True Magician

Chapter 82

Rondel.

The rest of the night went the way Tia and I wanted it to. We walked from one food stall to another, sometimes resting on benches or parapets and gazing up at the starry night sky. Now our duo was back in the now familiar tavern, I was sprawled out on the bed of my room, and Tia was sitting contentedly on my chest and yawning sweetly.

Even despite her current size, her appetite hadn't gotten any smaller. She was like a tiny shark that hadn't been fed since birth.

I chuckled.

I remember the stunned faces of some of the food vendors when they saw Tia in business. Each of them really couldn't comprehend what was happening in front of their eyes. After all, she was almost single-handedly emptying some of the stalls. But her satisfied face is worth all the effort I put into it. Now, we can have a little talk.

- "Tia." I called out to her, to which she opened her eyes and looked at me.

- "Aaaa~" asked a sleepy Tia.

- "What can you say about this spirit? In a way, you two are very similar." At my words, she thought for a while.

- "Aaaaaa~" she finally sang out, and the signs of sleepiness disappeared on her face.

I raised an eyebrow.

- "So, he's not Gaia, or even a Beast? I see." I muttered, and Tia nodded.

According to her senses, this spirit was once indeed a part of Gaia, but after the force majeure arranged by the past gods, it's hard to tell even for her. It is not a beast due to the fact that Tia did not sense the 'Sin' in it.

All in all, it can be said that this is even a good thing since he doesn't possess immortality in this case. Otherwise, my Noble Phantasm wouldn't have killed him if it didn't hurt the carriers of 'Sin'. But it's hard to draw any conclusions when I haven't gotten information from both sides. I'll have to talk to the spirit, and he'll come to talk, since he needs me. For now, we might as well get some rest.

- "Alright, let's get some sleep. I think that's enough adventures for tonight." I smiled and stroked Tia gently. She yawned in response and her eyes started to close. A few seconds later, Tia was already sniffling sweetly on my chest, taking my finger.

I guess I'll have to take a wait-and-see attitude, for now. I can't find him anyway. We'll see how this goes.

-0-

The next day.

I woke up early in the morning, as the morning sunlight streamed into the room through the window. It was already relatively noisy outside as someone was rushing to and from work, school, and somewhere else. Tia was still asleep, so I didn't wake her up, but just put it carefully in my pocket and left the tavern. And then I left the town, noting the villagers I'd saved beforehand. I wanted to cover my tracks before I left.

I was now at the gates of the city of Belnargo, where the main temple of the goddess of the underworld, Hardy, was located. There was no point in bothering, so I just scanned some poor guy's memory and teleported straight there.

I went there because I learned something about the goddess. In the minds of Itami's two elf companions, she was at the forefront of their minds, and the feelings associated with her were bad to say the least. Digging a little deeper, I learned that this goddess was not known for her... intelligence. By human standards, of course.

Destroy a village or two to remind her of herself? It's not a bad decision, but it's understood to be for a god. A god's power depends on faith, after all. They're all afraid of being forgotten, since it just makes them... disappear. Except...