Naya’s CPU seemed a bit fried.
She didn’t have much intelligence to begin with, and it just couldn’t support this much mental exertion.
Suddenly, Lu Ming scooped her up in his arms and slowly walked to the bed made of flowers and grass.
Then, he gently laid her down.
***
“Naya really does look great in a gym uniform. That firm abdomen with the abs is simply the best.”
Hearing such words from the supremely sacred goddess, Naya was stunned for a moment.
“Your Highness, what do you mean by that?”
Lu Ming didn’t reply, he just quietly shed the light gauze on his body.
As the light gauze dropped to the ground, the gentle green light faded away.
Naya’s eyes flew wide open, as if she was witnessing something unbelievable.
Could it be, did Sister Ilena go through this as well!?
No wonder her expression was so strange!
Naya nervously—and with a hint of anticipation—closed her eyes, and suddenly remembered her short-lived husband.
“Kraul, I’ll be having a child very soon…”
Very soon.
Two cool sensations crept up her shoulders and abdomen, and then continued downward.
Naya’s hands instinctively moved to assist, gently caressing.
No one knew how much time passed.
Suddenly, Naya found herself standing before the divine statue, dazed and at a loss.
Her eyes still held a hazy mist, as if they were ripe peaches.
***
“Gym… uniform…”
“Naya, you finally came out. It’s already been five hours.”
Naya and Ilena exchanged a glance.
It was like they were sharing a secret code.
Ilena grasped her hand, expression complicated.
“Naya, don’t blame your big sister.”
Naya shook her head at once.
When she saw her own slightly rounded belly, she couldn’t help but shed two tears of joy.
The Lady… Her Highness truly exists—how wonderful.
She no longer needed to be forced by her stepfather to remarry a man thirty years older than her.
Naya gently stroked her belly.
Together with Ilena, she once again praised the Goddess of Fertility, Ymir, and this time, she was utterly sincere.
“Ilena, let’s restore Her Highness’s temple together!”
At Naya’s words, Ilena’s eyes shone brightly.
Why hadn’t she thought of that? How could the great goddess’s statue remain in such a dilapidated temple?
“Yes, let’s go and show everyone Her greatness right now!”
***
As the two of them walked away.
Lu Ming turned his gaze to Celia—more precisely, to the scar on her face.
“Celia, you come in too.”
At his words, Celia seemed to freeze.
It was only after Ilena nudged her shoulder that she snapped out of it.
Ilena had already been told the reason by Lu Ming, so she had no worries at all.
“Celia, Lord Ymir would never harm you. There must be a reason she called for you.”
Celia nodded in confusion.
She walked into the temple.
***
Watching the very shy little girl in front of him.
Lu Ming smiled faintly.
“That scar was because you shielded your sister from the bad guy’s attack, wasn’t it?”
“His name was Joke, right?”
Celia kept her head lowered.
“Yes, that man pinned down my sister, pulling at her clothes, and I wanted to save her.”
“Celia is a brave child.”
Saying this,
He pointed at Celia casually, and a great healing spell descended upon her.
As the green light merged into her body, the savage scar on Celia’s face slowly healed, finally vanishing altogether.
“Celia, please raise your head.”
She obeyed, and before her appeared a mirror formed of water.
In the mirror, the fierce scar on her cheek was gone.
All that remained was a delicate, porcelain-skinned young girl.
She stared blankly at Lu Ming, eyes full of inexpressible gratitude and adoration.
“From now on, Celia, you must hold your head high with pride.”
***
Soon after.
Only Lu Ming remained in the temple.
He returned to the divine statue; after all, helping Celia was just something he did in passing.
She was Ilena’s younger sister, so she counted as one of his own.
Lu Ming never claimed to be a good person, but when it came to his own, he was always protective.
But he couldn’t shake the feeling that the way Celia looked at him was somehow similar to Rain.
Not bothering with such matters for long.
Lu Ming began to think about other things.
***
[Ymir] is a false god, so it’s normal to not know the specific requirements for becoming a true god, but those people in the church and the major powers should know.
“But if I go and ask them, wouldn’t that be the same as telling them directly that I’m a false god?”
Lu Ming shook his head.
Still, he had to look for them.
Maybe he’d have to seek out people on the fringes of those powers, or perhaps middle-ranking members.
If he went straight to the higher-ups and they saw through his identity, it’d be a disaster.
“What kind of excuse should I use?”
“A goddess, bored out of her mind, calls for a tea party? Then asks a few questions during the conversation—that’s normal enough.”
Lu Ming nodded, feeling it made perfect sense.
Gods, after living so long, it was only natural to be a little eccentric.
Worst case, he could just offer an equivalent exchange, give them a little benefit in return.
Having made up his mind, Lu Ming left the statue at once.
***
This was his first time leaving the temple since coming to this other world, and he was a little curious about the scenery outside.
After casting a few Divine Techniques to perfectly conceal himself,
Lu Ming soared into the sky.
Soon.
He arrived at the Duke Niel’s Mansion in Niel City, Dresis Empire.
The Town where Ilena and the others lived was also part of Niel City.
He sensed that there was more than one seventh-tier extraordinary being within the mansion.
But for the current Lu Ming, it was only worth an extra glance.
After silently sneaking into the Duke’s Mansion, he came to the young lady’s boudoir.
Seeing the duke’s daughter sleeping at her desk, he walked right in and glanced at the tabletop.
Upon finding what he was looking for, Lu Ming packed it up and took it away.
Before leaving, he even left a little golden retriever for the duke’s daughter.
It was something he had picked up when leaving parallel Blue Star.
Apparently, this breed didn’t exist in this world.
Lu Ming came in openly and left just as boldly.
He didn’t know if one of the seventh-tier extraordinary beings finally noticed or what.
He hadn’t gone far when he heard a commotion from the duke’s mansion.
“Garcia, you’re saying that a suspected eighth-tier Legend came to the mansion, did nothing but steal your homework?”
“And left you a little dog before leaving?”
“Yes, Father, Garcia isn’t lying!”
“………………Grounded for a month. Stay home and reflect, I’ll inform your teacher myself.”
Lu Ming’s eyelid twitched.
He knew the Summons Letter was an extremely common low-level magical tool.
Its only use was to find or contact people—a kind of long-distance communication method.
But he really hadn’t expected it to be that little girl’s homework.
He took it so he could use it to find the right person to question.
He silently apologized to the little girl in his heart.
Then, Lu Ming hurried back to the Town.
***
He quickly infused divine power into the Summons Letter.
“Let’s try the church of a fallen god first.”
Under his control, the Summons Letter turned into a Paper Dove and flew toward the direction of the Church of the Dawn.
***
In less than ten minutes.
A thousand kilometers away, in the Violet Empire.
In a rather dilapidated Church of the Dawn.
High Priestess Sislia pressed her hands together, kneeling before the statue of the Dawn Goddess.
Again and again, she tried to reach the Dawn Goddess.
The Dawn Goddess was clad in an orange-red dress, her face bright and radiant.
But the divine glory of a true god had already faded away.
Sislia’s orange-red hair was loose over her shoulders, her stunning face full of sorrow.
Her golden eyes seemed to contain the warmth of the first rays of dawn.
In truth, she knew well that the Dawn Goddess had already fallen somewhere nameless among the stars.
For she had already fallen from an eighth-tier Legend, a Waiter of the Gods, to first-tier.
And before long, she’d even drop below first-tier.
“High Priestess Sislia, the Kot Family has sent another bridal gift, and… and a letter……”