The Only Thing She Granted

"Though it's only been ten days since I last saw you, compared to before, you really seem like a completely different person."

Watching Shien stare at her in a daze, the beautiful Goddess spoke with a remark that could have been either praise or teasing.

Her lovely voice, as melodious as a song destined to be remembered for ages, reached Shien's ears and left him speechless for who knew how long.

However, he had definitely not become this way because he had been captivated by the breathtaking Goddess before him and could not pull himself free.

Shien was simply at a loss for words.

It couldn't be helped.

"Why am I here again?"

Could it be that he had died once more?

As Shien thought that, the Goddess suddenly smiled as though she had seen through his thoughts.

"Don't overthink it. You didn't return here because you died." The Goddess said, "You can check for yourself. This time, I summoned you with your body."

Only after the Goddess pointed it out did Shien notice that fact.

Indeed, unlike the last time he had been summoned here, he had not appeared in an incorporeal state this time. He was truly here with his body, his feet firmly planted on the ground rather than floating in midair as he had before.

In other words—

"This time, I was summoned while I was alive?"

Shien looked at the Goddess before him.

"That's right." The Goddess nodded. "I saw that you had finally escaped the forest of monsters, entered a human town, and even become an adventurer. Since you were about to settle down in this world, I summoned you here to say hello."

What an absurdly capricious reason. Shien truly wanted to say that if she had been so eager for him to enter a human town and properly establish himself in Another World, then she should not have thrown him into a forest full of monsters from the very beginning.

And that inner complaint once again received an answer from the Goddess.

"If I hadn't thrown you into the forest from the start, wouldn't you have been unable to level up or learn so many skills?" The Goddess said with a faint smile. "And if you hadn't personally experienced how extraordinary you were, how could you have discovered so quickly just how much you, a Hero, surpassed ordinary people?"

Those words made Shien's face fall at once.

In other words, to make him fully understand just how extraordinary he was, this Goddess had deliberately thrown him into a forest crawling with monsters instead of a town inhabited by humans?

Wasn't she afraid that he would simply get eaten by monsters?

The thought had barely arisen when the Goddess immediately answered again.

"Of course I'm not." The Goddess said with utter certainty. "With the Holy Sword's protection, you would probably have been fine even if I threw you into the Demon Realm, let alone a forest where the strongest monsters are only level fifty."

Hearing that, Shien finally could not hold back anymore.

"Say, Goddess, can you read minds or something? How do you know everything I'm thinking?" Shien said as if in protest. "And don't make it sound like none of this has anything to do with you. You caused all of this too, didn't you?"

Whether it was the Holy Sword or all sorts of skills, hadn't they all been granted to him by this Goddess?

After all, Shien had originally been nothing more than an utterly ordinary person.

Just as Shien thought that, the Goddess actually denied his claim.

"No, you've got that wrong." The Goddess said, "Whether it's the Holy Sword or your skills, they are all yours. I merely awakened them."

The moment those words came out, Shien froze.

"My own things?"

Shien could not quite process it.

Seeing that, the Goddess began to explain.

"The so-called Holy Sword is actually a power born from the concept of the 'Hero.' It is a trait possessed only by people from Another World like you, who are summoned from another world in the capacity of Heroes."

The Goddess explained in an incomparably pleasant voice, as though she were singing.

"Just as some people in Omnipotens can awaken skills that belong solely to themselves—what are known as Unique Skills—you Heroes from Another World also possess your own Unique Skills. Moreover, compared to the people of Omnipotens, you have one additional trait: once you are summoned into this world through the Hero Summon, you can naturally awaken your own Holy Sword and Unique Skill. I merely sped up that process and awakened your Holy Sword and Unique Skill directly."

Otherwise, why would there be any need to summon Heroes from Another World?

If the Goddess could freely bestow powerful Holy Swords and Unique Skills upon anyone she pleased, then she would not need to specifically summon people from Another World to defeat the Demon King. She could simply choose Heroes from her own world.

"When all is said and done, if I, a god, need to seek help from others to defeat the Demon King, doesn't that prove that I am at least incapable of defeating him myself?" The Goddess said bluntly. "If I could casually grant others such powerful Holy Swords and Unique Skills, then I might as well defeat the Demon King myself. What would I need Heroes for?"

That excessively reasonable argument nearly left Shien speechless again.

But when he thought about it carefully, it did seem to make sense.

"In your world, there seem to be myths where gods cannot freely interfere with the course of the mortal world. So even when they see a Demon King harming the world, they can only watch helplessly, at most giving humanity some assistance and letting humans defeat the Demon King themselves, right?" The Goddess said with some amusement. "Unfortunately, this is not a world from the myths and legends you know. Even if there are many similarities, this is still reality. In the end, some things are different."

What was different?

"For example, in this world, the God Race and the demon race have been mortal enemies for countless thousands of years. They have been at war since ages ago."

The Goddess spoke with perfect frankness.

"To us, the Demon King is our greatest enemy. If we could eliminate them with our own power, we would have done so long ago. There is no rule forbidding us from interfering with the mortal world. On the contrary, the God Race often influences the mortal world and interferes with it in many ways."

Therefore, to the lives of the mortal world, gods were objects of faith, but they were not vague or illusory. They truly existed.

"You already know about Blessings, don't you?" The Goddess said. "Blessings are the most common form of interference that we of the God Race bestow upon mortal life. You also bear a Blessing that I gave you. That is the only thing I truly granted you."

Other than the Blessing granted by the Goddess, everything else was Shien's own power.

Whether it was the Holy Sword or Unique Skills, they were things Shien had been destined to possess himself and had almost nothing to do with the Goddess before him.

To put it simply—

"Nearly all of your unusual traits came from you, not me. In the words of your previous world, don't just pin the blame on me."

The Goddess's words left Shien with no response.

Only then did the Goddess smile at the sight of him.

"Since there's still a little time, let's talk a bit about this world."

With that said, the Goddess waved her hand and summoned a tea table and tea.

Third update today!

The story is expected to receive a major recommendation tomorrow. I hope everyone can support it then! (bows with clasped hands)