Goddess Chapter 57 (Patreon)

Chapter 57 – A God from Old Kathra

Since the Cartia incident, there has been peace in the Beastman Kingdom.

Well, for most of the inhabitants, the Cartia incident was irrelevant, so the period of peace was even longer. But since we had experienced war before that, I think it's just fine to have that level of peace.

As such, the dinner between the gods was held in a relaxed atmosphere.

Intanyu seemed to be busy teaching Cartia table manners, though.

「 No! You're not supposed to hold the spoon that way! You're obviously holding it backwards! How are you going to carry the soup with that! 」

「 Well, if you look closely, why are you grabbing it with your tentacles? There's no way you can grab it using common sense!  Grab it with your hands, your hands! 」

Cartia awkwardly held the spoon back in her hand.

「 If you use tentacles all the time, will your hands deteriorate? 」

Celude said curiously, apparently Cartia was an object of intellectual curiosity in Celude's eyes.

「 Do gods deteriorate? But most of the gods I know are in human form. Maybe it's because when humans pray to Gods, they imagine a form more like a human. 」

There should be no restrictions on the form of a god, so technically, it could be just a spherical something or a terrifying figure that would scare you just by looking at it. However, I've never seen such a god before.

「 Come to think of it, yes, I suppose you're right. 」

Eunosis was nodding her head, her diet was mostly vegetarian. Perhaps it was because she had bunny ears, but it seemed like something a rabbit would enjoy.

「 In general, I believe that gods who look like their species are worshiped. Hortensia-san and Celude-san are similar, I think. 」

「 There's no need to go to the trouble of believing in a god of a completely different form. Huh...?「 」

Then, a question came to mind.

「 Don't the Cat People worship a God with cat ears? 」

Or rather, what kind of god did the people of the Kathra Kingdom worship?

「 I don't remember much in the way of beliefs among the Cat People. I don't think they were that pious. I also can't remember anything about them... 」

Even Celude, who seemed to know a lot about it, didn't seem to understand it, wagging her fluffy fox tail and trying to twist it out of her memory.

Then again, maybe I should ask Intanyu.

「 Hey! You're holding your fork backwards! How are you going to stab it? 」

「 But you stuck it in the bread. 」

「 That's because the bread happens to be soft! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? 」

「 Intanyu, I'm sorry to interrupt Cartia's discipline, but I need you to tell me something. 」

「 What, you don't know table manners? 」

That's not what I meant.

「 What kind of gods did the Kathra Kingdom originally worship? I've never heard anything about that. 」

Maybe she's afraid that it would be disrespectful to me if she mentions the gods of her original country.

In other parts of the world, when the beliefs of the gods change, there are often movements to destroy their statues. In some cases, they coexist well, but in many cases, only one of them remains.

「 Ah...the God of the Kathra Kingdom...I knew there was one, but... 」

What's with the nonchalant attitude?

「 In a word, he was unpopular... and he had to disappear... 」

「 Can I ask you a few questions? 」

I have the impression that the Cat People don't talk much about their original country. I wonder if they're a clan that doesn't cling to the past.

「 All right. But since it might be a long story, Hortensia, you can teach Cartia table manners. 」

「 What, I'm doing that...? I understand... 」

Hortensia, you're going to have a tough time with all this...

Anyway, this was the start of Intanyu's divine narrative of the Kathra Kingdom.

「 Kathra Kingdom is a dynasty created by the King of the Cat People. You know this much, don't you? 」

「 Yes, indeed. 」

「 This royal family revered the god that their clan had worshiped for generations, and when they established the dynasty, they revered it even more. It's because of their faith in this god that they were able to become kings, isn't it? They even built a magnificent temple next to their palace. 」

So far, this is a very common story. Every country would have done something similar.

「 But, here's the thing... 」

Intanyu's face clouded over.

「 The royal family here has forced the people to believe in this god as well. The god's name is Barunbirn, and temples and statues of gods other than Barunbirn were destroyed. 」

「 Wow... that's a pretty gruesome thing to do... 」

Even though it's a common thing, it's still heartbreaking to hear. I feel even more sympathetic because I've had the experience of being badly affected by the destruction of my very own country.

「 And the politics of the royal family was quite strict, for example, those who failed to pay their taxes were considered to have disobeyed the gods and were punished. For example, those who did not pay their taxes were considered to have disobeyed God and were punished by being whipped while spitting out words of remorse to God. 」

「 I see, so they used God for politics. 」

「 What do you think would happen to the reputation of the god Barunbirn if such things were done? 」

「 I think it would be bad. 」

Intanyu nodded.

「 Yes, it would. But on the surface, the faith is enforced, and so the people follow. So, the power of the god itself was fairly strong. That's why the god Barunbirn was so high and mighty. 」

Oh, so Intanyu knows him too. It's a neighboring country.

「 I once warned him that if he continued like this, he would be in trouble later on, but he didn't listen to me. He was a powerful man back then. But then the imperial army invaded. 」

I'm starting to get the gist of your story.