I'm a Goddess to Be Devoured by the Protagonist - Chapter 85
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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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Chapter 85
“Helper characters really do come in handy.”
“They sure do.”
I stroked Hami’s head. She closed her eyes in contentment, savoring my touch.
“Gathering evidence of the king’s crimes will take some time, so let’s talk about something else.”
“All right, understood.”
“How should we choose the next king? What if we had the citizens elect the king directly?”
Since I’d already toppled the king anyway, why not try something like democracy.
“That would be difficult. The king has too many children—the citizens don’t even know who all of them are. And the infrastructure isn’t in place to collect votes easily.”
So democracy was a hard thing to pull off.
Come to think of it, in a world where people in places far from the capital were dying without access to medicine, gathering every vote would indeed be nearly impossible.
Waterdrop paused in thought before speaking.
“It would be better if you chose directly. I recommend selecting someone with red eyes from among the king’s descendants. They’re descended from the Primordial Dragon, according to the lore, which makes them sturdier than ordinary humans. They’re relatively safe from poison and assassination.”
Waterdrop suggested choosing from the king’s descendants, which at first seemed odd to me—but then I remembered that Sirius was among them, so surely there’d be someone capable in that pool.
“Find someone among the adults who has high Intelligence, Strength, Insight, and Charisma. Those are the stats you need in a proper king.”
Intelligence? What’s that?
The teacher is moving too fast.
“Oh, you don’t know how to check your Status? If you think ‘Status Window View’ in your head, you’ll be able to see it right away. Though first we’ll need to gather the king’s descendants in one place.”
[Mission]
[Gather the king’s descendants together.]
[Reward: Bread ×1]
—What? What kind of trial is this?
Betel looked bewildered, but he and the others did as I asked.
The people we gathered in the Audience Chamber were those with red eyes and what appeared to be their family members.
—There are so many of them when they’re all collected in one place.
Betel marveled.
—And you think you’ll come out of this unscathed?!
—The king’s already in prison, so please keep quiet, sir.
—What? You sent Father to prison? You treacherous scoundrel, this is an outrage—!
—The God is on our side, you see?
—What did you just say…?
Betel was trying to answer the crowd, but realizing it wouldn’t work, he cast Magic to silence them.
Meanwhile, I decided to view the Status of everyone gathered in the Audience Chamber.
‘Status Window View’
An enormous amount of information appeared for each person, and my vision swam.
“God, the Status the God mentioned is here.”
With Hami’s help, I finally managed to find the Status section that Waterdrop had mentioned.
This person’s stats look decent—would they be suitable as king?
“Ah, that’s right. Before you pick someone, look carefully at the Thoughts section. They might be hostile toward you.”
“The Thoughts section is over there.”
I looked at where Hami was pointing.
[Thoughts: Filled with resentment toward “Listener, who draws diagonal lines.”]
Oh. That won’t do. Disqualified.
I then searched again for the person with high stats as Waterdrop had described. Of all the people present, only two had the elevated stats Waterdrop had mentioned.
I really hoped this person would have decent thoughts.
[Thoughts: Delighted by the fall of the king.]
Perfect. This is exactly the kind of talent we need.
Suddenly, the broadcast screen’s perspective shifted. From the angle, it seemed to have switched to that talent’s broadcast screen.
When you become a God, can you watch any person in the world’s broadcast?
More importantly, was it really okay to just casually choose anyone as king like this?
“But is it really all right to just pick anyone?”
“Those with red eyes are all born with the aptitude to be king, so it’s fine.”
I still wasn’t entirely sure it was all right.
But Waterdrop had been the previous God of this world, so I had to trust her judgment, like it or not.
It suddenly occurred to me that I could have educated Sirius and made him king instead. I still couldn’t understand why he’d shown up here only to throw away his chance at kingship.
At any rate, it seemed wise to give the talent advance notice so he wouldn’t be too shocked.
[Mission]
[Receive Royal Education.]
[Reward: Bread ×1]
—What… what is this…?
—Why are you doing that?
Betel approached the startled talent and asked.
—The God has sent down a trial.
—Really? Is that so?
I sent a mission to Betel as well.
[Mission]
[Nurture a new king.]
[Reward: Bread × 1]
—Ah, the God is something else. Dumping such a tedious task on me. I’ll have to get someone else to do it.
