"Kami-sama! Kami-sama, where are you?!" I frantically immediately ran in that place to find clues about the goddess who suddenly disappeared. "Damn, where did that goddess go?!"
This was really bad, she shouldn't be able to move due to hunger.
Could she have been eaten by a monster?— No, if she was eaten by a monster there should be battle marks or blood around here.
Could she have been kidnapped?
Thinking of the various situations that might occur, I became even more worried and uneasy.
There's absolutely no clue to finding an answer from that goddess who suddenly disappeared, so it's hard for me to make a conclusion as to what exactly happened.
However, while I was thinking hard about it, I suddenly heard the voice of the goddess far away from the cave.
"Rikuuu! Hey~! I'm here!" she shouted enthusiastically as she emerged from the darkness waving hers arms at me.
"Kami-sama!" That makes me a little relieved.
"Hurry up here, I found something really interesting here!" she called.
Hearing that, I tilted my head in confusion and walked towards where the goddess was, the path was quite dark, but somehow within the darkness the goddess' golden hair and sky blue eyes glowed strangely, so I was able to get there easily.
"Kami-sama, what are you doing here? Is your body okay? I asked curiously."
Besides before she looked like a dying man who was almost starved to death, so it made me a little curious how she could be healthy again.
"Well, I'm fine, while you were away, I ordered the spirits to help me find some food, and they obediently brought me some edible fruit— He-Hey, what are you doing?! How dare you be violent to a goddess like me ! Aaaah! Stop, don't pinch my cheeks! I'm sorry! Sorry, so please stop pinching my cheeksu!"
This woman really sucks.
***************
After giving the goddess a bit of punishment, I turned my gaze to a strange object floating in the middle of the cave.
I can't believe there's a room like this in here.
"What's that?" I asked spontaneously.
But, not responding to my question, the goddess just grumbled beside me.
"Uuh, you really can't take a joke. This still hurts. Can't you just hold your own to a goddess though?"
"Noisy, this is also your own fault. If you could order the spirits to look for food, why did you let me go?"
"Umm, well, you looked really enthusiastic that time, so I wasn't sure whether I should stop you or not. I'm not completely at fault, am I~★?" she replied with a wimpy smile without the slightest guilt.
This woman really is! Should I give her one more hit?
"Haaahh…" Feeling resigned, I could only sigh tiredly.
It's true, I was excited at the time, to finally be able to explore this world with my own eyes, and I even found something interesting, so I guess I can't really blame her too much.
"Well, forget about that. Can you explain what this place is and what it is?" I pointed at a strange object entangled by a vine from various places.
It was bright yellow, and round like a baseball. It looked so beautiful when it shone brightly illuminating this cave.
"Earlier, while you were gone. I felt bored of being left alone, so I decided to explore this cave, and that time I found a butterfly-winged frog, and he brought me to this place."
"Hmm, there's a lot I'd like to respond to. But, first, can you explain what that thing actually is? Is it dangerous?" I asked, pointing at the glowing yellow ball one more time.
Then, the goddess replied in a light tone. "No, I thought it was just an ordinary yellow crystal, which only has the power to keep monsters from approaching this place. Well, it's nothing special, so why don't you just take it, I think it will come in handy."
"Wait, you said something very important just now. What do you want from me by telling me to take that thing?"
Hearing my question, the goddess sighed, as if I was asking something stupid. "Can't you figure it out yourself."
It sucks, but let's leave it at that for now.
"Didn't the power I gave you have the feature of extracting materials, I want you to take that thing and turn it into the material," she replied with a confident face.
I frowned. "Isn't that thing functioning to keep the monsters from approaching this place, what will happen if I take it?"
"Nothing will happen."
"Huh?"
Seeing my reaction, the goddess sighed.
"Have you forgotten who I am? Even though my powers have diminished, I'm still a goddess. I can still use magic to keep monsters from approaching us, so you don't have to worry about that."
"Y-You sure this is okay?"
"Hurry up and do it. You need to know, if you extract that thing, you will get 1 million medicinal points and 100 thousand mana points. Are you sure you want—"
"I already took it." Before the goddess could finish her sentence, my hand quickly grabbed the tendrils and took the yellow object.
"O-Oh, that's good. You sure change your mind quickly, I get a little scared of you sometimes."
Ignoring the goddess who was saying something vague, I looked at the description of the yellow thing in my [Inventory].
[Rare Crysta that has an area effect to repel any approaching monsters, you can strengthen the effect in some way.]
"Crsyta? What is Crysta?"
"It's a crystal that contains a certain power or effect. A Crysta's power depends on how bright it can shine. Since it has a light that can illuminate this entire cave, I believe it is very strong."
"Wow, that's cool. By the way, where did Crysta's power come from?" I asked excitedly.
"You sure do ask a lot of questions. Well, in short, Crysta's power comes from one's strong 'Desire'."
"Desire?" I shouted.
The goddess nodded and continued her explanation. "Before Crsyta got power, it was just a lump of raw crystal without any effect. However, due to one's strong will, Crsyta can gain power, and depending on the wish and how strong the desire is the basis of what effect one gets and how big the effect is. Even It's said that even obtaining a raw Crysta is extremely difficult. Therefore, we were lucky to find a Crysta that has this powerful effect."
"I see, so you're saying that Crsyta's power is formed from the will of someone who wants the monsters to stay away from it," I replied while looking at Crysta who was currently in my hand.
Could it be, that person had such strong feelings to protect this place, that this Crysta could shine so brightly.
"Ugh, somehow I feel guilty for taking it."
Well, but I also can't resist something as tempting as this.
So, with guilt in my chest, I extracted the Crysta, and according to what the goddess said earlier. I earned 1 million medicinal points and 100 thousand mana points.
This is truly an astonishing number.
"Well, if I meet the person who created this Cresyta, I will make sure to repay," I said firmly.
"Hey, Riku! Have you finished your business?! Let's have dinner with the fruit you got!" called the goddess from a distance. She had already left this place.
I sighed and walked towards her.
Oh yeah, I just remembered. I still haven't asked her name.
Well, let's just do it tomorrow, today I'm really really tired, a lot has happened in one day. I guess after finishing dinner, I'll go straight to sleep.
While thinking about that, I look forward to tomorrow with great enthusiasm.
However, as soon as I wake up.
I just remembered.
That this is another world full of chaos.
As soon as I woke up from my slumber, I heard loud noises coming from outside the cave, and when I saw what was happening, my eyes opened wide.
My body was shaking violently.
"W-What happened?!"
—That entire forest burned down in just one night.