The Goddess's Blessing

The Holy Goddess's Blessing (Deodorization) [Time remaining until update completion: 11:50:07]

Thanks to the contractor's defense disguised as a personal attack on Sion, the guards' misunderstanding was cleared up, and the incident with the rampaging Demon of Terror was somehow resolved. That meant no trip to prison. Instead, the disgraceful label of "mad demon" had been slapped on me, but that was actually a good thing. No one would dare mess with a black mage kid who hung around with a mad demon—especially one who'd been properly punished by the goddess herself.

"...You were punished by the goddess?" The contractor stared at me like she'd just seen something absurd.

"That's right. She told me to reflect on my actions and banned me from entering the dungeon for twelve hours."

"Oh...."

Of course, it wasn't a real punishment. I'd just made it sound plausible enough to explain the dungeon access restriction. Then again, maybe it was a real punishment. The operators hated troublemakers, after all. I knew that better than anyone.

"By the way, Crow. Did they seal your powers too, nyang?"

"Hm?"

Sion's question—sharper than a cat's claw—made my heart skip a beat. It wasn't a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power seal (those didn't even exist), but it was true that I'd been weakened.

'Kkachi. Kkachi, respond. Kkachi. Kkachi....'

Ever since the emergency update notice appeared, I'd lost connection with Kkachi, who was basically my controller. I usually cursed the little bastard nonstop, but Kkachi was my lifeline. Creating wings, regenerating wounds, and every other function required giving orders to Kkachi.

You might wonder why I couldn't just control my own body. Before being summoned by the contractor, I'd lived only for death. I had neither the will nor the desire to learn Kkachi's abilities that interfered with everything. How was a human supposed to control every single cell? Did that even make sense? Even if it were possible, someone with a brain smaller than a crow's like mine couldn't do it.

The conclusion was simple: right now, I was a pathetic demon. I could probably have a decent fight with a water flea, or get utterly destroyed in PVP against some nekomimi veteran and end up as three pieces of rice cake.

If only I had a gun right now... Ah, just thinking about it was pissing me off again.

'Maybe I should just tell the truth?'

If it had been anyone else, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would've ignored them. But Sion was one of the rare veterans who'd approached me and the contractor first with genuine kindness. So I decided to tell the truth—well, mostly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the truth, with a little lie mixed in. What counted as truth, anyway? If orange juice had even 0.5% real orange juice in it, people still called it orange juice. If a speck of truth was mixed in, it could be called fact.

"Not sealed, but most of my power has gone dormant."

In my dictionary, "most" meant about 95%.

"Most...? Even the goddess can't completely seal Raven's power, I suppose?"

"I-is that so, nyang? As expected, Crow isn't an ordinary demon, nyang...."

"...?"

The contractor looked thoughtful, stroking her chin as usual, while Sion nodded with a slightly awed expression. Both of them were clearly under some massive misunderstanding, but I chose to stay silent. I was a pufferfish—the more I puffed myself up, the better my chances of survival.

"By the way, Thief."

"You're not even calling me by name now, nyang?"

The contractor didn't call her by name either because it felt awkward. How was I supposed to?

"Thief."

"Tsk."

"So how did you figure out my power had decreased?"

"Nyang? Ah, it's because your smell changed, nyang."

Smell? What was she talking about...

"Ah. You're right. Now that you mention it, Raven doesn't smell like blood anymore."

"...."

Before I knew it, the contractor had started circling me with a serious expression, sniffing the air. She was a perfect drug-sniffing dog.

"Adventurer, it's not just the blood smell, nyang. The stench of burning corpses and sewer smell is gone too, nyang. When I first saw you, it was so disgusting I could barely get close, nyang!"

"Mm. Honestly, I had a bit of trouble too."

"...Is that so? I must have done something rude without realizing it."

I'd been ignoring Sion's nyang-speak, but when even my employer said she'd struggled, I had no choice but to apologize. Had I really smelled that bad? No wonder people looked at me strangely. So it wasn't just my appearance—they were reacting to the smell too(?). I'd thought they were scared because of how I looked. (Error in self-objectification.)

