New Beginning (2)

Neo's small talk with the acting Guildmaster ended when Melanie finally returned with a cart of refreshments.

As the embodiment of the Goddess, Neo unfortunately lacked normal human emotions so despite having lived 8 lifetimes already, he wasn't that proficient with human interaction so his small talk with the acting Guildmaster was quite awkward.

"Alright, now that Melanie's returned, let's get down to business. About the current state of the world at present…"

"Yes."

"As shocking as this may sound, but the war against the Demon King has ended."

"...What?"

"Humanity was able to defeat the Demon King and his lackeys 9 years ago–a little over a decade since you appeared but remained in slumber."

"...The Demon King was defeated?" Neo asked in shock.

Even though he lacked human emotions, he was genuinely able to experience what the feeling of shock was at this moment though it wasn't shown on his face that remained deadpanned.

Acting Guildmaster William nodded at Neo and replied, "Yes, we were able to defeat the Demon King–"

Neo interjected, "How is that possible? If the Goddess truly fell into slumber and I was also asleep, then there would be no way for her to anoint a Chosen. Without a Chosen or me, her Champion, it would be impossible to destroy the Demon King."

William patiently waited until Neo was finished with his explanation before replying, "Yes, what you said is true. Without you or the Chosen, we weren't able to completely destroy the Demon King."

"Then, how–"

"What we were able to do was defeat his forces and seal him away."

"...Seal him?"

"Upon defeating the Demon King, we split his body into 4 different parts–his arms, his legs, his torso, and his head."

Neo's face didn't change and he just quietly listened to William's explanation in silence.

"And that's how we did it."

"I… see."

After the lengthy explanation, Neo was able to understand how humanity was able to defeat the Demon King and all of the Archdemons before sealing them away. Unfortunately, the seal wasn't a permanent thing so there was a chance that the Demon King could return.

However, with the Demon King being sealed away and at his weakest point right now, Neo saw hope that his long journey that spanned 8 lifetimes could finally come to an end now.

"Unfortunately, the seal won't last forever and with the Demon King's remnant forces lurking around trying to free their master, we know that he'll eventually return," William said before smiling towards Neo. "Thankfully, you are now awake! We can now permanently put an end to the Demon King once and for all!"

"Yes…but I'm sure the seals are being maintained by the various powers that participated in the battle against the Demon King 9 years ago, right? I should meet with them as soon as possible so I can deal with the Demon King's sealed parts."

"We refer to them as the Demon King Remains, and you don't have to worry about meeting with the powers that maintain the seal. I've already sent news to the Lumenia Kingdom about your awakening. An escort should arrive in the next few days to bring you to the castle!"

Neo nodded and thanked the Guildmaster, "Thank you, Acting Guildmaster."

"Yes."

"By the way, where's the Guildmaster?"

"The Guildmaster? Well, even though everyone still calls him the Guildmaster, he's now actually the advisor of Lumenia's Hero Queen."

"...That old guy?" Neo mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"No, it's nothing."

Yet again, something in this life was different from his previous lives. Not only did the Guildmaster he knew of leave his post as Guildmaster, he was now the advisor of someone called the Hero Queen whose existence was unique to this life.

'I've never heard about the Kingdom of Lumenia nor do I know who this Hero Queen is…Looks like I'll have to see for myself who she is when I meet her.'

There were so many different things that happened in this 9th life of his and it all happened when he had still been asleep. It bothered him that he couldn't contact Uria, the Goddess, but it was good news that the Demon King had been defeated.

Despite knowing that the Demon King's defeat was a good thing, Neo couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness. The task that he was entrusted to him by the Goddess had already been completed and all he needed to do was clean up duty.

"Anyway, with all the serious talk over. Let's get to some pressing matters!"

"Hm?"

Melanie walked over to William and handed him a booklet which he opened and began reciting to Neo a series of numbers that he didn't understand while turning the pages of the booklet.

At the end of it, William announced a single large number that still had Neo lost as to what he meant by it.

"2,490,000 Gold…"

"Yes?"

"That's how much you owe the Adventurer Guild for maintaining your dwelling inside of the building and taking care of your body all these years."

"...Okay?"

Neo was too shocked to say anything else. This was the nth time today that he felt incredibly shocked. To think that he would suddenly be in debt after just waking up from his long slumber.

'T-This certainly is new…' He thought.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I have any gold to pay you back."

William laughed and said, "That's fine! You can simply take up requests from the Guild and pay us back slowly!"

"But my quest to destroy the Demon King–" Neo replied but was interrupted midway by Melanie.

