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Asher walked out of the divine tower and looked up at the sky. After a long time, he averted his gaze and sighed faintly. Regardless, for Gilgamesh's sake, he had to go to the underworld again. But... he felt that if he didn't go to the underworld, it would be fine, but going might make the other party remember his sudden escape last night, and she might even change her mind about letting Gilgamesh go.
He had to find a way. Asher looked at the azure sky, pondering for a long time. Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed across the sky. Asher's eyes widened after half a second of hesitation. "Speaking of which, Ishtar and the Goddess of the Underworld belong to the same pantheon, and they've had quite a bit of conflict in the past.
Perhaps she knows how to approach that goddess?" But before that... he had to go see Siduri first. He had just offended Ishtar recently, and if he went to her empty-handed now, she would probably hit him with a beam of light as soon as they met.
Returning to the divine tower, he found Siduri. After explaining the situation to her, Siduri very readily lent Asher some gems from her personal stores. Hmm... about five bags worth. As a priestess serving the King, she was indeed quite affluent.
After thanking Siduri, Asher took out the stone Ishtar had given him two days ago. Then he thought, summoning Ishtar here in the city would probably cause panic among the residents; he had to go to the wilderness. So he summoned Sleipnir, flew to the outskirts, and infused magic into the stone.
Not long after, accompanied by a rushing sound, Ishtar appeared before Asher, riding her sky-boat in a near-drift, as if showing off her piloting skills, or perhaps proving to Asher that her collision with him that day was purely an accident, and that her piloting skills were still excellent.
"You scoundrel, how dare you call me out, and..." Ishtar was still in her scantily clad attire, her gaze sweeping around. "And in such a desolate wilderness, aren't you afraid I'll attack you?"
"I believe a noble goddess would not strike an unarmed person." However, upon hearing this, Ishtar's face showed disbelief, and she glared at Asher with fury: "Ha?! You yourself are a deity, aren't you? Are you mocking me?"
After saying that, she drew her bow, her originally red eyes instantly turning into brilliant gold.
Asher sighed helplessly at the sight. This goddess... she needs to let people finish speaking.
"Um," Asher spread his hands, indicating he had no weapons, "Do you think I'd call you out for no reason just to provoke you? Do you think I'm that boring?"
"Hmph, who knows?" Ishtar looked Asher up and down.
After pondering for a moment, as if she had realized something, she jumped off her sky-boat with a "heave-ho" and quickly walked to Asher, tightly gripping his hands.
"W-what are you doing?" Startled by Ishtar's sudden outburst of intensity, Asher instinctively took two steps back.
"Did you find... that thing?" Ishtar asked, her eyes gleaming.
"That thing...?"
"That, that, the Bull of Heaven!" Ishtar said, then looked confusedly behind Asher, and then muttered to herself in confusion, "But such a large thing, why can't I see it now? Ah! Could it be that it was thrown somewhere, and that's why you came to me for help?!"
Asher's mouth was slightly agape, and before he could speak, he saw Ishtar release his hands, then cross her arms and nod, "Mmm-hmm." "On second thought, I was too impulsive just now. After all, we have a cooperative relationship.
You calling me out with that stone must be about the Bull of Heaven." At this, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she secretly glanced at the black-haired young man before her, then whispered, "It was my fault earlier, but you should have made it clear from the beginning that it was about the Bull of Heaven. After all, we just had a fight, so it's normal for me to misunderstand."
Asher was briefly lost in thought about his life. With Ishtar saying all this, he momentarily didn't know how to respond to her. Should I just trick her into going to the underworld? Anyway, as long as I tell her the Bull of Heaven is in the underworld, she'd probably risk her old life to go with me. But that would inevitably bring
endless trouble later, so he had to pass on that idea.
"You calm down first, and listen to me." In short, he'd try to get this goddess to calm down first.
Ishtar nodded, "Mmm-hmm," then took a short deep breath and gradually calmed down. Realizing her earlier lapse in composure, she lightly coughed, crossed her arms, turned her head, and snorted, "Don't misunderstand, I've always been calm. I was just trying to mislead you... right! I was using that method to mislead you and make you complacent. D-do you understand?!"
Asher silently nodded. He'd just take her word for it.
Ishtar said with satisfaction, "Alright, then tell me quickly, quickly." Looking at her eager, expectant eyes and enchanting smile, Asher suddenly felt a little embarrassed to state the purpose of his visit.
