The High Priestess, and Information Magic

{Dingdingdingdingding! That's right, that's right! This beautiful lady standing in front of you is no other than me, the High Priestess!}

With a gleaming smile and a confident pose, the little girl in front of me said that she was the High Priestess when I asked her who she is. For a moment, my brain seemed to stop working as it tries to process what I just heard, and when the processing has been done, I—

{WHAAAAAAAAAAATTTT?!!}

{What's with that reaction?!}

{I-I mean—Erlai told us that the High Priestess was an adult woman and a very tall one at that! How could someone as little as you turn out to be the High Priestess?!}

Also, isn't she already dead? If she is indeed the real deal and she's still alive, how come Aoi couldn't detect her presence all this time?

Even so, the little girl calmly looked at me as she answered:

{Well, you're right. However, that was just my physical form. What you're seeing right now, is my consciousness.}

According to her, just moments before she breathed her last, she was able to separate her 'mind' from her body and mix it into her Arcana, which until recently was kept hidden from the world by Erlai. The moment I received the Arcana from her, I also received the goddess' consciousness, that's why there's this little girl inside my mind.

Yes, that's right. We are inside my mind right now. It makes sense now that the reason we're able to communicate with each other telepathically is that we're on my home turf all along—though, having someone like a goddess' consciousness staying in my mind from now on...doesn't make me feel happy in the slightest.

{There's still one thing that I don't understand, High Priestess.}

{Oh? Tell me.}

{I understand that you're the High Priestess's consciousness, but why did you take the form of a little girl? Shouldn't you have the same form as you were originally before?}

{Eh? Why you ask...because I thought that you would like it...?}

{HAAAAH?!!} I glared at her. {What do you mean by that, huh? Are you thinking that I'm sort of a person who is interested in little girls?!}

Panicking, she replied, {B-But, I saw it! When I peeked into your mind, the first thing I saw is the Death Goddess' image! That girl is very tough to love despite being cute, so I came up with the conclusion that the only reason you love the Death Goddess is that she's a cute little girl, and you love little girls!}

{No, no, no, no, that's not it! You're misunderstanding something!} I vehemently refuted her words. {I love Aoi because she's sweet and lively, and not because she's a child! So please, go back to your original form immediately!}

When I said that, the bright gleam in her eyes quickly faded away, along with her jolly expression.

{I...can't do that.}

{Eh?}

{Muuuuuuu! I can only change my form once every 10000 years, and it takes a lot of my power to do so! Do you know how painful it is for me to sacrifice my extremely sexy and drop-dead gorgeous, mature lady appearance, just to have this form?! Hrgh, I shouldn't have come up with that conclusion at all!}

Then, in a manner unbecoming of a goddess, she began rolling on the floor while also flailing her arms and legs around, in a fit of childish anger.

{UWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! What should I do?! I don't want to be stuck in this appearance for a very long time—WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!}

{Oi, calm down! You're messing up your dress already! Aargh, this goddess—}

Hurriedly, I picked her up from the floor and embraced her as I lightly patted her back to pacify her.

{There, there. It's alright, no matter what form you take, your divine presence will still stay the same...}

She kept on wailing for a few moments until her sobbing slowly became quiet.

{Are you okay now?}

{N-Nn...} she nodded.

{That's great. Then, I'll help you get up and...hm?}

Just as when I'm about to let go of her, she tightly wrapped her arms around my chest and—

{Please...stay like this for a little longer.}

{H-High Priestess...}

{Fufu. It's weird for me to say it, but the warmth you emit...is comforting...}

{M-My...warmth?}

When she finally had her fill of my body temperature, she separated herself from me and stood up, as cheerful as I first saw her.

{Thank you very much, Ren Mortel. Leaving my current form aside, I want to focus more on our current situation. Starting today, I'll be guiding you on how to effectively use my Arcana, as well as the others! I'm looking forward to working with you!}

Ah. It's not the first time that I've been guided by a goddess. Even now, I'm still trying to fully master the [Death] with the help of Aoi, and even though I'm still wary of her real intentions, Myriel does answer my questions from time to time. This time around, the supposedly dead High Priestess wants to also work with me, and I'm not the type of person who would reject any help that comes my way.

{Yeah. Please take care of me from now on, High Priestess.}

{Eh?} raising her eyebrows, she thought, {there's no need for you to address me as the High Priestess every time. Aren't we about to become comrades?}

{But I don't know what else to call you other than 'High Priestess'. You don't have any name, I think,} I replied.

