A ship wrought of gold and emerald carved through the sky above Uruk, sweeping over the residential district in one swift, effortless pass.
By the time it reached the area beyond the city, Gilgamesh, seated aboard that royal vessel, saw that a crowd had already gathered at the gate, hesitating and unwilling to step outside.
What held them back was a crater that looked terrifying from any angle.
The scorched rock still radiated heat, and both its length and width far exceeded anything the residents could picture when they heard the word “firepower.”
Then again, perhaps that was not entirely fair. Before this, they had somehow managed to create an ancient nuclear warhead.
Though they had probably never tested just how horrifying that thing really was.
In any case, they were now standing at the gate, staring at the crater in fear and uncertainty, unable to decide whether they ought to go out at all.
Then they spotted the golden ship in the sky, and instantly felt at ease.
So they simply chose to do nothing.
Gilgamesh looked down at them, then shook his head, speechless.
He pulled an ancient megaphone from the Gate of Babylon and shouted at the residents below.
“You mongrels, move! Use another gate and get out there! Stop wasting time here! If today’s work goes unfinished, I’ll punish every last one of you!”
The moment they heard the anger in Gilgamesh’s voice—and that familiar foul mouth—some inexplicable weight in their hearts finally lifted.
“Yes, my king!”
With one perfectly unified shout and the speed of a modern army, they promptly shut the gate and prepared to head out by another route.
“King Gilgamesh is full of energy today. So cool~”
“Yeah, yeah. For a moment there, I honestly thought something might be wrong with him. Looks like the king’s doing just fine.”
“Yes! That’s the spirit!”
“That familiar tone, that familiar trash talk. I can finally relax~”
“That abuse alone earns the king my vote!”
“I wish my wife would stop talking in riddles already.”
“Man, I feel young again.”
“I was just about to head home….”
“Now that’s got soul!”
…
Watching them head back into the city, Gilgamesh stopped bothering with appearances, flew straight to the center of the crater, and jumped down from Vimana.
“Come on, up already, you troublesome goddess. It’s not as if I was actually trying to kill you.”
He landed in a spray of soot-laced dust, making Ishtar—who had only just managed to sit up—start coughing all over again.
“You golden show-off—cough, cough—I’m a goddess! You never used to treat me like this!”
“Yes, I know.”
Gilgamesh answered as though it were only natural.
“That is precisely why I hit you that hard.”
“Damn you—cough, cough…”
With Gilgamesh steadying her, she finally managed to get back to her feet.
“You’re obviously the biggest mongrel among humans, so what gives you the right to call me a mongrel? Hm?!”
“Hah?!”
Gilgamesh put on an exaggerated expression.
“So you still haven’t grasped what’s happened to your body.”
A golden ripple spread across the ground, and a mirror rose up, showing the goddess her current reflection.
Her eyes widened by degrees, and she clutched the mirror tightly.
That obnoxious golden show-off’s voice drifted in from beside her.
“Out of respect for prior acquaintance, I was gracious enough to let you see it.”
Gilgamesh looked at the broad swaths of black spreading through the golden hair on Ishtar’s head—the hair that symbolized her divinity—and could not help frowning.
“Your Divinity has weakened badly.”
Staring at herself in the mirror, Ishtar ground her teeth.
“What kind of joke is this?! I’m a goddess! This is the greatest humiliation!”
At that moment, she barely even cared that Gilgamesh had offended her.
“Phew…”
She stared into the mirror a while longer and drew in a deep breath.
“Hoo…”
“You’ve calmed down. Not quite as pathetic as I took you for, goddess.”
His voice carried unmistakable amusement.
“Hmph!”
The goddess of Venus let out a cold snort.
“You’re not as spineless as I thought either, golden show-off. The moment we met today, you attacked without a second thought. Where did all that confidence come from?”
“Must I explain that to you? No… rather than worrying about me, should you not first consider which of us is in the more miserable state?”
“Honestly…”
The goddess of Venus admitted defeat on that point herself.
“When I met you before, you were never this rough… forget it.”
She bit down hard, hatred written plainly across her face.
“You have to help me! I’ve run into trouble.”
“You mean your Divinity weakening?”
Gilgamesh pulled her up onto Vimana.
“No… not that, though that matters too.”
After boarding Vimana, she pointed at the sky.
“The divine realm has been sealed off. I can’t go back.”
Gilgamesh followed her gaze and stared at the place she indicated.
As a demigod, he could sense a kind of rejection there, enough to confirm Ishtar’s words.
The divine realm truly had been closed.
“So… you were the only one I could come to.”
Ishtar looked at Gilgamesh, the king of the city she protected as its patron deity.
“Please gather the priests of Uruk and invoke the descent of Shamash, the sun god.”
At that point, she paused, then said something that genuinely took Gilgamesh by surprise.
“Please. You’re the only one I can rely on.”
…
In the truest sense, Gilgamesh and Ishtar’s acquaintance began on a rainy night.
At the time, Gilgamesh had only just arrived in this world and was in a state of inexplicable agitation.
On a whim, Ishtar had gone to the Underworld, only to miss the person she wanted to see, and she too had been left in an irritable mood.
Riding her divine boat with its radiance deliberately concealed, she looked down on her city from the sky.
No one noticed her, as though she were not a goddess worthy of admiration.
Then she felt someone’s gaze.
She looked back and found Gilgamesh.
For reasons even she did not understand, she guided her divine boat down and came to stand before the one who had been watching her, simply looking at him in return.
And so the two of them stood there, facing one another and doing absolutely nothing, until the rain finally stopped.
After that, Gilgamesh received her without any fuss. His manner—neither servile nor overbearing—and his incomparable elegance stirred Ishtar’s curiosity.
Later, he even taught her a new pastime that had recently spread through Uruk, one called playing cards.
That too gave her a fresh new feeling. Whether she won or lost, it still felt good—something she had never imagined before.
Without either of them realizing it, their relationship seemed to have changed.
Up to that point, every warrior she had ever seen had been known for strength and valor, and this era judged beauty and ugliness by those same standards.
She had never seen anyone so elegant, nor had even the gods famed for their wisdom ever made her feel this way.
For a moment, she had even thought of pursuing him.
But she also found comfort in this unfamiliar feeling and, for some reason, did not want to break it.
In truth, this was only because Gilgamesh had only just come from the modern world and had not yet shed his old habits.
Still, whether she was merely fascinated by this strange relationship or had truly taken an interest in Gilgamesh, one way or another—she and Gilgamesh had formed a certain connection…
T/N: hair is turning brown…? omgggg ishtar rin incoming also ishtar doesnt look like rin here because its her own actual body
This is a fan translation of 我要往王之财宝里再加点东西 by 海绵宝宝宝宝 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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