What’s even funnier is that they’re giving their thanks to our Raha. I found this out from what the other grass and trees told me. They’re worshipping Raha like he’s a god, and when I asked if this was really okay, they said to just leave it alone for now.
It feels bad to put our beautiful Raha on the same level as pathetic things like gods, but human eyes are just decorative anyway. Whatever the case, it doesn’t seem like it’ll harm Raha, so I just told them to keep watch.
“They really are amazing in various ways. They don’t give me a moment to be bored.”
I don’t even have time to properly feel the loss of Raha’s absence. Humans really do live such busy lives. Honestly, looking at the big picture, the human tribe I left Raha with is the moderate side.
“But seriously, how long are they planning to keep fighting?”
“Right? Shouldn’t they be done establishing their hierarchy by now?”
What did they call it? War? I don’t know how long they’re planning to keep that up.
The other humans are still fighting. They’re all trying to take the empty spot I created after I punished those Hadika guys or whatever they were called. I thought it was just a simple territorial dispute that would be settled quickly, but it’s going on longer than I expected.
“Haah… Should I give them another warning…? I’m pretty sure I asked them to be quiet, but maybe because some time has passed? I think they’ve forgotten again. At this rate, they’ll climb all the way up to the mountain range.”
“If they act up again this time, just wipe them all out. Whether they go extinct on their own or you make them extinct doesn’t seem all that different anyway.”
“I really hope they sort things out on their own before I have to step in.”
I’d rather not go that far if I can help it. Separate from the annoyance of them causing trouble everywhere, they’re fighting amongst themselves, so what can I say? I don’t want to care either. But they’re too loud. It seemed like things had settled down just a little while ago, but I don’t know why it suddenly got this bad.
“Honestly, I couldn’t care less about fights between humans…”
Havi sighed and gestured toward the outside of the nest.
“Isn’t that worse?”
“…I’m thinking about it.”
Havi’s right. I couldn’t care less about fights between humans. If worst comes to worst, I can handle it directly. The problem is the thousands of gods. For some reason, they’ve started gathering near my nest and staging a sit-in.
What they’re saying is even more absurd. They’re pestering me to hurry up and take Raha back. They say because Raha is being treated like a god, their supply of faith has decreased or something.
“That’s nonsense. If their faith decreased that much, aren’t they the problem?”
“Exactly. If they’d done their job properly all along, would the humans have turned away?”
Havi couldn’t help but know the situation to some extent. Since Havi happens to live near my nest, he’s been getting dragged into this unintentionally. With all those birds swarming around, they apparently keep poking around Havi’s burrow too. Not only are they dirtying the area with their feathers and droppings, but they’re also stealing the peanuts and walnuts that Havi had collected for snacks. On top of that, how noisy are they? Chirping and flapping day and night—how can anyone live like this?
“It’s bullshit. Anyone can see Raha is human. How could he be a god? They’re just treating him like one.”
“You’re the one answering the humans’ prayers. Even though those humans serve Raha devotedly, they’re not stupid—would they really think he’s an actual god? They’re just making excuses because they’re lacking. Ignore them.”
“…I feel bad for you now. It wasn’t intentional, but.”
“Forget it. They’re the ones doing wrong, so what do you have to apologize for?”
Havi grumbled and gave a half-hearted response, telling me not to apologize instead.
In the end, Havi’s also half-evacuated here. He does go back to his burrow to sleep, but it seems he can’t stay in his burrow during the day. He’s tried chasing them away several times, but it was useless.
They’re stubbornly holding out, saying they won’t leave until I take Raha back. But what can I do? I can’t bring Raha back. If I did that and he accidentally resonated with my power, unwinding the spring I’d carefully wound up, it would all be for nothing.
“How long do humans even live that they’d keep fighting? It feels a bit drawn out now, but it’ll end soon, right?”
“Right. If they keep fighting, they won’t have anything left to eat and live on. If they have brains, would they do such a thing?”
Havi and I decided to just wait. How much longer could this possibly go on?
***
And so another day, two days, three or four days… The seasons changed several times over.
The divine messengers who had been staging a sit-in near my home gave up and went down. Since I held out until the end, it seems they went to find another way. Just when I was feeling relieved, they started inciting the humans instead.
That’s right. Since their supply of faith wasn’t going well, they prolonged the humans’ war. If they keep up that war thing, the humans would pray more, so they’re currently encouraging them to slaughter their own kind for that purpose.
Honestly speaking, it’s none of my business. They’re just trying to find their own way to survive, so what can I do? Separate from being annoyed, I’ve completely lost interest in humans anyway. I don’t care how many die.
I was worried about Miros and Raha, but I quickly set that worry aside. Miros is a child who received a Star, and Raha is still receiving devoted care from the humans. I don’t care how many of the others die. If they go extinct, that’s their luck too. What can I do?
Even though they were incited, in the end, they’re the ones who bit and fought each other. They have to deal with their own karma. If that’s their fate, they have to accept it.
