Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Moving - 2
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There was a ton to do for the move, but whenever I found a spare moment, I pitched in to look after Ciel too.
"Gahh!"
"Yeah, it's Daddy."
Ciel strangely preferred spending time with me—looking all rough and gruff—over hanging out with a stunningly beautiful nymph. Could she actually recognize her dad?
"Honey, you're back? You must be swamped."
"Nah. Everyone's pitching in, so it'll wrap up quick."
Thanks to Elsia's advice last winter, I'd bought blackwood for firewood and hired laborers, making the whole move go smoothly.
"I'll handle the key stuff myself, but the grunt work's done in a flash."
"Still, you must be beat."
"I'm good. One look at Ciel's face, and all the fatigue melts away."
No joke—it was the honest truth. Her little face gave me an instant energy boost.
Maybe this was Hestia's blessing at work?
Right then, something climbed up my back and onto my shoulder.
"Nyaang~"
It was Cami.
"Cami's here?"
Cami stared wide-eyed at Ciel, clearly fascinated by the tiny baby.
"Guess Ciel's a novelty to her."
"Hee hee, looking at them side by side, they do kinda resemble each other."
"Who does?"
"You and Cami."
"How so?"
"Those sharp eyes and those bright, moon-like pupils."
"Huh... yeah, now that you mention it, they do look alike."
As I glanced at Cami, she stared right back at me.
Like me with my black hair and golden eyes, Cami had sleek black fur and those signature tiger-gold irises. If I'd been reborn as a monster, I might've ended up a black tiger just like her.
Come to think of it, in that dream, I was a black tiger.
I had no clue why I'd dreamed that, but the black tiger must've left the deepest psychological scar on me.
After all, it was the first prey I ever failed to hunt... and the first thing to actually hurt me.
Is this what they mean by 'fight a lot, bond a lot'?
I'd love to hunt the big one down someday, but since it left Cami behind and headed back to the Titan Mountains, crossing paths again won't be easy.
Playing with Cami will have to do as a substitute.
"Speaking of which..."
Thinking about the black tiger jogged a memory from the past.
"There was that one time it came all the way down to the village."
"Really?"
"Yeah, ages ago. Around when I first challenged it and got hurt. Almost ten years back."
Looking back now, I was a lunatic kid at ten for taking it on, but that black tiger was just as nuts for going all-out against a child. Sure, I struck first, but c'mon—cut a ten-year-old some slack?
"Pretty sure it came down specifically gunning for me."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It was, but it just checked me out and turned right back around."
According to Helen, it wasn't your average monster.
She didn't spill all the details, but it had to be something like a spirit beast or divine creature.
"There was this girl about my age who saw it with me back then."
"A girl?"
"Yeah. My eyes were messed up at the time, so I couldn't see straight and never got a good look at her."
"Want to track her down?"
"Yeah. I'd love to thank her properly—I never got the chance back then."
"Thank her?"
"Yep. She basically saved my life."
Blind as I was, all I could think about was charging the black tiger.
If she hadn't stopped me, I'd probably have gotten wrecked in that reckless stunt... or worse.
"Thanks to her, I got to build this family."
"Maybe she's still in the village?"
"I looked, but no dice. Guess she moved away or something."
"Hee hee, don't get too down about it. If it's meant to be, you'll cross paths again."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Nyaang!"
Chloe's words perked me right up.
But Cami, why are you staring at me like I'm some pitiful idiot?
...
Helen showed up in Lugeron Village about a month later than planned, under the blazing summer sun.
She apologized the second she laid eyes on me.
"Sian! I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. Delays happen."
"Still as steadfast as ever, Hero."
"And you're still as cheeky. Anyway, good to see you. Everyone doing okay?"
Helen and Camille didn't answer my question.
What? Did something really go down?
"Um, Sian..."
"What is it? Bad news?"
"I-I'm sorry."
"I said it's cool. People get held up."
"It's not just the delay, actually..."
Helen fidgeted with her fingers, gauging my reaction, then mumbled like a scolded mouse.
"The Holy Kingdom can't take you in."
"Out of nowhere?"
...
