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“If the World Eater appears and the people of the world can’t do anything to stop it, I want you to at least push it back. You don’t have to defeat it.”

I had a feeling that one day, ever since the World Eater was released, I’d get a request like this. But it came a lot sooner than I had expected. I didn’t really mind, since I didn’t have to defeat her anyway. Besides, I’d told everyone that any requests to slay the World Eater had to first be approved by the God of Chaos, so those didn’t really come in.

As for this particular job… I couldn’t quite figure out what the god who requested it was thinking. I understood that they want to protect their world from being devoured by the World Eater. They were probably the type who really cherished mortals. In fact, I had seen gods like that plenty of times. They frequently sent down divine revelations and even granted power to protect their people.

But honestly, given that we could descend in the world, that meant its fate was already sealed. It was not like one of those cases where the world was collapsing naturally due to age. If anything, given that the world was about to meet its end, I could understand its God wanting me to end it rather than it being eaten by the World Eater.

“Is it about work?”

Fumitsuki asked, probably because I’d been lost in thought for a while.

“I was just wondering what this world’s god is thinking.”
“They want to protect this world, right?”
“That’s exactly what I don’t understand. Why would a god call me to protect the world I can descend to? I mean, I can sort of see the reasoning if I try hard enough, but… summoning me for that purpose doesn’t make much sense.”
“If they just want to keep the world alive a little longer, summoning you is the worst thing they could do.”

The god of endings shortened the lifespan of any world they descended upon. So, unless it was certain that the World Eater was coming, summoning me as a preventive measure was far too risky. So the god must have had some other plan, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Maybe they were trying to trap me? But even that didn’t make much sense. Attacking me would be an enormous risk. I had completed a lot of divine requests by now, and many gods depended on me. If one of them were to harm me, they’d risk becoming enemies of all the others. The same went for any gods I had worked with in the past.

“Well, thinking about it won’t get me anywhere.”
“So, why is this world collapsing?”

Fumitsuki changed the subject, probably because I’d given up trying to understand this world’s God.

“Hmm… that’s the point. It’s kind of vague. Judging by this world’s level of development and direction, it shouldn’t be putting that much strain on itself. Yet the burden on the world is big.”
“Is that so?”
“But you have an idea of what’s going on, don’t you, Master Finis?”

Lullus pointed out, and I nodded. I was still a god, after all, and I could make an educated guess.

“It’s probably the god who created this world. Whether it’s to give people a better life or to stop them from developing too far, they’ve been interfering far too much.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”

As some gods had said before, even delivering divine revelations burdened the world. Doing it too often accelerated the collapse. But this god not only gave revelations, but they also granted power, and even created adversaries to be overcome, like a Demon Lord or something similar.

You would think they could just fend off the World Eater themselves, but that much divine interference would damage the world even more than my descent. So they probably called me to minimize the damage. Though honestly, I still believed there were better options.

“Maybe they just can’t stand to lose the people they’ve cared for so much, to some external threat.”
“So, in other words, they’re fine with a slow, invisible collapse caused by me, but not with the sudden, visible destruction the World Eater brings?”

I could see what the goal was, but it just didn’t strike me as godlike.

“Either way, this isn’t really the place to be discussing such things.”

At Lullus’ words, I glanced around. The place was crowded with people, a restaurant full of young, well-dressed women. In more modern terms, it was basically a café. Not as stylish as the cafés I remembered, but by this world’s standards, it was cutting-edge, and most importantly, it served sweets.

Things like fruit were one thing, but the kind of sugary sweetness they sold here was expensive, which naturally drew in young, wealthy women. Even noble ladies were still women, after all, and the surrounding chatter was constant.

“Don’t worry, I’ve made sure no one can overhear us.”
“I know.”
“It’s just… there’s something kind of romantic about having an important secret discussion in a trendy café, don’t you think?”
“Hmm… I guess I kind of get it,” Fumitsuki said.

Lullus, on the other hand, looked like she couldn’t relate at all. Well, if they didn’t get it, they didn’t get it. It was time to change the subject anyway. There was not much else to do in this world right now.