——BC.2655——

"Ahh Ahh ”

The little goddess sniffed out of curiosity and sneezed so that even the guards who didn't know what the "chili" was could roughly tell that it was some kind of spice.

Now all they have to do is try their best to hold back the laughter, and if they can't help it, they are trying their best to keep the volume of laughter down, so as not to be settled by the goddess who will recover later.

Even a pair of Tosaka, who took care of the goddess as a daughter, couldn't help but turn up the corners of her mouth.

However, of all the people present, only Ryunosuke had different senses than them.

Since Ishtar is almost exactly the same as Rin Tosaka, Ryunosuke, as a teacher, naturally does not laugh at his students, and because Yard once said that Lin Hao became Rin or Ishtar before disappearing, he has been carefully observing the behavior of the goddess to judge whether she is relying on Lin Hao who has an abnormally low synchronization rate and does not show his character.

And it is precisely because of this uninterrupted observation and perception that Ryunosuke feels something abnormal: at the moment when the little goddess sneezes, she "disappears".

It is not that the entity disappears, but that all "features" are lost in an instant, like a painting that has a lot of white space in itself, disappearing a scene without a reference, leaving an extra blank space that is almost impossible to be noticed by people who do not care about it.

And at that time, the goddess sneezed, the chili noodles flew everywhere, the maids who offered to them escaped because they lowered their heads, and the dozen or so maids behind were panicking and dodging, Siduli was giving orders with an angry and funny expression, and no one noticed that the little goddess was staring away, and she was in a daze with her back to the throne, and even if she noticed, she would only think that she was stunned.

Only Ryunosuke, looking at Ishtar in that state, was in a state of palpitations, as if his feet slipped when climbing the cliff, and as if the fishing boat was swept into a bottomless whirlpool.

Although it was fleeting, Ishtar at that moment gave him exactly the same feeling as the pitch-black "hollow" that appeared on top of Leif's demon god pillar.

If it weren't for the delusion, something would have changed in Ishtar...... Belch.

In line with the purpose of observing the goddess, Ryunosuke has been stepping forward and staring at Ishtar since the sneeze was played, because most of the people around him have this attitude, and it does not seem abrupt.

And after the little goddess woke up from the "daze" state, she just blinked her eyes slightly, and the strange feelings such as "abyss" and "bottomless whirlpool" that she had brought to Ryunosuke before sat down directly.

Death, endless death.

The awakened "Ishtar" was surrounded by countless things that were like black mist, and could not be described at all except death, which was the exact opposite of life.

"They" swirled and roared wildly, forming a vortex of death, trying to assimilate everything around them into something as dark, silent, and hopeless as they were.

However, in Ryunosuke's perception, the only effect of this "death vortex" on the outside world is to produce a little bit of suction, and the power is not even comparable to a butterfly's wings.

But why...... Do you always feel like you've seen this scene somewhere?

"[Hmm......]" "Ishtar", who was in the middle of the "whirlpool", suddenly snorted, licked his lips again, and said, "[It's quite fragrant. 】”

————

After a small episode, the offering to the goddess continued, and "Ishtar" was as interested in precious stones and gold as ever, accepting only fine products as before, rejecting gold and precious stones of inferior quality, and being interested in unknown curiosities outside of them, and the "chili peppers" that had been accepted before.

Everyone thinks that the goddess was just taken aback by the pepper and fell in love with it after getting used to it, and since she has always behaved perversely, it is not surprising that her words and actions are inconsistent.

However, Ryunosuke couldn't do it even if he wanted to take [her] as Ishtar, and the [deaths] of Gain were so eye-catching, but for some reason the others present were completely unaware of this, maybe as Yard said, the gods of the mythological age could not decipher their own disguise?

So, which god replaced Ishtar? What is the purpose?

In the following time, Ryunosuke tried to see through the black fog and try to distinguish the difference between "Ishtar's" words and deeds before and after the "sneeze incident".

