CH919

“So, this freaking sucks.”

“No luck then?” Myriad asked when Ben arrived, watching his apostle collapse to the ground in response.

“We know he made it to the sixth site you guys gave us and continued on from there, we’ve even been able to keep following his trail, only needed to stop to sleep but the biggest problem is that you’re still a bastard for putting me in charge of these people.”

“I didn’t put you in charge of anyone, I just neglected to mention that you were in charge. There's a difference.”

“Ugh, when someone put my name in the pot, you should have told them no. I hate this.”

“Are you doing a bad job?”

“No, I think I’m doing alright.”

“Then what is the problem?”

“The fact that I’m now responsible for all of these people is pretty high on the list, I’d say.”

“Ben, that’s genuinely just a part of life. Besides, it’s a good experience for you. If you’re going to be a god one day, leading is somewhat involved.”

“Really? From what I’ve seen of a lot of them up here, it can just as easily mean sitting up here with a smug sense of superiority to all of us lowly mortals.”

“Rude.”

“Not you, although I am curious about how much leading you’d say you do too.”

“I offer spiritual guidance, I’d say that’s pretty close.”

“Funny, whenever I’ve offered spiritual guidance, I’ve never had a chance of getting someone killed if I make a mistake. I must have been doing it wrong.”

“Are you planning on just complaining to me about this all night long?”

“Technically no. I’m also staying up to watch the camp in case anything happens and doing my best to make a good impression on some of the others also on guard.”

“So, determined to spend the night being a pain in the ass, got it. In that case, I’ll send a quick alert about what you’ve found so far, given that someone insists on blocking the average god’s view.”

“If the collective gods of this world were at least ten percent cooler about me, I probably wouldn’t have to.”

“Pfff, whatever you say.”

With the update sent off though came a change to the realm, a new figure instantly appearing and leaving Myriad to briefly freeze before speaking up.

“Velmet, what brings you here?” He asked the woman, holding an appearance that reminded Ben of Ralia’s upper half, barring his acquaintance's reptilian traits, and only kept from commenting on it as the woman spoke up.

“You’ve finally given me a report about my believer, of course I showed up,” she said, sounding almost indignant before focusing on Ben. “So you still haven’t found anything?”

“No,” he said, finding the same sudden worry in himself as he sped up his frame of reference to flash out his soul and read her mind for more context as to just who she was, only for it to be squashed as he looked deeper. An ascended god, one who had been a mortal back before her world had been lost, her slight resemblance to Ralia made sense. He was in the presence of the one who’d created her paternal race. The goddess before him had been the soul mage who’d created the beastform holders.

With the fact that she was a soul mage creating an instant worry that was put an end to the moment he checked, for even as she stood before him, unlike the ones within the mortal realm, she couldn’t see his soul.

At least, not as she was. It was clear that if he’d allowed it, she would have had an easier job checking his than Helori but she didn’t seem to be putting in the effort and even if she tried, he judged his sacrilege to be good enough to get in the way of her fully divine eyes, with mortality seeming to be a strength in the case of both Yuzu and Elvat. Their lack of a fully divine nature due to them still being mortal actually left them harder to block.

But while that meant the secret of his new sacrilege level wouldn’t be getting out quite yet, that didn’t mean there wasn’t more surprising secrets to be found, all of them he tried to keep from reacting to with her right there, lest his own poking around was to be found out as he instead went on, giving her the courtesy of a fuller answer since she didn’t seem to be one of the deities who were actively hostile to him.

“We’ve confirmed that he’d gotten to the sixth location and we’ve continued to track him from there, but other than that, we haven’t found anything yet. Still, we’re doing our best.”

“Of course you are, that’s what you were brought on for,” she told him, only getting some leeway from Ben for the comment because he could feel the worry in her heart. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be working faster.”

“I understand you’re worried but my adventurers need to sleep. In another six hours they’ll get up and we’ll go again, but until then, if they don’t get their rest, they’ll be in a worse position to help. Surely you understand this.”

He watched her deflate just a bit before rubbing her face, less worried about maintaining whatever dignity being a god supposedly held when she herself had once been mortal, however long ago that had been.

“You’re right, of course. My apologies. I’m just… worried. Myriad, Ben, do me the favour of immediately letting me know if you find anything more. I’m sorry to have rushed in like this.”

She left just as fast, leaving his god confused as to what had happened while Ben spoke up.

“So, out of curiosity, how common is it for gods to fall in love with mortals?”

“Huh? Fairly rare but… no.”

“Yep.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I can.”

“Not that I hold anything against Foast’s lifestyle, but really?”

“I guess they have similar interests,” Ben shrugged.

“Producing offspring?”

“Producing beastform holders,” Ben clarified. “Back when she created the original five, I guess she died fighting the evil god of her world and regretted not being able to make more and now here’s Foast, able to, well, pump out a whole bunch of new ones, easy peasy. Regardless of how he’s doing it, you gotta admit he does share her very particular interest.”

“...I have no clue how I’m supposed to respond to this. No, actually, I do. So, were you just pretending you couldn't read our minds without us noticing when you practiced before?”

“Eh, not really, I just found a workaround is all.”

“How long ago?”

“Not important.”

“And you’ve decided to reveal this fact to me now of all times because…?”

“Mainly the entertainment factor if I’m being honest because man, I was not prepared for finding that in her head.”

“Ugh, can you at least politely keep whatever you see in anyone else’s heads to yourself?”

“Of course, I’m full of manners like that.”

“Ignoring the part where you immediately told me.”

“Well, yeah, ignoring that. Don’t mind it though, I trust you to know what you should or shouldn’t pass on.”

“Empty skies, how I wish I could feel the same about you.”

“Okay, well hold that very rude thought about your beloved apostle for just a minute.”

“Why?”

“Something’s coming down below, looks like I’m going to have to handle it.”