Ch 76 -- The Companion Goddesses (part 2)
Well, what should I do? The goddesses are demanding I fix their problem with Rusalka-sama. It's like me asking some ants living by my front door to fix my leaky roof. Um, um, really, think think...
Basically the goddesses are telling me that if I got a divine blessing from Rusalka-sama then it wouldn't actually do me any good since I'm already covered by the previous divine blessing from a certain deplorable goddess. What if Rusalka-sama's blessing was bestowed on someone else ............ Ah!
"Th- the divine blessing, that is Rusalka-sama's blessing should be given to Sui, my contracted monster."
"O, Oh, that's a good idea you know." said a particularly gluttonous goddess of my regrettably long acquaintance.
"Sounds good, doesn't it?" Fire Goddess Agni agreed.
"Well, that's one way to fix it." said Earth Goddess Kishar.
If it's not going to have any effect on me then there is only Fer or Sui left to receive Rusalka-sama's blessing (small) but Fer already has the full blessing of a certain deplorable goddess (Wind Goddess Ninril) so that just leaves Sui.
"I understand. A Slime is a monster with a water property so my blessing would be appropriate. ...... but can I really give it?" It seems that something was wrong.
"Hey, Ruka-chan? Do you have a problem giving your divine blessing to a Slime?"
"I am fine giving my blessing to a Slime but unlike you others I haven't been handing out blessings to all-comers without thinking about the consequences so I'm just a bit hesitant."
"Hey Ruka-chan, it's a bit of an overstatement to say that we've been careless handing out blessings."
"That's right, Ruka."
"It's the truth though. Everyone else been handing out blessings to individuals at the rate of one every ten years. The God of Creation scolded us and told us we should only bestow our blessings once every century or so. It's been over 130 years since I last gave out a blessing. That means... good, there's no problem with me giving the Slime my blessing."
"Yay..."
"Good to go..."
"Ohohoho..."
Everyone was pleased that Ruka-sama's objections had been settled, but her comment about the God of Creation scolding certain goddesses for handing out their blessings too frequently, well...
"Well, everyone, please calm down. F- for the time being I will make offerings to everyone equally."
"No fair, I kept it secret because I was afraid it would be like this." grumped a certain overweight goddess. "I gave you my protection first so my share of the offerings should be bigger. I won't forgive you if you don't."
"What are you saying Ninril-chan? Other-world-guy-kun should treat us all equally. It's not nice of you to try and monopolise him so just stop it."
"But whoever was first should get priority, shouldn't they?" the deplorable goddess persisted.
"Ninril, quit it." Fire Goddess Agni growled.
Ha ha ha, I wish you four petulant goddesses would just grow up...
"Mumble mumble"
"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say Ruka-chan. Anyway I'm sure that other-world-guy-kun will do his best for us." Earth Goddess Kishar said, trying to settle things down between her colleagues while dumping the responsibility onto the overworked underpaid salaryman i.e. me. Thanks.
"So, on that note, please offer us a little something for our efforts today ~ "
"... ... " (nods vigorously)
"Oh, I'm looking forward to eating sweet things but I wish I had some booze." Fire Goddess Agni muttered.
"Agni, don't say things like that." Earth Goddess Kishar chided.
"She's right you know. Don't mention alcohol."
"Booze, no good." Water Goddess Rusalka whispered.
"Hmm? Why?" I wondered.
"Why? Because if unusual things like alcoholic drinks from another world turn up here, THOSE GUYS will come."
"That's right. Troublesome individuals will definitely appear."
"The God of War, the God of Blacksmiths, all sorts of bothersome gods will push their way in if they smell alcohol."
Ah, so that's the reason not to offer up alcohol?
"Oh yeah, they get mad and argue when they start drinking."
"Yes that's true. Moreover they wouldn't pass up the opportunity to taste other-world alcohol, you know."
"So absolutely no liquor." proclaimed Earth Goddess Kishar. That seemed quite definite. The God of War and the God of Blacksmiths, do they really like alcohol so much?
"W- well, OK then, no booze. It seems a bit rough having to do without alcohol, I must admit." Agni-sama seems focussed on the idea of getting her hands on alcohol some day though.
