When I reached the room I suspected was the finale, the atmosphere was markedly different from anything we had seen so far.
"A... chapel, perhaps?"
It resembled a grand chapel, with several massive stained-glass windows lining the walls, each depicting various meaningful-looking scenes.
Beneath each window was a door. A quick count revealed nine stained-glass windows and nine doors in total. In the center of the chapel stood a sign.
『Proceed on the correct path. *Note: Once you pass through a door, you cannot return.』
I see. It looked like the final trial would be a puzzle of some sort. Out of the nine doors, only one was correct, and we had to deduce which it was using hints found within the chapel. The scenes depicted in the stained glass were likely the key.
"This is just a hunch, but I think any of these doors will eventually lead to the goal. It's just that only the correct one will take us to the special goal for the Hidden Route."
"So we must derive the answer from what we see here."
Cornelia-san nodded at my words and scanned the chapel. The figures in the stained glass looked human-like, but I wondered what specific meaning they held.
As I pondered this, Fate-san muttered with a somewhat conflicted expression.
"Ugh, that’s me..."
"Eh? Ah, now that you mention it, she does look like you, Fate-san. And that window over there looks like Chronoa-san, and the one next to it looks like Life-san."
Prompted by Fate-san, I examined the glass more closely. Sure enough, there were depictions of Fate-san, Chronoa-san, and Life-san... as well as figures resembling Sky-san, Gaia-san, Shia-san, and Fortune-san.
『Perhaps these windows are based on the Creation Story.』
"Ah, that makes sense. It looks like it depicts me, the Goddess of Time, the God of Life, and our respective pairs of direct subordinates."
"Almost everyone knows the Creation Story, so it's a perfect theme for a puzzle," Cornelia-san added.
The Creation Story was famous as a performance the Gods put on during the Hero Festival, but as Cornelia-san said, it was essentially a classic tale known by almost everyone in the world.
In Japan, it would be comparable to the story of Momotaro. Parents told it to their children; people heard it during worship, at school, or during blessings. It was so ubiquitous that living a normal life in Trinia without ever encountering the Creation Story was almost unheard of.
While only a few might know every nuance and detail, even I knew the general narrative.
『The great Creator God created the world, and first, she created the Goddess of Fate. Through the Goddess of Fate, providence was born into the world. Next, the Creator God created the Goddess of Life, and through the Goddess of Life, life was born into the world. Then, the Creator God created the Goddess of Time, and the world’s time began to move. The Scales of Fate’s Calamity and Good Fortune were crafted, life established the earth and sky, and time raced like a flash, maturing the thoughts of all living beings...』
It was a myth-like tale starting with Shiro-san and explaining how the current world was formed. The actual story was much longer, but this opening part was the most famous. It featured Fate-san, Life-san, Chronoa-san, Shia-san, Fortune-san, Gaia-san, Sky-san, the God of Flash, and the God of Thoughts, all of whom matched the figures in the chapel’s stained glass.
"...Well, the Creation Story is actually just a fabricated tale made for PR purposes to spread awareness of the Gods."
"Eh? I-Is that true?"
"Yeah. Kai-chan and the World King probably know, but in reality, Shallow Vernal-sama was the one who created everything—the world, the laws, and life itself. We Gods were created and granted the necessary abilities... Authorities... to manage the world Shallow Vernal-sama had already made. So it’s not that fate was born because I was born; it’s the other way around. I was created specifically to manage providence and fate."
Cornelia-san looked genuinely shocked. It seemed the general public truly believed the Creation Story was historical fact.
"...You said it was 'made,' but was the Creation Story actually written by the Gods?"
"Mhm. To be precise, the God of Life, the Goddess of Time, and I came up with it. Well, the Goddess of Time did most of the heavy lifting. Life-san and I just threw in an opinion every now and then..."
"Ah, was that... on Shiro-san's instructions?"
"Of course. Without an order from Shallow Vernal-sama, we would never have dreamed of making up a story that credited her deeds to us."
"That makes sense."
I had suspected the Creation Story was produced on Shiro-san’s orders. If it weren't, I couldn't imagine the other Gods ever allowing such a narrative to circulate.
"Apparently, Kuro-rin was the one who suggested it. She thought that after the Friendship Treaty was signed, we needed a story like that to help people understand the God Realm... I think that’s why Shallow Vernal-sama told us to frame it so that we were the ones who created fate, life, and time. If the story was just 'Shallow Vernal-sama made everything and we were just hired as managers,' it wouldn't be much of a story, would it?"
"I suppose not... But if the Creation Story is the motif... which door is the 'correct path'?"
"...That’s the real question."
We had identified the motif, and thanks to Fate-san, I’d learned some interesting behind-the-scenes trivia, but that was a separate matter. We still had to figure out which door was the right one. We all tilted our heads, lost in thought.
Serious-senpai: "Well, given that Shiro is the God of the Friendship Treaty and preservation, I can't see her being that considerate on her own, so it makes sense that Kuro was the one who came up with the idea. In fact, Kuro probably did all the brainstorming, and Shiro just passed the orders down to the Supreme Gods exactly as she was told."