Kota was walking around the bustling town. The sunshine was breaking through gray clouds. His eyes noticed a white building with colorful stained glass.
It feels familiar.
Drawn to the place he entered. The inside was luminating with bright light.
On the sides stood rows of wooden benches. Kota walked down the main aisle to the stone steps of an altar. Behind it there was a marble figure. Kota approached.
Did she look like that?
"Can't take your eyes off me, I see. Can't blame you."
Kota's eyes widened. He turned around.
"Welcome again, Kota Lis-Kura."
"It's you."
"Yes It's me. Your perception is still as great. How long has it been? Half a year?"
She took a sip from a golden chalice, levitated a chair and put a wine bottle on the altar. Kota stood before her.
"How do you, my chosen one, like the new world?"
"It's horrible. The forest was hard and those winter nights were cold. I thought I'd freeze there. Just running and training for months. "
"Real fantasy world, remember?"
Ghhh.
She took another sip.
"But you learnt a lot from Friedsieg. And look, you have his skills, hat and you're the same weakling anymore."
Nothing's changed with her.
"Now I have those crazy maniacs and a debt to pay."
"Oh, you don't like them? Weren't you dreaming of adventures and beautiful girls?
"So you brought them to me?"
She played with her chalice.
"Gods act in mysterious ways and their judgements are inscrutable."
"You make decisions by turning the wheel."
"And it's worked well so far. That japanese guy with magic glasses makes a name for himself."
"What's his name?"
"Satsuki Watanabe… Definitely."
"Uh-huh."
"Look, he got an item, but you received the best gift of all - a guidance of a beautiful goddess. You surely saw the effects."
"The constant rains and no easy tasks?"
"No, that's just nature taking its course. Maybe Natura knows the details. Anyway, more about my great efforts. You wanted adventures, beautiful girls and companions, remember. So I thought of it and now you have adventures with beautiful girls as your companions. Pretty amazing, don't you say?"
"They're all beauties, but what's in their heads?"
"Dreams to change the world as well as some other things. You should appreciate them more. It was hard to fulfil your demands, you know. Especially when they are in possession of magic items and powerful magic."
"Yeah, but back then I was referring to myself."
"Leave that egoism, Mr. I Deserve The World. You still haven't seen what they're really capable of. Oh, it'll be fun to watch."
She took another sip. Kota sat down on a bench.
"Hinota is my favourite. And if you wanted them gone you had your chance today. You were more ruthless in the guild online, but you took two of them today."
"It was a mistake, but one called me a coward and that weirdo somehow ended up in my party. And the other. I couldn't bear how she looked. Even though she's a crazy brat."
"About coward. You took on some scary things. Zeugl, cemetery and now a haunted house. "
"Money's tight so I have no choice."
With squinted eyes and amusement in her smile she leaned in and whispered.
"We both know how deep down you really are. You showed it before."
Kota averted her gaze.
"Do I have to defeat the demon king with them?"
"You may, but there's no rush. With how things are going in the world he'll be replaced by a new king in a few years. Maybe earlier."
"Wait what? Isn't the demon king a threat to the whole world? You sent me here with no knowledge at all. I don't even know where I am."
"Honestly, I expected you to return much sooner.
That's why I didn't ask you to fight the demon king. But you achieved a lot more. As expected of the chosen one, after all. Congratulations."
She took a sip.
What a bitch.
"About your question. The forces of evil have a kingdom in the cold far in the North-east and are in constant conflict with Eirene kingdom, the Evergreen Forest Sekalia is from and Viking Islands."
"Vikings?"
"They love raiding the demon king. Quite the adventurous folk. As for you, you are far away in the warm South."
"Yeah, really felt it every warm night I was freezing."
"To the West is the Mora Empire and to the East lies the kingdom of dwarves and fairies Ethelgard. The middle of the continent lies the huge mountain chain Yamazug."
"Maybe I'll remember those names."
"You'll remember them sooner or later. Being smart is still your strong point."
"Then here's a smart question. Why won't gods just go down there and just be done with it?"
"That's a lot of explaining. To put it simply, we can't. The more the gods intervene the stronger the reaction of demons will be. Demons get too active, we keep the order, an army comes straight from hell. One thing leads to another and soon we look at a full scale apocalypse on our hands. No world to fight for."
"So both sides never come here, ever?"
"Absolutely, gods and demons never come down to the mortal world. And in order to prevent another and another apocalypse we made an agreement called The Twilight Treaty. Long and boring times."
She was pouring some wine into the chalice.
"How long ago was it? Thousand years? That would mean you must be really…"
"Hey, don't blasphemy in a church."
Some wine landed on the stone floor.
"Knowledgeable."
"You're a piece of work. For now, just get stronger and kill monsters and get along with the girls. And don't turn to the dark side and wear warm clothes at night. That is the wisdom of a goddess."
She stood up and took unsteady steps.
"I won't keep my followers waiting any longer. Nice talk, we need to repeat it some day. Good luck."
She went behind the statue of herself and disappeared.
Kota stood in the middle of the church and gasped.
"This is my life now."