Ansu's thinking was very clear.
Since the God of Clamor and Filth was a man-made false god, why couldn't he personally create another one to replace it?
But he also knew in his heart that he couldn't conjure a god out of thin air, nor could he foolishly hope to win over other deities to fight against Clamor.
The gods were selfish and cold; none of them were willing to provoke an existence so full of madness and pollution.
Even if he managed to drag in an ambitious lesser deity, they would only be stepped on like a bug by the roadside. After all, even the Goddess of Holy Light had failed to protect him, her Chosen One.
Therefore, the god he wanted to create was the suppressed 【Knowledge】 and 【Rationality】 inside the false god's body.
Using these two great authorities as the core, he would design a brand-new deity.
By nature, 【Knowledge】 and 【Rationality】 were inherently opposed to chaos, pollution, madness, and ignorance. The latter—those clamorous negative wills—were the very foundation upon which the false god relied to survive.
A natural, irreconcilable conflict lay hidden within the false god's own body.
The very existence of the new god would be a continuous weakening of the old god's authority.
【Knowledge】 and 【Rationality】.
What wonderful concepts, yet they were completely wasted on that false god.
The world, in the end, would always move forward, and the key to victory lay in the future—the era he belonged to.
The widespread dissemination of the Magitech Industrial Revolution and the world where people enjoyed modern conveniences was, in itself, a process of the continuous expansion of 【Knowledge】 and 【Rationality】.
Therefore, the new god's name would be—
The God of Magitech.
(The God of Knowledge and Rationality, the God of Magitech and Machinery)
Ansu looked forward to the new god he would personally create, tearing the old god apart piece by piece, defeating it, and eventually replacing it entirely.
This would be a long game spanning two thousand five hundred years...
Everything would begin at this very moment.
...
The days passed by one after another.
While continuously refining his spiritual power, Ansu used Hoffman and the Rationalist faction as a perfect platform to learn as much as possible about everything related to the gods.
At the same time, he did everything he could to gain access to the Norn Empire's core God-Making Project.
Before he knew it, he, the "ghost of the academy," had been living in the City of a Thousand Stars for an entire year.
Over the past year, he had entered and exited the God-Making Project's base multiple times with Hoffman's team. It seemed the Rationalist faction's long-standing efforts had actually borne some fruit.
The Norn Empire believed that the state of the "God of Magic" was becoming safe and controllable.
Yet, the Divine faction was actually planning to deploy it in the next war of aggression... Ansu had never seen such a short-sighted group in his life.
For the people of the Divine faction, this wasn't even playing with fire anymore. This was bringing their own fuel, building their own cremator, and fighting to be the first to burn!
Fortunately, thanks to the Rationalist faction's desperate efforts to stop them, the new war plan was temporarily shelved.
Because of this, Hoffman was run off his feet, barely finding any time to return to the academy.
As for Ansu himself, after a year of bitter cultivation, his spiritual body could finally condense into a complete human form.
Aside from his senses being a bit different from those of a living person, and his body being slightly translucent...
...there was almost no difference. He finally didn't feel like a dead man anymore.
A year of accumulation had also completely transformed his strength.
Now, his spiritual power was as vast as the ocean, to the point where even he couldn't tell exactly what level he had reached.
Ansu gazed at the academy scenery outside the window, quietly organizing his thoughts.
The theoretical framework of the God-Making Project had already been constructed. All that was missing now was an opportunity...
...to enter Norn's God-Making base once more.
“Oh... Su, are you daydreaming?”
Talier's voice suddenly drifted over as she walked up curiously. “You've been staring out the window for two hours now. Aren't you going to train your spiritual power today?”
“Yeah...” Ansu snapped out of his thoughts. “I was indeed thinking about some things.”
But the moment he turned around and got a clear look at Talier, his expression froze.
“Holy crap!!”
“W-What's wrong?” Talier was startled by him, standing in place, flustered.
“Talier, you...” Ansu stared at her. Today, Talier was actually wearing a dress and had makeup on!
But the effect was truly terrifying...!
It was absolutely dreadful.
Her eyeshadow was applied in patches of blue and purple, making it look like she had been punched twice. The lipstick color was also way too bright. Sister, please, could you not choose such a disastrous shade?!
