Gods and Goddesses

Not wanting to reveal his reincarnation, Charlie came up with a plausible lie. Unfortunately, he made a wrong move.

"What do you mean, Goddess Hera? I don't understand at all. While I was fishing on the lake, suddenly the water shot up high like a pillar, and the boat I was on got thrown into the air, causing me to fall from sky."

"Mm-hmm... That's a pretty good story. You might be able to fool others with it." Hera smiled faintly.

"If Goddess Hera doesn't believe me, there's nothing I can do." Charlie shrugged and spoke helplessly.

Normally, he wouldn't believe a woman claiming to be a goddess. But for some reason, Charlie instantly realized that the beautiful woman before him was indeed a goddess—not just metaphorically but literally!

"Your acting is pretty good. I might have believed you if I didn't know you were lying."

"Goddess Hera, everything I said is true."

"Oh, really? Then, are you aware that beings of the lower world cannot lie in front of a god?"

Crossing her legs and revealing her beautiful skin, Hera smiled mockingly.

"..."

'Damn! There's something like that? No wonder she's so sure I'm lying.'

A goddess has no need to deceive a lowly human like him. Charlie regretted his lack of intelligence, leading him to take the wrong action.

"Even though our Arcanum (Divine Power) is sealed, some of our passive abilities as gods can still be used. For instance, every god can see through lies. That's why no mortal dares to lie in front of a god; it's common sense in this world. The fact that you didn't know this only confirms that you're not from this world."

"Still trying to justify yourself, Otherworlder?"

After living for hundreds of millions of years, Hera was used to seeing the intrigues of other gods. The schemes of short-lived beings like him were insignificant in her eyes.

"Sigh... Goddess Hera is right. I'm not from this world."

Knowing it was useless to lie, Charlie reluctantly admitted the truth. After all, the woman before him was a goddess; her power was not something he could contend with, even if he had Karasuki Rio's strength at his peak. Moreover, he currently didn't even possess 1% of Rio's power.

"Finally, you're being honest. I like honest children. Can you tell me why you came to this world? I'm curious."

Gods are beings who seek entertainment to satisfy their boredom. They even willingly seal their Arcanum to experience the interesting things in the lower world.

Hera was no exception; she was one of the earliest gods to descend to the lower world, along with Zeus and others after Ouranos.

Now that an Otherworlder stood before her, there was no way she wouldn't be excited. She even set aside her search for Zeus, who had escaped from her.

"Sorry, I don't know why I came to this world either. As far as I remember, after I died, I woke up in the sky and fell into the lake."

This wasn't a lie; Charlie truly had no idea why he reincarnated into Karasuki Rio's body.

Could the template of Karasuki Rio be a cheat given to him?

Maybe.

"Interesting. This is really interesting."

Not only was Hera not disappointed, but she also became even more intrigued.

"Tell me about your original world."

"This is going to be a long story."

"What gods lack most is time."

"Alright then..."

Charlie still needed Hera to understand this world, so he began talking about his original world.

He spoke about technology, science, social order, human achievements, and more.

Hera listened to every word Charlie said intently. To her, everything she heard was new and fascinating.

A giant iron machine that could fly without magic, called an airplane.

Humans created a device called a rocket that could fly out of the planet and explore the vastness of space.

Every human could communicate from any distance using a mobile phone.

And many other things that piqued her interest.

If she hadn't detected any lies in what Charlie said, Hera might have thought he was shamelessly bragging.

"A world without magic... Relying on knowledge passed down from generation to generation, humans have developed a remarkable civilization. Especially what you call nuclear weapons, even Alfia's strongest magic doesn't have the destructive power to obliterate a country."

Three hours later, the storytelling session ended. Charlie was exhausted after talking for three hours straight. He kept answering every question Hera asked.

On the other hand, Hera looked energized, as if her spirit had been stimulated. She was eager to see Charlie's original world with her own eyes.

"Charlie, become my child."

Her eyes, filled with madness, looked at Charlie with terrifying enthusiasm.

"Child?"

Charlie was filled with questions.

Perhaps Hera wanted to adopt him, and he would have to call her "mom"?

Thinking about this made his head tingle.

Hera appeared to be a girl in her twenties, while Karasuki Rio's body, which Charlie had possessed, was 16 years old. The age gap between them was only four years. Calling a woman just four years older than him "mom" was too much for his mental state to handle.

"That's right. You're an Otherworlder. You don't know anything about the basic knowledge and common sense of this world."

Suppressing her inner excitement, Hera's yandere nature vanished as if it had never been there.

"Could Goddess Hera kindly impart the basic knowledge of this world to me? As you can see, I'm like a country bumpkin who just came down from the mountains." Charlie acted humbly.

"Alright, I don't want my child to be deceived by others due to a lack of knowledge."

'Haiz... She's already considering me as her child. My luck is really bad, meeting such an egotistical goddess.' Charlie thought to himself, but he showed nothing on his face.

"The gods and goddesses, bored with living in Heaven without any entertainment, voluntarily sealed their Divine Power, known as Arcanum, and descended to the lower world a thousand years ago to seek amusement."

"The essence of the gods' descent to the lower world is that they decided to live like humans. That means they are not allowed to use their Arcanum fully, except for their innate abilities."

Charlie listened to Hera's explanation in silence.

'In short, the gods view the lower world and their interactions in it like a game, and using Arcanum is akin to using cheats in a video game. If they use such cheats, where's the fun in it?'

He understood the mentality of the gods seeking pleasure.

"Then what if someone harbors ill intentions toward the gods?" Charlie asked curiously.

According to Hera, gods had one characteristic known to everyone: all gods were extremely handsome and beautiful.

There was no such thing as an ugly god.

Even old men and women must have very charming faces, attracting some people with particular inclinations.

No one knew better than him that the human heart was the most confusing thing in the world. Charlie didn't believe there wasn't a single human who hadn't tried to do something bad to the gods.

The world was never short of crazy people.

There must be some depraved men who couldn't resist the allure of the goddesses' beauty. After all, gods and goddesses were almost indistinguishable from ordinary humans in the lower world after sealing their Arcanum.

The idea of defiling a goddess was surely exciting in the minds of some men!