The most significant difference is that this goddess "lady" who appeared after the sneeze has a lot, compared to the previous big grin Ishtar, her posture is more dignified and polite, and she will not fly the undesirable offerings at every turn, but just let them be removed, in addition, she did not send out some "oracles" that need to be "translated" to send out as before, during which she frowned at some offerings, but did not say anything, and her expression seemed to be secretly noted.

Eventually, after the entire process of making offerings, Ryunosuke could be sure that this latecomer would be more suitable to be the patron saint of Uruk than the real Ishtar.

In terms of personality alone, [she] is more willing to protect or save than the aggressive Ishtar, who is impatient and reckless, and [she] is scheming and then acting.

However, due to the short time available for observation and the lack of more comparison samples, Ryunosuke can't see anything more for the time being, and the conclusions he has reached so far can be summed up by a sentence of "Ishtar is moody".

The most important point, however, is that while she is surrounded by countless deaths, she herself does not appear to be affected in the slightest, or she may not be aware of them at all.

Not...... If she stays to this extent, it may indeed be a little good, but if the "synchronization rate" is not high enough, she can't explain it, so it depends on her interaction with Tosaka.

The only question now is, why did she take Ishtar's place?

"[Chief Priest, I'm out of the house~]" After the ceremony, "Ishtar" waved goodbye to Siduli with a light wave, jumped off the throne and walked towards the outside of the temple.

"If you want to issue an oracle, please return to the temple, my goddess." The chief priest admonished like a mother when she saw her naughty daughter about to leave the house.

"[Got it~]" Ishtar replied as he stepped out of the temple door.

"Where do you want to go next?" Tosaka is as ceremonial as ever.

"[Uh-huh......" The little goddess's gaze swept over Tosaka, Mathew, and Ryunosuke, paused for a moment on Yard, and then said, "[Go to Kuta.] 】”

————

Kuta is a Sumerian city not far from Uruk, and it has a grudge against each other - before the monsters and beasts attacked.

After the "League of the Three Goddesses" launched a large-scale attack on the cities of the Two Rivers Plain, and Gilgamesh considered himself the sole king of the Sumerian Plain as two-thirds of the divine blood, Kuta became a member of the "Uruk Kingdom" like the other cities.

After all, even if the kings of other small countries and small cities are not convinced, they have no means to deal with the impact of monsters and beasts, not to mention that there are as many as three Gilgamesh here.

According to the information received by Tosaka, although Kuta was forced to submit to Uruk due to external pressure, the local residents were quite proud to be able to deal with the attack on their own and would not ask for help, and the three Gilgamesh appreciated their stubbornness, and the resources they gave tended to be auxiliary and logistical.

"So, is there something wrong over there? Do you need further support from Uruk? After Tosaka had roughly briefed Ryunosuke and Matthew, he asked Ishtar.

At this time, several people had already left the circle area and were standing on the side of the main road to Kuta City, and occasionally curious residents passed by, and when they saw that it was Ishtar, they immediately left quickly without hesitation.

The little goddess thought for a moment before she said, "[Hmm...... No, as long as I go over. 】”

"In any case, please take these two 'Transcendents' with you," Tosaka gestured to Ryunosuke and Mathew, "What you think of as 'just go over yourself' is likely to be deliberately led by the enemy to think so." ”

"But they can't fly," the goddess touched the golden and blue giant bow floating next to her: "['Ma Anna' can't carry people. 】”

"Didn't you have a vehicle that was seized from them?" Tosaka said leisurely.

When these words came out, Matthew was nothing, but Ryunosuke involuntarily turned his head to look at him.

Obviously, he had already seen that the goddess had changed someone, and maybe he even knew who it was, but he didn't have any knowledge of the [death] that surrounded the current "Ishtar".

Huh? Ishtar blinked in surprise, then reached out to the void beside her, where a bright red light appeared as if there was a flame crackling and burning, and the goddess touched it a little, and pulled out a convertible wrapped in verdant plants.