Talier smiled sheepishly, explaining that she wanted to invite someone to a play next Monday. Since she happened to see Ansu, she wanted to ask how her outfit looked and if he had any suggestions for improvement.
“With Falco?” Ansu raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah...” She nodded gently.
“Uh...” Ansu really didn't know how to respond, but he couldn't bear to crush her spirits.
So, he decided to shift the trouble onto someone else.
“Hey, why don't you go find our Eldest Senior Brother? Go ask Arnold!”
“He...” Talier shook her head bashfully. “It's better to ask you. I'm afraid of scaring him...”
So you're not afraid of scaring me, then? Ansu's face went blank with speechlessness.
Talier waved her hand with a laugh, sizing him up. Now that Su's spiritual body could condense into a real human form, she said, “Su, just by looking at you... one can tell you're not a bookworm who only knows how to study like Arnold. You're also witty and humorous... I think your advice will definitely be reliable.”
Ansu pinched the bridge of his nose. Does she mean I look like a lady-killer? What, am I some kind of ladies' man now?
Despite his speechlessness, he still maintained his patience. “Alright, let me take a look...”
Talier's eyes lit up instantly. “Su! You're so nice! You're the absolute best junior brother in the whole world!”
“Sigh...” Ansu looked at his happy and expectant dwarven senior sister and sighed inwardly. She truly had absolutely no fashion sense... But then again, Talier's starting material was indeed quite poor.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have almost mistaken her for a man when they first met.
Given Ms. Talier Hammer's traits, she might as well just wear a suit of chainmail and carry a one-handed axe to look more heroic and dashing...
Thus, Ansu wracked his brain to give her pointers with all his might.
First, he suggested she find any female student in the academy to teach her how to apply light makeup. Then, he told her to swap the dress for a more neutral set of women's hunting attire, a shirt, high-waisted trousers to accentuate her waist, a ladies' dress hat that wouldn't make her face look wide, and to tie her hair back into a clean, high ponytail. Finally...
...they had to employ a bit of "technology."
Using a Transmutation spell—the Transformation Spell—Talier could slightly adjust her height...
“That should do it...” After giving his guidance, Ansu looked at her and said, “Wear this to meet Falco next Monday, and he'll definitely be amazed.”
At first, seeing that she needed so many modifications made Talier a bit dejected, as it proved her baseline was indeed quite poor. But as Su gave one suggestion after another, her expression softened, and she immediately cheered up.
“Thank you! Thank you, Su!”
She thanked him excitedly.
“But...” Talier blinked curiously. “How do you know so much about fashion? When you were still alive, Su... were you surrounded by a lot of high-quality girls?”
Ansu thought to himself: Actually, yes.
Celia, Freya, Vera, Altina... He saw their outfits every day and learned just by watching. Moreover, these few were indeed the "highest quality females."
Oh, wait.
It seemed only one of them was actually human.
Having finally sent off the overjoyed Talier, Ansu had only been back at the windowsill for a short moment when Falco pushed the door open and walked in, looking completely drained of the will to live.
“Help!” the elf wailed the moment he entered. “Su, tell me... what on earth is so good about human plays?”
Seeing his face full of disgust, Ansu asked, “What, Talier invited you to a play, and you don't want to go?”
“You know?” Falco was startled, then frowned and continued to complain. “It's not that I'm unwilling, but human plays are just too vulgar and terrible. When will you humans learn from the elegant art of us elves? Just thinking about sitting there and enduring three hours of it gives me goosebumps all over!”
“Then you can just refuse,” Ansu said, pursing his lips.
“Well...” Falco's expression was conflicted. “But it wasn't easy to finally get a little advantage over her...”
“Then go!” Ansu didn't even look up.
“But...”
Ansu grew even more speechless. He simply put down what he was doing. “If you agreed, then go. If you didn't, then don't. Isn't it that simple? Alright, I have work to do. Stop bothering me!”
“Uh...”
Looking at the thoroughly irritated Su, Falco could only swallow his complaints, turning around to walk out.
But he couldn't help but mutter in his heart.
Where did I offend him...?
...
Rate on N.U.