{You're right. Having a name makes it easier for us to communicate once we start working together,} she pondered. {How about you give me a name, just like what you did for the Death Goddess?}

{L-Like, this instant?}

{Yes! By the way, I haven't fully given you my blessing to use my Arcana yet despite Erlai telling you otherwise, so if you gave me a lousy or offensive name I'll immediately take back my Arcana from you and return to Erlai's book, alright?}

WHAT?!! That's harsh, you goddess! What's the point of going through all of this, if I will just fail in the end? Ugh, this is getting troublesome...

Okay. For now, let's think of a good name for this goddess. Should I use the same approach as I had with Aoi, giving her a name based on her hair and eye color? No, she'll think that I have no creativity if I do that.

Where else should I base her name? Hmmm...

{Tessa.}

{Come again, Ren Mortel?}

I looked into her eyes and said:

{Tessa! That'll be your name from now on!}

How did I come up with 'Tessa'? Well, it's rather simple: I just took the 'Tess' part from 'Priestess', and added '-a' at the end! Pries-Tessa, geddit?

Okay, I take it back—it's way too corny even for my taste! Please, goddess, don't punish me for trying to give you such a name...

{'Tessa', huh...} the High Priestess squinted her eyes at me. {Isn't that just derived from my title?}

{N-Nn...} I couldn't deny her allegation.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM—

Suddenly, the air around her started to vibrate, and the surroundings slowly became distorted and flowy, as if I were looking at a mirage.

She...she's angry at me, right?

{Ren Mortel.}

{Yes!!!} I hurriedly knelt in front of her.

Even though she's just the goddess' consciousness, the aura she's emitting is on a level similar to Aoi's. If she's alive, how much power would her presence have?

With a straight face, the High Priestess walked closer and looked down at me.

{To think that you tried to give me that name...}

{I'm sorry, High Priestess, and to all the Tessas in the world!} I apologized to her.

As I'm preparing myself to face her divine wrath, she—

{I like it.}

{Eh?}

"What do you mean by 'eh'? I like the name 'Tessa', that is what I said! It's simple but beautiful! Call me Tessa from now on, alright?" she said, while her aura gradually faded away.

'So you can speak after all!' is what I'm about to say, but what's more important is that she liked the name I gave to her.

"Tessa...Tessa...nn, I'm starting to get used to it," she said.

{I'm glad you're getting the hang of it,} I let out a sigh of relief.

Well, if I have a nickel for every time a goddess asks me to provide her a name, I'd have a dime. It isn't too much, but, weirdly, it happened twice.

{U-Um...Tessa?}

"Yes?" her golden eyes glimmered as she looked at me.

Finally opening my mouth after a while, I spoke: "You said that you're going to guide me in using the Arcanas, but how are you going to do it?"

Calmly, she replied—

"How am I going to do it? By using your head, of course."

"Huh? M-My head...?!"

"That's right—and I'll start at this instant!"

"W-Wait, what are you trying to do...—"

"Eii~!"

"Uguu—?!"

Bump!

Without any hesitation, the High Priestess—or rather, Tessa—jumped as high as her legs could and head-butted me, her forehead clashing against mine. Although the force she exerted isn't enough to cause considerable pain, it was enough to disorient me for a moment.

"Te...ssa...what the hell was that for...?!"

"...Hm? Who are you talking to, big brother?"

"Eh?"

For a moment, I thought that my head is still spinning after receiving that headbutt, but I soon realized that the little girl in front of me isn't the gray-haired goddess inside my mind but rather the blue-haired one, the one that I call my little sister.

So I'm awake now...?

"...Are you alright, big brother? After that purple light subsided we found you lying on the floor, and when we tried to wake you up, it seemed like you were mumbling something indecipherable. I'm worried, you know?!" Aoi spoke.

"Uh...I'm sorry for worrying you, Aoi," I said as I patted her head. "I think I'm all fine..."

"Ah, Ren! Finally, you are awake now!" Lerish called, coming to my side while carrying a small, red box. "Miss Erlai and I had to find a remedy while you were still in a trance, but I am relieved we did not have to resort to that."

"A trance...was my situation that serious?"

"N-No, but..."

"All the equipment inside the facility broke as a result of the purple light from earlier, so we cannot determine for sure what exactly happened," Erlai said, her face looking quite gloomy.

"S-Sorry..."

