CHAPTER 63
I was bewildered as I listened to the Heavenly God's next words.

[The great earthquake that just occurred was caused by an evil demon.]

What demon?
No matter how you looked at it, it was just a natural disaster, and didn't you just say it was merely a natural disaster?
I stared at him in disbelief, and the Heavenly God spoke to me again, so only I could hear.

—We have to say this to be safe.
—Safe from what?
—If I don't say this, they'll go witch-hunting innocent people trying to find the cause themselves.
—Can't you just say it was a natural disaster?
—Even if I say that, they won't listen. Do you think this is my first time doing this? Just trust me and play along.

Since the Heavenly God guaranteed it so confidently, I had no choice but to back him up.

"That's right! The earthquake was the work of a demon, but the Heavenly God defeated it!"

When I chimed in and shouted, the expressions of my group looking at me turned dubious. Since they already knew this was a natural disaster, they must have been wondering what nonsense I was spouting.
But it worked perfectly on the general public.

"The Heavenly God and the Saint defeated the demon!"
"O Heavenly God!"
"Long live Sir Ceres!"

Unaware that we were lying, the people praised us.
I felt guilty, but then one of them shouted out.

"Then exactly what kind of Great Demon committed such a horrific act?"
"T-That's..."

I couldn't answer. I had completely made up the part about a demon doing it, so how was I supposed to give an exact name?!
I was just stuttering in panic when—

[It was Beelzebub.]

The Heavenly God named a famous demon.

—No, this was just a natural disaster...
—They asked for a demon's name, so it can't be helped. I just had to give them any name.
—Is that really okay? If the guy himself finds out, he'll throw a fit.
—You think he'd come complain to me? As if he'd dare.

Even though it was a voice echoing in my head, the mockery in his tone was crystal clear.
He was completely different from the image of the Heavenly God I had imagined.

[That demon will never be able to appear here again. All evil has vanished, so rest easy. I have bestowed my blessing, so there will be no earthquakes in the capital for a while.]

You're scamming them way too much, aren't you? What are you going to do if another earthquake happens later?

—It's true that there won't be any earthquakes for a while. The Divine Power you sprinkled while restoring everything is filling the capital, so such disasters won't be able to occur. Unless some Earth Spirit King intentionally decides to cause one.

As if guessing what I was thinking, the Heavenly God immediately explained.

—Anyway, it seems everything in the capital is resolved with this, so I will be taking my leave.
—Didn't you have something you wanted to discuss with me?
—I can't exactly talk about it here.

He had a point. Even if we could talk secretly, we couldn't discuss something important where everyone was watching.

—I'll come find you later, so go inside and get some sleep.
—I'm not particularly sleepy, though?
—I'm just telling you to rest. You're really not in a good state right now because of stress. The other girls keep telling you you're not normal, right? Those women are right. You just haven't realized it yourself.

I'm telling you, I'm perfectly sane! Everyone keeps saying I'm not normal.
But this time, because the one saying it was a god, I couldn't just blindly deny it. I wondered if I really had gotten weird.
When I reluctantly nodded, the Heavenly God seemed to sigh.

[I am tired. I have used too much power. Priests, I know you have many questions, but I will deliver an oracle later. For now, I shall go rest!]

He spoke unilaterally and vanished, but I could tell that was just an excuse.

Even I, who was nothing more than a single feather's worth of power, was tired but still able to stand perfectly fine. There was no way the Heavenly God, who could be considered the main body, would feel tired from just this much.
And besides, he had dumped everything on me except for the talking part.
He even dumped the aftermath on me before leaving. With the Heavenly God gone, what would the people do? All their attention would naturally focus on me, the one who summoned him.

"Sir Ceres! Was that really the Heavenly God..."
"Step back!"

Just as the people were about to rush at me, Viol stepped in and blocked them magnificently.

"Are you planning to recklessly rush at the Saint, who is exhausted from restoring the capital? How dare you, right before my very eyes?!"

When Emperor Viol restrained them with a proper justification, the people had no choice but to stop.
Taking advantage of the situation calming down a bit, the other girls came to my side.

"Ceres, are you hurt anywhere?"

First, Alios asked worriedly.

"Summoning a god... Are you really okay after doing something like that?!"

She assumed something serious must have happened to me for pulling off a stunt like summoning a god.

"I'm fine."

Surprisingly, summoning the Heavenly God didn't burden me at all. In fact, restoring the capital drained way more of my energy.

