Having decided to put the matter of having children on hold for the
time being, we left the fortified city of Algren and headed east with
my Vermillion Bird Form.
According to Terra-sama, the god of raging wind—'Turbo'-sama lived
in the desert in the east.
She also mentioned that Turbo-sama—was also a goddess.
The Goddess of Creation needn't to be said, but the god of thunder
Fluga-sama and the remaining one, the god of water, also seemed to
be female; was there some kind of reason behind that?
I wasn't sure because I hadn't asked in detail, but if I had to meet
someone, I sure would rather meet a beautiful onee-san than a dirty
old man.
Well, my initial meeting with Terra-sama, aka Mother Earth-sama,
was one hell of a ride, though…
"Still, a desert, huh. I'd never been to one before, but it must be
going to be hot."
"Yes, indeed. Even if we have Igniver-sama's power, there is a limit
to its healing power. We have to make sure to stay hydrated."
"Yeah, you're right. By the way, Magmell. Is there really no problem
for you to be coming with us? You're Algren's saintess, aren't you?"
"Yes, of course. Thanks to Exa-sama, smiles and liveliness has
returned to Algren. Everyone, including Freyr-sama, are deeply
indebted to you, the unsung hero. Hence, it is now our turn to help
Exa-sama."
"I see. Thanks."
"No, that's my line.
"Well," Magmell added, her cheeks reddening, "Even if that hadn't
been the case, I would've still followed you."
"I-is that so. Well… yeah. Thanks. Glad to hear it."
"Yes ♪!" Magmell smiled happily.
I also couldn't help but to break into a smile, but then, Arca chimed
in, "Well, it would've been better if you hadn't tagged along, though."
"Yes, I know right! I think the same!"
Like that, my wives were picking a fight against each other, as usual.
◇ ◇
Afterward, we continued to fly for a while more, before spotting a
town at a location that could be said to be the entrance to the desert.
Commercial city—'Afraal'.
Since we'd be surprising the locals if we directly landed in the town,
we got down at a nearby rocky area before heading for Afraal.
Although we hadn't entered the desert yet, the sunlight shining down
on us was already so strong that Magmell was sweating buckets
after just a short walk.
"I-I feel like dying…"
"Well, that's what you get for wearing such stuffy clothes. You
should've considered the destination and worn light clothes like me."
"W-women shouldn't be showing their skin that easily…" Magmell
said breathlessly while leaning against her Holy Staff.
Thanks to Igniver-sama, I was very strong against heat, so it didn't
bother me in particular, but it looked like she hadn't even acquired
"Fire Resistance" yet.
The power split from me didn't seem help her much in this heat.
"Anyway, let's reserve a room in an inn and take a break here for
now. I want to ask around about Turbo-sama, too."
"Ahh, I agree."
"I-I understand…" The two nodded.
With the two following me, I went into a nearby inn.
Then, the conversation of people who seemed to be merchants
reached my ears.
"Did you hear? It seems there was another attack. How many times
has this been?"
"Who knows. It's been too many to count. Damn, we'd go out of
business soon, at this rate…"
"But is there anyone who can beat that woman? Even the
adventurers hired by the Vigilante Corps couldn't last long against
her."
I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but they seemed to be in
quite a pinch.
When I exchanged glances with the others, Arca sighed, "Good
grief," and said, "You wanna go ask them for detail, don't you? You
sure are soft-hearted. Well, that's one of your good points, though."
"Haha, thanks for the praise. Then, do you mind reserving us a
room? You too, Magmell. You can go ahead and take a rest first."
"I apologize for troubling you…"
"No, don't worry about it." I said with a smile, before parting ways
with them and approaching the merchants.
"Excuse me."
""?""
After asking them for details, I found out that a group of bandits with
a young red-haired woman as the leader had recently appeared in
this area.
Moreover.
"She is woman, but she is extremely strong. She spins around an
axe that is as tall as herself and goes rampaging unbridled."
"Hmm, she sounds to be a very wild person."
"'Wild' isn't enough to describe her. She surely has an irresistible
figure, I'd give her that, but I'd never want to have anything to do with
her. Who in their right mind would put their hand on that Great Ogre."
Speaking of which, 'Great Ogre' was a humanoid monster that had
brute strength.
She must be a very powerful woman to be compared to that kind of
monster.
I wondered what kind of person was she.
I sure would love to meet her, I thought absentmindedly—at that
time.
"—B-bandits are comiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!?"
"""!?"""
A man's scream suddenly echoed in from the outside; I immediately
left the merchants and ran outside the inn.
"Exa!" Arca caught up and lined up next to me, and at the same time,
I caught sight of waves of people running about. Soon after, the
figure of a red-haired woman straddling a monster approaching at
tremendous speed from the other side came to be visible.
She raised her shining axe and roared, "Run, run, run! Or else y'all
gonna be trampled by this 'Axe Saintess'—Ophir-sama!"
""!?""
It appeared that the next saintess wasn't quite right in the head,
either.