6 "Long journey"
On a cloudy day, dark clouds covered the sky, the temperature was damp and cold; weather like this just makes you not want to move, but rather grab a hot chocolate and sleep all day.
And that's exactly what our favorite God is doing right now. At the top of a mountain lies a small village named "Cold Body but Warm Heart" – a somewhat peculiar name, but if you lived here, you'd understand the village's name. In one of the cabins of the village, you can see a man with a divine appearance, sitting comfortably in a chair covered with a blanket, holding a mug of chocolate in his hand.
"Ah... This... This is life! I admit that returning to being mortal was a bit uncomfortable at first, but... Recovering these sensations is pleasant," the God sighed satisfactorily. As a god, things like cold and heat don't affect them; their bodies are always at room temperature. While that's mostly pleasant, sensations like these are something you come to miss, especially when you've had a mortal life.
KNOCK KNOCK!
Suddenly, the door of the home opened, revealing a beautiful elf, covered in a padded coat. Her body was trembling slightly, her nose was red, and her eyes were irritated.
"Hehe, Riveria, you're really bad at handling cold climates. As a level 2 adventurer, you should at least have some adaptability, no?" Kaylon's mouth formed a mocking arc as he teased his dear elf – one of his favorite pastimes is teasing the cute elf.
Riveria frowned, an irritated and helpless expression appearing on her beautiful face. "Kami-Sama, if you used the same energy you use to mock me to search for new members for our family, maybe we wouldn't have gone 3 years without any new members," Riveria, on the other hand, used her sharp words that deeply pierced what little dignity her God had left.
"Hmph, it's not my fault that everyone we've found so far has been trash. Out of 100% of candidates, 60% only come for your appearance, hoping to woo you and have a cute love story, another 30% obviously come for my appearance – shallow girls who only want my body. It's like Artemisia said, women are lustful creatures who only think with their lower parts," the God crossed his arms, trembling, as he remembered the fierce eyes of those women who seemed to want to devour him.
"I highly doubt those were Artemisia's words, and besides, you're not contributing at all to the family. At least use your body to help," Riveria gave her God a look of disdain.
Kaylon looked in complete shock at the cruel madam, then abruptly stood up from the chair and said, "I knew it! Riveria, you're entering your rebellious phase. You have all the symptoms: a girl barely 74 years old who runs away from home becomes aggressive, cold, and cruel. And now what's next, drugs? Becoming an alcoholic? Sneaking out at 6 and coming back at 6 the next day. NO! I won't allow it! Give me back my sweet and tender Riveria! Wahhhhhh!" Kaylon wiped away the invisible tears and snot as he entered an existential crisis.
Riveria's face was completely dark. "You really are a drama queen. And in case you don't remember, you're the one who rescued me from the Alf forest. Hmm, I remember what you promised me... let me see, what were your words?" Riveria paused and cleared her throat before speaking in a heroic tone that promises to deceive any naive girl or boy. "Oh, Riveria, noble elf of the forest, I, Kaylon, Primordial God of Light, promise to make you the captain of my future family, which will dominate the world, kick Zeus and Hera, reach the end of the dungeon, and be glorified in history! WAHAHAH WHAHAHAH WAHAHAHA!" Riveria laughed heroically as she looked mockingly at her God.
If they were normal people or Gods, they would undoubtedly be very embarrassed by now, but we're talking about our God – he's anything but normal. Even before becoming a God, the great Kaylon-Sama had already achieved greatness in the art of shamelessness. And after hundreds of millions of years of sublimation, that art has become divine. Yes, Kaylon-Sama has elevated shamelessness to a divine level.
Seemingly recalling some memories, a proud expression appeared on Kaylon's face as he nodded repeatedly.
Riveria, seeing this, was completely speechless. "Alright, enough jokes. I've packed all our things; it's time to move," Riveria announced and quickly turned to grab their belongings. After all, she had been eager to leave this damn weather behind for a while now.
"I understand, I understand. Let me finish my chocolate, and I'll be right there," Kaylon sat back down to drink his chocolate as his thoughts drifted away.
Three years – that's how long it's been since they left the Alf forest with Riveria. During this time, Riveria, Aina, and Kaylon have been traveling through a large part of Genkai. They've passed through many kingdoms, cities, villages, clans, and historical sites. Undoubtedly, it's been a beautiful journey. The original story of Danmachi didn't talk much about the rest of Genkai apart from Orario and some notable kingdoms, and Kaylon has to say that Genkai is truly huge. Exploring a fantastic world like this after hundreds of millions of years in Tenkai has been truly liberating.
Well, apart from the sudden enlightenment, this journey has been very fruitful for their little family. After 5 months of travel, Kaylon managed to convince Riveria to join his family – that was undoubtedly a happy event. After that, he also tried to bring in Aina, but she refused. Unlike Riveria, she doesn't have talent as an adventurer and has no interest in that kind of life. Therefore, out of consideration for Riveria, 1 year after the start of the journey, Aina stayed in a city near Orario to live the quiet life she desired.
After that, he and Riveria continued traveling, and half a year later, thanks to various monster fights, Riveria managed to advance to level 2. After that, the journey became easier with her strength at level 3 and Riveria at level 2 (with her magic, her combat effectiveness was at level 3).