This was probably because I, Ceres, was originally a part of the Heavenly God, and rather than summoning him purely with my own power, it was more like he heard my request and came over.

So, I told her that although I was pretty tired, it was nothing compared to when I was sick before.

"Ceres, even if you don't hurt much, you need to pretend to be sick," Hames whispered quietly.

"That way, you can slip away naturally."

"Ah, right."

People couldn't approach me right now because Viol was blocking them, but I could see them constantly looking for an opportunity to get a closer look at the one who brought down a god.

"Ugh, my head..."

"The Saint who brought down the Heavenly God needs to rest. Everyone, step back!"

When I pretended to be sick, my party used that as an excuse to naturally spirit me away.

I returned to the Imperial Palace.

"Alright, tell us exactly what happened."

As soon as we arrived, Hames interrogated me.

Her attitude was different from her usual leniency toward me; as a High Priest, it seemed she couldn't just gloss over a major incident like the Heavenly God's descent.

"That massive earthquake was clearly a natural disaster. But why did the Heavenly God descend and claim it was the work of demons? And why did you summon Him?!"

"Well..."

I explained the situation to the agitated Hames and the rest of the party. Even if they weren't as worked up as Hames, the other women were looking at me with eyes dying to know what happened.

I left out things like my true identity and appropriately sanitized the Heavenly God's secular way of speaking before telling them.

When my story finally ended, Sibylius was the first to react.

"A god blatantly committed fraud?"

"Yeah."

"...Was that really the Heavenly God?"

Finding it hard to believe, she doubted the existence of the Heavenly God she had seen with her own eyes.

"He probably was. If you have demon blood mixed in you, you should know. That terrifying presence he radiated when he appeared," Red countered. As a pureblood demon, she seemed quite shocked by the Heavenly God's appearance; her face was stiff.

On the other hand, Alios, Viol, and Ares had expressions of understanding.

"Well, even if it's a lie, phrasing it like that is for the best."

"It prevents future chaos beforehand. I would have done the same."

"Politically speaking, it's the correct move, but was a god a being who cared about politics like this?"

As people who understood politics and were in positions of leading groups, the three of them sympathized but also found it absurd.

"Was He always like this?"

"Anyway, things got resolved nicely."

"And our Lord was the one who summoned the Heavenly God!"

"This is an achievement no one else has ever accomplished!"

Niobe and the Death Knights rejoiced, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Amidst the varying reactions, the highest religious authority among us opened her mouth.

"So He really was that kind of person?" Hames reacted as if she had expected it.

"Actually, among High Priests like me, it's not that surprising. If you study His words recorded in the scriptures and the myths, you can roughly guess what His inclinations are."

"Really?"

"Rather than giving vague, pie-in-the-sky advice, He is one who provides direct solutions to His believers and values the practical benefits they can gain. It seems you were the recipient of that this time."

Comparing Hames's explanation with the Heavenly God I had experienced firsthand, it did seem to be true.

With that conversation over, it was my turn to ask a question. I asked Hames.

"Have I been acting weird lately?"

"You're only realizing that now?" Hames said firmly, and the others nodded without hesitation.

Hmm, I guess so.

"...I'm gonna go rest now."

Once it became clear that I really had been acting weird, I faithfully followed the Heavenly God's advice to get some sleep and rest.

"I'm seriously just going to rest and do nothing else for a while, so please don't bother me for a bit, just like you were doing before. When I feel better, I'll come see you guys on my own."

Perhaps because they had already agreed to give me a rest period, the women nodded without much complaint.

"Lord, please sleep peacefully."

Even Niobe, who was my designated watcher, seemed relieved that I was taking the initiative to rest, and left the room, leaving me alone.

Completely alone, I lay down on the bed and tried to sleep.

I fell asleep with the intention of getting a good rest without any distracting thoughts.

I wonder how many hours passed.

"Hey, it's me."

The Heavenly God popped up in my dream.

Unlike the massive figure I had seen during the day, he was only slightly taller than me.

And to the Heavenly God, who was dressed in more comfortable-looking clothes, I said:

"When you said you were coming to see me, you meant in a dream?"

I could tell instinctively. The person in front of me wasn't a dream delusion, but the real Heavenly God.

"What is it?"

Tense, I asked the Heavenly God why he had come to see me.

Ever since he first appeared, he had said he planned to come see me soon.

I listened nervously, wondering what this was all about, but my eyes widened at his answer.

"Do you want to become my proxy and a lesser god in charge of this world?"