TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 73

Albin peeked his head out curiously, watching the two adults talk.

When he heard his brother mention the name “Laph,” it sounded a little familiar — he thought about it for a while, but couldn’t recall whose name that was.

Edward’s expression changed slightly when he heard it. He became more solemn, as though he were discussing state affairs.

He smiled and said, “The Goddess, of course, is doing perfectly well.”

Hearing that, Albin suddenly understood — “Laph” was the name of the Goddess of Love and Fate.

Oh, right — his brother used to be a god too, so his brother and the Goddess of Love were colleagues!

He looked toward Moon, but Moon seemed to be lost in thought after hearing Edward’s reply.

Moon asked again, “Is she looking for something?”

A trace of caution flashed in Edward’s eyes. He didn’t answer directly, but asked instead, “What do you mean?”

“Someone.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“Oh.” Moon seemed surprised by the unexpected answer. His interest faded quickly, and he withdrew his gaze.

Edward gave him a puzzled look, but since there was nothing much between them, he didn’t ask further.

Edward then turned to chat with Albin. “Are you planning to continue on to the Kingdom of Roses next?” he asked.

Albin thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. “Yes!”

Partly because Padma was going there, and he wanted to broaden his horizons too. But also because he wanted to try heading south to look for Xiao Hei.

Thorn City was in the center of the continent — if he couldn’t find Xiao Hei here, he would have to try another direction.

After the forest fire, Albin had already gone north, but hadn’t found Xiao Hei along the way. To the west was the Tulip Kingdom — he planned to ask Sultanrei for help searching there later. As for himself, he might as well head south for now and see if he could find any trace of Xiao Hei.

When Albin said he was going to the Rose Kingdom, Moon also spoke to Edward: “I have some business at the Temple of Love — I’d like to visit Laph.”

“The Goddess herself resides in the divine realm, but the Temple of Love welcomes all friendly visitors,” Edward said, ruffling Albin’s hair. “I’ll be waiting for your arrival.”

Under Moon’s sharp, dangerous stare, Edward gave a sheepish smile and pulled his hand back.

Albin tilted his head in confusion. “Eh? Since it’s on the way, why don’t you come with us, Uncle Edward?”

“My business here is finished,” Edward replied with a polite smile. “It wouldn’t be proper for me to stay much longer. I’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning. I’ll wait for you both back home — and prepare a welcome banquet for your return.”

Albin sighed regretfully.

Just then, Padma happened to walk by, and Edward called out to him: “I’ll offer you a proper apology gift when the time comes.”

Padma, who had been teased by him earlier, smiled sweetly. “How could a lowly person like me trouble Your Highness? If you want your gift back from before, just say so.”

Edward looked helpless.

After all, one was a priest and the other a demon — it was hard for them to have any friendly relationship, especially since he had been the one to offend first.

Edward rubbed his nose awkwardly and went off with Padma to retrieve the sealed black crystal.

Albin looked up at his brother curiously.

“Brother, are you close with the Goddess of Love?”

“Fairly close,” Moon nodded. “There are some things I want to ask her about.”

No one in this world understood the magic of time reversal better than the Goddess of Fate.

“Ohhh, that makes sense — Brother really does look kind of puzzled lately,” Albin said, squinting at him.

“I seem to have gotten a few things wrong,” Moon admitted quietly, gazing at Albin’s face in thought. “But once I meet her, I should be able to get some answers.”

“No matter what happens,” he added after a pause, “you’re still my little brother.”

Albin tilted his head, his smile bright and sunny. “Of course I am!”

After dinner, as the sky darkened, everyone gradually went to rest.

That night, Albin shared a newly opened room with his brother. Since he’d already napped in the afternoon, he wasn’t sleepy yet. He was still excited about finding his brother again, and eagerly pulled Moon under the blankets to chat.

He told Moon about his bizarre adventures in another world. Though he left out the frightening parts, Moon could still sense some of it and furrowed his brows now and then.

Albin poked his brother’s cheek, then leaned closer, pressing his forehead to Moon’s. “I want to hear your story too! What kind of god were you, Brother?”

Moon hesitated for a long moment. Under Albin’s insistent gaze, he finally said, “…The God of Night.”

“Whoa!” Albin’s face showed no fear at all — only admiration. “The God of Night and Death? That’s so cool! Brother, you’re one of the highest gods! No wonder you’re such a night owl — you always stay up late! So it’s because you’re the God of Night!”

He exclaimed in awe, and if not for the blanket covering him, he probably would’ve been jumping circles around Moon.

“You’re not afraid of me?” Moon asked quietly. “I’m a god who brings death…”

“You’re my brother! Why would I be afraid of you?” Albin said with a bright grin, curling up and snuggling into his brother’s arms. “My brother’s a god — that’s awesome!”

He chattered on. “What’s life like for gods? Did you used to live in the divine realm?”

“There’s no such thing as a divine realm,” Moon said calmly.

“Huh? But didn’t Uncle Edward just mention it today?”

“The divine realm is a made-up concept,” Moon explained. “It might’ve just been an excuse from him — or maybe he truly knows nothing.”

That was exactly why Moon didn’t think he could get any answers from Edward.

He had decided to ask the Goddess of Love, Laph, himself.

“Then that means the gods lived on this very continent too?”

“That’s right. It’s been too long, so I can’t remember everything clearly… but as far as I recall, in the beginning, we weren’t gods at all.”

