“Is this really it?” Abel complained. “Just wandering different cities all day?”

“Can’t help it, this is something the gods, and more importantly, my girlfriend, want done. If you’re bored, then you can run off and we can meet you later.”

“Mmh, no, I’ll stay,” She gave in, even if she still wasn’t as entertained as she would have liked while Ben worked through his tasks that day of going to as many of the major hospitals on the gate network he was able to, gifting knowledge to all of the overworked healers he could to make their work just a little easier as well as anyone else he passed along the way.

Which, for the most part, went smoothly. Sure, he got a few fearful looks from ones he’d dragged into his head for lessons in the past, back when it wasn’t just as simple as directly inserting knowledge into their brains, but with the subtlety he was currently working at, none even noticed him doing anything as he went, making it seem to their eyes that his presence was more of a coincidence than anything else that was followed with some quick levels to their various skills.

With the upgrade to deep connection making it so much easier. For whatever other effects there could have still been from child of chaos, the modification to his soul was the best, instantly increasing the range he could stretch it out by another half in all directions gave him so much more room to work with and getting put to use for every step of their outing.

Walking through some of the safer cities of the world could be crowded which meant at any one time there could be over a hundred people in his new range, all getting to benefit from the effects of connect and eldritch mind and more than paying off the cost of the attributes he’d gained for it.

Because gods are all a bunch of greedy fucks.

Rude.

I’m doing more for the people of this world than most of you lot up there and I can’t even be paid in a way that reflects that fact. I’ve changed my mind, it’s not enough for me to just stop helping after the war, I need to convert the majority of people to the wonders of atheism. Maybe costing every jerk up there some faith would make them reconsider how fairly they’re willing to treat mortals.

Or or or, you could literally do your job and start converting some of them to me instead. That would focus a bunch of faith on a god you know does something, unless all of the blessings and skills I hand out mean nothing to you.

Yeah, yeah, I know you’re a generous one but I’ve already spread your name more than anyone else. At this point, the majority of the planet has to have at least heard of you, right?

Well, yes, all of the tools you print my name on have certainly helped word get around and gotten me a few converts.

Which means anyone left is choosing not to convert to you and if you can’t have them, I say nobody else should get them either. Therefore, atheism.

No, as great as any of your little tools can be, I’m sure there’s thousands of people out there who need a bit more than seeing my name on a band to make them want to give me more than an offhand prayer.

Ugh, okay, fine. If we win and I live, I’ll start taking a deep dive into every mind I pass to see if anyone seems vulnerable enough to be converted, does that work?

I mean, when you phrase it like that, no because it sounds evil.

Fine, I’ll look for people who are perfectly content and satisfied in life and yet for some reason still want to completely upend their belief structure by converting away to someone else. Who knows, maybe I’ll find you a handful who fit the bill.

Was the sarcasm really necessary?

I think it helped get the point across. Anyway, don’t stress so much because it doesn’t matter if it’s unethical, that’s literally what everyone trying to get converts is doing, they just don’t spell it out as such. 

Yeah, because it sounds pretty awful when you do.

And? I’m not officially a god yet, I can be a little blunt.

“Can we stop for lunch soon, though?” Delair asked, pulling him away from the brief exchange with his god while his own hunger started to flare up.

“Yeah, sure thing kiddo, give me a moment and I’ll try to find us somewhere good.”

There were enough street vendors around that they had plenty of options to choose from but rather than going based on what was cooking or following their nose and risk being tricked by the smells, Ben instead looked at the skills each one held, focusing on their cooking level specifically to decide where to eat and finding one holder of a seventh level of skill that quickly rose to the eight after receiving Ben’s knowledge like it were some bolt of inspiration and let them go over to get wraps for each of them before sitting down and digging in.

Vegetable-heavy but cooked well, it had an interesting spice blend to it that Ben dissected in his thoughts, considering how he might both alter it and apply it to different things as he scarfed it down, Abel eating her two even faster and leaving them to sit while they waited for Delair to work her way through her own.

“So, why’s this taking so long anyway?” Abel asked him as they sat, getting a shrug in return for the question.

“I mean, we could speed things up by running through each city I guess but that would draw a lot of attention and I’d need to carry Delair the entire way or else she’d never be able to keep up. Besides, isn’t a little day of walking nice from time to time? Get to see new sights and taste some new flavours on the way too.”

“And not remotely what I was talking about. My job. I don’t really mind but you got that perv’s done in what? A second? Why’s mine taking days?”

“Ah, that. Well, the smaller difference is that he’d been working through his last job for half a century while you’ve only had half a decade, but the real, genuine problem is that either your job or mine has an absolutely insane experience requirement. God, it’s just so brutal.”

There were still days to go for it left despite his mental structure giving it experience and despite the fact that, even when not in the shop to access his coat, he was constantly making souls with the aid of his current mana pool. The very nature of his existence was practically devoted to getting him those job levels but it was still taking its sweet time.

If I’d thought to grab a heretic for the party too then I’d probably be done by now but I never could have guessed how long this one was going to take and getting one in to use is the exact sort of thing that would have raised some eyebrows with Phixth and whatever other gods work to decide how the parties I help are built.

“Anyway,” He went on. “Even if it’s taking a bit longer than I’d expected, you should still be seeing your level go up on your card, right?”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m loving it. Being close just has me all of the more ready for my next one.”

“Ha, already got one in mind?”

“Ben, you’ve seen my attributes and you know exactly what they do. I’m going to be the only person on this planet to get queen of weeping as a job and with it, I’m going to become even more powerful than I already am. Demons of this reality should live in constant fear and the rest of the suckers here in envy because that’s just how incredible I am!”

“Damn, that’s a good point.”

Really, she was sure to have plenty of good options but between that particular queen job and any that might specifically help boost her meat strengthening, getting her to finish more, even if she didn’t have a new third tier one, they would make for a decent priority.

Something I’ll have to bring up later.

I’m still here and you only want to help to satisfy your own curiosity.

Excuse you, she’s my friend too and one of the more powerful people on the world. There’s plenty of good reasons to try and make sure she’s powered up a bit, my curiosity is just one of them.

Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.

“Alright, well you’ll have to let me know how it and any of your future jobs turn out,” He told her. “I’m way too curious but for now, we’ve got daylight left and plenty of more stops to go so if everyone’s ready, let’s get to it. If you guys get hungry again or see anything you want to stop for, just let me know.”

“I can always eat more,” Abel added, unhelpfully though it may have been.

“Alright, good point. Delair, you’re in charge of deciding when we can stop for snacks since neither me or Abel are responsible enough to do it. Think you can handle that?”

“Absolutely!” She told him, instantly eyeing the candy at another vendor and leaving him to rub his face.

Maybe none of us are mature enough to know when to stop for snacks.