Kaya sat on her godly chair, legs crossed, arms folded, staring at the starless sky in front of her. A cup filled with blood red wine was placed in the table in front of her. She took a sip, and it was very sweet. Place called it rich pomegranate, but Kaya could swear it looked like wine.
But she had other problems to worry about. A short while later Place would arrive to her with a list of candidates. Candidates who could correct the troubles she started. And she didn’t have even a single idea on how to conduct the interviews.
Interviews…
She chuckled at the thought. Her mother had once told a good job lies with a good interview. She had even given her good tips - proper eye contact, a good resume, good confidence. But she had never taught her what rules to follow if she was the one interviewing. And even if she did, Kaya doubted those could be applied for universal transfers. What was she going to request as a proof of the next hero’s skills? A life resume?
“My lady!”
She jerked up so hard she almost tumbled the wine glass. “What? What?”
Place was beside her, dressed in his usual thin black cloak. His face seemed to say ‘boring matters require boring clothing’.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce how I have assembled five souls, all worthy of serving the future of this nation. What you do with these souls, and where you reincarnate them, or the mission you provide to them will be for you to judge.”
Kaya tapped the wine glass. “I can’t believe the process of finding new candidates is so easy. You just tap into the soul stream and collect more souls?”
“Not quite, and I the term ‘easy’ is not something a lot of goddesses use these days. Even in the soul stream there are rich souls and poor souls.”
“And I assume money isn’t how they are labeled?”
“No, my lady. The richness of a soul is dependent on the experiences they’ve gained in their previous life. So a commander in the battlefield has a more richer soul than a beggar on the street. Or in other cases a president’s soul can be more richer than even a soldier’s. It’s based on their universal experiences.”
“Ah, then I’m sure you’ve picked up a president? Or even a long lost emperor? Can we even bring Hollywood actors? Oh that would be so nice!”
Place’s face was emotionless as always, but the little pause said he wanted to slap her in the face.
“My lady, there is a clear hierarchy on how you can summon souls. Clearly a…” he paused again, searching for the right word. “Inexperienced goddess like you would need more time to summon a greater soul. And it is also dependent on your Holy Points. Now if I remember correctly you have 30 Holy Points in total.”
Kaya willed the system to appear again, and it materialized in front of her.
Principle
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Holy Points
Evil Points
Speech
10
15
Magic
0
12
Manner
20
15
TOTAL
30
42
How did my evil points rise so quickly? Kaya wanted to tear off her hair. They clearly should implement some sort of tutorial for new goddesses so they can at least have the hang of a system. Or perhaps they did, and the previous goddess forgot to mention about that to her. In that case she should go tear off her hair.
“I have 30 Holy Points,” she said. “Is that a good number?”
“That’s the most basic number my lady. But don’t worry, I have summoned souls to match your requirements.”
He tapped his fingers and the area in front of her started to shimmer.
“First soul approaching.”
There was small white blast, more like a cartoon effect, and a boy in his early teens fell to the ground.
“W-Where am I?” he yelled.
Kaya brushed the strands of hair on her face and cleared her throat.
It’s just like what that goddess did to me…
“Welcome hero!” she spread her hands. The glass of pomegranate tumbled down in the process, leaking red juice along the table and dripping down to the ground.
Kaya gritted her teeth. Of course, something had to bloody go wrong.
“Who are you?” He looked afraid. His scampered to the very end of the platform. “Are you an angel?”
“I am a goddess,” Kaya corrected. “And your soul has been worthy enough to be sent to another world.”
“Why?”
That was a good question. Kaya looked around for Place. Luckily she heard him whisper near her ear.
“My lady he is a university student in his second year. Has filled a poverty filled life.”
“Cause of death?”
“Overwork. After his last shift he got drunk, walked on the wrong road at the wrong time.”
“What? He tried walking on the wrong side of the road?”
“My lady when I meant wrong road I meant the rail road.”
“Oh-”
Now Kaya pitied him. She knew overwork. But she didn’t know alcohol. At least not till she drank the pomegranate.
“Are you talking to yourself?” The boy stuttered. “Oh man I was right. I am going crazy!”
“That makes two of us,” Kaya muttered, then said aloud. “What’s your name?”
“A-Alec…Alec Scromfield.”
“Alright Alec, welcome to the afterlife. Now tell me about your skills.”
“I don’t have any skills!”
Ah yes, the self loather…
Kaya knew that trope well.
“Place? Any ideas?” Kaya muttered.
He was silent.
Asshole.
Kaya cleared her throat. “You are a university student, yes? What subjects were you following?”
If Persephone made her a goddess just because she was the class rep then Kaya had the liberty of sending people to worlds according to their interests.
“Uh…philosophy….metaphysics…”
Definitely not helpful in defeating the undead.
“Alec, I don’t think you are suitable for the job-”
“Alright then,” Place’s voice appeared behind her. There another puff of white smoke, and he was gone.
“Wait, what did you do to him?”
“I sent him back to the soul stream my lady.”
“And he’s dead again? Just like that?” Kaya felt pity for the boy. “He was always dead my lady. We gave him a glimpse of an afterlife and kicked him back. You don’t have to worry, souls in the soul stream lose all their memories of an encounter with a goddess as soon as they are kicked back.”
Kaya shivered. She wondered how many meetings with goddesses she had gone through until she met Persephone.
“Alright, now before you summon the next candidates, tell them who they are.”
“Very well my lady,” there was a short pause. “Let me see…we have a former assassin whose soul has been drifting for a long time….we have a businesswoman who was poisoned by her own husband….oh and the last one is a bus driver who died from a bus crash.”
Kaya glared at him. “And you couldn’t pick any other souls?”
“These are the best you could get at your current Holy Points my lady. Perhaps you should have been more holy.”
“Very funny,” Kaya grumbled and leaned back on her seat. “Bring me a new glass of pomegranate and summon the rest.”