Chapter 406: A Conversation is Needed (1)

Kai continuously stared at the floor, and nervously glanced at Helik from time to time. She had her arms crossed and she was sternly glaring at him.

She looks so cute even when she’s angry, but...

The top of his head felt like it was stinging from the force of her glare when he looked down, so there was no way he could call her cute in this situation. Kai couldn’t see the future, but he could tell this was definitely heading toward a bad ending.

After a long silence, it was Helik who finally broke the heavy atmosphere that made it hard to speak first. “You.”

“Y-yes!” Kai responded and snapped his head up.

Helik pointed to herself once with her finger, then pointed to Kai. “You are my apostle and envoy, correct?”

“Of course I am.”

“How old did you say you were?”

“T-twenty-three now...”

“Right. Twenty-three.” Helik nodded solemnly. “I believe that at that age, one should know everything they ought to.”

“Yes...?”

“At twenty-three, you should know how important promises are, correct?”

“Of course.”

“Then what is a promise?”

“

Uh...

it’s when you decide in advance with someone what you will or won’t do, and then you keep your word.”

“You know well.”

Helik turned and walked to her desk, then brought over a calendar that had been sitting on top. From about a month and a half ago, every day had been circled in red crayon.

“You told me before that you would always be by my side and support me.”

“

Huh...?

”

Had he said something like that?

As Kai hesitated to answer, Helik’s brows furrowed. “You did say it, don’t you remember? During that banquet we held for the gods in the Celestial Realm.”

“

Hmm.

” Kai closed his eyes and tried to recall that memory.

But Helik, I belong to myself not to you. I’m a person, not an object.

W-what...? You weren’t mine until now?

No, but I will always be your faithful envoy.

He had definitely never said that. Absolutely not! However, looking into Helik’s cold eyes, he had no will to argue about such small details.

“P-perhaps I did...”

“I knew it. But look at this calendar.” Helik started counting the circles one by one. “One, two, three, four...”

She could count well now. She had counted forty-seven circles in no time and puffed up her chest.

“Forty-seven days.” Helik placed the calendar back on the desk. “For an apostle to leave their god without a single word for forty-seven days. This is historically unheard of.”

“I sincerely apologize for that...”

Her tone made it hard to come up with any defense. After all, he really had disappeared without a word and hadn’t returned for nearly two full months. At the same time, he started to understand why she was like this.

She was hurt.

She had been upset that he left without saying anything.

“I really like people who keep their promises.” Helik turned her back to him and looked out the window. “You once promised that you would always stay by my side and support me.”

“Yes.”

“Just this once...

hmm

.” Helik lowered her head and rummaged through her pocket to take something out. “I’ll let it go this time, but if you ever break our covenant again, then as stated in the mutual agreement... I-I mean, I will punish you.”

After putting whatever she had been reading back into her pocket, she turned to face Kai. Her face was solemn and full of dignity. But from behind her, a familiar color of hair peeked out and quickly disappeared by the window.

Kai stood up and walked over to the window.

“H-hey! I told you to stay seated! I’m sure I did!” Helik’s dignified expression shattered like glass as she stomped her feet and shouted.

Kai ignored her and opened the window wide, then leaned on the railing and looked down.

“What are you doing down there?” he asked the girl who had been sitting pressed tightly against the outer wall.

Rashya looked up at Kai with an awkward smile. “

Hehe

... Hello.”

“Yes. Hello to you too, Rashya.”

Rashya stood up from where she had been crouched and brushed the dust off her uniform. “Well then, goodbye.”

“Stop right there.”

“

Ahhh!

”

Kai used a gravity field to bring Rashya back inside the window. After closing it again, he looked at the two girls one after the other.

“First let me ask, Rashya, what were you doing out there?”

“Well...”

Rashya glanced over at Helik. She had definitely noticed that glance, but Helik slightly turned her head to the other side.

Rashya let out a faint sigh and slowly began to say, “Well... Kai, you were the one who did wrong. You disappeared without a word or any contact... You went to the Demon Realm, right?”

“Yes.”

“When you disappeared, Helik was so anxious and worried, so... I thought we had to make sure you could never leave again without saying anything...”

“So you wrote the script for her?”

“

Yeup

.” Rashya stuck her tongue out and gave an awkward smile.

Helik, who had already been caught pretending to be stern, was now clearly panicking. But at that moment, the most surprised person wasn’t her. It was Kai. He stared at Helik with wide eyes.

That was all an act...?

Even if just for a moment, he had gotten so scared he stared at the floor the whole time, and that had all been part of Rashya and Helik’s plan? An act?

Was Spielbucks right? Is she an acting genius?

Wearing a vaguely confused expression, Kai suddenly knelt down to meet the girls at eye level. It was upsetting that they had teamed up to deceive him, but the true root of the problem was himself.

“Come closer, both of you.”

“A-are you going to pull our cheeks...?” Helik mumbled nervously.

But Kai didn’t respond and simply repeated himself, “Come here.”

