I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 41

"A prayer log?"

I looked at the notification with eyes of confusion.

Is this a bonus from placing the statue? The description didn't mention anything about this though...

A simple question asking for strength was presented in yellow text; the view on my screen immediately changed to a small child looking up at my statue upon clicking on it.

"I-I want to be big and strong! I want to throw trees like the man my mommy told me about!"

I couldn't help but smile at the kid's innocent request presented in front of me.

It translates the prayer too?

Although it wasn't really a necessary feature for me since I taught myself their language, it was still an interesting feature to have.

So, the tiny one wants power, huh?

Obviously, it was not something I could do. Aside from the fact that it wasn't time to select an Oracle yet, I wasn't willing to simply select a random kid just because he asked for it.

I can't give him power, but I guess I could give him something else.

"What do you think, Mister Flippers? Should I give this kid something cool?" I asked the penguin chilling on my lap.

"Squawk?"

"... You want me to give him a fish?"

"Squawk!" the penguin nodded in satisfaction. 

"... Sometimes I forget how much of a penguin you are," I muttered.

"Squawk!?"

I ignored the squawking creature and tried to think about the situation.

Well, let's say I do give him the fish. Sure, it would make the kid happy and hopefully motivate my humans to start praying to me, but is it the right move?

Based on what the sheep instructor said, the more my humans worshipped me, the more divinity I would receive from them. It was only logical that their prayers would increase this efficiency.

But giving them things in return for praying just seems like a bribe.

There was also no way for me to directly convert the divinity back into resources for my realm. While it was true that more divinity would mean that my Oracle would have more strength in battle, it was down to pure luck whether or not I received resource points as a prize.

It would be the most inefficient conversion I've ever heard of if I gave resources for this purpose.

Then there's also the chance that my humans would begin to rely on my handouts or even get upset if I did not give them anything. Their view of me might even worsen depending on how I go about this.

I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this. Giving the kid a fish might do nothing more than feed him for a day.

"You know what... how about I go with this?"

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"Shan con cuga!"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Crack!

"Raaaaa!"

Thud!

"Uga! Ka-"

"... Raaa~"

Angru let out a sigh after handing the man another stone.

This is the third one he broke. We will need to wait another winter at this rate.

"This is- gah!"

Out of nowhere, an impact hit Angru on the back of his head causing him to stagger.

"What was... oh."

The priest was greeted by a floating fish upon turning around. Almost immediately afterward, a familiar voice sounded in his head.

"Angru! I need you to do me a favor."

"..."

"... Why are you not saying anything?"

"What are you doing?"Angru couldn't help but let out another sigh at the display.

"Well, I'm trying to talk to my priest, but apparently he's giving me the silent treatment."

"I meant with the fish. You are moving its lips as if it is talking."

"... The fish is talking though?"

"No, it is not."

"Yes, it is. See- look!"

The fish's lips opened and closed much more dramatically.

"Hello. I am Mister Fish. I love to talk. Nice to meet you, human!"

"..."

The priest stared sternly at the floating fish.

"You are way too serious, Angru. You should smile more. Oh- I know!" the fish's lips suddenly stuck out, "Come on, go give the fish a kiss."

"... What?"

"A kiss! You know, 'mwah', 'smooch', et cetera."

"I am not doing that."

"Come on! It'll cheer you up! Come kiss me, human!"

"No. I- pah!"

Thud!

The fish suddenly flung into Angru's face and knocked him onto the ground before it landed limply on the priest's stomach.

"Oops, sorry! That was a bit harder than I thought... maybe I should practice moving things?"

Angru stayed flatly on the mossy ground and stared up at the light blue sky.

Did this guy really make all of this?

It was a question he asked himself frequently over the years since the two had met.

"What did you need to tell me?" he asked with a sigh, putting such thoughts behind him.

"Oh, right! I need you to deliver a message for me... and this fish."

The priest quickly memorized the voice's words.

"Alright. I will tell the kid what you said."

"Perfect, thank you, Angru! I'll go -"

"Wait."

"Huh? What's up?"

Angru slowly sat up and glanced toward the group of humans still chipping away at stones.

"We may need more time before we go north."

"North? Oh, you mean the expedition. That's fine- I'd rather you guys take longer and be prepared than rush and deal with those guys without proper equipment. Just try to start the journey within a few years."

"Okay. Thank you," Angru nodded at the voice's words. He could feel the tension leave his body.

We will have enough time to make proper weapons now.'

"Well, if that's all, I'll be going now. Thanks and sorry again for knocking you down, Angru!"

With those final words, the voice vanished from his head leaving the priest with one thought lingering in his mind.

What an interesting being.

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I watched the screen with a satisfied smile as I saw Angru enter the temple and hand over the fish to the kid.

It looks like he delivered my message well.