Now, speaking of his relationship with Riveria, undoubtedly three years have brought them much closer, and their relationship has reached more than just friends, but less than lovers. If we talk about his feelings for Riveria, if before his feelings towards her were of liking, now his feelings for Riveria have reached true fondness, although it still can't be called love – that's not a problem; everything takes time to develop.
About Riveria's feelings towards him, although Kaylon doesn't have the highest EQ, he can still notice that the elf is interested in him, and a small spark of love has ignited in Riveria. However, the elven reserve has made her much more reserved. Kaylon isn't worried about that; as a God, he has all the time in the world, and Riveria, as a High Elf, can easily live for more than a thousand years, so time is on their side, and there's no need to rush anything. (The MC's relationship with Riveria will progress slowly and develop over time).
During this time, many people wanted to join their family, but in the end, they were rejected. But what can they do if they want to be the strongest family in Orario? Naturally, they need the elite among the elite, so normal adventurers aren't welcome. (Sorry, but I don't want to fill the MC's family with random characters; the future members of the family will be the best of the best).
It's a shame that so far Kaylon hasn't found suitable candidates.
"Sighhh... It's a shame that the group of elves who will follow Riveria in the future haven't appeared yet..." Thinking about this, Kaylon couldn't help but sigh. In the future, there will surely be people that Kaylon wants in the family, but it will take time for them to appear, and currently, the closest one would be Alfia, but it's difficult.
First, he would have to cure her without Gea finding out; that woman has a serious OCD when it comes to rules, and that's quite complicated.
"Well, we'll think about that later," Kaylon set aside his cup and got up, walking slowly back into the house. He has several things to fix before Riveria gets angry and kicks him out.
...
"Riveria, where are we going?" Kaylon asked, following behind Riveria, admiring the landscape (hehe).
"I heard there's a city called Laxia to the north; we can stay there for a few weeks. Who knows, maybe we can find a family member," Riveria said, thinking about the fact that she's been the only one in the family for 3 years. Riveria couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated; after all, when her God promised to be the captain of the family, she was quite excited about it. The thought of cultivating her family, watching it grow and strengthen day by day, excited her (her motherly character is coming to light). So the fact that they haven't had members for so long has disappointed her.
Of course, Riveria understands her God's point of view; in her opinion, a true family is one that supports each other. So if they add talentless adventurers, they'll become more of a burden than support, making harmony in the family difficult.
"Sighh, why is it so hard... the Hera and Zeus families have many talented members; why is it so hard to find one?" Riveria sighed in exasperation.
"Hmph, those bastards Zeus and Hera probably took all the treasures of Genkai. I should just go crazy and throw a sun at their heads," when Kaylon thinks about the fact that he missed the golden era of Tenkai, he can't help but want to crush Loki's head.
"Sure, and then what? You'll be expelled from Genkai, and I'll probably be crushed for being in your family," Riveria rolled her eyes at her God's outbursts. They've been traveling for a long time now, so she knows that most of her God's outbursts are just an act. She knows that her God is quite calculating when it comes to thinking about their future and family, so much so that the number of plans he has prepared astonished her. Who in the world prepares a plan in case all of Orario turns against them? By the way, the plan is based on blowing up the city, letting the monsters out of the dungeon, causing chaos, then appearing as heroes and becoming the new owners of Orario.
Well, that also made her realize that the final outcome of her God could be quite low, somewhat terrifying. Oh, fortunately, Orario has me to prevent his madness; otherwise, they might have a new God from the dark faction.
"Don't worry, Riveria, let's be patient; our time will come sooner or later," Kaylon reassured Riveria.
[Hey! Idiot]
"Eh???!" Kaylon, who heard a noise in his head, was stunned. 'What the hell is talking in my brain?'
"Uh, what's wrong, Kami-Sama?" Riveria was confused by her God's sudden outburst.
[Hey! I found it! I found it!]
'Uh, what the hell did you find, no wait, who are you?!'
[Eh?? You forgot me, you sent me to travel through chaos millions of years ago, I've been working so hard, and you say you forgot me?!]
'Wait! I see, I remember; I separated a piece of my consciousness millions of years ago to wander through chaos looking for new worlds. WAIT!? Did you say you found it? Don't tell me you found a new world or something?'
[Yes, I did, you idiot! I found a new world, and you won't believe what it is, hahaha, how exciting!]
'A WORLD?!' Kaylon was stunned; he never thought that this project, which he had even forgotten about, would bear fruit so suddenly. 'Wait! Tell me which one it is!'
[Hahaha, well, look...]
"Kami-Sama, are you okay?" Riveria, who had been watching her God change his expression from shock to excitement to joy and ecstasy, couldn't help but worry about her God.
"Hahaha, Riveria, I found the solution to our problem!!!" Kaylon, who had received the news of the world and its information, suddenly ran over and hugged Riveria as if he had been injected with chicken blood.
"Uh, Kami-sama, you!?" Riveria, who was suddenly hugged, blushed deeply, but she didn't push away her God.
"You'll see, Riveria; what's coming will surely surprise you!"
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And well, that's it for today's episode. As you can see, in the next episode, we'll go to another world to find our future family members
I hope you're enjoying the story, my dear readers. Remember that it's being uploaded both on Wattpad and Webnovel, so if you can support me on both platforms, I'd appreciate it.
