"For example," Souta said, meeting everyone's gaze, "do any of you have a wish you want fulfilled?"
Before Gai could reply, Ayase Shinomiya seated in her wheelchair was the first to react in surprise.
"Yeah," Souta said generously, "the cult business will be entirely your responsibility. As a reward, I can grant each of you a wish."
"This is my way of showing sincerity."
Of course, despite his magnanimous tone, he had an ulterior motive.
He wanted to use the wish-granting process to make these core members truly, from the bottom of their hearts, regard him as a god.
Because his next plan was to develop divine arts and bestow them upon the cult's inner circle, creating the first wave of priests loyal to him.
Souta had one principle: power must only be granted to believers.
So, the core members all had to become his faithful.
Tsugumi stepped forward eagerly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Souta glanced at her, her expression made it clear how excited she was.
"That's right. Anything," he nodded lightly.
"Then I wish for infinite—no, make it ten wishes."
She thought about it. Infinite was a bit greedy. Ten was safer.
Souta stared at her in disbelief... Are you a hacker or something? Wishing for more wishes? Trying to loophole the system?
Wait, wasn't she a genius hacker?
Come to think of it, her bug-finding instincts were probably on par with his.
Souta nearly recited an old man's wisdom on the spot:
When you give an inch, the saying goes that they'll take a mile.
Tsugumi, unaware of his thoughts, continued brightly:
"For my first of ten wishes, I want to test if you're bluffing. So... make me a second moon in the sky."
Souta silently stared at the prideful girl.
Seriously!? A second moon?!
Not impossible... Technically, he could do it by entering a loop of create matter → gain source energy → convert to divine power → create matter again. With enough time, he could build a moon.
But clearly, Tsugumi meant create one instantly, just to prove his divine credentials.
That... he couldn't do.
Of course, he'd never admit that.
Can't do it? Just fake it.
"What's the matter, can't do it?" Tsugumi smirked. "Didn't you say you could grant any wish?"
"I can make you a moon. But that wish is beyond what you can afford to pay. Same goes for those ten wishes, you don't have the price for them."
Souta looked into her eyes and said seriously:
"To make it fair, I'll grant you immortality. But in return, your body and soul will belong to me. You'll be my eternal servant, doing anything I command, whether you want to or not. Even if I tell you to strip and run naked in public, you can't refuse."
Before she could speak, Souta stood up.
"Let's go. I'll fulfill your wish right now, you're mine from this moment on."
With a wave of his hand, everyone was teleported out of the base, floating in midair.
It was a clear night, with the silver moon high above.
Souta's divine power surged, radiating a crushing spiritual pressure that left everyone breathless.
"The disaster caused by an extra moon—the apocalypse it'll trigger—you'll bear that burden yourself, Tsugumi."
Golden light burst from him.
Gai and the others were stunned, cursing Tsugumi in their minds: What the hell, Tsugumi?!
"Wait, Tsugumi was joking! Please don't take it seriously!"
Gai quickly stepped in, shooting her a sharp look.
"Right, Tsugumi? That was a joke, wasn't it?"
Souta clearly meant to create a moon.
Couldn't he tell when people were joking?
Also... his divine power was way too absurd!
"Y-Yes! I was kidding! Please don't take it seriously!"
Tsugumi paled, trying to tug at Souta's sleeve but since they were mid-air and far apart, she couldn't reach.
She looked close to tears.
Forget about the moon, being an eternal servant of a god, with both body and soul pledged? Absolutely not!
What if Souta did things to her...?
She started imagining things. Her face turned red.
"Tsugumi, what's wrong?" Ayase asked, concerned.
"N-Nothing. Anyway, I'd like to change my wish," Tsugumi said quickly to Souta.
"You're so troublesome."
Souta canceled the divine pressure and sighed, disappointed.
"You really don't want the moon? What a shame. I actually wanted to see a double-moon sky. None of you have any sense of romance."
Gai's heart skipped a beat.
He really was serious about making a moon?!
Thank goodness they stopped him. Who knows what would've happened to Earth otherwise?
Also... wasn't that level of divine power just too over the top?
"Um, should we head back to the base to talk?"
Gai suggested tentatively.
With a wave, Souta brought everyone back to the underground base.
After they were seated again, Souta turned to Tsugumi.
"So? What's your wish? No take-backs this time."
"I... Can I think for a bit?"
Tsugumi looked a little scared and conflicted.
Through this, Souta had subtly conveyed an important rule: Don't wish for more than you can pay or your soul's the price.
Everyone got more cautious, hesitant to ask for anything too outrageous.
"The deadline is now. No second chances," Souta replied flatly.
"Then... make Ayase-senpai able to walk again."
Tsugumi pointed at the girl in the wheelchair. "That's my wish."
"Tsugumi...!?" Ayase looked shocked. "Change it. That's something I should wish for myself."
"Too late," Souta said. "I already said that no take-backs."
He turned to Ayase and clapped his hands.
"Alright, you can stand up now."
"I said your legs are healed. Try standing."
Ayase didn't believe it, but she tried anyway.
A look of astonishment appeared in her eyes.
She could feel strength in her legs.