Close, too close.
Feeling the youth’s breath so close before her, and looking into the sincere eyes of Doros, the girl named Iga could not help but blush slightly.
However, that flush on her cheeks was conveniently hidden by her light blonde hair.
Looking at the girl with her head bowed before him, Doros could not help but sigh in his heart.
What a fine young woman she was—hardworking and intelligent.
For the past few years, practically all the affairs of the city had passed through her hands.
Every time Doros saw her revisions, which could be said to be flawless, and her methods of handling and resolving issues, he could not help but wonder how Iga, who clearly appeared to be around his own age, actually thought about things.
With such seasoned experience, Doros really could not think of any other possibility besides her being naturally gifted.
It could not possibly be some ancient monster that had lived for thousands of years, right?
Seeing the girl before him with her head bowed so low that her face was almost buried in her chest, Doros chuckled abruptly and dismissed the thought.
What kind of ancient monster that had lived for thousands of years would still be so shy?
If there were, Doros would accept it; after all, he had seen with his own eyes everything Iga had contributed to Kusha over these past few years.
After withdrawing his hand from the girl’s delicate, slender hands, Doros said.
“I mean every word I say.
If it were not for Iga, who knows how long it would have taken for Kusha to reach its current, completely different state?
In my opinion, Iga is the greatest contributor of all.”
“So, we must continue to work hard together and build Kusha into the number one City-State in Mesopotamia, surpassing Uruk.”
“Iga!
Do you have the confidence to do it?”
Hearing the youth’s call to her, Iga was startled for a moment, then replied in a voice so quiet that a falling needle could be heard.
“I…
Hearing the girl’s reply, Doros nodded with satisfaction, then said goodbye to Iga and left the temple.
Recalling the conversation just now, Doros could not help but sigh; so this was what it felt like for those bosses to feed people empty promises—it really felt too good.
Inside the temple, the flush on Iga’s face gradually faded.
Then, the girl’s magnificent blood-red pupils looked toward the youth’s departing back.
Not knowing what she had thought of, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly.
Then, her vermilion lips moved lightly as she said:
“Like a fish in water, huh?
Hmph, so you really meant that I would not be able to survive without This Goddess, did you not?”
“Doros, you really are quite dishonest.”
“When you eventually come to the Underworld, This Goddess will be sure to treat you well.”
The girl named Iga, or perhaps she should be called the goddess Ereshkigal, seemed to have already cast her shy demeanor to the back of her mind.
A goddess feeling shy?
Just kidding; Ereshkigal had lived for so long that she did not even know what shyness was.
Actually, regarding whether Iga was Ereshkigal, it was not as if Doros had not thought about it, but he had quickly abandoned the idea.
After all, it was common knowledge that the goddess of the Underworld could not leave the Underworld, and Iga was far more diligent about coming to work at the temple than Doros, often staying for the better part of the day.
“But I still have to thank you; otherwise, I would not be able to walk around on the surface so openly like this.”
Ereshkigal being able to move freely on the surface really had a lot to do with Doros, the key being that [Blessing of the Underworld] personally bestowed by the Underworld.
Shortly after the Blessing was bestowed, Ereshkigal was surprised to find that the Underworld’s constraints on her seemed to be much weaker.
And it seemed the rejection from the outside world was not as strong either.
[Under your and Iga’s leadership, the city of Kusha is becoming increasingly prosperous, but it seems you do not yet know enough about the Age of Gods.]
[The more prosperous human civilization becomes, the faster the Age of Gods departs.]
The Heavens, Divine Council.
Enlil, sitting in the main seat, looked at the gods seated around him, tapped the armrest, and spoke: “Everyone, I believe you have felt it; the Age of Gods is receding faster and faster.”
“Not to mention the Celestial Wedge, which is already showing signs of losing control; I assume Ishtar will go and deal with that fellow.”
As he spoke, Enlil’s gaze turned to the throne symbolizing the Mistress of Heaven, but it was empty, with not a soul to be seen.
The other gods nodded as they listened to Enlil’s words; how could they not know about the feud between Gilgamesh and Ishtar?
Furthermore, every time she suffered a setback at Gilgamesh’s hands, she would return saying things about how she would definitely make Gilgamesh pay next time, and then, after demanding some divine artifacts from the gods, she would rush off in a hurry.
“Today, we are here to discuss Kusha.”
Kusha.
The gods were not unfamiliar with this City-State, which had recently been vaguely catching up to Uruk.
The gods had paid attention to it back when Kusha elected a mere child as High Priest; at that time, they had all wondered if Ereshkigal had gone dull from staying in the Underworld alone.
Choosing a brat to manage a city—was not that just a joke?
Now they had to admit that they had misjudged the situation.
After all, they had not paid much attention to Kusha’s development over these past few years, and they had not expected that by now, this City-State would already be on par with Uruk.
At least in Uruk, there was Ishtar who would maintain the relationship between humans and the gods—well, probably?
But Kusha was different.
Who did not know that Ereshkigal basically never left the Underworld?
Maintaining human-god relations or anything of the sort was, in their view, simply impossible.
Send someone to inform her of this matter?
Did they not see how badly she beat up her own sister?
Let alone someone else?
If you asked who most approved of the Age of Gods fading away, leaving others aside, Ereshkigal would certainly be the first.