”Indeed. When this servant peered into Your heart, there was a dense concentration of dark phantasms in that Inn. It was highly likely that Your Holiness unconsciously realised this, so You felt something was off and that the little girl was in danger.“

You’re talking about her like you’re not little yourself! Oh... that’s beside the point.

The Fourth closed her eyes in deep thought and ended up with teeth gritted in frustration, “I wonder why that blasted Kyrie did not sense it and do anything about it. He could’ve prevented Your suffering from happening...”

“I - well, I’m not sure what happened but Kiel did somehow allude that his abilities are limited in his human form... or something.” I pondered for a bit; he seemed otherworldly and undoubtedly powerful when I first met him. Why would he be somewhat forced to his human form?

Something must have happened. I remembered him saying that he arrived to ask me to return to the Heavens... so what was the real reason why we had to seek Benny’s help and start this “quest” all over Gaia to get my memories back? I didn’t lose my memories from my old world, so was he pertaining to my memories as the deity in this one?

“That is no excuse! What in Gaia was he thinking?!” Her grip on the scythe that rested on her lap tightened and I felt a tremendous pressure from her little body. The white space we were in also started to distort with her unstable emotions.

The Fourth’s outburst made me resurface from my own thoughts as I was unwillingly succumbed to the overwhelming feeling of anxiousness, “C-calm down, Fourth.”

Why is this little one seem so apprehensive towards Kiel? Was there a dark history between the two of them? Well, it’s not that surprising given his personality. It is a bit difficult. No - colourful?

Her eyes widened in shock upon realizing that she raised her voice and released a fearsome aura that shook the space. It was followed by a dark shade of red that spread upon her puffed cheeks. The spacial distortion started to stabilise. “P-Please forgive this servant’s rudeness!”

“It’s fine.” I outwardly flashed her a strained smile while expressing an internal sigh of relief. “Hmm... I think should focus on the bigger issue at the moment - finding the culprit. I’m still not sure where to go from knowing that this ‘dark phantasm’ that I felt came from the inn. I barely remember their faces, I’m not even sure how to locate them or to pick them out from the crowd.”

I’m so weak and useless. What qualifications do I have to be a goddess, eh?! I can’t even do anything that’d help anyone. I continued to wander through my thoughts as my shoulders fell in dejection.

Aside from swimming in the endless sea called disappointment, I also felt slightly embarrassed so I hurriedly glanced at the Fourth. Despite being deemed their deity, I was powerless. She would be so disillusioned and disappointed. I would’ve hated to see that. I would’ve hated to see the sparkle in her eyes disappear - this was the first time someone looked up to me after all, like a big sister respected by a younger sibling. Or something like a pure source of inspiration.

Contrary to my unpleasant expectations, I saw her pointed ears twitch happily as her eyes widened, “I can certainly help Your Holiness with that!”

“Oh, that’s great...” I absentmindedly maintained my gaze. I wondered what help she would give. Wait, she’ll help me?! What a godsend!

“That pendant...” the elf pointed at the blue tear hanging on my neck. Her eyes had a strange look to them as she narrowed her field of sight. “It’s a first grade gem, which is fairly rare. There’s a decent amount of lesser phantasms imbued in it that protects its wearer from all forms of external status spells and curses up to the greater fifth tier. It can still contain one to two more spells up to the lesser sixth tier. Not bad, not bad at all.” The Fourth sounded a little impressed.

Is that what Benny’s Prayer of Light was for? Not to mention, the protection thing that Kiel was talking about? And what’re these spell tiers she was saying? It sounded like those means to gauge levels of magic in fantasy novels I always read back at my old world. For an esteemed entity like Fourth to be impressed like this, the sixth tier should already be high.

“I guess that brat has some use after all. Would my Lady mind if I imbued it with another spell or two?” The sleeping scythe disappeared from her lap.

“No, not at all.” I shook my head and removed the necklace. She really dislikes Kiel, doesn’t she?

After unhooking the necklace, I reached my hand out and carefully placed the blue pendant on her dainty fingers. She reciprocated my action and received it with utmost care, as if holding onto a delicate masterpiece.

The Fourth called Kiel a ‘brat,’ and it is safe to assume that his age is by the thousands. How old would that make her? How ancient would she be to confidently address him as such, despite looking like a middle-schooler?

