Chapter 227 Where
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Ai swept past his kneeling form to stand beside her ally, her steps silent and steady.
Her graceful shape shone with a blinding light like a goddess weaving a holy place. But even close, their heavy auras did not clash; they fit together smoothly. To a tiny human, the wild power around them was already too much to breathe. Yet the goddesses did not care, as if the other’s terrible might did not exist.
”—Please don’t look so lonely, Brother. The one standing before you is still your dearest Ai, just like always. ♡” Ai said softly, her voice carrying the perfect, elegant calm of a high-born lady.
Mataaha grunted, speaking with the deep, old-fashioned dignity of an ancient warrior. “Hmph. Why feel sad about entering a place different from your own? Someday, you must learn to bear this level of pressure without flinching.”
Before goddesses who blessed the mortal world, humans were no more than bugs hiding from a storm. Faced with that raw truth, Yuuri could not shake the cold feeling that the younger goddess—the one he had named—had drifted so far away he could no longer touch her.
No… to think I ever truly held her in my hand, or felt a familiar warmth… maybe that was just human arrogance.
The pure emptiness of being overwhelmed was written all over his face.1 Yet the goddesses, who wanted a peer, just scolded their carefully raised prototype, telling him not to set limits on himself. Faced with hopes far too heavy for his shoulders, Yuuri doubted his own ears, his voice coming back sharp and flat.
”—A family. You said family. You gave me the [Familial Workshop] and pushed me to beat the [Labyrinth] just so you could mix my life with your god-powers and strip away my human limits…!” Yuuri demanded, pressing them for the truth.
”Bullseye! ☆ I mean, like, we are totally asking you to throw away your humanity, after all.” Yui giggled, her voice full of flashy excitement and the over-the-top talk of a valley girl influencer. “We gave you a brand-new life, hooked you up with special [Skills] to make you feel literally sooo incredible, saved your skin, handed you a bunch of cute girls… like, if we didn’t spoil you every single step, you wouldn’t have even listened to our pitch, right? ♡”
”Control yourself, ‘other me.’ This is no time to play the villain…” Ai cut in, her refined superiority slicing through the air with perfect elegance. “Brother, testing others is something you must never do if you want a good relationship. But if it is someone we plan to spend forever with, we need to know their true self. We had to see if our interests could line up. We cannot afford to raise someone who does not share our path.”
That a human could be raised to the same rank as gods—and that he was the one they wanted—was something he could not believe just like that. Yet looking back at the lavish treatment he had gotten up to now, the huge investment and the crazy returns they wanted matched perfectly in their sheer strangeness.
So though he pressed them with question after question, the answers stayed the same each time. Annoyingly, the stage was already perfectly set. Despite the harshness of his training and the deep fear of losing his footing as a human, he had already been pulled so far down their path that he could not simply say no.
”Haha. Sure, if you beat someone into gaining power by scaring them, they’ll just turn their back on you later.” Yuuri shot back, his voice steadying into a clean, modern tone. “But even then, isn’t this still just a method… a way to get something else? Why go through such a tricky process just to gain a friend? What is the final goal that you two have spent so much time and effort trying to reach?!”
Yet despite his guess, the main mystery stayed unsolved. First of all, even if a human got godlike power through this method, they would still be tiny compared to these first goddesses. Also, without having a natural god-nature like a [Labyrinth] or unique [Skills], could he really be seen as their equal?
If the goddesses had no big purpose and this was all just a game to kill their endless boredom, they would think nothing of throwing away a creation they had made so lightly. If that were true, he would surely be much happier staying within the bounds of humanity to live a normal life.
So if they wanted him to take this final step, the goddesses would have to show their own weak points—weak points big enough to explain their grand plan. Otherwise, he could never bring himself to agree.
”Mm, quite so. The humans of this world fear us far too much,” Mataaha observed, keeping her old-fashioned, manly gravity. “Your predecessors among Shelm’s lovers were blinded by their own faith, refusing to look at the limits of a god. —I have lost count of how many times we repeated this cycle, but when she finally suggested pulling the soul of someone from another world, I truly thought she had lost her mind.”
”Ahaha! We never could see eye to eye on that, could we? ☆ See, I told you so!” Yui chimed in, her valley girl drawl dripping with playful excitement. “Someone who’s reasonably disrespectful won’t hold back when it comes to listening to a god’s troubles.2 Ah, Yuuri-kun is literally the very first one who didn’t just flatly refuse, but actually demanded to know our goal! ♡ Hey, Mataaha, you could stand to admire my eye for talent just a little bit more, you know!”
