What's Wrong with Only Having a Shield? My Summoner Hates Me

Chapter 5: There is a Person on My Arm!

To my surprise, I was able to open my eyes and found that I was standing in the middle of a green garden with bushes and flowers spreading as far as the eye could see.

Directly in front of me, was a table set under an umbrella, and sat in one of the chairs was a girl who seemed to be younger than me wearing a long white dress, similar to a wedding dress with flower designs. Her long red hair curled glamorously down her arms as her red pupils shine warmly at me.

I was a bit taken aback by her pupils being red, but I couldn't help but feel entranced by her calm smile.

She closes one eye as she takes a sip on a teacup and uses the other to look at me.

"Despite what you're thinking, I'm much older than you." The girl- no, a lady says.

"I'm guessing you're some sort of goddess then," I reply, the calmness of my own voice shocking me a bit.

"Spot on! Can you guess what goddess I am?"

"The goddess of gardens?" I say as I analyze my surroundings carefully.

The goddess giggles "While I might have some similarities to the goddess of gardens, we're quite different."

Meaning there is one?

The goddess points to the chair across from her, "Take a seat, I'll give you two more guesses."

I walk over to the chair and realize that my arms and my body are completely fine. I look at the goddess who was looking at me back with a warm smile on her face.

"Uhm, maybe the goddess of tea?"

"Oh, come on now, I'll give you a clue~," The goddess says as she points at my arm.

"The goddess of shields?"

The goddess puts a finger to her chin as if thinking. "Hmm, you're close, I'm actually a goddess with the title "the Shield of Two Opposites."

"Oh, I see."

Wait, isn't that...my shield?

"Ehhh!?" I exclaim with my eyes wide in shock.

This goddess is apparently my shield.

"Honestly, you never call upon my powers and continue using me as a regular shield, it's such a shame. I get bored sometimes you know." The goddess says while refilling her cup as if she didn't just drop a bomb in my brain, which she definitely did by the way.

"I figured it was just a regular shield." I give myself a couple of seconds to calm down, "Oh, I did figure out how to change the shield's shape though."

"I guess that's a start, but seriously, what made you think you could take on a level 15 dragon's fireball while you're only level 7?" The goddess sighs, shaking her head.

"It isn't my fault you know," I say dejectedly.

Of course, the goddess was right.

It was foolish of me to think I could take on a dragon that was 8 levels ahead of me, but I really believed I wasn't in the wrong, Isabel would have died otherwise.

I feel a hand stroke my hair and subconsciously lean towards it. I look up to find that the goddess had stood up and was hugging me. Instead of questioning it, I allowed myself to relax into the hug.

It was quite soothing.

After having been put through such terrible treatment from Isabel and dying again, it felt nice to get a sort of embrace.

"You've been through quite a lot huh?" The goddess whispers in my ear.

"Uhm, Y-yeah." I manage.

My vision starts getting blurry as I feel a small wet sensation flow down my cheek.