Act 1: Chapter 65: Stray Little Girl
One day had passed since the riot caused by 《Evil God Apostle; Notes》. The city had finally regained its peace.
「The adventurer’s guild not functioning properly today, y’know?」
Upon entering the adventurer’s guild, we were greeted by a bald-headed man. His muscular build was far worse when compared to Octavio’s.
「Thank you very much for informing us. I was just wondering whether someone had lost their child…」
I nodded slightly as I thanked him.
Following after me was a little girl who nodded her head as if mimicking me.
「Thanks you very much!」
Despite his scary-looking face, the bald-headed man couldn’t help but smile at seeing the cute, adorable little girl thanking him.
「Oioi lad, even though the facility isn’t operating properly right now, I don’t think you can just bring an innocent little girl to this rowdy place you know.」
「Sorry… I couldn’t just avert my eyes from this child who seems to have strayed from her parent during yesterday’s strife…」
I then went into the adventurer’s guild after giving the bald-headed man a wry smile.
I couldn’t meet up with Pomera after subjugating Zorophilia yesterday. Since she didn’t return to her room last night either, I thought that I would be able to meet her once I came to the adventurer’s guild.
It turned out that my guess was right. I found Pomera at the rest area of the adventurer’s guild while she was laying her lifeless face down on the desk.
… She seems to have lost a bit of weight in just a single night.
「K-KANATA-SHA~N…」
Pomera’s dead fish-like eyes soon regained their light as soon as she spotted me.
「G-Good job… I guess.」
… It seems that she was kept really busy yesterday. Seeing her like this, I guess she didn’t even get any sleep last night. I felt a bit sorry for her since I myself had quickly given up and returned to my room at the inn after not being able to find her yesterday evening.
I walked towards Pomera and sat in the chair in front of her.
「U-Uhm… can you tell me what happened to you after we separated yesterday?」
「Well, it seems the rumor on the streets was right. 《Evil God Apostle; Notes》 was actually hiding in the city lord’s mansion.」
Pomera’s shoulders twitched upon hearing me say Notes’ name.
「T-That … 《JinMaRyuu》 is really in this city huh… T-Then…?」
「And then… well you might say that I… kinda wiped the floor with him. The mansion collapsed after our battle though…」
Pomera stared at me in wonder.
Maybe due to the extreme shock at hearing my remark, her face had gone pale for a moment.
I mean, this city would’ve been destroyed if I’d lost to Notes after all. In the first place, I wouldn’t have come here today if I’d really lost to him.
「K-Kanata-san, uhm… it sounds like you defeates Notes… pretty easily.」
「Well, after some investigation, I kinda got to know that Notes is amongst the weakest of 《JinMaRyuu》.」
Yes, contrary to their magnificent name that sounded a lot like that of a hero from a 90’s manga, he was easily done in by me. Though, depending on their level, it was no exaggeration that the damage caused by the 《JinMaRyuu》 could literally wipe out an entire city or two. But to be honest, Notes’ combat skills weren’t a big deal either.
Since the standard level of the people I’d met outside was far lower than my own, I thought that my level was quite high for the outside world. But, it seems that I got ahead of myself and, as a result, ended up fighting against the level 3000 Zorophilia just one week after coming to this city.
As I thought, Lunaire was right.
People, or monsters, who might be more powerful than I were lurking around this world. I absolutely mustn’t let my guard down.
「B-But, the way you say it is…」
Pomera’s mouth kept flapping like a goldfish as she looked at me.
Then, she directed a gaze towards the little girl.
「T-Then… that child… what happened to her?」
I looked at the girl sitting by my side.
The girl had rather peculiar hair that coiled around in a helical pattern. Her hair color was rather peculiar too. The helical pattern of her hair was coiled around with two distinct colors together; a light pink and a pea green color. Appearance-wise, she looked to be about ten years old.
Whenever I saw her hair, the first thing I remembered was the helix pattern on Zorophilia’s mask, which was also separated in two colors of red and green.
「Play! let’s play!」
She was looking around with a curious look on her face as she embraced my arm, not willing to let go of me.
Even the scariest looking adventurers couldn’t help but wave at her with a smile plastered on their faces as they saw her angelic smile.
「To be honest… I also have no idea about what to do with her…」
I heaved a heavy sigh as I covered my face with my hands.
Frankly speaking, she was the 《Dream Heart》 created by Notes’ ancestors five thousand years ago in order to control the 《Dream Sand》. The 《God of Fear; Zorophilia》 itself turned out to be a SHE.
I mean, she was already there following right behind me after I left Garland’s collapsed mansion. The thing that’d made me so sure about this was because I’d used 《Status Check》 on her and found out that her level was 1800.
Zorophilia’s personality had been destroyed by Notes’ ancestors to make her into a god. It seems that her real, original personality was able to resurface after I broke her from her curse with my last attack, 《Karma Breaker》.
Additionally, even though I’d defeated her with 《Karma Breaker》, it turned out that the power was less potent than my expectations since I had yet to fully get used to that magic. As a result, I’d failed to completely eradicate Zorophilia while in exchange, she was able to regain her original personality from before she was cursed.
But, of course, I must not forget that she’s an extremely hazardous existence if left to her own devices.
I brushed Zorophilia’s head who was resting her head on the table, shutting her eyes as if enjoying me patting her head.
Well, it seems that she really likes it when I brush her head like this.
… Most likely, her current body was made by Zorophilia using her 《Dream Sand》.
「Y-You’re just… protecting a stray child, right?」
Pomera asked with a timid look on her face.
「That’s my intention but… it doesn’t seem to be possible…」
「I mean, it’s not like you can always carry her around with you… how about entrusting her to the church once things settle down? It seems they are sheltering several stray children after yesterday’s incident.」
Naturally I wanted to do that if possible, but there was a chance that this city might get wiped from the map if Zorophilia were to throw a tantrum. It might just be at the level of “playing” for a powerful being like Zorophilia, but it would literally be a one-sided massacre for anyone else around her.
Additionally, there was a high possibility of her being kidnapped by evil people who would want to misuse her 《Dream Sand》.
「Say… is the priest over there a level 3000 strongman?」
「As if he’s that strong! Are you really okay, Kanata-san? Are you sure that your head wasn’t hit with strange magic from Notes?」
「Right…」
I could only slump down at hearing Pomera’s response.
It seems that it had become my responsibility to look after Zorophilia until I could find a parent that was strong enough to look after her.
After all, in spite of her age, she was still a child on the inside and out.
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HELP WANTED!!!
URGENTLY NEED A BABY SITTER
REQUIREMENT : LV 3000 OR ABOVE