As he cut straight into the goddesses’ inner matters, the harsh scolding he had braced for never came. Instead, Yui and the others just looked back on their past failures with deep nostalgia, and the terrible weight of their divine majesty softened, shifting into something as gentle and warm as a spring breeze.
Though the sudden change in their attitude threw him off, a sudden sense of understanding washed over him.
Every single one of Shelm’s past lovers had been brought to her side for the sole purpose of being raised into a peer. Yet no matter how close those devout followers became, they offered their devotion strictly in exchange for the goddess’s protection; they never dared to step outside their boundaries to truly help her.
While she did not blame them for their limits, a cornered Shelm had finally searched outside the edges of the universe for a piece that would not automatically worship her without question.
”You piece of work… don’t tell me that treating me like a bug from the second sentence onward was also…!” Yuuri snapped, his standard American accent sharpening.
”Nfufu~ ♡ Can you even begin to understand how it felt to have men give me the exact same look of terror after I offered them nothing less than a second chance at life?” Yui sighed, her voice totally dripping with exaggerated drama. “I feel like giving myself a medal just for holding back from punching them into nothing. ♡ When I barely held back and tried to act all sinister, you gave me such a beautifully disgusted look. And yet, deep down in your heart, you were overflowing with thanks toward me and picturing your next life. The moment I saw that, I knew it was, like, totally meant to be you! ♡”
When he had first met Shelm, he never had the chance to demand exactly what profit a god stood to gain from setting up a reincarnation. Of course, the truth was that he lacked both the calm and the raw courage to pry into her inner matters at the time, but looking back, he realized he had been beautifully maneuvered into acting exactly according to her grand design.
If he looked at it that way, even his first hatred for Shelm was nothing more than a calculated piece within a vast divine plot. Yet, even knowing that he had been spinning entirely in the palm of her hand this whole time, he could not find it in himself to push away this utterly outrageous goddess now.
”Damn it… you completely set me up…!” Yuuri growled.
”Uhehe~ ♡ Granted, my timing for letting you use the [Familial Workshop] was a total mistake, but I managed to fix it, like, perfectly, didn’t I? ♡” Yui cheered, completely unbothered.
Even when he offered a token resistance by hurling curses at her, the wicked goddess showed absolutely no sign of regret. If anything, she did nothing but praise her own handiwork in forging their bond, fully convinced that this time, she would never be left behind.
Angered by her victorious grin, Yuuri reached out, grabbed her by the neck, and forcefully stole the words straight from her moving lips.
Though Yui was caught off guard at first, she immediately began to smirk at the sheer desperation of the man holding onto her. However, as his tongue ruthlessly explored the inside of her mouth, her shimmering eyes began to wander. Her beautiful features melted into an expression of pure bliss, her body completely giving way, twitching and shaking in his arms.
”—Now then. In the end, what exactly do you want to achieve by creating someone like me, who can’t possibly match up to you?” Yuuri demanded, keeping his tone firm and direct. “If you want me by your side that badly, give me an explanation I can actually understand.”
”Fuheh, fu-nyaah?! ♡♡ I-I’ll tell you! I’ll totally tell you, okay?! ♡ Just stop messing with my [Crotch Tattoo] like that, it’s literally too much, h-ahhh! ♡” Yui cried out, her valley girl cadence entirely broken by pleasure.
Just as the goddesses had shown that their earlier blessings were merely a way to recruit a friend, Yuuri meant to fully remind Yui’s body exactly who controlled her pleasure. Ignoring the jealous stares of the surrounding servants, he thoroughly traced and rubbed the gorgeous beauty caught firmly in his grasp until the fallen goddess finally gave in with a breathless, sweet shriek.
”Kufu, nnh… ♡♡ …Haaah, geez, right before that, too… ♡ You went and got me so completely worked up…” Yui whimpered, trying to catch her breath. “W-Wait! If you make me wait any longer, I seriously won’t be able to hold back this time! ♡”
”If you understand the situation, then spit it out already.” Yuuri urged, his voice crisp and demanding. “Or would it be faster if I asked Ai or Mataaha-sama directly?”