"So now we've got that sorted, how about you get those sweets on their way to us?"
"That's right. Offer us sweets quick."
I wasn't sure it was really 'sorted' but I arranged my Net Super purchases on the usual cardboard-box altar, closed my eyes and prayed.
"Goddess companions, I thank you for granting us everyone's blessing. Please continue to take care of us from now on."
When I opened my eyes the confectionery that had been on the cardboard altar had disappeared.
"This offering is not enough you know. It's meant to be for four of us, so increase it." The bitching started immediately. I sighed.
"That's right. Ninril-chan eats a lot and we want to eat as much as she does. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."
"True, true. Hand over as much as you gave Ninril." growled Fire Goddess Agni.
"... ..." (nods at high speed) Water Goddess Rusalka was equally vehement in her own silent manner.
"Yeah, lots and lots."
Ohhhh well, since you insist... I decided to hurry things along since the goddesses were getting fractious. I quickly opened the Net Super and bought all kinds of of sweet buns and cakes and Western sweets and Japanese sweets at random from the menu.
"Here's the extra sweets you requrested." I prayed. "Please accept them as my offering to you. There's the same amount I offered to Ninril-sama for each of you so please do not argue over them." The last request was wishful thinking on my part.
After the second lot of confectionery I placed on the cardboard altar disappeared the goddesses' voices echoed in my head again.
"Hey, good job you!"
"They're so sweet, other-world-guy-kun."
"Other world sweets, gmm..."
"Muggumuggu (nodding while eating dorayaki)"
"Ah, what are you eating! I will not forgive you if you eat MY special offerings, you know!"
"Well, I don't want Agni-chan and Ruka-chan to eat all the good items."
"But why are you eating ALL the dorayaki, Ruka-chan? They're not just for you. I mean, dorayaki is my personal favorite, gobbling it like that is not nice-"
The hen-house clucking of the goddesses was suddenly cut off as the oracle ended, thank goodness. Deary me, the Goddess companions do make a lot of noise. I didn't know what the world of the Gods was really like before but now I wish someone would do something about it, please? What now... maybe I should Appraise the effects of my two new blessings on my status?
[ Name ] Mukouda (Tsuyoshi Mukouda)
[ Age ] 27
[ Job ] A person from a different world who got caught
[ Level ] 11
[ Stamina ] 194
[ Magic Powers ] 189
[ Attack Powers ] 175
[ Defense Powers ] 174
[ Agility ] 170
[ Skill ] Appraisal Item Box Fire Magic Earth Magic Familiar
[ Contracted Monsters] Fenrir, Baby Slime
[ Unique Skill ] Net Super
[ Protection ] Wind Goddess Ninril's blessing (small) Fire Goddess Agni's blessing (small)
Earth Goddess Kishar's blessing (small)
OK, Agni-sama and Kishar-sama's blessings are new. I'll see how effective they are tomorrow. Oh, my level's also gone up. Level 11, huh? It's been going up since I came here but Sui is still well in front. Ha ha ha... Wait, how has Sui's status changed now she's got Ruka-sama's blessing?
[Name] Sui
[Age] 1 month
[Types] Big Slime
[Level] 6
[Fitness] 855
[Magical Power] 848
[Attack power] 834
[Defense force] 842
[Agility] 852
[Skill] Acid Bullet Restorative Medicine Creation Growth Water Magic
[ Protection ] Water Goddess Rusalka's blessing
Her age is still one month, the fractions aren't shown. I'm 27 years old on my status and that's all. I suppose days can't be shown for Sui's age or months for mine.
Oh, Sui is getting ahead of me, she's already level 6 after she evolved. Her magic skill has increased too. That will be due to Ruka-san's blessing. Sui's magic was already strong before, now she's received the Goddess' blessing she'll become stronger as the blessing of the Water Goddess increases the power of her water magic. Sui will become stronger in the blink of an eye, and she's still only a month old.
At any rate I'll have to test my magic skills but I'll also have to see what Sui's water magic can do as well. We'll do some magic experiments outside town tomorrow.