You're fast.
"a-ha-ha-ha!

Hey, hey. Did you try that stream over there?
'Yes!　It goes boom in the middle!　That was so funny!
Yeah, I see. Yeah, I'm gonna go check it out!
Oh, me too!　I'm going again!

　The mermaids are playing happily in the ocean currents generated inside my temple.

　This temple is basically open, so mermaids and fishermen are always free to come and go as they please.

　In a world of the deep sea where entertainment is scarce, the mermaids were looking forward to playing with the currents I create on a whim


　It seems that the current created by this boy named Hurt is more interesting to mermaids than the fast current I create.

　I see. We're going to fall down in one fell swoop from there, aren't we?
　Oh!　There, that's an angle you can turn at?

　Mm-hmm.
　I could spin around in circles - and then boom.

　I see........that sure sounds fun.

　I wanted to try it out myself, but as a sea god, I was worried about the eyes of the shikigami and mermaids when I was playing with the current created by the human race.

　I'm going to make an imitation flow and play with it in secret later.


"Halt, you say?

'Yes. My name is Halt-Vi-Silverley. I am the Wise Man of Glendale.

A wise man at such a young age ... perhaps you are a reincarnation?

Yes. That's right.

　Hurt answered my question honestly.

　You're not trying to hide anything?

　Or maybe I'm a god and I know it's useless to try to keep something secret....

　Well, I don't care if it's a good idea either way.
　I like Hurt.

　It's a good thing that he's young and polite, because the amount of magic he can create multiple currents inside my temple and his manipulation skills tell me that he's strong.

　I like strong guys.

　Among gods, there are also warrior gods and dragon gods who are strong, but they cannot fight freely.

　My grandfather (creator god) would be angry with me.

　That's why I get excited when I find a strong human race or something.

　And he came out of the blue to visit me.

　He defeated the Kraken and Leviathan in the water and came right at me.

　I don't think we have a choice in the matter, do we?


　No, calm down.

　Halt said he was chasing a shikigami, and that's how far he got here. I mean, maybe he can move faster than you can in the water.

　You don't want me to get away.

　I don't think there's any way she can escape from me in the water, but chasing after a runaway and forcing him to fight is kind of boring.

　I want to fight to my heart's content with anyone who wants to fight me.

　That's why...


By the way, Hurt. What did you want to come here for?

　I'm going to ask you what you want.

　I'm going to give you what you want and you're going to fight me in return.

　I am a god.
　I am the god of the sea, who rules over the seas of this world.

　I am also connected to the Sky God who governs the sky and the Earth God who governs the earth.

　I've got a lot of people in my life who are very interested in this kind of thing. The four topmost gods of this world - that's us.

　The only one above us is my grandfather, the supreme god, the creator god.

　So if I wanted to, my wishes in this world could be fulfilled.

　However, it's a bit troubling if it's 'I want to go back to the original world', as reincarnated people tend to do....

　It would require a lot of divine energy to do so, so I can't do anything on my own. It's possible that I could just do it on my own, knowing that my grandfather (the creator god) would be angry with me.

　I don't want to do it, but....

　That's why I'm trying to make sure that Hurt's wish is something I can fulfill beforehand.


'The purpose?　Hmmm.....

　For some reason, Hurt is bothered.

I was stopping a big squid and a sea dragon from going wild near the boat I was on. Then I noticed a woman there in the water, and she got away so fast that I had to chase after her and come over here.

　That's what I heard from the shikigami.
　Harut seems to have followed the shikigami with a conditioned reflex.

　I think it's amazing that he can move through the water at a speed that doesn't lose sight of the shikigami.

I was surprised to see a very large building at the bottom of the ocean like this. And even though this area is deep sea, this building is so bright because it's vaguely glowing...''

　Oh, yeah. That's what I do for them.

　It's not that I have no problem operating in the darkness of the deep sea, but there are some people who will be troubled if a subordinate god or something comes in.

I was curious about the inside, and there were no guards or anything, and the door was fully open, so I came in like this.

Is that... hmm?

　Oh, don't tell me...

'Wait a minute, Hurt. Do you have no idea who I am?

Huh?　Uh, well I'm sorry.

　...Really?

　So there's no way they can know that this is my temple, right?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I thought you knew me, so I didn't introduce myself. Once again - I'm Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Sea God, Poseidon, Poseidon...

Do you know who I am?

'Yes, sir. Of course!　One of the four great gods, right?

Yes.

　Even the reincarnated ones seem to already have that much knowledge.

'Then is this the temple of........the sea goddess?

Yeah. This is my home.

'I'm sorry!　I didn't know and I did something weird inside the temple.

　The weird thing would be that you created a current and let the mermaids play with it.

'Well, don't worry about that. The mermaids looked like they were having fun.

　Halt's magic manipulation was perfect, and the currents created by his magic did not destroy my temple or any of my ornaments.

　The problem is more than that...


If you didn't know this was a temple, then you don't have a particular wish for God (me), do you?

Yes.

　Oh, I see.
　That would be a pain in the ass.

　I can't negotiate with you to fight me for a bit in exchange for a wish.

　In this world, it is forbidden by Grandfather (the creator god) for a god to touch a human.

　The exception is when a human messes with a god.
　At that time, the gods are also allowed to fight back.

　So, I was going to get the first blow from Hurt and then start the fight.

　But if Hurt was only here for a reason, there was no way to negotiate.

　I'm the god of sea creatures, so I don't know what humans on earth want.

　It's getting very complicated.


"Hey, Hurt. Would you like to fight me for a second?

　It's a pain in the ass to think about things, so I decided to just ask him already.

　If he rejects me with this, it's no use.
　I think the hope is ... slim.

　As expected, the only people who would willingly fight the gods would be an idiot with a few screws missing from his head, an idiot who was overconfident in his own power, or a monster with power that surpassed the gods (us).

　From the looks of it, Hurt seems to be young but intelligent, and it's great that he was able to get this far, but I didn't feel that much of a monster-like power.

　That's why there's no way Halt will fight me.

　That's what I thought, but...


'Okay. Let's do it!

　Hurt sounded confident and said he would fight me.