Chapter 118 – Space of Nothingness
A goddess is a being who protects all the big and small worlds that exist.
It was their job to see if the world was flowing according to the providence, and to correct it if it was not.
Because of this, it was natural to hear that the goddesses were somewhat cynical.
To them, everything in the world is just like water that needs to flow in a certain direction or objects in a room that need to be placed neatly.
For that reason, the birth or death of a human could not give any emotional stimulation to the goddess.
But Elia was different.
This curious young goddess was especially interested in humans.
Because she resembles herself the most out of all the many beings in the world.
It was for the same reason that she looked into the human world through the mirror of the goddess whenever she had a chance.
Then one day an incident occurred.
Elia’s saving a human from her doom.
This was quite a serious problem because all beings had to meet their birth and extinction according to their predetermined destiny, and rumors quickly spread among the goddesses and even reached the goddess of destiny.
The goddesses took this incident seriously, and some of them argued that Elia should be severely punished for shaking the foundation of the Goddess Law.
There was no guarantee that Elia would not do it again, and there was a possibility that the intensity of the act would increase, so he demanded a clear response.
Moirai had no choice but to fall into trouble.
The severe punishment they speak of is erasing the very existence of the target.
It’s just that Elia had a kind heart and couldn’t turn a blind eye to human screams, but she was a harsh treatment for a young goddess just over two hundred years old.
But she couldn’t pretend she didn’t know the originality of the other goddesses, and she couldn’t ignore her responsibility as the goddess of fate.
She eventually persuaded her goddesses, and instead of erasing Elia’s existence, sent her to the human world for a while instead of punishing her.
It was from her heart that she suffered discomfort as a human being and wanted to repent of her mistakes.
That’s how Elia became a young human.
When her consciousness is compared to a human, she is already an adult, but the time she has existed is only ten years old by human standards.
Naturally, Elia’s life, thrown into the human world alone, was exhausting.
What can a 10-year-old child without a family do in human society?
She was taken in by an old woman who felt sorry for her, but since her circumstances were poor, nothing could be done except to provide her with a place to sleep.
It wasn’t just her hunger or cold that troubled Elia.
Bullying by peers whose standards of good and evil have not been established.
Adults’ wary gaze toward a child of unknown origin.
Numerous evil intentions kept trying to break Elia’s will.
Even so, she still did not hate all humans.
When she watched them as a goddess, there were definitely a lot of warm-hearted people.
Her old woman who took her in was proof of that.
However, the unkindness of her human society gradually tired Elia’s heart.
The time when she wondered if her own thoughts were wrong as she continued to feel tired.
The human Elia met the young Dohyeon.
—
I looked at her goddess with her blank face.
When Moirai asked me to talk about what had happened, the story that came out of the mouth of her goddess was so unexpected.
“At that time, she said that she was a goddess?”
“…Yes.”
She’s a goddess nod but she still can’t believe it.
When she was in elementary school, the child who was bullied by the kids in her neighborhood was a goddess.
“She’s like that, but she was a boy. Her hair was short too… Huh?”
Suddenly, my mind is confused.
Was the boy right in the first place?
Come to think of it, I don’t remember hearing from that child, let alone her name, whether she was a man or a woman.
Did I just judge myself when I was younger just by looking at my short hair?
“My hair…Was cut off with trembling hands by the old man who took me in at the time.”
“No, then he really is…”
In my confusion, I let go of my words, and the goddess spoke as if asking both me and Moirai to listen.
“At that time, young Dohyun-nim heard me say that he had no family or friends, so he always hung out with me. He took me home, gave me food, and put me to sleep so that I wouldn’t be lonely. If Dohyun-nim hadn’t taken pity on me, I wouldn’t have been able to endure my human life to the end.”
As the saying goes, I stuck with him all day.
However, there is one thing she is mistaken about.
I didn’t fit in simply because I felt sorry for the young goddess.
She never once cursed at those who harmed her.
I tried to understand the behavior of the neighborhood kids who harassed and bullied them, saying it was because they were still immature, and I tried to understand the apathetic attitude of the adults, saying that it must be because of their own circumstances.
That look really made me feel mature and cool.
It must be said that she seemed to transcend her trivial feelings, but she longed for such inner strength and became close to her when she was young.
“The time I was a human was short, but the kindness of the old man and Dohyeon-nim who took me in made my affection for human beings stronger. I also want to prevent such good people from dying unjustly.”
I never imagined that when I was young, I could have influenced the values of the goddess.
Moirai, as surprised as I was, looked dejected.
“I wanted you to be grateful for being born as a goddess while experiencing the human world, and to repent of your mistakes…”
“…”
“It’s really the end. Are you sure you’re not going to change your mind?”