More importantly, the cute little elf girl will be doing an enchantment spell of sorts.

How exciting!

There was a glow that emerged around her green eyes as she spoke—

«Greater Spell Enchantment»

«Ethereal Scrying Thread»

«Set Restriction: Lock User»

Three sets of magic circles with various sizes and inscriptions glowed behind her. There was a brief light that emanated from her body which then flowed towards the necklace. It made the tear-shaped pendant light up a beautiful sapphire glow before turning back to its original color.

Even without looking at myself at the mirror, I was sure that my eyes were sparkling with awe and amazement like a gem that glistens under a sea of lights.

“The spell I’ve attached in the pendant will help find what You seek - Your Holiness will just need to apply Your own phantasm while uttering the spell «Ethereal Scrying Thread» to activate it. You will need to focus on what You want to find given the information you have.” The elven girl handed the necklace back to me with excitement all over her face. “The more information You have, the more accurate the reading will be.”

“Does that mean that if I randomly used it to find the killer - or maybe upon return - The spell won’t necessarily work if I don’t pair the thought of looking for a killer with... let’s say, a motive? Or their faces?

“Indeed, my Queen.” She flashed a toothy grin. “Another big factor is the efficacy of spell casted, which would often depend on the amount and quality of the phantasm... These would undoubtedly be exceptional in Your case so there is no need for you to worry.”

“Cool, that sounds nifty.” I coiled the metal around my neck and locked it close. “But how exactly do I use this phantasm thing? I don’t think I can use it at will.”

“That’s exactly it — Will!” She stood up and slightly flailed her arms about. “Phantasms are ever-present in all the living beings and the environment. Will, imagination, and focus are the key components to manipulating these energies within and around us! And all of this is possible because You, the Great Goddess has taught us!”

“But... how? Can you teach me?”

It was awkward. She said that I taught them yet here we are, in reversed roles; with her being an interim teacher to me.

The Fourth pursed her lips together before opening them wide to reveal a huge toothy grin. It was akin to a kid who just received ten baskets of goodies for Halloween. She shut her eyes close and breathed in and out deeply, before peeking with her right eye. “For those new to the Magical Arts, closing the eyes helps with focusing.”

“Imagination allows you to get a more accurate feel of the surrounding phantasmic particles you normally wouldn’t see with your eyes. It helps connect the perceived inner reality to the phantasms outside. Similarly, will and focus bolsters the belief and confidence you have to help jumpstart you wanting to manipulate the phantasms.

“You should then try to feel each pounding of the heart, the flow of Your blood in Your veins, the air You take in and expel - You will then be conscious of the energy that dwells within You.” She repeated the deep breaths she did and set loose a gentle smile. “Afterwards, will it so that the phantasmic energy will shroud the body. The bracelet will then come in contact with the manipulated phantasmic particles and will activate the stored spell upon invocation,”

“Can I do it here? Would it work in this... umm, this dimension?” There was anticipation in my voice.

More than the question I just blurred out, one question made my heart pound.

Can I really use magic?

Maybe it really was worth being burnt via trial by fire!

That sounded wrong.

The Child nodded her head repeatedly and in a fast manner. “It will come naturally for You, as You are the Holy One who graced Gaia with the Magical Arts. The most important thing is for Your Ladyship to believe in Yourself and that You can do it.”

I closed my eyes and did as instructed. With Fourth’s fervent belief in me, I found it difficult to deny that I can do it.

It was weird.

I could hear each heartbeat, the pitter patter of my anxiousness and excitement, and the heaviness of each breath I drew. There was tingling sensation all over my body as life coursed through each cell.

Focus.

I felt alive. Invigorated.

It was similar to the blessing the Fourth gave earlier... yet, different in a way.

I imagined giving form to this feeling that hugged me. I tried to mentally change its properties to my liking as I manipulated it with my imagination. It should be light and thin, barely visible but was there.

When I opened my eyes, I could see a very faint yellow glow around my hands. I examined them slowly

How was this possible when I wasn’t even in my real body? Wait. Or was my body magically transported here?

“As expected, nothing is impossible with Your Greatness!” The Fourth grinned and flailed her arms to her sides with much gusto, with her hands balled into a fist of excitement. “You have successfully accomplished the Awakening in a mere few seconds!”

