Chapter 114 – Goddess of Betrayal (7)
Ishtar was born beautiful. She knew something like that from a long time ago. Compared to any woman in the village, she was strikingly beautiful, and her men couldn’t stop beating her in front of her. She had a pleasant childhood, wearing envious and envious glances like her dress.
However, there was no handsome man in the village who caught Ishtar’s eyes. She lingered in vulgar terms. Until the day a man worthy of her beauty, be it a merchant, a general or an aristocrat, appears.
So, her goal was to eat and live comfortably with just her face.
“Oh oh. Such a beauty is rotting away in her village. She is truly a pearl in the mud.”
The opportunity has finally arrived. Her noble son, who had come to collect her taxes, recognized her and offered to take her to her capital.
“Did you say her name was Ishtar? I am the son of the Earl of Donquest. Please accept my marriage proposal」
Her mind was excited as she rode into the town in her carriage. Now she barely knew that her real life was just beginning. Until she hears her comments from her prospective groom betraying her expectations.
“Even though I’m the second son, so I don’t have the right to inherit the title, but I’m thinking of starting a small business. If I’m with you, I’ll be able to do well.”
Sale?
No title succession?
It was also the first time she knew that the title of nobility was passed on only to her eldest son. Ishtar had no intention of raising her standard of living step by step by helping with the business. So I decided to change her husband. He seduced the real money Countess Quest himself, not some insignificant merchant. It wasn’t even difficult. The old nobleman’s eyes wandered as soon as her beautiful maiden showed her liking, and she immediately pointed the point of her spear at her son.
「Ishtar is my wife! She will become the Countess of Don Quest!」
“Father! What nonsense is that! Stealing her son’s wife! Ishtar! Say something too!」
Ishtar lowered her head, pretending not to know anything, and because of her, the people of her Countess of Don Quest lost her life in the most meaningless war in the world. It was a painful sacrifice for mankind whose lives were threatened by the Demon King’s army.
In the end, as is known, Ishtar could not become anyone’s wife and was pointed out as the cause of the war and was brought to trial. People sympathized with her that an innocent woman was placed in a tragic situation simply because she was beautiful.
But even then, everyone in the know knew. The fact that Ishtar intensified the war by whenever her new suitor appeared, she slapped her tail on a man with a more powerful background. They say that after kicking out the Earl of Donquest for not being satisfied, he tried to take the position of the wife of a certain duke, but the emperor himself intervened because of the information of the duchess who was related to the imperial family.
It is even heard that she secretly enjoyed watching men die and kill each other because of her. Most of her people felt sorry for her, because her Ishtar always shed tears and looked like the heroine of her tragedies.
〈 Poor Ishtar 〉 was eventually revered as her goddess.
A goddess is a being who carries the wishes of humans on her body. She is not even an emperor with the authority of her goddess.
“Emperor… As her goddess, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Your Goddess. Please tell me”
“To defeat the demon lord, we must form an expeditionary force. I need some money for that… 」
“Yes, of course. I’m talking about budget support.”
“I’m glad I went through the horse. This is for humanity.”
“I understand. How much if… ?”
“I think I need about 100 million shillings.”
“1 million… !!!!”
In her first audience with the emperor after being reborn as a goddess, Ishtar raised a surprising amount. 100 million shillings was a huge sum equivalent to the three-year budget of the Imperial Empire, the only country in the western continent at the time.
“Now, 100 million shillings is a little bit… 」
“So you say you’re going to kill the demon lord?”
“If it’s still 100 million shillings… It’s money to feed millions of people, but what the hell are you going to do with that money… 」
“Your attitude has been a bit strange since before. Are you saying it’s not worth the money?”
“Of course, I was planning to support it to some extent, but 100 million shillings is almost all the property in the imperial family’s storehouse.”
Ishtar knew that too. He had called for the amount because he rather knew.
“That’s why I hate this. All right… 」
“Yes. Thank you for your understanding, Goddess… 」
「His Majesty the Emperor of the Imperial Kingdom refused to cooperate with the goddess who was trying to destroy the demon lord army. In other words… The emperor is negotiating with the demon army. Can you look at it that way?」
“What, what? No god… 」
“I’ll tell the people that.”
For the people devastated by the continuous war, the existence of the goddess was a symbol of her hope. It is the nature of her people to believe and see whatever she says. From the mouth of her goddess, 〈 is certified as 〉 on the Demon King’s side, and that’s it. Being buried in society is standard, and she will be nailed to a cross and burned at the stake along with her clan.
No matter how emperor he is, he is no exception. All the nobles and soldiers will stand up right now.
“Hey, hey, wait a minute, Goddess!”
“Why is that? Your Majesty the emperor lacking in faith?”
「I’ll give it to you! I’ll give you 100 million shillings!”
“Oh. Have you changed your mind? Now you can hear me.”
“Yes, of course. It’s money for the expeditionary force of warriors fighting the Demon King’s army, so you have to invest as much as you like. Oh, oh, oh.”
〈 No one can marry Ishtar 〉 The emperor who had been shouting out loud, and seeing the emperor who had blocked her path fell on his stomach like a rat and trembled, and Ishtar’s desire for revenge was also satisfied.
In addition, he also obtained a sum of 100 million shillings.
