CHAPTER 12

Ready to Go

“Pardon the intrusion.”

When I walk into the room, Ishtar is seated in a chair and wearing a warm smile as she knits. It would be extremely rude of me to say, but she is the perfect embodiment of a sweet old lady in this moment. She speaks to me with her usual comforting tone.

“Ristarte, how is your Hero’s training with the Divine Blade coming along?”

I first apologize for the special treatment we’re receiving.

“I’m really sorry about all this. Not only has Seiya remained in the spirit world, but he’s also being trained by a god…”

“It isn’t a problem. Of course, this is the first time a Hero has ever requested guidance from the Divine Blade rather than fighting monsters. However, this is still within the range of assistance. It doesn’t violate our divine rule against excessively helping humans. This is simply the first case.”

“O-okay…”

“So is Seiya Ryuuguuin’s training progressing?”

“Um… About that… He actually made Cerceus want to quit, saying he never wanted to see another sword again or something.”

“Hoh-hoh-hoh,” Ishtar laughs.

“Cerceus was a timid man when he was a human, after all.”

“Wait! He used to be a human?!”

There are two types of gods: those who originally came into being in the unified spirit world and humans who did countless good deeds and were reincarnated as gods. I assumed Cerceus was the former, but…

“Yes, Cerceus was once a knight. Of course, those memories disappeared when he became a god. However, things engraved upon one’s soul rarely ever change. Being forced to undergo such harsh training must have awakened this weak side of his. But, well, this ended up being a good learning experience for him.”

Th-the training was supposed to be for Seiya, though…

Incidentally, in the past, I once asked Ishtar if I was the type of goddess who came into being in the unified spirit world or if I used to be human, but she politely dodged the question. “I will tell you when the time is right,” she’d said. But the more I think about it, there isn’t much of a difference between the two types, since former humans don’t remember anything of their past lives anyway. Ever since then, I stopped caring.

Ishtar places her knitting on the table, then looks at me with a gentle gaze.

“Now, Ristarte. Unfortunately, I didn’t call you here today to chat. I am sorry to tell you this in the middle of your Hero’s training, but you need to go to the next town immediately.”

Since I was eager to get this show on the road ages ago, I waste no time answering.

“Okay!”

But then I start to wonder…

“W-wait… Did something happen on Gaeabrande?”

Her expression was grim by the time I noticed.

“Originally, the starting village I chose for the two of you was a relatively safe place. However, the Demon Lord sensed that we had started to take action, and it appears that the next town is already in imminent danger.”

Ishtar has the ability to see slightly into the future. The accuracy of her visions puts my goddess intuition to shame, so whatever she says is happening is happening.

“Although time in the unified spirit world moves more slowly, I need you to embark on your journey right away. Ristarte, can you do that for me?”

“Of course! Right away! I’ll leave right now!”

After departing from Ishtar’s room, I walk determinedly through the spacious sanctuary.

He can complain and grumble as much as he wants, but I’m taking him with me even if it’s the last thing I do!

I shove open the door to the Summoning Chamber.

“Seiya! We’re going to Gaeabrande! …What the—?!”

I struggle to make sense of the horrifying sight. Seiya is mounting Cerceus and raining punches on him.

“Oof! Gwah! Ow! Urgh!”

Cerceus guards his head with his hands while groaning.

“H-hey!! What do you think you’re doing?! Stop that!”

Seiya finally stops after I rush over.

“Seiya! Why are you torturing Cerceus like that?!”

Confronted by my rage, he feigns ignorance.

“What are you talking about? This is part of our training.”

“Oh…is that right…?”

I was taken aback because it looked like Seiya was beating the tar out of him…b-but I guess that was silly of me. He would never do something so mean…

I smile at Cerceus as he lies on his back.

“I was really worried for a second! That sure didn’t look like training.”

“…”

But he doesn’t say a word and keeps his hands over his face.

“…?! Cerceus isn’t saying anything! Were you two really training?!”

“Why are you here?”

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot!”

I get straight to the point.

“Gaeabrande is in trouble! We have to leave right now! I know you’re probably still training, but I’m taking you with me!”

