Chapter 20: Luggage Carrier
When I returned to the room with a wet towel, I noticed that Mash had woken from his sleep as he was trying to get up by himself. He looked at my face and said.
「…Where is this place? 」
「This is an inn in Semul. 」
A few hours ago, when the "cleaning" was done, Seiya got out of the torture room and on that moment, Mash lost consciousness most probably from exhaustion. I asked Seiya to take care of Mash while I opened the heavenly portal. The constant use of the portal for earthly causes might violate the laws of the G.o.d"s realm. But I was worried about Mash"s poor health, so we ended up using the portal and we arrived later in Semul"s inn where Elle was waiting for us.
The moment I tried to explain the story above…
「Mas.h.!.+ 」
Elle has been sleeping near Mash"s bed all this time, but when she woke up and saw that Mash was awake, she jumped on him.
「What!? 」
「I"m glad!! I"m truly glad!! I was worried that you wouldn"t wake up anymore!! I"m so relieved to see you well!! 」
「Elle, be careful!! Mash is not in perfect health yet!! 」
Elle started grumbling as she stepped away from Mash.
「Sorry, Mash. Did I hurt you? 」
「No, you didn"t. I"m okay. 」
Mash showed her a tiny smile, but soon he got a serious expression on his face.
「It"s strange…really…I don"t feel pain anywhere… 」
Mash touched his face with his hands.
「My eye…my fingers are healed as well? Don"t tell me that you…? 」
I smiled at Mash.
「It was hard to cure your eye and all of your fingers. I think it took me more than one hour to heal you properly. 」
「…Sorry. Thanks. 」
Mash thanked me with a bit of embarra.s.sment. On that moment, the door of the room was opened abruptly without knocking, and the overly cautious hero stood at the entrance.
「So the "mushroom" finally woke up. 」
Mash didn"t get angry at Seiya for calling him a mushroom. Instead, he spoke with an awkwardly voice.
「Thanks for helping me. 」
He thanked Seiya without looking directly into his eyes. Mash had a stubborn personality, so it might"ve been difficult to gather some courage to thank Seiya. However, Seiya didn"t seem to care as usual.
「More importantly. If you"re ready, then let"s leave now. 」
「Seiya? Can"t you give them a little more rest? Mash just woke up, you know?」
However, Elle and Mash looked at each other after hearing Seiya"s words.
Elle asked Seiya.
「Excuse me…What do you mean by "leave"? 」
「I decided to take you two with me as luggage carriers. So, get ready now.」
Oh no, he said "as luggage"! Why didn"t he say, "as comrades"!
I was getting worried about their reactions, but Elle showed a pure smile just like a blossoming flower.
「Whoa!! It sounds great!! I"ll be a luggage carrier, yes, a luggage carrier!! I"m happy!! 」
「Go…good for you, Elle. 」
I wonder if this child understands the real meaning of being a luggage carrier…?
On the other hand, Mash looked thoughtful. He spoke with a gloomy expression.
「I…I finally understood the reality of things. It"s true that your level is too different from ours. It"s just as you told us before. If we go with you, we"ll be just hindrances. That"s why…」
My heart hurt a little. I knew right away, what Mash was trying so hard to say. The torture and Dark Fires were traumas that will be kept deep-rooted inside of him. Even if he survived that ordeal, Mash"s crushed feelings was refusing him from accompany us on this adventure. Therefore, I could not say anything at all.
…Yet…Mash jumped so suddenly out of his bed and placed his head on the floor right in front of Seiya.
「Please…make me your apprentice!! 」
「…What? 」
That took me by surprise.
「I"m highly motivated to become better!! Of course, I"ll carry your luggage as well!! But, please let me learn more from you!! I want to be strong like you!! I beg you!! Please, make me your apprentice!! 」
What"s this… this child is more emotionally stronger than I thought he would be…But…I"m relieved…!
Seiya casually spoke to Mash, who kept begging.
「I don"t mind it, only if you carry my luggage. 」
「Is that so!! Then…I"ll be in your guidance!! 」
Elle smiled innocently at Seiya.
「Yes! Please take care of us, Mister Seiya!! 」
「Elle, you idiot!! You need to call him Master, okay, Master!! 」
「…I don"t care what you decide to call me from now on. Just do whatever you want. 」
Seiya looked really annoyed at them. While I looked at the three of them, I thought…
Yes, indeed. This group feels a bit different from a normal heroes" party, but as originally planned, we"ve got with us the two kids from the Dragon Tribe, so I could say it was a success, right?
Elle kept smiling innocently as she fixed my dress" hem.
「"Lisutan", please care take of us too!! 」
「Did you say "Lisutan"? Were you talking about me? 」
「Am I wrong? 」
「Well, I guess it"s okay though… 」
Ah…she got a G.o.ddess" name wrong…well, whatever.
