I couldn't rest properly, as the girls left me pensive about what I had done. I should reflect on my actions and manage to avoid further uses of divine aura.
Some noises were filling the environment, and I could feel a gentle push on my shoulder. It was Matila. She was calling my name, and I wasn't answering her. Some time must have passed because I felt asleep without noticing, or I was so tired that I dozed silently.
"Sir Rufus. Sir Rufus." Matila called me.
"He is sleeping. Leave him be. He probably couldn't rest." Jel chided her.
My body was sore, and I was warned that the extensive use of Authorities would impair my physical ability. I guess this is the burden they were referring to in Olympus.
I made a small movement with my arms because they were very stiff. Most likely, due to my current position, I slept while sitting, as it is not the correct one to be.
"Are you awake, Mr. Rufus?" Jel said.
"Yes." I managed to murmur it back. The girls approached me to hear what I said, so I repeated it a little louder.
"Yes, I am. My body is aching. Oh, good Lord." At the same time, I replied and complained.
They found my situation funny, as both goblins started to chuckle at me. It is not as if I could not sympathize, and if I were in their shoes, I would laugh at myself. Even now, I want to do that.
Nonetheless, I remember that I was no longer a soul, so I was subject to the physical constraints that the mortal realms impose on souls. Likewise, I recalled that Midgard had access to magic, so I concentrated myself for a moment and silently cast a healing spell. I could invoke my Healing, but I guess that this option is now discarded until I manage to understand my power implications.
An emerald and faint glow covered my entire frame, and then I started to sense pain relief.
"Who needs painkillers when I can heal myself like this?"
"What are painkillers?" Matila asked me.
"Medicines that release you from pain." I joyfully answered her.
"I had few resources here, but I think I might get a fish or two from the lake." Jel commented on bringing me back to our current reality, where we were hiding from the necromancer's minions and his allies.
"Few resources? What do you have here?" I looked around but didn't see anything besides the beds and the sofa.
She moved her mattress, and below it there was a small stash, and within it were a short sword, a short fishing pole, and some arrows. I think that qualifies as "few resources." Nonetheless, I don't believe that catching fish in this old-fashioned way is the best for now.
"I know you must be hungry, but before that, I need to plan our journey. How far are we from Wheatstone?"
"The road is in the west part of the lake, and I think we would take one hour to get there. The human village is in the southwest direction from that point, maybe another six hours walking. I am not sure, as I never went there." Jel explained the path that we should take.
Assuming that we can walk 5 km (about 3 miles) per hour, Wheatstone is about 30 km (ca 18 miles) from the road in the lake.
Therefore, if we left this safe house at midday, we might arrive before dawn.
"Is it morning?" I asked Jel.
"Not yet, the sunrise should be in one hour." Her reply put me at ease, as it seems like my first day in Olympus when I slept only a few hours. I was afraid that I was sleeping for too long.
"Sorry, I should be keeping guard, but I slept instead." I apologize.
Jel shook her head. "Please, sir cleric, you helped us several times. This place is safe, believe me."
I was uncomfortable with her excess of confidence over this small bunker. But somehow, she was so certain of it. "Why are you sure that nobody will come?"
"I attuned the entrance to be recognized only by goblins"
"Do you know how to perform magic, Jel?"
"No. But the shaman taught us about magical runes and words."
Magical runes and words? This was new for me. Of course, I didn't read everything about Midgard in Olympus, but I can't remember magic using words or runes. I took a mental note to ask her again about that later.
"Jel, Matila. I don't think it is a good idea to return to your village to bury your dead." I regretfully told them. Furthermore, I decided to stop overthinking and let them know my decisions. This might be too reckless on my part, but I instinctively knew that goblins matured at a quicker pace than humans.
At the end of the day, I simply believed that they could handle all the shocks that were going to come to us. I feel sorry for them, but avoidance would only lead them astray. And, perhaps, I could make them forget about this madness of becoming priests.
"I was thinking the same, sir Rufus. That necromancer's minions might be hunting us right now."
Whenever I think about our former conversations or even this one, I can't believe that she is four years old.
"If you agree, sir, I suggest burying them near this hideout."
