#1066 A Live Debate Until the End  

“Thanks for coming all the way out here, Sensei.”

“Please, think nothing of it.”

First things first, I invited Sensei the Lifeless King over.

In reality, he’d arrived at the farm ages ago and was apparently having a blast in a snowball fight with the Farm School students.

That’s when Momoko spotted him.

“Eeeek! What’s with this skeleton monster?!”

Wait, she doesn’t know about the Lifeless King?

Even though he’s feared as one of the World’s Two Greatest Calamities, a transcendent being and all that.

Well, I guess you’d never bump into a Lifeless King in daily life.

Maybe we’re the weird ones here.

Anyway, we asked Sensei for his wisdom.

“Sorry for always making you work whenever it’s convenient for us...”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. For me, it’s half hobby, half business. Besides, this matter is important for all of humanity. I’ll be putting my heart into it.”

In our somewhat serious exchange, Momoko looks utterly confused, as if saying, “Uh, what are you guys talking about?”

Ignoring her, Sensei raises his staff dramatically...

“O fellow gods who sit in the heavens, valiant figures ranked third and sixth! O beings who govern dreadful wars and glorious sagas, please descend upon us...!”

It’s been a while since I’ve heard some proper chanting.

As if responding to Sensei’s plea, the sky begins to shine, and a beam of light shoots down. From it, two divine figures gracefully glide down.

One is a stunning goddess clad in dazzling armor.

The other is a muscular, rugged god with piercing eyes.

The goddess of war, Athena.

The god of war, Velesares.

These are the two deities who made a grand entrance at our farm today.

“What the-?! Athena and Lord Veleares?!”

Momoko is gobsmacked.

Wait, she knows them?

Not just one, but both?

“Athena was the goddess I met when I was summoned to this world! She gave me my skill!”

Skill...

Oh right, that whole skill thing.

Wait, Momoko has one?

If she had something that handy, she could’ve gone wild with it at Orkubo’s Castle the other day.

“Even so, my skill is seriously impractical. It’s total garbage.”

“Garbage”?

For her to use such strong language, it must be pretty bad.

“It’s a skill that lets me insta-kill an opponent who’s a bit stronger than me. But if they’re weaker, I don’t need the skill to beat them, so it’s kinda useless. I mean, it’s handy against undead or enemies you can’t easily kill—like ones that are gaseous or shapeless and hard to hit physically, but still.”

Momoko grumbles that the “instant kill, no questions asked” effect was too over-the-top and actually unusable.

I mean, if using the skill only results in “dead or alive,” then in friendly events like the mock battle at Orkubo’s Castle, she couldn’t use it.

It’s just one skill, but once she starts talking, the complaints just keep flowing.

Has she been bottling up a lot of frustration?

Well, as they say, if you don’t have skills, just level up...

“What?! ‘Tis the skill I bestowed upon thee directly! Hast thou any complaints?!”

Protesting is none other than the goddess Athena.

Her dazzling armor is so flashy it’s almost blinding.

“Yes, I’m complaining! Is there any other way to interpret what I just said?! No, right?! Try using your brain for once!!!”

Momoko shows zero hesitation in talking back to a god.

Impressive.

Is there anyone she’d actually be submissive to?

“In contrast, Lord Velesares! Thank you so much for your help back then!”

Ah, there we go.

Someone she actually shows respect to.

One of the two gods we summoned today.

Momoko is practically wagging her tail like a puppy at him.

“When the Human Kingdom lost the war and I was left wandering, it was Lord Velesares who helped me! He trained me so I could survive out there, and even gave me a holy sword! That was hundreds of times more useful than Athena’s trash skill!”

“What’s with all that lavish praise?! Grrrr!!!”

Athena sure expresses her displeasure in a rather theatrical manner...

“Velesares! ‘Tis unfair of thee to entice away mine own followers! Didst thou perhaps dangle some tempting bait before them? Verily, the war god who presides over defeat is most unscrupulous!”

