Chapter 13: Goddess(2)
Chapter 13: Goddess(2)
It was after I punched in the password on the seal's door lock in the dark forest.
A space of pure white appeared before my eyes. The White Witch's bedroom. Seriously, living alone in a place like this for a hundred years would probably give anyone a mental illness they didn't have before.
I looked around for the White Witch, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Where are you?"
Ah, the bed has a lace canopy. Is she sleeping again? Seems like she's sleeping every time I see her.
I approached the bed and pulled back the white lace. As expected, the White Witch was asleep under a white blanket.
"Hey. No. Lady Witch. Wake up."
"Mmm... mmm..."
I was hoping she'd be sleeping naked like last time, but maybe because I said I'd be back, she was wearing pajamas.
"I said, wake up."
Only then did the White Witch slowly begin to open her sleepy eyes. God, she really is ridiculously beautiful.
As a man with a healthy sex drive, I couldn't help but have lewd thoughts, especially after what happened a while back.
"...To think you actually came back. I had my doubts."
"I told you I would."
"Even so, to come and go from my Multi-dimensional Intrinsic Barrier as if it were your own home... I cannot help but be surprised."
'Multi-dimensional Intrinsic Barrier, my ass... It's just a damn door lock, but she really loves to act all high and mighty.'
It didn't matter. Time was still passing, and the night was only getting deeper. Considering I needed to sleep too, the night wasn't that long.
"Teach me magic, as you promised. We stopped in the middle of it last time."
"...I shall."
The White Witch finally sat up in bed. As she lowered the blanket she'd been under, her voluptuous figure made me swallow dryly.
Having seen her completely naked, that image kept flashing before my eyes.
The White Witch had a sensuality that couldn't be hidden even by her clothes.
"..."
"..."
"Wh-what are you staring at?"
"Oh. Nothing..."
"Don't you dare get any funny ideas!"
"...Don't worry about it."
"..."
Maybe it was because of the bed, but even though we weren't doing anything, the atmosphere felt a little racy. Then again, the White Witch's body was just too damn sexy to begin with.
"I don't have much time today, either. So let's get started, please. Lady Witch."
"Speaking informally one moment and formally the next... Are you mocking me?"
"Of course not. You're my great benefactor, teaching me magic. You deserve my respect."
It was only right to show respect when being taught something. Even if I had to curse her out later when she inevitably screwed up the teaching.
The White Witch got out of bed and threw a robe on over her pajamas.
"Since you say you are short on time, we shall begin at once. I tested your aptitude for mana with the orb before. I confirmed your talent then. Honestly, even considering your advanced age, you possess more than enough talent to learn magic."
This is the power of a natural-born prodigy, something that transcends the injustices of this world!
"You passed the first stage, sensing mana, with ease. That is typically the most intuitive part, the one that requires the most talent. So, what do you think is the next step?"
"...Don't ask me, just get on with it, Lady Witch. For fuck's sake."
She flinched.
"Ahem. I shall forgive your insolence with my magnanimity... In any case, the next step is to accumulate mana. Now that you can sense it, must you not create a store of mana that you can wield?"
"Accumulate mana? Where?"
"In your heart. Mana can be stored in the heart through breathing. Mana resides in all of the atmosphere. You will make the unowned mana your own. That is the foundation of magic."
Storing mana in the heart through breathing. It wasn't some complex, difficult method, but a surprisingly simple one.
"Do not become complacent just because you have a little talent. The path of a mage is not so easy that it can be walked with talent alone. The path of truth and achievement..."
I ignored the White Witch as she started to nag and began to focus. Store the mana from the atmosphere in my heart.
I'd never even considered that there was mana in the air. In a world where mages themselves were a rare sight, how could I have imagined mana would be so common?
I closed my eyes, focusing on my inner world. This inner world was an image I had created myself. For some reason, whenever I thought about magic, the concept of an "inner world" just naturally came to mind.
It was a world that looked exactly like the reality I was in, yet I could feel something that should have been invisible.
No, now I knew that the invisible something was mana. And once I knew that, the task was simple.
Focus.
I took a deep breath. In my inner world, I could feel—I could see—the blue particles in the air entering my body with my breath.
In my inner world, I could see myself in the third person.
