Athena whispered close to William, "Remember to keep quiet at all times and we'll call each other by different names. Understood?"
Boom!
Two hefty men threw out a man in a dirtied black suit with pink cheeks.
"You bastards! How dare you? You…" He raised his hands and hurled out curses that could get this novel banned.
The less burly man spat on the floor and declared, "Never show your filthy self here again, Aganes."
Aganes laughed, "Haha, who taught you such harsh words? Is it your mother? I'll have to discipline her next time I plough her, you ungrateful son of a whore!"
The men didn't even mind him and just said before entering back into the tavern, "Go get a life, bloody drunkard. We'll find you if you can't pay for those drinks within the next 3 days. I'm looking forward to bashing your face in for slandering my mother."
Bam!
Aganes slapped the hard concrete ground and cursed, "You ungrateful bastards! Argh! I'll skin you lot alive when I hit it big! I'll buy this place... just to piss on it! Hehehe…"
"Ouch… Ouch…" The drunkard tried to stand up with great difficulty and was comforting himself from the pain coming from his bum by tapping it repeatedly.
"Here…" William helped the man up.
"Thanks, lad. A kid? at a bar? Haha reminds me of my young days…" The man said as he trotted away staggeringly.
Athena grabbed William's elbow and asked in a hushed tone, "Why did you do that?"
William shrugged her hand off like she did to him previously and also answered like she did, "Can't you use your brain? I was helping him, do with that what you will."
Athena pressured, "You idiot. He saw your face."
William raised his hand and had a carefree free smile on his face as he sighed and said, "Relax. It's fine. What can a dude like him possibly do? Plus, with a mummified body like mine, I doubt he will be able to recognize me."
The singing of a bard with the sound from his flute, mixed with countless screams of frustration and laughter of several drunkards constantly engaging in arguments could be heard in the surrounding area.
Athena quickly put the issue at the back of her mind and entered the tavern; William followed closely behind.
Gring~
The bell above the door rang out and alerted their entrance to everyone in the tavern.
Silence. In contrast to all the previous noise, all that remained was the door's squeaking. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around to stare at the two suspicious-looking persons in black robes that just entered the tavern.
The interior was that of a regular tavern. A wine show glass was mounted on the wall behind the bartender; a counter, round tables, and chairs were all made of wood on a checkered pattern floor.
…Sh*t! I knew this was a bad idea. Couldn't we just send someone older? Am I sure she didn't forget to take the basic wisdom when she transformed into human form? William was tempted to facepalm himself.
With their height and body frame, one could almost tell they were children. Athena walked towards the counter and removed the hood of her cloak and said to the bartender, "Good evening sir, please I need to speak to Mr. Manager."
…WHAT?! William's mouth nearly dislocated from the rest of his skull; the same was for the onlookers.
Standing in front of the counter was an extremely beautiful black-haired girl with doll-like features. Her eyebrows were thin and long with big blue eyes and long eyelashes above and beneath, matching perfectly with her small and plumply lips.
This breathtaking beauty came like a wave. Her skin was fair and her face, smooth as a baby's butt.
The bartender was lost in awe of this beauty. The men around murmured amongst themselves and speculated that she must be a very young noble lady or princess on an assignment.
"Excuse me, sir?" She tilted her head a little with a slight look of confusion.
The bartender's cheeks were flushed red, he harrumphed, "A-Ahem… I'm sorry my lady, but Mr. Manager is busy right now ma'am. B-But if you give me your name I can tell him you're here."
All the men listened in and were eager to hear the name of this angelic figure.
Athena smiled gently, just this act alone melted the hearts of all the men there. "I understand, but please this is urgent. My name is Starze. And if you don't mind, can you pour me a mixture of Vodin and Zern?"
That last sentence was the secret phrase certain 'special' customers used.
"R-Right away ma'am!" The bartender quickly ran through a door at the left.
William stared at the bartender through the hood as the man ran somewhere and was lost in thought …How on earth was she able to change all her facial features so fast? If she could do this since, why does she prefer looking like a brute?
「I believe it is because her disguise is made by magic, and therefore only temporary. I cannot calculate the duration of her temporary disguise due to the lack of proper information on 'Magic'.」
…Nova? I haven't heard from you in a while.
「I have been analyzing the data from the energy that caused your current state, the Goddess Selene's energy, and the one provided by the Goddess Athena.」
…Oh really? And what have you found?
「The energy provided by the Goddess Athena contained all the information about Ki, Magic, and Divinity in regards to Blessings given by the gods; fragments of information about other realms, other-realmers, and the Universal Grading System.」
…Nice! So you're not so useless after all. You'll help me understand all that she said the other time. I still can't understand why humans are so limited, yet I'm encountering vampires and reading about evil witches.
「Master, you have not properly assimilated yourself with the knowledge of this world.」
…W-Wait, you read my thoughts and that means you know I came from another world?
「Yes. I have analyzed all the memories stored in your brain and have come to the conclusion that your previous world was where I was created.」
…Wha-Wait. Hold up. You're from Earth too?! No, I shouldn't let Athena know we're talking. This isn't the time to be asking these questions. Do you have anything else to tell me?
「Yes. I have also been collecting analytical data on your conversations with the Goddess Athena and have come to the conclusion that she is hiding several things from you, things that she had already sent to me.」
…So? What does that mean?
「She realizes you will ultimately understand them better if I am is the one feeding you the information. According to her behavioral pattern and communication with you, my calculations say that goddess Athena sees the Master as a tool. If the calculation is proven true, the Goddess Athena's constant arguments, nagging, and friendliness with the Master are all an act.」
…Hey, so she's truly the Goddess of Wisdom. It's like one isekai I read of a skeleton and an old witch. I understand she's only acting this way since my kind, celestials, are viewed as so-called demons. She's only getting along with me so I might be different from the other celestials and do her bidding. She thinks I'm stupid. I'm only doing this to save Allison, whether or not the Evil God has a justified reason to destroy the Gods is not my business.
「Master, on the contrary, I believe she was hoping you would come to this conclusion.」
…Huh? Why? Just as Nova was about to answer, Athena drew William out from his thoughts with a nudge, saying, "Are you listening? He said we should follow him."
William shook his head and followed Athena into a door that led to a basement.