Chapter 161: Border(1)
Chapter 161: Border(1)
They say even a hedgehog finds its own child beautiful.
The wisdom of our ancestors is never wrong.
I mean, just look at Elena, that lazy ass goddess, willingly showing up in person.
‘I guess her daughter is important to her, huh?’
A woman stepped out from among the white-robed priests.
The mysterious look in her eyes confirmed it: this had to be the head priestess possessed by Elena.
“Hero… and her companions…”
Elena spoke. At the same moment, Lina dropped to one knee before her, showing proper respect.
Kerry, of course, stood stiffly.
The rest of the party glanced back and forth between Lina and Kerry, unsure of what to do.
‘What’s the big deal? Just do what you want.’
When Kerry gave them a subtle wave, signaling it was fine, the others followed Lina’s lead and knelt.
But Kerry remained standing, rigid as ever.
Seeing Kerry as the only one still on his feet, a vein popped on the goddess’s forehead.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
“Rise, heroes. I have something to say to you.”
Lina and the others finally stood. The goddess spoke with a gentle expression.
“First, I heard that you did not respond to my summons… May I ask why?”
“…”
So that’s what she’s curious about.
Even Lina seemed to feel a little guilty about that and hesitated to speak.
That’s when Kerry stepped forward.
“We are busy, Goddess. Busy fulfilling the hero’s mission, as you well know. Furthermore, we are at a critical moment, about to cross the border. I was the one who made that decision, so if you wish to place blame, blame me.”
If you can, that is.
“…”
Elena stared intently at Kerry.
And at the Saintess standing beside him. The Saintess looked at the goddess with a pleading expression.
Finally, the goddess looked at Lina, her gaze seeming to ask why she had refused the invitation.
Lina subtly avoided her eyes. See? Lina’s on my side.
“…Let us put the past behind us.”
The goddess changed the subject. Why even ask and lose face like that?
“Since you heroes are short on time, I will get straight to the point. I have come to take the Saintess back.”
“Mother!”
The Saintess cried out joyfully, but Kerry stopped her before she could say anything more.
Kerry looked at the goddess with a relaxed expression.
Her demanding the Saintess back so confidently made him expect she had come with some grand preparations.
Lina spoke to the goddess.
“That will be difficult. The Saintess is an essential part of our journey.”
Lina was the first to refuse. Then again, she had repeatedly stressed how necessary the Saintess was.
“I am aware of that, Hero. I know the Saintess is needed for your mission. However, a situation has arisen where I, too, need my daughter.”
“…”
“Of course, I do not intend to simply take my daughter back without offering anything in return. I shall give you someone to take her place. Tina, come forward.”
Tina walked to the front of the priests.
“This child has the makings of a future head priestess. Though she is not one yet, she has the aptitude to connect with me, much like I am borrowing the current head priestess’s body.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Take Tina with you in place of the Saintess. Tina possesses great divine power, but if it is not enough, I will descend at any time to aid you heroes directly.”
“!”
Lina looked tempted. The goddess herself was offering to descend and help whenever needed.
If her words were true, one could certainly expect her help to be even greater than the Saintess’s.
For Lina, who didn’t know the Saintess’s full situation, it was a tempting offer.
And it seemed the goddess was counting on that.
‘You think I’ll let you make that swap? You want me to trade a reliable healer like the Saintess for one of your lackeys?’
And more importantly, her breast milk is delicious! I can’t ever give that up.
Lina appeared to be contemplating the offer.
Frankly, if Lina and the goddess had been on good terms, there would have been no reason to hesitate.
But as Lina looked at the goddess, there was even a hint of hostility in her eyes.
‘Seeing Lina’s reaction, she must have had a really twisted history with that goddess in her past life.’
So this is what they call karma. Serves you right, Goddess.
Just then, the goddess put on a pitiful expression and spoke to the hero.
“Please, Hero. I know you do not like me… but I truly need my daughter.”
“…”
For a moment, Lina’s eyes wavered.
Being the soft-hearted person she was, Lina was swayed by the goddess’s simple plea.
Oh no, you don’t. Who do you think you are, trying to snatch the Saintess away like this?
Just as the weak-hearted Lina was about to open her mouth, Kerry spoke.