She’s saying whatever she wants about Velesares.

But the burly male god keeps his cool and speaks for the first time.

“I merely sought to offer what aid I could to those sorely troubled by defeat. War, when won, brings its own burdens, but when lost, even greater woes befall. Is it not in such times that we must render assistance? If a god cannot be relied upon in times of need, then what is he?”

From what I can tell, Velesares seems to be making a whole lot of sense.

The flamboyant goddess and the stoic male god.

The contrast between the two deities is glaringly obvious.

“Hah! Why should a god stoop to cleaning up after the vanquished? Let the losers perish. Only the noble victors art worthy to receive honor from the gods.”

Their viewpoints are polar opposites, to say the least.

“War goddess Athena and war god Velesares. Both part of the celestial pantheon and governing war, yet their approaches are completely different,” Sensei explains. “Athena governs the splendor, flashiness, and bravery of war. She also oversees wisdom and knowledge, emphasizing aspects like strategy.”

Then he elaborates on Velesares.

Well, I’ve met him before, so I know.

“On the flip side, Velesares governs the grimness, cruelty, and negative aspects of war. War is a calamity. When it occurs, countless lives are lost, tragedies abound, and civilizations regress. He’s the god who ensures that fact.”

“Hmph! Those who lose art weaklings. The weak have no right to salvation. Only those who achieve victory in battle art worthy of the deities’ love.”

The farm residents present are visibly taken aback by the goddess’ words.

Among gods, there are the dangerous ones and the downright terrifying ones, and it was clear at a glance that this goddess is the latter.

“U-Um... I get who these two gods are, but why did you bring such deities down here? What are you planning to do?”

“A most valorous question! As expected of mine own follower!” Athena pounces on Momoko’s inquiry with enthusiasm. “Today, we have descended to the mortal realm to decide a matter of great import—a fateful decision that shall determine the morrow of this world! It seems the other gods wisely entrust this to me, the goddess Athena!”

“Huh? Huh? What exactly are you deciding?”

Momoko is utterly lost, not being filled in on the details.

Not wanting to leave her in the dark any longer, I decided to explain.

“You know how there have been tons of babies born recently? Like, a baby boom?”

“Yeah, so many people around me were getting pregnant and giving birth that I thought it was some kind of conspiracy!”

Conspiracy might be a bit much, but yeah, I get it.

Starting from last Christmas, loads of couples in this world have been blessed with kids.

When babies are born, the population increases.

And when the population increases, what happens...? Yep, it’s that classic problem you see in dystopian anime.

“Indeed, when humanity grows too numerous, naught good comes of it! If people become too many, there shall be insufficient land to dwell upon and food to produce! When scarcity arises, strife ensues—war!!” Athena says with gusto. “If large-scale war breaks out, it may become a perilous event that could lead to the very annihilation of mankind! We gods must guide humanity rightly so they do not perish! Therefore, we must decide upon measures to address this population explosion.”

Does the goddess Athena have a proposal?

When I asked, she replied with a smug grin.

“Of course, ‘tis simple! If the population hath grown too great, then we must reduce it!”

She begins.

“War! We shall instigate war to suitably diminish the excessive population! A most excellent proposal befitting me, the goddess of war! Truly fitting for the greatest goddess in the heavens to save humanity from crisis!!!”

“I oppose that notion.”

Velesares immediately counters.

“War is said to be the lowest and worst of all measures. It is the final resort, to be taken only after all else hath been tried. As one of the celestial deities, I cannot condone so readily embracing such a calamity.”

“Silence! I heed not the opinions of a god of losers! All that is spoken by me, Athena, who presides over glorious victories, should be given utmost priority!!!”

They start bickering, creating quite a scene.

“Th-This is...!”

Watching this unfold, Momoko freezes.

Yes, this is...

A full-on debate between the war-happy goddess Athena and the peace-minded god Velesares over how to deal with the sudden population surge from the Christmas baby boom...!

A live, all-night debate among the gods!!!