บท 8: "Are you, are you a godkin?"
Hours later…
"How are you so calm?" Elma asked Eliya who's currently petting the… girl, sleeping on her lap.
"What? You're scared of her?" Eliya asked with that darn laid back smile on her face.
"She's no human…"
"Oi, Elma, what is wrong with you?" Elliot glared at the female knight. "You can't call just call someone inhumane for having a talent," he said.
Elma gritted her teeth. "She killed twelve orcs without getting a single scratch," she muttered.
"Using a second tier spell, mind you," Alan commented without looking away from the road. He held a small knife with his hand that's not holding the horse's rein. "[Change Temperature]," the knife didn't seem to do anything, but when he put a paper near it, the paper burns. "See? I can do that too," he waved his knife around a little. "What I can't do, is the amount of focus and control I need to perserve mana and contain all the heat into a single spot."
"See? Lily chan is just a genius," Eliya said. "You, however, are being rude."
Elma took a double take on Lily. The girl is snuggling her head on Eliya's thigh and her body is lying down comfortable on the wagon. A small peaceful smile graced her face as she purred gently like a kitten.
"Well… I guess you're right…" Elma muttered. "That was a horrible thing for me to say."
For the next two hours, the ride to the Kingdom was quite peaceful. The stray monsters were easily picked out by Eliya's bow and Alan's magic arrow. It was until they are a distance away from the kingdom when something happened.
"ELLIOT! ELLIOT!" a voice yelled out from the forest. A blonde haired man wearing a simple rogue outfit ran towards the wagon. "Help!" Alan stopped the wagon and the man jumped on to the wagon. "We have to go, NOW!"
Sensing the urgency, Alan sped up the horse. Elliot helped the man sit down for a bit. "What is it Fred? You look like you just saw a monster," he said, noticing how the man was shivering in terror. "What is it?"
Fred took a deep breath and gulped a little. "It's… the Eight Fingers…" he whispered. "We found one of their hideout and…" he sniffled. "They're monsters Elliot, monsters. We had a mission to investigate some disappearance from a village near here and…"
The grown man started sobbing, his eyes spoke of untold horror. "Gods where are you? The things they did…" he whispered. "The things they did…"
Elliot put one arm around his shoulder and pat his back a little. "It's alright, you're safe now…" he whispered before letting go of him. "We're on our way to the kingdom, just a little more," he said.
"What about the rest of your party?" Elma asked. "Did they…" her words faltered when Fred just shook his head in pain. "I'm sorry…"
Fred took a deep breath and slapped his face. "It's alright, I managed to get away," he said. "We just need to get out of here, just get out," he said.
After a few minutes he seemed to calm down. He then noticed Lily sleeping on Eliya's lap. "Wh-who is that? Eliya san?" he asked.
Eliya smiled a little. "This is Lily, she's Nabe's little sister," she said.
"Nabe? The Beautiful Princess?" Fred asked.
"Yeah," Elliot said with a confident smile. "And Momon is also nearby, keeping an eye on us, so you don't have to worry," he said.
Fred exhaled a breath of relief. "Momon… Momon san is here…" he dropped down and put a hand over his chest. "So gods really do exist," he whispered.
"Besides, Lily here is already stronger than all of us combined," Elma commented.
"Very funny," Fred muttered.
Elliot tossed him a large leather bag. "Open it."
Fred opened the bag a look of disbelief graced his face. "Are these…"
"Orc ears, yeah," Elliot said.
The blonde grinned a little. "As expected of the Dark Hero," he commented.
"Nope, try again," Elma said in amusement.
Fred narrowed his eyes. "Nabe?" everyone shook their heads. "You? You all killed this many orcs?" everyone shook their heads again. "You'd think I will believe that a little girl like that is capable of killing a single orc?"
"You're right, I wouldn't believe it myself," Eliya said.
"THERE HE IS!!!" a voice yelled out from the forest. There was a rumbling sound followed by dozens upon dozens of armed men charging from the forest. "Don't let him get away!"
"Faster!" Fred exclaimed.
