Maybelle''s father seems to have foreseen the future or found a way through his exceptional knowledge, but there''s no need to dwell on that right now.


    "I understand the gist of what''s happening, but there are parts I don''t understand."


    "What is it?"


    I lightly snapped my fingers, and at the same time, Maybelle fell asleep.


    After all, it wasn''t appropriate for the child who was about to be a sacrifice to hear the story.


    "The sacrifice to be the body of the deity. As far as I know, such a thing is not necessary to create a deity. Why did they demand that?"


    "Huh?"


    E, who was holding the suddenly sleeping Maybelle, had a greatly surprised expression.


    I have experience manipting public opinion and inciting to create or change many deities, but such sacrifices were never necessary.No, there wasn''t even a ritual to begin with. It was just a matter of manipting public opinion and incitement to lead the beliefs of many people to establish the deity in the form I wanted.


    Therefore, there is no such thing as a ritual to create a deity.


    "The existence of a deity is born from the beliefs of countless humans. Therefore, a physical body is meaningless."


    A deity is born from the beliefs of many people.


    Except for a few special cases that have a physical body... Without the beliefs of such humans, it would be a weak existence that cannot even maintain its own existence.


    Hmm. From that perspective... Isn''t a deity a kind of mental parasite that is born by feeding on the faith of many humans, unable to exist without the beliefs of the majority of humans?


    It''s an interesting thought, but what''s important now is not that.


    "That''s why the idea of a sacrifice to be the body of a deity in this ritual is... strange."


    "Is that so? But how, Dragon''s Priestess, know about this ritual?"


    "Hmm. The details are a secret. But one thing is certain... There is no one who knows more about how to create a deity than I do."


    That''s how I used to make gods in the first ce.


    However, the ritual to create a deity that E exined... No matter how I think about it, it''s different from the method I used.


    It''s as if...


    “But if you perform the ritual, are you sure you''re really creating a new diety?”


    "Huh? That''s..."


    "I also know well the methods of creating deities. But the ritual you mentioned seems to be apletely different thing from the method I know."


    E''s face began to harden at my words.


    "That''s... but..."


    E couldn''t continue her words properly. Hmm...


    "Perhaps the voice that taught them that ritual has deceived everyone?"


    Otherwise, it doesn''t make sense.


    The unreasonable demands and the attempt to deceive the desperate rat beastmen to obtain what they want... If it''s a trick,


    then... what does that voice want?


    "Exin the ritual that the rat beastmen are preparing as detailed as possible. I''llpare it to the method I know."


    "Ah, I understand."


    E began to exin the ritual to create a deity that she knew.


    "First, the materials for the ritual are a child who will be the body of the deity, arge amount of mana stones, and the prayers and beliefs of the new deity''s followers. Finally... to turn the prayers and beliefs of ordinary people into a pure deity, arge number of souls will be sacrificed for the deity''s ascension."


    Oh, this is bad! This ritual is suspicious!


    Arge amount of mana stones can be used to perform various magic or miracles, but arge number of souls? That''s out of the question!


    It''s not a proper ritual at all! It''s clearly a ritual with a suspicious ulterior motive!


    "That''s a failure."


    "Huh?"


    But if the voice that came from underground is the one I''m thinking of, did they want to revive themselves using such means?


    Even if they revive, they''ll just be easier for me to find.


    "Doesn''t it seem like a suspicious ritual? A ritual that demands arge number of souls? Even the gods of the Pantheon don''t make such demands. Did the rat beastmen really believe in such a ritual?"


    "The esteemed ones of the rat beastmen believed in it firmly. I don''t know much, but... at the time, since they said so, I had no choice but to believe it."


    Believed in it firmly, huh... Was the situation so desperate that there was no other choice? Or...


    "Hmm... I don''t know who that voice is, but... it might have brainwashed them."


    "Brainwashed?"


    "Yes. Otherwise, they wouldn''t believe in such a preposterous ritual."


    The only thing actually needed to create a god is the faith of the believers, ording to E''s exnation of the required materials.


