On the morning of the following day.

   Numerous villagers gathered in the centre of the village, confused and riled up at the sudden call. I was observing them from a distance.

   How did it end up like this?

   I tormented myself with the question that had been stuck in my head since last night.

   The chief's plan was, without a doubt, a risky move.

   I knew something had to be done seeing that the situation was crawling up to its boiling point, and considering the Kua's reserved nature, we could only push through with heavy-handed methods. But still, this plan that we were about to launch was unnerving, to say the least.

   Anyone would hate being lied to, and to trample on the things they love and wors.h.i.+p, even for the right reasons, would undoubtedly leave a bad taste afterwards. Seemed like too much importance was given to the situation at hand instead of the village's happiness this time.

   It was as Wolf said, 'no one would be happy with a lie like that.'

   I glanced up at him as he stood next to me. His eyes were dead serious. It was such a powerful glare that it ran s.h.i.+vers down my spine. Lily stood on the opposite side with her face full of concern. She gave me a rea.s.suring smile, but her body language told me she was plenty worried. Some of my anxiety had probably shown through my face.

   I couldn't find the words to return her kind gesture so my line of sight naturally dropped to my feet. Shortly after, however, I involuntarily pulled my face back up when whispers began running through the crowd.

   Uneasiness was slowly spreading. The people's eyes focused on their village chief in front of them.

"Hey chief, what's all this ruckus so early in the morning-"

   The man who started complaining quickly shut his mouth halfway through when the chief held up his hand. Chilling silence returned to the calm morning once more.

   The chief approached the centre of the square and scanned the area. I could feel the gooseb.u.mps I was getting from the strained ambience. The longer the silence dragged on, the tenser I felt, and the more nervous I got.

"Good morning."

   I was caught completely off guard when he finally broke the silence. Some of the villagers were completely taken aback while others incoherently returned his greeting.

"This s.h.i.+tty father…" Wolf muttered defeatedly while shaking his head.

"Sorry to call upon all of you so early in the morning. I know this is probably the busiest time for the ladies, so when I've finished what I have to say, you can go back and kick your husbands' teeth in for sitting there while doing nothing. I'm with you all the way on this one."

   The ladies started to giggle nonstop while the men sighed and jabbed 'please give us a break' and started to laugh as well. Everyone was relaxed. That was probably his aim from the start.

"I know you're not too fond of stories from an old man like me, but it's not something I can just sum up easily, so please hear me out."

   The chief cut through the laughter and continued on with 'this concerns the future of my family.'

   Many people's faces tightened. Though, not to the point of being stressed, but rather concentrated. I was impressed at how the chief was able to slowly break the story in.

"The origin of the Kua Clan started about six hundred years ago with just one woman. Not only was she deeply knowledgeable in the science of medicine, but she was also able to grow herbs in a matter of seconds and rid anyone of injuries and diseases in the blink of an eye."

   Lily had told me this story before.

   But since there was no literature left from that time, there probably wasn't much truth to it. It was pa.s.sed down through the generations with only word-of-mouth, just like a fairy tale.

   Having said that, I didn't think it was all a lie either. Some bits might have been exaggerated, yes, but I believe something similar did happen. The real ident.i.ty of this woman was most likely a mage rather than an all-powerful G.o.ddess.

   I mean, if it's just healing injuries, then Michael could do it too, right? And she probably had the earth attribute since she was able to grow herbs and plants as well.

"Our clan inherited her blood and had continued it ever since. However, the power of the miracle had gradually faded away and was finally lost about one hundred years ago. There was no longer any heir who possessed the power of the miracle."

   A thin yet oppressive silence fell.

"So why should we keep our blood to ourselves any longer?"

"Chief-!"

   When they couldn't stand it any longer, more than fifty people raised their voices back at the chief. But rather than an outcry, it seemed as if they were pleading to him. 'Please don't take this road,' they said. However, the chief slowly shook his head, clearly showing his stance on the matter.

