On Mythology

"Come to think of it, does this world have things like religion or mythology?"

The thought popped into my head out of nowhere, so I asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"No, just a simple, what's-it-like kind of question.

"The Seraph titles, Raphaela, Uriela, Michaela, Gabriella, those are the names of angels back on Earth.

"Over there, they're male names: Raphael, Uriel, Michael, Gabriel.

"Garumon are women, so I figured maybe that's why they're female names, but…

"And then there's Ursula's Belzebute, which is the demon Beelzebub from Earth's world…

"So I was wondering, why does an otherworld use the names of Earth's gods?

"I'd been letting it slide all this time, but I figured I might as well ask, since the topic came up."

"Ah, I see… There are two reasons for that.

"First, mythology and religion do exist in this world… However, in this world, gods are something very close to us.

"After all, they are what a Garumon may eventually become, at the very end of evolution.

"It isn't a distant story; mythology is cherished as a goal one should one day reach.

"… As for why the mythology of this world reaches Naoto-san's ears in the names of gods familiar to him, one reason is the system's translation function.

"For example… Artemis. How did that sound to Naoto-san? Did it sound like 'Ar-te-mis'? What I actually pronounced was 'El-ra-vi-u'."

"Eh, oh…"

I see, so if you split your speech one syllable at a time, the auto-translation doesn't kick in. So there's a technique like that.

"So 'Elraviu' is the name of the moon goddess in Lyuka's world."

"Yes… Although the language of this world is complex; the word 'Elraviu' itself simply means 'moon god.' 'E' is a prefix indicating 'of.' 'Lra' is moon. 'Vi' indicates female and 'u' indicates male, so 'Viu' indicates god.

"In this world, gods are hermaphrodites.

"If you place the accent on 'E,' it's a proper noun. So it gets translated as the name of the moon goddess, Artemis. If you place the accent on 'Vi,' it's a common noun, and it's translated as 'moon goddess.' Accenting both 'Vi' and 'u' makes it 'moon god.'"

"Hooh…"

"This world's language system is quite a hassle, you see… This time, I vaguely pictured a generic moon goddess as I spoke, so it should have been translated as the closest match, Artemis. Tsukuyomi. How did that one sound?"

"Ah, I heard 'Tsukuyomi,' Japan's male moon god."

"That's because Naoto-san recognizes Tsukuyomi as a male moon god.

"I pronounced the proper noun 'Elraviu' to indicate the male moon god. Accents on 'E' and 'u.'

"If no name had come to Naoto-san's mind when 'male moon god' was spoken, you would have simply heard 'male moon god.'

"Ah, just now I pronounced the common noun 'Elraviu' to indicate the male moon god. The accent is on 'u.'

"When I tried to speak about Elraviu, the moon goddess of this hermaphroditic world… just now, you heard 'E-l-ra-vi-u' properly, didn't you? Unnecessary conversions like that aren't made. How was that? You can see how useful the system is, can't you?"

"… Indeed. Quite."

Honestly, I was confused on a level I couldn't really follow.

In any case, I gathered that the word 'Elraviu' had been translated five different ways: moon goddess, Artemis, male moon god, Tsukuyomi, moon god.

It seemed certain that, living in this world, I was getting a great deal of help from the system.

I mean, living normally without the translation function, isn't that just impossible? When pronunciation alone changes things this much…

Still, someday I might want to learn this world's language too.

"And so, similar names of gods and demons are likely being translated naturally. There are cases like that. It's the system's consideration, so that Naoto-san isn't confused."

"I see… So Ursula Belzebute's real pronunciation might be different too?"

"It's 'Ursula Vinufbenumvaalavileef.'"

"Vi, va… eh?"

"'Vinuf' is a word indicating calamity, illness, weakening. 'Benum' indicates poison, harmful things, evil.

"'Vaala' indicates demon, that which is wicked. 'Vileef' is god, but for 'Vaalavileef' it's better to say 'demon god.' When 'u' indicates 'demon god,' it inflects to 'leef.'"

"W-Well, sure, that is confusing…"

In short, the demon god of plague and poison. So translating it as Beelzebub or Belzebute is entirely correct.

Vi…

No, I can't memorize that at all, but if it's a proper noun, that much should be fine…

Actually, no, that's no good.

When I met Ursula, the name "Belzebute" made it obvious at a glance that she was a Demon Lord who used disease and poison.

