Unforeseen Incidents

"...A...Ah...A-A-Achoo--!!!" Aoi sneezed all of a sudden while walking outside the Sandy Fish inn the next morning.

"Here, use this before it flows out of your nose like a waterfall." I said calmly as I give her a handkerchief from my pocket.

Aoi yelled angrily at me when I said that. "...Big brother, stop saying gross things first thing in the morning! Geez..."

With a nimble hand she snatched the handkerchief from my hand, and used it to wipe her nose.

"But I never realized that even gods could get colds as well just like humans...how amazing."

"...It's not amazing at all!" Aoi protested, curling her lips. "...To begin with, aside from being immortal we gods are also immune from all sorts of diseases humans could contract! There's no way I would get something like a cold from filthy huma--a-achoo!!!" Before she could finish her sentence, she let out another wave of loud sneeze that almost shattered my eardrums.

'Immune from all diseases', huh? Could it be because now that Aoi's power has dwindled, that 'immunity' she's talking about is starting to get compromised? If that's the case, I should not get too confident with her health starting from now on. Does this world even have vitamin supplements?

While pondering on that I heard some footsteps coming from behind us.

"Yo, you two! Sorry to keep you guys waiting."

The person who spoke was the owner and manager of the inn, Saku. Also, compared to yesterday, he didn't wore his apron today.

"Is it really okay for you to join us while walking around town? I mean, leaving your inn like that..."

"It's alright, Brother Ren!" Saku's little sister, Saki, interrupted from behind him. "Right now, you and Aoi are the only ones currently staying at our inn so there would be no problem if we close the inn even for a day!" She spoke in a gleeful manner.

Actually the night before, the two siblings promised us to give us a tour around Plate Town today. For some reason, they were more excited than the ones on the receiving end.

"You're saying that as if your income per day was that high enough for you guys to slack around..." I spoke to her in worry.

"Being the only inn operating around Plate Town, our business is really, really, really doing good these days!" She replied while proudly puffing out her chest.

"That's why enough resisting, Ren. Other than thinking of it as one of our 'compensations' for yesterday, think of it rather as a get-together between new-found friends." Saku added.

Well if they're insisting on their goodwill then it would be rude to just plainly turn down on their offer, right?

"Alright then. Successful entrepreneurs also need to rest too, so let's play around for today!" I spoke at them while letting out a wry smile.

"Alrighty!" Saku exclaimed happily. "Plate Town might be smaller compared to other towns and cities, but in terms of entertainment and tourist facilities we're not far behind!"

"Brother Ren, Aoi, we shall start the tour right now!"

With the two of them started walking down the road in brisk steps, Aoi and I followed them while chuckling.

______________

Plate Town.

Population according to the latest census: about 17,000.

Land area: 10.21 sq. aris (unit of measurement here in this world I guess? Probably the same as the kilometer).

Location: Northwestern Narashel: bounded by the Great Desert on its west; the towns of Gurem and Shurai on its north and south, respectively; and the plains of Ish on the east, through the road that connects the capital with the remote to--

"...Big brother, why are we reading these information posted on the wall?! It isn't fun--NYAAAAAAAAA?!"

"Aoi! What are you doing?!" I said while helping her stand up.

While Aoi was complaining, her foot tripped onto something and she almost fell on her butt, but I managed to catch her...

...Or not.

"...E-Eh...?"

"W-Wha..."

"A-Aoi--"

At that moment, I realized that something was wrong with the current situation.

In order to prevent Aoi from falling--I...I accidentally grabbed on to the hem of her skirt and had it pulled up. Because of that, the Death Goddess' pure white panties became exposed to the populace.

"..."

Everyone who saw the incident immediately averted their eyes from us.

In order to clear up the situation I grabbed Aoi's hand in panic and held her in my arms.

"I understand that this place isn't as interesting as you expect, but we're only here in the town because they're giving out maps for free. There's no reason for you to complain and flail your arms around that much, you know?" I spoke to her in a slur.

"Aoi, are you okay?" Saki rushed to check Aoi's condition.

"...I...I'm fine." Aoi replied in a faint voice, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"I guess...now's the time for us to leave, right?"

"Nn. Before everyone's mood get worse let's hurry." I replied with my face also heating up due to the incident.

"Aoi, let's walk outside for a while, shall we?" Saki asked her.

Aoi slightly nodded. "...U...Un."

As we walked outside, I noticed that Aoi struggled to land another step as she just looked down at the ground.

"Aoi..." I slowly approached her. "S-Sorry for what happened."

When I said that, she looked at me and spoke, "...I never realized that big brother is that great of a pervert."

Wait, what?

"H-Hey...let me explain, Aoi..."

At that moment Aoi didn't say anything for a while as she stared at me with a disgusted stare.

"...You're the worst."

"G-Ghaaaaa--!!!" I gasped my breath, feeling shocked by her words.

Before I could even explain things to her she turned her back at me, then ran after the Rainen siblings, leaving me behind.

Eh...?

Hey...

'I'm the worst', she said to me.

Those three words...pierced me deeper than what she could do with her black aura.

In front of everyone inside the town hall...the Death Goddess killed her big brother--emotionally.

______________

"Cheer up, dude...Aoi only said that, but it doesn't mean she hates you now, you know?" Saku said while patting Ren's back as he slumped on the bench feebly.

After the town hall they were supposed to play and have fun on the newly-renovated town plaza but because of what happened earlier, all the motivation to live has escaped from Ren's body.

'Aoi said that I'm the worst...I'm sure she hates me now...' Ren muttered with a sigh that struggled to come out of his mouth.

