Chapter 30: The Enchanting King's Monsters
When Gilgamesh made the announcement, the entire population of Uruk thought the king must be drunk, as he was reeking of alcohol!
The noble elders were in an uproar upon hearing the absurd declaration. The position responsible for the temple was not a significant role, but being the king's advisor was entirely different! How could they tolerate an outsider who had only been in Uruk for less than two months suddenly rising to such a high position?
However, when they attempted to protest at the palace, Gilgamesh drove them away with his whip, treating them like lazy workers or slaves. Dictatorship, harsh rule, self-interest, and greed were displayed to the fullest. Gilgamesh truly lived up to his title as a tyrant!
After driving the wailing noble elders away, Gilgamesh publicly announced the knowledge provided by Qiye, which surpassed the era's understanding and helped calm down the opposition.
But many still doubted Qiye, believing that he must have pleased Gilgamesh to obtain the title of "Sage."
In a sense, they were correct. After all, they shared a common goal—to challenge the existence of the gods.
However, the remaining doubts would gradually fade away as they witnessed the rapid development of Uruk due to the knowledge provided by Qiye. When the knowledge brought benefits and convenience to the people, the humble residents would sing praises of the sage's name.
Time would prove everything.
But for now, Qiye bore immense pressure...
He was completely unaware of the tumultuous events of the day. He had no idea that Gilgamesh would hastily announce him as the city's sage.
While strolling through the Uruk night market with Semiramis, Qiye noticed the strange looks he was receiving from the people. He only then realized that Gilgamesh had turned him into such a big deal.
Semiramis and Qiye ended their shopping hastily due to the uncomfortable gazes of the Uruk residents and returned home.
While Semiramis stayed at home, Qiye headed towards the palace.
Gilgamesh's palace was situated atop a high tower, guarded by soldiers on the steps. However, upon learning that Qiye wanted to see Gilgamesh, the guards, who seemed to have received orders, allowed him to pass without interception.
As Qiye approached the palace's front hall, he heard a strange sound like something being forcefully smashed on the ground.
"What are you doing, Gilgamesh?!"
As he entered the palace, Qiye was taken aback. He swiftly used his hand to bat away the flying object.
Bang!
The mud-made tablet was shattered by Qiye's hand, scattering fragments throughout the palace. Gilgamesh, catching sight of Qiye's arrival, threw another piece of the tablet with a joyful expression.
"Isn't this the sage? Do you have business with me?"
"I do have something to discuss, but what are you doing?"
Qiye twitched his lips as he surveyed the magnificent palace filled with countless broken tablets—probably all the mud tablets given to Gilgamesh by protesting nobles.
"I'm dealing with affairs. These mud tablets are from the noble who opposes my orders." Gilgamesh pointed to the piles of mud tablets nearby.
The tablets had accumulated, forming a small hill.
These were protests and opposition from the nobles. After Gilgamesh had whipped them out of the palace, they dared not protest in person and instead created mud tablets to voice their grievances and dissent.
As a self-proclaimed tyrant, would Gilgamesh really care about these things? He wouldn't waste his energy looking at meaningless objections.
"Almost every mud tablet accuses you of bewitching me and being my monster. You've offended quite a few people, it seems." Smirking, Gilgamesh taunted Qiye.
"Who do you think caused this..." Qiye looked at Gilgamesh, his head full of black lines.
"If you hadn't given me the title of 'sage,' they wouldn't have targeted me like this."
Back in the courtyard, Qiye thought that Gilgamesh was merely saying the word "sage" without any real intent. He didn't expect that the title was indeed bestowed upon him.
"Not only that, the king also declared that you would share Uruk with me," Siduri, the chief priest, standing beside Gilgamesh, added with a bitter smile.
Apart from Gilgamesh and Siduri, there seemed to be no other soldiers present in the palace. They probably ran outside in fear after Gilgamesh's actions.
"Share Uruk?" Qiye looked at Gilgamesh oddly.
Although he knew Gilgamesh was generous—after all, he gave away priceless blue gems without batting an eye as payment for fine wine—sharing Uruk was entirely different. It was a typical act of a tyrant... no, a weak ruler.
"I believe the decision I made now won't be wrong. I will share Uruk with you. In return, you will provide me with something even more precious than Uruk," said Gilgamesh, his crimson eyes flickering with wisdom.
Gilgamesh could already see that the knowledge Qiye provided was far more precious than the city of Uruk itself. With a long-term perspective, he wanted to extract even more valuable and novel knowledge from Qiye. Thus, Gilgamesh generously shared Uruk with him.
While others might see Qiye gaining unimaginable benefits, only Gilgamesh knew that he was the one gaining the advantages.
"The situation has come to this point. The entire southern region of Mesopotamia knows about this. Sage, you might as well stop resisting and accept this honor," Gilgamesh said cheerfully, smashing another mud tablet
.
"Huff, rather than calling it an honor, it's more like trouble..." Qiye let out a sigh.
Was this the trouble he brought upon himself by going against his mother's wishes? Fine, he would accept it and find a way to resolve it. He would send the gods who betrayed his mother soaring into the sky!
"Then I shall accept this great gift of yours."
Looking at Qiye's calm and handsome face, Gilgamesh threw another mud tablet at him and said playfully, "Come, let's figure out how to deal with these bothersome noble elders together."
Qiye took the mud tablet. As he looked at the cuneiform characters written on it—the earliest form of human writing known as "cuneiform script"(1)—he couldn't help but think, "How did I become a calamity to beautiful women?"
Translator's Note:
(1) Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East.