Chapter 17: Spreading Wings This Christmas Night
“The Evergreen plains… People call it the origin point of humanity. Many kingdoms and empires have records indicating they migrated from the plains to distant lands.”
A young mage spoke with an air of curiosity as he gazed at the wide plains stretching into the distance. Curiosity was a natural aspect of a true mage—a scholar of the arcane and natural laws. This man, who certainly considered himself one, was always brimming with scholarly wonder.
“Why would they abandon land so fertile and free of natural dangers? Shielded by Nature’s Three Walls, the plains are largely untouched by hurricanes and seldom know drought—hence the name.”
A well-learned bard who doubled as a sellsword answered the mage’s question, which had clearly been asked of no one in particular.
“The Order of Silver Flames claims it was for a holy mission, to spread the Ringed Star Mother’s guiding light to the world. The scholars of the Azure Tower believe that tribes were ousted from the plains for some reason. Perhaps a conflict of sorts.”
“And what of the barbarians?”
“... They refuse to speak. They say those ignorant of Esphera’s teachings deserve no answer.”
The mage turned his head toward the bard with a twinkle of curiosity in his eyes. He spread his arms wide in dramatic flair.
“I find it interesting that the nomadic barbarians of the Evergreen plains seem to share faith with the Order of Silver Flames. They worship the same Goddess, yet their practices are starkly different.”
“According to the Azure Tower, this is likely because the Order of Silver Flames splintered off from the barbarians’ faith. The Order denies this outright, claiming to be Esphera’s original followers, but the evidence favors the Tower’s conclusion.”
The bard answered, taking a sip from her waterskin. While she wasn’t normally the talkative type—despite being a bard—interesting stories often drew her into long discussions. Not even her usually taciturn nature could restrain her love of stories.
“They likely dislike being associated with the barbarians of the plains. How curious that two religions believing in the same Goddess can differ so greatly.”
“... If you speak of that matter so openly in the cities, I am afraid that the paladins of the Order will want to have a word with you.”
“Hahaha! If they wish to speak with me, then so be it! Perhaps then, some of my questions will find their answers! Would you not agree, Hero?”
The mage turned his body to face another man, who was sitting on a small boulder. The black-haired man was clad in armor from head to toe, with a sheathed, ornate greatsword mounted on his back.
Despite carrying such a massive weapon, the man looked strikingly young. Had this been Earth, one might have described him as having features that made him seem scarcely older than a high school student. To the imperials of the Agnician Holy Empire, however, he appeared little more than a boy—one who had yet to truly come into adulthood.
“I won’t save you if the paladins come to cook your ass, Stark.”
“How cruel! Do you not care for your comrade in arms, Hero?”
“Sellum, leave our Hero alone. Can you not see that he is tired?”
“... You too, Beline? Oh, what heartless friends I have!”
Sigh.
The Hero leaned back, resting his spine on the smooth stone as he gazed into the empty air… or at least that’s what it looked like to the others around him. To the Hero, he was simply staring at a transparent screen floating in front of his eyes.
The Constellation, Ringed Star Mother, swears her most faithful children would not do something so cruel.
The Ringed Star Mother implores you not to liken them to street thugs.
“... I know,” the Hero muttered.
“Did you say something, Hero?”
“No. I didn’t say a thing.”
“We shall spread the light of Esphera across the world.”
“Spread the light of Esphera? What does that—”
“Rock knows! Fire! We set the world on fire!”
“Foolish Rock! Is the meaning not clear to you? I suppose only the most faithful of men could understand the Goddess’s plans! I, Weed, am one such man!”
“Weed, do you truly understand what the Goddess intends for us to do? Could you please explain that to us then?”
“W-Well, Egg, um… Ah…”
Agni’s words caused ripples of confusion in the crowd of villagers. Bear especially seemed stunned, though I wasn’t too sure why. Had Bear found out about Agni’s feelings towards Esphera?
It would make sense if that were the case.
