I know very well that all of them turned their backs on their homes just to follow me.

“Wait, what have I done…?”

What I couldn’t understand was precisely this point. What I had done wasn’t that great an act of kindness. Objectively speaking, it wasn’t.

In fact, quite a few had expressed their gratitude but chose to stay behind.

Yet, many more had decided to follow me.

“Why…?”

“It seems you’re having some strange thoughts as we approach our destination.”

A clear, youthful voice broke my contemplation. However, the woman, who looked just like a bipedal mackerel, shrugged as she spoke.

“Uh, what was your name again?”

“It’s Meibel.”

“Sorry. No matter how hard I concentrate, I can only distinguish merfolk by their male and female appearances.”

“Actually, we remember land races by their smell and voice too, so it’s okay.”

Ever since the God of Water was extinguished by the God of the Sun, the merfolk no longer felt safe in the seas and wandered various lands.

They had a problem that required them to douse themselves with water periodically, which is why they all had to learn water-based magic.

They were highly intelligent and physically strong, so they weren’t ones to be bullied anywhere… but the problem was that many of them tended to cause trouble.

One of the ruined villages I saw had been annihilated by radical merfolk.

Though Meibel and her companions were moderates opposing such behavior, they had been cornered in a confrontation with the radicals and owed their survival to me.

Since then, they had followed me, considering me their benefactor.

In my eyes, it felt a bit bewildering, as it seemed they weren’t just out killing people, but also had detractors regularly bothering me and my procession.

“Anyway, to get back to the main topic… Jonah, what you did might be appreciated, but it’s not necessarily something that warrants dedicating your entire life to.”

“Right? I’m just as puzzled as how this happened…”

“If it were a peaceful time, sure.”

“…”

With a somewhat unsettling smile, Meibel continued.

“If this were a peaceful era, we would have thanked you and sent you on your way with a small token of appreciation. But right now, we’re in the midst of war. A brutal one at that.”

“Is it that brutal?”

“…Sometimes I feel like you just fell from the sky here.”

“Hey! I told you! I just came out from the mountains for the first time during this long war. I heard it was bad, but I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

After all, I had literally dropped from the sky, setting up an alibi.

It didn’t seem like Meibel or the others took it seriously, but they simply let it slide, probably due to the debt I owed.

“Well, anyway, you’ve all worked hard to get here; the temple should be a bit better. At least there will be beds… By the way, just in case, don’t cause any trouble inside?”

“Who would cause a ruckus in the Temple of Love where the Goddess herself resides?”

Of course, I suppose not.

Love’s Church had weakened but the Goddess of Love was still strong.

More than anything, in this era, gods were seen as absolute beings, so even if she wasn’t their deity, no one would recklessly offend her.

…Besides, since they came all this way knowing my destination, they must have intended to convert from the start.

Nodding vaguely, I quickened my pace toward the temple.

To meet the goddess, whom I thought I’d encounter at the bottom of the labyrinth, so soon… well, I wouldn’t be able to ask what I truly wanted to know, as time was different.

Still, the meeting itself had been my goal all along, so I couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

Arriving at the temple’s entrance…

A priestess clad in an outfit that was transparent except for the essential parts stood quivering as she blocked the door.

“Y-You disrespectful ones! You dare intrude upon the Goddess’s abode!?”

“…?”

I blinked and then turned around.

Just to be safe, I had placed the only merfolk I could fight at the front and back of our group.

As expected, there were merfolk with fish-like eyes, making screeching noises that gave no hint as to what they were thinking.

They looked like a primitive tribe intending to threaten the enemy they were about to engage.

But they were just laughing for the fun of it.

Their fish-like eyes couldn’t help it since their upper halves were real fish, and that shriek was due to their gills. The structure of their breathing organs was different, you know.

As soon as I grasped the situation, I pulled off my hood and jumped.

“What a bloody racist…!”

It’s not like I wanted to see the priestess’s outfit from various angles or anything.

 

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