Chapter 340

Meeting a god was an exceedingly exhausting event.

Everyone in the group took turns sleeping one after another before coming out.

The group members, who had naturally become somewhat arrogant while catching and cutting down house-sized monsters, lost their spirit upon facing a being more gigantic than themselves right before their noses. We felt fear before awe. It was because everyone reflexively thought of drawing their swords against the god first.

Anyway, they are all incredible guys. I inwardly clicked my tongue.

Still, there won’t be any instances of freezing in fear upon seeing beings lesser than a god anymore. Fear is the greatest enemy that stiffens a martial artist’s hands and feet. Since it’s a step starting by cutting off one enemy early on, it was exceptionally good.

The Oasis the god left was an exceedingly peaceful and beautiful place.

Circling the northeast of the wide lake, tall and short trees were sparsely situated. Several Sylphs ran and played among the leaves, then suddenly fell and rolled on the ground laughing heartily.

Inside the water surface that continuously splashed, there were again several spirits swimming around riding fish. The name of the water spirits was said to be Undine. Just as one Sylph’s appearance wasn’t entirely identical to another’s, the appearance of one Undine and another also varied slightly, making it fun to watch.

Among the spirits here, there were many who knew how to speak.

[How to speak? Sis taught us. Since the wind sees and hears many things, it’s good if it’s easy to remember.]

[Sis?]

[Oasis! Sis has many names. The hermit crab’s blue scale, the third piece of a sweet cloud, the master of the widest oasis…]

[But these days we call him Sis. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Sis says he misses his sister.]

Most of them spoke using telepathy, no, divine language.

When speaking loudly so everyone could hear, they used more power. So, they usually sat by one person’s ear and spoke quietly. They said it didn’t matter because the god could understand even if they spoke very softly.

When I asked if it wasn’t difficult to converse with us, the answer returned that although they had to use their whole body when speaking with humans, it was fun in its own way. That was at least a relief.

The spirits enjoyed conversing with humans they hadn’t met in a long time. Because we had many things we were curious about, each person had five or six spirits around them, asking this and that and hearing answers.

For the spirits who said hearing telepathy was more comfortable than the sound of speech, I used telepathy but… well, it didn’t seem like I was absolutely necessary. Everyone conversed about this and that with hand gestures, foot gestures, and various sounds.

Hugh Benson asked the spirits about safe zones, and the mercenaries were curious about methods to contract with spirits and such. Ruben asked this and that about other gods, but mostly didn’t get proper answers.

Naturally, the guy with the most things he was curious about was Marianne.

“Spirits can’t pass through barriers? Honestly speaking, the barriers of the Owen mansion were just a bit tricky and delicate, but the Mana itself imbued in them wasn’t much, though.”

[We need the permission of the territory.]

“Permission of the territory? But the spirits I knew…”

Watching what Marianne was doing, I drew out energy from my fingertips and handed it to the spirits one by one.

Like newly hatched fish swimming around with yolks attached to their bellies, the Sylphs waddled and rejoiced, holding the Mana they rolled into spheres in their arms. For a guy playing a prank, comparing whose was bigger or smaller, I released a bit more Mana.

While doing so, several proper answers returned.

[The wind is one, and it goes anywhere. But if the wall is high, we can’t go.]

[If you want to hide it tightly, you build a wall. Both humans and gods do that. Then we don’t know.]

[There are walls we can pass through too!]

[Right. But Sylphs don’t just enter a territory recklessly.]

[Entering someone else’s territory recklessly is a bad thing to do.]

Then they tattled, saying they knew a bad Sylph who recklessly entered others’ territories.

Listening carefully to the story, it seemed Sylphs with masters very frequently peeked into others’ territories secretly according to their masters’ will. So, the explanation was that the spirit who helped me couldn’t even enter the inner part of the mansion where Ruben was, nor the mansion where I was, because its master, the Third God, strongly didn’t want it to.

But that supposed god seemed to cherish Nadish immensely, though.

…Anyway, it’s something I can’t figure out.

Splash!

A loud sound was heard. From far away, I saw Elwin, who had fallen victim to a spirit’s prank, floundering a little before skillfully diving. Soon, a hand gripping a large fish soared above the water surface.

Watching that sight, Ruben asked sourly.

“…Isn’t this… a holy site? Is it okay to catch and eat the fish?”

[Huh? But humans die if they don’t eat?]

[Catching as much as you eat is fine. Because they will be born again soon!]

…We had just heard a long speech about souls not long ago. Catching fish in the space where a god stayed felt exceedingly irreverent.

However… on the other hand, since the residing spirits didn’t mind it, I felt relieved, like going out to glean a field after getting permission from the farm owner.

Everyone was ignited with the desire for fresh food ingredients.

