Chương 15: Chapter 13 (Part 2)— Questions for a God

Chelsea's jaw dropped slightly. Gerard watched her reaction with the tired patience of someone who'd long ago accepted that impossible things were going to keep happening to him.

"Funny story," he continued, the faintest hint of dry humor slipping into his voice, "I've been trying to finish the same conversation with a friend from back in high school for the last two hundred years. I keep getting summoned right after I get back." Chelsea let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

"That's... actually kind of insane." Then she gestured between him and Magalesa.

"Has this ever happened before? Like... this situation?" Gerard exhaled slowly through his nose, and the humor faded from his face. He pushed his hand across the top of his ear, tucking some of his short hair behind it. Strange motion but the least of what Chelsea was worried about.

"No." His eyes flicked briefly to Magalesa.

"Our rebirth god is more... experienced." A slight pause followed.

"He would never allow this to happen." Magalesa stiffened at that, but she didn't interrupt. Chelsea leaned forward slightly, seizing the opportunity before the tension could settle too deeply.

"Any tips?" she asked quickly.

"You seem to know a lot about this." Gerard gave a small nod, slipping easily into explanation.

"First tip is always the same. Join the adventurer's guild as soon as possible." He held up a finger slightly.

"For some reason, every one of these worlds has one. Adventurer's guild, journeyman guild, adventuring society... different names, same structure." Chelsea listened carefully. This was the first time since being summoned that someone sounded as though he understood the problem from the inside. Gerard wasn't guessing. He wasn't speaking from doctrine, prayer, or a story someone else had told him. He'd lived this more than once, and that made every word matter.

"Take contracts. Kill monsters. Level up as quickly as possible. That's your fastest path to power." His eyes settled on her more directly.

"So," he said, "what's happened on your end so far?" Chelsea hesitated for half a second, then started listing it off.

"Uh... let's see. Summoned. Became a demon. Couldn't speak the language at first..." She glanced sideways at Magalesa.

"I fixed that," the god interjected quickly.

"She can communicate now." Gerard gave a small nod of acknowledgment before looking back to Chelsea.

"They did the Eyes thing," Chelsea continued.

"Turns out I have an enhancement and an ailment." Gerard's reaction was immediate. He let out a long, deflated groan, rolling his head back slightly before turning a disappointed look toward Magalesa.

"Seriously?" Magalesa sighed, rubbing at her temple.

"That, I can't fix," she admitted. Then, almost defensively, "But I did give her a title to offset some of the effects." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Gerard didn't respond to that right away. Instead, he focused back on Chelsea.

"What are they?" he asked.

"Your ailment and enhancement. I've got both too. They usually balance each other out." Chelsea nodded.

"Okay. So, ailment first. It's called Forever Young and Beautiful. Basically, I'm stuck at level one... but I'm really hard to kill." Gerard's expression barely shifted.

"Enhancement is called The Perfect Outfit. It makes all my clothes fit me better." Gerard waited, clearly expecting there to be more. Chelsea shifted slightly, then added, almost as an afterthought, "And it also increases all of my items' classification by the buff's tier level. It's currently tier four." Gerard's eyebrows rose slowly. For the first time since he'd appeared, something close to genuine interest crossed his face.

"Magalesa," Gerard said, turning fully toward her now, his earlier calm replaced with something more focused, "what level of summoning was this?" Magalesa blinked.

"I... uh... don't know. I don't know how to find that information." Gerard stared at her.

"It's in your log," he said flatly.

"You have a log, don't you?" She hesitated, clearly thrown off again, then her expression shifted as something clicked.

"I have a notebook that updates with information," she said slowly.

"That's probably it."

"Probably," Gerard echoed, the word dripping with dry sarcasm as he gestured toward her.

"It will most likely be near the beginning of the summon." Chelsea glanced between them, eyebrows raised.

"You're telling the summoning god how to look up her own information correctly?" Gerard didn't even look embarrassed.

"I've spent a lot of time with Magadeve," he replied.

"He's our rebirth god. I'd go as far as to call him my best friend at this point." His tone shifted slightly, becoming more grounded and certain.

"He's taught me most of this." Magalesa had already produced the notebook from somewhere Chelsea didn't see and was flipping through it quickly. Her movements were too hurried to seem composed.

"Here it is," she said at last.

"Uh... S-Class." Gerard didn't respond right away. He only looked at her, waiting for her to correct herself. When she didn't, he turned his head slowly toward her.

"No," he said.

"You're lying."

"Really?" His tone wasn't accusing so much as incredulous.

"Really," she replied, a little too brightly. Gerard's gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before he exhaled through his nose.

"That's not good." Magalesa's brows pulled together.

"Why?" Gerard didn't answer immediately. Instead, he lifted a hand and gestured between himself and Chelsea, the motion slow and deliberate.

"We have two enhancements meant for one person," he said.

"As it stands right now..." He glanced at Chelsea, then back at his own hand.

"Mine is effectively useless." His eyes shifted back to her.

"And hers is... absurdly strong," he continued, choosing the word carefully.

"But it's being hard-capped by the fact that she's stuck at level one." Chelsea felt her stomach tighten. That didn't sound good.

"The king of the kingdom who summoned me is thinking about using the second summoning attempt," she added quickly, the words coming out a little faster now. Gerard's attention snapped back to her.

"Do they have the resources for it?" he asked immediately.

"I was told they get two chances," she said, nodding, "but they have to sacrifice me to make the second one happen." Gerard's face changed at once. Whatever patience he'd been holding onto disappeared, replaced by something much sharper.

"Kid," Gerard said, his voice dropping, all traces of casual tone gone, "you have to get out of that kingdom." Chelsea straightened slightly.

"I know. I'm already working on it," she replied.

"I have an S-ranked adventurer who sort of... adopted me. She's trying to figure out a way to get me out." That caught him off guard. Gerard blinked once.

"You already befriended an S-ranked adventurer?" He looked her up and down, reassessing her entirely.

"Haven't you been there less than twenty-four hours?"

"Yeah," Chelsea said with a small shrug.

"It's a long story." She paused, then leaned forward slightly, her tone shifting again, more focused and intentional.

"She's working on something," she added. Then her eyes flicked between the two of them.

"Hey, question for both of you."

"Yes?" Magalesa asked, her tone noticeably more eager now, trying to regain footing and be helpful again. Chelsea didn't hesitate this time.

"If I died," she said, her voice steady but quieter than before, "on this world, I mean... does that mean I die for good, or would I be sent back to Earth?" The fog around them seemed to still. Magalesa's expression shifted, something heavier settling into it.

"No," she said solemnly.

"If you die... you die." Chelsea stared at her for a moment, waiting for more. Magalesa offered none.

"Oh," Chelsea replied....... Hey there, it's Riley. You've made it this far, so I assume you find my story at least slightly entertaining. I'd really appreciate it if you'd consider rating or reviewing it. Hell, a comment would even be awesome. Something something algorithm. And if you haven't yet, feel free to follow so you can easily get updated when I post a new chapter. Anywho... thanks for being awesome!