"No matter how much you want to taste fear, you shouldn't be scattering your power around all the time, nyang! Even the demon at the Adventurers' Guild got scolded by the guild master for deliberately spreading barbecue smell everywhere, nyang!"

What kind of nonsense was that? Taste emotions? How did that even work? And what was this about a demon spreading barbecue smell? Was it some kind of Maillard reaction demon?

"Is that story about Regina, by any chance?"

"That's right, nyang! But at least the smell from the receptionist was a delicious one, nyang! It wasn't like Crow's vomit-inducing stench, nyang!"

"...."

This cat seemed to think I'd been deliberately stinking like a skunk just to taste emotions.

'That's not it at all.'

The disappearance of the decades-old stench from me was probably due to that. No, not probably—that was the only explanation. The only feed the operators—no, the goddess—had thrown me after the forced emergency update.

The Goddess's Blessing, that is.

'At least tell me what effect it has, Goddess......'

I still didn't know what power was contained in those five mysterious words. I'd tried calling up every possible term—status window, status, goddess's blessing, and anything else that might trigger the system UI—but nothing appeared. Ah, but I'd just discovered one effect: a rather subtle deodorizing ability. I was seriously starting to suspect I'd received the Blessing of Deodorization rather than the Goddess's Blessing.

Just as the roots of distrust were sprouting inside me, the nutritious conversation between the novice adventurer and the veteran adventurer was drawing to a close.

"Mm. Then I guess we'll have to return to the base today."

"Since the goddess told Crow to reflect, we have no choice but to come back around this time tomorrow, nyang."

"That's a bit of a shame. It's hard to find a kind sherpa like Sion."

"What are you talking about, nyang? Weren't we going together tomorrow, nyang?"

Sion tilted her head in confusion. The contractor's face lit up as she asked carefully.

"Ah. Is that okay? I heard sherpas get paid based on performance. I was worried we might be bothering you for nothing...."

"I already got something more valuable than money from Crow, and I like the cute adventurer too, so it's fine, nyang! This body will help you with all my heart, so tomorrow we'll all prepare properly and conquer the dungeon, nyang!"

With ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those words, Sion thrust both arms toward the sky with overflowing energy. Her golden eyes sparkled with not a single shadow of doubt—only overflowing confidence and solid responsibility.

Her unchanging passionate appearance made me chuckle. She really was an interesting thief.

"Ooh. Thank you, Sion."

"For a thief, you're quite reliable. How about changing jobs to a warrior while you're at it?"

"What kind of job change talk is that, nyang! Enough with the crazy talk and just follow me, nyang. Since I'm in a good mood, this body will specially treat the soft newbies to a meal, nyang! You should praise this body, nyang!"

What? She'd treat us to a meal?

"...!"

"!!!"

A brief silence, then our eyes met. As if we'd planned it, the contractor swallowed dryly before beginning to praise Sion with the highest tension ever.

—Srrrk.

Her two arms, awkwardly raised toward the sky. The sleeves slid down naturally, revealing her skinny, pale arms. For a moment, a crack appeared in Sion's confident smile, but it quietly returned to its place at the awkward voice that followed.

"Ooh. Great Sion! I'll gratefully eat...!"

The only food the contractor had eaten today was a round cookie and a lizard skewer she'd received from the Adventurers' Guild. Maybe that was why her mineral-black eyes were shining so brightly it was hard to believe. She was completely set on getting fed. As expected of my contractor. She had to squeeze everything she could out of a veteran.

"Is she a priestess, not a thief?"

"That's enough praising, nyang. Now let's go, nyang! I'll feed you incredibly delicious food, nyang!"

"Yes!"

"I'm looking forward to it."

Since the contractor looked quite hungry, we decided to head to a restaurant right away. Meals were important, after all. Of course, that didn't apply to me, but if it meant she could eat her fill, that was enough.