「By the way, Master!! There is a place I would like to show you!! 」
「Ah, Mas.h.!.+ Are you talking about the "Dragon Cave"!? 」
「Yes, that"s right!! 」
Dragon Cave? Elle seemed to know about that, but I never heard about that cave before.
「Listen, Mash. What is the Dragon Cave? What do you have in there? 」
…The chief of Nakas.h.i.+ Village was the one who told Mash about the Dragon Cave. To summarize it up, Mash told the following story.
Sixteen years ago, a dragon brought two babies from heaven to Nakas.h.i.+ Village, those babies were Mash and Elle. The dragon spoke with the chief of Nakas.h.i.+ village.
「The babies who have inherited the blood of dragons descended into the earthly world to become companions of the hero who received the revelation from the Almighty. Together, they will save Geabrande from evil threats. When the hero arrives from the heavens to this world, the hero and the children will head together to the Dragon Cave and will release the seal. From there, I will give them the strongest weapon to defeat the evil forces. 」
I grabbed Seiya"s shoulder with excitement.
「Seiya!! The strongest weapon!! You must have it!! 」
However, Seiya was looking down with a puzzled face.
「After all the trouble I got into making the "platinum sword" with synthesis and, also, in making three spares as well… 」
Is that so? Poor Seiya! But, that"s the true meaning of going on an adventure! Even if you made a strong weapon, sooner or later, an even stronger one was bound to appear!
「Let"s put the gloomy feelings aside and let"s head together to the Dragon Cave! Mash, Elle, please lead us the way! 」
The two of them were eager to go, but…
「No. 」
When I heard Seiya"s word it felt like time stopped for a brief moment.
「I have some business to do in another place first. 」
「Seiya…don"t tell me that"s… 」
「Yes. The heavenly world. I need to practice. 」
I was drowsy and surprised at the same time.
Here he goes again…we always do short adventures and return immediately after being done with them…The G.o.d"s realm is slowly becoming his own property…
「The next destination is that cave with the dragon, right? Then, I need to prepare myself for my battle with the dragon. 」
Mash and the rest of us looked at Seiya with pale faces.
「Don"t do that, Master!! Why are you willing to destroy the dragon!? 」
「That"s right!! Dragons are not evil beings, did you know that!? 」
「I won"t know about that until I come face to face with that thing. Anyways, I"ll go to the heavenly world right now. Come along with me. Lista, there is no problem if these two come with us, right? 」
「Well…I guess it"s okay for now… 」
In my heart, the situation was a bit more complicated, but even so, I agreed to it.
Training in the G.o.d"s realm proved to be successful, so I decided not to say anything else. "Levels go up when a hero fights against a monster". I told this common theory to Seiya once before, and if Seiya had followed my advice, he probably would have died long ago. My theory doesn"t apply to Geabrande, a S-rank salvation difficulty. In that case, I"ll leave everything in Seiya"s hands.
I casted the spell and the portal appeared.
Seiya went to the portal while Mash and Elle followed behind him like two happy children going on a school excursion…
Once we arrived in the G.o.d"s realm, Seiya asked where Celseus was. (EN: Oh no, Celseus hide!)
Celseus often eats in the dining hall during lunch break. Since it was around noon when we arrived here, we immediately went to find Celseus.
While we walked through the temple corridors, Elle started walking side by side along with me and asked.
「Excuse me, Lisutan!! This is the world where the G.o.ds live!? 」
「Yes, that"s right. 」
Mash was looking everywhere with a stunned expression.
「This huge temple is truly impressive huh. It"s not only wide and big, but there is art everywhere. There"s sculptures, there"s paintings too…There are other artistic objects that I can"t recognize the shape. 」
「Whoa! Look at that gorgeous flower vase!! It has beautiful flowers that I have never seen before!! Listen, Lisutan!! Is it okay for me to stay here for a bit longer!? 」
「By the way Elle!! Did you see that fella over there with a ring on his head!? Don"t tell that was an angel!! 」
Elle and Mash were a too overexcited, but somehow, I felt happy to see them act like this. Well, it can"t be helped, because G.o.d"s realm can overwhelm first time visitors. So, their reaction was normal. I wished Seiya would also appreciate this place, but he insists on staying inside that white summoning chamber to do his training…
Nevertheless, Seiya is not "normal" unfortunately. He grabbed a running Elle by the neck of her robe.
「You can"t. It"s useless. I have to start practicing soon. 」
「No!! I want to see more of this place!! 」
「But, Seiya. You want to see Celseus first. You can do your training later. 」
「I don"t care. That"s a different matter. 」
I wonder why I felt uneasiness..? I didn"t understand the reason why I felt this way. Well, we arrived in the dining hall at last.
