27 Reconciliation

I lead Miach to a café and rent a private booth where other customers can't overhear us. After taking our seats, I extend my senses to make sure that no one is close enough to spy on us...

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Asks Miach.

"I remember the first day we met, you wondered about my reasons for choosing your Familia. And I said that I wanted a god that I know I can trust.

Lately, I've been doubting that.

First, you stopped me from dealing with Argus Familia. You went out to 'solve' it and you came back with ridiculous conditions for a War Game.

The conditions weren't even forced on you; You accepted them with your own free will. It was as if you were deliberately trying to annihilate your own Familia.

Then at the Denatus, you didn't tell me what was going on. I specifically asked you but you stayed silent, hanged me dry, and left me to fend for myself against the deities.

THE Denatus, where even gods and goddesses get eaten alive. What kind of a god would leave his child as you did?

And since then, you've been avoiding me. And whenever we're in the same place, you act weird.

Surely, I'm not imagining all this! There must be a reason. But no matter how hard I think, I can't guess it.

So if there is a reason, I think it's time for you to explain it." I explain.

"Sigh! Do you really not see it?" Miach sighs.

"See what?" I ask.

"I am not even sure whether you really are ignorant, or you are just feigning ignorance." Says Miach.

"What! Ignorant of what? And why are you asking about my honesty now? Aren't gods supposed to be able to tell lies from truths? " I ask in confusion.

"And yet you find a way around it", Miach says.

"THE HELL! I'm tired of this passive-aggressive way of yours!" I shout.

A waiter runs to us and says, "Excuse me! I'm sorry, but can you please keep your voices down?"

"Ah! Sorry for that." I say as I calm myself. The waiter apologizes and leaves.

"Foo… I'm trying to find a solution here. And we're not leaving until we do. You have to tell me what your problem is.

If there is a misunderstanding, we clear it. Otherwise, I think I would have to leave your Familia. And don't worry, I'll leave enough money to rebuild the house.

Either way, I WILL hear the reasons behind your actions first.

Since the day I joined your Familia, I've never asked anything of you. And I've done my best to help you and Nahza.

So, it's my right to know why the patron of my Familia turned his back against me." I say.

"Sigh, you are right. I apologize for this, but the reason is that I do not trust you!

Everything about you is suspicious. You said that you are a foreigner, but you know too much about the inner dealings of this city. And more importantly, about us, Deities.

You just said, 'THE Denatus, where gods and goddesses get eaten alive'. How do you know that? I have been here for decades and I only attended the Denatus a few times.

And it is not the first time. When you chose to delay your first level-up and when I told you about your Alias, you also showed that you know more than a human should.

You never said anything about your past. At first, I thought that you were a criminal or that you have a dark secret or something. Since I believe in second chances, I did not care about your past. But now, it is only natural to suspect you.

You leave for mysterious trips for long periods and when you come back, you are way stronger than when you left. You have Abilities and Skills that I have never heard of before.

And do not think that I do not know of it; You have another vessel inside your body other than Falna. It is hidden very well, and I could not see or notice it.

But every time I updated your Status, I felt something weird. And when you levelled up and your Excelia overflowed into your Falna from some unknown place, I knew it. There had to be another vessel holding your extra Excelia.

You are definitely a normal human. Having a mysterious vessel means that you received it from a being other than us with equal powers. If so, then are you really my Child?

You say that gods are supposed to be able to tell lies from truths, but with you, I do not. More than once, my Divine Intuition told me that your words were not lies while my experience told me that you were lying. I do not know how you do it, but you do. That is why I cannot trust anything you say.

And to top it all, you somehow stole my Insignia. And do not say that you do not how… you yourself said so. You once told me that you have a trump card that prevents you from dying. At the time, I thought that you had a Magic Sword or Magic Protective Equipment.

But now, I know that it was my Insignia all along. MY insignia, the essence of my being, is being used freely by someone else.

I am the one who blessed you with my Falna and my mana. But after thinking about it, I know that you did not need my Falna at all. You have your mysterious vessel. Even then, Falna is supposed to free you from the limit of a human body, not grant you any power, let alone my insignia.

Did you join my Familia to steal my Insignia?

I did not answer your question and I did not defend you in the Denatus as I should as you god! But do you really think of me as your god? I'm not so sure!

At that moment, I was thinking: Is he my child and I should protect him and keep his secret, or is he some sort of a spying agent using me as a steppingstone (a pawn) to achieve his agenda?

If it is the second, then I should report everything to the Denatus. The whole community of gods should be antagonizing you and your backer.

But I was not sure which one are you, so I choose to keep silent and let you fend for yourself as you always do. I even kept silent when you accused me. You knew that I did not give you my powers but you accused me anyway.

At the time, I thought that you already had your way of taking my power. And that you were about to let me take the blame for it. I thought that I was done for, but I stayed silent."

Damn! This is just… I don't know what to say.

Miach had noticed things that I did not think he would notice:

He could guess the presence of the system (he called it 'vessel'). He could tell when I was being dishonest even while his lie detector was telling him otherwise. And he connected my ability to use 'Miach's Blessing' to me saying that I have a trump card. I've been acting too suspiciously.

But to think that he would feel offended that I 'stole' his Insignia.

I can't help but think about what would happen if it was a deity other than Miach.

I think that Miach's response was too light. Not that I'm complaining, I think it was the best for me.