"Do not mind it. All of it was thousands of years old anyway, they were bound to be replaced by newer ones regardless."

When she said that I let out a deep, relieved sigh. I don't think I'll be able to pay for the damage I've done to her beloved facility. Worst case scenario, I have to borrow money either from Lerish or Myriel if that happens.

Thinking of that, made my head hurt...

"...Big brother, if you're still not feeling well, you can keep lying down. Here, I'll let you rest your head on my thighs!"

"Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine. I can't just lie down here all day, you know...—"

"...B-Big brother?! What's going on with you?!"

"Ren?!"

"..."

"W-W-WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?!!" I yelled as I quickly crawled away from everyone, my body trembling with shock.

Am I starting to go crazy? I don't know. But, right now, when I look at my surroundings... there is some sort of random texts floating around in the air—undecipherable symbols that I have never encountered before.

{Can you hear me now, Ren Mortel?} I heard a voice coming from inside my mind.

{T-Tessa?! What's going on, why am I seeing symbols floating around everywhere?}

{Ah, so you can see them now? Great!} she replied. {What you're seeing right now, is my Arcana in action. Right now, it might look like they're gibberish to you, but try convincing yourself that you can fully read and understand those symbols, and you'll see the difference.}

{So I just need to lie to myself that I can read those symbols, huh? Interesting.}

{That's right, but calling it a 'lie' is a bit too much...}

Following her advice, I closed my eyes and began murmuring to myself that I can read the symbols floating around me. When I opened my eyes a few moments later, the symbols which were foreign to my eyes up until now can be easily recognized by me.

[Name: Aoi/Death Goddess

Age: 9XXX+++

Occupation: N/A]——

Underneath those first three lines, were Aoi's other important details such as current divine power capacity, as well as a comprehensive list of spells that fall under the [Death] Arcana umbrella and the overview of each spell. There are other personal details of her that I can see with my own eyes, but it would take me an entire day just to describe them to others.

Not only that, but I can also see Lerish's and Erlai's details, including their measurements accurate to the nearest nanometer. It's crazy how many details I am seeing from the girls around me without their knowledge.

It's like looking at their naked bodies even though they're not naked, so to speak.

This is bad! H-How do I turn off this power?!

{Behold, the power of my Arcana! Compared to that [Tower] Arcana, this one is far better, right?} Tessa said proudly.

{Better? I don't want to say it yet. I think that the two Arcanas are somewhat redundant in some parts.}

{Redundant? That's preposterous!} she roared. {My Arcana has more things going on compared to that old geezer's Arcana! I'll prove it to you right away!}

{H-Hey, aren't you a bit too fired up so suddenly?! What are you planning to do??!}

{Arise, Ren Mortel!}

"W-WOOOOAAAAAHHHHH?!!"

Without any warning from her, I instantly began to float. Aoi and Lerish, unable to comprehend what was going on, tried to get a hold of me, but before they could touch my arm they were pushed away by a shockwave that emanated from my body.

"...Uguu...that kind of hurt..."

"Miss Erlai, do you have any idea what is happening to Ren?"

Calmly, Erlai replied, "I have not confirmed it yet, but my instinct tells me...that it is my master's Arcana's doing."

"By that, you mean..."

{Now, Ren Mortel—I'll have you and your company know what it truly feels to be blessed by a goddess!}

*Snap*!

When I heard that sounds from inside my mind, countless magic circles of various colors start appearing around me in droves, enclosing me in some sort of a spherical barrier. Then, one by one, all the magic circles became streams of light that swirled everywhere before entering my body. With each magic circle being absorbed by me I feel like my body's feeling lighter and lighter, and all the pain that I had until now slowly disappeared. This whole phenomenon is a whole new level of strange to me, that I can't open my mouth nor move a finger.

If this is what can be considered a blessing coming from Tessa, I can't imagine if she were to give someone her divine wrath.

When all of the magic circles have been absorbed by me, the magic that caused me to float weakened, and I fell to the ground with a loud thud. Fortunately, the area I fell into wasn't that hard.

"...Big brother!!!" Aoi cried while hugging me. "T-That, just now—was that because of the Arcana?!"

"Nn. What you saw right now, was the [High Priestess] in action."

"Can you tell us what it does, Ren?" Lerish asked.

"Well, I don't know if I can show it to you, but..."

Rather than it's difficult to demonstrate what it does to everyone, I've been barred at the last minute by Tessa to tell others what the other 'features' of the Arcana are, at least for now. When I asked her why she simply told me, 'I don't want the goddess to find out'.