I looked at every table in the dining hall, but Celseus wasn"t there.
When we tried to leave, I saw a familiar face looking at us from the corner of the kitchen walls.
The man noticed that he was seen, and shouted "Ah!", and tried to hide immediately in the kitchen. (EN: I was at that moment that Celseus Knew he had f.u.c.ked up)
「Master Celseus!? 」
I ran into the kitchen…and I was perplexed.
The swordsman G.o.d Celseus was wearing a floral ap.r.o.n on his muscular body while holding a silver bowl with meringue.
「…What the h.e.l.l are you doing? 」
When Celseus noticed Seiya was here there too, he suddenly stretched his spine straight.
「Seiya!! You"re here!! 」
Oh my…There"s no masculine traits on him anymore…His childish att.i.tude resembles that of my junior G.o.ds…Even so, the floral ap.r.o.n on a mustache man…what is with this weird combination? It does not suit him at all…
Celseus spoke as if he was on verge of tears.
「Well, you see…I told you before that I won"t hold a sword anymore. Because, "that thing" is a bit dangerous, don"t you agree? You"re going to bleed if you get cut, right? 」
What!? He was serious when he told me about forsaking his sword!? Even though, he is a swordsman G.o.d, he truly quit it!? How much trauma he got from training with Seiya!?
Celseus was s.h.i.+vering while holding his bowl with merengue.
「You know…I"ve been learning how to cook lately. So, I"m cooking recipes like these right now. Ah…Before I forget! I baked a cake moments ago, so would you like to have a slice of cake? 」
Celseus presented a shortcake in front of Seiya. It had a strawberry layer and looked delicious. I can hardly believe that a manly G.o.d baked this delicate cake.
However, as soon as Seiya saw the cake, he said…
「Inedible. I reject it. 」
「How can you say it"s bad when you haven"t even tasted it yet!? 」
Celseus started to cry. If he says that it"s inedible before trying it, then everyone else will be wary to even take a small bite.
「It can"t be…! I made it confidently, and yet…! 」
A devastated Celseus noticed a sweet-looking girl with red hair who was near us and he asked with a teary smile.
「How about you? Do you want to taste it? 」
He offered a plate with a fork, but Elle shook her head.
「Sorry, I don"t want to. It might have a weird muscle inside… 」
「There are no muscles inside!! Or rather, how someone bakes a cake with muscles!? 」
Seiya was staring at a miserable Celseus who baked a cake that no one wanted to eat.
「Listen, Celseus. I don"t care about your hobbies. But you have a main role to play. So finish that and start the real deal. 」
「Main role? 」
「Yes. This… 」
Seiya pulled the platinum sword out of the sheath and showed Celseus his s.h.i.+ning blade. As soon as that happened…
「*screams continuously* I don"t want to!! I don"t want to practice with swords anymore!! 」
Celseus started panicking. I thought that Mash was going to say something like "what"s wrong with this dude".
However, before he could say anything, Seiya grabbed Mash and put him in front of Celseus.
「Calm down. Your opponent isn"t me, but this guy over here. 」
Celseus was surprised, and so was Mash.
「What? Master, you"re not the one teaching me? 」
「You"re too green for me yet. This is will the perfect match for you. 」
「I see. Seiya, so you were thinking about Mash all this time? 」
「If you think carefully about it, if he is too weak to carry my luggage, then it will be easier for monsters to rob him and steal my swords and weapons. He needs to be stronger. 」
Celseus looked closely at Mash.
「So you are Seiya"s apprentice. Okay…is it all right for me to see your abilities for a brief moment? 」
「Yeah. I don"t mind really. 」
Celseus used his clairvoyance ability to see Mash"s status, but he got a bit suspicious.
「What? You didn"t use any camouflage skill, did you? 」
「…I didn"t. 」
As soon as he got his answer, Celseus threw off his floral ap.r.o.n immediately.
「Okay, that"s great!! Let"s do it!! My training is harsh, so prepare yourself!! *screams happily like a mad man* 」
「What"s wrong with this dude!? His reaction is disgusting!! 」
Mash looked a bit apprehensive. Master Celseus…well no…I won"t continue to call him "Master"…Celseus didn"t get any better…! As soon as he realized that his opponent had a lower status than himself, his att.i.tude changed dramatically! He is the type that I would absolutely reject to go on a date!
Celseus took Mash with him and left the kitchen in high spirits. Meanwhile, Seiya was staring meticulously at Elle.
「Okay, next it"s her turn. 」
「What!? Me too!? 」
Elle"s startled voice echoed through the kitchen.
Celseus my dude! Its good to see you recovered! Give Mash some h.e.l.l!
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