CHAPTER 40

Things Left Unsaid

The next morning, I wake up in my bed, only to discover my entire body is sore. I briefly wonder why, but…oh yeah. I scrubbed the life out of my body yesterday when I took a bath. After lavishing myself with perfume, I put on my white dress that I just washed.

All right! Perfect! Nobody’s going to tell me I smell sour now!

I open the door and start walking down the sanctuary’s corridor until I run into Valkyrie with her canvas and paintbrush. When I ask her about it, she says she’s in the middle of her break and is going to paint—paint complete and utter garbage, I might add.

“So, Valkyrie, how is Seiya doing?”

“…What are you smiling about?”

Huh?! I’m smiling? B-but, I mean, why wouldn’t I be? Usually, people tell Seiya that something is impossible for a human to do, yet he always masters it by the next day! Valkyrie replies with a quick “hmph.”

“It’s just like you thought. He’s one of a kind. He’s already learned a few of my techniques.”

“I knew it! Heh!”

I grin from ear to ear until…

“What are you grinning about?!”

Bang! Valkyrie hits me on the head!

“O-ouch! But come on…! Admit it! He’s a prodigy! Am I right?!”

“Not even getting hit discourages you, huh?”

She gives a snort of disgust, then quietly says:

“He does have a natural gift, but it will take more than that to learn my destruction techniques. Listen, Ristarte…”

Valkyrie makes a stern face before uttering:

“It’s a problem of determination.”

“Determination?”

I wasn’t expecting her to say that. “Determination”? Seiya’s determination? What does that mean?

“You could learn from him.”

“Ah?!”

A jolt of pain suddenly shoots through my glutes. After kicking me in the butt, Valkyrie heads toward the rooftop.

Can everyone please stop literally kicking my ass?! A-anyway, it looks like everything’s going okay with Seiya as usual.

I head over to Aria’s room after that. As I quietly open the door, I see Mash and Elulu sitting side by side while meditating.

Noticing me, Aria gently claps to get their attention and smiles.

“How about we take a short break?”

While Aria is preparing tea, I ask Elulu and Mash how their training is going.

“Hmm… It’s hard to describe, but I feel like I am on the verge of unlocking all the power in my body…”

“Me, too! I’m feeling good about this!”

They’re exuberant. It looks like the training’s paying off.

“I can’t wait to back up Seiya in battle!”

Elulu suddenly puts on an innocent smile. Mash nods in agreement as well.

“Same here! Even if it only happens once, I want to do something to help Master Seiya out!”

After chatting for a while over the tea Aria made, I start feeling slightly uncomfortable and leave.

…Mash and Elulu are really training hard.

…And Seiya is searching for a way to defeat the Demon Lord without relying on the holy sword or legendary armor.

A feeling similar to frustration begins to arise within my heart.

After returning to my room, I think to myself for a while…then finally make up my mind.

All right, that’s it! I’ve made my decision! I can’t sit around and do nothing while they’re all working so hard! I’m going to do it!

Three days have gone by since we came to the spirit world. Today, Mash and Elulu are smiling, no, beaming with joy in Aria’s room.

“Hmm? Did something good happen?”

Aria says with a note of joy in her voice, “Rista, their training is complete.”

“What?! Do you mean…?!”

“Yes. Mash can completely turn into a dragon now, while Elulu has mastered Quick, a new support spell.”

“Good job, guys!”

I shower them with praise as they blush. However, Aria directs her gaze to them with a somewhat serious look on her face.

“Elulu, Haste’s advanced version, Quick, is a high-level move that still exceeds your level, so you will only be able to use it once a day. You must use it wisely!”

“I will! Thanks, Aria!”

“Mash, the same goes for you, too. You were able to unlock a seal that normally takes years to break. Every time you transform into a dragon, you will be unable to use the move again for a few hours.”

“All right, got it!”

At any rate, Mash and Elulu have improved so much quicker than I thought! All that’s left is Seiya, but I’m sure he’s ready!

Before I even realize it, Aria is staring at me with a worried look in her eyes.

“Hey, Rista? According to what Adenela told me…Seiya and Valkyrie have been confined in her room together for days.”

