“I truly have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Don't lie to me.”
This cunning little brat.
Someone who knows nothing doesn't smile so brightly.
“You sent me out knowing everything, didn't you?”
“I'm telling you, it was a coincidence.”
Dehet. Gilgamesh's pouting lips made my hand rise on its own.
Should I just smack her?
I feel like I'd feel better if I just let loose.
“I'll reduce your workload by half. Is that enough?”
“...That's tempting.”
“I'll even give you a name as a bonus. How about that?”
“That's just something you want to do, isn't it?”
As if she had no intention of hiding it, Gilgamesh nodded in agreement.
A name.
I wasn't keen on reusing a name from a past life.
As I am continuously given new lives, I don't want to live too buried in the past.
Erasing my memories was for the same reason.
I felt like I would keep crumbling from longing.
But I've decided not to forget anymore.
Because they remember me, and for me to forget just to be at ease would be too selfish.
A new start, but without forgetting the memories.
That is my creed now.
“If you're going to give me one, make it a good one.”
“Do not worry. I have something in mind.”
Gilgamesh took out a clay tablet from her characteristic ripples.
The characters written on it were ‘Son of the Sun’.
“Marduk?”
“Does it please you?”
“Whether it pleases me or not, that's a god's name.”
As I learned the work of Uruk, I naturally learned the names of the gods as well.
Among the gods, Marduk has a significant presence.
It is said that he created the world by killing his mother, Tiamat, so his name is quite famous and his rank is high.
And she wants to give me the name of such a great god?
“You're out of your mind.”
“I have it all planned out. And in this era, Marduk doesn't have that much of a presence.”
Myths and legends are passed down orally and change.
It is common for two myths to merge, and for the gods that were once separate to be integrated into one.
“Marduk is a powerful god, but his myths have not yet been established, so his existence itself is faint. Of course, he doesn't have a rank high enough to be compared to the chief gods Anu, Enlil, or Enki.”
“You're the one who told me he was a great god.”
“I said that out of consideration for Marduk.”
For a moment, my body trembled. I felt an unidentifiable mark being carved into my body.
“What did you do now?”
“I merely carved the name. I am glad you are adapting quickly.”
My body shivered. At the same time, a wave of pain washed over me.
Growing pains? It was similar to that.
The difference was that it was incomparably more painful than growing pains.
“You... damned little brat...!”
Gilgamesh had a dark expression on her face.
“...This is what happens when you keep trying to run away.”
“What did you say?”
I can't hear you well.
“It is nothing.”
Gilgamesh closed the door and left.
I spent seven days and nights in agony.
It was a sensation of everything in my body being erased and reborn.
It was torn apart, and new flesh grew.
My black hair all fell out, and golden hair like Gilgamesh's grew in.
“Haa... haa...!”
After enduring a time of suffering, I could feel that my body had changed.
To be precise, the vessel within me had changed.
Even as I went through reincarnations, ‘I’ was still ‘me’.
But from now on, it's different.
‘I’ am now both ‘me’ and simultaneously possess the aspect of the god ‘Marduk’.
A human and an enemy of humanity, a Beast. And also a god.
I had become a crazy hodgepodge monster with three aspects.
“I'm going to lose my mind.”
I washed my face in a water basin brought by a servant.
I waited for the surface to calm, and soon, my face was reflected on the water.
It was me, but something had changed to be more Gilgamesh-like.
Golden hair and ruby-red eyes.
Perhaps it wasn't so much that I resembled Gilgamesh, but that I resembled a god.
I must have changed like this because all the Mesopotamian gods are blond and red-eyed.
But to become a god overnight. Is such a thing even possible?
Just by the simple act of naming?
To find the answer, I headed to the throne room.
There, as always, was Gilgamesh, in the middle of her work.
“Hey.”
“I have been waiting for some time. How is your new body?”
“It's strange. It has clearly changed, but there's no sense of incongruity, which makes it feel even worse.”
“That is a very nice compliment.”
Was it a compliment? I didn't mean it that way.
“With this, we should be able to offset Ishtar's curse to some extent. Though the fact that your divinity is extremely low because you are a Sage King is a problem that needs to be solved.”
A god's curse does not work on a god.
Of course, as there are differences in rank even among gods, a certain level of curse can still work.
But a curse that instantly takes one's life is impossible.
Gilgamesh did this to save me.
“I will hear your words of gratitude later. For now, you owe me one, correct?”
“Y-Yeah. Right.”
It was awkward.
I was just thinking of getting out of this crappy city.
If you take care of me like this, it just makes things more complicated.
“Fufu. Do not worry. You will have to pay this debt in full. You made a preposterous covenant with the goddess Ishtar, did you not?”
“Your marriage? That was unavoidable. What was I supposed to do when a goddess told me to?”
“You could have at least asked. From what I saw, you are quite the talker, are you not?”
“So you were watching.”
Gilgamesh didn't even pretend to listen.
“There is much you must do from now on. I have also lent you my sword, so it will mainly be war.”
“War? So suddenly?”
“The way the nearby city-states are running rampant is getting on my nerves. I do not like it one bit.”
Gilgamesh's eyes flashed.
The special quality of being the one and only in the world. I could see the arrogance that came with being special.
I was reminded of her words, that all the treasures of the world were hers.
Perhaps this was her true nature.
“Go and trample them into the ground.”
“...I've heard that war requires soldiers, weapons, and food.”
“We have been continuously making weapons... and as for bread and soldiers, Marduk has taken care of that, has he not?”
When I asked what she meant, Gilgamesh pointed to the sky.
Rain was falling from the sky. Even though it wasn't the rainy season.
“The goddess's blessing. You know?”
“...You're a truly terrifying king.”
I became afraid of the extent of Gilgamesh's plans.
The girl gave a pure and innocent laugh.
“It is not for me to say, but I am excellent.”
That was certainly true.
“The walls have been fortified, and the soldiers have been trained by the blessing. All that is left is to go and trample them, and make them our vassal states.”
Gilgamesh handed me an axe.
“This is the axe used to cut off Tiamat's head. Use this axe if you ever have to face a god, and otherwise, use the sword.”
“I get that the axe has a god-slaying effect. What about the sword?”
“That sword contains the power of the sun.”
The sun. The word felt somehow familiar.
Gilgamesh explained the reason.
“It seems Marduk has the blessing of the sun? It looks like he received it from another Beast, so you might as well use it since the compatibility should be good.”
I took out the simple, colorless and odorless sword.
To think that the sword I had squabbled with Gilgamesh over at the beginning contained the power of the sun.
“...Don't tell me this was also part of your plan.”
“Not to that extent. It's just that as Marduk gained the aspect of a god, the blessing of the sun grew, and that's how I found out.”
It was a stroke of good luck... or so Gilgamesh brushed it off.
Somehow, I didn't quite believe her, but I had no way of confirming the truth, nor did I have the desire to, so I too ignored it.
The preparations for war were the priority.
If you receive something, you return it.
It was a very natural principle.
“This is my first time... in a war.”
“You will do well. You are an expert at dealing with 'humans', are you not?”
Her words cut to the bone.
“That's certainly true.”
An unidentifiable thrill welled up inside me.
I forcibly suppressed my hands and calmed my heart, but,
“....”
Gilgamesh's eyes were watching everything.
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