The reason Helen had promised Sian three months' grace period was simple: this wasn't a decision she could make solo.
God's blood kin.
Especially the Titan God Tribe, hailed as the strongest among them—it demanded consensus from the entire Holy Kingdom.
Thus, the twelve apostles scattered across the continent, along with their attendant knights, all gathered in the Holy Kingdom.
"This is the first time we've all assembled like this, right?"
The fourth apostle, Allie, devotee of the Goddess of Magic and Greed Freyja, remarked as she surveyed the group.
"Lady Allie, we all gathered for the emperor's coronation."
"Clark wasn't there then."
"Yes, I meant to attend, but those 'Forgotten Ones' stirred up trouble, so I had to march out."
"I see."
"By the way, Bonita, how's the east holding up? The World Tree doing okay?"
The seventh apostle, Bonita, follower of the Goddess of Nature and Harmony Flora, was the sole elf among them.
"Ugh... don't get me started. Those damn 'Freedom Independence' bastards make my blood boil. Boil."
"Rough times, huh."
Allie, with her signature wild black hair, turned to the fidgety dwarf beside her.
"Pleta, you're an apostle now. Be as bold as your mother, the previous one."
"S-Sorry. I'll do better."
"Good. Don't stress too much—come to your big sis if you need anything."
"Then... when can I get back to work? I've got a mountain of backlog..."
"Sorry, just hang tight. This meeting won't drag on."
The fifth apostle, Pleta, servant of the Goddess of Earth and Progress Inanna, was—like Bonita—the only dwarf among the apostles. Dwarves were the busiest race in the Holy Kingdom thanks to their craftsmanship, and as their de facto leader, Pleta was swamped above all.
She'd probably worked right up until the meeting started and would bolt back to duties the moment it ended.
Allie swallowed a pang of sympathy for her junior. She'd love to be a proper mentor, but as master of one of the Towers of Wisdom, she was slammed too.
As Allie fell silent, the conference room quieted—then the Pope finally appeared.
"Sorry for the wait. Let's begin."
A nymph of unparalleled beauty even among her kind.
The Holy Kingdom's most revered figure took charge of the proceedings.
"As you all know from the telepathic brief, this meeting concerns the young Titan God Tribe member in the west."
"No need to deliberate. We obviously bring him here."
The third apostle, Iris, follower of the Goddess of War and Wisdom Athena, stated her position boldly from the outset.
"With the gods absent from the mortal realm, he's the last of their bloodline. As their servants, we must protect him until he becomes a true god."
"Iris, blind loyalty to duty is admirable, but how about a touch more caution?"
"What, Senior Allie?"
"The Titan God Tribe has always been the gods' predators. They're a different breed from the goddesses we serve."
Allie illustrated with a magical projection.
"He could succumb to instinct and devour us. Bringing a young Titan into the Holy Kingdom without gauging his nature? It's like inviting a wolf into the sheepfold."
"Senior makes a fair point."
Iris glanced at the first apostle Clark and the second, Helen.
"But we should hear from those who've seen him firsthand before deciding."
"Agreed. Better than clashing opinions pointlessly."
All eyes turned to Clark and Helen.
Helen, silent until now, finally spoke.
"Sian has the unyielding spirit unique to a reincarnator and the primal ferocity of a Titan. He burns with the intensity of a starving beast. However..."
Trusting what she'd witnessed and the goddesses' choices, Helen continued.
"He's suppressing his Titan instincts. His family seems to be the anchor holding back his wild side."
"No wonder Hestia chose him."
The Pope nodded at her explanation. Deep down, he held high hopes for the young Titan Sian.
No hero had ever been chosen by Hestia before.
"Then inviting him here shouldn't be an issue, right?"
"If Helen vouches for him like that, we have to trust it."
The meeting tipped toward accepting Sian into the Holy Kingdom. Nymphs had descended to guide humanity toward prosperity. Leading the mortal realm's sole god down the right path justified any sacrifice.
But
"Apologies for interrupting the meeting."
"What is it, Sir Peredil?"
"The Imperial Black Heaven Knight Order has an agenda for His Holiness."
Regrettably, the continent's mightiest power had now entered the fray.