"I can't! This horse is ancient," Alan replied. "Anymore and it'll drop,"
An arrow shot out of nowhere and went straight through the horse's neck. Alan jumped off the horse and on to the wagon. "Dammit, fight it is," he muttered while taking out his staff. "Eliya, wake Lily up, we might need her for this," he said.
"Lily, Lily wake up," Eliya gently tapped the girl's cheek. "Lily, wake up!"
The girl blearily open her eyes. "I'm up…" she yawned a little before looking around. "This doesn't look like Re-Estize," she said in confusion. Then she noticed the army of scary looking people charging at them from a distance. "Eliya nee, who are they?"
"Bad people, very very bad people," Eliya replied.
Fred looked at the little girl anxiously. Nothing about shows that she's anything but that. But then she grabbed a white staff lying on the wagon and pointed it at the approaching people. "[Widen Magic - Discern Enemy]," she said.
"Hee, you guys were panicking over this?" she commented. "I am the Great Powerful Lily! The most powerful adventurer in the world! This is nothing against me," she said with impossible amount of confidence in her voice.
Eliya sighed a little after hearing that. "Well, I'm glad you can defeat them, but let us talk to them first," she said.
"You said they were very very bad people," Lily pointed out.
"Well yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to try," Elliot said. "We're adventurers Lily, we're not supposed to hurt other people," he added.
Lily nodded a little before looking at Fred. "Hello, who are you?" she asked kindly.
"I'm Fred, Elliot's friend" the man said. "You're… Nabe's sister?"
"That's right!" Lily tilted her head a little. "You looked like you just saw a dragon, what happened?"
"He was running away from them," Elma pointed at the approaching people.
A huge smile appeared on Lily's face. "A rescue mission! Alright!" she jumped down from the wagon before anyone could say anything. "Halt! Evil doers!" She exclaimed.
The enemies were a few meters away from them before they stopped. The ugliest one of them who looked a lot like the orcs they killed earlier, walked towards her. The man grinned at her before looking at the adventurers watching from the wagon.
"Hahaha! To think that a little girl has more guts than a silver plated adventurer!" he exclaimed followed by laughter from his subordinates. He walked towards the Lily and looked down on her. "What's your name little girl?"
"My name is Lily! The Greatest Adventurer in the World!" she exclaimed.
Back in the wagon, Fred is watching the scene unfolds anxiously. "Oi, oi, you sure she can handle this?" he asked Elliot.
"That girl is a genius," Elliot said. "Don't worry."
"Where the hell is Momon anyway? Shouldn't he be protecting her?"
"She got this, don't worry," a voice appeared behind them. They all turned around and saw a tall, bulky man, sitting on the wagon. An adamantite plate hang around his neck..
Fred looked at the man, then to the great sword behind his back, then to the adamantite plate on his neck. "Momon? Are you Momon the dark hero?" he asked.
Momon nodded a little. "In the flesh, nice to meet you," he said. "Now why don't we all just sit back and watch?" he asked, patting the spot beside him. "Nabe threatened me not to fight for a few days to recover," he craned his neck a little. "That damn vampire hits hard you know?"
The rest of the party just nodded mutely before looking at the little girl who's staring at the leader of the thugs without any trace of fear in her face. "Why are you laughing? Do you not believe me?" Lily asked in annoyance. "Do I always have to defeat everyone to prove myself?"
The leader just laughed even more after hearing that. "How amusing…" he grinned at the little girl. "I'd love to have you as my pet," he said.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, that's the deal, if you win I will be your pet. But if I win, you will leave Fred alone!" she exclaimed.
Laughter answered her proclamation.
"Did you hear that?"
"She must delusional!"
"What a stupid brat!"
The Leader however, just grinned in excitement after hearing that. "You have a deal brat!" one of the tougher looking one said. "Heck, I'll sweeten the deal, you can make the first move."
Lily held her staff with two hands. She muttered something under her breath before pointing her staff at the group in front of her. "[Widen Boost Magic - Create Water]!" a burst of water shot out of her staff like a wave and drenched the army in front of her with water.
But the water wasn't that powerful. Some laughed at her stupid effort, others just looked at their drenched clothes in annoyance.
"Create Water she say? Isn't that a zeroth tier spell?"
"She's just all talk!"