Still, Agni’s mission was difficult, but necessary. The goal was to have Agni take some of the villagers out of the plains. Why? Because humanity needs to go global.
Human innovation needs a foundation. To reach Esphera’s desired utopia, humanity must learn everything about this mysterious world—and beyond—to build its own paradise.
Esphera needed to learn alongside humanity, too. While she was considered the humans’ creation deity, she was still a newborn constellation. She knew little about the world she ruled, much like a princess recently born to royalty would know little about their kingdom.
Both would need to learn together what it would take to create that perfect utopia, if it can even exist. Ultimately, as crazy as an ideal it may seem, perhaps if a Goddess and her followers worked together on this planetary-scaled project, they might figure something out. A result that might satisfy everybody. But that’s talk for the future.
Now that the ritual was over, Esphera (Sun Form) and the Holy Spirit (also Esphera) had already left the scene, and Agni went on to explain the migration plan to the villagers. Some were reluctant, while others favored the idea, eager to satisfy their burning curiosity about the world.
“I see! To expand our reach to the rest of the world… What a wondrous plan, oh Goddess! This faithful old man shall see to it that your light spreads to every corner of the world!”
“Rock wants, too! Rock will follow!”
“Stone too!”
“I think I will stay here in the plains. We cannot all go, after all.”
The villagers who decided to stay pledged to guard the mountain they now consider holy, while Agni’s group discussed plans to move up north. These discussions weren’t all smooth sailing. A concerned father wouldn’t so easily part with his daughter, even upon a holy decree.
“... Must you really go, Agni?”
“Father…”
The air between them seemed strained. Just what had happened between them to make them act like this?
Whatever the case, this was certainly troubling to Bear, who clearly held deep reverence and faith in Esphera.
The thought of his daughter being given such a dangerous mission weighed heavily on him.
“I know I had said too much to you. I… went too far, telling you to leave. And I am sorry. But must you really be the one to go?”
“That’s funny, father… Here I thought you’d be ecstatic to see me go.”
“N-No, I wouldn’t–”
“Yes, I know… Hehe…”
Agni chuckled, albeit with a tinge of pain in her voice.
“I… was being too emotional. It just felt unfair. Everything did.”
“... I behaved unseemly for a father. Never had I expected that…”
“Your daughter would insult the Goddess?”
“... Yes. I thought I had raised you to revere the Goddess well.”
“... I did. For a time.”
Agni’s Efreet floated beside her. It tried reaching for her hand, as if to comfort her; however, it retracted its arm after realizing it was made of silver fire. Agni, noticing this, laughed with a bit more energy this time.
“Haha! Thank you, Efreet. I appreciate the gesture.”
“... I am glad that you seem to be in greater spirits now, Agni.”
“Well, I would have to be. For a long time, I had thought death would be the end. When Fish died, I thought I would never get to see and talk to him again.”
“Is that still not the case?”
“... Actually...”
Agni looked up at her Efreet, the corners of her mouth raising ever so slightly into a faint smile. Agni’s Efreet had a unique appearance compared to the other Efreets. Unlike the Efreets of the village’s hunters, which appeared as fierce forces of nature befitting fire spirits, Agni’s Efreet bore the shape of a muscular hunter, harpoon in hand.
Harpoon…
“Hehe.”
“Agni?”
“You see, father. The Goddess told me to pass on a message to the rest of the village.”
“Oh? What is this message?”
Agni smiled wider and gestured for the Efreet to come closer. The Efreet nodded and floated to her side.
Upon closer inspection of the Efreet, Bear felt that he had seen it somewhere before, but wasn’t quite sure where.
“My children need not fear death no longer, for I shall prepare a place of rest for the weary, laid to eternal slumber. A place of reunion, she called it.”
“A place of rest for the weary, laid to eternal slumber?... I’m afraid I don’t understand it, Agni.”
“I’m not too sure what that means yet, either, father. But… I think time will tell eventually.”
“Is that so? A place of reunion… If that means what I think it does, then… that would be lovely.”