“No, Lina.”
“Kerry?”
The vein on the goddess’s forehead throbbed again. She makes such a scary face for someone so pretty.
“Why not, Kerry? If the goddess herself is willing to help us, there’s nothing better…”
Honestly, if he just made the Saintess say she didn’t want to go, the situation would end in an instant.
But there was something Kerry wanted to show the goddess directly.
He wanted to show her just how much influence he had over Lina.
‘You must’ve thought you could just win over Lina and take the Saintess. Big mistake.’
“There are several reasons why we must choose the Saintess over the goddess. There’s the question of whether the goddess can truly help us at the right time and place as she promised, and whether we can dare to ask for her help whenever we need it. But there is a more serious problem than these secondary issues.”
“…And what is that?”
Kerry whispered, his voice low enough for only Lina to hear.
“Lina, can you truly trust the goddess? I may be mistaken… but from what I can see, you don’t look like you trust her at all.”
“!”
Lina’s expression, which had been full of pity for the goddess, changed from moment to moment.
Kerry’s words had hit the nail on the head.
Lina couldn’t trust the Elena before her.
She had been thinking it this entire life. That she couldn’t trust the goddess.
‘Kerry is right. I can’t travel with someone I can’t trust.’
Lina’s pitiful expression hardened into one of resolve.
“I apologize, Lady Elena… but unless the Saintess voluntarily leaves our party… as the party leader, I cannot accept such a request.”
“!”
Elena’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Lina and Kerry.
It was absurd.
From the goddess’s perspective, it looked as if Lina had abruptly changed her attitude the moment Kerry whispered in her ear.
‘Kerry… are you… showing me that you can twist the hero around your little finger?’
Seeing Kerry’s confident expression, the goddess was certain.
Elena had assumed that if she appealed to the hero’s sympathy, she would surely hand over the Saintess.
But Kerry had blocked that move with astonishing ease.
‘Why would a woman as great as the hero… be so swayed by that man…?’
Seeing the goddess’s flustered state, Kerry couldn’t help but smile.
Then, he spoke with a sly tone.
“More importantly, Goddess. The Saintess has been in a strange state lately. Would you mind taking a look at her?”
“What do you mean… My daughter’s state is strange?”
Because of the necklace, the Saintess’s divine power was completely blocked, so even Elena couldn’t tell what was wrong with her.
The goddess glanced at Kerry before approaching the Saintess. Just as she was about to carefully take her hand, a telepathic message reached her.
It was a message Kerry had sent using his newly acquired Archmage’s Pendant.
[You’re not planning on pulling any funny business with that necklace, are you? If you think you can handle the consequences, be my guest.]
The Star of Bondage was a Legendary-grade item. Moreover, all of its abilities were focused solely on restraint.
Even for a goddess, it would be impossible to undo the Star of Bondage with her limited power in this mortal realm without Kerry noticing.
“…”
The goddess gave Kerry a small nod. It was a sign that she wouldn’t try anything.
“Mother…”
“It’s alright, my child. Give me your hand.”
Elena took the Saintess’s hand. As she slowly examined the Saintess’s body, Elena’s eyes shot wide open.
“This is…”
Elena’s hand trembled slightly. Something unbelievable was happening to the Saintess’s body.
‘Why… Why has my child’s divine power dropped so much?’
Elena couldn’t understand. Divine power wasn’t something that could just decrease or increase at will.
It was, in every sense, a gift from a god.
‘That bastard… Kerry. You’ve clearly done something to my daughter!’
Kerry continued his act of feigned ignorance.
“I heard from Lina that the Saintess’s divine power has fallen… Isn’t that right, Lina?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The Saintess’s divine power is definitely weaker. Though I don’t know why.”
The Saintess looked at the goddess with trembling eyes. The Star of Bondage prevented her from doing anything else.
The goddess stroked the Saintess’s orange hair.
“It’s alright, my child. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Mother…”
“I will not give up on you.”
The goddess touched her forehead to the Saintess’s. In that instant, a brilliant golden light erupted.
After the light enveloping the goddess and the Saintess subsided, Kerry used the Goddess’s Eye on the Saintess.
