“An…Eye-beast? Do you mean that legendary, S-ranked demon that is now nearly extinct?” (Gideon)

I nearly fell of my chair upon hearing that. A human child is actually born with the powers of an Eye-beast? That is inconceivable.

Eye-beasts was said to have went extinct more than 50 years old, probably before I was even born in my previous life. Even within the demon area, they were a dangerous species, hostile to anyone else other than their own kind.

Their unique feature is that they have multiple eye stalks growing out of its sphere-like body, and one gigantic eye in the centre of the body. They do not have any arms or legs, but they have a unique telekinesis ability which allows them to levitate, move about and manipulate mana in ways such as, to create a force-field to deter enemies’ attack.

What’s more terrifying is their main ability, [Gaze]. It can cause numerous effects such as bind, hallucination, charm, curse or death, depending on their latent abilities. Variant species can even have petrification gaze, temporary blindness and even transformation capabilities.

In short, they are considered to be an almighty species, capable of destructive offense and impregnable defence. If it isn’t for their small population, they could potentially have caused widespread destruction.

And over here…Crystal Theia, the [Hero], one of the three saviours of humanity, has the blood of such a monster within her?

But that would explain why I momentarily froze up just now, during the battle…I mean, the instant she stared at me, I felt like I couldn’t even move an inch without difficulty. Thankfully I managed to break free just in the nick of time…otherwise I would have lost badly.

“So, I believe that you had retained most of the skills from your ancestral blood? I mean, that momentarily freezing up is caused by your [Gaze], am I right? Not to mention, the creation of the mana shield and spear…even if it is an innate function of the artefact, your mastery over it is simply too high for a person your age.” (Gideon)

“Hmm? Yes, you’re right. But that’s not all. My innate ability is [Al-Gaze], which gives me absolute control of what kind of [Gaze] I wish to inflict upon my foes. However, the stronger the innate magical resistance of my target, the effects gets significantly weaker. Therefore, I don’t rely on it much.

“[Al-Gaze]?! But that must mean…your ancestor must have been an Eye-beast Lord?” (Gideon)

“Oho, as I expected, you even know about that, Gideon. Not even encyclopaedia have such detailed information, did you know that? Looks like you aren’t just any out-of-the-ordinary fourteen year old combat genius huh?” (Crystal)

Tsk, what a blunder. Crystal only said all those to get my guard down! They probably didn’t know my entire secret, but now I’ve revealed so much I’m practically telling them I have some form of connection to the demon continent! She tried to hoodwink information about myself by telling me hers, and I fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

“Oh c’mon, Gideon. I’ve revealed so much of my own personal information that is also considered top secret even within Olympus; surely you can trust us more, right?” (Crystal)

“Gideon, no matter who you are, you can always trust us. After all, I didn’t live for over 200 years for nothing; I take pride in my skills in picking out people.” (Ellenda)

Come to think of it, since they have such a good relationship with each other, despite the Crystal being an atavism-cased mixed-blood…I suppose it would be fine even if I revealed my past to them?

After all, she trusted me with such information. Even if the upper echelons of the human race in Olympus knows about this matter, if this information is exposed to the general public, there would be quite a bit of chaos.

The fact that she trusted me with this shows that they have already suspected that I wasn’t just any ordinary talented fourteen year old…that I know too much information for my age. If I hide anything for them now, it wouldn’t be beneficial to our current relationship as potential partners.

Furthermore it will definitely throw a wrench into my plans as well if they become my enemy somehow…

But, my curse…after all, it’s the most deadly thing possible; a poison that kills anyone that i deem close to me.

Will they still want to be with me after this?

“Gideon, trust me. Trust the both of us. We’ll not think badly of you no matter what.” (Ellenda)

“…”

Well, even if they decide to stay away from me, as long as they don’t interfere with my plans…I don’t really care anyway.

“…Alright, I’ll tell you two the truth. But don’t speak of this to anyone else.”

“Don’t worry about that! We promise we won’t.” (Crystal)

“Fine then, I’ll take your word for it.” (Gideon)

I spent the next one hour telling them about my past life, my vengeance, my current life and most importantly, my curse.

—–

“…and that’s all.” (Gideon)

The two of them listened very attentively to every word I’ve said, and haven’t said a single word during the whole time I was talking. Also, their stares are beginning to hurt…

Then out of the blue, Ellenda got up from her seat, came over to me and gave me a hug.

“E,E,Ellenda?! Wait, what do you think you’re doing..!” (Gideon)

“You poor thing…to think you’ve suffered so much by yourself, let big sister here comfort you a little.” (Ellenda)

“Wait just a moment! Didn’t you hear the entire story; what if it gets triggered, let go already!” (Gideon)

“Hey that’s not fair Ellen! Let me join in the fun too!” (Crystal)

“Not you too, Crystal Theia! I thought that all of people, the [Hero] should be the sensible one!” (Gideon)

I struggle free from the two females, out of their hugs and retreated to one corner. What’s wrong with them, didn’t they just hear what I just said? About how people I care for dies due to my curse, and that I’m an Ogre Lord in my past life?