She quickly dropped to the floor in a brief genuflect, “This servant is lucky. I am in awe of Your unending splendour, My Queen!”

“Is... Is it that amazing?” I absentmindedly wondered as I scratched my head.

“Ordinary beings would normally take a year to reach this stage, even this servant with unblemished elven heritage does not compare!”

“Ohh, right.” My smile slanted awkwardly. She was going Kiel on me - or at least the overly zealous and devout Kiel, and not the rude one.

Something at the back of my head told me that it was time to go, but there might be something else that the Child can help me with. With that in mind, I inquired, “What else can help me find the one responsible for the dark phantasms?”

“I am afraid that is all the help that this servant can provide for now. Your Holiness must now return from whence you came.”

“That’s too bad, I wanted to stay longer and learn more from you. You’re a good teacher, Fourth. I learned heaps.” I smiled and stood up to pat her head. When I did so, the ornate chairs mysteriously disappeared in the white background.

“N-no! There is no need for flattery. It’s my honour to do so!”

She closed her eyes and blushed as I continued to stroke her hair slightly.

A few moments later, the Fourth lowered her head so I couldn’t see her face anymore. There was a sudden drop in her mood, as if unpleasant memories gushed to her thoughts.

I leveled down to her height and asked what was wrong. She replied with, “My Queen. Whoever it was - whether they did it knowingly or not - it doesn’t change the fact that they harbored dangerous sentiments which led to their phantasms being fed to this dark and murderous entity.”

She then maintained a grim expression, saying with her small hands clutched tightly, “And what’s worse is that it led to Your Holiness to experience unthinkable injustice. I still believe that this is unforgivable!”

Despite the whiteness of the space we were in, I could feel myself contained in the reds of her rage. “My Goddess, if I may be so bold to provide my opinion... they deserve a fate much worse than a hundred, no, a thousand reincarnations filled with misery.”

“I...” I didn’t know what to say. It was an abomination to kill children for whatever reason. But did that mean that the judgment passed down had to be death as well? Did they really have to live a life of suffering and hate in a continuous loop?

The Fourth shook her head and slapped her puffed cheeks and flatten them with her hands. She curtly genuflected with her knee on the floor and her head facing downward. “It is the greatest pleasure to see you again my Queen, Goddess of all. Until we meet again.”

The young-looking elf did not move, but her small and delicate image slowly moved farther from me, without any sign of movement from the both of us. She slowly looked up, with a longing look on her face. The whiteness of the expanse soon helped her fade away until the teary emerald eyes disappeared.

The snow-coloured area started to crackle. White shadows danced around me until they clearly looked like flames burning continuously.

With the Fourth’s Blessing, I was not harmed by the flames and could only feel a comforting warmth in the sea of white fire that swallowed the cave.

I started walking towards the small speck of light that possibly came from outside the cave. I felt something weird in the next second that passed - my skin was brushing against each other with each step.

Wait.

Why am I naked? Where the fuck are my clothes?!

The blood rushing to my cheeks should’ve been very visible with all the white in the background. Were they burnt when I was swallowed by the flames?

How the heck am I supposed to come out now?!

If I don’t go out and the flames keep burning - people will assume that I died and that I killed Autumn! They might even kill Kiel!

But at the same time... did I really want to go out naked?

Dammit.

Obviously fire would turn clothes to ashes, but I assumed that my clothes would also be protected like me. Was it normal for innocents to come out from the trial by fore in a cave, butt naked?

Why wasn’t I informed?!!!

My choice on how to proceed from here was limited, I knew that the investigation on Autumn’s death will not push forward to the right direction if I don’t prove my innocence.

Given Kiel’s extensive knowledge about these sorts of trials - I can trust that he prepared something for my return, right?

My feet reluctantly rushed after one another, and stopped when I saw a faint outline of a man beyond the flames.

I continued walking with uncertainty and with an odd feeling in my stomach. I really had no choice but to come out and throw my dignity away.

My only consolation was that I didn’t die (again?); I didn’t burn to death.

I may be naked, but at least I passed the test, right?

My pace was steady, I was just a few feet away from the mouth of the cave. I couldn’t help but flash a bitter grin to an invisible audience.

Is shamelessness a prerequisite to proving my innocence?