“Hmm? But isn’t that normal?”

“It could be, but…I have no idea what Valkyrie could be thinking. You should probably go check up on him. I know it’s unlikely, but we wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened with Mitis.”

“Ahhh! Are you saying that Valkyrie might try to have her way with Seiya?! Th-that’s impos—”

That’s totally possible!

Suddenly stricken with worry, I fly out of Aria’s room.

“R-Rista, wait!”

“Ristie!”

Elulu and Mash chase after me.

I make a mad dash to Valkyrie’s room.

“Sorry! I’m coming in!”

I vigorously force the door open without even knocking…

“!!”

…and witness something truly unbelievable.

In the center of the spacious, modest room is a double bed containing Seiya and Valkyrie, nude in each other’s arms.

“Wh-wh-wh-what do you two think you’re doiiiiiing?!”

I scream. However, they simply continue staring into one another’s eyes, only a hairbreadth apart, as if I don’t even exist. With burning crimson cheeks, she affectionately whispers:

“I’ve never felt this way before.”

Seiya passionately gazes back at her.

“Me neither.”

I rush over, interrupting their pillow talk before forcefully peeling Seiya off Valkyrie.

“Rista, what are you doing?”

“That’s what I should be asking you! And here I thought you were training hard this whole time! J-just hurry up and put on your underpants!”

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

“What part of this is training?! At what point did I tell you to train up your skills in bed?!”

I lean in even closer to Seiya so that Valkyrie can’t hear.

“D-did she force you to do this like Mitis tried to? She did, didn’t she?! Oh, Seiya!”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s consensual.”

“I-i-it’s what?! Does that mean you and Valkyrie are…?!”

My mouth is moving, but no words come out. I look back at Valkyrie. She appears to be in a daze with her gently sloping breasts still out.

“Oh… Look what…I’ve done…”

“So you admit it! You did do it!”

I—I can’t believe they did it! They’ve crossed the line! Nothing is more prohibited than sexual acts between goddesses and humans! If Ishtar finds out…!

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell Ishtar myself. She won’t complain if I apologize.”

Well, we would at least be able to avoid the worst-case scenario—Seiya being sent back—if she did that. But that’s not the issue here.

With a roar of anger, I tell off the second-highest-ranking goddess in all the spirit world.

“What were you thinking?!”

“Don’t blame me. He’s a good man. I didn’t have any other choice.”

I almost faint when I hear how straightforward she is with her feelings.

“B-but goddesses and humans mustn’t engage in sexual relationships! It’s prohibited!”

“Huh? The hell are you talkin’ about? …Tch. This is why you’ll always be a third-rate goddess.”

“D-did you just call me…a third-rate goddess…?”

I finally snap.

“A filthy slut of a goddess such as yourself has no right to speak to me like that!”

“Ristarte! You little…!”

She grabs my lapels, but I don’t back down.

“I-I’m doing my best, too, you know! I mean, look! I put a lot of work into preparing this for Seiya today!”

I show her a small bundle wrapped in cloth that I was planning on giving Seiya. Valkyrie takes it out of my hands with a quizzical stare before opening it over the palm of her hand.

“…What the hell is this? A straw figure…? Nah, it looks like you wove it with some sort of golden thread…”

Valkyrie’s expression slowly changes as she stares hard at the doll.

“W-wait! Ristarte…! Don’t tell me this is made out of…!”

“Yep! I plucked a lot of hair off my head and made it! I call it the Ristarte Hair Doll!”

“…?! I don’t care what you call it! Have you lost your mind?! How can you just give someone something like this with a straight face?!”

Valkyrie throws the Ristarte Hair Doll at me.

“I’m not playing around! Pulling out all these hairs really hurt, but I did it for Seiya!”

“Wh-what kind of deranged goddess are you?!”

“This isn’t like that! This is really going to come in handy!”

The way Valkyrie looks at me changes.

“I never knew Ristarte was this sick in the head… I—I should probably stop squeezing her tits…”

They were the eyes one has when regarding a degenerate with disgust. Then from behind me:

“R-Rista, are you being serious…?”