The two girls trudged toward him like cows being led to the slaughterhouse. Like children getting scolded after trying to trick an adult, the two goddesses lowered their heads. Kai reached out and gently pulled them into a hug.

“I’m sorry for disappearing without a word. I’m sorry for making you worry. I won’t do it again.”

Taking responsibility and offering a sincere apology instead of making excuses for his mistake, that was what it means to be an adult.

While hugging the two girls, Kai gently stroked their heads and apologized, “I won’t ever leave carelessly again.”

Held in Kai’s arms, the two girls rested their cheeks on his shoulders and glanced at each other. Their eyes sparkled with emotion. After a brief moment of quiet eye contact, Rashya gave a soft smile and mouthed the words ‘This turned out well.’

In response, Helik’s eyes slightly reddened, and gave a small nod.

Yeah...

She had never been held before, but whenever she was embraced by Kai, it felt as warm and safe as being held by a father. Helik leaned a little closer into him. She could smell Kai. As the reality of his return finally began to sink in, the tears she had been holding back began to fall.

“

Sniff...”

“A-are you crying?” Feeling warmth on his left shoulder, Kai turned around in surprise and looked at Helik. “H-Helik?”

“

Waaaah...

Bad Kai

... waaaah...

” She sobbed bitterly and began a long speech about how worried she had been. “I waited every night until late... I even prayed to the upper God... and I brushed my teeth three times a day without skipping...

waaaah

...”

“Oh dear. Helik, you were such a good girl waiting patiently.”

Kai did his best to comfort her, just like a father who had returned from a business trip trying to console his sulking daughter.

“I should have brought some snacks as a gift...”

Kai mumbled with real regret, but Helik shook her head.

“

Sniff

. That’s okay.” She raised her tiny hand and patted Kai’s head. “As long as you’ve returned safely, that’s the greatest gift of all.”

How could someone say something that sweet?

A daughter. Definitely a daughter.

Kai made a silent vow that if he ever got married, he would absolutely have a daughter.

“W-with that said...” Helik fidgeted with her hands then shyly held out her pinky finger. “Let’s make a promise. That you’ll never disappear without a word again.”

“A promise...”

Kai stared at her little finger and smiled. Matching her gesture, he gently hooked his pinky with hers and gave it a light shake up and down.

“Yes, I promise.”

“

Hehe

.”

Helik finally beamed. Her eyes were still swollen from crying, which made it funny, but Kai looked at her with a warm gaze.

“Welcome back, my apostle.”

***

“How we ended up in the Demon Realm was...”

The garden of Arkan Academy, where rare plants and flowers from across the continent were gathered, was a place where female students normally held tea time or where boys and girls often met for dates. But right now, there were no students to be found since they returned to their homes as soon as the war had ended, and the new semester wouldn’t start for another month.

Kai, Yoo Ha-Rin, Kal Rashya, and Helik sat there together, chatting as they ate snacks and drank tea. Naturally, they began to share stories about what had happened while they were apart.

“I studied so hard and ended up with amazing grades. The professor complimented me alot.”

“Really?”

“

Mmhm,

here’s my report card.” Helik casually held out her report card and then naturally tilted her head forward as well.

“

Hm

.”

Looking at the report card, it turned out her words were true.

That’s unexpected.

Maybe he had underestimated her too much. Right, she was a god after all, so this much was to be expected. She didn’t get perfect scores in every subject, but she had a perfect score in theology. Her grades in other memorization-heavy subjects were also very solid. Of course, her scores in math and magic theory were quite poor.

“Well done,” Kai gently patted the top of Helik’s head.

“

Hehehe

.”

After Helik was praised first, Rashya also brought out her own report card. “Me too. I got good grades too.”

Surprisingly, Rashya had perfect scores in every subject.

Kai was so shocked that his eyes widened. “Th-this is amazing, isn’t it?”

She was ranked first among 189 students. A full 110 spots ahead of Helik, who was ranked 111th.

“

Wow

, you did incredibly well. This is really something!” Kai roughly ruffled Rashya’s hair.

To be ranked first in an academy filled with the most elite bloodlines of the continent. Of course, for a god, maybe this level of achievement should be expected though.

“

Hmm

.”

Compared to Helik’s only slightly above-average report card, it looked all the more impressive.

“

Hmph

. I’ll do even better next time.” Helik puffed out her cheeks, not out of anger, but because they were full of cake, and asked, “Did anything special happen while you were in the Demon Realm?”

“There was.”

“There was.”

Kai and Yoo Ha-Rin answered at the same time.

“

Heh

...” Rashya looked back and forth between the two and let out a curious hum.

Wearing a playful smile, she leaned back in her chair. “I feel like hearing it from Ha-Rin will be more fun for some reason. Would you mind telling us?”

“I don’t mind at all.”

Kai nodded along. After all, they had both gone through the same experiences.

Naturally, the story will be more or less the same anyway.

Kai turned toward Yoo Ha-Rin as he sipped on his grapefruit juice through a straw.

Yoo Ha-Rin lowered her head as if she was embarrassed, then slowly began to say, “Kai...”