Bluff

‘Seems like the provocation worked well enough.’

Cold sweat trickled down Edwin's back.

He had abandoned his faith because he was deceived by a god. He harbored such resentment, but fear was still a separate issue.

‘To say such things to a god, Frondier.’

Edwin smiled, recalling someone's sleepy face. He remembered what Frondier had said to Hephaestus, his former divine power, during the golem incident.

‘Get lost,’ he had said nonchalantly.

Since that incident, Edwin had come to realize something.

Gods were quite similar to humans, except for their power, as Frondier had previously stated.

They had emotions like anger, contempt, joy, and embarrassment, and these emotions could manifest from even the most trivial things.

Humans witnessed the unparalleled miracles of gods and created their own images of them, but the gods themselves didn't necessarily match those elegant images.

—Edwin, are you truly trying to insult a god?

[I already have.]

Edwin replied and glanced at the woman next to him. Probably a servant of the Roach mansion. Judging by her appearance, she was still asleep, so she probably wouldn't remember this incident.

‘But to think that the first person I would use this function on would be Hypnos.’

Edwin was a little troubled.

Everyone knew why Aster Evans, Constel's top prospect, was a top prospect. Talent, skill, diligence, personality, popularity, and on top of that, the divine power of ‘Baldur’.

Therefore, everyone in Constel also knew what the divine power of Pielott, the next promising prospect, was.

‘Pielott, what are you thinking?’

The real enemy right now wasn't Hypnos. It was Pielott, who received his divine power.

—I may not be able to do anything to you right now, but do you think you'll be safe forever? Know your place, Edwin!

Hypnos growled. Well, being targeted by a god wasn't exactly a pleasant thing.

[I was quite scared because of that too.]

Edwin scratched his cheek. Certainly, being targeted by a god was scary. Not only Edwin, but everyone on this continent feared the ‘divine punishment’ inflicted by gods.

[Let me ask you this instead,]

However, Edwin knew one clear fact right now.

[Why do the gods just leave Frondier alone?]

—……!

Hypnos's expression changed. Yeah, he knew what that meant.

[I've been wondering about it for a while. When

stus was instigating me, Frondier hadn't done anything particularly blasphemous. Yet, Hephaestus tried to kill Frondier. Whatever the reason, Frondier was targeted by a god long before I met him.]

But Frondier defeated Hephaestus. Of course, he didn't face the real Hephaestus. He only borrowed Edwin and the golem's body.

Then, naturally, he would try to intervene ‘directly’. Edwin didn't know the full extent of Frondier's power, but he was just an individual. If a god descended, he could have been killed at any time.

‘Either the conditions for a god to descend are more demanding than I thought, or…’

Edwin said.

[There's some reason they can't descend?]

Edwin tested the waters by voicing it out loud. He wondered if he could get more information out of Hypnos.

However, Hypnos didn't budge at this question. Not even a slight tremor in his eyes.

—Just because Frondier is still alive doesn't mean he will be fine in the future. He will meet a terrible end. You too, Edwin.

Instead, Hypnos spoke as if he hadn't heard anything.

Edwin laughed bitterly inwardly.

‘That's a shame. I wanted to bring back some better information.’

Edwin couldn't see through Hypnos's poker face.

Instead, he said.

[I'm sure.]

—What?

[Gods only manipulate humans, they've never been on the receiving end.]

That's why they couldn't understand Edwin's feelings.

The presence of a god subtly urging him from behind, while it felt like his own will. He never wanted to feel that way again. It was the feeling of losing himself.

[I'd rather die than feel that way again.]

—Your words will reach the ears of all the gods.

[Let them hear. If you're done talking, give the Black Lotus back. Unless you want to make Pielott the laughing stock of Constel.]

Having been with Hephaestus, Edwin knew the nature of gods well. It was quite rare for a god to do this much for a single human, even if they were the target of their divine power.

Usually, they would only lend a little power when a human asked for it, and wouldn't move on their own. Hypnos must really like Pielott.

So, he wouldn't do anything that could harm Pielott.

—Remember, Edwin. Your lifespan isn't long…….

Bzzt!

Before Hypnos could finish his sentence, Edwin, who had appeared as a hologram, disappeared.

“……Huh.”

Edwin tilted his head, seeing that the hologram had ended in his house.

