The blasphemous stone tablet
"What have you done, you damned evil god!?"
Gilgamesh's roar echoed through the tower. Seeing this scene with witnesses and evidence, he was furious. The amount of work involved in creating a magic circle that surrounded the entire city of Uruk in such a short time was unimaginable.
These past few days he had been prepared to wake up one day to find a Lahmu standing in front of him, but now that he discovered the culprit was actually one of his own people, he was filled with rage and wanted nothing more than to skin her alive.
"Um... I can explain..."
"An explanation? Go explain it in the Underworld!"
Gilgamesh stared intently at Ishtar, who could no longer utter a word of rebuttal and adopted a defeated expression.
"That's strange. I don't remember seeing this gem when I came to this tower before."
It is quite common for gemstones to contain magic. When Bai Mo came to the tower before, he made sure he had checked it carefully. Although the power released by this gemstone was very weak, he was confident that he was not mistaken.
Hearing Bai Mo's words, Ishtar's expression became even more unpleasant. Arcueid, standing to the side, raised an eyebrow and said:
"I remember you once took your most valuable gems with you. Could this be one of those gems you took?"
"That can't be right. I remember she was attacked by Kingu that time and lost everything, didn't she?"
As Bai Mo and Arcueid reminisced about Ishtar's experiences, the more they talked, the more uneasy Ishtar felt. If there were a hole right now, she would probably crawl into it without hesitation.
Upon hearing this, an absurd thought arose in Ereshkigal's mind, and she said to Ishtar:
"You rascal, you didn't go off to the wilderness to search for them all by yourself while there were no monster attacks, did you?"
The room fell silent upon hearing this.
Everyone stared at Ishtar with a hint of astonishment. She scratched her head somewhat sheepishly and said:
"These... these are all very precious. The thought of these most valuable gems being lost outside makes my heart ache so much that I can't sleep. So, during my break, I secretly ran away."
At first, I felt something was off about this gemstone, but as soon as I saw its perfect color and clarity, the thought kept rising in my mind—this must be an illusion...
It's definitely a problem with the body I'm in! I would have been able to spot the problem before!
Upon hearing this statement, everyone was so shocked that their jaws nearly dropped.
"Haha, hahaha." Gilgamesh let out a somewhat dangerous laugh; he was laughing out of anger. Looking at Ishtar, he slowly said:
"You mean, I signed a written contract with you to protect Uruk, and then you deserted your post and ran away for the lost jewels?"
Bai Mo's eyelids twitched wildly, and he looked at Ishtar with a bewildered expression, saying:
"You've already been attacked once, almost losing your head on the city wall, yet you still decide to sneak out Independent Action?"
Ereshkigal's gaze was as if she were looking at a hopeless, dying person, and she continued:
"Then, to cover up your dereliction of duty, you hid it even though you knew it was defective."
Arcueid behind him scratched his head, looking somewhat speechless, and muttered:
"So this is what they meant before, that fools are more dangerous than evil people? Wow, I've certainly seen it now."
Some time later, Ishtar stood in the Great Hall of Uruk, tears streaming down her face, with a stone tablet around her neck inscribed with "I am the Goddess of Idiots."
"Honestly, I completely forgot about you being such an unstable factor. I'll be pursuing compensation afterwards! You'd better be prepared!"
On his throne, Gilgamesh looked down at Ishtar and spoke fiercely. He would naturally impose a host of Magecraft constraints on Ishtar's contract to prevent her from acting recklessly again.
"Um... what is the compensation ratio stipulated in the contract?"
"One to five hundred."
Upon hearing this number, Ishtar was struck dumb, bursting into tears and wailing:
"No way! This isn't enough even if I give up everything I have! This is all I have!"
Of course, Gilgamesh wouldn't protect her father. Faced with Ishtar's wailing, he coldly snorted, brooking no argument. Ishtar was well aware of this, and her gaze quickly swept around, locking onto the only person present who could save her from enormous debt.
"Croak, Bai Mo, please help me! I'd rather have died in that cave than lose all of this. Please save me! If you just pull me up this time, you'll be my father!"
Ishtar shamelessly grabbed Bai Mo's thigh. Seeing the goddess's behavior, Bai Mo marveled at the diversity of goddesses as a species, and then pried her apart.
Upon hearing this, Ereshkigal's expression towards her was no different from that of someone looking at trash.
I just got carried away with my emotions, what's that compared to that?
To avoid incurring debt, would someone even call out to their own father?
"I won't help you. Let go. As a goddess, you should at least take responsibility for the trouble you've caused!" Bai Mo had no intention of helping her. She should find a way to pay for the mess she made.