"So, uh, who is this, Sirius?" my father asked, eyeing the Goddess standing beside me.
She was no longer naked as she now wore one of my old tunics. My older sister had even lent her some of her underwear, so at least she was decently dressed.
"N-No one," I said quickly.
"What do you mean no one?!"
My mother shot up from her seat, practically slamming her hands against the table. Her chair clattered to the floor behind her.
She looked absolutely furious.
"You have the audacity to bring a girl into this house, bed her, and then claim she's just 'no one'?! Have you completely lost your sense of shame?!"
"Sirius, this isn't how we raised you," my father added, his voice stern. "To lie with a woman and then pretend like it means nothing? That's not the kind of man we want you to be. What if she ends up pregnant? Are you just going to ignore the child? Walk away?"
"You've got it all wrong," I tried to explain. "We didn't... I mean, nothing happened! She just appeared in my bed out of nowhere! Come on, do you seriously think I'd be bold enough to sneak a girl in here and sleep with her under your roof, especially when I barely contribute anything to the house as it is?"
"You definitely have that kind of audacity," my father replied dryly. "But honestly, I doubt you've got the backbone to follow through with it. For someone like her to be your lover? I'm almost tempted to believe you brainwashed her or something."
"Hey, isn't that kinda messed up?" I muttered.
"So then, where exactly did you find her?"
I turned to the Goddess, hoping for some kind of backup. "Hey, can you please explain to them what's going on? I don't think they'll believe a single word if it just comes from me."
"Come up with something yourself," she said, looking away, arms crossed and clearly pouting.
A vein practically bulged on my forehead. I was seriously tempted to suck this annoying Goddess one more time.
How was I supposed to explain any of this? That I somehow pulled a literal Goddess from her realm because of a blessing I received? And what even was my blessing, anyway?
What exactly was my blessing?
She said it was "Goddess's Master," but I still had no clue what the hell that actually meant.
Should I just tell them she's a Goddess?
But what if things went south? If people found out the Goddess who grants blessings was here in this house, she could be captured—maybe even experimented on.
And that didn't sound far-fetched. She was the one giving out blessings to everyone. If that got out, someone would absolutely try to exploit her, maybe even figure out how to mass-produce blessings for humanity.
That thought chilled me.
Of course, I trusted my parents. I really did. But still…
My mom tends to gossip a bit too much. She might not mean to, but her mouth might slip.And Dad? He loves to brag. I wouldn't put it past him to start telling people, "My son got a blessing so powerful it let him bring the Goddess down to Earth!"
Yeah… telling them would be a total disaster.
I had to keep this to myself for now.
But what the hell could I say?
I was totally blank.
The Goddess clearly wasn't going to help. She still had her head turned away, pouting like a spoiled child.
"I, uh… actually, she's… Yeah, I'm planning to go on an adventure with her!"
There was a moment of complete silence.
I could practically hear the gears turning in my parents' and my sister's heads as they tried to make sense of what I just said.
And then, all at once, they snapped.
"Huh!?"
Even the Goddess looked at me like I had just lost my mind.
"I know this sounds totally insane," I said, "but I can't just stay here in this village and rot while Alice is out there, captured. That's why I'm going on a journey to reach her. I still don't know how I'll do it, but I'll figure it out—I'm going to save her."
"S-Sirius, have you lost your mind?" my father said. "You know you're completely useless when it comes to fighting, right? How do you expect to save anyone if you're just going to end up needing to be saved yourself?"
"That's right, Sirius. Don't be a fool," my mother added. "We raised you—we know you're useless, but you're not stupid."
Yeah… they clearly didn't believe I could pull this off.
And honestly, I wasn't even sure I believed it myself.
But now, I had a blessing.
And this Goddess was with me.
So maybe, just maybe, I could manage.
Besides, I wasn't about to sit around doing nothing forever.
I'd train.
I'd figure out how to grow stronger.
And since I was apparently this Goddess's master now, I'd work her to the bone until I reached that strength.
The Goddess in question shivered. Guess she read my mind.
"I'm not going out there recklessly, Father, Mother," I told them firmly. "I'm going to get stronger. Strong enough to stand where she is right now. No—stronger than her, so she won't have to carry that burden alone anymore. So she can rely on me."
I looked them both in the eyes.
"I'll come back here with her. And when that day comes, I'll be the kind of son you can both be proud of."
They looked stunned at first. Then, slowly, they turned to each other.
I could still see something in their eyes, like they didn't want me to go—but they pushed that feeling aside.
And then, they smiled.
"All right," my father said. "I'll look forward to that day."
"Right," my mother added. "Just make sure you come back alive, okay? Promise me that."
"I promise," I said.
I didn't know if I could really do it.
I still had no idea what the hell my blessing actually was, or how useful this Goddess would even be.
But for now, I had to believe.
Believe that I could save her. That I would save her.
Wait for me, Alice.
With that, my journey began.