"The time when we avert our eyes from the truth has finally come to an end. We have lost many things for the sake of being stuck in our own customs."

"…"

"It was said that back when our clan prospered, more than one thousand souls lived their lives in these lands. Now we number less than two hundred. Not to mention the number of children decreases by the year. Our destruction is on the horizon."

"It's not certain that we will peris.h.!.+ If you keep saying that, the young'uns will be worried for nothing!"

   An old man among the crowd shouted.

   But the person that rebuked him was not the chief, but an old lady next to him.

"Stop it, dear. The ones that understand what the chief is trying to say the most should be us old folks… I still haven't forgotten our child, leaving this world so early. Didn't even have the chance to cry for his first breath."

"You…"

"That poor child, the treasure we were never blessed with, had never even felt the outside world. His eyes would've been just like yours, and he probably would've gotten my ears, I'm sure. If only he had been born stronger, I'm sure he would be laughing brightly next to us right now."

   The people around the couple hung their faces. Perhaps they too had lost their loved ones.

"Say… Say chief, what if we take our hands to marry with an outsider, will our children be born stronger? Will they be healthier? Will we… have to bury any more of our children?"

   A young woman raised her hand and spoke loud enough for all to hear. The chief simply shook his head in reply.

"I do not know."

   I once thought that he would've done anything to achieve his goals.

   But I was wrong. The chief didn't lie to the girl just now. And despite many people being moved by him, he never gave them empty comforting words either. He was a very sincere person.

"The cause is not clear as to why it's hard to conceive a child in our clan, or why our young are born weak, or why they die before their time. There exists a theory that an unknown disease is inherited through our bloodline from the parent to the child. However, it is but a mere theory. There is currently no concrete evidence to back it up. So I truly do not know whether a child born with an outsider would fair any better."

   'In the end, we don't know what the future holds.' the chief added.

   Another wave of unease rustled through the crowd. However, Rolf was the only one who looked straight ahead… He was staring directly at the chief.

"I realise that it is hard to act when we are so blinded. But if we never take the first step, we will stay blind forever."

   Someone took a deep breath.

   Glancing to the side of me, Lily was clasping her hands together tightly in front of her chest.

"We must not let our children pay the price of our foolishness. Imposing customs that have lost their meaning, forcing ourselves to live in this tiny walled garden, and digging a deeper hole for ourselves day after day. What future will they have in all of this? Their future must be chosen by no other but their own hands."

   Once the chief finished his words, a stunned silence enveloped the area.

   When I first heard of the idea of turning me into a fake G.o.ddess, I was preparing for the worst. Perhaps I would outright ignore the people of the clan, or maybe I would use the G.o.ddess' name as a s.h.i.+eld, something along those lines.

   But instead, the chief was trying his hardest to persuade the clan with his words.

   So what now? At this rate, there's no need for me to take the stage anymore, right?

   The villagers turned to each other, their faces full of confusion.

   The chief had reached the hearts of a fair amount of people, but it wasn't like the scale was tipped all to one side. But if you think about it carefully, this result was only natural.

   You can't topple generations of old customs in a single day.

   Besides, change is scary. It takes a lot of courage to step into uncharted territory. At the very least, this matter cannot be settled within a mere few days' time.

   However, my heart sank as realisation slowly dawned on me.

"…Oh, right."

   I finally came to a conclusion and unintentionally let my voice slip.

   So that's why they needed me to play the G.o.ddess.

   In order to give his people the final push they needed, the chief would gladly walk the path of the villain, all for the sake of his family.

TN: First things first: sorry for the long delay. It has certainly been some time since the last update. Real life happened. It's always busy this time of year so I hope I can keep up at least a chapter every two weeks or something. We'll see how productive I am.

EN1: Join the discord for Nev's profile picture. Also, "However, my heart sank as realisation slowly dawned on me"  was "My hips got heavier" originally lmao. Right below is the only thing I can think of that explains that sentence…

EN2:

Discord: