Goddess?

Carrying the Maid Homunculus on my shoulder, I arrived at a church in Alchemia.

It was a small, modest place that existed solely for obtaining holy water, with no ties to Siesta whatsoever. In this tiny chapel of a church, I offered my prayers to the Goddess.

"Goddess? I've brought the culprit who was calling themselves the Chaos God."

"Oh, you made it!"

And just like that, we were whisked into the Goddess's space. Misha didn't get pulled along this time, it seemed.

The Goddess tilted her head upon seeing the Maid Homunculus and Kaoru.

"… Hm?"

"Huh, something wrong? Ah. This Kaoru here was just being used as a figurehead, so I was hoping you might show some clemency… He's warming up socks for you as we speak."

"Oho, is that so, is that so? What an admirable attitude."

The Goddess nodded approvingly. Could he actually make it out alive?

"But he was claiming to be the Chaos God, wasn't he?"

"Hyeeh!? N-No, I never claimed that myself! This maid just started calling me that on her own!"

"… Hmmm. This kid does smell kinda nice… Maybe I'll let it slide～"

"Th-Thank you! I survived… I actually survived!!"

"Good for you, Kaoru."

"Yeah, it's all thanks to you, Karina! Thank you so much!"

Kaoru was overjoyed. Great, from now on we could enjoy this world together as companions.

Speaking of which, you can make cute girls with homunculi, right? I'm looking forward to it, hehehe.

That aside, the Goddess seemed somewhat indecisive for some reason.

"Ah. So, this Maid Homunculus here is the culprit and mastermind. Apparently she was serving the self-proclaimed Chaos God and was acting on orders, or something like that."

"Mm. I see."

Huh? It was only now that I noticed something felt off.

The Goddess who'd been so furious before was now oddly docile. Last time, or rather the first time I dealt with a Chaos God, she'd gone so far as to destroy an entire country over it.

"By the way, this homunculus seems to be wearing a ton of Divine Artifacts. Any bonus for that? She claimed to have 108 of them, though that's self-reported."

"Hm? Hmmm, no, this one doesn't appear to be carrying any Divine Artifacts whatsoever."

If the Goddess said so after staring that intently at the Maid Homunculus, then it must've been just a bluff after all. Geez, what a troublemaker…

"Hmm?"

"Something the matter, Karina-chan? Ah, right, your reward for capturing the culprit. Here's 10,000 SP. Let's live it up for a while, shall we?"

"Right, with 10,000 SP, things like 50 SP sweets would basically be all-you-can-eat."

"Ah. Sparing that boy's life will cost you whatever fractional SP you have. You'll be left with exactly 10,000 SP."

"Goddess!? Since when do you get to tack on conditions retroactively!?"

"I am the rules."

Oh right, this is the kind of Goddess she is. Sigh… you couldn't blame me for switching sides over this, right?

… Hm? Switching sides? I tilted my head at the thought. But I immediately came up with something good and forgot all about it.

"Um, Goddess. The 10,000 SP is the reward for capturing the culprit, but this maid, or rather the maid's possessions themselves, still belong to me, right?"

"Hmm? Mm. Well, I suppose so?"

"Then I can still get SP for the socks she's wearing, right!?"

"Mu. Hmm, well, fine. I'll allow it."

"Wh-What!? N-No, stop! I've been wearing these socks into the ground for a whole week, they're incredibly smelly and embarrassing right now! You massive pervert!"

The Maid Homunculus thrashed and flailed desperately. Fufufu, how convenient. The more she resists, the greater her embarrassment, and the more SP goes up!

"Ha! I just thought of something great! Why not take them off directly with your own hands, Goddess? Or better yet, with your mouth, like, yank them off!"

"Eh, you mean… eating them live!? Wow, eating socks live! What an absolutely wonderfully fantastic idea, Karina-chan! I'm giving you a gold star!"

I got praised! Yay!

Also, I'd never heard of "eating socks live" before. As expected of the Goddess, an incorrigible pervert.

"Oi, mastermind. Your meddling made everything such a hassle. Apologize while the Goddess eats your socks live."

"N-Nooo, s-stop it, l-let me goooo!"

Still bound, I had her stick her legs out from under her skirt and pulled off her shoes. The socks revealed beneath those patent leather pumps were white, stained black enough to make out the shape of her soles. A thick scent billowed out that made it clear she hadn't been lying about wearing them for a week.

"Ooh! At this point, you're already guaranteed high points!"

"Oi, maid! The Goddess has made her request. Serve up your socks like the maid you are!"

"Kuh… Please, enjoy your meal."

Saying that, the Maid Homunculus resisted while keeping a completely straight face, yet obediently extended her feet. What a commendable maid.

"Then, itadakimasu!!"

Wearing the most radiant smile, the Goddess sank her teeth into the toes of those reeking socks.