Death is inevitable for all.
It’s a scary thought, for sure. But there is some comfort in knowing that you can reunite with those you have lost in life.
Reuniting with enemies, however, is a different story entirely. But maybe that’s why Esphera wanted her followers to live sincerely. Perhaps she had wanted them to make more friends than enemies in life so the afterlife would be a happier one.
I’ll have to see later how she’ll handle matters of this world’s afterlife.
“I think it would be nice to reunite with the departed once our time comes. Isn’t that right… Fish?”
( o _ o) !!! ← Efreet (Fish) Live Camera Reaction
FWUUUOOOSH! (Surprise)
The Efreet’s flames suddenly grew stronger, as if a monkey had splashed them with a can of gasoline.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice with how jumpy you were being while we were going up the mountain? Let’s have a nice long chat after we get back down from the mountain, shall we?~”
FWUUUOOOSH! (Despair)
… Women really are scary, aren’t they?
After the ritual, Agni and her newly formed group started making preparations to leave.
There was no way I was leaving the twine problem unresolved, though. This was a problem I had left on the back burner for a while. So, while they were still around, I had Agni teach as many people in both groups how to craft twine.
“Will this truly be as helpful as you say it will be, Apostle?”
“Of course, Agni. Twine has a lot more applications than you’d think.”
Rope is too damn useful. It can be applied to practically anything.
Better tools. Better weapons. Better shelters. Traps. Baskets. So on, and so forth.
There’s also a secondary effect I’d hope would trigger, and that’s humans widening their horizons.
As things are now, the humans of this world have reserved their perspective for what can be considered useful to a narrow range of things, like sticks, stones, and leaves. The more they realize that there’s a lot that the world has to offer that could help improve their everyday lives, the more they will innovate.
For all we know, introducing twine could serve as a gateway to exploring new uses for various plants and their parts. This should make introducing agriculture easier, as they’ll be less hesitant about adopting these new practices to take advantage of plants as both food sources and resource generators.
“But… Apostle?”
“Yes, Agni?”
“Why couldn’t you have just taught them yourself? You seem to know a lot more than we do.”
Because I don’t know shit. I’m a dumbass NEET who hasn’t been in an office space for an entire year. But I can’t exactly tell her that. Uh…
Random Bullshit GO!
“... Agni.”
“Yes, Apostle?”
“Does a hunter do all the hunting for their successor?”
“Huh?”
Yes, this works.
I spread my arms wide open, as if honoring the ringed star above. No, wait, Esphera (Sun Form) already left. Ah, let’s do a spin instead.
Whoosh!
I spin backward and face the other way before taking on a pose indicating deep reflection. Kind of like what you’d see in those martial arts films, whenever the mentor figure is trying to say something deep.
Yes, I AM DA SENSEI.
“... The Ringed Star Mother wishes for your people to be able to stand on your own feet without her intervention. After all, a child always holding their mother's hand will never learn to walk on their own.”
“On our own…”
“Yes. You are all her children. Creations of the Ringed Star Mother. As your mother, she only wishes the best for you all. That is why I, the Apostle, and the Holy Spirit came to lend you all a hand. To guide you. So that you may one day leave the nest to spread your wings, searching for new skies.”
“Spread our wings… New skies… Esphera’s light… I think I understand now.”
For the first time since meeting her, Agni gave me a smile brimming with sincerity.
“Thank you, Apostle.”
“Don’t forget to thank Esphera. She’s the only reason the Holy Spirit and I are here in the first place.”
“That’s right… I’ll be sure to do that. But, now that she has left, I’m not quite sure how.”
Right.
To Agni, trying to contact the fucking sun in the sky must be the world’s most impossible feat. Well, I suppose I ought to teach her the classic method of contacting a Goddess. This should also help Esphera score some faith points.
“Let me teach you how to pray to Esphera.”
“Lord Yvell, they have changed so much over the last two months!”
“Indeed. With this, they should be able to survive on their own without our involvement.”