“Why on earth does a goddess need 100 million shillings… She said that 100,000 shillings would be enough to pack an expedition… 」
In a world where no weapon, no matter how expensive, would cost more than 10,000 shillings, 100 million dollars was like a fountain that would never run dry no matter how much money was spent.
「Still, if only the demon lord is properly defeated… Okay. Money is not a problem”
The emperor put his hopes on Ishtar, even though he was heavily criticized by his political opponents for living in a poor country. However, when Ishtar saw the warrior he had brought from the planet Earth, he was completely exhausted.
“Goddess… Is he a retired warrior?」
“Is it so. I can feel the energy of a hero from this person.」
“He’s never been in a fight before.”
“Are you okay. Trust me. I believe in my potential.”
What do you believe in
The guy was a saengnim who looked like a gisaeng oraebi. He was a handsome boy enough to be mistaken for a woman, but he was not a man fit for battle. At least she’ll be good at biting.
“What is the criterion for selecting a hero, Goddess… ?”
“Hmm? What’s your complaint, Emperor? Do you really need information to hand over to the demon lord?」
“Oh, that can’t be! I won’t ask anything! I’ll leave everything to the goddess!”
When the goddess came out like that, she couldn’t ask any more. Even when rumors were heard that Ishtar was staying in the capital with his warriors and haunting expensive lodgings, restaurants, and bars, he couldn’t even question them. He had no choice but to believe the words of the goddess that he had to teach the hero about the culture of another world.
Although the number of expensive jewels on Ishtar’s body was increasing, there was no one to dispute the explanation that it was a “Tool necessary for magic.” Isn’t she the highest authority on ancient magic? Whatever she says, she must be right.
“When the heck is the Hero Expedition going to be launched… ?”
“The power of the Demon King’s army is getting stronger day by day.”
“I don’t know what a hero or a goddess is doing.”
However, as the years passed and there were no results, people’s dissatisfaction increased. After 10 or 20 years passed, the young warrior became a man, and finally the warrior expedition was formed and the decisive battle with the demon army began.
At las!
Now, the warrior is advancing. Soon the demon king’s army will be defeated… The people’s expectations for that were short-lived, and the warrior died soon after.
「Kyaaaaagh! Warrior! Warrior! Whoa… To die like this You trained for decades to protect humanity… ! Whoops! Ugh! The hero’s will must be that Ishtar!”
Seeing Ishtar crying out sadly over the corpse of the warrior, people shed tears as they resolved their doubts. He must have been practicing. That is why he stayed only in the capital. Although the expedition failed to achieve its goal and was disbanded, people’s faith was strengthened.
However, the old emperor’s gaze was different.
“If… Wasn’t the reason why the warriors’ expedition was formed now that the hero had become an uncle? Because I’m no longer handsome… ? No no no Still, she’s a goddess, but she couldn’t let the hero die as if she were bowing down for being ugly… 」
The goddess she said was in sorrow, she soon brought a new warrior, and this time she was a young and handsome boy who was far from fighting. The old emperor trembled with fear and sponsored another large sum of money, and died after each day weakened by his anguish and guilt.
Fifty thousand years have passed since then.
In the meantime, countless warriors passed by Ishtar. They repeated the pattern of being summoned in their teens and dying when they reached the age of 30. The Demon King’s army was strong and ferocious, so no one thought it strange that they would die fighting. All the warriors loved the goddess who was beautiful and armed with enormous capital, but in the end they couldn’t be connected with anyone.
This is because, compared to Ishtar, who is eternally beautiful, a warrior becomes old and shabby even after 20 years.
Occasionally, a group of people raised their heads, wondering if Ishtar deliberately sent the warriors whose appearance became ugly to death, but she was buried as a heretic. Ishtar was engraved in people’s hearts as a noble goddess.
Among the many warriors, the last two… Hayato and Kim Ho-young were special.
Ishtar couldn’t possibly forget those two. In the Garden of her Goddess, she always spent time reminiscing about them.
“Hayato… I wanted to come here with you. It would have been nice if you had been a little more consistent.”
When I close my eyes, I can see Hayato’s head split in two. Even if I didn’t conspire with Lilith… The thing Ishtar can’t forgive the most is that a hero mixes with another woman. To be honest, when I cut Hayato’s throat, I was thrilled inside. From the moment he saw Hayato mating with Lilith like a beast at the foot of the mountain, he wanted to kill him.
“Kim Ho-young really exceeded my expectations. Where did such a monster come from? Thanks to that, I was able to kill the Demon King.”
Okay.
The demon king killed
As Ishtar is an aggregation of wishes to get rid of the demon king, his sense of calling was firm. Although she was a bit relaxed, her intention to kill the Demon King was sincere. He has done his duty, so he has no regrets… There was still only one regret left.
“There are over 100 warriors chosen by me so far. Among them, the only hero who did not love me was Kim Ho-young. How can you not like me, who is so beautiful?”
It was the failure to play with Kim Ho-young’s heart. She regretted it.
“But here there is no entrance or exit, no day or night. It’s a bit lonely… “
As the days of enjoying the scenery with a sense of accomplishment and elation came to an end, the desolation subsided. Ishtar was overcome with loneliness and even thought that it would be nice if even Lilith Valentine appeared in front of him.
—In the meantime, someone came to the garden of the goddess.
Ishtar was startled and dropped the cup she was drinking from.