At those words, the Mage Tower members in their white robes startled visibly.
Betel’s gaze swept slowly across them. Whenever the child’s eyes landed on someone, the Mage Tower members froze.
And then.
—You there—you said you were interested in Royal Education, didn’t you? Said you wanted to research it right away.
—No, that’s not… that’s not quite right.
—You can give the new king proper Royal Education.
—Uh… well…
—Of course, I’ll assign someone else who can properly teach Royal Education, but you’ll need to watch from the side to make sure that person doesn’t give the wrong kind of education like this time.
Betel smiled cutely at the man addressed as “you.”
Was it just my imagination that the smile looked like a little devil’s grin?
I felt sympathy for the man who’d won the lottery. He would likely shoulder both the Mage Tower’s work and the king’s education.
At least thanks to the contract with Sirius, I had a 9-to-6 schedule with days off where I could rest.
“Now I just have to watch. The rest will take care of itself.”
“Is that so? Then may I return to my space now?”
“Yes. Do as you wish.”
It was getting to be evening, so I was about to leave.
Waterdrop looked at me with something like fear. I paid it no mind and returned to my space.
“Welcome back, Listener.”
I looked at Sirius. There was something I needed to tell him.
“Sirius, I deposed that king.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Sirius looked at me with disbelief in his eyes.
“That king was looking down on you, and I didn’t like it.”
Of course, there were countless other things I disliked about him as well.
“Are you certain this is wise, Listener? There has never before been an instance of a God replacing a king. There must surely be some reason for that.”
Yet even in this situation, Sirius was concerned for me.
“It seems like not doing it before was no great matter. So I just went ahead and changed him.”
Looking at how smoothly things had proceeded so far, it seemed that Waterdrop had simply lost her nerve and hadn’t been able to replace the king.
“Listener, you truly…….”
“Truly what?”
“Have a talent for surprising people.”
“What kind of talent is that?”
If I could smile, I would have by now.
Not being able to make expressions was rather inconvenient.
* * *
Two days later, Regulus and Deneb entered the Audience Chamber. It seemed they had completed the investigation I’d entrusted to them.
—Divine One, we have uncovered the crimes of the previous king.
—What’s with that way of speaking?
Deneb spoke in an uncertain tone as he watched Regulus bow deeply toward empty air.
—According to our investigation, the previous king’s crimes include murder, corruption, extortion, assault, sexual violence, and more. Would you hear the details?
Oh, just looking at the charges made me want to retch.
[The Listener, who draws diagonal lines of wishes, shakes his head.]
—Is that so… We conducted quite a thorough investigation.
Regulus muttered as if disappointed.
Now I had to issue a Divine Proclamation.
[Please enter a Divine Proclamation.]
But I had never had reason to write a Divine Proclamation before. Not when I was human, and not when I was the Listener. I hesitated, groaning at the blank screen.
“Don’t worry too much, Divine One. Even if you write it carelessly, it will turn out fine somehow.”
“Really?”
That was good news. I hurriedly scribbled out a Divine Proclamation.
[Send]
And the moment I pressed the send button, a solemn voice rang out from temples throughout Quartz.
The new God of Quartz, the Listener who Draws Diagonal Lines, seeks to end tyranny under numerous charges against the current king—murder, corruption, assault, and more.
People could not hide their astonishment, listening intently to the proclamation.
Therefore, a new king, Alisa Diae, shall be coronated.
Meanwhile, Alisa Diae, present in the Royal Palace, showed signs of mild tension.
Thus a new age shall dawn, in which the king cares for his people under the watchful eye of God.
Having said as much, I too had to monitor Alisa Diae alongside the person Betel had called his brother.
I’ve always dreamed of a world like this.
Alisa was truly a prepared talent.
The woman who had worn shabby clothes now donned the simple raiment of a king. Though she had not yet received formal Royal Education, her eyes already held a trustworthy gleam.
Your Majesty, I shall not let you regret choosing me.
Alisa bowed deeply toward the void.
Seems like it went well?
Yes.
Betel asked, and Vega answered.
We should head back now too. Except for him. Since I gave him the Communication Stone, we’ll talk through that.
Betel spoke, glancing back at the members of the Mage Tower.
The Mage Tower seemed to be gradually withdrawing from the Royal Palace.
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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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