Moon began to tell his story slowly.

A very, very long time ago, the nations on this continent all had proper names — not simple ones like “Tulip” or “Rose,” those neat but careless names people use now.

Back then, people still worshipped gods, but their faith was rooted in natural animism. They worshipped deities of the sky, earth, sun, moon, wealth, marriage, and so on — and offered sacrifices to them.

Just like today, there were also people who could use magic.

But at that time, everything wasn’t controlled by temples; instead, the Magic Associations led society. They ranked magicians by ability, and the strongest were called Great Sages.

Each Great Sage had their own mage tower, and magicians who wished to study could join those towers.

Their enemies back then weren’t monsters, but rather dark wizards who had strayed down twisted paths.

“Wow, it sounds kind of similar but also really different from now! I saw some of those words on Uncle Jacques’ monument!”

Albin listened to his brother’s story with wide eyes, brimming with excitement. “So what about you, Brother? What were you like back then? Were you a Great Sage too?”

Moon searched through the haze of his memories. “I think… I was a dark wizard.”

“Eh?” Albin blinked in confusion.

“I don’t remember why I started learning magic — only that many people surrounded me.” Moon paused. “A bunch of old men, I think.”

Probably a cult of some kind.

His magical talent had been extraordinary, and he quickly mastered all the existing spell scrolls of that time, then began developing new magic on his own.

It was likely because he invented necromancy — the art of manipulating corpses — that people branded him a dark wizard.

“I see…” Albin nodded in sudden understanding.

His power really had been at a Great Sage’s level, and his lifespan far exceeded ordinary humans. At that time, Great Sages could live up to 150 years.

“150 years!” Albin gasped, touching Moon’s chin as if looking for a beard. “Brother, that means you’re a grandpa!”

“Then that makes you a little grandpa,” Moon replied dryly, pressing his chin into Albin’s palm.

Since magic came so easily to him, Moon had never been deeply interested in it. But he wasn’t much interested in anything else either. People around him came and went, and he found it troublesome — so he often fell into long periods of sleep.

Until one day, another Great Sage — the one later known as the Sun God — came to find him.

“The Sun God?!”

“Mm, not the one you know.”

“There’s more than one Sun God?” Albin asked, puzzled.

“Yes. The Sun God has been replaced before. Back then, that person wasn’t yet a god — maybe the ‘Great Sage of the Sun,’ or the ‘Great Sage of Flame’? I can’t quite remember,” Moon said, finally deciding just to call him “the Great Sage.”

That Great Sage had come to ask how Moon had lived so long.

It was only then that Moon realized three hundred years had passed — his lifespan was far beyond that of any other Great Sage.

After some investigation, Moon discovered the reason: he had, without realizing it, created a magical crystal imbued with the power of death — something later known as a divine core, or godhood.

“Brother, that’s amazing!” Albin clapped his hands in awe.

The Great Sage of Flame had been a decent person and even volunteered to become Moon’s disciple. So Moon taught him the method of creating a divine core.

When Moon woke again after another long slumber, he found that many others now possessed divine cores — around twenty or so — though they were still called Great Sages.

At this point, Albin furrowed his brows. “But now there are only twelve gods, right?”

“That’s because from that point on, the holders of divine cores began to be replaced,” Moon explained.

It all started when someone discovered that if you killed the original owner of a divine core, you could take it for yourself.

Even though duels between Great Sages were sometimes one-on-one, not all of them were skilled in combat. Assassinations, ambushes, and conspiracies became rampant. Great Sages were overthrown one after another, and with time and attrition, their number eventually stabilized at twelve.

Albin was wide-eyed. “So besides you, all the other gods have been replaced?”

“There’s also the Goddess of Love,” Moon added. “She survived that bloodbath too. If you look closely at the divine cores, you’ll find that both she and I have two. That’s because we each created our own, so they coexist in harmony.”

Some gods claimed to command many domains, but in truth, they possessed only one divine core.

“The divine cores taken through killing are incompatible,” Moon continued. “So only one can remain — and they can’t create new ones on their own.”

When Moon next awoke, the title of “Great Sage” had already changed to “God.” The mage towers had become temples, and he was now one of the Three Supreme Gods.

Each time he woke, the world around him had transformed — the ocean turned to land, the land to sea — and everything familiar became strange. In time, he lost interest in worldly affairs altogether.

“I see… So that’s how it was.” Albin brightened as something occurred to him. “Oh! Then my God-slaying Spear must’ve come from that time too, right?” He lifted his bracelet to show him.

“God-slaying Spear?” Moon echoed, puzzled.

“I think it’s also called… um…” Albin thought hard, trying to remember the awkward name. “The Asam Spear? Supposedly forged by the gods themselves to drive out the Goddess of Love! Haven’t you heard of it? Don’t tell me it’s a fake?”

A vague image of milk tea flashed through Moon’s mind — he looked even more confused. He cast a detection spell.

“It does have immense power. It’s definitely a divine artifact… but I’ve never heard of the gods forging such a weapon to attack the Goddess of Love.”

Moon frowned deeply.

There had always been factions among the gods, and rivalries were not uncommon — but if he remembered correctly, killing another god had always been forbidden.

So why would they have all turned against the Goddess of Love together?

It had been thousands of years since he’d last seen her…

Was the Goddess of Love still alive?

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