'Kyaa~ Kidnapper~'
"Shush!"
I am travelling through the night with a limp body over my shoulders, a perfectly normal criminal act. Not, because I am zooming through a vast plain, leaving a shining trail of light behind me and no people in sight.
… That does sound like a crime.
April needs to rest in a city every night which is a real waste of time for me who don't sleep and only need to rest once in a while, so I offered to carry her while travelling through the night. Or rather, I made her.
You got a Sage as your personal ride and bodyguard, aren't you decadent?
I also got prudent after almost destroying my brain, I made sure to ration my mana and be an economical goblin. I am now using proper magic rather than half-assing my spells.
[Celestial Art: White Comet]
Celestial Magic, my main practice of magic. Low mana cost and a wide variety of spells, but the choice of attacks is invariable. The most powerful spells are [Asteroid], [Starfall], [Meteor], all about dropping rocks on people's head. The proper way to use Celestial Magic though, is to gather the blessing from the stars to strengthen your body.
I am now in the Holy Kingdom, the center of the continent. I am surprised it hasn't fallen yet, though from what I've heard, it's facing strong pressure from the neighbouring Divine Kingdom.
'What horrible people, gotta remember to crush them.'
"If I have time. If not, they would fall on their own anyway."
The fake will always be fake. Once the communication with the Gods recovers, the Divine Kingdom won't hold a candle without a real deity.
'But it would be more satisfying to do it ourselves!'
"Yeah, yeah. But the Magic Gathering is more important right now. Just how is magic doing now, I hope they progressed.
During our stay in the city which I never learnt the name of, we found out that there will be a gathering of mages, and the most distinguished mages across the continent will all take part. Does that not tickle your heart? Don't you want to see how much the magic society has changed over the years? Will anyone still recognise me?
If so, I will need a disguise!
'Your evil side is showing, Gobuda.'
Lir is not amused.
'And I don't think anyone will recognise you.'
"Wow, a mind reader. I didn't know a Seer can do that."
'I can't, you're just too easy to read.'
How rude.
I think I should get rid of my wanderers disguise now that I entered the Holy Kingdom, it has been getting me into more trouble than it's worth because I'm being treated coldly by Fels. The wanderers' reputation is not great in some places because they went and did whatever they wanted when they first arrived.
It's so nostalgic, a bunch of kids trying to break into my house every day and me teaching them all a lesson. It was quite fun back then, but maybe not for these cities.
Those wanderers were dumb, in the end most of them never returned to this world because they got marked and either detained or killed on sight. But the impression they left stayed in some cities.
"Oh, the sun is coming out."
April should be here soon, or in my perspective, wake up soon. I run towards the nearest city and wait outside, I don't want to find spears pointing at me again because I'm carrying a limp body.
"… I feel sluggish."
"What a shame."
I am walking down the streets with April while looking around the stalls.
"Want some skewers?"
"… I'll have some."
April mutters like she has given up on something.
'You should not look for consideration from Gobuda, child.'
'I can hear you, Lir. You've been here for days already, aren't you busy.'
Everyone should be preparing to hunt some Black Dragons, yet this kid is sticking to me like glue.
'Are you slacking?'
'N-No, I'm just worried about your body when you leave it behind so I am watching over it for you! Moreover, I am a Seer! My powers can help you throughout your journey!'
'Ah, yes, I understand.'
Her power focuses on perception, she is able to follow me all the way with her 'sight' because she broke the limits of a mortal's perception like how Ronia broke the limits of her swordsmanship. But even if she can perceive me, her real body is too far to offer me any help.
"Is that the temple? It looks awfully similar to the one in the Goblin City."
April asks me from behind as she points to the end of the street, the center of the city where an old temple is standing.
"That's because I built that one. Most temple or churches in the kingdom are built with the same style and I came from this kingdom, so the style matches."
"You were born here?"
"Can't remember, but this was the first place I called home."
A wave of nostalgia hits me… I suddenly feel like visiting the temple.
The doors of the temple are open to anyone so I can walk right in. The first thing I see are the statues of the Three Sister Goddess, or the ones I've been calling 'the Gods'. They stand at the very back of the temple, watching over the rows of seats. There is no podium since the temple is not a place for preaching, which happens in church beside the temple.
Of the three statues, on the left is the Goddess of Order Greyfel, the eldest sister. On the right is the Goddess of Chaos Yiaris, the youngest sister. Then on the center is the middle sister, the Goddess of Judgement, Molena.
Order, Chaos and Balance. This world only has the three gods, governing space-time and justice, progress and evolution of life, and life after death respectively. The eldest and the youngest goddesses are often at odds with each other, while the middle sister always finds a compromise in between. They uphold the existence of this world and saw it to prosperity.
But the world cannot support their tremendous existence, that's why they communicate through oracles, grant their power to their believers and execute their will through their Priests and Holy Knights. Their link with the people has been weaker than ever because the world is too fragile, and that allowed fake gods, evil cults and other things to run rampant.
That's why we had to stay alive, no matter how unsightly it was. Once in a while, some goblins of the inner city would run off into the continent when things are going out of control. Then things would settle, and we would never see them again.
The arrival of wanderers was a joyous thing for us, because it means the Gods can exert greater power now, and a sign the world is almost restored.
The time is soon.
"Let's go."