Above Your Head

Chapter 17: I'm Not Your Father (4)

"The Primordial God of our world has fallen completely for Teacher."

"...Primordial God?"

"And people say she has already been rejected three times."

"..."

It bewildered me.

No, so is she saying that a great, powerful transcendent being had fallen entirely for my father and no magicians or anyone else dared to touch him because of that?

Come to think of it; I remember those people who attacked us mentioning something about a pimp.

"Are Primordial Gods that great?"

Dong-min clicked his tongue at my question.

"You must have misheard about Gods."

"Honestly, from our point of view, they are omnipotent beings. They rarely interfere with human affairs, but they are beings that must never be defied."

Looking at how Dong-min, who has superpowers (or at least thought to have), and Magician Girl Bo-ram were speaking, it seemed like they really do have divine powers.

I asked Celestia, just in case.

"Do you guys also know about the Primordial Gods?"

"Of course, we do."

She then whispered in my ear.

It seemed like she kept the fact that she was an extraterrestrial being a secret from Dong-min and Bo-ram.

"Among the sub-civilizations, at least more than one of them were destroyed by Primordial Gods. Among them, the [Empire] class alone made up a huge portion. In fact, it was because of the Gods that the [Sub-civilization Contact Restriction Act] was introduced."

"How strong are they?"

"There is no answer for that at our level."

So it is a God that even magicians and aliens know about the existence of?

As I thought it was a being that I would be in contact with more since they fell for my father, I poked Celestia's side, and she explained.

It seemed like she did something as Dong-min or Bo-ram weren't able to hear what she was saying even though they were right next to us.

"Primordial Gods are merely the [Most commonly seen] Gods among high-ranked transcendents born at the same time as civilization began on a planet."

But even if they were the most common, it did not mean that they could be ignored. The reason for that was that Gods were born with a high-class divinity.

Celestia explained that the purpose of the existence of the Primordial Gods was far from combat. They are weaker than the Intermediate Gods, but ranked the same in hierarchy as a Creator God, so they have almost all the authority as a [God].

"They are too powerful to be on each of the planets with a considerable level of civilization. Actually, there are not even twenty transcendents with intermediate divinity in the universe."

Of course, it was not a touching story. Gods are Gods. What is there to know about the upper, intermediate, and lower ranks?

However, it seemed like I just needed to understand that such a great existence fell for my father.

"She is the only God that exists, an existence manifested by the will of humans."

It was apparent, but Bo-ram and Dong-min's explanation was different from Celestia's.

"That is the perspective of the Supreme Magic Tower, and to be precise, she is a transcendent God that has existed since the birth of Earth. She is a unique existence, different from the God mentioned in the religion of humans who only talk about fiction and lies, and has protected Earth from extinction more than a few hundred times. Even though she has a too flirty disposition to be considered a God, she is undoubtedly a God we should be thankful for and worship."

"..."

The quiet guy's fluent speech surprised me. Does he believe in a religion like the Deity's church?

But regardless of that, I still asked him a question that came to mind.

"She is the only God? You said that she is the Primordial God of our planet. That means that there are Primordial Gods on other planets too, right?"

I thought it was an obvious question, but Bo-ram frowned at me.

"Um... Why have you been looking for aliens since a while ago? Do you like Sci-fi novels?"

"It seems like he is acting that way because of the term Primordial God, but that is only a nickname she got because of how she introduces herself; she is usually called Gaia. Well, there may also be aliens in this huge universe, but that is merely a hypothesis that has yet been proved."

"Hoping for Sci-fi to exist just because of fantasy elements showing up is a bit…"

I clenched my fists and trembled at how the two of them seemed to treat me like a fool, but I endured it with the heart of a magnanimous person.

Anyway, the important thing is that these guys from Another Plane do not know of the existence of aliens.

"Wait a minute."

I let out a soft sigh and led the group into the house.

I was feeling strange.

'Why did Father not tell me about such things?'

No matter how much of a normal person (although he is too extraordinary to call him that) he was, I couldn't believe that he didn't know about a supernatural situation like this when even the Gods and outsiders knew about him.

It would be different for dumb and dull people, but at least the father I know was the best genius in the world.

He was someone who was able to get a clue and grasped the truth based on a simple word or sentence, yet he knew nothing about this?

'There is no way.'

I shook my head and looked at the three people following me.

It was a flashy combination.

'A Magician Girl, person with superpowers, and an extraterrestrial being.'

Honestly speaking, I did not want to allow such people into my home, but I could not do otherwise as there was no knowing what would happen outside.

I do not enjoy annoying things, but… I cannot drive them to their deaths just because of that.

"Ah, come to think of it, would those assaulters care if this was a sacred land? It would be troublesome if they destroyed my house."

"That will never happen. It is impossible."

"How are you so sure about that?"

It was an obvious question, but Bo-ram was looking at me, wondering why I was asking such a question.

I do not know why, but she has been weirdly excited since entering my home, so her frail and shy look had almost disappeared.

'Now that I think about it, this Cel girl started speaking to me informally at some point.'

It had been so natural that I didn't even remember when she started doing that because she started acting like we were close, as if it was the natural thing to do.