"Stupid idiot!"
Lily however just rolled her eyes. "You all suck at making last words," she muttered.
The leader just growled in annoyance. "I've had enough of you, cheeky brat!" he exclaimed before charging towards her.
Then, the world lights up. On the clear summer day, every single one of them was struck by nonexistent lightning. Their screams of agony could be heard all through the plains all the way to the Kingdom.
Then, the damp water all over their clothing and body turned scalding hot. Those who wore metal armor found themselves steamed by their own armor. Those wearing leather clothing found their clothing burst into pieces as the scalding hot water boiled them alive.
The steam picked up the sparks of lightning and turned into a literal thunder cloud. The Eight Fingers Henchmen were struck by lightning and boiled alive for a solid 30 seconds before everything dies down.
All that's left was dozens upon dozens of bodies wriggling on the ground. Their body were roasted like that of a pork. Their clothing sans iron armor were destroyed to pieces, leaving them naked and vulnerable for any wild animals.
"Haha! I won!!!" Lily exclaimed in excitement. She turned around to face her terrified teammates. "See? I told you they're all weak!"
"Lily, what did I tell you about killing people?" Momon said.
"They're not dead! I didn't use boost magic on [Spark], just [Change Temperature]," Lily exclaimed.
"If they're not dead, then your job is now to heal them enough to return home," he said.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine…" she took a deep breath. "[Over Magic]," her knees buckled a little as the wind picked up around her. "[Widen Boost Magic - Heavy Recover]!!!" she exclaimed.
With a flash of light, all the people were healed little by little. It was until they went from 'barely alive' to 'wounded' that Lily stopped. The little girl sighed a little and slowly climbed on to the wagon. "So tired…" she muttered before slumping down on Momon's lap.
The girl was fast asleep in a matter of seconds. Momon sighed a little and gently stroked her head. "Precious little thing, isn't she?" he commented before looking at the rest of the party.
Their expression is that of complete fear for the little girl.
Momon sighed a little. "Well, I suppose it's only natural for you to fear her," he said. "But please don't treat her as a monster… Just don't, okay? She's not a monster," he put a hand over his mouth and whistled.
A giant hamster rushed in from the forest. It stopped right in front of the wagon. "This one answers your summon, milord!" the hamster exclaimed.
"Hamsuke, please carry this wagon to the kingdom," Momon said.
"As you wish, milord," she said before walking to the front of the carriage, kicking aside the dead horse. Its long serpent tail pulled the rope attached to the wagon. The hamster then started walking fast through the clearing.
Momon looked at Hamsuke for a moment before looking back at Lily sleeping peacefully on his lap. "Look," he picked Lily by her arm pit and held her sleeping form in front of the adventurers. "Does this look like a fearsome monster to you?"
Even Elma couldn't help but soften her gaze at the sight of the little girl. "Well appearance can be deceiving, but…" she looked at Eliya who already took Lily into her arms and hugged her close. "Well, she's adorable and not really hostile… Like a baby dragon."
"Yes, like a baby dragon," Elliot said. "That's why we need to treat her with love kindness now. Lest she eats all of us once she's all grown up," he said. "Is that why you picked her and Nabe up? Don't lie, we all know of Nabe's personality."
Momon just sighed and nodded a little. "Both Nabe and Lily are very gifted and talented in magic. Both were also… abused because of it. Nabe managed shield Lily from most of the cruel reality, but I always dread what would happen if I never met them that day…"
The man looked up at the bright blue sky. "Never wake up the sleeping dragons they say…" he chuckled a little. "If I weren't there that night, mankind would have a very, very angry dragon to answer to in the next ten years."
It's a vague explanation, but also the perfect one. Everyone understood what he was saying. Momon met Nabe and Lily somewhere on his journey. Nabe, broken and abused, was close to avenging humanity. But he showed her that there is still hope and save Lily and Nabe from the path of destruction.
"Momon san," Elliot spoke. "Are you, are you a godkin?"
Momon looked at Elliot long and hard before answering. "I don't know, perhaps I am, perhaps I'm not," he then smiled a little. "Why does it matter though? Either way I will fight for what I believe is right. Isn't that enough?"
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