Saku placed his hand on his forehead and spoke, "Geez, Ren...you're exaggerating things. If she really hates you, she wouldn't be here--right, Saki?"

"Big Bro is right, Brother Ren!" Saki spoke. "Hang on there, let me take care of Aoi for you!"

Ren glanced at the bench in front of him, and he saw Saki trying her best to appease Aoi in lieu of him. Aoi on the other hand, only looked at her with an expressionless stare, while showing a bit of resistance to her words.

'Aoi hates me...I'm really the worst big brother in the world...' He kept on muttering as if wanting to die.

"H-Hey--don't die yet, Ren! Heyyyyy!!!" Saku shouted as he grabbed his shoulders and shook his body violently.

As he shook his body, Ren almost felt dizzy that he almost puked.

"This problematic brother..." Saku grumbled as he bit his lip. "What should I do about this person..."

'His situation isn't that much of a big deal, I think?', he thought to himself while thinking of other ways to settle his new friend's problems. 'Well, if that happened on my case, Saki would forgive me easily if I explain that it's just an accident...but is it really hard for Ren to do that?'

Meanwhile on the other side of the benches, Saki is also at her wit's end trying to convince Aoi to forgive her big brother.

"Aoi, make peace with Brother Ren already...pleaaaasssseeeeee..."

"..."

Aoi didn't say anything to her, as she kept her arms crossed and tried not to look at Ren's sulking figure.

"Muuuuu..." Saki glared at her in dismay. "Brother Ren feels really sorry for accidentally seeing your panties, you know? Look, he's looking really, really depressed because you said that you hate him..."

"...Hmph." Aoi steeled herself even more to not see her brother.

"This problematic little sister..." Saki sighed deeply. "What should I do about this person..."

With the Rainen siblings desperately trying to keep up with the other two's shenanigans, both of them heard a faint rumble coming from somewhere.

"Hm? What's that, Big Bro?" Saki asked her brother.

"I dunno," Saku replied. "Maybe another upcoming construction project by our town leader, I guess?"

The rumbling, on the other hand, became even more louder and louder as if it was coming right towards their direction. Saku and Saki at first still ignored it, but they started to grow worried when they noticed a couple of people running away from the rumbling's source in panic.

"W-What is going on, Big Bro? I'm scared..."

"Don't worry, I'm right here....--"

Saku swallowed back his words when suddenly, one of the buildings within the vicinity of the town plaza got toppled down by a large horde of rampaging Demon Cows.

Although being considered in this world as a beast of burden, Demon Cows possess strength many times more powerful than their Earth counterparts and could destroy structures easily should they attack in groups.

The force they exerted on the building was so powerful that several huge debris from the building flew over their heads and crashed on a newly-built sculpture that stood at the center of the plaza.

At that instant, everyone on the plaza fell into general chaos.

"B-Big Bro?!!!" Saki instantly hid behind her brother's back.

"L-Let's get out of here!--Ren? Aoi...?"

When he looked at the two, he saw that they were not on the benches. Instead, the two of them looked at the incoming beasts with a stern expression on their faces.

"H-Hey? R-Re..."

"Big Bro, let's get out of here!!!"

"S-Saki? Wai--"

As he tried to approach them, his hand was suddenly grasped by Saki, and pulled her away from the scene while running for safety.

Everyone fled away from the plaza due to panic in just a few seconds--except for Aoi and Ren.

"..."

With the beasts charging in front of them, Aoi only spoke three words to her big brother in a commanding fashion.

"...Kill them all."

Then, as if in a flash--multitudes of Demon Cow blood and flesh splattered around the town plaza, covering the place with thick, red mess.

Aoi grinned at the horrendous sight in front of her. "...Not bad, not bad for a pervert like you."

Ren, however, didn't say anything as he crushed a Demon Cow's head using a black smoke-like aura that he formed into a gripping hand. The unfortunate beast died immediately, with anything above its head turned into a mushy flesh jelly.

And just with that, the danger dissipated into thin air.

When the people came back to see what happened, they were taken aback in horror as they saw the town plaza covered in red. They all looked around to find who caused such thing to happen, but Ren and Aoi already left the scene before they appeared.

______________

While walking on a street on the other side of the plaza, Aoi, glanced at Ren for a moment then spoke. "...Big brother...are you feeling alright?"

Ren, surprised that her little sister managed to talk to him again, instantly stopped his feet. "U-Uh...I'm alright, I guess? Those Demon Cows didn't grazed me even for a bit."

"...That's not what I'm trying to talk about." Aoi shook her head. "What I mean is...are you still depressed because of that incident?"

When she said that, Ren's face burned in embarrassment. "Part of me's telling that I'm at fault when that happened, up to some extent."

Because of his words, Aoi's face also blushed in deep crimson. "...Sorry for blaming you too much."

"It's okay, it's okay--but if you were to forgive me then I'll be really, really happy then."

"...Okay, I forgive you now, big brother."

Ren chuckled, then gently patted Aoi's head. "Thanks."

"...By the way, I never imagined that even though we're not in good terms with each other, you still trusted me during battle."

Ren shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, it seems like my body suddenly moved on its own when you said the word 'kill'."

"...Do you hate it when it happens?"

"Oh please..." He lightly swayed his hand. "As long as it's for my little sister, I would kill anyone especially those who try to hurt you."

"...Ufufufu~ I just hope that your words would not claim your head anytime soon, big brother."

"W-What...?"

"...I mean, big brother is the best! The best in the world!!!"

With more than half of the day wasted to some unforeseen things, the siblings happily went on while holding each other's hands, excited to tell the currently worried Rainen siblings everything that happened.