Garden Of The Gods (2)

If Ludicer finds pleasure in seizing control and tormenting, Aetas feels satisfaction when that aloof expression breaks into an annoyed face. Just like now.

“Hey! Who do we have here? Isn’t it the dignified and, what was it again…? Ah! Yes! The graceful and lovely goddess beloved by the God of the Sky, Caelum?”

“…You! Stop that! It’s seriously annoying. If it weren’t for the strict rules set by the Creator, I’d have already found that bastard and twisted his neck. Caelum! That bastard! How did he train his representative?! Aaaah!! Just wait until the battle’s over!!”

My patron god, Ludicer, always shows a cold, intellectual, and rational demeanor, so seeing a god truly shudder with irritation was a first for me.

Seeing a goddess shuddering and getting angry… isn’t mystical at all. It’s no different from the hysteria of a spinster. What was I expecting?

“Whoa, whoa… Aetas, you’re a goddess, aren’t you?”

“So what?! Anyway, are you handling that crazy bastard well?”

“Yeah. You must have seen everything through Lee Hyo-ju. I’ve broken his limbs and shattered his mana core, but I’m contemplating. There’s no thrill in his struggle, so I’m considering fixing his arms, if not his legs. In hindsight, I think I was hasty. I shouldn’t have cut his tongue; I should’ve left it. His screams are just gurgles, not satisfying. There’s no fun in tormenting him.”

The moment Aetas met the insolent human in front of her, she realized she had been waiting for him.

A human more intriguing than her proxy, Lee Hyo-ju.

Someone who, despite knowing she wouldn’t hear good things upon meeting, still made her want to hear even the bad things.

That’s exactly who Kim Han is, a regressor and a representative who casually jokes with gods, a feat even other gods find challenging.

How many times has she felt such a variety of emotions since becoming a god?

No, the divine realm itself was always leisurely and slow due to the abundance of time.

That’s why Kim Han, as a human, was intriguing, curious, and amusing.

Even now, he speaks with a tone colder than any god’s, jokingly discussing the handling of a traitor.

Cruel words that would make any human frown. Talking about cutting tongues or dealing with limbs.

His mind, viewing representatives colder than slaves, was more human than godlike, or perhaps more intriguing.

Then, Aetas suddenly had a thought.

‘Why did that absurd lie about being a representative of Caelum make me angry?’

Suppressing the rising suspicion, Aetas spoke sincerely to the human before him.

“…You really, how can a human say such things so casually…? Anyway, thank you for saving Hyo-ju.”

“Did I save her…? Can I really say I saved her completely? Yeah. Well, instead of just words, give something to show gratitude. That’s the polite way, right?”

It was like this. Even knowing it was a joke, it was strangely annoying.

The desire not to lose to this annoying guy’s words welled up.

“…Aaaah! So annoying! You really…!”

“I know, I’m annoying. Thanks. No need for more compliments. I’m not a whale, so I won’t dance or anything.”

I find it a bit puzzling that I want to keep bothering and teasing Aetas and Ludicer, but surprisingly, it relieves stress and feels refreshing, so I decided to enjoy it.

“Uuuuuu!”

“That’s enough joking around. Tell me what you said I’d find out when I entered the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’”

Was Aetas angry at my unilateral control of the atmosphere? It took over ten minutes for her to calm down.

Returning to that haughty expression, she began to talk about Lee Hyo-ju.

“If you hadn’t intervened, Hyo-ju would have been raped by men under the influence of stimulants. And when they sobered up, they would have left Hyo-ju behind. To them, Hyo-ju’s miserable state would be the reality of the crime they committed.”

“Go on.”

“The trashy whore named Katarina would provoke the men’s guilt. After they left, a Black Orc would appear where the exhausted and fainted Hyo-ju lay. But the remnants of the ‘Night of Frenzy’ were still there. What do you think happened?”

“Hmm…”

“Yes, just as you think. Even representatives with strong mental power struggled during the Night of Frenzy. A Black Orc is nothing. While the Black Orc was causing trouble, Unos, realizing that the real representative was Hyo-ju, would return and witness the scene. And at the decisive moment, he would appear with a ‘ta-da!’ He’d deal with the Black Orc with impressive magic and save Hyo-ju. Then he’d beg for forgiveness. You can guess the rest, right? That filthy bastard. There are all sorts of people, but there was no one I wanted to kill more than that bastard. Even the Heavenly God’s damn representative would be a hundred times better!”

It sounded as if she spoke with the foresight of a Goddess of Time, but both Aetas and I knew.

The situation she described now was something Hyo-ju had experienced before. In fact, Aetas almost slipped and said, “You know too,” before quickly changing her words.

Sure, that makes sense… for an ordinary woman.

But the woman being talked about here is no ordinary woman. She’s Lee Hyo-ju. Her status window clearly reflects her disposition. It’s the talent of ‘Calmness.’

“Lee Hyo-ju would easily fall for Unos like that? If that were the case, she should have declared herself as your representative from the start.”

“You act like you know everything about Lee Hyo-ju, but there’s something you don’t know about her, isn’t there? Or perhaps you just don’t understand women? Ah, is Kim Han just a strong, lifelong bachelor?”

“What did you say, you…?! Ah, my mistake.”

Aetas’s provocation ignited a fire in the heart of a lifelong bachelor, causing me to flare up without realizing it.

Well, it’s surprisingly cathartic to curse at a god like this, so it’s not a loss.

“…It seems like a mistake that’s not really a mistake, but I’ll let it slide. Our Hyo-ju has an exceptional ability to read others’ emotions. She can tell if someone is approaching her with goodwill or with another purpose. So, she must have sensed something off in Unos’s demeanor.”