Over the past two months, the village has undergone many notable changes. A sturdy fence now encircled it, keeping out weaker magical beasts. Houses were reinforced with stone and rope, no longer just haphazard sticks in the ground. Hunters had begun using short bows and traps to capture prey, while the village women crafted baskets and other useful items to improve storage and daily life.
“Not only can they survive on their own now, but they have also solidified their faith in you. Congratulations, Esphera. You have finally taken your first step as a creation deity.”
“T-Thank you, Lord Yvell! I could not have done it without your wisdom!”
“Though I would have preferred if you had not shoved Fish’s soul into that spirit…”
“I-I am sorry! I simply could not help myself again…”
“Well, at least you had Bear and Agni swear to secrecy about that Efreet’s true identity.”
The last two months have been eventful, to say the least. They’ve probably been the most eventful two months I’ve had in the last decade, which I suppose isn’t saying much. But the journey’s been quite enriching, I must say.
Just who would have thought I’d wind up becoming a teacher to a constellation one day?
Guess my teaching diploma wasn’t for nothing after all. Although that was for language studies. But hey, teachers can teach anything if they try hard enough. Not that I would really know, since I never found proper employment as a teacher.
This is just going to be my life now, I suppose.
Fuck it. I'm unemployed and have nothing to lose, anyway. This'll be a fun time-waster.
“Lord Yvell?”
Hm?
“Yes, Esphera?”
“I was thinking… about what you said to Agni before she left.”
“Hm? Ah. You mean when I told her you wanted them to spread their wings and become independent?”
“Y-Yes. That is the one. I was thinking… if I could do the same.”
Hm??
“I wish to spread my own wings as well. To become a Goddess worthy of your praise.”
“Y-You’re already doing well enough on your own, Esphera! There’s no need to–”
“I simply must insist, Lord Yvell!”
Esphera clutched her hands to her chest, as if gathering her courage.
“Lord Yvell. I do not wish to have my hand held throughout. I want to become a proper Goddess. One that can stand beside you as your equal. And then~...”
“A-And then?...”
“U-Um! It will only be for a few generations! I promise! I will act independently for a time, then I will show you what I will have achieved by then!”
N-No, if you do that, I’ll already be fucking dead by then. I’m a human, you know?
No, wait. She doesn’t know that. She actually doesn’t know that.
Fuck. Am I going to go back to being a bum-ass NEET again?
“Then, I shall send you and your condominium unit back to that world! F-Farewell, Lord Yvell!”
“WAIT! ESPHE–”
Zuuuuooooh.
… Fuck.
It has been three hours since I suddenly returned to Earth along with my condo unit.
Reality still hasn’t set in for me yet. No—was all of that even real?
Those two months in another world had been packed with all sorts of absurdities, enough to write a web novel. Maybe I should become a web novel author, earn money, and save up to finally buy that gaming mouse I’ve been wanting. That’d be a more productive use of my time than staying a NEET.
Come to think of it, what day is it today?
I take a look at the clock on my desk, which has its own little calendar function underneath its time display.
( 12/25/25 )
Huh. So it’s Christmas Day. Or, more like Christmas Night, with the moon out and all.
I remember it was the 3rd of December when I was first transported to Esphera’s world, so there must be some time dilation shenanigans or whatever going on.
Guess I should just go back to living life as a normal human. Ugh.
Knock. Knock.
Hm?
Is there someone at my door?
Knock. Knock.
I’ll take that as a yes.
I approach the door with the intention to flip up the peephole cover when… a hairy foot suddenly phased right through the bottom.
I’m getting deja vu right now. What is going on?
Gradually, the rest of the body emerged from the door. Suddenly, I found myself standing in front of…
A silverback gorilla in a Santa outfit with a large sack over his shoulder.
"Huh?"
The gorilla in Santa cosplay pulled out a candy cane from his sack and offered it to me.
“Oog.”
The Constellation, Gorilla of Fates and Twisted Futures, greets you.
What the fuck?
