Geofu.
- "I..." Celestine began, while the Shields looked anxiously from me to her and back, and Olga and Chloe watched silently. "I apologize for my actions. It was truly irresponsible and rude of me, and I am ready to make amends."
- "Continue."
- "I also apologize for the actions of my entourage. The Shields are not to blame for this; I am to blame, as I allowed them to take the initiative," she said. "I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make amends. And if I succeed, can we start over, Lord Romani? This is my only request as one god to another, even though I have no right to ask for anything in this situation."
As soon as she uttered these words, the eyes of every princess knight widened instantly and turned toward me. They still couldn't move, but that single glance said a lot, and even more when the meaning of Celestine's words flashed through their minds.
While Olga showed her usual impassive expression, but the corner of her mouth was barely raised in malice, and Chloe looked directly at Shields with a sneer, I thought to myself.
Overall, Celestine was somewhat reminiscent of Tia, just as soft and kind, except that she completely lacked a backbone.
Of course, one could say that they were absolutely identical, but that was not the case. If Tia was the standard, the pinnacle of warmth, light, and love, then Celestine was only trying to be that, which was doomed to failure. The latter was afraid to take any action, while the former simply did not want to.
- "Well, I can see that you mean what you say, but it's too early to talk about forgiveness, isn't it?" I began, and Celestine nodded briefly. "I'll let your little helpers go now, and they will remain silent throughout the rest of our conversation, unless one of us asks them to speak. Is that all right with you?"
- "Yes," she said and glanced at the Shields, as if asking them to do as I said. "They will do it. I trust them."
- "Strange. Then let's put it to the test," I grinned and released the Shields, which they felt instantly but said nothing. "Well, we both have something to say, so I suggest you start. After all, you're the host and all, but keep in mind that at the moment, our relationship is worse than neutral."
- "I understand," Celestine smiled bitterly but hopefully and paused to collect her thoughts. "These lands are facing a severe trial and possibly their downfall. I saw it in my visions, where Eostia was covered in a hopeless darkness made up of sadness, regret, bitterness, and hatred. It wasn't war, no, it was something way more terrifying."
- "I guess you could call it that," Olga said, realizing what was going on.
- "But then, when hope had almost left this land and its inhabitants were engulfed in darkness, a light shining with pure gold appeared, taking the form of ten rings. It was so bright and warm that I felt the presence of another god."
- "Me, huh?"
- "Yes," she nodded. "I used every ounce of my strength and will to find you, relying on the sensations I received in my visions, and I succeeded. I just wanted to contact you, ask you to meet me and get to know you better, but, as you know, I made a mistake, for which I apologize once again."
- "So, to sum up, you want me to help you and save these lands in the future, is that right?"
- "You are correct. Therefore, for the sake of the well-being of every living creature on this land, I am willing to do anything to atone for my guilt before you and earn your support in the future," Celestine concluded, and silence fell in the hall.
Olga's expression did not change, while Chloe, Celestine, and the Shields, still shocked by the news of my divinity, waited silently for my response. I quickly processed the information I had received.
To summarize what Celestine had said, she possessed clairvoyance, and quite powerful clairvoyance at that, if she was able to penetrate my Mirror of Souls. Her selflessness and desire to help ordinary people were commendable, but that was where the positives ended. She was still blind, naive, and overly kind for her own good and for a goddess of continental stature.
Like, doesn't Celestine sense two threats at once: one very close by and the other a little further away? And I'm not counting the corpse with his army of mercenaries.
- "You know," I began, drawing everyone's attention to myself. "In theory, I could help you."
- "Really?" Celestine was delighted.
- "But that would require a tremendous amount of strength, time, and nerves. According to Olga, and I tend to believe her, you're lacking in all of those areas."
- "What do you mean, Lord Romani?" She didn't understand, and neither did the Shields.
- "Oh, so you don't know? Excellent, that proves Olga's point once again. And if that's the case, then I shouldn't get involved in principle," I rolled my eyes. "You are all so blind and stupid that you haven't even discovered the true nature of the Black Dogs, although I'm sure they've left traces somewhere. You allowed them to grow so powerful that now they fear neither the Shields, nor the church, nor the regular army, nor you yourself, Celestine. And what's his name again? Valt? Volt? A walking corpse, in short."
