Gacha Kingdom Building

A dangerous monster capable of killing everyone I know in a second. Even worse, this guy could probably win against all of humanity with one hand tied.

I'm sure that anyone who knows the true extent of his strength would be filled with fright at the mere thought of confronting him.

As I came to expect of him though, his words don't actually reflect any of that.

From talking about how he pranked a general, to how one time he made his girl pretty mad after messing up a teleport with her, the Merchant goes from story to story, sometimes not even finishing one before starting another due to a tangent he felt he should explain.

He feels like an old man...

Well, the stories are interesting, and it's definitely good to be on his good side considering what he's capable of, but I was expecting something else when he said that we should talk business.

Merchant: "...And even still, this place makes less sense to me."

Miwen: "Yeah, yeah, it's what most people think. As I told you, I don't understand it well either. I'm just accepting it as it is for now."

Eventually, he started to talk about his friends, a group he calls "The Caravan".

He says they all possess incredible powers, and some are capable of equalling him in a fight if not outright defeating him, which is terrifying.

His group is always in hiding, using his ability to move from world to world, all the while trading items and selling their service, which mostly seems to include giving a hand in wars...

At least that fits what I was expecting.

What does not, however...

Miwen: "So why exactly are you going after the Gods?"

He doesn't strike me as an edgy teenager who would say something like that thanks to a rebellious attitude, and if what he says is to be believed, it's not only that he desires to kill the Gods, but quite a few have already met their fate at his hands.

Merchant: "Hm... I don't know if I should tell you that... you seem to believe one of their lies after all... What's more, if you were to know the fate that awaits, I'm quite sure you'd be filled with despair as you realize your own powerlessness."

Well, he certainly did lean into the bit more than I expected.

If there's an inescapable fate waiting ahead, I agree that knowing about it is meaningless if I can't do anything about it, even more so if after knowing it, I lose the will to challenge it due to hopelessness.

As it stands, as long as I keep walking forward, it doesn't matter if I know about it or not, I'll at least keep the will to improve until I can win.

What catches my interest though, is the whole deal about believing the lies of a God.

I know that he's talking about Catherine here, but I have no idea what is the lie he is referring to.

Whatever it is, I at least know that it's not enough to make him see me as an enemy at the very least... Due to that, I thought it was something minor, but his next words proved naive.

Merchant: "Seems you got a bit confused there... alright, it's usually pretty expensive, but I'll throw you a discount if you want to know."

I feel like my tab at the end of this is gonna be unpayable, but I won't question the value of listening to someone capable of going toe-to-toe against a God, even if he doesn't look like it, I'm almost sure his knowledge is invaluable.

Merchant: "You said that a Goddess came, blessed the world, and gave Gifts to the people, right? Sorry to break it to you, but that's bullshit."

Miwen: "It's a pretty well-documented event so... can you back up what you're saying?"

Merchant: "Well, yeah. I'm the living proof. While talking about my age is not something I'm fond of, I'll tell you that I'm almost as old as the oldest God, I'm a being of the same caliber, born to the same race that outranks them. And I... have a Gift."

I can see where he's coming from... but since I'm already paying, it's worth to try and get the most out of it.

Miwen: "Well, and couldn't that God have been the one to bless you with a Gift?"

Merchant: "Impossible, there was no divinity at the time."

I have no clue about the mechanisms, so I can only take his word and believe that divinity is necessary to bless someone with a Gift for now.

But if that's the case, there's at least one question that everyone would reach.

Miwen: "If divinity is necessary to bless someone with a Gift and there was none of it at the time... then how did you get your Gift in the first place?"

Merchant: "You're misunderstanding... the Gods aren't the ones creating or giving your Gifts. Everyone is born with them... it's just that it takes a lot of energy for them to bloom, so inferior creatures like you have to either live in a world with a high mana density that allows your Gift to manifest naturally, or you expend divinity to forcefully do it.

There are plenty of worlds that are so dense with mana that Gifts bloom as soon as the baby is born."

Miwen: "... since you aren't an 'inferior creature', you got yours without needing divinity, is that correct?"

Merchant: "Yep!"

He agrees and signals to me with both hands, completely ignoring the fact that he just called me an "inferior creature", letting out a smile that is so genuine that I'd actually prefer a sarcastic one.

Miwen: "I see... then, it might sound like a dumb question, but I need to be sure... why did Catherine waste divinity to bless our world then?"

We never won a single Divine Event she registered us on, and we might have even hurt her relationship with a fellow God due to our poor performance.

