"Good afternoon, Mr. Griжфж!"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Evah," the Ancient Sun God said, opening his eyes. Seeing the familiar youth, he gave a warm smile, then seemed to notice something. "You seem in a good mood. Did something nice happen?"
"Well…" Evah blinked, looking at the Ancient Sun God with mock seriousness. "I just realized you guys are people too!"
Ancient Sun God: …
Are you even listening to yourself?
Even the Ancient Sun God was stunned, at a loss for words. But he quickly caught on, smiling. "Of course we're people, just as you can be a mortal."
"No wonder you're the boss—you're way better at talking than your underlings," Evah said, giving him a thumbs-up, then grumbling, "Medici and the others just won't believe I'm human. Sure, my essence might be some weird thing, but I've got a mortal heart! Why don't they get it?"
Hearing this half-true complaint, the Ancient Sun God picked up on something and chuckled. "Sounds like Medici's been giving you a hard time."
"Not really. Actually, you trained Medici well, so I'm kinda curious…" Evah propped his chin, eyeing the Ancient Sun God. "If you're so good at raising kids, how'd you mess up with Amon?"
It wasn't a wild guess. Despite being a born mythical creature, Medici's character was solid—loyal to his boss, reliable to allies, and, while dismissive of mortals, not a reckless killer. For a mythical creature, he was practically a moral paragon.
Sure, Medici might've been born that way, but Evah figured the Ancient Sun God's guidance played a bigger role.
"Uh…" The Ancient Sun God showed a rare hint of embarrassment, pausing before saying, "Sasrir mostly raised Medici. After Amon was born, Sasrir was tied up with other matters, so Medici took over watching Amon. But he couldn't quite rein Amon in, and Amon's essence, tied to the Marauder pathway's uniqueness, was inevitably influenced by the Lord of Mysteries."
Evah raised a brow.
Got it. So Amon's delinquency traces back to the Celestial Worthy.
Classic Celestial Worthy, single-handedly derailing the Three Musketeers!
But Medici was raised by Sasrir? Hmm, so maybe that's why he joined the Rose Redemption and followed the True Creator—because of his bond with Sasrir? Or maybe to Medici, there's no difference, since Sasrir's just the Ancient Sun God's avatar.
Evah mused, watching the clearly embarrassed and slightly guilty Ancient Sun God. After a moment, he asked, "You're not just making excuses for Amon's antics, are you?"
"…I'm truly sorry. I failed to raise Amon properly," the Ancient Sun God said, his expression tinged with guilt. Sighing, he added, "After our last meeting, I've stepped up Amon's discipline. I don't know if it'll affect this future, but I'll do my best to make amends."
He looked less like the legendary Silver City Creator or Ancient Sun God and more like a father scrambling to fix his child's mistakes.
Evah blinked, watching this side of the Ancient Sun God, mentally translating his words to "went back and gave Amon a few good whacks." Instantly, he felt a wave of satisfaction.
Evah held grudges, and in this world, Amon was definitely on his list.
Then, looking at the Ancient Sun God's demeanor, Evah blurted out, "You seem pretty human right now."
The Ancient Sun God froze, then said, half-laughing, half-exasperated, "Did I not seem human before?"
Sure, he wasn't strictly human anymore, but he'd never forgotten his human roots.
"Not that you weren't human, just… in my mind, you were more like a god?" Evah waved a hand, explaining. "You know, the perfect god or saint type. You get it!"
"No one's perfect, not even me," the Ancient Sun God said, shaking his head with a smile. "But I'm flattered you had that impression."
"So you did want to be a saint?" Evah quipped suddenly, pinching his chin with interest. "Makes sense. If you were truly detached, you wouldn't have pulled a God act with 'Let there be light' or sprouted those big angelic wings! Guess you're into showing off your divine glow?"
The Ancient Sun God's smile froze. For a moment, he looked like a college kid whose cringy old social media posts had been read aloud, mortified as if the Primordial One was crawling over him.
But embarrassment took a backseat as Evah, who'd been crouching, stood up, moved closer, and poked his shoulder.
"…What are you doing?" Despite being the ultimate Spectator, the Ancient Sun God felt utterly lost, unable to parse this guy's logic.
"Just checking if you'll shatter," Evah said, deadpan. "You looked like you were about to break just now."
And whose fault is that?
The Ancient Sun God opened his mouth, stopped, tried again, and gave up. He suddenly missed Sasrir. Same being, sure, but Sasrir's child-rearing experience would've handled this troublemaker better.
The Ancient Sun God himself lacked practice—most of his time was spent waging wars, not parenting.
"Are you badmouthing me in your head?" Evah asked, pinching his chin.
"…Sorry," the Ancient Sun God said, rubbing his temples. "The me back then wasn't mature enough, carrying some vain notions I shouldn't have."
"No need to soul-search over something like that. Liking the spotlight's normal. I'm into it too!" Evah said, patting his shoulder like a dependable adult. Then, as if recalling something, he added, "Oh, almost forgot. Adam made a deal with me. He wants you to see this world, understand its full scope, and make a choice."
(End of Chapter)