The God of Beauty’s Incarnation

This is truly the first time I’ve ever felt so grateful to Debora! While I hadn’t particularly wished for anything from her before, this was the first time she had directly done something for me!

Isanta’s priests, still clutching their spears, erupted into chaos. They shrieked about needing to rescue His Holiness the Pope immediately, yet, amusingly, not a single one dared to step inside. They merely yelled from the doorway.

“Um, Sir Haut. We’ve certainly come to our senses now. Could you perhaps release us?”

Amidst the chaotic flurry of raven feathers, Nocturne called out to me, his voice barely a whisper. ‘Oh, right, I’d completely forgotten.’ Glancing over, I saw Faust and Jack also looking in my direction with dazed expressions, seemingly having regained their wits.

“My apologies. It slipped my mind.”

“Is… is that truly a divine incarnation?”

“Can’t you smell the roses? It’s strong enough to give you a headache.”

“So that’s… it.”

“When a scent is this potent, you should be able to recognize it even if it’s not the deity you worship. Though, it seems the main branch over there remains utterly oblivious.”

It appeared Isanta’s priests couldn’t detect the scent at all. Yet Jack and Faust, who bore the holy stigmata, were sneezing, their noses twitching from the irritation.

I released the three of them and reined in the ravens. This was an incarnation, after all. Its vessel was human; if damaged too severely, he could truly die. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if an NPC died, but Faust hated it. When he cried, my resolve would waver, leaving me with a lingering sense of unease.

I helped Isanta, now tattered and worn thanks to the ravens, back to his feet and spoke.

“Isanta, I know it’s not much of an exchange for our kids getting hurt, but could you perhaps bestow a blessing?”

“Hmm. Tell me more.”

“Nothing major. Just make sure our kids don’t hate me. That’s fine, isn’t it?”

I wasn’t keen on receiving anything, but simply leaving felt awkward. And causing harm to the priests in the name of revenge wouldn’t yield any tangible benefit. However, if I requested a blessing, I could surely receive something, couldn’t I?

At my words, Isanta extended one hand into the air and chuckled.

“I’ll bestow a blessing, but whether it will truly succeed, I cannot say. Such is the nature of fate.”

“And also, send down a divine revelation to give me a map to a demon’s nest.”

“That might be difficult. I can send down revelations, but there’s no one here capable of receiving them. How can they receive a revelation when they can’t even light the torches in the temple?”

“Hmm, then dismantle my statue in the temple.”

“That’s my favorite thing! You want to tear it down? I’ll curse you with pleasure addiction.”

“Good heavens, even after all this, you won’t do a single thing for me. That’s just cruel.”

Isanta giggled like a child. The moment he waved his hand, those priests at the doorway who had holes in their shoulders began to scream.

‘What was that?’ I turned to see thorny brambles sprouting from the punctured spots, coiling around their bodies before blooming into jet-black roses. Isanta smiled with an impossibly benign expression.

“Since it’s a rare incarnation, I suppose I should do some cleaning. Just stay for a little while.”

“But I need to go hunt demons.”

“I can’t return without a medium, you see. I’ll be quick.”

“Then bestow a lavish consecration upon our kids.”

“Debora might be fine with it, but Hamman would surely rage.”

Amidst the screams and the frantic cries of those invoking their god, the two of us chatted nonchalantly.

‘If he wouldn’t do this, and he wouldn’t do that, then what would he do for me?’

‘Truly, he was utterly useless. Just self-indulgent and noisy.’ I grumbled, extending my hand towards Isanta.

“Then just make sure the kids don’t hate me.”

At my request, Isanta tilted his head, a peculiar expression on his face. He then surveyed the others behind me and remarked, “That’s an odd request, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just ask for them to like you?”

“What’s the point? Even if I forced them to like me, their affection would just plummet again soon enough.”

While Isanta and I weren’t close, he was currently borrowing my power, so I figured he’d grant at least this much. In this game, deities could be bargained with by offering a certain amount of Contribution Points.

Contribution Points represented an achievement metric, indicating a player’s activity within the game. Lore-wise, these points were awarded for significant deeds that could influence the world, increasing for special actions such as completing high-difficulty quests or slaying demons.

Players typically used them to purchase temporary blessings or special abilities. They could also be spent on divine relics or to gain entry to restricted areas, such as Paradise entrances, which were normally inaccessible.

Among the deities, Isanta possessed the power to influence relationships with NPCs. This included making them like or dislike you, with the most notable ability being preventing affinity from dropping into the negative.

Isanta gazed at me intently with an inscrutable, peculiar expression for a long moment before taking my hand. He then pressed light, soft kisses to my palm.

“Very well. If it’s just that much.”

[The God of Beauty Isanta requests 100,000 Contribution Points from you. Do you wish to transfer them?]

[100,000 Contribution Points have been transferred to the God of Beauty Isanta.]

Having unthinkingly accepted the system message that popped up after so long, I was reading it with casual indifference when my eyes suddenly shot open. ‘100,000? Is he insane? He’s borrowing that much?’

“What in the world do you need 100,000 for?”

“First, I’ll light the fires. Those damned torch soot stains just infuriate me to look at. And then…”

The priests who had been flailing about at the doorway had already fled. Only occasional, unintelligible shouts could be heard from outside. Isanta smiled, looking into the empty space beyond the door.

“Do some cleaning, perhaps redecorate?”

“I didn’t just give it to you for free. Pay me back immediately when you go up.”

“How stingy you are, my dear. Did you really think I’d just abscond with it?”

Isanta’s temple was currently a complete mess. Although it possessed divinity due to believers, it wasn’t properly established, leaving Isanta with no causal link to interfere. That was why he had borrowed my Contribution Points. Even to use his own power within his own temple, he lacked a medium for intervention, hence using me as one.

“He wouldn’t abscond with it, not if he wants to avoid ending up like ‘Godard of Greed.'”

I grumbled, vigorously shaking the hand Isanta had kissed in the air. When making a deal with an otherworldly being, the one making the request kisses the palm.

‘Who on earth came up with such a disgusting custom? It was nothing but repulsive.’

Isanta silently extended both his arms. From where the torch stands had been, pristine white thorny vines burst forth, beginning to engulf the hanging torches. A potent rose scent, strong enough to make one’s head ache and feel hazy, surged forward.

The fiercely growing thorny vines crushed everything in their path with crunching sounds, as if munching on crackers, and in their place, misty sacred flames blazed, causing pristine white blossoms of light to unfurl. This transformation was occurring not only in our room but throughout the entire temple complex. Hundreds of tiny sounds converged, emitting a rustling, clamorous noise like countless insects crawling, and began to radiate light.

“Honestly, my children are far too troublesome. They even make their master clean up after them.”

“Just finish up quickly. I can’t stay long.”

“My dear, you’re far too cold to me—”

No matter how handsome, a naked male character was just not my thing. What kind of pervert was he? As I recoiled in disgust, Isanta merely shrugged and turned his back to me.

“Shall I go restore my divine statue first—?”

He then hummed an unknown tune and left the room. In rhythm with the faint melody, bursts of light erupted everywhere, though they were pathetically mixed with incomprehensible screams.

“Sir Haut, wh-what is this?”

‘Ah, right, I’d forgotten again.’ I seemed to be forgetting things more often these days. Faust, his face drained of color, sat slumped with a vacant expression. Jack and Nocturne also lay on the floor, eyes wide and unblinking. I had fully restored their stamina, so I couldn’t fathom why they were still like that.

“Since it’s a rare occasion, let’s just watch. This isn’t something you get to see easily.”

“Is this related to those sounds?”

“It’s the process of the temple being restored to its original state. Though I can’t even begin to guess why it was damaged in the first place.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but a rare event had popped up, so I should definitely pay close attention. Wouldn’t that be good for raising their affinity? I wasn’t particularly skilled at dating sims, but the basic structure of any game genre was usually similar.

“Watch carefully. NPCs don’t often get to see things like this.”

Ordinary NPCs simply lived their lives and died. They rarely witnessed such grand event scenes. To give them a better view, I dragged the desk in the room to the window and seated the three of them on top. I even opened the large window, so nothing would obstruct their view.

Clusters of light bloomed throughout Isanta’s temple, floating ethereally, and converged in the center of the temple where my statue once stood. The three of them watched, mouths agape, blinking like goldfish.

“How is it? That’s Isanta’s divine image.”

Innumerable clusters of light in the temple floated like stars in the sky, intricately connecting to form a single shape. It shimmered with myriad colors, like a faintly reflected rainbow, glowing beautifully. The colossal male figure, draped loosely in an unknown fabric, stood behind my statue, gazing down. Thorny vines, curving and rising from the temple’s edges, were adorned with abundant roses.

The entire temple itself was Isanta’s divine image.

“G-Good heavens… what is this…”

“Honestly, I think it’s a bit in poor taste to make an entire temple your symbolic form, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. If you consider it the self-love befitting a God of Beauty, it’s somewhat understandable.”

Where his face should have been, there was only shimmering light, making it impossible to discern. The lore stated that NPCs perceived it as ineffably beautiful, but to me, it was merely a cluster of light.

Speaking of which, I was curious. I sat on Faust’s thigh, who was still lost in awe, and asked.

“Hey, how do you see Isanta’s face?”

“Uh, eh? What?”

He stammered, unable to collect himself, finally managing a reply. Faust then looked at me and flinched. Seeing me sitting on his leg, his face flushed crimson as he awkwardly waved his hands in the air.

“S-Sir Haut? Could you, uh, please get down…”

“I’ll get down if you answer. How do you guys see Isanta’s face?”

“Sir Haut… you can’t… see it, can you?”

Perhaps due to the setting of him being an absolute beauty, players only saw Isanta’s face as a cluster of light. It wasn’t that it wasn’t rendered, but rather that only NPCs could perceive it? Something like that.

“I just see it as ‘so-so.’ The lore says NPCs see ultimate beauty, so I was curious.”

“Ultimate… beauty, you say?”

“So? Is he more pretty or handsome?”

Faust hesitated for a long time. He glanced at Isanta’s divine image, blinking as if entranced, then shook his head with a start.

“I don’t… know. Only that it’s… it’s simply mesmerizing. That’s all I know.”

“Hmm, so it looks magnificent to you guys, anyway. Thanks.” He must be both handsome and beautiful all at once. It’s a shame I can’t see such a stunning beauty myself.

As promised, I got off Faust’s leg.

“By the way, where’s your armor? Why are you all half-naked?”

Now that I had some leeway, I needed to take care of the kids. At my words, Faust froze solid, his eyes merely darting around. Why was he acting like this?