The Noble Lady of Lust

Chapter 444: Changes

"Yeah, actually, that's something we definitely need to talk about, but first, Elena, take this."

We all had to be on the same page, so I handed Elena what Aeloria had given me.

"What is this, my lady?" (Elena)

"That's something Aeloria gave me. It's a statue of Erobus. Pray to him and meet with him. He'll definitely make you his agent, and it might even enhance your blessing."

I really didn't know what to expect. Unfortunately, in the alternate timeline, as far as I know, Elena was never able to meet Erobus because it was so difficult to find an altar or temple.

Not to mention that it's not as if she was looking to become an agent of a god considered the most evil in the place where she was born.

"My lady, are you telling me that the goddess of purity gave you a statue of an evil god?" (Elena)

"Yes. I haven't gone into that topic much, but I suppose I should tell you about the gods in more detail as well. Anyway, just think of it this way: Aeloria and Erobus get along well now."

My alternate self didn't know much about the gods either, and as Aeloria's slave, I certainly didn't want Elena to end up in the same position.

But now things are very different, and I truly want Elena to be blessed by a god as powerful as the god of darkness.

"I understand. I'll do as you say." (Elena)

Elena took the statue from my hands, placed it on the ground, and knelt before it.

I thought there would be more resistance and that I'd have to convince her, since she might be somewhat reluctant, but that wasn't the case.

'Well, now there's just…'

"Astrid, were you able to sneak into the temple to see if they'd give you a blessing?"

Yes, we all came from that temple that opened up, because all the gods summoned their agents.

Those who were merely blessed also went to see what was happening, and others took advantage of the opportunity in case they might receive blessings or become agents.

But only the younger generation—that is, our generation and the one before us—was allowed to enter; as an instructor, Astrid was not included.

However, I had Elena sneak her inside, because to the gods, anyone under fifty is still considered young.

Besides, I'd arranged everything so the gods would see how Astrid had experienced sudden and rapid growth over the last few months, betting that they'd view her as a late bloomer and that some benevolent god would take an interest in that growth and her cheating skills.

"Oh, yeah, honey! I received a blessing, and now I'm an agent of the goddess of the Cardinal Flow." (Astrid)

"Huh? Damn! Was there a statue of that goddess here?"

"Yes. She doesn't exist in our kingdom, but this is a temple built jointly by the five kingdoms, so there are more. Hmm, I don't know why, but I was drawn to that statue—it felt familiar… and when I met her… honey, I think she looks just like me." (Astrid)

"Well, you've always been as beautiful as a goddess."

I don't know much about that goddess, and I didn't even know she was active in this world. I just know that her blessed ones tend to really stand out because of their very unique and versatile blessings.

And as for her appearance, it's really not that unusual. Some gods like to take on the appearance of whoever they're meeting with.

In fact, according to the records, many gods don't actually have a humanoid appearance.

They only take it on when they meet with mortals so as not to scare them and to make things go more smoothly.

I suppose several eras of trial and error proved that this was the best option.

Although, as far as I know, Aeloria and her siblings, as well as many others, have humanoid forms as their basis.

"Still, I'm sorry, honey. You told me to go for powerful elemental gods like the god of metal or fire, but I was drawn to a minor goddess." (Astrid)

"No! Forget that, too. Forget how they categorize the gods here. Her—a minor goddess? What a joke. In fact, you hit the jackpot. I don't know what you got, but it's definitely going to be something good. That goddess has a complex divinity—even far better than those gods."

Hmm… another thing I just remembered is that, generally speaking, those blessed by that goddess have purple or blue hair or eyes.

Maybe Astrid's turned purple, but you can't tell. If that were the case, it would be kind of funny.

"R-really?" (Astrid)

"Yeah. So don't worry about it. What about you, Lily? Were you an agent, or were you at least blessed?"

"Hmm… the truth is, sweetheart, I felt like I shouldn't go in, since there wasn't anything there that suited me." (Leyla)

"Oh! I guess that was your instinct kicking in. Actually, I thought something like that too, and I think a beast god would suit you better. Specifically a feline one—and, if possible, some kind of powerful tiger beast god."

"Huh? Do beast gods exist?" (Leyla)

"Yes, but unfortunately, no beast gods are active in this world, so it would be difficult—if not impossible—to make contact... But does that mean you didn't go in?"

"Well, even though it didn't feel right to me, I listened to you, sweetheart. Once inside, I followed what felt right to me and came upon a small statue. It was the Goddess of the Eclipse. She blessed me ... I'm sorry. Even though you asked me to prioritize gods like Luxion, I..."(Leyla)

"w(ﾟДﾟ)w W-who did you say blessed you?"

"Um?… the goddess of the eclipse."(Leyla)

"w(ﾟДﾟ)w. No, wait. What the hell?! Why isn't a big shot from the Chaos faction an evil goddess here? Has everyone gone crazy?"

Shit! The Sun God was one thing, but now there was another heavyweight from a problematic faction in this place.

I'm already aware that I shouldn't assume I can accurately predict how these gods will act, but they're this unpredictable...

And to top it all off, that goddess was someone my alternate self told me to handle with extreme caution.

I thought the first troublesome goddess I'd encounter would be the goddess of truth, who might have statues and temples in nearby realms, but first came the sun god, and now something even more troublesome has appeared.

