I'm a Goddess to Be Devoured by the Protagonist - Chapter 6
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 6
I’d worried that rushing might cause an accident, but fortunately nothing of the sort occurred.
Perhaps there was no need to scramble our way back from Hell to the surface—the people climbed one by one up the ladder that connected to the exit.
Throughout it all, Sirius remained where he was, standing motionless and watching.
So I couldn’t tell what the situation was like above. The broadcast feed kept the camera centered on Sirius.
Still, I could gather that things were going well, thanks to hearing the relieved voices and expressions of gratitude from those who’d left the Underground Warehouse.
“Thank you, gracious one.”
But most of them said things like that.
Um… your thanks should go to the Innkeeper and his acquaintance who rescued you.
I didn’t save them. If I had, it would’ve been ridiculous. Why are they thanking me instead?
“A god?”
“Has the god returned?”
No, it seems the sudden mention of a god gave them no time to recover from their bewilderment.
Rather than being exasperated that the people above weren’t directing their gratitude toward them, they spoke in surprised tones.
“No. A new god has come.”
“What? Is that really true?”
I understood the urge to announce the god’s arrival, but if this continued, everyone in Quartz would learn that Sirius was a God’s Contractor.
That couldn’t happen.
[Mission]
[It is too early to reveal the existence of your contracted god, the Listener of Wishes Who Draws Fate Lines. Keep their existence as hidden as possible for now.]
[Reward: Bread ×1]
[Your contracted god, the Listener of Wishes Who Draws Fate Lines, has arbitrarily terminated this mission.]
[Mission]
[It is too early to reveal the existence of your contracted god, the Listener of Wishes Who Draws Fate Lines. Keep their existence as hidden as possible for now.]
[Reward: Bread ×1]
[Your contracted god, the Listener of Wishes Who Draws Fate Lines, has arbitrarily terminated this mission.]
I’d sponsored the mission and then cancelled it to emphasize my intention.
The real reason I cancelled the final mission wasn’t to toy with whether to give the reward. It was because the mission window irritated me whenever it stayed open.
It was a mission with no clear completion criteria. Unless I or Sirius removed it, it would linger indefinitely.
Besides, Sirius wouldn’t accept a mission just for a single loaf of bread anyway.
“Understood.”
You got what I meant, right?
‘Ah. You mean I should not reveal your existence. I understand,’ was the sort of reply I’d have liked, but a taciturn protagonist like Sirius would never respond that way.
Some time passed, and it came to Sirius’s turn to exit. He stepped up onto the rubble that had once been the inn.
Not a single one of the people who’d been in the Underground Warehouse had left. They all looked at him the moment he emerged.
“Ah, so that’s…”
“The God’s Contractor…”
The people seemed eager to say many things to Sirius.
But they could say nothing.
“I have something to say to you.”
His words carried the meaning: ‘I know you’re curious, but hear me out.’
“The god has requested that his existence remain unknown.”
The people’s eyes filled with surprise and confusion. To such a reaction, I wondered if the gods who’d come before were attention-seekers.
“Why is that?”
“He said the time is not yet ripe.”
The people’s faces still bore questions, yet they asked no more. They seemed to have concluded that mere humans like themselves could not comprehend the will of a god.
A few tried to question him, but there was nothing Sirius could know. Having received only vague answers from the God’s Contractor, the people gradually began conversing among themselves, and their interest in Sirius slowly waned.
Sirius observed them for a time, then began to move. He seemed to judge that now was the moment to leave.
Then someone approached him.
“Um, excuse me…”
Sirius turned at the small voice.
But seeing no one, he hesitated briefly before realizing the voice came from a lower place and lowered his gaze.
The one who stopped Sirius was a child from the Underground Warehouse. The very child the No-dap Three Brothers had been targeting.
The child couldn’t quite meet Sirius’s eyes and spoke while looking down.
“Could you… take me with you?”
What? Take them with me? Why?
Only questions emerged. Judging by Sirius’s gaze, his thoughts seemed no different from mine.
Recalling the novel’s events, the two had never exchanged a single word while trapped in the warehouse.
From Sirius’s reaction, it seemed nothing had changed even while I slept.
“May I ask your reason?”
Sirius, true to his formal manner, addressed the child in polite speech as well.
Yet the child could not answer him, only moving his lips faintly back and forth.
Ah. Don’t tell me.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. Sirius didn’t seem like the type to let the child starve.
The child has good eyes—knows how to choose who to ask for help.
So what do I do? Can I take the child along?
It wasn’t for the cold reason that the child would become a burden on the journey ahead. I was worried about what it would mean for a child to travel alongside a protagonist marked by ruin.
