Chương 28: The First Apostle

It was quite a spectacle: a swirl of black mist, lit by bluish and purple flashes, surrounded Nerez and Mireia, symbolizing the bond they had just formed. By the time it was over, everyone had been left speechless. Mireia looked at Nerez. Nerez looked at Mireia. While only Mireia felt it, Nerez could see it clearly in his Godscript. [Apostle] [A mortal who has manifested exceptional affinity, reverence, and submission toward a god, and is capable of serving as that god's representative in Eryndea.]"... What?"

Nerez murmured, still not fully processing it.

"Ooooh! An apostle! Congratulations, mortal!" Cerys exclaimed, her own Godscript having just notified her.

"Your existence just became more valuable! You will be our representative among mortals!" Thud!

"And now what?!" Cerys complained, rubbing her head after receiving another chop from the skeleton. Nerez helped Mireia to her feet, though she still seemed caught in some kind of trance. But the moment she got up, her eyes began to shine with a light she had lost many years ago.

"Lord Nereziel!" The little girl clenched her fists and cried out so forcefully that Nerez nearly stumbled backwards in surprise.

"Y-Yes?"

"You are going to look after us, aren't you?! I know it! I can feel it inside me!"

"... Look after you?"

"In return, we will give you our utmost devotion! I promise you, I will make sure everyone learns your name!" Nerez looked at the little girl, who seemed to have found a purpose in life, with mixed feelings. He reached out and stroked her black hair.

"You're still too young for that. If, when you're older, you want to work in some religious role, you're welcome to do so, though I'd rather you chose a different god...""'Work'?" she asked. It was the kind of word that had lost its meaning in the world Mireia came from.

"I mean whatever you want to do once you're older..."

"But Lord Nereziel... there is no god more important or more powerful than you!"

"Where is that conviction even coming from?! Is this the famous religious fanaticism?!" The girl, who looked at him with bright, expectant eyes, already seemed like a lost cause. Not only had she lost all fear of the army of skeletons surrounding them, but with every second she spent speaking to the god of death, she earned increasing respect from the humans who still could not stop trembling on the ground.

"Nerez, we have to do something, or the moment we continue on our way to the underworld, your pathetically weak new believers are going to become breakfast for whatever pathetically weak monsters live around here." Cerys, who had moved closer to Nerez, instinctively covered the back of her neck with both hands, bracing for another chop.

"Is everything pathetically weak to you?" Nerez sighed, no longer in the mood to punish her.

"But you're right. If we leave now, these people will be left at the mercy of whatever crosses their path. And lazy as I am, I'd hate to lose the little work I've already done." To Mireia, the god seemed to be meditating in silence. In truth, Nerez was studying his holographic screen, which by now he had learned to operate with his mind alone. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. [Which skill would you like to share?] [Skeletal Soldier] [Death's Touch] [Veiled Trail]"Soulwarden isn't on the list... well, that's understandable. Mireia, are you afraid of skeletons?" The little girl pressed her fingertips together, a little nervously.

"A little... but now I feel they're a part of Lord Nereziel, so only a little!"

"They are... a part... of me...?" Nerez looked around at the vast number of skeletons surrounding him, and a chill ran down his spine. The skeletal soldiers were a manifestation of the power of the Book of Death, which in turn was Nerez's Eidolon, a representation of his soul. So Mireia was not exactly wrong, but it still made him deeply uncomfortable to be associated with a group of creatures that looked as though they had stepped straight out of a horror movie.

"It's not that they're exactly a part of me... Ah, never mind! What I mean is that I'm going to leave some of them behind so they can protect all of you."

"Really, Lord Nereziel?!" Mireia looked delighted, but the rest of the humans behind her swallowed hard.

"To be honest, I feel rather uneasy leaving a child in charge... but it seems only you will be able to give them orders. I'd like to speak with your parents. Are they around?"

"I don't have any parents... I never knew them. But please do not worry, I can take charge!"

"I see... looks like we have that in common..."

"You do not have parents either, Lord Nereziel? Is that common among gods?"

