I'm a Goddess to Be Devoured by the Protagonist - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 25
“Try pressing down on him.”
I pressed down on Deneb in his armor. A window appeared above him.
[Steadfastness]
[Defense increases when positioned at the front. This applies to defensive Magic as well.]
And when I pressed on Vega—
[Healing]
[Allows the use of Healing Magic.]
As for Sirius’s Unique Ability…
[Absorption]
[Absorbs the power of corpses and bodies.]
Now I understood why the Listener had told Sirius to kill people. Humans were simply the most efficient targets for Absorption.
Magic was a technique—innate Mana honed through study. Most living things possessed Mana, but few had the kind that could be channeled into actual spellcraft.
That made Vega and Deneb exceptional. Both of them wielded Healing and defensive Magic that ordinary people couldn’t touch.
Skill Scrolls, meanwhile, functioned much like granting an additional Unique Ability.
Magic consumed Mana and mental fortitude; Unique Abilities and Skills drained physical stamina. Overuse Magic and your mind grew clouded; overuse Abilities or Skills and you’d find yourself breathless, as though you’d been running.
The framework was there, but honestly, it didn’t matter. Whether the opponent threw Magic or anything else at you was irrelevant. What mattered was moving fast enough to dodge.
Click. Click.
The Innkeeper flipped over a wooden board and shuffled, then divided the Cards with Vega.
Was this something like trump Cards here?
The way Vega held her Cards suggested she’d played more than once. Yet she struck me as the type who wouldn’t normally engage in such games.
It seemed that whenever Sirius stepped away, the two of them did this.
But was it right for an adult to play Cards with a child? In my childhood, people frowned if a child so much as touched Cards.
The Innkeeper hovered his hand over one of Vega’s Cards, and she tensed.
He moved his hand aside, and relief washed over her face. By her reactions, it seemed like a game similar to finding the thief.
The Innkeeper repeated the motion—moving his hand back and forth, watching Vega’s expression—until he finally drew one Card.
“Oh no! I lost again!”
Vega’s eyes sparkled as she glanced at Sirius—like a young animal bursting with pride at showing its mother its first successful hunt.
Anyone would want to let her win with a reaction like that.
[Mission]
[Praise Vega for winning the game.]
[Mission Success Reward: Bread ×1]
“You did well.”
[Mission Success! Reward has been distributed!]
[Bread ×1]
Vega beamed at Sirius’s praise, hardly knowing what to do with herself.
If only Sirius would praise her on his own. When would I stop having to prompt him?
Then a commotion erupted at Deneb’s table.
“That’s why I told you not to go!”
His voice was loud, yet concern saturated every word.
“Look, I see what you mean, but hear me out.”
The friction spilled over onto Sirius, who had been minding his own business.
“Does it make sense to sneak out at dawn without telling your wife and dive into a Dungeon to save villagers? I can fight too, you know?”
It seemed something like that had happened a month ago.
“Are you asking for my advice?”
“No, that’s not it. I’m just saying—isn’t that how it is?”
“I understand both of your positions.”
“This infuriating man.”
Deneb grabbed his head above his helm, then suddenly seemed to recall something and asked.
“Oh, and you’re leaving today, right?”
“That’s correct.”
I’d tended to all the wounded, so it was time to move on.
“The village had quite the excitement because of you. It’s a shame to see you go.”
The Innkeeper murmured his regret.
Then Deneb asked again.
“That thing—you said the bad adventurers should be made to sit and stand repeatedly?”
“Yes. Precision in counting is essential.”
“I see it does work.”
Sirius had punished those who’d encouraged monsters to snatch people while he held them back; now it seemed Deneb had taken it upon himself to dispense punishment alone.
“Come back sometime and spend some money.”
The Innkeeper spoke with playful humor.
“When I have a moment to spare, I’ll make sure to do that.”
“And if you pass through again, don’t forget to buy me a drink. I live near the Inn, so just call out loud and I’ll come.”
Deneb replied as if joking.
[◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜]
It was a rare stretch of peace amid the ruins.
“Understood.”
Sirius brought his brief time in Amethyst Village to a close.
* * *
A precious existence.
Someone who cares about my affairs more than anyone else.
[◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜]
I thought that perhaps, if things continued this way, it might come to pass.