Haah. I never knew that even deities have their trade secrets, but it can't be helped. Maybe the gods of the past were just too competitive with each other, and they don't want their weaknesses to be revealed.

"Ah, because of that I'm starting to feel hungry again. Should we head back to the garden, Aoi?"

"...Nn! Let's go, big brother!"

"Um...I apologize for the troubles we are giving to you, Miss Erlai," Lerish said.

"It is my master's wish that I have to take care of my guests. I am in no position to complain," Erlai replied.

After that, Erlai prepped up another meal for us, while calmly watching every movement I make even though she doesn't have any eyes. Now that I have her master's Arcana, it made me feel more uneasy when she does that. It's as if it doesn't seem like she's looking at me, but rather, she's looking at the person in my mind.

Does she know that her master's still around, albeit technically only it's just her consciousness? I have yet to find out.

Anyway, what's important is that I got a new Arcana to use. I can now chalk this up as a win for me.

-----

While Aoi and Lerish are enjoying their bath together later in the evening, I decided to go to the library to read books about the [High Priestess] and the other Arcanas. However—

"This...it might take long for me to get used to it..."

The moment I hold a book, all of its contents will immediately appear in front of me as floating stuff suspended in the air—like in a hologram. I picked up another book that's written in a different language and it's all the same, except that the images I'm seeing are the translated version of the book, entirely written with Latin characters.

Rather, holding a book is unnecessary at this point. I tried searching for a cookbook of Narashelian cuisine without going to the section of the library where it's located, and the contents of the book can be easily accessed by me before I could finish saying the word 'banana'.

Compared to the [Tower] where the user must still go and grab the actual book after finding its location, this Arcana sure is more convenient in cases like this. It doesn't mean that the [Tower] is inferior, though.

"My, this Arcana is totally nuts..."

{Hm-hm! You can say it again, Ren Mortel!} Tessa's voice suddenly echoed inside my mind.

{Quite a conceited goddess, aren't ya?} I replied. {Well, I should still say thanks to you, for granting me your power.}

{You're welcome! Although to be clear, I didn't give you my Arcana just because I want to. I did it because my visions in the past compelled me.}

{Yeah. I'll take that in mind.}

{But you know what, now that I have finally met you I would say that my decision to believe in my prophecies was worth it. I feel at ease right now, that it's fine even if I were to die a second time anytime soon.}

{Hey, don't contaminate my mind with your negative thoughts,} I scolded her.

{Fufu. My bad, my bad.}

Seriously, this goddess. If she wants to live rent-free in my mind, she must follow the house rules, namely, don't be too noisy and such.

{Oh, on a side note, I want to ask you a favor, Tessa.}

{What is it, what is it?}

I took a deep breath, and said to her—

{If possible, I want you to minimize the information I'm seeing with the Arcana.}

{E-Ehh?! W-Why do you want that?!} I can't see her face right now, but it's obvious that she's shocked by what she's heard.

I mean, who wouldn't. Anyone who obtains power will tend to ask for more, to be the strongest, but I...explicitly asked her to nerf me. It's strange, but I have other considerations in mind.

{You see, Tessa, seeing other people's sensitive details at first glance just doesn't sit right with me. Everyone has a right to privacy, and even if they're not aware of it I'm trampling on their privacy if I use it on someone in this state. At the very least, make it so that the more sensitive parts will only be shown if I need them.}

{Uuuuuu...}

Groaning in confusion, Tessa took some time to think of her actions before saying:

{Muuu...I get it, I get it! I will adjust the Arcana's output level right away!}

When I felt that something in me has changed, I tested the Arcana right away, and the amount of information I'm seeing has gone down by about half.

{Good grief. I have given you a powerful Arcana, and you're asking me to tune it down. My pride as a goddess was hurt, you know?}

{Sorry, Tessa.}

{Don't be. You gave me a name, remember? I'm just returning the favor.}

When she said that, I felt a warm feeling on my back. I looked over my shoulder if there are other people behind me, but there weren't.

{You really are kind, Ren Mortel.}

{H-Huh?}

{Perhaps...I now know why that girl...loves...}

And a moment later, I heard 'zzz' sounds inside my mind. It's still not that late in the night, but she's already fallen asleep. Aoi also sleeps around this time, so I'm not a stranger when it comes to a little girl's sleep schedule.

In any case, sleep well, Little Miss Mind Trespasser.