"As a matter of fact, I've had thousands of parents. That's the part that isn't common among gods, haha." Nerez scratched his head awkwardly.

"But in my first life I was an orphan, and in all the ones that followed, I honestly couldn't regard people younger than me as my parents..."

"First life? Thousands of parents?"

"Ah, don't worry about the details. They're... they're god things..." Another chill ran through Nerez the moment he referred to himself as "a god."

"First life? Thousands of parents?" Now it was Cerys's turn, but she fell silent the moment she saw the skeleton's arm rise.

"That goes for you as well, Cerys. It'll only make this conversation more complicated. I can tell you everything later."

"Tch... all right. Though I do feel there's a certain unfairness in the way you treat your servants... Fine! Fine! I'll shut up! Stop raising the skeletons' arms!"

"So, Mireia... is there no one looking after you?"

"I have always taken care of myself! No monster from the ruins has ever been able to find me when I hide!"

"Monsters from the ruins...? Well... Ok... Look, seeing that you're a responsible girl, I'll leave around a hundred skeletal soldiers under your command. They will be the protectors of your people and of you." Nerez said reassuringly.

"Also, if you don't mind, I'll watch over you through them."

"Lord Nereziel! I do not know how to thank you!" The humans behind her, however, held their breath when they heard that declaration. After studying 'Skill Bestowing' a little more in the Godscript, Nerez had realized that he could share skills at whatever proficiency he wished, as long as he had it clearly in mind. In other words, he could share 'Skeletal Soldier' at proficiency C, meaning with the ability to summon a hundred skeletons.

If I give her the ability to summon ten thousand, something tells me it would wreak havoc on the history of Eryndea...

"Is something wrong, Lord Nereziel?"

"It's nothing... and you may call me Nerez if you want, Mireia."

"I don't want to! That would be disrespectful!" That was so strangely assertive for the little girl that it genuinely surprised him.

"Very well, as you wish... Now then, give me your hand." The little girl extended her small hand without hesitation and placed it on top of Nerez's. Between their hands, the same mysterious mist rose once more, lit by purple and blue flashes, though only for a few moments. By the time the brief spectacle was over, Mireia had gained the ability to control a hundred skeletons.

"Lord Nereziel..."

"Mireia?!" The little girl had begun to sway on her feet.

"I'm seeing lots of Lord Nereziels..."

"Ah! Right!" Nerez hurriedly had the skeletons return to the ground, once again terrifying the rest of the humans who were watching.

"You have to practice calling them out little by little. Start with just one, all right? Once you learn to control the connection, you can start summoning more." The little girl nodded, still slightly dizzy.

"And you can feel it, right? It seems we can communicate through our minds. So it doesn't matter if I'm far away. If there's something you want to ask, or simply want to talk, you can think of me and I'll answer."

"But I don't want to bother you."

"Bah, don't worry. You'll never be as much of a bother as Cerys. I'm sure of that."

"Hey! I really do feel there's a difference in treatment here!"

"You're already three hundred years old. Behave like someone your age for once."

"What is that supposed to mean...?" Mireia let out a soft giggle as she watched the two of them. But then Nerez turned back to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We have to get going."

"So soon?"

"Yes. If we stay much longer, someone is going to have a heart attack." Nerez remarked, glancing at the pale faces of the humans who were still kneeling.

"All right... But then... can we talk from time to time, Lord Nereziel? I won't bother you much..."

"Of course. That was my intention from the beginning."

"Thank you very much!"

"By the way, those reptiles are edible, or so the Godscript says... though I don't know whether you'll want to eat something that has eaten humans..."

"Food is food!" the little girl replied enthusiastically. No wonder she had survived in a post-apocalyptic world.

"Where are we?"

"What is this place? Why is everything dark?"

"The city was sinking... are we dead?"

"A light, a light wrapped around me, and the next moment I was here..." Deep in the underworld, thousands of individuals with sky-blue hair and long drooping white ears wandered about nervously. Their bright magenta eyes swept over their surroundings in utter confusion.