Night fell over the embassy.
One Sumerian delicacy after another was brought to the table, and Gilgamesh generously tossed several jugs of the King's Wine onto it. Amber liquor poured into the cups.
"Cheers!"
Amid the chorus of voices, every face wore a smile from the heart, and every name was remembered by all.
Of course, the Old Man was the same as ever, using water in place of wine as a gesture of goodwill.
After a thousand years apart, long-lost companions had finally reunited. But what delighted everyone most was undoubtedly that Mother Goddess Tiamat, having absorbed enough Divinity, had cast off her identity as the Banished Beast and returned to the earth in her complete form.
Samael leaned beside Mother Goddess Tiamat. His fingers quietly climbed along her arm and clasped her slender white hand, pouring into it the attachment that had settled in him for a thousand years.
A warm atmosphere spread through the room.
Everyone raised their cups in celebration of the Mother Goddess, their eyes filled with joy and relief.
Long ago, the Mother Goddess had bid farewell to the world for their sake. Now, at last, they had welcomed her back and made up for the regret of the past.
Children would one day step out of the cradle and grow up, but a mother's embrace would always be the harbor where they could take shelter from the storm.
After several rounds of wine and a full spread of dishes, everyone seized this rare day of leisure. Their strained nerves relaxed a little, and they gathered in twos and threes, chatting casually about whatever interested them.
Still, after tasting every dish on the table, Samael kept feeling that something was missing.
Then the Ancient Serpent suddenly slapped his forehead, having realized the answer.
Beef. He had not had any in so long. Without the chaotic stew and the whole-city celebration from last time, it just felt lacking.
Samael smacked his lips, his gaze drifting darkly toward Ishtar. Then he glanced regretfully at the gold-and-blue-striped pet under the corner of the table.
Tsk. It's so small. There's barely any meat...
That ill-intentioned glance made both Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, and its master Ishtar shiver at the same time.
"Mm, I'm full. I'll go out for a walk and digest a little."
Ishtar felt an inexplicable chill.
Could she have been found out?
The Goddess of Heaven's heart started pounding. She hurriedly pulled her hand back, cleared her throat, and slipped out of the embassy.
Samael glanced at the Head Priestess seated beside Ishtar, then at the Great Goddess leaving in such a hurry. He could not help rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
...
A quarter of an hour later, at the Royal Palace's Divine Tower.
A certain furtive figure took out a key and excitedly searched for the keyhole.
"Ahem..."
Just as the figure crouched in front of the forbidden gate of the Royal Palace's Divine Tower was getting carried away with joy, a sudden cough from behind scared her so badly that she nearly threw the gold-and-blue-striped Divine Beast in her hand like a hidden weapon.
"Sa... Samael? Wh-why are you here?"
When Ishtar looked back and saw him staring at her, she hurriedly hid both the weapon and the key behind her back, her eyes darting around as she stammered.
"Same as you..."
"Huh? You're after it too...?"
"Ahem, I mean I ate too much and came out for a walk."
"Ahaha, right, a walk. The embassy was too stuffy, so I came out for a walk too. What a coincidence, you're here as well?"
"Of course it's a coincidence. I came here specifically to find you."
Hiss...
The Great Goddess of Uruk's heart, which had only just settled, jumped back into her throat.
"Want to walk around together? It's been a long time since I visited Uruk's night market."
Samael's smiling invitation left Ishtar stunned for a moment. Then she snapped out of her panic and secretly patted her chest, breathing a sigh of relief.
What, so that was all. I thought I'd been caught.
"I'm busy. Not going!"
Ishtar immediately shook her head with firm resolve.
"I'll pay for everything tonight."
Samael answered with a smile, his gaze flicking meaningfully toward the hand Ishtar had hidden behind her back.
The Goddess of Heaven faintly sensed that something was off. She fell into thought, biting her cherry-red lip with her pearly teeth, her expression deeply conflicted.
