Chapter 12: Ready

(note, this isn't mine, it's for offline reading purposes, and yes, copy and paste)

「Excuse me. 」

When I entered the room, I saw Great G.o.ddess Isister standing in a wooden chair, gently knitting and smiling gracefully. She looked like a "kind grandmother", but I didn't dare to say that rude thing to her.

Isister spoke with her usual serene voice.

「Listarte. How is the training going between the swordsman G.o.d and your hero? 」

First of all, I apologized to Isister for granting our request.

「I'm truly sorry. I stayed in the G.o.d's realm and made my hero train with a G.o.d…」

「There is no problem. However, is it certainly unprecedented to have a hero who won't fight against monsters and keeps training with a swordsman G.o.d. Besides, we have a rule that allows us give our support to heroes. Meaning that we can a.s.sist human beings without going against the Almighty's rules. The thing is that we never had a hero like this before. 」

「Yes. 」

「So, is Ryuguuin Seiya's training hard? 」

「Well, about that, I think Master Celseus couldn't overthrow him. Instead, he keeps saying that he "doesn't want to see a sword anymore", or something similar. 」

Isister laughs at that.

「That's because Celseus was an original weakling human being. 」

「I beg your pardon!? Are you saying that Celseus was reincarnated from a human? 」

There are two types of G.o.ds. The first type receives life as an original G.o.d in the G.o.d's realm. And, the second type is a being who made good deeds and gets to be reincarnated as a G.o.d. Somehow, I always thought that Celseus was the first type…

「Celseus was once a human swordsman. Of course, the memory of his time as a human being was lost when he was reincarnated into a G.o.d. However, certain characteristics stay so deeply engraved into the soul, that they don't disappear that easily. Since he was forced to practice harshly against Ryuguuin Seiya, his deepest weaknesses must have overflowed from his soul. Well, it was good training for Celseus as well. 」

The situation was reversed somehow…It was supposed to be Seiya training in the first place.

There was an occasion a long while ago, that I asked Isister about my type. Yet, she said that "you will know when the time comes". Well, I thought about it carefully and came to a conclusion that it doesn't matter that much, since even if a G.o.d was a human previously, there will be no memory of those days anyways. Since then, I stopped worrying too much.

Isister placed her knitting cloth on the table and looked at me with gentle eyes.

「Listen, Lista. I called you here today because I wanted to speak with you. I'm sorry but you have to interrupt the training, because I want you to go to the next town right away. 」

I wanted to go on with the adventure quest as soon as possible, so…

「Yes! I understand! 」

Nevertheless, I asked the following.

「Don't tell me…that something is happening in Geabrande? 」

I was curious. Before I knew it, Isister had a serious expression.

「Originally, the area I chose as your starting point was relatively safe. However, the devil was sensing our movements. It seems that the next town is in great danger. 」

Isister has the ability to predict the future a little ahead in time. If my G.o.ddesses' intuition is somewhat relevant, even more is the precision of her ability; therefore, there is no mistake in that information.

「Although the time flow is slower in the G.o.d's realm, I still want you two to hurry and continue the journey as soon as possible. Lista, can I depend on you?」

「Of course!! We'll be leaving immediately!! 」

As soon as I left Isister's room, I walked through the temple grounds with a firm determination.

…No matter what he'll do, I'll have to take him with me!

I opened the summoning chamber's doors straight away and shouted.

「Seiya!! We are going to Geabrande right now!!…wha…what!? 」

I was petrified. I came face to face with a terrible sight.

Seiya was sitting on top of Celseus back riding him like he was a horse, and was. .h.i.tting him with both fists. (EN: Check the note at the end)

*weird sounds resembling animal noises*

Celseus was groaning while protecting his head with one hand.

「Wait right there!? What are you doing!? Stop it immediately!! 」

When I ran over to them, Seiya finally stopped hitting him.

「Seiya!! Why are you doing such a terrible thing!! 」

Even though I was so angry, Seiya's expression didn't change at all.

「What are you planning on doing with him? Is this a part of your training as well? 」

「Ah…well, I guess… 」

I was so shocked to find that he turned into a "bully" himself…I was shocked, but…oh well, come to think of it, I feel that nothing about him surprises me anymore…

I smiled to Celseus who was standing still.

「I am sure you were overwhelmed about this kind training! 」

However, Celseus covered his face with his hands, and did not say a word.

「Master Celseus, you must not be silent! Was this really "training"!? 」

「What are you up to? 」

「That's right! Before I forget! 」

I spoke directly at Seiya.