"I came to you not because of the Bull of Heaven."
However, thoughts are thoughts; he still had to speak.
Gilgamesh couldn't be delayed for too long, otherwise, all of Uruk would fall into chaos. Ishtar's lovely smile slowly solidified, then, after a brief bewilderment, she gradually regained her senses. Her earlier anticipation shattered in an instant, and she stared at Asher, saying:
"Continue."
"Actually, it's like this..." Asher generally explained the whole story and his purpose, then looked at Ishtar and asked: "Do you have any ideas? Or, do you know if the Goddess of the Underworld has anything she likes?"
"The Goddess of the Underworld?" As if remembering some unbearable past, Ishtar's expression changed. The next second, she turned and jumped onto her sky-boat. "I thought you were coming to me for something else, but you're here to ask me about that idiot?!" She made a face at Asher. "And you want me to help you, and save that flashy golden guy too? Don't even think about it! Go bother yourself, you fool!"
Ishtar was the Goddess of Heaven, and in contrast, Ereshkigal (or Eresh for short) was the Goddess of the Underworld. The reason Ishtar was summoned in such scantily clad attire was entirely because Ereshkigal had stripped her clothes in the underworld during her lifetime. No wonder she was so angry now. After all, Asher was asking her face-to-face how to curry favor with another goddess. If she didn't know that she might not be able to beat Asher, Ishtar would probably have already attacked him by now.
"Can't you help?" Asher asked.
"Of course not! What do you take me for? I'm a goddess, the Goddess of Heaven! You actually ask me how to curry favor with other goddesses, and it's that gloomy one in the underworld? What were you thinking, you fool!"
Ishtar said angrily, "I would rather die than tell you that goddess's preferences!" After saying that, she was about to leave on her sky-boat, but as soon as she flew into the air, a stone suddenly whistled past Ishtar from behind, accompanied by a brilliant flash of light, and then plummeted directly into the forest.
Ishtar was stunned for a moment, then sharply turned her head. On the ground, the young man in the black robe was playfully holding a small bag. Then he took out a sparkling gem, weighed it in his hand, and casually tossed it into the forest. Next, without even looking at Ishtar, he took out a third gem. Ishtar's sky-boat seemed to be attracted by the gems and slowly descended beside Asher.
"W-what are you doing?" Ishtar asked somewhat awkwardly. This was understandable; after all, she had just lost her temper at Asher and vowed she would die before helping him, only to then land right beside him.
Asher sighed, looking regretfully at the bag of gems in his hand, and said helplessly, "I originally wanted to trade these with you, but you don't intend to cooperate, so these things are useless to me now."
"Trade...?" Ishtar's gaze was attracted by the gems in Asher's hand for a moment, then she feigned indifference, leaning against her sky-boat and crossing her legs. "Tell me, how do you want to trade? For old times' sake, I'll listen carefully to what you have to say." Ishtar's tone was indifferent, showing an air of casualness provided one didn't look at her eyes, which were now uncontrollably drawn to the gems like magnets.
"I want to know if that Goddess of the Underworld has anything she likes, as a gift of apology," Asher asked.
"Sending gifts?" Ishtar looked at Asher in confusion. "Did you do something bad to her?"
Asher awkwardly scratched his forehead, "It wasn't really anything bad, but I probably made her angry."
"Made her angry?" Ishtar looked at Asher with doubt, then asked with great interest, "Tell me the details."
Asher generally explained what happened last night, and upon hearing the end, Ishtar burst into laughter, pounding on her sky-boat as if she had hit a funny bone, seemingly genuinely amused.
"Hahahaha, I didn't realize you were quite good at annoying people, hmm... good." After a while, Ishtar finally managed to calm herself down, rubbed the tears from the corners of her eyes, and looked up, "I understand. I'll help you, considering how much you've amused me."
"Ah! But business is business, the transaction amount
still can't be less."
"I know that," Asher nodded.
"Then... how much do you plan to trade with?" Ishtar
asked.
Asher extended an index finger.
"Huh? You want to hire me with just one bag? What kind of person do you take me for?" Ishtar scornfully turned her head away and said faintly, "I am the Goddess of Beauty who presides over Venus, a symbol of fertility, war, and destruction. You think you can dismiss me with just this little bit?" Although she said this, her attention was completely focused on Asher. Then, under her gaze, Asher extended a second finger.