The divinity she must have spent on us should be a total waste, but was she not aware things would turn out like that beforehand? While I may not know the answer to that, it certainly makes a lot of sense to me if there was something in it for her.

Merchant: "That should be obvious... you're cattle."

Miwen: "Alright, try that again, but actually explain it this time. Also, keep any insults to yourself please."

Even if I tried to kill him multiple times, does he really need to keep calling me names like this? Such a petty thing to hold a grudge on.

Merchant: "I wasn't trying to hurt you, but fine... let's see... I guess you can say it's an investment, by maturing your species, you grow stronger, and so, each individual produces more divinity."

I shouldn't take his words at face value until I'm able to acertain it myself, but his explanation goes along with what I was expecting at the very least.

If Catherine stands to gain something from blessing our world, then her actions make a lot more sense to me.

But while I wasn't too keen on her being a benevolent Goddess or whatever, I don't really have anything against her benefitting, if anything, seems like a win-win situation for everyone.

So...

Miwen: "Are you mad at the Gods just because of that? Honestly, I think it's a well worth trade."

I have no idea how valuable divinity is, and while we might be getting ripped off, it's not like we could use it ourselves anyway since it seems we didn't produce a lot before the First Contact.

Honestly, I believe magic and Gifts are plenty enough for humanity, while the Dungeons she brought are problematic, most people are still thankful to Catherine, and even after knowing her reasoning for doing so, I'm also in agreement that her blessing was an overall positive.

Merchant: "That wouldn't be a problem by itself, but... with enough divinity, you can ignore certain rules you see... if you know what you're doing, you might eventually do something really, really bad..."

Is that concern I see? Is he playing tricks again, or is that genuine...

The way he shifted so abruptly makes it really hard to get a good read, but... If I focus enough, I can kind of see a tint of anger in him.

Miwen: "Is this related to the whole unavoidable fate thing?"

Merchant: "Yeah... I'm still not capable of preventing it, but... each God I kill provides me with more divinity, and robs that man of some, eventually, I'll be able to kill him."

Miwen: "Seems like you and I think alike..."

Merchant: "Right? You remind me a lot of myself from way back. I was more handsome though..."

Miwen: "Yeah, sure..."

And just like that, his demeanor changed again. I think I have a good grasp on him, but he's quite difficult to deal with.

At the very least, I don't think he's an ill-natured person... if anything, he's actually quite chill.

Miwen: "So you're using the Gods as stepping stones... then, who is this guy you're trying to kill?"

Merchant: "The eldest amongst the gods, their king. He's someone like me, created by the Endless during the First Cycle. As things stand, I'm sure I'd end up losing if he and I fought, and IF I'm gone, there'll be no one capable of stopping him. Ever."

Boy, I really hope my Gift doesn't get any funny ideas after hearing about this guy.

Someone who reigns at the top of the Gods, who even the Merchant isn't confident in defeating... Yeah, whatever is at play here, I can now understand why the Merchant thinks my powerlessness would end up breaking my spirit.

Even if I were to live a thousand years, I don't see myself even hurting the Merchant, so what can I even do if a time comes when I need to fight this God?

Merchant: "The Gods are puppets that can't see their own strings... so while I feel bad about hunting them... once they ascended, they can't avoid death. If they die by my hands at least they will serve a greater purpose."

It's not only the Gods who are cornered, even he has been made to do something he otherwise wouldn't want to...

But if it's so bad that the highest lifeforms are like this...

Miwen: "These Endless you've talked about... since they've created the guy, can't they just get rid of him?"

Merchant: "They are creators, their actions beyond comprehension, frankly, I think they don't even care... What's more, you won't find one if they don't want to be found."

Miwen: "Is that from your own experience?"

Merchant: "Of course. After all this time, you're the closest to an Endless I've seen... I thought you were either one, or, like me, a creation of theirs, but..."

Yeah, he doesn't need to finish, I can already feel the insult coming from a mile away.

Can't really blame the guy on that one though, there's simply no comparision between us.

Miwen: "What about me made you think I was a creature like that though?"

A simple look at my level should be enough proof that I'm not some grandiose being like he is. The only thing that might have given him the wrong impression is...

Merchant: "That would be your Gift, of course. That thing reads like an endless book. Which reminds me... it's about time we get to the main topic eh?"

Well, it was obvious that it would end up this way, this power is the only thing special about me after all.

I wasn't expecting it to be such a big anomaly that even someone like him would be interested though.

However, I fully intend to listen to what he says since he might be the only person capable of shining a light on some things I've been wondering...