How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game Chapter 758: Anomaly’s gift Interlude 2

Inside Eris’s realm, I stood silently while watching the holographic screen she had projected in front of us.

The scene displayed on it was the same hidden temple beneath the mountain.

More specifically, it showed the face of the man who had received my blessing.

He was a middle-aged man who looked completely ordinary.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about his appearance, and judging from what I had seen of him earlier, his personality didn’t seem particularly special either.

Yet right now, he was surrounded by my followers.

They were practically throwing themselves around him, praising him and calling him the Saint of the Great Anomaly.

"Bless the Saint!"

"The Great Anomaly has chosen him!"

"Our prayers have been answered!"

I stared at the scene without saying anything.

Technically, they weren’t wrong.

I had personally chosen him and placed a portion of my Divinity within him.

Calling him my saint wasn’t exactly inaccurate.

Still...

Watching a group of people praise someone simply because I had touched him with my power was a little uncomfortable.

Not because I hated the idea.

It was more that I still wasn’t used to this whole god thing.

A few days ago, I had barely understood what Divinity was supposed to be. Now I had an entire group of people worshipping me, praying to me, and apparently treating one of the people I blessed as some sort of divine messenger.

And judging from the way they were surrounding him, that man was probably going to be very busy from now on.

He had been asking for a change in his life.

Well...

I supposed he certainly got one.

"Fufu~"

Eris’s amused voice came from beside me.

"What do you think? Do you love your new followers...?"

I slowly turned my head toward her.

I looked at her blankly.

"...Love?"

"Yes~"

She smiled innocently.

"Your very first followers. Isn’t it wonderful?"

I looked back at the screen.

The middle-aged man was still surrounded by the others.

They were already asking him questions, praising him, and seemingly expecting him to explain the meaning behind my blessing.

I sighed internally.

For better or worse, I was simply making use of them.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Their faith had value.

Their prayers could strengthen my Divinity, and if Eris was right about what faith could eventually become, then these people might become an important resource for me in the future.

But whether I actually liked them...

I wasn’t sure yet.

I barely knew any of them.

As long as they didn’t start doing something completely insane in my name, I had no reason to get rid of them.

"Although they’re a weird bunch..." I muttered, continuing to watch the screen. "They’re bound to become useful eventually."

Eris’s smile widened.

"Fufu~"

There was something about that laugh that immediately made me suspicious.

"You sound more and more like an evil, greedy god."

"I do?"

"Absolutely."

She nodded enthusiastically.

"You have followers who worship you, you’re thinking about how useful they can be, and you’re already deciding that you’ll tolerate them as long as they don’t cause too much trouble."

She paused before adding with a teasing smile.

"You’re practically acting like a proper god already."

I frowned slightly.

"I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing."

"Maybe not~"

Eris giggled.

"But if you really want to cultivate their faith, you should give them something every once in a while."

"Something?"

"A blessing. A miracle. Guidance. Perhaps even a small decree."

She raised a finger as she explained.

"Faith isn’t simply about having people pray to you. The deeper their faith becomes, the more valuable it can become to you. If they truly believe that you’re listening to them, that their prayers have meaning, then their faith can become much stronger."

I listened quietly.

That actually made sense.

If I simply ignored them forever, their faith might eventually weaken.

But if I occasionally responded to their prayers, even through something small, then they would have a reason to believe that their god truly existed and was watching over them.

It was almost like maintaining a connection.

"Though..." Eris tilted her head.

"You really should have established some rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes."

She pointed toward the holographic screen.

"Look at them. They’re already calling your chosen follower a Saint. Imagine what they’ll do if you leave them completely unsupervised."

I looked at the screen again.

The thought made me uneasy.

They had already built an underground temple around a statue of me without my knowledge.

They had gathered priests.

They had created their own beliefs.

And now, after one blessing, they had immediately elevated Garan into some kind of divine representative.

If I continued ignoring them, there was a very real possibility that things could spiral out of control.

"...You’re right."

I sighed.

"I probably should give them a decree."

Eris smiled triumphantly.

"See? You’re learning."

"Don’t sound so proud."

"But I am proud."

She giggled again.

I ignored her and continued staring at the screen.

A decree wouldn’t have to be complicated.

Something simple.

Don’t harm innocent people.

Don’t commit crimes in my name.

Don’t force others to worship me.

And most importantly...

Don’t interpret every little thing that happens as a divine command.

The last one might be especially important.

I had a feeling that if I wasn’t careful, these people could turn a single blessing into an entire religion with rules I never intended to create.

"Would something like an absolute commandment they follow be good?"

"Something absolute isn’t necessarily bad,"

Eris continued, her expression becoming slightly more thoughtful.

"But something that allows them to question, interpret, and find their own answers is usually the better method."

She gently rested her chin against her hand as she looked toward the holographic screen.

