Chapter 34: 33: Conflict

33: Conflict

Crazy Cultist’s view

Finally found signs of that evil god who ran away! A church! A new church! … But she’s not in it? You got the power to make a church from a dream? You’re happily getting fucked even now by your robes? You call this the Church of Joy? How is this the church of an evil god?!?!

Sex isn’t evil, and I doubt tentacles are inherently evil… wait, if this is the evil church, then does that mean the universe is acknowledging that the good church is opposed to things like joy?

“We were right!” The shout of my companion startled me.

“What do you mean?”

“The two gods are opposed! If the god of monsters is no longer a threat to humanity, then that must mean the real threat is the god of humans! We were right! That god is the one who’s in the wrong!”

“They have a name you know.”

“Well I’m not going to say it.”

Sadly, even if my companion is right, there’s a mystery to be solved: Why haven’t we seen anything special in our dreams? If there’s power to be had, we want it!

Unfortunately, the only answer I got from the priest in this town was: “Lae is a god of joy and love. If you want weapons, you should pray to the other god.”

… I fear this church may be wiped out. We’d better work hard to protect it. Let’s start by purging the Church of Light from this town.

…

Priest of Joy’s view

While it is nice that the Church of Light won’t be a problem in this town anymore, the actions of those ladies is worrying. Seeing so many dead devoted followers of Light leaves me feeling sad. They won’t be returning to us. They’ll never have a chance to experience Lae’s love. Lae would not approve of such slaughter. This must be why those women have not been blessed by her. They are… far too brutal.

…

Lae’s view

So, I noticed I have a church in town now. This confuses me. I did accept Vivian as a priest, but how did she build a church?

“Thanks to your blessing, I can feel your power within me. It is such a wonderful feeling. With it, I can summon what I need from you.”

Vivian’s explanation doesn’t really feel like it explains anything important. If she’s wielding my power, why do I not have any awareness of it? … because she is not me of course! … that doesn’t add up right. 

I don’t remember giving her power, just accepting her as a part of my… family? I feel like that’s not quite right, but not wrong either… I also feel like I don’t want to know what’s wrong about it. Does this mean all the people I accept will gain power like mine? I’m confused. Don’t family powers normally follow bloodlines and inheritance? They don’t normally spread through adoption or marriage.

“Thank you Lae. I feel like my life has meaning now.”

While I enjoyed Vivian’s hug and thanks, I was a little too confused to fully appreciate it. At least I was until she distracted me from my thoughts with a kiss. 

“What meaning did you find, Vivi?”

“Helping people discover the joy of your love, Lae. You are such a wonderful being.”

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Vivian then convinced me I should do the rest of my wish granting in the church instead of in my room at the inn. Her hugs and kisses and roaming hands were very convincing. As well as just the warmth of being in her company. Somehow, she gave me a little bit of extra confidence just staying with me.

…

Alpha’s view

… Damnit. Having one of my bodies be Lae’s dress lets me watch over everything she does, and get very intimate knowledge of how she reacts to things. Which just makes it all the more clear that Vivian’s love helps Lae in a way that mine does not. I really need to put more effort into finding someone else. I can’t keep the relationship I had with Lae before. I know she won’t reject me if I ask for some of her time, but it’s not the same. Lae isn’t lonely anymore. That makes everything I do to her feel less meaningful. 

Hmmm… I wonder if I can use my shapeshifting to make materials for equipment. The town has issues with a lack of metal to make new tools with. Maybe I can make tools. Would give me something to do that doesn’t involve Lae, and be a good way to meet people.

…

Blacksmith’s view

Never thought I’d end up fighting a monster in town as a blacksmith. Sure, it’s not a violent fight, but they had the gall to declare that they could do my job better than I can! Unfortunately for me, they were right. I’m not sure how they do it, but they have managed to complete every single order I had, creating and repairing products in a way that left all my customers happy, and full of compliments. 

Now, that Alpha even has a shop right next to mine, and word of the quality of their work has spread quickly. There’s no way I can stay in business like this! I haven’t lost all my customers yet, but it’s only a matter of time. As it is, the only customers I still have are coming to me entirely out of loyalty and friendship. 

The discounts Alpha offers to anyone willing to spend time in their dungeon they built in their basement just makes it even more impossible for me to compete. I’ve asked a few people about what goes on down there, but all anyone would tell me is that it’s some kind of sex dungeon. I didn’t want to pry too hard, since they seemed uncomfortable talking about it. 

Maybe I should think about retiring.

…

Vivian’s view

I’m glad Lae accepted my suggestion to listen to requests in the church I made for her. If someone is going to pray for help from a god, a church is the most appropriate place!

Plus, I love being able to watch and listen as she handles the problems people bring to her. Yet, somehow, the most embarrassing and satisfying thing is holding her hand when we travel somewhere together. The sex is just something she does with anyone, but holding hands as we walk through town is something I’m pretty sure isn’t part of her domains. I know it’s silly to think it, since she’s a god, and I’m just a priest, but I enjoy imagining that she’s my girlfriend as we walk hand in hand. 

***Author Note***

I feel like I keep thinking of ever more things I need to address due to Vivian. I’d intended her request to have a large impact, but this is so much bigger than expected. Without her, this would’ve taken much much longer to happen, and might’ve been a much slower expansion of the new church.

Crazy Cultists…
Awareness of new church: 15
How well they accept this: 18 (wait… they like it? I wasn’t expecting that.)
Do they realize this is Lae’s church? Surely they won’t fail this roll right?: 9… eh, good enough… I was kinda hoping to see a 1 though, just for the hilarity of it.

The human god does have a name… I just haven’t bothered to figure out what it is  yet. I’ve been avoiding that issue because I don’t know what name I’d want to use. So I just went for ultra generic church of light and god of humans with the original evil god being the church of darkness and god of monsters. Lae’s new church breaks from that pattern (and there were no churches of darkness in the human lands). I’d make them nameless if I had a good enough excuse for it, but I don’t. In a world with two gods, they should have names. 

Wait, if I’m going generic, I could go even further into that and have the word for light and the name of the light god be the same… I feel like that fits the original world better than any other idea I’ve had so far. This would make the former evil god’s name Dark. I guess this means the human god’s name has been chosen: Light. Clearly if I’m doing this, then the now dead hero’s name had to be Lamp, because lamps carry the light into places of darkness. ;)

Alpha’s attempt to get along with existing blacksmiths in town: 2… oh dear.
How belligerent is Alpha’s response? 17… uh oh.
The Blacksmith’s attempts to fight back: 11. That’s not good enough for them due to all the disadvantages they have. They lack materials, and everyone knows Alpha works for Lae.
Blacksmith’s recklessness: 2… Well that’s boring.

Vivian… that actually wasn’t what I planned on having you talk about. The plan was to discuss what the wishes were that Lae was granting. Apparently that wasn’t something Vivian considered important, instead holding Lae’s hand was more important.

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