Where the Hell Am I?!
Where the hell am I?!
Let me sort out the situation. Ostis crossed over to the North Continent for revenge against me. Then he used the purple crystal given to him by those black mages who approached him to summon Azazel. As a result, Azazel descended upon Brad City. Analyzing it coldly based on my lifelong streak of getting screwed over, I judged that he was gunning for me. To minimize the damage spreading to others even a little, I headed straight for Azazel's location.
As expected, Azazel had descended targeting me, and he said some big shot in Hell was looking for me. In that desperate moment, Vanessa appeared and unleashed her true power. She was crushing Azazel with primordial regression when, in his final desperate struggle right before vanishing, he grabbed me with his tail and... well, I got dragged along with him to some unknown place? Or something like that.
And the result...
"Where the hell am I?!"
...Yeah! I'm all alone in some massive underground cavern—or maybe ruins or a temple—that I have no clue about!
At least Azazel seems to have vanished? Or maybe he got sent somewhere else? I've been wandering around for nearly 30 minutes, poking into every nook and cranny, but I have zero idea where this place is, where the exit is, or even the entrance! No map, no nothing. Hell, I don't even know where these ruins are located or what they're for. No way I can find my way out!
"If that's how it is, time for the last resort!"
I pulled out a coin.
"Coin toss!"
Ting!
"Heads, I go forward! Tails, I go back!"
Thud!
...Finding my way in a maze? How the hell should I know?! Traps? Who cares! When in doubt, brute force straight ahead is the way to go! The only question is forward or backward?!
The coin in my hand flips up and lands on the back of my hand. I carefully brush aside the covering hand to check the result.
"Heads... alright! Let's gooo!"
Thud thud thud thud!
Only forward! If I don't know where I am, head outside! I'll run to the ends of the earth!
That's right! A man doesn't retreat!
Thud thud thud thud!
Crunch!
"Huh?"
Crunch crunch crunch!
"Wha—?!"
Rumble rumble rumble!
I steeled my resolve and charged ahead! My momentum was great, but these ruins... how rundown are they? Or was it shoddy construction? The floor gave way, and I plummeted deeper underground!
Whiiiish!
"Goddamn iiiit!!~~"
Like I always say, the world only screws me over!
...
...
...
Pffft...
"Ugh... damn it... my life's one big string of crap. But seriously, what the hell is this place? The upper level looked like a temple carved into a cave, but down here, trees are holding up the ceiling instead of pillars..."
No light anywhere, yet countless massive trees propped up the ceiling in place of stone pillars, and flowers bloomed all around. An impossible sight by any normal logic. But considering this world's got demons and gods, it was best to just roll with it.
I headed forward again (guessing the direction I'd seen before falling) in search of an exit and soon spotted what looked like one—a direction where light leaked in. I sprinted full speed toward it.
I arrived at yet another massive temple interior. Ancient marble pillars covered in patches of moss stretched out endlessly, like something straight out of a Greek ruin.
"Whoa~ Never been to Greece in my past life, but I didn't expect to see such a grand temple here... Hm?"
As I slowly scanned the temple interior, I spotted someone in the central hall.
A little girl floating there, bound by iron chains around her arms and legs!
Age-wise, maybe 6? Generous guess, 8? Dressed in tattered rags, she had silvery hair that glowed faintly down to her waist, and pointed ears like an elf. Or maybe she is an elf? But the moment I saw her, I couldn't shake this weird sense of unfamiliarity.
"Vanessa?"
...
"Damn it! She's no prisoner or sacrifice... whatever, screw it!"
I don't know what this ruin is or what it's for, but leaving a kid tied up like that is just wrong. Scenes like this are usually seals or sacrifices, and outsiders meddling tends to cause problems. But no matter how I looked at it, this girl was the spitting image of Vanessa!
Whatever the reason, if she looks like someone I know, I can't just leave her. So I channeled aura into my spare shortsword and slashed at the chains binding her.
Shiiiing!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Thud!
"Whoops! Why the hell's a kid doing here?"
