Chapter 8: Training, a relationship, and more choco milk?! (3)
Back in the shrine, Benjamin was warmed by the hearth while peeling talismans off his body. He had them secretly plastered behind his shirt and short pants, just so that any phantom wouldn't have known about them.
Goosebumps on his arm prompted a topic to break the ice between him and Estelle.
"It's really cold outside… I didn't expect it since it seems to be summer," Benjamin said. He believed the weather to have been summer, just from looking at the vivid green trees, but another world ought to have its own weather circumstances.
Even if it was something obvious that anyone from this world should know, Estelle was glad to have a topic different from their dispute to talk about.
She explained, "It's because of the evil spirits dwelling around us. Their presence becomes naturally cold once the night blankets our shrine."
"I see," Benjamin found no fault in this explanation.
Once he was done with the talismans and neatly sorted them on the table before him, Benjamin scooped the black box up from the carpet and put it next to the organized papers. The priestess was also done with the supper and put two plates of scrambled eggs and water on the dining table.
The etiquette insisted he follow the house's owner's will, so Benjamin ignored the black box, sat by the table, thanked her for the meal, and silently dug in.
It had been just one day, but he already decided to drop formalities and be more casual around Estelle.
"So eggs are really cheap," Benjamin commented after forcing Estelle to have a talk with him.
Estelle nodded, "I have lots of them…"
It went without saying that Estelle felt awkward after their short dispute. She could listen to advice and obediently try to implement it into her life, but some stuff couldn't have been changed in just one day.
Following the path of the protagonist, regardless of whatever it could be, was too much for the wolf priestess. It caused an awkward mood between them.
Benjamin didn't feel that weird since he had yet to learn more about Estelle, but the wolf priestess was taking things too seriously, and it could have been seen.
"Have you heard about players?" Benjamin asked.
Estelle nodded, "Yes! You're one of them, aren't you? But I heard they were only in the second worlds… or like the dreams."
"My world doesn't have any mana. You can say it had been a blessing for us to be able to taste some of it," Benjamin put down the fork and peered straight into Estelle's eyes. "I used to be a powerless orphan looked down on by anyone. When I was a child, older brats were picking up on me because I was taller than them. No one wanted to side with me just to avoid the trouble. Teachers conveniently ignored me, and some even took me as their main target to vent out their stress. It continued for as long as I can remember. What saved me was the access to the world of mana."
Since it was cheap and anyone could jump into the virtual world, everyone in the orphanage received their own gear to play the game. Benjamin was one of the first players because he wanted to escape the reality.
The new world enabled him more than he thought as he found out that he had a knack for fighting.
Picking up the leftovers of his dream to become a footballer, Benjamin focused on kicking people and monsters' heads as though they were footballs. Later, he learned more about martial arts and grew up in power.
When he came of age and had to pay taxes under his own name, Benjamin created a company, capitalized his game assets, and formed the guild with the sole goal of becoming a top, which essentially translated to him becoming quite a rich man in his late teens.
"I felt the breath of life when I fought Zero," Benjamin smiled, "I felt so enabled, and it was like everything was possible to me. The same kind of feeling I had when I stepped into the fantasy world for the first time and killed my first monster. Other people like me were struggling so much, you know? It's because they feared danger, pain, blood… I feared nothing. Blood often dripped off my nose, pain was nothing unfamiliar to me, and danger lurked everywhere, or so I thought."
Estelle listened without blinking. Her wolf ears perked up.
"I'm not meant to be a protagonist, but I'll do anything to be at the center of the stage. That's how it goes for me… so the crux of this story is that you're obviously free to be yourself if you don't feel like enabling me. It's just that I believe anything can be fixed with enough strength. The same goes for money, but I guess strength is more important," Benjamin concluded.
His story had given Estelle a lot to think about. She became mute and hovered her narrowed eyes on the empty plate, recalling her life from the very beginning.
Now that she dwelled on it, Estelle found it odd that she went about so carefree around Benjamin and had even left the shrine without any cautiousness to save him.
She'd endure any trouble to not cause problems to anyone, then continue her life while believing in Her Excellency and preaching her teachings to others. That another existence within her would surely be put out by that belief!
Which was why meeting Benjamin so unconcerned was a bit weird since he could be a cause of trouble as well.
That was when Estelle had received a divine divination.
[Heartbreaking though it may be, it pains me to tell you that you're about to meet your end should you continue comporting this way. Estelle, my child, wasting this chance would be a grave mistake. You're not alone in this matter. Your sisters begged me not to tell you about this, but each also has another existence within themselves. A burden is what you would become should your life not change.]
Meili, The Goddess Of Earth, had spoken to her believer.
It was not the first time, so Estelle recognized the voice ringing in her little head. Conversely, it must have been the same for Meili as she used an effective card to change Estelle's mindset—her family.
The wolf priestess lifted her chin and stared directly into Benjamin's eyes. In her hues was now dwelling a resolution to change herself.
That resolution wasn't to enable Benjamin, for he was still a mere foreigner to her, nor was it for her Goddess.
Estelle would never want to be a burden to her family, whom she loved from the bottom of her heart. If her deity, an existence of uncountable years and a wealth of knowledge, believed her to be a burden in the future for her sisters, Estelle swore to change herself at a moment's notice.
In a nutshell, she was too kind of a woman and would go through hell for those she loved.
A relationship that Benjamin had only scratched thrice in his still-tender life.