"I heard someone just brought in a new batch of pearls from the Persian Gulf, along with high-purity gold-green stones from Mount Ebih. If you don't want to go, then never mind. I'll..."
Samael's lips curled, his tone playful.
"Deal!"
Ishtar nodded at once, rushed forward, seized Samael's arm, and clamped it tightly under her own. She even forced out a nearly fawning smile, making them look exactly like a pair of lovers.
...
A little over ten minutes later, inside a luxury shopping mall in Uruk.
Samael sat on a stool in the corner, holding a cup of date juice and sipping it in boredom. His eyes swept the surroundings, and then he suddenly spotted a familiar golden wedge-shaped mark inside a nearby display cabinet. The corner of his mouth twitched.
This kind of combined shopping mall was actually Gilgamesh's store. A royal enterprise, too? The prices were twenty to thirty percent higher than outside. What business sense. What a crook!
"I'm changed!"
Just as the Ancient Serpent was grumbling inwardly, a rustling sound came from nearby, and Ishtar made a sparkling entrance in a formal dress. The outfit nearly blinded Samael's titanium-alloy snake eyes.
Her decorative crown was set with emeralds, lapis lazuli, red agate, and more. The red-and-black pleated skirt looked simple on the surface, but the sapphire brooch at her chest, as large as a dragon's eye, was extremely conspicuous. Even the lace gloves on her hands were inlaid with tiny diamonds.
"Samael, what do you think of this outfit?"
Ishtar kept throwing him coquettish looks, her voice sweet enough to make his teeth ache.
"Mm. It looks very expensive..."
Faced with such a wealthy aesthetic experience, Samael thought for a long while before finally squeezing out a very conflicted description.
Ishtar lifted her chin, her expression proud and her gaze full of disdain.
"I am Uruk's supreme and noble goddess. Naturally, I must present myself in a way that matches my status! Wealth is one symbol of rank. My dear Shepherd King, surely you understand at least that much?"
Fine, fine, you're right. You're the first person I've seen make greed sound so righteous.
Samael rolled his eyes. Then, without arguing, he simply tossed out a bag of Zeus's Gold, took Ishtar's hand, and walked out of Gilgamesh's shady shop.
It was already five in the afternoon. The red sun was gradually sinking, but because the royal capital's streets were built upon Paradise Lost, the incarnated souls were full of energy, and the bustle had not faded in the slightest.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, however, the two of them each cast a spell to conceal their identities so they would not cause a commotion.
But ever since Ishtar had excitedly put on that high-class outfit, the clinking of jewelry and the flash of the diamond skirt hem drew heads everywhere they went. The turn rate was practically one hundred percent.
Of course, that much attention was not enough to stop the Great Goddess's enthusiasm for shopping.
Especially when someone else was paying the bill. If she did not fleece this fat sheep for all it was worth, it would practically go against her faith.
"Wow! Such a huge piece of coral! It's beautiful! Buy it, buy it!"
"And that, and that too. A fist-sized agate? A half-meter piece of obsidian? I want them all! All of them!"
Samael watched as the woman converted the Zeus's Gold in his pockets into the glittering trash in her arms and kept rolling his eyes.
Starting high and haggling down was tradition. Bargaining was an art of psychology.
But this woman was something else. The moment she saw something, she grabbed it and refused to let go, making it impossible to lower the price.
Add in Ishtar's frankly terrible eye, and more than half the things in her hands were not worth anywhere near what she had paid.
A fat sheep. An absolute fat sheep.
The nearby merchants swarmed over like sharks scenting blood.
After several failed attempts to signal her with his eyes, Samael had no choice but to drag the frenzied shopper away. Her pretty face was flushed, her eyes sparkling, and they fled the enthusiastic salesmen as if escaping a disaster.
"This one goes on the bedside table in the bedroom. This one goes in the display cabinet. And this one would look perfect set into a crown..."
In the dim alley, Ishtar crouched on the ground, clutching her sparkling gems like a hamster counting its food.
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