This was my only conclusion because we need to leave as soon as possible. We don't know if several invisible imps would look for us. And worst of all, I was being protected by an unknown magic. How effective was this in preventing our enemies from finding us? Did this rune magic apply to my magical signature?
"I agree with that, Jel. I would like to ask you to inscribe these runes and magic on their grave marks to avoid other people finding where they are resting."
The huntress nodded at my suggestion. "After that, we should look for some fish." This was Matila's turn to nod.
We went outside, and we could see that the sun was rising. The view was stunning. The lake was to the north, and the sun was rising in the east as if it were coming out of the distant mountain range to illuminate this place.
"It is a nice view. I think they would love that." I said this while engrossed by the scene.
"They were forest inhabitants and seldom left there. I always thought that the world was much wider than we assumed." Jel replied to my comment with another pretty philosophical answer.
I would have time later to discuss that. We need to get our things done, and fast, so I started to visualize all the earth moving and creating a common burial site for the goblins. Moving a lot of earth at once consumed a lot of mana, but doing it in parts would take more time but less mana. Regardless of our hurry, I went for the slow route, as I didn't know what we could face as soon as we left for Wheatstone.
Jel searched for something edible, and she also took the fishing pole with her. I couldn't see how that was going to be useful, though I refrain from criticizing, as so far I was really messing things up.
Meanwhile, as soon as I finished the burial space, I began to take out the goblin bodies from the magical subspace. Matila, who was accompanying me, started to cry when she noticed familiar faces. Hearing about your family's death is distant, even if it is true, despite seeing their bodies being buried.
I arrived in this world later to be able to rescue them from this terrible fate. Now, what I can do is protect the two survivors from this tribe. From all those events, I understood that I need to investigate and unravel why a necromancer was hired to get rid of the forest goblins.
And to complicate things even further, now I have to deal with two prospective priestesses. For now, I will ignore this matter until our arrival in Wheatstone. There are some other issues that I should consider. I think that the Greek gods are not known in this world. So far, I have never seen a goblin deity, and based on the girls' description, there is a god that oversees the goblins that inhabit this land.
While I was lost in thoughts and taking care of Matila, Jel returned with some mushrooms in her hands. A spartan breakfast, better than none, I believe. Jel came close to us and said, "These were the only edible mushrooms that I found. In the woods, I am confident that I could find more..."
She trailed off, but I got her message. I think neither of us is willing to come back to that forest so soon. Especially knowing that there are who knows how many hunters are trying to locate us.
"You can have all of them. I am used to fasting." I said. "I think you should eat before our ceremony."
Jel looked at me with a confused look, but didn't say anything. She gave more than half of the food to Matila, while she had fewer but slightly bigger mushrooms.
"Are we also going fasting?" she asked me while eating her portion. She was worried about that, I guess.
"Well, it is not required. But doing so improves your mental resistance to temptations." I gave her the religious answer—at least the one I knew for my whole life. As a soul, I didn't have to eat, so this is actually my first time doing that.
Furthermore, I believe that revealing that I am an emissary from the gods might turn her into something beyond true fanaticism.
I waited for the girls to finish their simple meal and went ahead to the grave that I made with magic. While they were coming to this place, I took the chance to use my magic and drag a nearby rock to the burial site. I was going to use it as a tombstone, and I hope in the future we could come back and build a memorial for her tribe here.
Each girl stood by my side. I patted Matila head and started my preaching: "Oh Great Gods of Olympus, your servant here calls you to receive these poor souls, victims of the most degenerate sin against the living, in your embrace. I, you apostle in this land, pray that these souls find peace in the afterlife. And I pray to Charon that he receives them well and helps them make the Crossing."This last part was a makeshift addition that I made; there are plenty of goblins. But if I remember well, I had an enormous number of coins. I hope Charon uses it to help them in the afterlife. After my speech, I started to cover the burial site. As before, a warm emerald light befell the grave.
Both Jel and Matila had tears in their eyes and were sobbing. This was a dark and tense moment, but they needed to recompose. I felt bad for rushing and angrier to be so powerless. I vowed to myself that I was going to correct these mistakes and make the true monsters responsible for this pay!