An Encounter With the Light God

Why can I meet the Light God with the [Divine Comforter]?

As I pondered that after borrowing the comforter from Rokuko and falling asleep, I found myself in a white space.

"… Huh, is this a dream? …—Oh?"

"Heya, Kehma-kun. It's been a while."

The Light God was there waving at me. Is this a dream or something—well, it is a dream, but not exactly, I guess? Ugh, I'm getting confused.

Though he was radiant and I couldn't see his expression, he probably was smiling. Bright as heck.

"Hm? You seem confused. Is it your first time using the comforter?"

"The comforter, well… I mean, I've used it a few times, but…"

"Ah, I see. You were on the [Receiving End], weren't you?"

"[Receiving End]? What do you mean?"

"The comforter has an effect where you can share a bed with a designated person. To put it in a way you'd understand, it's like choosing a body pillow maybe? But if it's someone you can't meet, you'll just see them in a dream. It worked out perfectly this time."

… So that's why I'm meeting the Light God now. Because I thought of him before sleeping.

"Of course, if the soul has returned to the cycle of reincarnation, it'll just be a fantasy. Conversely, if it's someone you can physically meet, the comforter can even alter various fates to lure them in. It's an item that ensures you'll almost certainly meet the person you wish to. In your world, once you use it, you can't use it again for a year. But if there's someone you're looking for, you should try it. In the case of gods, it's a bit different in that we can choose to refuse. You'll still have to wait a year for the next use though."

Guess I can't use it on Leona, the Chaos God, then.

… Hmm? If we can share the dream world… Does that mean the dream I see when using the [Divine Comforter] is what the other person dreams as well? Like a remote meeting or something?

"Oh, so you recall being on the receiving end of the comforter at some point? Or maybe more of a feeling then?"

"…"

"So you do, hehe. You're the Master of that Dark God child, yeah? Whether or not the dream's memory remains, or if it's made to seem like a dream, it's all up to the owner. However, the effect is certain. So if you don't remember, that's why."

"I guess so…"

There were a few things I wanted to question Rokuko about when I woke up, mainly about the time after doing the Dungeon Battles at Haku-san's place. Both times.

The Light God summoned two white single-seater sofas. The Light God then sat on one, gesturing for me to take the other.

"Well, go ahead and take a seat. Don't worry, I won't snatch you up and eat you like your Dungeon Core."

"Sigh, thank you for your kindness."

"It feels a bit refreshing to be spoken to with such politeness from you."

"I was half-asleep back then; my apologies."

"No problem. I did send you off with your Hero Skill sealed, so we're even."

I offered an apology, to which the Light God casually accepted… Come to think of it, my Skill was sealed. In fact, I couldn't use it until I broke an extra Dungeon Core for the first time.

"… So you can seal Hero Skills too?"

"Of course. I'm like the father figure to those heroes, right? Just like the Dark God claims to be the father of Dungeon Cores. I don't bother holding gatherings though."

If heroes had gatherings, I wouldn't have been able to hide me being a hero from Wataru.

If they recognized me as a hero, it would become even more bothersome than now. I'd prefer to keep it a secret.

"You get it right? He's so meticulous about it. He prepares the venue, food, and drinks all by himself. He should just outsource it, like that email function."

"I never imagined that even you, the Light God, would receive emails."

"The Dark God bragged about it and pushed it onto me. It was quite annoying."

I couldn't tell whether they had a good or bad relationship, given all the pushy and irritating behavior. From the sounds of it, it seemed they had a sort of frenemy relationship.

… I always thought Dungeons and heroes were proxies in a war between the Dark God and the Light God. Maybe I misunderstood. Should I ask?

"What you all are doing isn't a proxy war for us."

"… Did I say that out loud?"

"It's a dream. I can understand what you're thinking. I want to clarify so you don't misunderstand—he's good at creating things and is skilled at ingratiating himself with the Creator God. It's infuriating. Therefore, he's still an enemy."

"Creator God. So there's a Creator God that reigns above the Dark God and the Light God?"

"That's right. What we're doing is a job entrusted to us by the Creator God. The Dark God creates Dungeons and I destroy them with heroes. If the balance between destruction and creation is maintained, the world develops smoothly. Heroes from other worlds also bring their own cultures."

"… So we're like subcontractors for the gods?"

"It's more like the relationship between a CEO and their employees. Since you are affiliated with both, you're more like a spy or an operative."

So, I was a spy… But whose spy am I?

Well, considering the information I possessed, I felt like a spy sent from the Light God to the Dark God.

"By the way, what do you mean when you say the Pope's true identity is a Dungeon Core?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like. Is there something difficult to understand?"

"… So he's also a spy?"

"His Dungeon is located in the territory of the current Holy Kingdom. To survive, hiding his Dungeon using his position of power was optimal. Unfortunately, those in the Pope's position have a means of contacting me so he had no choice but to ally with me—it would have been better if it was that simple, right?"

At this point, the Light God shrugged.

"He planned to take the place of the Dark God and was actually the one who proactively reached out to me. I had established the Church of Holy Light and the Holy Kingdom to support the heroes, but if they use my power, there's a restriction where the Holy Kingdom cannot summon heroes. Despite this, he used my power without any restraint. As a result, very few heroes have been summoned to the Holy Kingdom due to his actions—so few that you can count them on one hand. I've honestly grown quite tired of him."

"So, you're willingly giving me this information?"

"You're a spy, aren't you? In this case, perhaps it's best to say you're the bridge between both camps."

"I'd prefer not to be hostile to either the Dark God or the Light God, so being a bridge would be ideal."

"Alright then. What do you want to know? I'll tell you, as long as I'm aware of it."

… There's still the question of whether he'd actually tell me the truth or not, but I left the judgment of its veracity to Haku-san. I'll just convey it as [this is what the Light God said].

I felt less like a spy and more like a messenger pigeon.

Not that I care though.

"Then, concerning the Pope's true identity, which number core is he? If possible, I'd like to know the type of core as well."

"Ah, he went by Core Numer 4. He looked humanoid, but he claimed to be a Slime."

After saying this, the Light God took a deep breath.

"… Well, he was lying. Did he really think he could deceive me, the Light God? Speaking of Core Number 4, that's the one that took away the original Saintess's hero. I couldn't possibly make a mistake about that… Truly, it's infuriating."

With that, the Light God revealed the true identity of the Pope.

"His true identity is Core Number 10, an undead-type core."