Chapter 34

I looked at Hermes and made a decision to do something drastic, "Let's cut the games and talk about what you're really up to." I said evenly.

"What are you talking about?" Hermes asked, but his eyes shone with a deeper understanding.

I just gave the god a look in return, causing him to burst into laughter before his face turned serious once more. This time, I could tell that I had gotten through to him. Even his previous 'seriousness' had been a mask, but now he had removed all the masks, showing his true face beneath all the deception. There was still a trace of the god who liked to mess with others and joke around, but his eyes clearly shone with the wisdom and intelligence of something was was so much greater than mortal. Despite his lack of a godly aura, I still felt pressure as the air around me seemed to shrink in fear of the god.

"I can see that your sensing abilities are much greater than I anticipated. You are clearly even more special than I initially thought," He gazed at me as I stood neutrally, "I can see that being honest and upfront will reach you better than decent and hidden trials."

"Yes, I am nearing the limits of my patience with all this beating around the bush," I said, receiving a warning look from Asfi in return.

Despite the fairly amiable tone of the conversation so far, the tension was palpable. While Afis may be fairly unassuming to look at, she could probably snap me in half with her bare hands. While I wouldn't go down easily, she would still be able to overpower me with relatively little difficulty. Despite all my abilities, the gap between a level 2 and a level 4 is too great of a gulf to cross easily. Maybe in the future, but for now, I had to watch my words carefully. I took a small step away from her and raised my hands slightly in surrender, which seemed to be enough for her.

Hermes watched the whole scene passively before he spoke, "Reaching the limits of your patience? I must not have heard you correctly. Do you understand the position you are in? It doesn't matter if you can heal, manipulate lightning, or have some sort of pocket dimension storage. You are still just a small fish in a very big pond. I'll be fair; you are clearly growing at a rate previously thought unimaginable, but you still need time before you are truly strong. I merely want to make you an offer."

I still stood passively, choosing not to respond since everything the god said was correct. I currently have no ground to stand on in this discussion. However, that doesn't mean I am completely powerless, either. There were still options available to me. A plan was already starting to come together in my mind about how to get out of this situation. In the end, I simply nodded for Hermes to continue speaking.

"I'll be quick and blunt then. This world needs a Hero, one to be a figurehead and gather the people against the One-Eyed Black Dragon. I want you to be that Hero. Even if you don't believe yourself to be one, that can be easily fixed over time." Hermes said, pretty much laying the basics of his plan out to me.

"This will take years," I said simply.

Hermes strode forward and put his face close to mine so that we were looking each other dead in the eyes, close enough that our noses almost touched, "I am willing to wait as long as it takes either for me to find a hero or forge them from dust myself! I promise you that!" he said intensely before pulling away.

I took a moment to consider. I didn't consider whether to become his hero or not. I was definitely not going to do that. No, I considered what best to say to get him off my path while convincing him to wait long enough for Bell. There would also be the fact that I would be too strong for him to mess with in the future. Eventually, I opened my mouth and replied.

"You are right about two things," I said, holding up two fingers, "I don't think I am that hero, and I am weak right now. Since you are willing to wait as long as it takes, why don't you wait a few years longer? That will give me time to get stronger while you can keep an eye out for a better Hero candidate while waiting."

"Why wait when you will do now?" The god asked, seeming aware of what I was trying to do.

"You will still need to wait for me to get stronger. Why not hedge your bets and keep an eye out for three years instead of relying only on me?" I asked simply.

"That sounds good and all, but what if no new hero candidate comes along?" Hermes asked, fixing his friendly mask back on as some people approached us.

"Then, after three years, I promise to be the hero you are looking for. I swear it on my life!" I said with as much conviction as I could muster.

Hermes considered for a moment before turning to meet the visitors while he spoke his judgment, "Fine, but three years is the maximum time I will allow you."

With Hermes's attention off me, I found that I was able to breathe a bit easier. I also felt better now that I had fully shirked the responsibility of becoming a hero off onto Bell. It would be around two years until he came to Orario, but that was good enough for me. I was pretty much off the hook from now on. I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatched, but I felt more confident in my continued freedom living as my own person and not as somebody's puppet who had to follow their will.

I was sure that wasn't the last of Hermes, but with our agreement in place, I wasn't worried. After all, two years was plenty of time for me to reach higher than the bounds of a level 4. Once I become stronger than the members of his familia, then there is very little that Hermes can do to me directly. However, it would never need to come to that as long as Bell arrives on time and roughly performs similar actions to those in the main timeline. Of course, there would be a bit of a ripple in the events of the future due to my arrival, but I would guide Bell from the shadows slightly if I needed to since I would be the one inconvenienced if he failed.

"You're just going to put everything off onto this boy, Bell?" Regulus asked suddenly.

"He can handle it. Plus, it's practically his destiny!" I said truthfully as I made my way away from Hermes and Asfi.

As far as I was concerned, Bell is the chosen one of this story. He can face his trials and tribulations while I am off doing my own stuff. By the time he comes to Orario, I hopefully will already be well-established and powerful enough to ignore most canon events while I focus on what is important to me. For now, that meant getting home to talk with Fortuna before taking care of the debt problem so that we could expand the familia. Then, the Xenos and leveling up came next once the familia was taken care of by Fortuna and me.

"Hmm," Regulus hummed in thought before going silent once more.

It wasn't long before I made it back and started up the stairs of Babel to reach the apartment to discuss recruiting with Fortuna as well as drop off the money I earned.

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A slightly shorter chapter than usual