* * *
I pulled up the information that Sirius had given me.
[Search: 10]
After examining the data, I found that the maximum Intervention Level was ’10’.
I selected one of the gods with an Intervention Level of 10.
[The Adept of Clustered Joy]
[Intervention Level 10]
I entered the Adept’s title into the messenger.
Then I hesitated before sending the message.
What should I even say?
I couldn’t guess how the Listener would send messages. I wasn’t even sure if they had messaged before.
Should I start with a greeting?
No, that wouldn’t be right.
I remembered an old villainess-possession story I’d read once. There was an uproar simply because the heroine had greeted someone.
The reasoning was that such a rude person would never greet anyone in the first place.
So what should I do?
My instinct was to write something like “Hello. I apologize for the abruptness, but would you be willing to make a deal with me? The truth is, from the moment I first saw you, I wanted to make a deal, but I was foolishly too cowardly—oh no, the message got sent. Now who’s going to deal with me?” but I stopped myself.
After thinking deeply about it, I decided to compromise.
[Listener Who Draws Wishes: I’d like to make a deal with you.]
I just sent what I needed to say bluntly.
Before I could even worry whether the rude lunatic would ignore my message, a reply came back quickly.
[The Adept of Clustered Joy: Huh? Whaaaat?]
That made sense. The Listener didn’t seem like the type to communicate much with others.
Besides, it was tedious to read the full title every time I checked a message, so I’d just focus on the back half of it.
[Adept: What do you want from me?]
[Listener: I was hoping you might sponsor items that would help my Contractor.]
[Adept: Huh? That’s nothing special.]
[Adept: Great! Let’s make a deal—if you play with me, I’ll sponsor you!]
The Adept sent me an address and asked me to come there.
[Listener: What exactly would playing with you entail?]
[Adept: You’ll know when you get here!]
I paused to think.
There were countless ways to play with someone. Playing games together to pass the time, telling entertaining stories.
Or perhaps engaging in some horrific act under the guise of play.
So I asked what playing would involve, but the Adept refused to explain.
Like a ghost that says “Hehe, play with me” and then has you killed, they wouldn’t tell you what playing with them actually meant.
Furthermore, the Adept was asking me to do something meaningless to them—sponsor another’s Contractor—in exchange for merely playing with them.
Since I didn’t know what kind of god they were, I couldn’t predict their intent.
But I had a reason to make this deal.
Even if it carried risk.
I thought of Sirius.
As he was now, he was merely somewhat stronger than ordinary people. One misstep and he could lose his life.
I, on the other hand, could not die. I was a god, after all.
Let me just go. If when I get there I think this is truly not right, I simply won’t make the deal.
I steadied my resolve, pressed the address, and moved.
Soon the space around me shifted.
This was a vast Rest Space. Various structures suitable for sitting or lying down were scattered throughout.
Scattered throughout were dolls and toys, so the atmosphere wasn’t entirely barren.
On the surface, it looked like a well-appointed Rest Space, but something was odd about it.
On the wall opposite where I stood, a gleaming ellipse stretched wide enough for a person to pass through—a Portal I’d seen before.
[Adept: Come through the rightmost Portal!]
I made my way toward the rightmost Portal.
Then something crunched beneath my foot.
I lifted my foot without thinking, but the moment I saw what lay underneath, goosebumps crawled across my entire body.
It was a Land Mine block.
That toy masquerading as a bomb.
What was this? An assassination attempt?
But why wasn’t I hurt? When I stepped on it, I felt nothing—just the thought that I’d stepped on something, no pain at all.
My gaze fell to the Socks on my feet.
You saved me.
Did the Socks have defensive power?
In any case, once I crossed through the Portal, another space opened before me. I turned slowly, taking in the surroundings.
It was a Racing Track.
At the starting line directly ahead sat two Children’s Cars.
Or rather—was one of them an adult-sized Children’s Car?
It seemed like someone had simply enlarged a Children’s Car to fit an adult frame, so I wasn’t sure what to call it.
A small girl standing in front of them waved at me with a face full of joy, as if greeting a friend she’d promised to play with.
Could that child possibly be the Adept?
I was startled for a moment, but then I recalled that mythologies contain deities who appear as children, and I accepted it.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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