Chapter 14: Goddess(3)
Chapter 14: Goddess(3)
“Companion of the hero. You must be… mistaken about something. I do not know you.”
A faint smile played on the goddess’s lips as she spoke with such confidence.
It was a subtle, self-assured smile, yet at the same time, it was a sneer.
“You will show the goddess the proper respect.”
Seeing that mocking smile linger on her face, I was certain.
She’s blatantly pretending not to know me. I have no idea why… no. Is that it? When she thinks about what happened between us, her conscience must be pricking her.
My first meeting with the goddess could only be described as utterly absurd.
I had been on Earth, ecstatic at the thought of eating some fried chicken. Then, suddenly, my surroundings dissolved into a pure white space.
And before my eyes stood a woman with an air of mystery so profound it was hard to put into words.
A goddess.
She was a woman anyone would immediately recognize as a goddess. Even my pure, untainted self, not yet sullied by the filthy absurdities of this other world, couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
[Your soul is truly… captivating.]
“…”
Dressed in a fluttering white cotton garment, the goddess was incredibly sensual. It wasn’t just her figure; it was the fact that she was wearing nothing more than a single piece of white cloth draped around her body.
To be specific, the goddess was wearing no bra and no panties.
It was so revealing that, depending on the angle, you could see everything. My eyes were drawn to her against my will.
Shit. That’s when it all started to go wrong. The goddess’s expression began to transform into that of a woman who had been grievously wronged.
[How… how could you have such lewd thoughts! You filthy thing! You disgusting bastard!]
[Huh?]
[Did you think I wouldn’t see the filth in your mind? Such obscene and shameful fantasies, I can hardly bring myself to speak of them!]
[N-no. It’s not like I’m doing this on purpose… I’m sorry if I offended you, Goddess. I apologize.]
[Eek… You still haven’t stopped! Ah! Will you not cease your disgusting, lustful thoughts at once?]
[I’m really not doing it on purpose. Besides, you’re the one dressed so provocatively… Wait a minute. Wouldn’t it be easier if you just didn’t read my mind? This is an irresistible force of nature for any man with balls.]
[I have no desire to hear your pathetic excuses! You vile sex offender!]
[S-sex offender? I’ve been listening to you, but don’t you think calling me a sex offender is going too far? I’m really not that kind of person! But you’re wearing clothes that show everything, and you’re reading my mind, so I can’t help it… Whoa! Wait! What’s this under my feet! What’s with the magic circle! You crazy bitch! No, Goddess! Wait, wait!!!]
That was the beginning of my life in another world. Without a single word of explanation from the goddess, I was dropped into a medieval fantasy world.
The villagers chased me out for wearing strange clothes, and I survived by begging like a pauper.
Then, by some stroke of luck, I made a connection and managed to become an adventurer.
The one responsible for the tumultuous life I’d led for the past two years was that very goddess.
For the record, the Goddess’s Eye was an ability I was lucky enough to discover after I started working as an adventurer.
I suppose I should be grateful she gave me an ability at all, but if I had received even a brief explanation of how to use it or about this world, I wouldn’t have suffered nearly as much.
The being before me was, in every sense of the word, Kerry’s mortal enemy.
“Did you recall some unpleasant memory? Phu-hup.”
The goddess was now openly mocking me. Rage began to boil inside me. All the hardships I had endured for two years flashed through my mind.
The memory of meeting my first goblin and almost being raped. The memory of being on the verge of starvation, only to have even my clothes stolen.
The barbaric and unbearable hazing I received when I first started as an adventurer.
Just thinking about them made me tremble with fury.
And it was all because of that bitch. Kerry strode toward the goddess. Sensing his menacing aura, the priests tensed and moved to block his path.
But it was useless. They couldn’t stop me. Right now, no one could.
Kerry looked the goddess straight in the eye and spoke.
“May I offer a single word to the esteemed Goddess?”
The priests shouted at me to stay away from the goddess, blocking my path and refusing. But the goddess, with a leisurely smile, gave her permission.
“I shall allow it.”
Kerry suppressed the seething hatred and fury rising within him. He had never felt such an intense rage before.
His lips slowly parted, and a voice thick with deep-seated resentment escaped.
“Yo mama…”
“?”
The priests couldn’t understand what Kerry was saying. The scholarly and high-dimensional phrase “yo mama” did not exist in this world. Not even the most powerful translation skill could interpret it.
“Yo mama!!!”