I stored the inhaled mana in my heart. Magic was incredibly systematic, but at the same time, it was also intuitive.
It had to be. There was no way to perfectly express the sensation of moving and feeling mana with numbers or words.
I felt like I could finally understand what the White Witch had said before. Just as you can't explain how your hands and feet move, you can't explain how to move mana. She was spot on.
This was a matter of whether you were born with the sense for it or not.
And I was clearly the former.
I could feel the small, grain-like mana traveling through a channel separate from my blood vessels and reaching my heart.
With every pass, mana was accumulating in my heart. I could tell.
'Could it be... he did it in one try...'
The White Witch narrowed her eyes as she watched Kerry. She was an archmage. Although she couldn't use magic in this space, she wasn't so inept that she couldn't perceive what was happening inside Kerry's body.
'Such talent, even at his age.'
Could she do it if she were asked to try? To live to the age of twenty-seven as a complete novice to magic, only to grasp it after a single explanation.
The White Witch, who had never once doubted her own talent, couldn't be certain she could match the talent Kerry was displaying now.
After a while of steadily breathing and accumulating mana, Kerry opened his eyes.
"Am I doing this right?"
"...You are."
'You monster.'
It wasn't that the White Witch had taught Kerry an easy method. It was simply the standard one.
But if she praised his talent too much from the start, he would become arrogant. Arrogance dulls one's ability to learn. So, the White Witch said nothing more.
'No. There's no reason for me to be so serious for this man's sake. He's the man who barged into my space without permission... and subjected me to such immense humiliation.'
Even if that's what she thought, she had no choice right now but to teach him magic.
"At this rate, I should be able to train in my spare time."
"..."
"Let's call it a day here. I need to get some sleep, too. Thank you, Lady Witch."
"...Very well."
Just as he had arrived, Kerry vanished without a sound. He had gone back outside. Left alone, the White Witch muttered to herself.
"Perhaps a mage who will one day stand beside my name in history is about to be born."
*
I returned after my crash course with the White Witch. The results weren't bad. If it was training I could do just by breathing, I could do it anytime, anywhere.
The night watch must have changed shifts, because someone new was on duty. I just mumbled something about going to the bathroom, and they didn't ask any questions.
As I was about to head back to my carriage, I saw the silhouette of a person in the darkness. What the?
"Natasha?"
"H-Husband?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I-It's, ah, nothing! Hyaang!"
Natasha let out a strange noise, her face turning bright red as she ran away. Could it be that she hasn't forgotten about this guy of mine? I guess he is intense enough that you can't forget him after one taste.
I got into the carriage and lay down. Lina was probably sleeping soundly in the carriage the priests had been using.
'Tomorrow, I'm finally meeting that bitch of a goddess again after two years.'
What should I do to her to finally feel satisfied? Should I throw a tantrum and demand she send me back to the modern world, screw this fantasy world?
More importantly, if that goddess had any conscience, she shouldn't have treated me so poorly.
First, I should calmly organize the things I need to ask her. I had to make sure I didn't miss a single point.
Kerry drifted off to sleep while thinking. The next morning, they finally arrived at the temple.
"Thank you all for your hard work in getting here. This is the Goddess's Third Branch Temple."
A rather impressive-looking temple came into view. It looked like the temples I'd seen in the Greek and Roman mythology comic books I read as a kid.
"If you'll wait just a moment, a priest will be here to guide you."
The priestess, Tina, who had brought us here, said this and bowed. As if to say her duty ended here.
For some reason, she stared at me intently at the end, but I had no idea why.
As we waited, a guide came just as Tina had said, and we were able to put our things away.
"In a short while, you will have an audience with the High Priestess."
An audience, huh. They really love their fancy words. Lina waited with a rather serious expression, but I just wanted to get my items and go home. After I'd given the goddess a piece of my mind, of course.
"Preparations for the audience with the High Priestess are complete. This way, please."
Following the priest's guidance, we walked deeper into the temple. I could see elegant stone pillars and torches placed here and there.
Even though it was daytime, the interior was dark, illuminated only by the torches. Does the goddess have a thing for gloomy places?
"Welcome to the Goddess's temple. Chosen hero and friends of the hero."
A woman who appeared to be the High Priestess greeted us with a beautiful voice. At the words "chosen hero," Natasha looked a little flustered before glancing at Lina and nodding.