If it had been "Vi-something," I'd have had no idea what kind of opponent she was.

If she had been a hostile Demon Lord, not knowing your opponent's abilities could lead to a fatal situation.

If someone yelled "Demon Art Belzebute!" I'd know to watch out for disease and the like, but if they yelled "Vala-vala-!" I'd die before I even knew what hit me.

For now, I'll gratefully rely on the system's kindness. As for this world's language, I'll learn it someday once things stabilize and I have some breathing room.

"… But it's a little scary. If the system stopped someday and the translation cut out completely, I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone."

"If the system stopped, you say. That isn't a thought that occurs to me, having been born and raised in this world.

"… But, I understand a little Japanese as well. If that ever happens, I'll do my best to interpret for you."

Lyuka smiled as she said that. Yeah, in that case I'd be all right.

"And then, the other reason. As for why similar gods and demons exist… there's a theory that the very mythology recounted in this world is a synthesis of mythologies from the otherworlds whose people have transferred or reincarnated into this world."

"… Hm, what do you mean?"

"Yes. There are three worlds from which transferees and reincarnators come to this world. Earth, Falna, and Yuigis. We don't yet know why these three, or whether there are others.

"On average, about ten people a year, so over 300 years that's only about 3,000 people total. The sample size is still too small.

"Of those, the most numerous are transferees from Earth.

"… However, since reincarnators often lose their memories, the true number of reincarnators may actually be higher.

"The myths, history, religious tales, and stories of their original worlds that they whispered to their Masters as pillow talk… it's said all those anecdotes were absorbed into this world and became this world's mythology.

"That may be why this world's mythology has such high similarity to Naoto-san's world's mythology, and why translation is so easy."

"Hoeh…"

Mythology absorbed into mythology… hmm, do things like that really happen?

Well, even Earth's mythology might have originally been something someone, somewhere, spoke that came to be passed down as myth.

In that sense, maybe it isn't strange as the origin of mythology…

"Lyuka, does this world have a creation myth?"

"A creation myth… is it. There are many.

"That a single god created everything, or that the god of the earth and the god of the heavens lay together and bore children…"

… The same as Earth's creation myths.

Does that mythology really explain the formation of this world? Does it account for the existence of the system?

Hmm, when I think about it, this is kind of a deep problem.

Mythology is a tale tied up with the formation of the world.

If it didn't exist first, and was instead tacked on later, then this world really is a world that was created later…

… No good. If I pursue this issue, it becomes a question that touches on the formation of this world itself.

What in the world is this world, really? Is it a world inside a game, after all…?

But somehow, I don't want to push Lyuka on that kind of thing.

Lyuka… loves me. I don't doubt that. And I love Lyuka very much too.

She probably doesn't even doubt that this world is real.

And she believes this is a good world; that's why she said she wanted me to stay.

To someone like her, asking "is your world really genuine?" doubting her like that, I don't want to say it. I don't want to be thought of that way.

… Well, even if this world is a game world, I think I'd be fine with that.

The world where Lyuka, Adelia, and Leone are with me, if it really is just a game world, one that'll vanish with a plip the moment someone cuts the power… I'd want to vanish along with it.

But if I could be saved by an isekai transfer before that happens, then by any means necessary I'd want to return to my original world.

And if all of that is just needless worry and there's no problem, then I have no intention of doing such a thing anymore.

This world is fun. I feel a sense of fulfillment, and I'm satisfied.

In any case, if I'm going to pursue the formation of this world, I think it should be done after becoming S-Class, with a partner of suitable rank close to the system's core. Pressing my beloved Lyuka about it is absolutely wrong.

"… Naoto-san?"

Lyuka asked, looking worried.

"No, sorry. Thank you. That was interesting."

I patted Lyuka's head.

Yeah, pursuing the entire formation of this world… it might even be fine to leave that until I become world number one, the Garumon Master.

Until I can be that, all I have to do is press onward without worrying about extra things.

Of course, no matter how I looked at it, this world appeared to be reality itself, no different from Earth, with infinite resolution and infinite fps.

So everything had a perfectly real feel to it, and I wasn't seriously suspecting it was a fake…

But because it's such a dream-like world, maybe that's why I get anxious.

It might be a world that ends someday.

Thinking like that, doesn't it actually drive me to run with all my strength?

So for now, just doubting it a little in the back of my mind might be just right.