"All of this will be settled after that matter. Once you complete your duties to the Goddess, you won't have anything to do afterwards, right?" Melanie said as she interjected into the conversation. "Also, are you really just going to leave without paying back the people that's been taking care of you all these years?"

"Now, now, Melanie. There's no need to pressure or guilt trip Uria's Champion," William said though he directed a meaningful smile towards Neo.

Neo contemplated the matter for a moment before nodding, "...Yes, that's true. I'll repay the debt after my quest to save the world is over."

He had no excuse to dodge the responsibility of repaying the debt he owed to the guild so he relented and agreed to William and Melanie's plan.

During the years he had been asleep, the Luminance Faith had been maintaining his dwelling but ever since the war against the Demon King was over, the Luminance Faith had been struggling with their finances and could no longer maintain Neo's dwelling for free.

Thankfully, the Lumenia Kingdom's Adventurer Guild offered to help thanks to the Guildmaster's insistence who was now the Hero Queen's Advisor. Since the Guildmaster helped him out, Neo thought that it was only natural that he returned the debt he owed.

"We'll hold you to your promise then. Ah, you should probably go to the nearby chapel to receive your equipment! Those are holy relics that descended to the world with you so unfortunately, we couldn't keep them with us."

"...Okay."

"Before you go, here, take this," William said as he handed Neo a small metal plate.

"...An Adventurer Card?" Neo asked in wonder. The adventurer card was quite different from the usual one that he was familiar with.

"Yes, but it comes with a new function called a [Status Screen]."

Hearing the new terminology, Neo couldn't help but wonder what it meant.

"What's a [Status Screen]?"

"It displays your overall abilities and blessings. It's something that was invented in recent years thanks to an Otherworlder," Melanie answered him.

"An Otherworlder…"

She walked over to Neo with a needle on top of a plate and put it on the table in front of him and said, "Anyway, just drip a drop of your blood on it and the plate will be bound to you. Nowadays, this plate serves as identification so make sure not to lose it!"

"Thank you."

Neo took the needle and pricked the tip of his index finger. A single drop of blood flowed out and he pressed it onto the Adventurer Card.

William clapped his hand and said, "Alright, it's bound to you now! You just need to infuse your Mana into it while thinking about yourself. The Card will do the rest!"

Neo did as William said and infused his Mana into the card. The metal card began to shine as letters began to form on it.

[Name: Neo

Race: ???

Attribute(s): Light, Fire

Mana: 150 (S)

Strength: 100 (A)

Endurance: 100 (A)

Agility: 100 (A)

Intelligence: 100 (A)

Blessings:

Light of Luminance (S), Perfect Memory (S)]

After seeing his status, Neo didn't know what to make of it. Other than his Mana which was 150, everything else was 100.

"Is this good, or bad?"

Neo asked as he showed William and Melanie the card. Melanie began frowning while William only chuckled.

"As expected of Uria's Champion, you have excellent stats all across the board though it doesn't seem you specialize in any particular field."

"Thank you."

"But here's a word of advice. Never show your status screen to anyone."

"Huh?"

William smiled and said, "We can keep this a secret, but out there, others can take advantage of the information on your card to do you harm."

"I-I see… but doesn't the card act as an identification? I'll have no choice but to show it if I enter a city, town, or village."

Melanie was the one who spoke up and explained to him.

"Normally, the status screen will not show on the card when you inject Mana into it. It will only show your name and adventurer rank–if you have one."

"So, this will disappear?" Neo said as he pointed to his [Status Screen].

"It'll immediately disappear once you cut off your Mana from the plate. You can display it again by injecting your Mana and calling out very loudly, 'Status, appear'."

"I see."

Neo put the card away and stood up. He bowed his head and thanked both William and Melanie before leaving for the nearby Chapel.

After he left, William turned to Melanie and shook his head at her, "Did you really have to add that last bit? Just how much of a grudge do you have against Uria's Champion?"

"Hm? I have no grudge against him," Melanie replied.

"Then why did you tell him that to open his [Status Screen] he has to yell 'Status, appear'? You could've just told him he only needed to think about it. There's literally no need for any verbal commands…"

"...I just thought it would be funny."

"..."

"Is something wrong?"

"Never mind… It's nothing."

William watched from his office window Neo exiting the guild building and heading towards the nearby Chapel. He rubbed his chin before turning to Melanie and asking her, "After all these years, why did the Champion finally wake up?"

Melanie shrugged and replied, "How would I know?"

"...More and more Demon Gates have been appearing across the continent and we've had our hands full just dealing with them. Neo's awakening…I don't think it's just a coincidence."

"..."

"We might be facing a new era of chaos and his awakening is just the start of it…Nothing in this world happens without a reason after all."