“Yes. Just like the old man and Dohyeon did at the time, I will help without hesitation if I see people without power.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do. As punishment, I have no choice but to imprison you forever in the space of nothingness.”
I don’t know what the empty space is, but just hearing the name sounds ominous.
Being locked up in such a place forever, I just couldn’t get over it.
“Wait a minute! What does the empty space mean?”
“It is a space where literally nothing exists and is full of emptiness. Being able to exist forever is a great blessing to a goddess, but when you enter that place, it feels like a curse rather than a blessing.”
“Lock you in a place like that forever? That’s way too much!”
As if Moira couldn’t help it, she struggled to maintain her firmness.
“I know. But Elia has already been punished for committing a crime once. The cost of not repenting is bound to be heavy. What I have saved so far can be passed on because I rely on my power, but I can never turn a blind eye to the voyeurism between goddesses and humans.”
“Yeah, that was also to save people!”
“Furthermore, that child refused to take extenuating circumstances and even showed his will to commit recidivism. I am the one who is responsible for the fate of all beings in the world. I have to make the right decision.”
“…”
“The other goddesses who heard that Elia communicated with humans appealed that she should erase Elia’s existence. I didn’t want that, so I compromised by imprisoning her in nothingness.”
Moirai’s voice, which had been pouring out without interruption, was heavy.
“…It would have been 120009 if I hadn’t been the goddess of fate. I’m sorry I can only give you this much, Elia.”
“Mother of Fate, your mercy will never be forgotten in my life.”
A goddess who bowed her head as if she had already finished preparing her heart.
Moirai tightly closed her eyes in regret, as if she had hoped that her thoughts would change until the very end.
“…Yes. It may be difficult, but I hope you are at peace there.”
It felt like everything was coming to an end, but I just couldn’t accept it.
“Goddess! Don’t do that, and pray that you’re wrong even now!”
“No. One day I was destined to be like this.”
“Goddess, please!”
“Dohyeon-nim. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I’m sorry.”
No matter how much I talk about it, the goddess’s thoughts don’t change.
Wasn’t she really unhappy even if it ended like this?
If you say you love me, even if you don’t see the person you love anymore?
I feel like my heart is going to explode from the frustration and upset, but the goddess’ expression is still calm.
Still, I didn’t want to give up, it was time to open my mouth again.
A mirror floated in front of Moirai, and she began to converse with her mirror.
“…What? Elia?”
After a while, her mirror disappeared, and Moirai, who looked surprised, gently closed her eyes.
In a seemingly unusual atmosphere, she quietly asked the goddess.
“Gee, what are you doing right now? It doesn’t move like that.”
“Even I can’t hear you, but you seem to be talking to other goddesses.”
What are you talking about all of a sudden?
Seeing that the name Elia came up, it seems like a story about the current situation.
As she waited with nervousness and fear, Moirai’s eyes opened again after a while.
“…Elia. I just talked with the other goddesses. It seems that you have been preventing the causal imbalance from worsening.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Actually, an imbalance of the causal law was observed on the Earth where you were. I and the other goddesses in charge of the causal law did not have time to look at the Earth, so I discovered it belatedly.”
I don’t know what you mean because I’m human.
Still, I thought it was a good story for us, so I calmly listened to the conversation between the two goddesses.
“Anyway, the imbalance of the causal law seems to have appeared on Earth in the form of ‘accidents caused by the malice of some humans.’
“…”
“Earth is a small world, but if the balance of causality is completely broken and disappears, it will affect other worlds. Elia, if it weren’t for you, Earth’s causality might have collapsed beyond our control.”
So, do you mean that unreasonable accidents kept happening on Earth, and the goddess unintentionally prevented them?
If so, she is nothing bad for a goddess.
“Then will you forgive the Goddess?!”
It might be unpleasant for my sudden interruption of the question, but Moirai replied casually.
“It’s not forgivable. But it’s possible to reduce the severity of the punishment. I just settled that with the other administrators.”
“Uh, what happened?!”
I know my behavior is rude, but I can hardly stay still.
The seconds felt like minutes as I waited for Moirai’s lips to open again, curious about the outcome.
The answer I finally heard was unexpected to both me and the goddess.
“Instead of Elia being forever trapped in her empty space, she will lose her position as a goddess from now on and she will live as a human being.”
“A human…?”
The goddess asks with her wide eyes.
Facing those eyes, Moirai’s voice was weak.
“I tried to convince others somehow, but this is the limit. Elia, I’m really sorry.”
“I-I’m a human…”
A goddess looking down at the ground and repeating herself.
Soon, clear tears flowed from her eyes.