Most deities wouldn't have been able to contain their anger, and they would've screamed at me before the other deities in the Denatus. The moody ones would've kept silent at the Denatus, then try to have me killed afterwards. The stupid ones would've told everything to the other deities in the Denatus; That would've made me convicted as guilty on the spot.

Anyway, I think that I can't condemn Miach's behavior anymore.

No. I'm missing the point here...

"I'm sorry. I really am." I lower my head as I say, "I've been too selfish.

You asked if thought of you as my god or not... I didn't!

I didn't think of you at all. I didn't think of anyone other than myself. I only did whatever I wanted, and never thought about anyone else.

Other than you, no one would've put up with me all this time. So, thank you... Thank you for putting up with me until now."

I stay silent for a while, waiting for a response. But I didn't receive any. So, I continue, "I vowed to myself to not tell any of the following to anyone. And I know that I'll probably regret it, but I'll tell you anyway. You deserve to know.

You feel betrayed that I can use your Insignia. 'The essence of your being,' you say. It's only right that you know."

I look up to see that Miach is listening to me with a determined look.

"You already guessed that I have some kind of a 'vessel'. You guessed that right. But you assumed that I knew that it would enable me to use your Insignia. That's not it.

Before the other day at the Denatus, I did not know of the existence of what you deities call an Insignia.

Also, I don't know what this 'vessel' inside me is. I wasn't born with it, I didn't seek it, and I don't remember it being put inside me. I just woke up one day and it was there. And I don't know how or why I have it.

But first, I'll tell you everything about my past.

I have no siblings. My mother died during my birth. My father was the one who raised me. He died while I was still a teen.

The only present adult next of kin was my uncle. He sold all my late father's properties and used the money to get me into medical school. (This is actually my story in real life)

But one day, I just woke up in a cart heading to Orario with this 'vessel' inside of me.

I told you before that I specifically choose your Familia because I wanted a god that I can trust. I didn't lie; It's one of the reasons.

The first: Having this 'vessel' means that I can get way stronger than normal humans. But being mysteriously strong would only bring troubles to me. I decided to join a Familia so that my strength would be explained by having a Falna.

The second: I didn't know whether the deities of Orario would perceive the presence of the 'vessel' or not. And I didn't know how they would react if they perceived it. So, I wanted a god I can trust that he wouldn't be outright hostile to me once he perceives it.

The third: I wanted to raid alone in the dungeon because I don't want other people to know that my source of power is fundamentally different from Falna. So, I decided to join a Familia with no Dungeon-crawling members.

Hence, I joined your Familia. I swear! At the time, I had no idea what would happen to my 'vessel' or your Falna.

And yeah, I knew about my ability to use your Insignia. I had no idea that it's called Insignia though. But I couldn't tell you about it because I have no idea how to explain having an ability that doesn't appear on my Falna." I explain.

"This does not explain the reason why you know too much about us deities nor about your ability to lie without lying." Says Miach.

"During my childhood, I was fascinated by a story of a spy who infiltrated another country. When they suspected him, they tested him with a lie detector; It's a device that imitates the ability of deities to detect lies. But the spy knew beforehand about the presence of this device. So he thought of a method to trick the device.

I always try to use this method when I want to hide something. I try to keep calm no matter how hard I'm cornered. If I'm not calm, I do not talk at all. I answer the questions with truth, but I give a truth that doesn't necessarily answer the question.

For example: On the first day we met, you asked me about how I could reach the 7th Floor of the Dungeon. My answer was: Any good soldier can beat those monsters of the upper floors.

Soldiers can do that, it's a truth. You were asking about me not soldiers, so it's not the truth you wanted to know. I gave you a truth, but not the truth you seek."

I hesitate a little before saying, "And as for why I know so much about the deities, It's because I really love this city? ... !"

Huh?! I wanted to say (because I read it in a story), but something else came out. Could it be that the system is censoring my words?

"I really love this city! This is feisty weather!" (I read it in a story. This is a fictional world).

Wait a sec...! Miach doesn't seem to be bothered with the ridiculousness I just uttered. No... He is frozen.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" I snap my fingers a few times. But he's still frozen. The system is affecting a god ... freezing him like this? The system is way bigger than I thought! I should be very careful of what I say from here on. I don't know what penalty might befall me if I say something wrong.

Ah, Miach just blinked! He's back. I have to wrap this up quickly.

"I never intended to steal anything from you, hurt you, or do you any harm," I say. "I don't intend to do so in the future. I don't intend to harm anyone at all unless someone tries to hurt me or those who I care about.

I said that I don't think of you as my god, But I consider you as my family.

During the past few months, I've come to like you and Nahza. I would help and protect both of you whenever you're in need, whether you want me to or not.

And even though I kept secrets from the two of you, I only did while thinking of my own safety. Not because of ill-intent or any type of shady business.

That's everything I have to say ... You get to decide what happens now."

I hope this is enough to bring back Miach's trust. Even if it doesn't, I know I did the right thing.

He stays silent for a while, then he says:

"Sigh... Alright, I believe you. However, you being able to use my Insignia through some unknown means still irritates me." Says Miach.

"If I can give it back to you I would. I even can't stop using it, since it activates by itself."

"Well, what can I do, take away my Blessing from you? In fact, I do not know whether doing that would stop you from using it or not. I am almost sure that would not. No, there is no need to think about that. I do not intend to take anything away, I am just stating my frustration." He says.

"Then ...?" I carefully ask.

He makes a strained smile as he says, "Nothing happens. We go back to the girls. I will have to keep an eye on you and your mysterious vessel. I think it is my responsibility after all."

"Thank you."