"My doctrines are similar in that regard. I don’t simply give my followers an answer to everything. I give them principles to follow, and they decide how those principles should be carried out in their own lives."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"And yet, they still follow my commands and decorum from the bottom of their hearts. That’s why I love each and every one of them."

Her expression softened for a moment before becoming slightly disappointed.

"It’s just a shame that I can only provide my Divinity to a chosen few."

I blinked.

"Oh, yeah."

I had almost forgotten about that.

"There was something else I wanted to ask about."

Eris turned toward me.

"When I entered their sanctuary earlier, I could feel their faith toward me. It was faint, but there were so many people praying that the feeling itself was surprisingly strong."

I paused.

"But why was it that I could only feel a few strands close enough for me to actually give them power?"

Eris’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Hoh~ So you’ve noticed."

She smiled as though she had been waiting for me to ask that question.

"That’s right. Even though everyone in that sanctuary revered you and regarded you as their absolute god, faith isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to granting Divinity."

She raised one finger.

"Affinity."

"Affinity?"

"Exactly."

Eris waved her hand, causing several faint strands of light to appear in the air around us.

"Think of Divinity as something that carries the nature of its owner. Your Divinity isn’t simply energy that can be poured into anyone without consequence. It contains your Authority, your nature, your existence."

She pointed toward one of the strands.

"Someone can have an enormous amount of faith in you, but if their nature is incompatible with yours, their body and soul won’t be able to properly accept your Divinity."

I stared at the strands.

"So even if someone believes in me completely..."

"They might still be unable to receive much of your power."

Eris nodded.

"Faith determines how strongly they are connected to you. Affinity determines how well they can actually receive what you give them."

That distinction immediately made things clearer.

It wasn’t simply a matter of finding the person who believed in me the most.

Someone could worship me their entire life and still be unable to hold much of my power, while another person with a comparatively smaller amount of faith could potentially accept far more if their nature naturally resonated with mine.

"It’s actually a rather troublesome problem within my own religion," Eris admitted with a small sigh.

"Most of my devout followers possess faith in me, but very few have the proper affinity to accept a significant amount of my Divinity."

She looked slightly disappointed as she continued.

"That’s why there are only a handful of people I can directly empower."

Then her expression brightened.

"Though, every once in a while, someone is born who is practically made to accept my nature."

I already knew who she was talking about.

"Like Emilia?"

"Exactly."

Eris smiled.

"Emilia is an especially good example. She was practically born with an affinity for my Divinity. Her nature resonates with mine so naturally that giving her my power is far easier than it would be for an ordinary follower."

I nodded slowly.

Then my thoughts returned to the middle-aged man.

Garan.

I had chosen him almost at random.

At least, that’s what I had initially thought.

But the more I considered it, the more I realized that wasn’t entirely true.

There had been something about him.

Something I couldn’t properly explain.

Among all the people in that sanctuary, my attention had naturally been drawn toward him.

He had been frightened.

He had been uncertain.

Yet even with all that fear, he had still prayed.

And when I reached out with my Divinity, there had been a noticeable pull between us.

It had been faint, but it was there.

I had simply assumed it was because he was the first person I happened to notice.

"...So that’s why."

I looked at the holographic image of Garan.

"That’s why I was able to give him my Divinity."

Eris nodded.

"You probably sensed his affinity instinctively."

"Even though I didn’t know what it was?"

"Your instincts as a god are still developing, but they’re not something you should underestimate."

She smiled.

"Your conscious mind might not understand something yet, but your Divinity can sometimes recognize what you cannot."

I remained silent for a moment.

That actually explained quite a lot.

I had thought I simply chose Garan randomly.

But perhaps my Divinity had already recognized something in him before I even understood what I was looking for.

"And considering the amount of power you gave him..." Eris glanced at the screen again.

"That man should be capable of quite a lot now."

"Quite a lot?"

"Of course."

She giggled.

"You only gave him a small portion of your power, but even a small amount of your Divinity is still Divinity."

I looked at my hand.

That was something I still found difficult to comprehend.

My power had only recently begun to make sense to me.

I was still learning how Authorities worked, still trying to understand the strange nature of my own Divinity, and yet even a tiny portion of it could apparently transform an ordinary person into something completely different.

Garan probably didn’t even understand what had happened to him yet.

"He’ll have to learn how to use it eventually," I muttered.

"Most likely."

Eris smiled.

"And he’ll probably spend the next several days believing every little thing that happens to him is a divine miracle."

I could already imagine it.

The thought made me sigh.

"...I should probably give them that decree sooner rather than later."

Eris laughed softly.

"Fufu~ See? You’re already starting to understand what it means to have followers."

I glanced at her.

"I still don’t think I’m getting used to it."

"Perhaps."

She looked back toward the sanctuary.

"But whether you get used to it or not, Riley..."

Her smile became slightly more mysterious.

"You have already taken your first step as a god."