- "But..." the goddess began, but she was quickly interrupted.
- "I will not allow his glorious name to be slandered any longer!" exclaimed the redhead, drawing her dagger and lunging at me.
- "Maya, stop!" The others tried to stop her, but of course she wasn't listening to them anymore. Her eyes were filled with rage and bloodlust, which she was about to unleash on me in her attack. And she wasn't the only one.
- "You insult Lady Celestine again and again and think you'll get away with it?!" shouted the blonde, drawing her sword and doing the same as the redhead. "You pathetic impostor, you managed to deceive the goddess, but not us! Die!"
- "Sister, stop! You can't..." cried the pink-haired woman in a rather quiet voice, but the blonde didn't hear her.
- "No, don't do it!"
Celestine tried to intervene, and I even felt a surge of her mana, but the attacks had already reached me. Well, almost reached me, as a magic circle lit up beneath me and two chains flew out of it. They bound the attackers, forcing them to drop their weapons and fall to the ground, and covered their mouths.
- "You don't even have power over your own people, considering how much you believe in them," I sneered, looking Celestine straight in the eyes and forcing her to lower her gaze in shame. "And that's why we're going to do things differently."
- "I... I can fix everything! Just give me time!" she begged.
- "Don't bother, I wasn't planning on doing charity work anyway. However..." I shrugged and straightened up, and Olga and Chloe repeated after me. "Let's make a bet, Celestine."
- "A bet?" she asked, surprised, as were Olga and the others.
- "Yeah. If the country doesn't undergo any major changes, say... two months, I will not only forgive you and your Shields for all your sins, but I will also help you identify and correct the problems and shortcomings that have accumulated," I began, and Celestine's eyes lit up with joy, while Olga raised an eyebrow in surprise, maintaining a stoic expression. "I don't usually make such long-term bets, but this time, I think it's worth it."
- "Understood," agreed the goddess, at which I rolled my eyes and stood up from my chair, and Olga and Chloe followed suit. "Then, in exactly two months, Lord Romani."
- "Yeah," I said, causing the chairs I had created to disintegrate and activating the magic circle beneath my feet. "See you later, Celestine. Although I doubt it will go the way you want it to."
- "What do you mean...?" she was about to ask as we teleported outside the fortress, where there was nothing but virgin forest around us. Geofu was visible a few kilometers away, and the silence was broken only by the murmur of the running river.
- "You're surprisingly calm for someone who calls herself her friend," I smiled at Olga, sitting down on a small rock. "I expected you to want to warn her or something."
- "Ha..." she sighed and walked over to the water, looking at her reflection. "Our conflict has been going on for a very long time, so I've come to terms with all the possible consequences."
Then Olga straightened up and looked at me, her eyes full of cunning and interest.
- "You do know that in two months, Celestine and the Shields will fall, right? And she didn't ask what would happen if she lost the bet, which you took advantage of," she asked rhetorically, to which I just smiled and said nothing. "What kind of cunning god have I summoned, Romani?
- "But Lord Romani is on our side, right?" Chloe interjected. "I think that's good, my queen."
- "She's exactly as you described her, and until you rub the truth in her face, Celestine won't understand anything," I shrugged.
- "Besides, I only recently realized one thing with almost complete certainty, namely, what type of world this was, and so I decided to conduct a little experiment, even though it's not in my nature."
Yeah. I can say with almost 100% certainty that this is a hentai world. And if that's the case, then...
- "What type of world is this?" Olga didn't understand. "What type is it?"
- "You wouldn't want to know," was all I said. "But if you're interested, worlds like this don't last long, especially without observation from someone like Gaia and Alaya."
- "Gaia? Alaya? I don't understand," Olga shook her head, clearly intrigued, but seeing that I wasn't going to say anything more, she sighed wearily. "In any case, what are we going to do now, since you've decided to leave them to their fate?"
- "Well, I have an idea," I grinned and looked at Olga, who looked back at me blankly. "If I remember correctly, you're the queen of the dark elves, right? How about rebuilding your kingdom, huh?"
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