[Saintess’s Divine Power - 85 > 100]
The goddess had filled her divine power to the brim. The Saintess’s power had been 99 points at the start, so she had given her even more than that. How generous of her.
‘Damn it. Would it have killed her to give me even half of that?’
Just thinking about it made me angry again.
Why was I the only one she discriminated against? She gave Lina a regression and the Saintess limitless support.
‘No, wait. I don’t even know if Lina is connected to Elena in the first place.’
Anyway, that wasn’t the important part.
The point was, why was Kerry the only one being treated differently?
Kerry sent a telepathic message to the goddess.
[Hey.]
“…”
[Hey, are you ignoring me?]
[Why do you call?]
As expected of a goddess, she could use telepathy.
[Let me ask you one thing.]
[…]
[Why do you discriminate against me? If you’d given me even half of what you give the Saintess, do you think things would have turned out this way?]
[…]
[If you were going to do this, why did you even bring me to this world? Let’s hear the reason.]
[…Stop with the useless chatter. Just give me back my daughter. Then I might tell you the reason.]
[So there is a reason?]
[!]
The goddess glared at Kerry, then whipped her head away.
He had obtained a rather interesting piece of information.
He had always suspected there was a reason the goddess brought him to this world, but it was significant to have it confirmed by the goddess herself.
‘I don’t know what the reason is, but you can’t just drop someone who was living a perfectly good life into another world and abandon them for years.’
If he were to list all the hardships he’d endured in this world before meeting Lina, it would take all night.
And the one who caused it all was that goddess.
In any case, the goddess had failed to retrieve the Saintess.
Lina had refused her persuasion, and the Saintess herself had said that now was not the time.
Of course, she had said that under Kerry’s orders, not of her own free will.
“Be strong, my child. Never give up.”
The goddess left the Saintess with those parting words and departed.
After parting with the goddess, the group crossed the border as planned.
Thanks to Arwen’s spirit buffs, the party’s travel speed was fast, so it wasn’t as strenuous as before.
Astria, Lina’s homeland.
Lina’s party arrived at the closest village to Astria’s border.
But since they had also cleared a dungeon, it was already early evening.
A medieval village bathed in the red glow of the sunset came into view.
Even though they had crossed the border, the village architecture didn’t look much different from those in the Empire yet.
Lina looked at the village with a complicated expression before speaking.
“Let’s stay here for the night.”
Just then, Victoria started complaining that she was tired.
“Even with Princess Arwen’s spirits, I’m exhausted. We cleared a dungeon and ran all day…”
‘Look at her acting skills. Anyone would think she was actually exhausted. I mean, she probably is tired… but her intentions are different.’
Victoria was already planning her next move.
She was trying to get the party to go to bed early at an inn.
Because she needed to get to bed early to have sex with Kerry.
Our clueless regressor bit the bait hook, line, and sinker.
“It’s understandable that you’re tired. Let’s all get to bed early today.”
Victoria, pleased that her plan was working, nodded her head vigorously.
“Heehee!”
Natasha, catching on, rejoiced beside her.
Lina just thought they were happy about getting to rest.
“…”
Kerry said nothing.
The party found a decent inn in the village. By the time they had secured lodging, the sky had grown completely dark.
Kerry sat by the window in his room. Natasha followed him and sat by the window as well.
They had crossed the border, but the sky was the same. Just as the sky had been the same even when he came to this other world.
Or maybe not exactly the same. The air here was so clean that the stars were incredibly bright. Probably brighter than in any countryside back in his beloved home country.
The view was one thing it had going for it.
“Kerry? It seems like everyone in the other rooms is asleep now…”
While he was looking outside, Victoria spoke. She was already getting heated, taking off her clothes one by one.
Victoria’s skin looked fantastical in the faint light.
But the sexiest thing of all wasn’t her usual noble pretense, but that honest expression, flushed with excitement.
“Me too! I want to!”
Natasha quickly read the mood. Her vocabulary was expanding, and she was getting quicker on the uptake.
But that wasn’t always a good thing.
“I want Kerry alone! Victoria! No!”
“…”
“Kerry! Mine!”
At Natasha’s words, Victoria wore an expression like she’d just lost her country.