“Then it makes even less sense, doesn’t it? Even if Unos later returns and cuts down the orc riding, how could she trust him so easily?”

At my question, Aetas shook her head in disbelief and clicked her tongue. This woman!

“That’s why, Kim Han, you’re still a lifelong bachelor. You just don’t understand a woman’s heart…”

This woman, seriously. 24 years as a single man on Earth, 31 years on the battlefield. How dare she talk to me like that when I’ve endured over 50 years to become a great mage(?).

What does a woman’s heart have to do with this right now? What nonsense is this?

“……”

“No matter how cold and smart a woman is, do you think she’d be mentally sound after being raped by multiple men and even a monster? At that moment, even if a parent’s enemy appeared, if they saved her, she’d be grateful.”

Aetas clicked her tongue as if in disdain, continuing her words, and a series of events replayed in my mind like a video.

Three men take turns with Lee Hyo-ju, who has relatively less strength and stamina.

The men, burdened with guilt, and Katarina, having achieved her original goal, leave Lee Hyo-ju in the forest and head towards Exorsus.

A Black Orc finds Lee Hyo-ju and approaches, intoxicated by the Night of Frenzy. It attacks. Lee Hyo-ju wakes up and cries out.

Then, like a hero, like a prince on a white horse, Unos appears, kills the orc, and apologizes to Hyo-ju. Skillfully, without hiding that it was all due to an aphrodisiac.

If it were that bastard, he might rather ask to be killed for coming slow with tears. And then, he might suggest taking responsibility, proposing marriage.

In the end, Hyo-ju ignores her doubts about him and survives the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

It’s a situation I can’t possibly understand. No matter how mysterious a woman’s heart is, this doesn’t make sense to me.

The more I couldn’t understand Lee Hyo-ju’s psychological state, the more my irritation was directed entirely at Unos.

“What should I do with this bastard?”

It doesn’t matter that Lee Hyo-ju relied on him. Love isn’t something you can control. In her previous life, she mostly agreed with Unos.

Now, I’ve concluded that we weren’t meant to be, so my feelings for Lee Hyo-ju are neither resentment nor love, just nothingness. I’m in a state of no emotions.

The problem is, too many people have died because of this trash.

Especially since I’ve entered the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ twice, no matter how many times I kill this bastard, it won’t be enough.

‘Your dead comrades have come back to life, and you’ve grown stronger after returning. How about forgiving him?’

Someone might say this. As long as they don’t say it in front of me, I don’t care.

Sometimes, I still see them in my dreams. The voices of comrades shouting to take Hyo-ju and run while blocking with their bodies till the very end.

This doesn’t end just because time has been turned back. It’s a daily torment, like something etched into my soul. Until everything is over.

Now that I think about it, I realize I’m still far from it. I even considered absorbing and ending him just because he was a hassle to carry around.

I need to strive and work harder. There must be more severe and vicious methods. Definitely.

As my silent thoughts continued, annoyance turned to anger.

“What should I really do with this bastard, huh?”

It wasn’t a question expecting an answer.

I tried talking to myself to quell the rising anger, but it backfired. I started feeling a hot sensation in my head, and even my face felt warm.

I sensed a deep smile etched on my lips.

I felt my mouth curling up and the muscles around my eyes bending without me even realizing it.

I was laughing as if I was genuinely happy, enough to fool anyone watching.

However, if someone stood before me instead of just looking at the picture, they wouldn’t say I was smiling. My eyes would be radiating a murderous aura.

I’ve always changed like this when I was genuinely angry.

Sure enough, Ludicer and Aetas slightly recoiled.

It’s not that a god would be scared of a mere human’s murderous intent. They must have been startled by my grotesque smile.

“So, what do you want?”

“…You, that face… No, please take care of Hyo-ju.”

“Don’t you think you should offer something when making such a request? I’m not your representative after all.”

This wasn’t meant to tease.

Before entering the Garden of Gods for Aetas, I had been annoyed by Arun and Lee Hyo-ju’s cluelessness, which is why I stopped by here.

Now, Aetas’s blatant request to play babysitter added to my forgotten annoyance, making me angry.

“I’ll convey that through Hyo-ju. Delivering it myself would break the rules.”

“Alright. Off you go then.”

“You… sigh, fine. It’s not much, but I’ll give you some information. If you want to interfere with the representatives of the Heavenly God and the Demon God, I suggest going to the Demon God’s representative. Otherwise, you might regret it.”

“Where would I go? I’ve already entered Exorsus.”

“Isn’t that what the outing pass was for?”

With those words, Aetas disappeared. And until the very moment of disappearing, she didn’t realize she was speaking formally.

“The representatives of the Heavenly and Demon Gods must be searching for what the two gods have arranged by now, right?”

“What?!”

Ludicer’s voice, asking in surprise, did not reach my ears.

It felt like my head was getting hotter and my ears were ringing, as if someone had hit me hard.

“No matter how openly it’s given to someone, you can’t get it that easily, right? That’s why it took more than a month.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Fine, I get it. Now, let’s give what needs to be given and end this.”

“…!”

Ludicer looked at me with questioning eyes in disbelief.

But I didn’t have the capacity to satisfy her curiosity right now. I had to focus all my energy on suppressing the rising irritation and anger.

If Unos had been in front of me at this moment, I might have been ready to strike.

Whether she noticed my state or gave up, Ludicer proceeded to grant the reward for safely reaching Exorsus.

“What?”

Originally, the 1-year reward consists of five each of stats, divine power, and free skill points.

Inventory? What did she give? A quick glance at the inventory revealed a small, sparkling box.

I’ll check it later; right now, I need to vent this frustration somewhere.

As I hurriedly left the Garden of Gods, Ludicer’s voice reached my back.

“Always be careful.”

“Yeah.”