Seiya wipes his sweat with a towel.

“Fine by me. I have nothing left to gain from training with this guy anyway.”

Cerceus sits, burying his face into his knees without saying another word. Ignoring this, Seiya gallantly dons his steel armor, then brushes back his glossy black hair.

“I’m perfectly prepared. Come, the next town awaits.”

“Sure… But… At least give Cerceus a proper apology before we go!”

I cast a spell, creating a gate that will take us right to the outskirts of the town Seimul. With this method, I can instantly travel anywhere in Gaeabrande that Ishtar scouted for me beforehand. Personally, I wish we could have started somewhere a little farther away from town so that we could fight monsters and gain experience points, but we can’t afford to be picky right now.

Seiya and I step into Seimul and immediately witness people rushing out of town in a panic, carrying their household furniture and goods. I grab one of the fleeing men and ask him to tell us what’s going on.

“Krain Castle in the northwest was attacked by an army of undead and got destroyed! It’s only a matter of time before the monsters come to this town! Get out of here while you still can!”

After the man runs off, Seiya turns to me with a question.

“Hey. What are undead?”

“Undead are monsters that are essentially moving corpses. You can think of them as zombies if that helps. By the way, it’s really difficult to stop them with just punches and sword strikes alone.”

“Oh? Then what kind of attacks are effective?”

“Fire magic. The item ‘holy water’ is effective as well.”

“Holy water, you say? Then let’s go to the item shop first.”

According to Ishtar, Seiya’s first ally will apparently be waiting for us at the church in town, so though I’d like to go straight there, it probably would be helpful if we had some holy water to fight the undead.

“Okay, but let’s make it quick.”

We jog until we find the item shop and run inside.

A portly shop owner stands behind the counter of the narrow building.

“Thank goodness someone’s still here.”

“Ha-ha-ha! Of course I’m still here! My business is everything to me, after all!” the owner says with a chuckle.

“You’re here for holy water, right? You’re going to need it for the undead, and you can never have too many. Make sure you stock up, traveler.”

Seiya nods while pulling the pouch full of money out of his pocket.

“I’ll do just that. Give me one thousand.”

The shop owner grimaces.

“…I know I said you can never have too many, but there really is a limit, and I think it’s around a thousand—that’s definitely way too many. For starters, although holy water is kept in small bottles, you’re not going to be able to carry that many. Even if you could, you would be so weighted down that you wouldn’t be able to move. Plus, my shop doesn’t even carry that many to begin with.”

“You don’t have enough? And you call yourself an item shop? Make an order for a thousand. Now.”

“I-I’m so sorry! We’ll take ten! Ten should be plenty!”

I order the holy water on Seiya’s behalf.

“…This isn’t nearly enough.”

Seiya still seems to be in a sour mood even after leaving the store, but I ignore him and hurry to the church. A short distance away from the item shop is a church with massive double doors that creak when I push them open. Down the long red carpet are four people standing before an altar: a priest, a nun, an animated-looking boy dressed in silver armor with dark-brown hair, and a girl clothed in a robe with a curly red side ponytail. After they acknowledge us, the priest looks at me with tears in his eyes.

“How divine! Even in your human form, I can tell! You are a goddess, correct? We have received enlightenment from the gods and have been waiting for you two here!”

He points at the boy and girl.

“These two are descendants of the dragonkin, and they shall journey with you to defeat the Demon Lord!”

The short girl with red hair quickly lowers her head, but the brown-haired boy arrogantly places a hand on his hip.

Descendants of the dragonkin…! These two kids are going to become Seiya’s new allies!

I can’t wait to talk with them… However, my goddess intuition begins violently ringing alarm bells in my head. It’s impossible to describe with the five senses that humans have, but I can sense the squirming of rotting flesh. I can’t tell which one of them it is, but…

I whisper to Seiya.

“Be careful, Seiya. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I’m pretty sure one of those four is undead.”

“Hmph. I’ll handle this.”

“W-wait. Seiya…?”

He snorts, then starts approaching the four at the altar.