What Do You Mean There Are Other Transmigrators In My Harem Fantasy?

How did we end up here?

I cleared my throat, “Ahem… Sorry but… What do you mean?”

Ira leaned closer with a determined expression on her face, “Exactly what it means, Aster! Let me join your party!”

Tsara also leaned closer, “Same for me, as well, Lady Nilm! Let me accompany you wherever you might want to go!”

“Can I ask… Why?”

Ira held my hands even closer to her, “Because you are more interesting than I thought! I want to see what you do with my own eyes!”

Tsara also did the same thing with my other hand, “Why would I not be interested in the Apostle of my Goddess? I wish to be a part of your journey!”

I pulled back my hand from them, “Ok first of all… I do have other people in my party so it’s also up to them if they accept you or not. Second of all… I just want to make this clear but I am not an apostle, ok?”

Tsara tilted her head, “You’re not? But you are able to stand in the physical presence of the Gods, aren’t you?”

“Do you need to be an apostle to do that?”

“Mmm… I’m not actually sure… There’s practically no precedence to this… And for you to be able to stand in the presence of our Great Goddess Srii and remain alive… That is already something unheard of.”

“Eh? But I’m sure there are other people that could do that as well? I mean sure… Her death aura or whatever would make people faint but… They still remain alive right?”

I was, of course, talking about Minnera since she did technically meet her though she did pass out but that’s beside the point.

Tsara blinked at me, “You know of others who have stood before the Great Goddess Srii and survived?”

“Er… I guess?”

“That… Can’t be… Who were they? Are they also an Apostle?”

“They were a Comissar if that helps?”

Tsara nodded, “Ah, then that makes sense… They wouldn’t die from meeting the Great Goddess Srii but they do have problems standing in her presence.”

“Err…. Are you saying that normal people would just die in her presence?” I asked.

“That’s what would normally happen, yes.”

Ira scoffed, “See? This is more reason to take down the Gods and replace them. What kind of ’great god’ is she if her followers would just die in her presence? I’m pretty sure if she was such a ’great god’, the people who worship her should be able to meet her safely instead of worrying about dying!”

Tsara immediately swivelled to scowl at Ira, “How dare you?! Our Great Goddess Srii’s domain is death! One of the single universal truths of existence! In order to preserve that truth, she has to personify it and it follows her as her domain! It is literally part of her nature! You would not fault a poisonous animal for killing you with its poison if you were to touch them, would you?”

“Hahahaha! Only people like you would equate your so called Goddess to a poisonous being and think that it’s a win! If it was me, I could embody all of them and make sure the World still continues to function without needing to worry about such restrictions!”

“You do not even know the first thing about being a Goddess and you are already here running your mouth? Do you even have any self awareness?”

“I have enough self awareness to know oppression when I see one. They are clearly using this to make sure all of the people in this World will forever live under their shadows and never rise above them. If you were to obtain power that could rival the Gods, they would not hesitate to strike you down.”

I raised my hand right then, “Umm… Sorry to break it to you… But I have talked to the gods and they basically told me that they don’t really care about that… They are content as being observers and nothing more…”

Ira turned to me and let out a chuckle, “Ahaha~ This is why you are so interesting, Aster~ You don’t even realise that you are being played? I already know that they are just saying what you want to hear because I now know that they just want to get in your pants. They will tell any lie just to get you to let down your guard around them so that they can have what is in between your legs. If anyone else were to ask them the same questions you asked, they would get a completely different answer.”

I frowned, “I don’t think they were lying to me though…”

“If that was really what they believed, Aster… Tell me why have they not allowed this World to advance in technology for the past hundreds of years? The tech level of this World has remained stagnant for several decades and yet we do not see any advancements being made! It is only after Off-Worlders have arrived here did anyone start to innovate and bring about a change! What other reasons could it be aside from the fact that they are suppressing this World?!”

Tsara clucked her tongue at Ira, “Tch. As expected of someone who have chosen not to understand the place that they are living in. You never researched the history and the culture and just used your preexisting prejudices to impose your standards on the place you are visiting and demand that things conform and change to fit your standards.”

Ira turned to her and narrowed her eyes, “Why don’t you tell me what I’ve said that is not true? Everything that I have said so far is all facts. Go ahead, I’m waiting.”

Tsara pointed a finger at her, “I can throw the same argument back at you. You never came from a World with magic. That’s why you don’t understand how we are able to live with magic and adapt to it because you have never needed to understand how to live with it. You are still using the preconception of a society that has advanced through the absence of magic instead of considering how it might have advanced with the presence of magic.”

“And if that’s the case, why is it a bad thing that I am trying to bring about change that would benefit the World? The Gods are clearly standing against such a notion since there are agents of theirs that are working to stop us. Heck, don’t think I don’t know this Goddess that you serve even put out a hit on Off-Worlders herself! You’re going to tell me that isn’t them trying to sabotage our efforts?”

“Are you going to ignore the fact that there are people in your camp who have flaunted their status as beings from another World thinking that they own the place and act on those delusions? What should we do with them? Should we accommodate their delusions? Is that what you are suggesting? Our Gods clearly saw that possibility and gave a way to deal with that before it became a problem. Sure, it might result in some collateral damages where uninvolved Off-Worlders get caught up in this as well. But if it’s to maintain the balance and continued existence of this World, it is worth it.”

“Oh please. Your answer is to start this little cult hidden underground to hunt Off-Worlders like us? Do you even know where you are standing right now?”

“This coming from the same person who started their own little cult to fight against the Gods? Why don’t you also look at yourself first?”

“Indeed, because we are clearly being oppressed so we should be fighting against it.”

“Why don’t you name one thing that the locals of this World are able to do but you Off-Worlders are not allowed to do? If you really are oppressed, you should be able to name something, right?”

“That’s simple. Are you even aware why there’s even a label of ’Off-Worlders’ in the first place? The Gods had placed that onto us so that we can be more easily identified and dealt with if they needed us to be gone. Every single Off-Worlder who has been trying to reach a position of power has been eliminated. Did you know that? No Off-Worlder is allowed to reach a position where they can influence the World at large because they would be identified and eliminated.”

Tsara scoffed, “That is not true, you have no proof of that, do you?”

Unexpectedly, Ira waved her hand in the air and several pieces of paper that looked like wanted posters appeared in the air, showing pictures of different people and a brief line of words below them.

Some of it were things like ’Off-Worlder tried to run for the position of city lord, found dead in an alley with no witnesses and no external injuries.’, ’Off-Worlder who tried to join the Trasif ruling council, was suddenly mauled my monsters in a place where no monsters should have appeared in.’, ’Off-Worlder who was on their way of becoming a Guild branch leader, was kidnapped by bandits while still inside the city and found dead in the wilds a few weeks later.’

Damn… Does Ira actually have a point?