“Ristie… I mean… This is just… You know?”

Mash and Elulu sound as if they are slowly drawing away from me.

Wh-why is everyone acting like this?! I was just trying to make synthesis more convenient for him…!

I gaze once more at the present in my hand.

Seiya is trying to master techniques of destruction to defeat the Demon Lord… Elulu and Mash both desperately wish to help with whatever they can as well… That’s why I thought I should try to do something…

That’s when my brain, which is stuck in a state of distress, suddenly returns to normal.

Ah?! What is this?! A doll made out of my hair?! Am I an idiot?! What was I thinking?! I must have gone mad!

As I regain my senses, I am instantly overwhelmed by embarrassment, grief, and despair.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

I’m so embarrassed, sad, and in pain that I begin to bawl my eyes out.

“Seiyaaaaaaaaa!”

Tears and snot dribble about as I try to hug the Hero for emotional support, but Seiya places a hand around my forehead and stops me.

“Quit it. That’s disgusting. Get away from me. Disgusting.”

He calls me disgusting twice, causing me to wail and cry even more.

“Noooooo! Seiyaaaaaa, don’t hate meeeeeeeee!”

“Then stop crying. You’re being worse than Rosalie right now.”

Not wanting to be worse than the barking dog princess, I try to force myself to stop crying, but the tears just won’t stop running down my cheeks. I am unable to hold back the feelings that pour out with the tears.

“But…! But…! This is your fault, Seiya! You’re the one who had sex with Valkyrie!”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then why were you embracing each other while naked in bed?!”

“I told you, I was training.”

Seiya looks like he’s being serious, but it sounds like nothing more than a pathetic excuse to me.

“Rista, for argument’s sake, let’s imagine that your outlandish hypothesis is true. Why are you crying so much?”

I—I don’t know! Why am I this sad? Why am I this frustrated? It doesn’t matter how much I like him because he’s a human and I’m a goddess. But… But…

For some reason I feel like I’ve been cheated on!

I persist.

“You two really didn’t do it? You promise?”

Seiya lets out a deep sigh.

“How many times do I have to say it?”

“Really? Do you really promise? Swear to God?”

“You’re God, you idiot.”

After a few moments of silence…

“All right. It’s hard to believe, but…I believe you.”

I then start to wipe my tears away with the sleeve of my dress. Seiya scratches his head in a fed-up manner, then takes the Ristarte Hair Doll out of my hands.

“Put it in your item bag.”

He passes it to Mash.

“Ack?! Ah, ah, ah…!”

Mash juggles it back and forth between hands as if he were holding something hot.

“E-Elulu! Here, you take it!”

“E-ew! No way! Seiya told you to take it! There is no way I’m touching that thing!”

Watching their exchange almost makes me want to cry again, but Seiya sternly tells Mash:

“Mash, you hold on to it.”

“Er…! F-fine…!”

And just like that, Mash reluctantly tucks the doll away in the item bag.

“So…are you two finished with training as well?”

“Y-yeah! You, too, Master Seiya?”

“Yeah.”

After firmly nodding, Seiya looks over at Valkyrie.

“Thanks for the training, Valkyrie.”

“Seiya…stop by again sometime, okay?”

“I will.”

They give each other meaningful stares after that.

“S-Seiya, come on! Let’s go! The last general is getting ready to attack the capital!”

I strongly push Seiya’s back because I want to get out of here as soon as possible.

“Great Goddess Ishtar gave us permission to teleport ourselves directly to the imperial capital! We have to hurry! The survival of Gaeabrande is being threatened as we speak!”

After finally forcing him out of the room, I immediately create a gate to Gaeabrande. Seiya reluctantly and restlessly looks around for a while, but he brushes his shiny black hair back before the gate with his fingers as if he has made up his mind.

“All right… Let’s go.”

Seiya opens the door and crosses through the gate. While I gaze at his large back, I get the tiny sense that something is off. However, I got so worked up over what happened with Valkyrie that I don’t even let it get to me. I simply think to myself, Oh, I guess he just forgot.

…Because, for the first time, Seiya doesn’t say he is “perfectly prepared” after training.