'Lina doesn't seem to care if people find out she's the hero. I guess it's not like they're finding out she's a regressor.'
The High Priestess was a young and beautiful woman. Rumor had it that she could communicate directly with the goddess and even be possessed by her.
I was worried it might just be some showmanship, her pretending to be possessed, but since I'd seen the goddess in person, I'd be able to tell right away.
'I've never forgotten that stupid goddess's face or the way she talks.'
The High Priestess began a barrage of formal, stiff questions. Our good little regressor answered each one politely, but I was feeling the urge to just shout at her to bring out the goddess already.
"Ah... I can hear the Goddess's voice now. The Goddess welcomes you."
It was then that the High Priestess's body began to glow brightly. The light was vivid in the dim temple.
'So... it wasn't just a scam. No, this could still be a trick using some kind of magic. I won't judge until I see for myself.'
The intense light emanating from the High Priestess's body subsided. She wore a strange smile, different from before, and spoke.
"You have come at last, my children."
'That tone and that voice... It's her. This is the bitch who sent me to this world.'
"Lina Knightly. I have waited for your arrival with great anticipation. Did my children cause you any discomfort?"
Lina knelt on one knee, showing her respect for the goddess. Natasha and the old woman, being tribeswomen, glanced around before hesitantly following Lina's lead.
I didn't kneel. I wasn't in the mood. The priests came to my side and whispered for me to kneel, but I completely ignored them.
"It is alright, my children. More importantly, I wish to continue our conversation."
'She tried to exclude me when she sent the invitation, and now she's pretending not to know me? Hah.'
"The rest of you may rise as well. I did not call you here to receive stiff formalities."
The goddess, trying to maintain her dignity in front of the priests. I knew better than anyone that it was a mask that would fall off with the slightest tap.
"The reason I have called you is none other than this. Hero. I have a favor to ask of you. As you know, a great evil lurks upon the continent."
Lina nodded. She seemed to know all too well.
"You know the destiny given to you as the hero, even if I do not say it. It is because you possess that destiny that I have chosen you."
"..."
Unlike the benevolent goddess, Lina remained silent. It wasn't quite a hostile feeling, but her discomfort was palpable.
She wasn't dragged to this world like me; she received the gift of regression. I didn't understand why Lina wouldn't be pleased with the goddess.
"Lina Knightly. I understand that you are not pleased with me."
"..."
I also didn't understand why the goddess was admitting that. There was clearly something between them that I didn't know about. Most likely something that happened in her past life.
"Yes. You are still angry with me. It seems I was the only one who longed for this meeting. But it is alright. I understand. The reason you came to see me despite that must be for my gift. You need not worry. You will not be disappointed by my gift."
The goddess, borrowing the High Priestess's form, brought her hands together. A brilliant light shone from within them, forming the shape of a ring.
'Is that the goddess's gift...?'
It was a simple-looking ring. It was ridiculous to be using the Goddess's Eye to check an item given by the goddess herself, but I was curious, so I decided to look at its information.
[Access restricted. Designated as a Class-1 Security Medium.]
'Ah. She blocked it...'
Just then, the goddess looked at me and smiled faintly. It was a smug smile. Soon, she looked back at Lina and spoke.
"That ring will protect you from evil and darkness."
'If it's so good, give me one too... you bitch.'
"It also has the power to detect evil, so use it well."
"Thank you, Goddess."
I couldn't check its grade with the Goddess's Eye, but if the goddess was boasting about it like that, it was definitely a considerable item.
'The favoritism is insane. I really can't take this anymore.'
Kerry took a deep breath.
"Hey."
"..."
"Hey!"
Kerry was clearly looking at the goddess as he spoke. The goddess, flustered by his attitude, replied.
"Are... are you speaking to me?"
"Who the hell else would I be talking to?"
The priests, who had been frozen in shock, began to shout.
"Insolence! How dare you be so rude to the Goddess!"
"Even for a companion of the hero, that is disrespectful language!"
The surrounding priests were in an uproar, but Kerry was so pissed off he couldn't even hear them.
"You've seen me before, haven't you?"
"..."
"Companion of the hero. Are you not mistaken about something? I do not know you."
In that moment, the thread of Kerry's reason snapped.