Chapter 312

“What do you think about punishing them?” Ben asked as he walked around the enormous summoning spell, still set up in his god’s realm for him to look at.“I think that it’s a complex topic with no easy answer. It can’t be denied that some of them are in the wrong, but can they really be held responsible for their actions after the way they’ve been brought up? After what all of their kind had been led to believe since they were created?”

“And I get that, but that doesn’t mean that the people that could have died because they were following their gods orders don’t deserve some justice. This is an issue for their community as a whole. Just as important, how do the ones who actually tried to do some light murder feel since then? It’s been a few days, they should have had time to get their thoughts in order.”

“Complicated would be oversimplifying it. How would you feel? Some of these people went to kill their friends Ben, their family. Being forced to confront the truth of their gods and their existence immediately after that, this whole village is a mess.”

“Well, I’d hope I’d feel guilty.”

“Ha, there’s plenty of that to go around mixed in with everything else.”

“Good, then I’ve got an angle to work,” He said happily, changing the topic before his god could worry too much over just what was going on in the depths of his apostle’s mind. “And how’s the faith going? Gonna be honest, I was hoping to have the quest done by now. Showing how weak their old gods were and getting them to come face to face with you and all, it seemed like it would be a real slam dunk to get through it and finish up my job.”

“Well first, you literally completed five in one day so trying to get such a big one done only days after that is ridiculous of you, but more importantly, they’re still reeling from the revelations of everything they learned. Even if they don’t seem too bad on the outside, don’t discount their internal struggles. I’ve got about a third of the village right now and I’m sure in time more will truly start to give me faith, especially once the ones I’ve already gotten get my gift skill, but these things can take time.”

“Well, consider me impatient with less than a year till things get bad. Frankly, I want to complete master enchanter after it if I can too. How many of them do I need to go?”

“If we get three-quarters of them then you should be good. It’s honestly not impossible it will happen before you leave, you just might need to put some work in.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can come up with but I think things might go pretty well after today so watch and see what your wonderful, fantastic-

“Stress-inducing-”

“Hardworking and loving apostle can pull off. I think today is going to go pretty well.”

His head was reeling as he woke up, an inescapable consequence of his mind skills all leveling up at once from how he’d been spending his time in Myriad’s realm. Trying to understand the summoning spell was just too much, like trying to observe every room in a building at once. He’d try to keep his focus on one part for simplicity, but then he’d see that each one interacted with a hundred others.

It was complex, perfect, beautiful, and far more than he could handle. Just staring at it took a toll and strained his minds and he couldn’t help but worry that his god was right, that he’d never be able to understand it, but the more he thought on what he was seeing the more he knew it didn’t matter. That was a pinnacle of magic even for the gods, if he could waste away every night of his life trying to get just a glimmer of whatever truths it would contain then it would be worth it.

Most of his minds were swirling with thoughts on it in the back of his head, forming theories and considering how they could be tested, but that wasn’t something for the immediate future. He was awake and soon the rest of the village would be too, he needed to decide exactly how he wanted to play things out.

By the time everyone was awake, Ben was seated in the center of the village as Toltho gathered the villagers, each of them both curious and worried about just what the apostle would have to say.

He looked out over them, seeing not just the expressions on their faces he was getting used to, but the same divide between them that had been there ever since he’d arrived. Those who’d inflexibly clung to the will of their gods, even after being given such an outrageous order, and those who’d either hesitated or fought against it, not willing to commit such acts. He didn’t know if what he was going to try would work, but it seemed like a start at the very least.

“For as long as your kind has existed, all you’ve known was each other,” He began, speaking kindly to try to make them comfortable. “This world is so much bigger than you could know after just a few days of lessons about it, with people working together and supporting each other to try and survive, in the same way you’re no different. You’ve all had to carefully move the village multiple times and you did it by working together for one simple fact. It’s not about the location, a village is its people. It wasn’t any of you that destroyed what you had, but the dead gods who’d misled you.”

He looked into the crowd, trying to make them each feel like he was talking to them individually as he did, trying to get that point across before going on. “But as much as you’re all victims, that isn’t exactly fair to all of you equally, is it? Some of you rebelled against your gods to try and do what was right regardless of what they said, and others blindly followed. I don’t intend to hold any of you personally responsible, but that’s what happened, and I think we can all see the cracks it’s caused amongst you all, can’t we?”

A round of nods were clear to see mixed with many a guilty and fearful look, those who’d attacked their friends and neighbours all understanding where this was going as they worried over what that meant for them as he continued.

“Still, we’ve all done wrong in our lives to one extent or another and I believe that everyone deserves a path to redemption. It’s just a matter of showing it’s available to you if you want to take it, so I say to all of you this. If you harbour any guilt in your heart over what happened, come to me now.”

He held out a hand, expecting it to take a moment before any moved but not expecting the one who took the first step as Toltho came to the front and bowed before him.

“I have to say, I doubt anyone behind you feels you have any guilt to make up for.”

“I helped support the old gods of our village. Even if I turned from them in the end, that doesn’t change the fact that I carry that sin, and I want to bear the consequences with the others.”

Ben gave him a small smile and a gentle nod as others came up behind him. First one by one but in moments as a crowd. Everyone who’d attacked the others on the orders of their old gods stood before him as he now spoke to them as a whole.

“There’s no easy way to say how to make up for this. You were all prepared to kill people, but I can’t ask you to give up your lives for the act. Instead, you’ll be using your lives for a different purpose. Devoting them to the village as a whole. You’ll all be worked harder than anyone else as you try to make things right. Take on extra hunting duties and whatever odd labour needs to be done, and you’ll be paying with your mana too. Anywhere you can see to put in the extra work, even when I’m not here to tell you to do it, take it if it will make the village better off overall. This is to be a self-imposed punishment as anything else. You want those who you’ve wronged to see you're trying to make amends? Prove it with your actions.”

All of them bowed to him as he turned to the rest of the crowd, the greater victims in this whole thing as he in turn bowed to them. “I’m not asking for any of you to forgive them, if you can’t that’s fine. All I hope is that you’ll try and live in peace in spite of what happened as they work to regain whatever little bit of trust they can.”

It was hesitant, but slowly they began to nod and mutter their agreement, with Toltho’s acts at the beginning helping to push things along. If the one that had fought the hardest to keep them safe was going to try and atone with the rest then how could they not give them a chance?

Seeing that things had seemed to work out, Ben dismissed them to their usual work or chores as Myriad spoke in his head.