「Geabrande is going to be in danger very soon! We have to go right now! I know you are in the middle of your training, but I will have to take you with me immediately! 」

At the same time, Seiya wiped his sweat with a towel.

「Okay. I think I've finished here as well, because there's nothing more to gain from that guy over there. 」

As opposed to Celseus, who sits on his knees in a suspicious triangular form without professing a single word, Seiya looks das.h.i.+ng on his steel armor and shakes his glossy black hair.

「Perfectly Ready. Okay, let's go to the next town. 」

「Yes…but before that…first, you need to apologize properly!! 」

I casted the spell to open the portal directly to a place where the town of Semul is visible from afar. That means that we can go straight to the place the Great G.o.ddess Isister told us to go in Geabrande. In fact, I wanted to land in a place a little far away so that he would fight a monster and increase the experience value. Yet, I can't bring myself to tell him that.

When Seiya and I arrived through the entrance of the town, I noticed many people carrying household goods and running around in a panic.

I caught one man on its way and asked him what was going on.

「The army of the undead attacked the Klein Castle in the northwest plain; in the end, it fell down! Those monsters may come to this town anytime now! You should get out of here as soon as possible! 」

The man left quickly and Seiya asked the following.

「Hey. What are the undead? 」

「They are monsters who keep moving even after losing their lives. To make things easier to understand, they are called zombies. In fact, it is difficult to stop them with only strikes and sword attacks. 」

「I see. Then, which attack is effective on them? 」

「Fire spells are effective. However, the holy water is the most effective tool. 」

「Holy water you say. Then, firstly, we need to find an items shop. 」

According to Isister's information, it seems that someone who is supposed to become an ally for Seiya and I awaits at the town's church. Although I want to go there right now, it is certainly wiser to buy the holy water first for countermeasure against the undead.

「Okay. Let's go now. 」

As we ran through the town, we managed to find an items shop and we went rus.h.i.+ng inside.

At the counter of that small shop, there was a shopkeeper standing still.

「I'm glad. There is still someone here. 」

「Ha! Naturally! Business is my life! 」

The shopkeeper laughed and said.

「Holy water you ask? That's for the undead. You need to prepare as soon as possible. We have a lot of them here in the shop. So, please, buy a lot. 」

As he nodded, Seiya took out the bag with money from his pocket.

「Yes, I'll do that. Therefore, give me a thousand of holy water. 」

Then, the shopkeeper's face looked stunned.

「…Well, I certainly said I had a lot in the shop. However, everything we have here has a limit. To get you a thousand items of holy water is a bit troublesome. In the first place, no matter how much holy water there is inside a bottle, you won't be able to carry all of them yourselves, and even if you could hold much as possible, you would be restrained by the heavy weight of all of the holy waters together. Besides, if you buy everything, I won't have a single holy water in the shop anymore. 」

「We're so sorry!! Ten!! Ten is fine!! 」

I ended up ordering the holy water instead of Seiya.

「…that's just a few. 」

When we left the shop, Seiya looked quite dissatisfied, but I ignored him and I went rus.h.i.+ng to the church. The church was right ahead of the shop; I opened the two large doors at the front and I heard a bell sound.

We were standing at the beginning of a long red carpet. There was four people standing at the altar of the church.

I spotted a priest and a nun. Beside them was a lively boy with a silver armor and a s.p.u.n.ky hair. In addition, there was a curly red-haired girl wearing a robe.

Recognizing my true nature, the priest stared at me and said with tears.

「Oh, oh my G.o.d! Even if you appear in a human form, I can discern very well who you are! You're a G.o.ddess, aren't you? We have received divine revelation and we have been waiting for you to come here! 」

Then, he points to the boy and the girl.

「These two over here are the descendants of the Dragon Tribe, whose blood carries the blood of dragons! They will be your comrades and fight alongside your hero to defeat the evil! 」

The little girl with red-hair greeted me for bowing her head, while the brown-haired boy was holding his hands on his waist.

…descendants of the Dragon Tribe…! So these two will be Seiya's fighting allies…!

I want to talk to the two of them right now. But…on this precisely moment I felt something ominous. My G.o.ddess' intuition was violently beating like the sound of an alarm.

They probably won't understand because humans only have five senses. However, there is a rather sinister aura lurking right in front of me. I can't identify which one of these four people has this evil characteristic. Still…

I whisper in Seiya's ear.

「Be careful, Seiya. I have a bad feeling about this. I think someone here is an undead. 」

「Heh. There's no problem. 」

「Seiya, wait? 」

Scratching his nose, Seiya walked forward in the direction of those four people.