In the solemn temple, the breathtakingly beautiful Goddess stood before Shien, her gaze filled with both reproach and teasing.
Shien swore that, for one brief moment, he had genuinely wanted to hit someone.
Unfortunately, the Goddess standing before him could read minds. Seemingly seeing the despair in Shien's heart, she stared straight at him until the corners of his mouth twitched.
Only then did the Goddess smile.
"Should I congratulate you first, Viscount Poztut?"
As though nothing had happened, Nien said such words.
"Isn't it all thanks to you, Goddess?" A strained smile appeared on Shien's face. "If you hadn't summoned me to this world and given me a second life, how could I have come this far?"
Those words were dripping with sarcasm.
At the very least, Nien could not have failed to hear it.
So—
"Didn't someone just want to hit me? Or was that my imagination?"
Nien blinked and asked as though she knew nothing.
"That was definitely your imagination!" Shien's smile remained just as forced, and his tone just as sarcastic. "I just think that someone who ruins another person's good time might suffer divine punishment, you know?"
His skill at making pointed insinuations was absolutely first-rate.
But Nien clearly did not care.
"If I remember correctly, in your world, humans are generally the ones who suffer divine punishment. Gods cannot suffer divine punishment." Nien smiled. "Rather, gods are the ones who bring down divine punishment. Those who disrespect gods are the ones who suffer it. Don't you think that makes sense, Viscount?"
Upon hearing that, Shien could finally no longer maintain his smile.
"I didn't offend you, did I, Goddess?" Shien said with an unhappy look. "I didn't even offend you, yet you've already brought divine punishment down on me. Isn't that a bit too