I'm a Goddess to Be Devoured by the Protagonist - Chapter 42

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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 42
-But there’s still some distance to the river…….
-No problem.
Sirius declared it flatly.
-We’ll start the work near the village and move outward from there.
And so the two of them began the work of carving out a water channel.
-What are those two doing?
The villagers were puzzled by their actions at first.
Then they realized what Sirius and Antares were actually doing.
-This can’t be right. How could they possibly…….
-But if we all work together, wouldn’t it be possible?
More and more villagers began lending their strength to the two. First one person, then two, then three and four.
Soon many of the villagers had taken up shovels and joined the effort.
Only then did I grasp Sirius’s true intention—he had orchestrated this so that the villagers would choose to help of their own accord.
The old man’s words came back to me then.
<If you help the villagers, they’ll surely repay you.>
That must have been why Sirius’s plan could succeed.
-I’ll move the water in that direction.
Water defied gravity and flowed in the wake of Antares’s staff movements.
That mage from the mountain could have moved water like this without much effort, but not Antares. As a devotee of fire, his water magic was not particularly strong, so he had to laboriously transport the water this way, bit by bit.
Still, it made a real difference. Thanks to his effort, the water channel came together smoothly.
And at last, the river and the channel connected.
The water that had submerged the village began to drain away.
-The end is in sight!
After that, the work of widening the channel began in earnest. The villagers created ever-larger streams of water flowing through it.
Then, gradually, the water drained completely.
-That’s…….
-A Dungeon, isn’t it……! It still hasn’t disappeared!
-What if Monsters come out?
The Dungeon that had been submerged beneath the water was now exposed. All the villagers made it clear they had no desire to enter such a place.
Well, who could blame them for not wanting to go in there?
-I’ll go in.
It was then that Sirius stepped forward.
The interior of this Dungeon was filled with water.
But we could clear it easily using the Bubble Bubble Mushrooms we’d obtained earlier.
[Bubble Bubble Mushroom]
[Upon consumption, allows you to breathe underwater for ten minutes.]
Sirius began swimming into the Dungeon.
There were no Monsters in the Dungeon. The clearing condition seemed to be simply draining the water from the village.
On the broadcast screen, a collapsed Temple submerged in water appeared in view. It was a beautiful sight, but there was no time to dwell on such things now.
[Time remaining: 5 minutes]
Sirius picked up a Skill Scroll lying on the Dungeon floor.
[Water’s Ripple]
[Temporarily increases your body’s defensive power.]
[The God Who Draws Diagonal Lines and Hears Wishes urges you to use the scroll at once.]
Sirius nodded.
In the original story, he’d carelessly carried the scroll out, only to have it stolen by the mage.
The mage had complained that she’d done all the work, so why should he get the Dungeon’s reward?
When Sirius used the scroll, it crumbled in his hand. He had claimed the skill as his own immediately.
Later, this allowed him to weather the demon god’s attacks with less pain for a brief moment.
* * *
As Sirius emerged from the Dungeon, the entrance vanished behind him.
-Whoa! The Dungeon is gone!
The villagers crowded around Sirius.
-Thank you so much!
-We were able to solve the flooding thanks to the two of you.
-No, we couldn’t have done it without all of your help. It would have taken far longer.
For someone who’d cleared the Dungeon in ten minutes, Sirius answered with remarkable humility.
-Is there nothing left for me to do?
Antares asked playfully.
-Yes, that is correct.
-Then, I shall bid farewell to the deity.
Antares offered me a parting salute.
It won’t be the last.
When I face the evil god, I will summon him. Then I shall witness his specialty—fire magic.
I could have asked him to accompany me, but I did not. As I’ve said before, it’s partly due to that protagonist cliché—the awakening that comes when someone you’ve given your heart to dies.
There’s another reason: if I gain comrades to fight alongside, it becomes harder to protect them.
You can see this in . It was a novel that taught well the truth that while killing is easy in many ways, protecting is difficult.
-Now let us drive out that wicked sorcerer!
-That tower was our grandfather’s to begin with! We lent it to him since he had nowhere else to stay, and this is how he repays our kindness?
That day, the wicked sorcerer was driven out by the villagers.
* * *
Sirius did not show it, but his mood had been poor all day.
The cause was that Antares had spoken to the deity.
