The Goddess Is Obsessed With Me

Reuniting with a face I haven't seen in a while, but before I could feel any joy, a desperate voice reaches me.

"What did you say?"

I'm taken aback, doubting my ears at this unexpected turn of events.

"You have to leave this kingdom now, or you'll be in danger!"

The unexpected advice to leave this place and the warning of danger if I don't was so abrupt that I couldn't believe her words.

However, she tries to persuade me earnestly, her face full of genuine worry and concern.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden? Leave this country...?"

No matter how urgent she seemed, it was hard for me to accept what she was saying without any prior explanation.

"Why should I leave? Can't you at least explain?"

"It's a bit difficult to explain..."

Her hesitancy makes me even more suspicious.

"You need a reason for what you're saying. You have to at least tell me why."

Finally, after a moment of internal struggle, she cautiously speaks up.

"I heard it from Morione..."

Morione?

A familiar name that brings a sense of surprise.

Does that mean Miru met with the goddess of destiny?

The goddess who can foresee others' fates and predict the future.

Did this goddess tell her that if I don't leave this country, I'll face dire consequences?

Another question arises: didn't she say she wouldn't casually speak of others' fates?

"I knew she wouldn't just tell anyone about their destiny. How did you manage to hear it?"

While Morione is not as well-known as Abne, she's quite renowned in the kingdom. But even so...

"She shouldn't have told you about my fate."

Even in the lore, except in rare cases, she doesn't break her principle.

Miru seems to understand this as she hesitates to reply.

I continue, "Regardless, I can't trust what you're saying right now. I have things to do."

I move past her, heading my own way.

"Wait! Just a moment!"

She tries to stop me but eventually resigns.

"Harold? I heard some unsettling news from Goddess Abne today..."

Upon arriving at the guild hall, I noticed a distinctively different atmosphere than usual. Not just in the guild, but people on the streets also had faces filled with anxiety, discomfort, and worry.

Considering what they might have heard about their impending fates from their respective deities, their reactions seemed understandable.

Erina, having possibly received news from Goddess Abne as I did, looked a bit uneasy.

"I heard it too. Looking around, it seems almost everyone did."

She nods in agreement, her face a mix of determination and worry.

"What should we do now? Should we take a break from our adventurer duties for a while?"

I was about to suggest the same.

"That sounds good. Let's take a break for a while."

My main goal here is the main storyline, and there was no need to perform any adventurer tasks until the Night of Ruin. I need to prepare for what's coming.

The reason I came here was to suggest this to her, and I planned to travel around the kingdom, purchasing various items. "From now on, I'll be shopping for some necessary items. Do you want to join me if you need anything?"

"Hmm... But Harold..."

Her already somber mood seemed to darken even more as she grabbed my hand, calling my name.

"Erina?"

"There's something I want to discuss..."

She slightly lowers her head and fidgets with her fingers, signifying her deep contemplation.

"What's the matter?"

Seeing that she wanted to convey something, I motioned for her to sit down, taking a seat across from her.

"Actually... I had a dream today."

While speaking, Erina, looking even more anxious than during the whispering cave incident, narrates her dream with trembling lips and shoulders.

"A dream?"

"Yes... a very vivid and terrifying nightmare..."

She tightly grasps my hand, her grip firm and reassuring.

What kind of nightmare could make her look at me with such worried eyes?

"There was fire everywhere... the streets were stained with blood, and it was an incredibly dark night, as if submerged in pitch-black darkness."

She seemed tormented, recalling the terrible memories, tears even threatening to fall.

"And right in the center of my vision, you were lying there... with your peaceful face, but your skin darkened..."

She softly covers her eyes with the back of her hand, struggling to continue.

"And your goddess was holding you, crying sorrowfully and in pain..."

Is she referring to Eleona when she mentions my goddess?

What kind of dream did she have?

"I instantly realized upon seeing that scene... what fate had befallen you. The you who made me who I am today had met such an end."

Judging by the flow, I assume in her dream, I had met death.

Darkened skin... I couldn't pinpoint an exact meaning to that.

"It was just a nightmare, but it felt so real that even after waking up, I couldn't easily shake it off."

