"Irrigation channel maintenance, legal system reform, forestation plan… why is there so much to do?"
"Such is the work of a king."
"I understand the king presiding over trials, but do I really have to preside over a case about someone caught stealing leftover dates from yesterday?"
He was hungry, so he probably thought he could have one.
I had nothing to say to either the accuser or the accused.
Was this even worth a trial in the first place? In modern times, they wouldn't even accept the complaint.
"That is why we must reform the system. We will modernize the customary rules of the local communities to fit Uruk."
"That's going to take an incredible amount of time."
"That will depend on how hard you work, will it not?"
I threw the clay tablet on the floor.
The tablet, hitting the ground with a thud, satisfyingly split in half.
Ah, that feels good.
Gilgamesh let out a deep sigh.
"Ah. Siduri will scold me if she finds out. The laborers worked so hard to make that...."
"...This is a secret from Siduri."
Siduri the Priestess is quite terrifying.
She's the same age as us, but she has that particular aura that managers exude.
To put it crudely, she was a master nagger. But since she was never wrong, you couldn't argue and just had to endure it.
Getting scolded by the priestess was something I'd rather avoid.
As I was about to pick up the fragments of the broken clay tablet to throw them away, I was struck by a sudden realization.
Why am I working for a city-state I have no connection to?
Do I really have to do menial tasks like cleaning up fragments while worrying about being nagged by the priestess?
"I'm not doing it. No, I can't."
"If I were you, I would use that time to work. As I am, in fact, doing."
"The only reason I'm working is because of you!"
Even as I pointed my finger and fumed, Gilgamesh remained serene.
There she goes again. She just looked at me with those pitiful eyes.
"How is not knowing who Gilgamesh is a crime! Do you even know the name of the florist who lives next door to me?"
"If you are referring to Shullu, then yes, I know him. The man with the impressive beard, correct?"
She knew.
She got it right in one go, leaving me with no retort.
"Is it so strange for me to remember the names of my own people?"
"...Isn't it normal not to know?"
Gilgamesh giggled. It was a girlish laugh.
"Isn't it about time you accepted it? That I am not someone who falls into the category of 'normal'."
"Saying that in the form of a little girl isn't very convincing."
"You're not exactly a normal person either, are you? Your appearance may be young, but your soul is old."
"Don't call me old!"
I'm still fresh and green.
With a physical age of about eight, I'm pure and innoce— well, maybe not.
At the very least, I want to live this life comfortably.
My goal is a happy life free from responsibility and sorrow.
But what about now?
Day after day, I'm stuck in this ziggurat, handling all of Uruk's affairs.
I'm even helping with the work that should originally be done by the king and the priestess. There's no need for it!
There are long-term projects spanning decades, and including the trivial chores, I haven't slept more than three hours a day.
Worse, the crazed king in front of me doesn't even sleep for an hour.
It was a daily routine for me to wake up from my sleep to find the blanket that she had been using draped over me.
"Damn it. I'm just repeating a life that's completely detached from my goals."
Two years have passed since I started working for the crime of not knowing the king's name.
I hate myself for slowly getting used to this absurdity.
"Why do you say it is detached from your goals? Look beyond the ziggurat."
Where Gilgamesh pointed, there was a market.
A vibrant market. The exchange of goods was accompanied by a ceaseless flow of voices, and smiles never left their faces.
The sound of arguments could be heard from time to time, but they were a tiny fraction.
"Do you not see the smiles of the people? Do you not hear the voices praising us?"
"That's them being happy, not me."
"I am happy. I wish you could feel the same emotion as I do."
"That will never happen."
Because my happiness, as a Beast, is not like that.
Seeing people's smiles might lift my spirits, but it can't make me happy for a lifetime.
I'm a more personal sort of being.
I'm a selfish person who needs someone to love and wants to be loved.
My happiness and the happiness of my partner are more important than the happiness of all.
"I'm helping you because I have nowhere else to go. Not because I'm submitting to your ridiculous judgment."
"How insolent. Truly."
A spear fell vertically from the ceiling.
It landed right where I had been sitting. If I hadn't moved, I would have been skewered.
The culprit, of course, was Gilgamesh.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Insolence towards the king must be paid for with one's life. Since you survived, I will let it slide this once."
And with that, she went back to her work as if nothing had happened.
"What a lunatic."
"For that latest act of insolence, I will let you off with an additional 100 tasks. My, my. My generosity will be the end of me."
"Generosity? Generosity?"
"I may have spent more years not studying than studying, but I don't think I'm mistaken about the meaning of the word 'generosity'."
"This time, I will launch three spears. I hope you will work quietly. You are quite competent, so it would be a waste to kill you."
She says such terrifying things so casually.
But while it might have worked on me in the first year, it doesn't scare me now.
It was scary the first couple of times, but now I'm at the level where I can just scoff and ignore it.
"Go ahead and try. I've recovered a lot of my strength now, so I'm confident I can dodge them all."
"Pfft. Do you know how cute that bravado you occasionally show is?"
I was getting a little annoyed and was about to start something, but just then, the door opened and Siduri walked in.
With 100 clay tablets stacked on each of her shoulders.
It was a jaw-dropping sight.
It was a mystery how she could carry 200 clay tablets with that body, and I felt like I was going to lose my mind when I remembered that all that work was mine.
"Do not worry. I said 100, so half of it is my share."
You're the one who created those 100 tasks.
I shrugged and said sarcastically.
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty. Should I bow?"
"That would be good. Prostrate yourself at once."
I gave the smug Gilgamesh the finger once more.
Gilgamesh silently raised her hand. Golden ripples filled the room.
For ten minutes, we enjoyed a thrilling game of dodgeball. I only dodged.
"That's enough!"
After Siduri's enraged roar.
We sat down quietly and took care of the overdue work.
Siduri is terrifying.
Time passed in a blur.
One day, Gilgamesh called for me.
"What is it?"
"There is something I need you to do."
Gilgamesh explained with a troubled expression.
"The goddess Ishtar has been pestering me to marry her, so I told her to wait until she comes of age, but she refuses, you see? I need someone to reason with her."
"The goddess Ishtar? Ishtar was a goddess? Not a thug?"
Gilgamesh burst out laughing, seemingly unable to process my words.
Her clutching her stomach and laughing was a party in itself.
After laughing for a long time, Gilgamesh calmed her trembling shoulders and composed her expression. It wasn't very successful.
I became a little curious about something.
"Is it possible for a woman to marry a woman? Aren't the gods a bit conservative?"
"It matters not, for they are gods. She simply finds me charming and wishes to possess me."
Gilgamesh's self-confidence was, needless to say, off the charts.
"But you want me to go negotiate with a goddess? I don't think that thug of a woman will let me live."
"She will not kill you, for you are my proxy. Probably."
My suspicion grew as to whether I could trust her.
Hmm. This seems like the perfect time to escape.
I hardened my resolve and made a plan. But no matter what I did, the only future I saw was one where I returned to Uruk.
Work, intuition. Why aren't you working at a time like this?
"Well then, I wish you a safe journey. If you take too long, Siduri and I will be very sad."
"...Huh?"
I thought she would pull out some kind of tracking treasure, but she sent me off empty-handed.
No restraints whatsoever?
I'm free…?
"You have a strange expression on your face. In any case, hurry back."
"Huh? I'm really leaving just like this?"
"Do you not wish to?"
"No. I'll go."
I felt as if I could soar into the sky.
When the priests coming and going asked why I looked so happy, I answered with a smile.
"Because I'm free now."
Seeing as my intuition was quiet, I really was free.
Ishtar? Not my problem.
I'm free!