The priests, now on high alert, shouted.
“What is this man saying?”
“Don’t let your guard down! We don’t know what he might do to the Goddess!”
Though no one else understood Kerry’s words, the goddess who had brought him from the modern world seemed to grasp their meaning perfectly.
It was certain, as her face was on the verge of contorting in shock.
“Yo mama! You fucking bitch!!!”
Kerry’s lion-like roar echoed through the temple. That single shout, filled with two years of resentment, reverberated off the walls, creating a thunderous echo.
The priests, still utterly bewildered, yelled.
“You fiend! What is this nonsense? Show the Goddess respect at once!”
“W-wait, something is wrong with the Goddess!”
“Goddess! Are you alright?”
The goddess’s expression twisted in horror. Her legs trembled, and she collapsed to the floor.
She muttered with a dazed look on her face.
“The… The Goddess of the Earth… my mother, Gaia… is a… a fucking bitch? Oh… Gaia…”
It was not long after Kerry’s roar. The goddess, deeply shocked, released her possession and vanished.
After she disappeared without a word, the temple erupted into chaos. The high priest and the other priests were in an uproar, shouting about impiety and blasphemy.
The only reason I made it out of there safely was because Tina, the priestess who had brought us here, offered an excuse that wasn’t quite an excuse.
[They are guests invited by the Goddess herself. I do not know what was said, but we must not harm them rashly. It is right to wait until we receive another revelation from the Goddess.]
Of course, the goddess had told her to just let us go. She couldn’t very well cast me out now that I was a companion of the hero. She was already on bad terms with Lina, so she had no other choice.
Serves you right, you goddess bitch.
As I chuckled to myself on the way back, Lina shook her head.
She stared blankly out the window for a moment before suddenly asking.
“What did that mean?”
“What did what mean?”
“Th-that thing you shouted at the goddess. It sounded a bit… vulgar…”
For the sake of my image, it was best not to mention I had insulted her mother.
“Ah, that. It’s nothing special. It’s a chant from my homeland used to drive away evil spirits.”
“A chant to drive away evil spirits? How powerful must it be to affect a goddess…”
“…”
Lina praised me, saying it was quite impressive, but I just felt embarrassed.
She didn’t seem to mind that I had antagonized the goddess. It wasn’t as if Lina was fond of the Goddess Elena in the first place.
That feels like a weight off my chest that’s been there for ten years.
The scenery passing by outside the speeding carriage was beautiful. This world wasn’t so bad to live in after all.
As if remembering something, Lina suddenly began to rummage through her bag.
It was the bag containing the promised gift from the temple.
A gift packed by the cute priests who had no idea I’d just insulted their goddess’s mother.
They’d probably never know. If the Goddess Elena had any sense of shame, she wouldn’t dare reveal what I’d said.
“I will be keeping the Goddess’s Ring, but… I’ll give these to you all.”
“!”
Inside the bag Lina handed over were high-grade holy water, high-grade healing potions, and various other miscellaneous gifts.
[High-grade Holy Water]
[Summary – Holy water containing the blessing of the Goddess Elena. Can drive out demonic energy. One can gain divine power just by drinking it. Divine Power +5]
[High-grade Healing Potion]
[Summary – A potion capable of healing serious injuries.]
“Oh, no… we haven’t done anything. I don’t know if we can accept this.”
Playing it off while refusing once is a classic Korean move. The grandmother, who had been about to take the gift without a second thought, cleared her throat at my words.
“You all came to the temple with me, did you not? And this is less a gift for me alone and more a gift for all of us. You are deserving of it. Besides, the ring alone is more than enough for me.”
“…If you put it that way, then we’ll accept it gratefully.”
I glanced at Natasha and the grandmother. Neither of them seemed to know the value of these items. It made sense, given they’d lived their entire lives in the forest.
But how could I trick them with the regressor watching me with her sharp eyes? To be honest, I’d grown a little fond of Natasha and her grandmother, so I didn’t want to deceive them anyway.
Should I exchange it for money and split it evenly? I wouldn’t take that goddess bitch’s divine power even if she paid me.
Just then, Natasha stared at me intently and said.
“I don’t need it, husband. You can have it all.”
“Natasha…”
Honestly, I was a little touched. Even if she didn’t know the value of high-grade holy water, she was sharp enough to know she’d received something precious.
I looked over at the grandmother, and she waved her arms as if to say I should take it too.
