Joe's hand shimmered with light—and so did the little girl's. She had just unleashed a technique that could rival the elite graduates of the Grand Ninja Academy.
The little lady's tears ceased.
Joe the Raspudding gently released her tiny hand and asked,
"Little Lady, where are your parents? Why are you alone in a forest as perilous as this?"
He spoke with the grace of a knight from a fairy tale.
Joe exhaled softly. At this rate, I really do sound like a royal drama narrator, he mused.
The girl trembled, her voice barely a whisper.
"I… I come from… the Cursed Village…"
Her head hung low.
"The Cursed Village?" Joe narrowed his eyes.
"Y-Yes… Th-Thank you… s-sir…" she stammered, her body shaking as if trying to hold back the storm in her chest.
The Cursed Village? Forsaken Village? Might as well escort this kid home… poor thing, Joe thought to himself.
He crouched a little to meet her gaze and said,
"Then allow me, Little Lady… to shield you from all threats until you stand safely at your doorstep."
Inside his new body, Joe's soul screamed in secondhand embarrassment. Seriously? What's with this knight-in-a-storybook script? he cringed.
The little girl looked up at him. She gave a slow nod, her eyes still shimmering with tears. With a loud sniff, she pulled back her snot like an electric vacuum cleaner and asked,
"Wh… What's your name, s-sir?"
"Rassp—"
Joe's eyes widened. Wait. I can't say my real name? You damn goddess! he cursed inwardly.
No way he'd introduce himself with a name that sounded more like a dessert than a chosen warrior of fate.
"…U-Unc," he muttered under his breath, reluctant but left with no choice.
Ugh… If that's the only thing that works, this is just annoying.
"Anc?" The little girl squinted. "Umm… Anc? Because you…"
She puffed out her tiny chest like a bodybuilder at a championship.
"Big and…" she changed her pose, showing off a nearly invisible bicep.
"Strong? Like an anchor." She blinked. Dead serious.
Joe blinked, then chuckled. Her random antics cracked something in his chest.
"No, Little Lady. Unc... like Uncle," he explained with a smile.
Didn't expect to see something this silly today, hahaha… he thought, feeling unexpectedly entertained by the tiny gremlin in front of him.
"So... what's your name, Little Lady?" Joe asked.
"Elyz," she replied softly.
"Well then, Lady Elyz. Let us march toward your humble abode," Joe declared with heroic flair.
Elyz stretched her arms upward—toward him.
"Huh?" Joe blinked.
"U... Up," she said hesitantly.
Joe was about to refuse, but just then—
The Scroll of Edict, the divine artifact gifted to him by the goddess of Cumbria, curled up on its own and slipped into his chest pocket. Out of Elyz's sight.
And then, the scroll spoke:
~~~~~
My beloved Master, chosen by the goddess of Cumbria…
Would you truly deny the request of this helpless, adorable bundle of squishy mortal being?
~~~~~
Tch… fine, fine, I'll carry her, Joe muttered internally.
He crouched down slowly, One moment I'm a battle-hardened warrior, the next I'm a babysitter, he grumbled while lifting Elyz up.
Joe held her like a clumsy first-time dad—the kind who didn't know his daughter would one day hate him for giving too much advice—just because he worried some fuckboy might ruin her life.