I had told Angru to tell the kid that I heard his request, but that I could not give him the power he needed. He would need to grow big and strong through his own hard work- the fish was just a gift to wish him luck on his journey.

"Eat the protein, little one! That's how I got my gains~"

"...Squawk."

"Oh, hush. Maybe you'd have muscles too if you didn't refuse to eat the amino acids I gave you."

Although I had worked hard to get my physique, there wasn't really any current use in it. Sure, my muscles may have some impact due to the tendency for my lifeforms to resemble me, but there wasn't currently a direct use for my strength.

My humans, on the other hand, desperately needed some.

The start of the battle phase was still a bit away, but I wanted to give my humans on the plateau a taste of fighting, so, I organized a trip to the north.

Angru would be leading a few hundred of the men from the plateau to the northern river which mountain chickens frequented outside of the winter months. It would be a super tough and brutal challenge for them, but the ferocious predators wouldn't stand a chance against a small army of stone-wielding men.

Even before he became my Oracle, Uunga managed to take one down by himself. I'm not expecting any of them to do that, though.

The humans on my plateau had never faced danger for the most part. While putting them up against mountain chickens would definitely get them exposed to it, it was practically like throwing a child into the deep end of a pool to teach them how to swim.

I fully expected them to panic and for there to be a bit of chaos on the first encounter.

Still, it would be a few hundred of them likely up against a typical pack of 3-5 mountain chickens.

If they couldn't find a way to come out victorious with such a numerical advantage, there would be way greater problems I'd need to deal with than just losing those people.

I might've coddled them a bit too much.

Being so overprotective of my humans definitely put me at a bit of a disadvantage at this point, yet I wasn't sure whether I regretted it or not.

The reason for that was because I was confident that they could adapt.

Many of them are descendants of Uunga. They have fighting in their blood.

Speaking of my late Oracle, I was planning to guide Angru's army toward the settlement where Uunga grew up.

It wasn't for nostalgia or to pay respects or anything like that, however. After seeing the success and valuable materials that Uunga looted from the mountain chickens, the tribe began trying to hunt them too. It was a disaster at first, but eventually, they became skilled at doing so.

This was made many times easier when they invented a new weapon to help them in their hunt.

I was wondering when they'd invent this, but it happened sooner than I thought!

It wasn't anything too special, just a pointed rock hafted to the end of a long stick, yet this weapon represented the pinnacle of technology in my realm.

Yes, my humans invented the javelin!

I nearly leaped out of my chair in excitement upon realizing this discovery, and I still couldn't help but shake a little at the thought of such a thing.

"Can you believe it Mister Flippers!? A javelin! The very weapon that brought the mammoths to their knees! My humans finally made them!"

Being proud was an understatement; my humans were developing faster than I ever could have imagined.

The drive behind their discovery was likely the same as what prompted their creation on Earth. Like mammoths who crushed anything that got close, mountain chickens thrived in close combat.

So, if there was a way to attack them from a distance where their razor talons and teeth couldn't reach, wouldn't things become so much easier?

With that thought in mind, the humans developed these sharp points attached to sticks that they could throw from far away. If they missed, it was no big deal; they could simply climb a tree or run away before the mountain chicken could get to them. If they hit the chicken on the other hand...

It was bound to yield a great harvest!

The hide, the talons, the teeth... all of the materials were extremely valuable in this primitive world.

And unlike mammoths with their massive and fatty bodies, it only took a single javelin or two to bring a mountain chicken to its knees.

Sending Angru's men to this settlement would introduce them to this revolutionary technology. If the plateau could begin training with javelins, it could help tremendously in the upcoming fight against Ferguson.

It was literally the difference between fighting with proper weapons and running into battle with a stone in hand.

At this point, the start of the battle phase wouldn't be for another roughly eighty years in the realm, so my humans would have a few generations to learn how to use these new weapons.

This was exactly why I wasn't overly concerned about the exact time that Angru's group started their journey. That being said, the sooner they set out, the more time they would have to prepare for the invasion.

Hopefully their trip can boost my divinity rate a bit, too.

The journey was doubling as a missionary trip, as I had instructed Angru to tell those they came across about my existence. There was a chance I'd need to perform a small show if they came across a particularly large settlement, but I felt it was a worthwhile investment. Simply moving small things around short distances hardly costs any resource points.

I guess there's nothing much for me to do until that time comes.

"Should we fast forward a bit, Mister Flippers?"

"Squawk!"

With a small nod, I changed the speed of my domain to match heavenly time and watched as the months flew by. Within a few minutes, I watched the group of roughly four hundred men advance down the stairs of the plateau and venture north.

Let's slow down a bit.

I had to make sure that I didn't miss anything important on their journey, so I kept the domain speed to a point where I could react in an adequate amount of time to any unusual situation.

Soon after, a notification appeared on my screen signaling my priest wanted to talk.

I leaned forward in my chair with a sigh.

"Looks like I have some work to do."