His sudden, aggressive kiss was a statement of his own intent—a sign that he had absolutely no plan to let go of this lovable, wretched goddess at this late stage. However, whether he could accept their grand plan on a logical level was a completely different matter. As he pressed the stalling Yui once more, the former goddess turned her shimmering eyes toward the sky, her gaze wandering as she carefully chose her next words.
”Uuu…” Yui whined, her expression shifting into an intense seriousness. “Yuuri-kun, where do you think God is?”
”—? What do you mean ‘where’?” Yuuri asked, blinking in confusion. “Are you asking about their own divine realms or something?”
Yui’s question was remarkably vague for someone trying to explain a big truth. Still, despite her flushed cheeks, her expression was entirely serious, without any intent to trick or bluff. As he tilted his head, wondering if it was some kind of metaphor, Yui turned her gaze toward Marina—who had been watching the exchange with held breath—and repeated the exact same question.
”It is a famous philosophical question.” Marina answered, her tone carrying the supreme, refined superiority of a high-born lady. “…To put it in Yui’s words, it would be: ‘Given that all the conditions needed to meet a god have been so thoroughly set up, where are all the other gods?’”
”Nfufu~ As expected of a former high-society lady. Truly cultured and well-educated, I’m like, totally impressed! ☆” Yui beamed, leaning back into her signature flashy enthusiasm. “…Simply put, God exists, Yuuri-kun. There are obvious, supernatural displays of power like [Skills] and the [Labyrinth], and then there’s us, the ones who manage them. Yet, there is no god of magic. Also, we have never seen the god who actually created this world, nor have we ever met a god from any other world. Don’t you think that’s, like, completely weird?”
The doubt slipped from Yui’s lips as if it were the most normal observation in the world. Yet, as the true weight of her words sank in, a deep, icy shiver ran straight down his spine.
It was true. The two beings before him had power that could only be called divine. If power and godhood existed as an unbreakable pair, then it made sense that a god corresponding to the world’s natural magic should also exist. Also, if that logic held true, a creator god responsible for the very laws ruling the universe’s existence should be out there somewhere—and yet Yui flatly denied their existence.
—Where exactly is God?
It was impossible for two beings who took their own existence entirely for granted to have never thought about that exact question. Yet with no sign of any other gods anywhere in the universe, it meant they could not even understand the core reason behind their own existence.
”You two… just how exactly were you born in the first place?” Yuuri asked, his voice low.
”Hmph, who knows?” Mataaha rumbled, her voice filled with old-fashioned dignity. “By the time I gained awareness, I had already nested inside some random world, carving out a cave to play in.”
”As for me, I realized I became aware simply because I felt a total rush of joy whenever the humans I gave power to went out and did great things.” Yui concluded, her voice carrying a final, thoughtful lilt.
When you stopped to question their true beginnings, the answer remained annoyingly unclear. Yet from the moment they gained awareness and began growing their understanding, their existence felt less like that of true gods and more like humans. I knew it was a very disrespectful thought, but despite having overwhelming power, they looked less like divine creators and more like creatures born from nothing.
”――’Tis well,” Mataaha declared, her tone carrying an ancient, manly weight. “We call ourselves gods simply because we are worshipped, but we hold no true attachment to the title. Whether we are gods or just unique life forms matters not to us. …The real issue is that there is none who holds power equal to our own. If a true God exists in a realm beyond our sight, it is none of our concern. What matters is that within the range of our own senses, we are the only ones who can talk to each other as equals, and that is an unbearable problem!”
Mataaha’s tone, usually distant and cold, burned with an unusual intensity. Her total indifference to any doubts about her godhood gave away her true nature—it was the deep, aching grief of an absolute being starving for an equal.
――This was the hidden weakness the goddesses had carried within themselves all along.
It was likely to fix this loneliness3 that Mataaha and her friend had tried every option available to them. Perhaps the very moment these two pillars of godhood crossed paths was when this burning desperation began. Had they remained completely alone, they might have accepted their fate as absolute beings. But as luck or misfortune would have it, finding an equal had only made them search every corner of existence, desperately hunting for another friend.
Yet through the endless passing of ages4, they found no other gods anywhere.
Finally, rather than wasting their energy looking for brothers who might not even exist, they decided it would be better to mix their sure powers and give birth to a brand-new equal.
That was the sole reason these two goddesses of completely different natures had formed a deep bond of friendship, and why they yearned so fiercely for the birth of a new god, even if it had only a tiny bit of their strength.