The eyes of the Goddess of Heaven gleamed slightly, but she still said nothing. Quick... quickly extend a third finger! Her gaze was fixed on Asher, hoping he would quickly extend a third finger.
"Five bags of gems." Asher directly extended five fingers.
"Consider it?"
Ishtar still said nothing, looking disdainful, only snorting softly: "I am the Goddess of Heaven! You actually dare to try to bribe me with five bags of gems."
Seeing this, Asher couldn't help but sigh and withdrew the small bag of gems from his hand.
"W-what are you doing?!" Ishtar's eyes widened, and she hastily asked.
"Since the great Goddess of Heaven is unwilling to accept this transaction, then I shall have to give up," Asher said with great helplessness. "Although I regret it, there's nothing I can do. I'll try to think of another way. If worst comes to worst, I'll just go down to the underworld myself. That would save a huge amount of money too."
"Then, farewell, Goddess Ishtar."
"Wait, wait a minute!"
Seeing Asher genuinely intending to turn and leave, Ishtar quickly called out to him. Asher stopped, turned, and looked at Ishtar in confusion, "Is there anything else, Goddess Ishtar?" Ishtar let out a tiny whimper, covered her flushed cheeks, turned her head away, and after hesitating for a long time, she finally frustratedly hugged her head.
"Argh, argh, I get it, I get it! I agree, alright?! Is that good enough?!"
It sounded filled with humiliation, like someone accosting a beautiful girl on the street, asking for a price, and after much deliberation, finally agreeing to sell herself.
"Thank you for your assistance," Asher said respectfully.
"Stop using that attitude to deliberately make me drop my guard," Ishtar gave Asher a disdainful look. "Also, you can just call me Ishtar. It's too strange for one god to give another god an honorific."
"I'm not a god," Asher shook his head.
"I don't know what happened to you, but at least you've descended as a god now, haven't you?" Ishtar said this, then saw Asher extend his hand. Is he going to shake hands? Ishtar still had her arms crossed, giving a light snort, then, under Asher's gaze, she finally extended her hand and shook his.
"What a manipulative fellow," Ishtar muttered. Clearly, Asher already knew she would agree. His feigned regret earlier was simply to make her anxious.
"You should let go now, and you should tell me about that
Goddess of the Underworld, shouldn't you?" At this, Asher's voice sounded, pulling Ishtar back to reality. She said "Sorry" then let go of his hand, and then looked up at him.
"Regarding that goddess, I actually don't know much...
but of course! At least I know more than you do!" Fearing that Asher would go back on his word and take the gems from her, Ishtar hastily added, indicating that she still knew some information.
"Then hurry up and tell me," Asher sighed softly. Under Ishtar's gaze, he plopped down on the grass behind him and looked up at the surrounding scenery. He felt that this goddess was not only a bit silly but also very good at building suspense. If he didn't sit down and rest for a while, he felt his patience was about to run out.
"You're really impatient, are you that eager to see that goddess?" Ishtar complained, then looked down at Asher sitting on the grass. She first froze, then a playful smile appeared on her face. "Oh~ I see~ You're embarrassed, aren't you?"
Asher froze, "What?"
"Eh~ So that's how it is~" Ishtar's face showed a playful expression. She raised her hand and stroked Asher's face.
"You're shy, aren't you? You keep urging me to explain quickly just because you're not good at dealing with assertive women, so you hope I don't keep staring at you, right?"
Asher was stunned again. I just sat down to rest, why did that become being shy?
"Hehehe..." Looking at the bewildered Asher, Ishtar's smile grew even wider. "You dared to trick a goddess earlier; I can't let that grudge go unpaid."
"Can you please explain about that goddess first?" Asher said helplessly.
"Alright, alright, don't rush me. I've rarely given you such an opportunity for intimate contact with a goddess.
Don't you understand at all how to seize the opportunity to curry favor with a goddess?"
"But then again, you haven't known where to look since just now, have you? You seem eager for me to explain, but in reality, it's because you're shy and embarrassed to look at me, right?"
Asher: "..." Fine, whatever makes you happy. Ishtar's smile grew even wider. Seeing Asher "at a loss," she was suddenly in a good mood and nodded: "Hmm... given my current good mood, I'll do my best to help you conquer that goddess!"
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