“Aww, come on, don’t be like this.” (Crystal)

“DON’T “don’t be like this” me! Don’t you get it, I can’t have happiness, at least not until I’m done settling what I need to do and solving this entire curse thing all by myself. Don’t forget that I’m also part of the [Six Pillars] as well; don’t just trust everything and anything I say so easily.” (Gideon)

“But…you need us with you here. Gideon. You need someone in your life. I understand what you have been through, just a little bit. You may not realize it yet, but eventually that feeling of wanting someone to be with you will destroy you from the outside. And hey, if you need help for your revenge plan, I’m of assistance! You should know first-hand since we just had a serious sparring session, but I definitely can give any of the [Six Pillars] a good run for their money.” (Crystal)

“Besides, if you really want to betray us, you won’t say things like that. I believe you. The both of us do.” (Ellenda)

She got me there; I can’t really argue back that point. Also, Crystal would really be a powerful asset to have along. Even though she’s about the same as me when it comes to combat capabilities, that should be enough to compete against the [Six Pillars] fairly equally.

Even if we consider special abilities, artefacts, and different terrain conditions, at least very least, Crystal will have a fighting chance against any of the [Six Pillars] and escape if necessary.

Furthermore, she wouldn’t be the only one fighting, I’ll be close by so we’ll have more of an advantage, if it’s in an ideal situation where our target is alone.

“But…to think that you were one of the Six Pillars in your previous life, no wonder you’re so strong for your age. All that battle experience, combined with the innate strength you were given…” (Ellenda)

“Yeah, but of course, do keep that a secret. It would be very bad if it got exposed.” (Gideon)

“Don’t worry about that! Ellen is great at keeping secrets! In fact, she knew about mine all along already. Also, you know mine now too, so trust us a little bit more, would you?” (Crystal)

“…I shouldn’t. After all, the both of you are surely under my curse, be it in a large amount or small amount. I don’t want to make things worse, and cause more trouble for both of you and me. Should I maintain my distance, it probably should remain at a minimal level.”

“Hmm…I guess we shouldn’t force it on you. Anyway, I’ll be reporting on a few of the things that we can expose with your permission of course. It will be the things that you have allowed me to share, for instance the death of Ogre Lord Buvul and the possible wipe-out of Ogres?” (Ellenda)

“You’re going to the Adventurers’ Guild headquarters?” (Crystal)

“Ah, yes. After all, all of these are significant data that could help the whole of humanity; I should head over as soon as I can, seeing that I know now the information is verified by a trustworthy source.” (Ellenda)

Ellenda turned around to wink at me. So, now I’ve became an informant of sorts? Ah well, those information won’t do any damage to the demon continent as a whole, so I don’t really care. Unless I’m absolutely sure of my allegiance, I won’t reveal any sensitive information to them, and thankfully they understand my point.
Allowing humans to verify the total annihilation of Ogres is a little weird but, they could proof a useful source of information, to see if what Del’thrush had said is one hundred percent correct, or was he hiding something…

“Yes, those are fine.”

“Alright then, if you’ll excuse me…ha!”

Ellenda leapt towards me and starts caressing my hair, without my permission.

“H,hey Ellenda! Don’t you have more important things to do?” (Gideon)

“Aww come on, I won’t see you again for a while; let me play with you around a little more!” (Ellenda)

“Play with me?! But I’m not a toy, give me my personal space, woman!” (Gideon)

“Jeez, I’ll spare you this time! Oh yeah, the quest…tell Randol to give you quest no. 1364, that should be perfect for you both. Crystal, please drag Gideon around town to prepare him for the quest.” (Ellenda)

“Prepare? But…what’s there to prepare, you just go for the quest and finish it, isn’t that how it works?” (Gideon)

“Sigh…see what I mean there Crystal? How am I supposed to trust him with a high-level quest with that kind of mind-set imbedded in his head?” (Ellenda)

“Ahaha I guess I understand more about why you want me to be here! Alright ma’am, don’t worry I’ll get him fully ready!” (Crystal)

“Alright then, I’ll be off! I’ll be busy thinking of good reasons on how I stumble upon this information so that I won’t be seen as too suspicious.” (Ellenda)

While thinking and mumbling on her own, Ellenda slipped out of the room, leaving the two of us.

“Say, I know I said this before, but aren’t you two wary about me? I was part of the [Six Pillars] after all, do you seriously believe in everything I just said? What if it was all just a huge ploy to lower down your guard and then I spring some trap on you?” (Gideon)

“Well…normally if people would say something like that, it probably means that you aren’t plotting anything!” (Crystal)

Again with that mind-set…humans like them really are too trusting.