Had he been talking for too long? It seemed like the magic power of the hologram device on the Black Lotus had run out.

“This wasn't my intention.”

He could almost hear Hypnos grinding his teeth because Edwin had cut him off and disappeared.

* * *

The next day.

Frondier visited Instructor Binkis's research lab at Edwin's call.

“……Sigh.”

After hearing everything Edwin had to say, Frondier already had a headache.

Pielott was a character with a very high probability of turning into a villain if his arrogance was left unchecked. Players called this ‘falling into darkness’.

Originally, it was confirmed by a purple haze, but that was actually a sign of divine intervention, not a sign of falling into darkness. It was just that the formula ‘divine intervention = falling into darkness’ had held true so far that even players were mistaken.

‘To correct that arrogance, I showed him the difference in our skills, and now he's resorting to crime?’

What's the rush, Pielott?

Everyone acknowledges your talent, and you know it yourself.

If you take your time and grow steadily, you will truly grow to be comparable to Aster, Frondier knew this. He had seen it with his own eyes, the strength of Pielott after he had grown.

“Thank you, senior Edwin. I really didn't know you had installed such a device on the Black Lotus. I will definitely repay this debt.”

“Forget it. I'm the one who repaid your debt. It's a security measure that only works if you don't know about it anyway.”

That was true.

To be able to directly see the face of the thief who stole it through a hologram appearing from Edwin himself. Frondier hadn't even considered such a method.

Thanks to that, he was able to easily retrieve the Black Lotus even after losing it.

“As expected of the God of Sleep. I really slept soundly.”

“It's the power of a god, so it's hard for a human who isn't prepared to resist. Even if they are prepared, it's still the same. But you'll be fine for a while. Now that he knows I'm here, he won't try the same thing again.”

“What if Hypnos changes his mind and tries to kill me instead?”

Hypnos putting people to sleep was literally the power of a god.

Frondier had truly slept without even knowing the Black Lotus was being stolen. Thanks to that, he even got rid of the fatigue that had built up in his sensitive body.

The reason he fell asleep so easily was partly because his body was craving sleep, but would he have been able to prevent it even if he had been prepared?

He wanted to trust his sixth sense, but the fact that he actually fell asleep made him uneasy.

“It's okay. Hypnos's limitations are clear.”

Edwin said. He had witnessed firsthand the mansion servant being controlled by Hypnos.

“Hypnos uses sleepwalking to handle people. When I saw it, the person being controlled was limp and powerless. He probably won't be able to give them that much strength, and if he forces it, they'll wake up.”

From what Edwin saw, the appearance of the mansion servant was exactly like someone with sleepwalking. Since he used that power, Hypnos's limitations were clear.

Hypnos was the God of Sleep. In other words, ‘sleep’ was his domain, and he was powerful enough to put even Frondier to sleep, but reality wasn't his domain.

“So what are you going to do, Frondier? I'll leave the choice to you, but I don't think we should leave Pielott alone.”

“We can't.”

Frondier nodded.

Regardless of how Pielott thought of Frondier, Pielott was an important combatant to Frondier.

Above all, Pielott was strong even without Hypnos. Not right now, but he would definitely become so in the future.

‘And I can't say this out loud, but…’

Moreover, Frondier had another scheme.

‘Hypnos is the twin brother of Thanatos, right?’

Thanatos, the first god Frondier met and the one who tried to kill him.

Frondier had barely survived by calling out Thanatos's name at the time.

Thanatos was wary of Frondier, who knew his true identity, and retreated, worried that there might be a god supporting Frondier.

And now.

Thanatos still hadn't shown himself.

‘Hestia mentioned it before. The gods are also currently in conflict.’

Frondier must be involved in that conflict. And because of that conflict, there was a possibility that Thanatos still believed Frondier's bluff.

‘If Thanatos truly believes that I am in contact with some god…’

Frondier had made it that way himself.

‘Who would Thanatos guess that god is?’

If Frondier's treatment was included in the conflict between the gods, Thanatos would naturally suspect the god on the side that was trying to protect Frondier.

Conversely, the god that Thanatos suspected was Frondier's ally.

‘If I use Pielott to coax Hypnos well…’

It seemed like he could even recruit an ally from among the gods.