Fortunately, I also have some expertise in fishing. Even without bothering to prepare a decent fishing rod, I tied a string to a tree branch and caught several fish. Every one I pulled up was as thick as a forearm and substantial, so there was plenty to eat.

Elwin was better at prepping the fish than the mercenaries. The mercenaries followed how to scale a fish and learned how to prep it with an intrigued attitude. Along with them, I also learned how to prep fish this way and that.

We all held a fish skewered on a stick one by one and tore into it, getting soot all over our cheeks.

*****

The stone statue of the First Goddess’s head was a two-day journey northwest from the Oasis.

I knew this well because that Bill Brown guy had chanted it like a monk reciting sutras so much.

Originally, at that location, it wasn’t a head statue but the statue of the Goddess standing completely upright, they said. However, the explanation was that the Goddess, unable to just watch the monsters crossing over from the Demonic Realm harm people, spread her arms wide and spread her legs wide to gouge out the Dunmel Canyon, and in doing so, fell completely sideways, leaving only her head.

I commented, ‘What kind of god falls sideways just because she spread her arms and legs,’ and had to listen to the fully grown guy whining for half a mealtime. That guy’s whining face kept overlapping with the Pang family guy. They might really be the same guy.

Now I clearly understood how I crossed over to this world. I was no longer afraid. On the contrary, thinking that perhaps someone among my comrades might also be enjoying a new life in this good world, a joyful feeling arose.

So, a laugh escaped me for no reason and I smiled, and Ruben immediately showed interest.

“What are you thinking about?”

“No, um… You know that guy who whined to come here with us.”

“Young Master Brown?”

“Yes. It’s just funny, and also I feel a bit sorry that we ended up leaving him behind.”

“…Uung.”

Ruben tightly closed his mouth for a moment. I also knew by now that Ruben had been jealous of the guys around me for a long time. The only girls around me were Marianne and Jenny. Even if he was jealous of boys, I figured as much. Since that Bill Brown guy was such an affectionate guy, he probably disliked him.

Finding it just cute, I smiled again, and Ruben suddenly opened his mouth with a firmly resolved face.

“Does Young Master Brown… know that you reincarnated?”

“Pardon? There is no way. Not at all.”

“Then why does he call Mika ‘Hyung’?”

“I heard it’s because the guy admired me and started learning the sword.”

“That’s not what I know.”

“Pardon?”

What does he know again?

However, I was also curious what conversation Ruben and Bill Brown had shared. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Since the child had a greatly resolved face, I nodded my head telling him to speak quickly. Then Ruben, with an exceedingly disappointed face, tightly gripped the camel’s reins and spoke as if reciting.

“…That it’s because, you like younger people.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s what Young Master Brown told me. Since Mika likes young and cute people… that he and I are in the same situation…”

“…What? No, when did I say such words? No, what am I? When?”

“You didn’t?”

“I did not!”

Even without thinking long, it was a nonsensical claim. I was so astounded I was completely appalled. Wondering what on earth that guy knew to say such vain words to my child, I was dumbfounded. I even felt dizzy. Ruben blinked his lowered eyes a couple of times and then looked up at me again.

I couldn’t fathom at all what that gaze meant. In a greatly surprised state, to make an excuse, any words just popped out of my opened mouth.

“Younger people, you say, um, on the contrary, I do not see very young children as partners.”

“What about me?”

“Pardon?”

“…How was it with me?”

……

Not knowing how to answer, heat rose throughout my entire body. My face felt so hot I couldn’t lift my head straight. Unable to even look back at Ruben’s direction, I looked far away.

Thanks to the Sylphs wrapping around our front and back as if escorting us, from some point, the group members didn’t stubbornly insist on walking in a single file. The sight of the camels, walking sparsely, distancing themselves far from the two of us was clearly visible.

Ruben let out a sweet voice again.

“Ung? Mikaa…”

“Well, of course.”

“Of course?”

I thought I absolutely couldn’t do it, but I couldn’t not answer either.

I tightly pressed and covered my eyes with one hand. The camel trudged along taking care of the path to go itself. Listening to the sound of Ruben tensely regulating his breathing with my ears, I barely, barely let out a voice.

“…You were cute.”

“…”

It was still far from sunset, but Ruben’s face was thickly plastered with a red heat, whether it was sunset or autumn leaves. Seeing his white cheeks flushing red, my insides churned and my chest palpitated, making it truly difficult to breathe properly even once.

For a long time, I silently looked only ahead. The child’s gaze landed on my ear, landed on my cheek, and then landed on my nape again. When I asked what he was looking at so much, he smiled sweetly and just shook his head.

In my heart, I made a firm resolution. If I meet that Bill Brown guy again, whether I flip him over or slam him down, I will definitely say a word to him.