Besides, Ellen has a good eye for people; I trust her. After all, she is the one who trusted me and picked me up during my darkest period, when I needed help the most.” (Crystal)

“Darkest times? What exactly happened to you?” (Gideon)

“Oops, never mind that, I was just reminiscing. I’ll tell you the whole sob story next time! But just now…you mentioned Kpsid, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. The Ancient God I was talking about. Weird huh, to think that there is some omnipotent being such as that guy…why, what about him?” (Gideon)

“Oh, it’s nothing, just thinking if I heard the names somewhere before or such.” (Crystal)

“Okay…anyway, we’ll meet up again tomorrow at dawn, it’s getting late after all, I see you tomoro-whoa!”

As I tried to walk away, Crystal grabbed my shirt collar, preventing my “escape”.

“No can do. Ellen told me to babysit you, and that’s what I’m going to do for the rest of the day!”

“Who needs you to babysit me, even if you don’t count my Ogre past, I’m already fourteen years old as a human.” (Gideon)

“You sure act like one though. Stop struggling and let’s go around shopping for useful items for the quest!”

After being dragged out, with one hand of hers still holding on to my collar, I resigned myself to fate.

——

“Well, this is an interesting experience.” (Crystal)

“What are you talking about, what interesting experience?” (Gideon)

“I’ve never walked around like this, with another guy. It feels rather…interesting and exciting!”

“So, what have you been doing your whole life? I mean, you’re already seventeen, right?” (Gideon)

“Well, after being rescued by Ellen I spent the rest of my time in Olympus, training to become a [Hero]. Eventually, I succeeded and I was acknowledged as a [Hero]. That was just not too long ago, and even then I didn’t actually move about too much.” (Crystal)

“That’s indeed a short story! Huh, it pretty much sounds like what I did after my transmigration; plain old training.” (Gideon)

“Eh he, looks like we found something in common then, haven’t we?” (Crystal)

“Hmph. I wouldn’t really call this a common point.” (Gideon)

“Gideon, don’t be such a downer. Don’t put me at arm’s length as well, it’s not every day that you can walk around with a girl like me!” (Crystal)

“I…rather not be too close to anyone, even if it’s you. Especially if it’s you.” (Gideon)

“That’s because you care about me, right? I know that don’t worry!” (Crystal)

“Grrrr…sigh, can we quickly finish up our preparation so we can quickly move on already? The stares from passer-by are annoying.”

Although I say that, most of the stares were going towards Crystal. After all, even if she isn’t that well known, a [Hero]’s status is enough to make one a household name. Out of ten people, at least five will know your full name, title and choice of weapon. Furthermore, she’s decent looking. The stares that land on me, however, are filled with a heavy air of envy.

Of course, being known as the [Golden Rookie] in this town plus my signature Greataxe on my back, no one dared to make a move on me. They could, but defeat will be swift and decisive for them.

“You’re attracting a lot of attention. Are you sure that your [Al-Gaze] isn’t active right now? Don’t accidentally apply charm on other guys, they might bring trouble.”

“This is actually considered little attention already. Normally at Avalon City, I’ll be swamped the instant I step out of the [Hero]’s headquarters, Olympus.”

“I see…so what are we getting?”

“Well, we’ll need emergency provisions firstly, such as food and water.”

“There’s no need for such stuff. We can always hunt for food, and water can be found anywhere.”

“That’s why I said they’re emergency provision. Food and water aren’t always readily around everywhere. I bet there were times where you couldn’t find either?”

“Well…I guess.”

“So, some preserved food for the journey, and plenty of water. Also, go get your Greataxe sharpened up and fixed, we can’t possibly go for a fight with that blunted thing right?” (Crystal)

“Oh right, that’s true. I almost forgot about that.” (Gideon)

After getting some fresh water kept tightly within water-bags as well as some preserved boar meat, we head down to the smithy to repair my weapon. Although Mithril is extremely tough to sharpen, we managed to get a good job done within an hour, after paying the blacksmith a premium tip of 3 Silv. Seeing Crystal trying to bargain for the prices was quite an interesting sight to behold.

So, this is what it feels like to have a human comrade, huh? Still, I shouldn’t get too comfortable with this situation…who knows what would happen if I let down my guard at any time? I need to stay focus.

Still, I guess being dragged around once in a while isn’t that bad of an idea…

“Gideon? Hey, Crystal to Gideon!”

“Huh? Oh yeah, what’s wrong?”

“We’ve reached our inn already, the Bear Hut. C’mon, let’s go in and take our rest!” (Crystal)
“Wait…OUR inn? OUR rest? You got to be kidding me, right?” (Gideon)

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Author’s Notes:

What’s gonna happen, what’s going to happen?!

Find out next chapter!

 

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Author : Kiribou

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