Heading East (1)
While the kids were busy compiling the list... I figured it would take quite a while, so I might as well kill some time in the meantime. My original plan had been to take it easy, visiting each of the children one by one, but interrupting them while they were working wouldn't be right.
With that in mind...
"Are you ready for the trip?"
I appeared before the boy with the ox horns.
His ox-skull mask had been shattered and was gone now, leaving his face exposed on that massive frame. Asterios.
It had only been seven days, but whatever resentment had built up inside him must have been fully released—he looked remarkably brighter.
"Yeah. I've got everything prepared."
Asterios pointed to a large sack and several smaller pouches nearby as he spoke. This was an era without proper backpacks or bags, so everything had just been crammed into those sacks, it seemed.
"This is bedding stuffed with sheep's wool, these are dried rations, and this is the pot you gave me to try cooking with, plus various other things... Mother prepared all sorts of stuff for me. It's a bit much... but I can carry it all."
Hmm. It really was a lot. If he weren't built like a tank, it would have been impossible to haul.
But...
"You didn't need to pack quite this much, but whatever."
I snapped my fingers lightly, and Asterios's luggage vanished in an instant.
"Ah?! My stuff?!"
"I've stored it in my space, so don't worry. It's way more convenient than lugging it around."
"Oh... okay. Got it."
Asterios accepted it more readily than I'd expected. Considering all the outrageous things I'd shown him so far, this probably didn't faze him much.
"You said goodbye to your parents?"
"Yeah. Before Tia came. I took care of it."
"Good. Then we can head out right away."
If there was nothing else to prepare, that just left departing promptly.
Alright, then...
"Ah! Wait a sec. My axe. I need to bring that."
"Your axe?"
"Yeah. My weapon."
Asterios ducked into the adjacent room for a moment, then emerged carrying a massive double-bladed axe forged from bronze. It looked heavier than most grown men, rough and unwieldy.
But where the heck had he gotten something like that? From inside the labyrinth...?
"Where'd you get that thing?"
"This axe? Hmm. It belonged to someone who entered the labyrinth. I saved him after his arm got severed and he couldn't fight anymore, and he gave it to me."
Hmm... Taking something like that into the labyrinth? Sounds like the guy wasn't right in the head. Swinging a huge axe like that around in there would've gotten it caught on walls or the ceiling—super dangerous.
Whether I thought that or not, Asterios slung the axe onto his back using the leather strap tied to it.
Hmm. Everything else was fine, but... his outfit was a problem. The islanders' style was pretty revealing overall, sure, but a hulking boy in just shorts...? Embarrassing to travel with.
So...
I snapped my fingers.
"Hm?!"
"Hold still."
I dressed him in a loose-fitting white T-shirt, then armored him with iron plating over the shoulders and chest, and leather everywhere else. Greaves for his shins, arm guards from wrist to elbow. Shoes? His usual leather-strapped sandals would do. He could go barefoot if needed, no problem. Finally, I wrapped him in a leather cloak.
Hmm. Way better than half-naked shorts. He was still wearing the shorts underneath, but whatever.
"This is..."
"My gift to you. Alright, let's get going."
Now then. Time for a world tour.
And so, Asterios and I set off on our journey.
Asterios, who had grown up trapped in that cramped labyrinth, was curious about everything in the world. He bombarded me with questions left and right, and I answered as best I could while we pressed on.
We met countless people along the way and ran into plenty of monsters too... but hmm. Asterios chopped most of them in two like he was splitting firewood, so no big deal.
Trivial stuff. Totally trivial.
We crossed plains, visited cities, traversed canyons, scaled mountains. Scenes of even more things, even greater variety.
Along the way, I mediated a dispute between elves and dwarves, and a grateful dwarf reforged Asterios's axe... but nothing major.
Anyway, as we kept heading east, having crossed a massive mountain range...
"We've been waiting for you."
A group of gods appeared before me.
"Who?!"
Asterios grabbed his axe and went on guard at the sudden arrival of the gods, but I waved him casually behind me.
"Looks like they've come for me. Just stay quiet for now."
"Oh... okay..."
He'd cleaved through most problems with that axe on the way here, always charging ahead at anything that appeared. But gods were another story.
"So, you've been waiting for me?"
"Yes. The one born from the golden egg."
Huh? Golden egg? What's that about? I was born from an egg, sure, but...
"The heart that set the world in motion, sustains it, and will bring it to an end."
"Think you've got the wrong person."
The god spouting nonsense. The one out front was new to me, but the others... I remembered naming them before. From Indian mythology, by the looks of it.
"It doesn't matter if you deny it. That's not the point."
"Hmm?"
The lead god knelt on one knee before me and continued.
"We know you intend to reshape the world once more."
Hmm? What? Did word leak out?
"The era of gods rampaging unchecked will come to a close, making way for an age of humanity."
"Hmm... And you're here to stop it?"
"No. Far from it. We couldn't stop it even if we tried—and we shouldn't."
The lead god spoke calmly.
"All things in the world change endlessly, cycling through reincarnation. Even if I, as an individual, meet my end here, it's not truly the end. So I neither despair nor give up."
He raised his head to meet my gaze.
"Thus, I, Indra, representative of Rokapala and inheritor of the heavens' will, beseech the most noble one in this world."
Indra's expression was grave as he spoke.
"Please... do not abandon this world."
The gods behind him echoed in unison.
"Do not abandon it!"
What the heck? Why are they acting like this? No clue.
I'd never abandon the world in the first place... Well, I got a little mad over Baal, but still!
"As if I'd abandon it? I'm just one of the beings living in it, after all."
"Please promise us. That you won't give up."
Not satisfied with my words, Indra and the others prostrated themselves, pleading.
Hmm. No idea what's got them so worked up, but... I'd never abandon it anyway.
So a promise wouldn't hurt.
"Fine, fine. I promise. Now get up already!"
"You... promised."
"Yeah! I got it! I promise!"
Only after that commotion did Indra and the others rise.
"Then, awaiting the end that will come for the gods someday... we shall bestow a modest blessing upon your companion."
"Hmm? Me?"
No, suddenly on Asterios?
"You there. Traveler on a glorious path. Receive my blessing, Indra's. And thus... serve the noble one's will for many more ages."
A dazzling bolt of lightning shot from Indra, striking Asterios dead-on.
"Gwah?!"
Asterios just looked mildly surprised. It didn't hurt him at all, apparently.
"This is..."
"After the age of gods ends, you will be one who guards the world. I hope my power aids you, even a little."
The lightning connecting them faded after a moment.
"We take our leave then. Please, noble one... keep your promise."
With that, Indra and the gods vanished.
Hmm... No idea why they came to me or blessed Asterios... but whatever. No need to dwell on it.
Most gods will vanish anyway, and those ones seemed to sense their own futures. No point worrying about the soon-to-be-gone.
So...
"A bit bewildering, but let's keep moving."
"Ah... yeah."
Asterios, sparks still crackling over his body, started walking again in a daze.