But he could not find the reason. And so his mood worsened.
He had merely offered a parting salute to the deity, just as Antares had. That was all.
What made it worse was that he had been the one to introduce Antares to the deity. He’d done it so Antares wouldn’t lose heart.
That strange feeling only faded once Antares had departed.
A truly peculiar day it had been.
* * *
The night having grown late, Sirius remained in Zircon Village.
The next morning, as I switched on the broadcast, Sirius lay in bed with only his torso raised, his face hidden behind his hands.
Had he suffered a nightmare?
[Your contract deity, The God Who Draws Diagonal Lines and Hears Wishes, says that he is concerned about why you seem this way.]
-……No, it is nothing.
Nothing? You don’t look well right now.
Sirius, surprisingly, quickly shook it off and sat up.
Perhaps it had truly been nothing.
He had frequently suffered nightmares due to events from his past. But this time, the atmosphere felt somehow different for it to be called such a dream.
Should I say he seemed to be feeling self-reproach?
What could Sirius possibly have to feel self-reproach about?
[Your contract deity, The God Who Draws Diagonal Lines and Hears Wishes, says there is no reason whatsoever for Sirius to feel self-reproach, whatever the circumstances.]
-……I see.
[Your contract deity, The God Who Draws Diagonal Lines and Hears Wishes, nods firmly.]
At that, Sirius returned to his former appearance at least outwardly. It seemed any further comfort would only become a burden.
Sirius went down to the first floor of the Inn and shared breakfast with Vega, whom he had left at another lodging and since retrieved.
It was then.
-A giant monster has appeared in the neighboring village!
Someone burst through the Inn door and shouted.
-What? We must flee at once!
The Inn’s guests rushed out in a tumble.
Sirius pulled a map from his inventory and showed it to Vega.
-Vega. Flee at once to this village.
-Y-yes, sir!
Only Sirius and the innkeeper, who was gathering his belongings, remained in the Inn.
-You’re not running away, guest?
Sirius nodded.
-No. I am not. Because I am strong.
Could it be that he was going to defeat that giant monster?
Though if not Sirius, I couldn’t imagine who else could possibly kill such a creature.
[ ‎(•᷄-•᷅ ) ]
And at the same time, I was worried he might be injured.
-This is entirely my choice.
He spoke as though to ease my guilt for not stopping him.
-I will not die.
His eyes burned with resolve.
[The God Who Draws Diagonal Lines and Hears Wishes offers you support.]
In the end, all I could do was offer him my encouragement.
-Thank you.
Sirius rose from his seat.
* * *
Sirius left the inn and headed toward the neighboring village.
What had once been a settlement, a place where people made their lives, had become a hellscape. Fires burned throughout the village, and people fled in every direction, desperate to survive.
Sirius walked against the tide. A few villagers glanced back at him with concern, but he never looked behind.
It wasn’t long before he spotted the Giant Monster. Parts of its body were burning, charred flesh that looked less like a creature and more like ash given form.
The monster was locked in a standoff with several fighters. From the identical emblem embroidered on their sleeves, they appeared to belong to the same guild.
One of them called out to Sirius.
-Have you come to help us slay the Giant Monster?
-I have.
-Good. We’re the guild Eagle, here to subjugate the monster. I’m the guild master.
The guild master studied Sirius’s face.
-I’ve heard reports about you.
How did he know about Sirius’s reputation?
-I had an acquaintance in Zircon Village. They told me that despite being an outsider, you tried to resolve the flooding, and cleared the Dungeon with remarkable speed.
Thank goodness. Sirius’s greatest deeds hadn’t been fully disclosed.
-Your eye color is quite distinctive, by the way.
What was he getting at? There was nothing in about red eyes being a symbol of ill fortune or anything like that.
-I’ve heard it’s an uncommon color.
-Yes, it is indeed.
From Sirius’s tone, the guild master seemed to treat it as an unremarkable matter.
Now that he thought about it, Sirius was the only character ever described as having red eyes in the original work. In the broadcast footage too, only Sirius’s eyes had been shown in red.
Perhaps it truly was an exceptionally rare color.
-Then let’s speak again once the battle is finished.
With those words, the guild master charged toward the monster.
Sirius followed in his wake.
As soon as he drew close to the creature, he slashed at its hide without hesitation.

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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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