“Natasha, I was really moved for a second…”
“When we get married, what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours, right? So, it doesn’t matter.”
“Let’s convert it to cash later and divide it precisely three ways.”
At my words, Lina let out a small chuckle.
“We’ve arrived at the village you mentioned.”
Tina, who had escorted us from the temple, opened the door and spoke. Lina had said we needed to continue tracking the pig and the skeleton, so we had come to a village she predicted was on their route. Since it was the regressor’s knowledge, it was bound to be accurate.
“Thank you for seeing us here, Priestess Tina.”
I was just offering a formal pleasantry. Just then, Priestess Tina hesitated before suddenly taking my hand.
“Ah! I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me…”
“Is there something you wanted to say?”
“Well…”
Tina’s face turned red. Noticing the strange atmosphere, Natasha quickly rushed over and hugged my arm. Her soft, supple breasts felt heavy against me.
Tina hesitated for a long while before speaking in a disappointed voice.
“W-will… we be able to meet again?”
The expression on her face as she asked was identical to that of a young girl falling in love for the first time. The world is just this absurd.
Back in Korea, I had to go through hell and back just to get a date, but after becoming an extremely handsome man in this world, a woman I’d barely spoken to was blushing at me.
But since this absurdity was working in my favor, I couldn’t help but be happy.
“If fate allows it, we’ll meet again.”
I was indirectly telling her I had no intention of actively seeking her out, but Tina seemed to take it differently. Her face, already like a ripe persimmon, turned an even deeper shade of red.
So this is why everyone goes on about looks.
“…Husband. Are you cheating on me right in front of my eyes?”
“Natasha, I’m not your husband, and isn’t it obvious to anyone that I’m not cheating?”
While Natasha and I were bickering, the grandmother and Lina had unusually serious expressions.
As I got closer, I could see the gravity on Lina’s face.
The Goddess’s Ring on Lina’s finger.
It was emitting a blue light.
“The ring the goddess gave me is glowing…”
It was the ring that supposedly had the ability to track demonic energy.
“There is demonic energy here. There’s a high probability it’s the skeleton and the pig.”
Natasha’s eyes widened. The enemies of her tribe might be here.
“Where are they! Where are those bastards?”
“Natasha, calm down a little.”
“Ah… Yes! Husband. I wasn’t getting excited… I won’t make the same mistake as last time.”
Lina nodded. With Kerry by her side, Natasha was controllable.
In her past life, she had been an uncontrollable companion known as the Red Madwoman.
The fact that the Red Madwoman was now as docile as a lamb was all thanks to Kerry.
“The ring from the goddess only tells us that demonic energy is nearby. I don’t know the exact location. There’s a high chance the ones here are the skeleton and the pig, but it might not be them.”
The party nodded at Lina’s calm explanation.
“It seems we have no choice but to split up and search. It might be a little dangerous, but if we delay, the villagers’ lives will be at risk, and there’s a chance our enemies will grow stronger.”
Lina began to divide the team. At first, she suggested she would be Team 1 by herself, and the rest of us would be Team 2, but I refused.
With my years of experience as an adventurer, I knew how to take care of myself. Natasha and the grandmother would be Team 2. I would search the village alone as Team 3.
“This is for expenses. Use it if you need it for the investigation.”
Lina handed me a gold coin. A whole gold piece. All hail the generous regressor!
“You have to be careful, husband!”
“Be careful, Kerry.”
“Yes. You two be careful as well, Natasha and Grandmother. You too, Lina!”
“Right. Don’t worry about me.”
After we split into three teams, Kerry was left alone to wander the village. It was a fairly large place.
I have to be the first one to find the skeleton and the pig.
Who was the most useless person in the party right now? Honestly, it was me. Natasha was a companion from the regressor’s past life with a guaranteed bright future.
The grandmother had no combat ability, but she was said to have been the great shaman of her tribe. I hadn’t known it, but apparently, she was the one who had blocked the skeleton’s curse in our last battle.
I, on the other hand, had no clear position. My combat skills were mediocre, and I didn’t have the ability to provide support by blocking curses like the grandmother.
At least until my magic skills mature, I’m not qualified to be carried by the regressor.
Until I could fully function as a mage, I had to appeal my usefulness to the regressor in other ways.
A situation like this, for example, wasn’t bad for me.
Finding enemies in hiding doesn’t require combat skills.
Having been kicked around this world until I was worn out, I knew exactly where information gathered best.