It's lucky that Lily is so heavily influenced by my protection.

"Sweetheart, is it a bad thing that she blessed me? If you want, I can go return it." (Leyla)

"N-no, that's not something you can return. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with it. Your instincts led you in the right direction. You landed a big fish like Astrid. Did that goddess make you her agent?"

"...Hmm, no, but I met with her, and she said that if I pulled off something big, she'd consider it—oh, you know, she was so beautiful and hot, hue~." (Leyla)

"Ugh! Hey, you've got to be careful how you think about goddesses—look what happened to me, ugh! Well, whatever. I guess you're on probation—did she give you any skills?."

"Nope"(Leyla)

"Tsk! So stingy. Well, it's already weird that she's even interested in this place."

Well, putting aside how problematic it is that she's here, her blessings are really good.

Hopefully, she gave Lily something good—and actually, with Lily, who's good at both light and darkness, I don't think there's a better goddess for her than that one, aside from maybe some tiger-beast god.

With Lily, everyone in our group now has a blessing.

'Alright, now we just need Elena so that…'

"I'm already here, my lady. As you said, I met with Erobus-sama, the god of darkness, and he made me his agent."(Elena)

"Ah!... Oh, I see you did undergo some changes. Oh, black sclera."

It seems Elena returned from her meeting with the god of darkness, and, to my surprise, there were indeed changes.

Her hair was still black, but the tips were purple. Black and dark purple were the characteristic colors of those blessed by Erobus, so that didn't surprise me.

What did surprise me was that her sclera was no longer white, but black. That, combined with her red eyes, gave her a dangerous aura.

"Do you have a problem with my appearance, my lady? Did you know this was going to happen?눈_눈"(Elena)

"N-no and it suits you very well. Umm... could you look at me coldly... as if I were someone truly despic-Ahem! I mean, never mind. This isn't the time for that. Anyway, it suits you.

"It suits you very well too, big sister." (Alice)

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"…My lady, aren't you doing this on purpose?... Have you looked in a mirror?"(Elena)

"Huh? Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden? What's wrong with my face that—eh? Ah! What the hell?! Why does one of my eyes look like that?"

I didn't understand what Elena and Alice meant, so I pulled a mirror out of my storage and looked at my face.

That's when I realized what she was referring to.

One of my eyes had a black sclera and a white pupil.

I was taken aback. I wasn't supposed to be using morphogenesis, except for my arm. That means this is now my base state.

Or, more importantly, I've been like this the whole time, even inside the temple.

The good news is that it's my soul that meets Aeloria, so I don't think she would have seen this.

'Qetesh… hey, Qetesh.'

I called out to the one who might be able to explain what happened to me, but I got no response.

She was acting strange earlier, and now she's not answering—it's best not to waste time on her.

Anyway, this eye isn't important right now; it will be later.

"Ahem. Well, we'll look into these changes later. All right, now that everyone has met with their gods and knows more or less what's going on, I'll explain it to you, starting with the fact that I am, in fact, the one Yggdrasil is looking for, and..."

..

.

"/_ \\ Now it's for real—my peaceful and beautiful school days are definitely over. Why does everything have to be so rushed?"

"You brought this on yourself."

"Haaah~. Well, whatever! academy was starting to get a little boring anyway, though I didn't think we'd be leaving as soon as dawn broke."

There I was with Silvia, watching the landscape rush by.

We were on a flyingship.

I knew things were going to start getting hectic, but who would've thought that in just a few hours, the first battleground on this continent would already be decided, and that they'd decisively send all the factions available in the city, along with some students.

Well, we're not students anymore. They stripped us of that title before we set sail.

Really, only the Top 20 from each generation of the five kingdoms came, and the rest would begin a tournament and other activities as planned to earn a spot and come to a conflict zone.

It doesn't really seem like a prize, but everyone seems to be, to some extent, excited about the Epic. Since the gods are watching the events closely, it's a perfect opportunity to prove one's worth, bring honor to one's family, become stronger, and so on.

As for me, I'm not really excited at all, but I know it's something I have to do.

"From what I can see, you are taking this seriously. By the way, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead—I'm a man with no secrets."

"Why are you carrying that suitcase, and what's inside? I think I heard a vibrating sound and a muffled sound—I also think I heard something like faint but heavy breathing, as if there were something alive inside."

"...It's a secret."

Yeah, Silvia asked something I definitely couldn't answer.

What I was carrying in this big suitcase isn't something she should know about.

"It didn't even take you three seconds to contradict yourself, silly. You know I can see what's inside if I want to, right?"

"Oh, now that I think about it, even though I asked Elena to cast some good concealment spells on it, your blessing is the perfect counter… not to mention that you now have the enviable ability to see through things."

"Yeah, that's exactly why I'm asking you before I do it. I don't want to meddle in something she did."

"And you shouldn't, since it's a secret. I'd recommend you not try to see what's inside—your virgin mind couldn't handle it."

"Hey, what does one thing have to do with the other? Haaa! Fine, I won't get involved. Anyway, the other thing I wanted to ask you is: where's Alice? The one who's been with us since we set sail—she's the doppelganger, right? Did something happen to her?"

"...￣へ￣. Don't worry about her...She's in a happy place now."

"?... I don't get it. Anyway, why did you come to me now? Everyone knows your secret, right? Is there any need to talk to just me about the future?"