...I freed her first, but I still have no clue where this is. Guess I'll carry her on my back and go.
...
...
...
Thump!
"It's starting again, Godfather..."
After Actor vanished somewhere, at the same moment, Vanessa sensed something and gazed wistfully into the far, far distance—not anywhere in this world, but into distant time itself.
How many times had she repeated this? She'd rewound countless timelines to save him, yet the outcome never changed.
Azazel's descent this time hadn't happened in the original timeline. For a mere human to drag one of Hell's top 10 demon lords into action was absurd to begin with. Kidnapping a human could've been handled by some low-rank demon from the 600s out of the 666.
It should've been that way, but in this timeline, a Seven Deadly Sins demon lord had descended.
Whoosh!
"Lucifer... so you're finally gunning for the Godfather's life?! Like that time!"
Crunch!
Others couldn't see the timelines, but if it was Lucifer... if it was Lucifer who knew the past, it was highly possible.
She wanted nothing more than to storm Hell right now and end him herself, but she wasn't fully revived yet. Her body was essentially an elf reincarnation, and even as a long-lived race, it was still mortal flesh—unable to fully contain her existence.
In her current state, she could hold her own against other high demons or lords, but only here, on this land. In her temple. Full revival would let her rule Hell again easily, but...
'Then these feelings and this heart would fade. Everything about the Godfather and the family...'
Mortal flesh had awakened faint emotions in an eternal being, more intensely than ever. She didn't want to lose this heart now.
"Godfather... please be safe in this timeline... I'll always be waiting."
Her gaze drifted back to the distant horizon.
...
...
...
"Whiiiine~"
"Why're you sulking again?! Nooo!"
"Puuuuh!"
...After rescuing the little elf girl and luckily escaping the ruins, we ran blindly forward, dodging monsters and beasts in the forest until we finally reached a city with people.
Before entering, the kid woke up and I asked who she was or why she was there, but she just tilted her head side to side or shook it no, clueless.
Couldn't leave her alone, so I brought her along. Near the city, I donned the face skin of a handsome(?) late-20s hunter from my collection—the most appealing one—and headed in.
The guard at the checkpoint grilled me endlessly during ID check, so I slipped him a gold coin as a bribe. Big mistake!
'Never seen this gold before? Which kingdom you from?!'
'Huh? No, this is from the North Continent...'
'North Continent? What nonsense? This is the Mars Empire—center of the world, unified currency and all! You a counterfeiter?!'
'No! It's... right! I found it in ancient ruins!'
'Ancient ruins? You an adventurer? Weren't you a hunter just now?!'
'I was hunting, stumbled on ruins, explored 'em! Proof's there—huge ruins right where I said!'
...'Alright, gold seems real, and ancient ruins... scholars'll love that. But you're still suspicious. Gotta check if you're a counterfeiter—come with me to the Adventurer's Federation!'
'This is so unfaaaair!!~~'
'Puuuuh!!~~'
Me and the elf kid got dragged by the guard to the city's Adventurer's Federation. I spilled the ruins' location and info. They weighed the gold on precise scales, bit it, tested with touchstone—every damn check. Finally confirmed it was real gold. Then adventurers they sent verified the massive ruins existed, proving my innocence.
Since I was already there, I hit the exchange counter and swapped my 300 North gold coins 1:1 for 300 Mars coins (local gold unit).
Bought the kid some clothes, basics, jerky, and a backpack with that.
And now...
"Kiddo! I just bought you something yummy, right? Want more already?"
"Ung!"
"I got you candy earlier! Now fruit?!"
Nod! Nod!
"No! You've eaten too much! Keep it up, you'll turn into a pig when you grow up!"
"Puuuung!~~"
..."Sigh~ Kids these days don't listen to adults! Aigoo~ Sudden parenting... this is tough."
"Puu! Puuuuuh!!~~"
"Okay! Okay! Just one apple, got it?"
Nod! Nod!
"Sigh~ Hey, mister! One apple please!"
"Right away~ Freshly picked apples just in!♪"
Am I too soft on real kids? But that cute pout... how can I resist?