But the problems arising from this are seriously damaging my mental state.
“I really can’t live like this!”
I’ve become so horrible that I can’t even take on human form. Why? Because it’s so loud I can’t live! This is a really serious problem! Just when I thought I’d finally regained some peace, something else has erupted to torment me!
“It’s hard enough listening to our children’s voices, but the human tribe where Raha is prays about every single trivial thing, and the others keep fighting endlessly, making noise all day long!”
I really feel like I’m going crazy. No, I was already half-crazy. There’s a limit to noise pollution!
Even Havi is practically living in my nest now. Of course, in this case, Havi didn’t come voluntarily. The human tribes got too close, so he had no choice but to evacuate to my nest. Besides Havi, some individuals from various other animals have evacuated here to avoid potential extinction.
To think it’s come to this! Even Havi, who was initially indifferent, became serious as well.
“…Why do humans seem to get stupider with each generation?”
“It’s so loud I can’t live! Damn it! Why did I ever say they could come in!”
“See? I told you you’d regret it. I definitely tried to stop you, didn’t I?”
“Ah, I don’t know! I’m going crazy too!”
The humans really fought endlessly. Fine, that much is okay. They’re establishing hierarchy amongst themselves and fighting over territory—what can I say about that? That much is still tolerable. Half of it is because the gods are inciting them anyway. It’s human business after all.
The problem is that these things are slowly creeping up again.
“I! Clearly! Told them to be quiet!”
Is it because the fighting has gone on so long, or have they already forgotten that I got angry? They’ve started creeping up near my nest, beyond the area I allowed them.
At first, they came in so little that it wasn’t even noticeable. They burned grass and cut down trees. It was such a minor level that I just let it go. That much I could afford to give.
That seems to have been the problem. Maybe because I didn’t firmly establish boundaries at the start, they seem to think it’s really okay. Now these things have brazenly invaded my territory. More precisely, they’ve strayed from the area I permitted and gotten close to my nest. The place where the humans are currently fighting hard is in my territory to begin with anyway.
The humans’ clamor grew louder and louder. With so many of them screaming in unison and making a racket breaking things, the noise is no joke. I tried to endure until the end, but now I really can’t take it anymore.
I’ve reached the point where I can’t even bother with spoken language.
—I can’t do this. I’m going to go crazy.
“The thousands of gods said they’d finish it quickly, so if we wait just a little longer…”
—I’ve already given them more than enough time! You know, don’t you? Those things have no intention of resolving this now! They’re so obsessed with their divine power struggles that they only hear my ‘warning’ as mere ‘whining’!
Not long ago, when I thought I should go down once, the startled gods said they’d resolve it as quickly as possible. Was it last fall, or the fall before that? It wasn’t a tremendous amount of time, but it wasn’t an insufficient amount either. Yet the gods keep neglecting it, only saying in words that they’ll sort it out.
Why? Because they’re leaving that chaos alone to secure their faith! Some of them, thinking time was running short, stepped up more actively to incite the humans. The fighting grew bigger and bigger, and beyond uproar, chaos intensified.
I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t endure any longer.
“…Just don’t make them go extinct.”
Havi didn’t try to stop me anymore either. He just said to try to hold back from annihilation. The Dryads responded to my gestures and will, rising up in a rush. They didn’t even speak to me. They just quietly rose and waited for me.
I began descending below the nest, leading my children.
***
This time was different from before. I wasn’t simply going down with just my children. Everything with roots responded and resonated with my fury. The grass held sharp poison, and the trees raised their tough branches into points. The refreshing breeze became laden with humid energy and whipped fiercely.
“Wh-what is that…!”
“M-monster…!”
“Hurry, run, we have to run…!”
The humans couldn’t help but be horrified seeing me and my children. The murmuring stopped at one moment. And soon, only the sound of air escaping barely seeped from their wide-open mouths.
Without exception, the humans stopped their fighting and looked up at me. Some died standing right there, while others collapsed and lost their minds. They prostrated flat on the ground, seeking their damn gods.
I deliberately didn’t fully reveal my presence. Because I was worried they’d die? No. To firmly imprint it upon these ignorant things who can’t even properly see me.
With those useless eyes, look at me properly and remember.
—You lowly vermin, you dare mock my mercy?
There wasn’t even the usual trembling of the earth. It was tacit consent that the world wouldn’t stop me. The only anxious ones were the thousands of gods. Birds from all over the world flew to me until the sky looked pitch black. When I reached out my hand, the flying things fell from the sky like rain with a patter.
The acrid smell of burning, the fishy smell of blood sharp enough to sting the nose, the disgusting smell of all kinds of filth and their remains had dirtied the entire land.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and the wind grew fiercer and fiercer. Something struggled desperately to sprout from the ground. But nothing came to fruition. It seemed the gods were trying somehow to use their pathetic power, but it was useless.
The world wouldn’t allow it. I also didn’t allow it.
—Arrogant things. Did you think you were actually something just because these pathetic things propped you up?