"[Quetzalcoatl's taste is not bad. The little goddess complimented, and very skillfully pulled the door of the car and sat in the driver's seat, and the natural breath that had caused Ishtar to faint was unusually meekly playing dead.

"Go ahead, pay attention to improvisation, and protect the 'goddess'." Tosaka said meaningfully, patting Ryunosuke on the shoulder and nudging him.

Okay, I see, protect the "Ishtar" himself, whose strength and IQ have plummeted after the goddess leaves, no, this god.

Ryunosuke shook his head secretly in his heart, and pulled open the door with Mathieu and got into the car.

"[Fasten your seatbelt~]" The little goddess casually said a non-existent noun, and then started, geared, and stepped on the accelerator, causing the mixed material car to rush out like an arrow off the string.

In this regard, Ryunosuke just wants to say that this kind of car that is completely driven by magic does not have to do so many superfluous operations at all.

But considering that even if this goddess is really her childhood sweetheart, she is the one who is usually complained about, so she simply gave up pointing this out.

————

On the road to Kuta City, although "Ishtar" focused on driving, due to his short hands and short feet, he often took care of one or the other, and drove the car like a bumper car, but he did not mean to let go of the change at all.

Ryunosuke wanted to talk to her, but was either interrupted by the sudden turn of the car, or he forgot to say anything because he felt a sense of déjà vu about the "Vortex of Death".

After going back and forth, Kuta City was already in sight, and "Ishtar" finally reluctantly used her experience of driving the car all the way over, and stopped in front of the city gate in time, instead of crashing directly into it.

"You are...... What kind of person ......" "Ahem, cough! Hurry up! Ahem, ahem! The two guards raised their weapons and reluctantly aimed them at the three who had stopped.

Ryunosuke originally wanted to ask what was going on in the city first, but seeing that the soldiers used by Kuta to defend the city all looked sick, there was no need to ask.

The "Three Goddesses Alliance" finally remembered to spread the plague? But this is not in line with their usual style......

After getting out of the car, "Ishtar" put away the convertible "Freedom Haven" with his backhand, and looked at the two guards with a frown: "[You have encountered such a serious plague, why don't you ask the King of Uruk or the patron saint of the city for help?] 】”

"King of Uruk...... Hey, hey, hey...... Which one? ”

"Of course the patronus of Kuta is protecting us! Ahem, ahem! Even if we were sick all over the city, no one would die as evidence, no matter how serious it was! Ahem, ahem! ”

“【…… It's okay already, because I'm coming. "Ishtar" said as he walked forward.

"Wait...... You are ......"

"You are [Ishtar]! Ahem! The goddess has said that Kuta is not welcome in you! Immediately cough cough cough! Leave! ”

The two guards tried to block the goddess's approach, but they did not dare to raise their weapons against her, and could only block the city gate with their bodies.

"Ishtar" kept walking, and the two guards fell limply before she could get closer, and there was no effect on stopping her.

Ryunosuke, who was following behind, could clearly see that something like a pitch-black mist was escaping from the two guards, and then converging towards "Ishtar" like iron powder attracted by a magnet.

After that, the two guards, who had been pale from their illness, looked much better.

The sense of déjà vu brought by this scene became more and more intense, causing Ryunosuke to not have time to catch up with "Ishtar" for a while, and looking at the expression of Matthew beside him, he didn't notice the black fog at all.

"[The patron saint of Kuta is the mistress of the underworld, 'Ereshkigal', the goddess of death and plague,]" After the little goddess disappeared into the city gate, Yad whispered: "[It is said that the relationship with 'Ishtar' is one and the same, and they can briefly appear as each other at some chance, but the body is still in place. 】”

So, if you want to get your little good back, do you have to go to the Sumerian underworld? Ryunosuke frowned slightly.

And, anyway, it's too casual to switch personality settings when you sneeze, right?