There was the cliché of the protagonist awakening to greater power after someone close dies—it could very well trigger.
But if I left the child here, the odds of starving were high. Already underfed, the situation had only grown worse.
I surveyed the surroundings. The ruin extended far beyond the inn. It was as though a storm had swept through—nothing remained untouched. Finding food would become exponentially harder.
To rescue the child only to let them starve seemed wrong. What should I do?
Then I hesitated.
Was it my place to decide whether the child should come along or not?
All I could do was send messages or objects. If the child came with them, Sirius would be responsible for all the care.
And if I told Sirius not to take the child, I’d come across as a heartless psychopath—someone callous enough to abandon a child to die alone.
So I decided to leave the choice to Sirius.
Sirius simply gazed down at the child in silence, his expression unreadable.
The child, growing anxious at his silence, spoke in a hushed voice.
-I, I… I can use Healing Magic too… just a little though…
What? Healing Magic?
Take the child with you at once! My sister and I will do everything in our power to protect them.
In , healers were mentioned as rare but never appeared until the end.
The child seemed lacking in confidence with their magic, but that alone was invaluable. Here, unlike in a game, you couldn’t walk into a shop at every village and buy potions like bottled water at a convenience store.
As I imagined myself attending adult Vega’s wedding someday and clapping alongside Sirius, savoring this premature joy, he lowered his posture to meet the child’s eyes.
-Would you tell me your name?
Come to think of it, I didn’t even know the child’s name.
Not long after being locked in the Underground Warehouse, the captives had held a moment of introduction to pass the time. Someone had asked the child’s name then, but the child had only shrunk into themselves without revealing anything about who they were.
The child had escaped alone and ended up in the Underground Warehouse through the Innkeeper. In a place where even the atmosphere felt unfamiliar, they would have had no intention of staying long.
For a child who already seemed timid to have remained intact despite being trapped in an unfamiliar place and surrounded by strange adults in a dark space would be strange indeed.
I waited quietly for the child’s answer. Fortunately, this time they responded.
-My name’s Vega. I’m ten years old…
Ten? I thought they’d be younger.
The child’s frame was far too small for their age. The thought that they’d been starved into stunted growth made my chest tighten.
I wanted nothing more than to feed them until their belly was full, but it wasn’t possible.
I kept my gaze on Sirius. From the way he’d asked about the child, it seemed likely he would take them along.
I’d just have to pressure him into feeding them in my stead.
-Understood.
Sirius gave his consent in a few short words. Relief washed across the child’s face.
Ding-ding-ding! Healer Vega has joined your party!
Having gained a new companion, Sirius stood quietly, lost in thought.
Why is he hesitating? A moment ago it seemed like he’d head somewhere straight away.
In the novel, they went to an inn… Ah. That was an adventurer’s lodge.
In this harsh world, physical conditioning was essential to become an adventurer.
And rough temperaments came as standard issue. Just imagining such people looking down on a fragile child sent a chill through me.
So it seemed he was deliberating where to go instead.
Both of them, body and spirit exhausted, would need a place to rest soon. But the village’s only inn had collapsed, now covering the ground beneath their feet.
Then…
[Mission]
[Proceed to Tourmaline Village, located northeast of this location.]
[Reward: Bread ×1]
I’ll resolve that dilemma for you.
I happened to know of a village with an inn. The problem was I had no idea how long it would take to reach.
Sirius reviewed the Mission.
With his worry resolved, he was about to move when the Innkeeper approached him.
Having spotted Sirius trying to leave, he hurried over, breathing heavily before he spoke.
-You, your name was Sirius… yes?
-That’s correct.
He remembered Sirius’s name. Perhaps he’d memorized all the names from that introduction.
-I’m grateful you stepped in back then. I wouldn’t have been able to stop them alone.
The Innkeeper smiled warmly. He seemed to be recalling the moment when Sirius had come forward to protect Vega.
This innkeeper was quite a decent man too. Unlike Sirius, he had no combat ability whatsoever, yet he still stepped forward in front of those thugs.
A person like this should receive the Brave Citizen Award right alongside Sirius!
-You’re taking the child with you?
-Yes, that’s right.
The innkeeper’s gaze lingered on Vega.
Vega looked like she wanted to hide away somewhere, but knowing that this man had stepped forward to protect her, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
-The god certainly has a keen eye for choosing people.
It seemed he’d somehow gotten the impression that I’d selected Sirius from among countless people in this world to make a contract with.
That wasn’t the case, but I found myself thinking that even if I’d had other options, I wouldn’t have chosen differently.
-It was an honor to meet a God’s Contractor.
The innkeeper bowed with the same courtesy he would show to a person of high rank.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————