The guard stationed at the crossroads pondered his duty. "Not to denigrate so eminent a person as I hope to be considered, but could not a statue do as much as I? Ah, a chance to test. Hail, Terad!"
The final salutation was no silent thought. Terad answered, and soon the two agreed to terms over a rough likeness of the guard, altered from another comission which depicted an official who had already secured a better post.
Upon delivery, the guard fixed his replacement and left to pursue a separate occupation. The statue watched over the crossroads ably. No crime occurred which would not had the proper guard been present. The sole notable incident involved a traveler from afar. Taking the statue for a local god, he left an offering and prayed to it before continuing his journey.
Incensed, the true crossroads god smashed the statue to splinters. The guard marveled upon seeing it. "I never realized how strenuous this routine could be for a guard of lesser resilience. I am aggrieved, lamented substitute, that you bore the weight of my miscalculation in thinking myself inessential." He proceeded to consign the statue to the care of the proper gods in his prayer. Both duty and piety thus returned to the world.
Finis
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