Chapter 181 181: A Kind Stranger? [Pt1]
The light coming from the creature was so bright that it hurt Keith's eyes to even look at her. But Keith could recognize this person from a mile away once his eyes got used to the other creature's glow.
And it was also then that Keith realized that the glow he had been seeing was not actually due to any lighting effect, but due to the bright silver color of the creature.
Silver hair and silver eyes on a white and pure body. It was easy to guess that this creature could not be human.
But Keith, who had played the MMO and seen the select screen knew this face from the game it was Veera, the goddess of fate and the person who encouraged the MC to go on his journey.
From then on, Goddess Veera showed up occasionally to help the MC out when he needed her. It was a good relationship for the most part.
But the important question was, what was this goddess doing here? She was not supposed to show up in front of any other character.
Her presence caused the protagonists a lot of misunderstandings in the eyes of other people. Especially their romantic counterparts.
"..."
Now that Keith had seen this goddess, he knew he needed to get away from her. It was not a good idea to stay near her and to get caught up in her rhythm.
"Y-You can see me? H-How? N-No, it does not matter. Please help me out, kind stranger."
The goddess latched on to Keith's body as soon as she noticed his stare. Her sobbing also got worse and its high pitch was beginning to get on Keith's ears.
He might help the goddess for the sole reason to quieten her down if he had to.
'No, do not fall into the goddess's trap. She is someone who wants your downfall. Anything bad happening to her is a good sign for your side.'
Seeing a crying female (no matter the form) was always an awkward scenario for Keith. His mother would have had a lot to say about his behaviour.
But his mother was not here right now and Keith had his current life to save. So, he turned around without saying much and decided to head out.
He was not going to let a goddess decide what he was going to do in the future.
"No, wait! Do not leave me just yet. Do you not want to know who I am? I am a goddess. No, I am 'the' goddess. I am Veera, the goddess of fate. If you help me, I will grant any wish you have."
The Goddess promised with a determined expression and that was what finally gave Keith a pause.
He knew one thing others did not about the goddess of fate. She could not lie or break her promise.
It was a condition she needed to maintain if she wanted to keep her purity. It caused the original player a lot of grief throughout the playthrough. Especially when the goddess made non-sensical promises and then the MC had to keep them for her.
It was a toxic relationship for the most part.
'And this goddess wants me to step into such a relationship voluntarily? I would rather die than do that.'
"Sorry miss, but I am not interested. Fate and destiny are something I want to carve out with my own hands. Now, if you would excuse me."
Once Keith was finished speaking his part, he turned around to leave. He wanted to escape the goddess before she got any other 'brilliant' idea in her head.
But before Keith had stepped outside of the ally, the goddess decided she needed to make one last effort to turn his mind.
"Hey mister, no wait. I need to tell you something about your future…"
The goddess touched Keith's shoulder but her translucent body passed through him. As expected, the goddess could not touch anything in his world except the protagonists.
"Y-You…How are you alive in this world? You have almost no mana but your body's capacity is amazing. You are a contradiction in many ways. N-No, now is not the time to be thinking about this."
While the goddess was trying to gather her thoughts, Keith quickly made his way out of the ally. By the time the goddess realized what was happening, Keith was long gone from the clearing.
.......
"You will be leaving now, Grandmaster? You could stay here for a little longer. We all will miss you."
Master Hana looked sad. Her big eyes were looking at Keith to keep him in the castle. But Keith was not willing to stay back no matter what happened.
Especially not after his run-in with the goddess. He needed to get out of this city soon.
Besides, the final round for the Mother's Pearl and Master Olivia's tournament was just around the corner. Keith needed to get ready for those events.
"I do not have the time to remain here and entertain unless people. If you want something from me, then contact the main branch. Otherwise, drag yourself in front of me and ask yourself."
Those were Keith's words of farewell. It made people swoon when he was angry or agitated with them for some weird reason.
Keith would never understand people and their weird obsession with 'bad' body culture. What fun was there in being insulted or scolded?
"Of course. In that case, I will pay a visit to the Grandmaster soon. Shimi, you will be staying behind as well, right?"
Shimi had an annoyed expression that told Keith that she wanted to come with him but chose not to in the end.
"Well, someone needs to stay here and take care of things. God knows you know nothing about management and other things when it comes to elves."
Shimi replied. But her red face said a lot about her decision of staying back.
That, and the kid in her arms she was currently rocking to sleep. Shimi had been taken with her sister and had turned into quite a doting sister for Himeko.
Keith's heart swelled after seeing this. It felt as if he was looking at his past but his memories were a little fuzzy on this topic.
'Oh, did I used to have a sister? Or perhaps a brother? I almost feel like I can remember if I try hard enough.'
But then, Keith's brain was assaulted with a severe headache that made him unable to think. All he could do was shake his head to make the headache away.
'Ugh, I felt as if my head was being split in half. What the hell happened to be? All I did was try and remember some things from my past.'
This was annoying. This almost felt like something did not want Keith to remember his past. It was irritating but Keith decided not to pay too much attention to it.
Keith walked out of the guild hall and instantly felt the need to go back. He could see the blinding silver light from the corner of his eyes.
The goddess of fate, Veera was still following behind him. Her eyes were curiously glaring at Keith.
He was certain that the goddess would follow him no matter what he did.
'Should I just stick her on Amelia? Surely another protagonist would be better than following someone like me.'
But then Keith had one fear.
What if the goddess someone swayed Amelia back on the 'right' path and Amelia became Keith's enemy? He still did not know how to control Amelia properly.
This was just too risky.
Keith was deep in his thoughts so he did not notice when he bumped into someone. His shoulder ached from the run-in with a well-built body.
The unknown stranger was closed from head to toe in a black garment so Keith could not tell who this person was. But something about this man was reassuring for his senses.
"Hmm, you seem to be troubled. Is it because of the flash of silver following behind you? If you want, I can take care of it for you."
The man offered Keith and Keith was suddenly standing on alert.
This man could see Veera, so he could certainly not be a normal person. Keith needed to be careful when dealing with such humans.
"Oh, you do not need to be on guard in front of me. I am not trying to make things difficult for you after all. I just want to help you out."
The man continued his bullshit but this time, Keith was more inclined to believe this stranger.
He could not have the goddess follow him back to his dual life.
"Do what you want to. I do not own the flash of silver behind me."
Keith waved his hands as he gave the stranger his permission. His heart did feel heavy but Keith did not let it hinder his mood.
After all, the goddess had brought it upon herself. She needed to suffer the consequences.