”If I remember right, right after I became Yuuri-kun’s wifey, I accidentally let out a cry for help, didn’t I? That was only because Yuuri-kun kept living up to all our hopes ♡ If Yuuri-kun hadn’t worked out, I was starting to think we’d have to give up on welcoming a new friend from among the humans, and I just let myself get a little weak for a moment ♡” the second goddess chimed in, her voice brimming with hyper-cute enthusiasm.
”The rest depends entirely on your will,” Mataaha added, her voice returning to its old-fashioned gravity, “but if it is at all possible, we wish for you to accept our offer. If it cannot be done through you, the only remaining option we can think of would be to pit ourselves against one another in total war. Even if our existences fail to survive the clash, we can only hope that a new consciousness might sprout from the broken pieces of our Authorities.”
Are the worries of gods truly so far removed from those of mortals?
As I stood there, silent at the sheer size of her words, she casually dropped a disturbing statement that sounded practically like asking for death.
To these goddesses, was this haunting loneliness5 something they were willing to throw away their very lives to cure? Even if they were willing to wait out the rest of my natural life, knowing that my choice would eventually bring an absolute disaster upon human society meant it would be impossible for me to enjoy whatever time I had left.
Because of that, I could no longer simply refuse them, but at the same time, I had no choice but to hold back from a quick decision.
If I accepted the goddesses’ offer, the ‘dungeon core’ and the (Familial Workshop) would merge together, serving as a cradle to birth a weak, lesser god.
But if the (Familial Workshop) stopped working as it always had, what would happen to all the servants tied to it? Until I questioned them closely on that exact point, I absolutely refused to nod my head in agreement.
—
Summary:
Sweeping past the kneeling Yuuri, Ai positions herself beside her divine ally to showcase their dense, non-clashing power to the overwhelmed mortal. Confronting the goddesses regarding his bestowed skills and the true purpose behind the existential entrapment, Yuuri uncovers a long history of failed chosen ones who lacked the essential irreverence needed to assist the deities. Forcing a physical surrender from a highly simulated Yui to demand deep clarification, Yuuri is suddenly struck by an existential revelation concerning the absolute absence of a creator god or a deity of magic throughout the observable universe.
Mataaha reveals the existential burden of absolute loneliness that drives the goddesses to seek out equals across eons. Her companion reinforces this desperation, highlighting the critical role Yuuri-kun plays in fulfilling their divine expectations through his actions. The conversation shifts toward a terrifying ultimatumn of mutually assured destruction, leaving Yuuri paralyzed by the potential ramifications for his household servants and human society.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Ai – A graceful sub-divinity who manages the world’s Skills, this goddess radiates a blinding, magnificent aura. Serving as a powerful, party-connected energy source, she stands as a steadfast ally to Yuuri. Viewing him as her “Elder Brother,” she harbors deep trust and genuine affection for him, forged through his exceptional mastery and efficiency in utilizing her divine power.
• Mataaha – A labyrinth goddess with brown skin, silver eyes, and long black hair, she projects a refined, majestic, and stern presence. Possessing transcendent power and an overwhelming aura, she governs the Royal Capital Labyrinth with detached, old-fashioned dignity. While cold and authoritative toward intruders, she burns with intense emotion regarding her solitude, sharing easy familiarity only with Yui and Ai.
• Yuuri – An arrogant, power-hungry commoner who conquered the Labyrinth and leads the Familial Workshop, this master distribution strategist hides high-level skills beneath a “Skillless” facade. Though he dominates his wives, Yui and Suzuri, and wields grotesque tentacle powers, he remains a human kneeling before goddesses, plagued by intense anxiety and a crumbling sense of self as he loses his humanity.
• Yui – Once a goddess and now Yuuri’s devoted servant-bride, she is a silver-haired beauty with mesmerizing iridescent eyes, a voluptuous form, and a signature red-black crotch tattoo. Though prone to laziness and a fondness for tentacles, this hyper-energetic companion expresses deep, fearless affection for Yuuri, often flushing with ecstasy. She currently lies unconscious while bound in restrictive livery.
• Shelm – Wicked Goddess, reincarnated Yuuri, manipulative, wants him to use his power.
• Marina – First Princess of Restea and leader of the Marina-dono faction, this highly educated noble turned adventurer serves a free-spirited goddess as part of Yuuri’s party. Donning golden gauntlets, she conquered the Labyrinth and now manages its depths. Despite her refined high-society background, she navigates treacherous mechanics with a distinct, nervous intensity when facing the unknown.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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