Sharing her anxieties seemed to lighten her load slightly, but a lingering haze still clouded her eyes.

"Harold..."

Holding my hand even tighter, she pleads with desperation.

"I have a bad feeling... I don't know if it'll come true or not, but I feel like something might happen to you..."

She stares deeply into my eyes, her gaze almost overwhelming.

"At the very least, please be cautious until we hear the next words from our gods..."

She finally lets out her suppressed emotions, her eyes moistening slightly.

"I'll protect you, I don't mind if I get hurt... but I can't bear the thought of something happening to you..."

She brings my hand close to her chest, and I can feel her ragged breath against my skin.

"Sigh, Erina."

However, I try to calm her with a composed demeanor.

"Hmm..?"

"It's just a bad dream. There's no need to worry so much."

Though I tried to reassure her with a confident tone, Erina seemed even more concerned.

"No, it felt so real... but being cautious won't hurt, right?"

I nod in agreement, doing my best to maintain my composure and dispel her negative feelings.

"Of course, having heard unsettling words from my goddess, I'll always be on guard."

"Let's not dwell on the dream. It's just a coincidence that you had a nightmare on the same day we received bad news, right?"

Upon hearing this, her gloomy face started to brighten up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"A dream is just a dream. If you're too focused on what might happen, and you miss out on the present, it could lead to even worse outcomes than what you imagined."

Perhaps finding reason in my words, Erina's usual confidence starts to show.

"Right... you're right, Harold. It might just be an unsettling dream."

Thankfully, Erina, understanding my intentions, gives a faint smile and stands up.

"Maybe I was just overthinking things."

Though some residue of her earlier worries lingered, most of her anxiety seemed to have faded away. "Shall we walk around the main street together? You mentioned you had something to buy, right?"

However, momentarily, with a swift motion, she brushes off any lingering thoughts and helps me up by taking my hand.

With our conversation over, we prepare to leave the guild, but...

Thump!

"Ugh?!"

A familiar and intense pain quickly spreads from my heart, coursing through my body.

"Harold?"

Erina stops in her tracks and turns to me. Though the pain had already subsided, I grit my teeth and endure.

"It's nothing... let's hurry."

I maintain a composed expression so as not to worry her and hasten our pace.

: The perspective shifts to Eleona's temple, at the time Harold and Erina were conversing...

"Heh... heh... heh..."

Inside her sanctuary, Eleona, mixed with agony, tries desperately to complete a spell. She's so engrossed that sweat drips from her chin, wetting her clothes.

But...

"This isn't right!"

Even after completing the spell, she screams in frustration, gripping her head.

"Why isn't it working..."

Despite countless attempts, too many to count, her complexion remained pale throughout.

"I can do it... I am a goddess... For Harold's sake, I must complete it..."

In reality, Eleona had been enduring constant pain lately, except for the times she communicated with him. She gritted her teeth, fearing her weak appearance might worry her beloved subject.

"Ugh?!"

The very cause of her misery attacks her once again.

"ooo!!"

Gripping her heart and enduring the pain, Eleona may have been suffering even more since the moment her cherished subject first encountered death. The cursed pain was shared not only with Harold but also reached the connected goddess.

"I must complete it... As time goes by, it's getting worse."

Mumbling to herself, she gathers her robes and stands tall.

"It's subtle but definite, it's proliferating more than yesterday."

Her skin, originally as pure as white jade, was changing. Parts of it turned dark and rotten-looking, contrasting starkly with her pristine complexion.

In fact, the curse's side effects were not just limited to physical pain.

This was the true power of the curse. The brief bouts of pain were merely superficial. A horrifying curse that corrupts one's very existence, the agony was a result of the process that forcibly changed one's pure essence.

"I need to hurry... Not just for me, but my subject must be suffering too. He must have felt the pain just now..."

Regaining her composure, she closes her eyes slightly and starts adjusting a new spell.

"Just wait a little longer... I will overcome even the power of an ancient god."

Not knowing how many times she's reaffirmed her determination, she murmurs and creates a new spell from the tip of her fingers.