Whatever the case, Bo-ram started to explain.

"The reason they are unable to invade this sacred land, including this house, is not because they are aware of it, but rather something physical. I heard that the Primordial God established a [Law] saying that 'anyone who enters the sacred land with killing intent will die.' That law does not specify a target, so even those strange machines cannot go against it."

"Wow."

Establishing a law as she pleases and dying if someone went against it. It was overwhelming. I am not kidding, but she cannot be short of claiming to be God.

"Ah, you are back?"

My father, who was cooking in the kitchen, turned around as he heard our voices.

Maybe because the weather was getting hotter, he was wearing a thin T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

And in front of him.

"Ah, an apron... Wow, the veins in his arms…"

I turned back when I heard the moans.

"Bo-ram?"

"Ah! Nothing!"

"What is?"

"Anyway, it is nothing!!"

I clicked my tongue when I saw her yell angrily.

It seemed like her image at first was all an act.

But when I turned to look at her, I saw blood flowing down her philtrum.

"When did you get hurt?"

"Me? I am fine."

"But, your nose is bleeding…"

"...!!"

Bo-ram disappeared in an instant.

Accurately speaking, she had stepped back instead of disappearing, but that process could not be seen, at least by me.

Flash!

And a gentle light shone outside the door. I realized it was Bo-ram who did that.

'Is it something like a recovery skill? No, but there was only a bit of blood. Did she have to use that?'

Bo-ram entered the room once again like nothing happened while I was bewildered.

My father must have seen all of that too, but he acted like nothing had happened.

"Are they your friends?"

"There is no way-… No, Dong-min can be considered as half a friend because he is in the same class as me."

"It has been a while, Teacher."

"Right, nice to meet you. It has been a long while too, Bo-ram."

"Yes, yes! Hello!"

She was drooling with a red face. It seemed like she would fire laser beams from her heart-shaped eyes at any moment.

"Wow, your father is so cool. Is he really a normal person?"

"I don't know. If that is being 'normal,' I have been using the word wrong all this time."

I smiled bitterly.

But it was at that moment.

"So you are here. I have waited for quite some time."

Surprisingly enough, my father was not alone at home.

"Alaina... Why are you at my house?"

"Hohoho. You are so cold. All men like it when I visit their houses."

It was Alaina, the soldier from the Leonhardt Empire who kidnapped me.

My father took out a freshly-baked cake from the oven and spoke casually.

"She said she has something to tell you. It was about your future."

"That is right. Honestly speaking, I am still half in doubt, but a scout request came from the Tech Division."

"Tech Division?"

I got confused at the unexpected words.

Tech Division? What Tech Division?

I thought she came all the way here to make me into a pilot after having seen my score in The Great War, obviously, so why is she talking about the Tech Division instead?

Alaina continued.

"They said that it is not easy to find a genius who can hack The Great War on a planet with such a low level of civilization. They said that you could become an outstanding engineer if you were well-trained."

"..."

I was at a loss for words.

Is getting two hundred million points something so unbelievable? To the point where they think it could not have been acquired through playing but hacking?

Honestly, I believe that I would be able to easily get 10 billion points if I threw away all the fun and just grinded…

"...Sunbae, who is that fox-looking woman? Do you know her?"

Bo-ram poked my side and asked.

It was quite a sight to see Bo-ram, who was usually meek and shy, with her eyes staring wide open. But anyone would put on the same expression if Alaina was standing in front of the man they liked. Unlike how she was when I met her in the spaceship, she wore casual clothes instead of her uniform, which exposed no skin.

She donned a white blouse with three loose buttons, showing her full chest, and a black H-line skirt that showed her wide waist and long legs under that; she seemed to look unreal.

She could easily cause dozens of traffic accidents as she sashayed down the sidewalk, so it was not possible for a woman to not be bothered by her.

"She is... Ugh, this non-disclosure agreement is really getting on my nerves. Hey, Cel. It is uncomfortable for me, so can you tell them everything like how you told me? The two of you belonging to weird groups are… Cel?"

"Hey, do not call me. Do not call me."

I was bewildered when I saw Celestia mumbling in a low voice while hiding.

Why is she like this again? But regardless of Cel's weird actions, Alaina continued with her explanation.

"I think it will be fine for you to enter the Tech Division if you do not want to become a pilot like you have told us before. Receiving a recommendation from the Tech Division Chief would also guarantee your career."

"Hmm, I'm sorry, but…"

I was about to decline, obviously.

Getting involved with a Magician Girl, a human with superpowers, and Celestia was already a mess. On top of that, they want me to enter the Leonhardt Army in this situation?

Even entering the Tech Division posed a problem. In the first place, how am I going to be a technician in a Sci-fi world that I do not have any knowledge about?

But my father gave an unexpected response.

"I understand."

"I will decline... What?"

"Let's prepare immediately. Is it possible to depart in a few hours?"

"Ah, yes. Of course."

"We will make preparations, so come again later, please."

"Hoho, I understand. See you later~"

As if she had been relieved of some burden, Alaina quickly left the house before I could stop her. I stuttered.

"Dad?"