Nairmis pulled her aside and lowered his voice, his eyes full of confusion.
"Tell me, what exactly is going on?"
The water Nymph Acenoe raised her head, and an expression mingling admiration and pride instantly blossomed on her face. Nairmis had seen that expression before. Some fanatical fans in his previous life had looked just like that when they met their idols.
"My master," Acenoe began, her voice carrying a solemn reverence, "God of Emotions and Crafts, wielder of prophecy and wisdom, beautiful and powerful Lord Nairmis, they have come to seek refuge with you. Your great renown has already spread throughout the world."
Nairmis tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly, a huge question mark appearing on his face.
"My great renown? What renown?"
The water Nymph clasped her hands before her chest and spoke in an admiring tone.
"Your Highness, you survived His Majesty the God King's oppressive might, and you even played music for him all night. What an incredible feat! This was His Majesty the God King himself! Everyone is singing your praises. Not only did you survive, you even kept His Majesty seated peacefully for an entire night with your music. It was nothing short of a miracle."
Nairmis choked. He coughed twice and reached up to rub his throat.
"Just... just that?"
"Just that!" the water Nymph answered firmly.
Nairmis blinked. Well, in this world, surviving an encounter with Uranus really did count as a feat worth celebrating.
Though, to him, he had merely sat on the ground playing background music all night, in the eyes of other living beings, it meant that this god possessed something special that could make His Majesty the God King rein in his killing intent.
That was enough. Strength and luck were sometimes the same thing.
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at the group.
The twenty-odd beings still stood in a semicircle, but when he looked over, the flower people's petals trembled slightly, the stone people seemed to draw their shoulders in even tighter, and the tree people's branches swayed restlessly.
They kept their heads lowered and their eyes averted, as though afraid he would find their appearance unacceptable.
Nairmis fell silent for a moment. He could sense their feelings of inferiority. He looked at the water Nymph and softened his voice. "I understand the Nymphs, but what about those tree people, stone people, and flower people? What happened to them?"
The water Nymph's expression dimmed, and her voice grew quieter, her face taking on a more sympathetic look.
"Your Highness, they were born from the divine blood of the nearby Titans. After the Titans' blood fell onto the earth, it gave rise to new life."
"Most were normal Nymphs, but some underwent mutations as they formed and took on the appearance of tree people, stone people, or flower people."
After hearing her out, Nairmis did not speak immediately. He looked back at those mutated spirits, those beings who lowered their heads, twisted their fingers, and tried to make their bodies a little smaller.
He sensed the longing in the deepest reaches of their hearts: a place that would accept and shelter them. He took a deep breath, then walked toward them.
The twenty-odd beings watched him approach and all held their breath.
Nairmis extended his hand. The emotion divinity revolved within his divine core, and a soft glow spread from his body, enveloping the nervous spirits and setting them considerably more at ease.
"Thank you all for your trust. Welcome to our ranks."
For a moment, everything fell silent. They raised their heads to look at Nairmis. There truly was no distaste in his gaze or his tone.
Tears welled up in a tree woman's eyes. She extended her rough, branchlike fingers toward Nairmis, her fingertips trembling. Her lips moved for a long time before she finally squeezed out a sentence. "Your Highness... do you really... not despise us for being ugly?"
Nairmis reached out and clasped the branch she offered. He felt her stiffen sharply the instant he touched her, then relax as though she had finally confirmed that no harm would come.
"I don't think you're ugly. You are a kind spirit. Beauty should not be determined by appearance alone. Your pure and kind hearts shine brighter than any exquisite exterior."
The instant his final word fell, the laws of the world stirred once again.
An entirely new kind of divinity was rapidly forming within Nairmis. It swelled, then began to burn.
The laws urged him on, and the world waited. A new concept was being born, and the concept of beauty itself needed to be redefined.
Nairmis was stunned for a moment. But he soon understood.
Beauty was a very important concept in this world. The primordial Eros had taken away authority over outward beauty, and his desire divinity gave all things the instinct to gravitate toward beautiful things.
But beauty as it currently existed remained confined to appearances. It was outward beauty, crudely judging nothing but the flesh. Any being that failed to meet the standard of beauty would be deemed ugly.
What Nairmis had just said touched upon a realm no one had ever defined: inner beauty. The laws seized upon it and demanded that he proclaim it, making it part of the world.
He drew a deep breath and opened his mouth. His voice rose from deep within his chest, resonating with the laws.
"I am Nairmis, wielder of emotions and crafts, possessor of prophecy and wisdom, and recorder of the world."
His voice spread through the air, radiating from Proeon to the entire world.
"Beauty is not merely an exquisite appearance. Beauty is also the kindness, courage, sincerity, and gentleness within the heart. A person's appearance changes with time, but inner beauty does not wither. Inner beauty is more enduring and precious than beauty of appearance."
"I hereby proclaim that all life has the right to pursue beauty, and that the standards by which beauty is measured should also include purity of heart. Inner beauty and outward beauty are equally important. Both deserve to be seen, cherished, and admired. Thus, I shall wield authority over inner beauty."
The inner beauty divinity, a third-class divinity, supplied the missing half of the concept of beauty. Beauty was no longer a purely outward judgment; it now had an inward dimension.
Silvery-pink light burst from his body like a silent shower of flowers, gently enveloping the entire mountain range.
Within that light, the mutated spirits felt a warmth unlike anything they had ever known. Their forms did not change, but for the first time, they felt that those forms were no longer a source of shame.
Across the earth, countless mutated spirits raised their heads at the same time. All those beings shunned for not being beautiful enough felt the kindness in that proclamation at the very same instant, and a warmth they had never known enveloped them.
"A god who doesn't despise us for being ugly..."
"He's willing to accept us..."
"He said inner beauty is true beauty..."
Faint voices rose one after another through forests and valleys. Then those voices became action. Following the direction of that proclamation, they crossed thorns and loose stones and began making their way toward Proeon.
At the foot of the mountain, all the Nymphs and spirits were gazing at Nairmis with fervent worship.
"Your Highness..." a stone woman spoke, asking cautiously, "may we... stay here?"
"Of course." Nairmis looked at her and said gently, "No one here will be driven away for looking different. As long as you do nothing to hurt others, this will be your home."
The stone woman blinked, as did the other spirits. They were taking in the weight of the word "home."
Nairmis said no more. He turned and swept his gaze over his surroundings. Since he already had so many followers, there ought to be administrators as well.
It was also time to make good on the divinities he had promised the five Nymphs back then and let them manage things.