    The other materials... Hmm...


    Maybe I should have them capture me and drag me underground sometime.


    From the looks of it, they probably wanted to extract the magic from the mana stones, absorb arge number of souls, and obtain a physical body to inhabit, bing aplete entity.


    If such a ritual seeded, they could be reborn, possessing a body filled with arge number of souls and magic.


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    It wouldn''t be as good as their original state before being shattered, but...


    What a fools.


    But therge number of souls among the required materials... Hmm...


    Are they nning to kill all the rat beastmen and offer their souls?


    If not...


    "As for therge number of souls required for the ritual... How do they n to obtain them?"


    "That..."


    E hesitated for a moment before speaking.


    "They said they would obtain them by wiping out the inhabitants of Armen."


    "Armen?"


    The rat beastmen underground are nning to wipe out the city of Armen on the surface?


    How...? Well, I can kind of guess.


    Since the rat beastmen are living deep in the sewers, unknown to others, it wouldn''t be too difficult for them to tamper with the water supply.


    The people of Armen are using the water from the water supply normally, so if they were to release a longsting poison into the water source, they could easily wipe out the human inhabitants of the city.


    Hmm... Wait a moment. Could it be that the water and sewage systems of Armen were prepared for this ritual from the beginning?


    Preparing the water supply as a means to obtain arge number of souls, and the sewers below Armen as the location for the ritual?


    If that''s the case, then this ritual has been in preparation for a very long time.


    Even before the birth of Maybelle, who is sleeping there right now. Hmm.


    "I can''t just leave this be. This is..."


    "Yes. For Maybelle''s sake, the ritual must be prevented."


    E stroked the sleeping Maybelle''s head again. Her gentle touch was filled with deep affection.


    "Not only for Maybelle, but I can''t let the people of Armen be massacred either."


    So, what''s the best course of action?


    The simplest method would be to storm the underground right now and destroy everything, but... Hmm, hmm.


    While they''ve done wrong,pletely massacring them all is a bit... Hmm...


    If it was already done, it would be a different story, but they haven''t done it yet, so killing them all is a bit... My heart is softening.


    Well, the rat beastmen are just desperately trying to survive, so killing them all doesn''t feel quite right. Sabotaging the ritual would not be enough.


    Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.


    That''s it.


    "What if we make Maybelle into a god?"


    "Huh?"


    E''s eyes widened in surprise.


    What, why are you looking at me like that?


    "Uh, did you hear me correctly? This child, and the to sacrifice the people of Armen?"


    "No, not that ritual."


    If the rat beastmen needed a god, then if a god for the rat beastmen already existed, this wouldn''t have happened in the first ce.


    So...


    "Rather than that suspicious ritual, it''s about properly creating a god."


    "Properly, you say..."


    E looked at me with eyes full of distrust. Well, I understand, but still.


    Because of the suspicious ritual to create a gods, her daughter is in danger, and she even lost her husband. It''s natural for her not to trust me.


    But...


    "Your daughter is not being sacrificed as an offering for the physical body of a god. By reversing the ritual that the rat beastmen are preparing, we can directly ascend this child to the position of a god."


    "B-But..."


    "If that happens... Your daughter will be a living human who has risen to the position of a god, and when her life as a living being ends, she will be the god of the rats and watch over the rat beastmen, so the future of your race will also be guaranteed, won''t it?"


    At my words, E fell into deep contemtion, and then spoke in a small voice.


    "It is certainly tempting, but... But, bing a god means taking on an immense responsibility, doesn''t it?"


    "That may be true. But she can be the most honored existence while still alive. Aren''t you ufortable with your child bing such an existence?"


    E shook her head slightly.


    "No, it''s not that. I''m just... Worried that after bing a god, an immortal being with immense responsibility, this child may be burdened and suffer from the weight of it."


    I see. It''s ultimately because she''s worried about her child, isn''t it?


    Parents are always worrying about their children, but isn''t this worry a bit too much?


    In that case...


    "How about asking her directly?"


    I looked at the sleeping, or rather, pretending to sleep Maybelle.