Chapter 5: Chapter 4: What the hell is going on here?!. Part 1
"It it nearing noon..." - I unconsciously voiced my thoughts aloud, looking up at the sky where the sun was almost at the zenith.
"What could that mean?" - Alice asked, walking beside me with the occasional glance in my direction.
"This is the time of the initiation." - I answered her, slowly taking my eyes off the sky and turning them to her.
"You still want to go through with this stupid initiation?" - The lamia said with a sneer, looking down at me. Even without her tail, she still towered over me. I hadn't had much luck with height...
Chakra training didn't help much for some reason, and by the time I was 18, I was just below average.
I wasn't so sure I needed to go to the temple anymore. Not after the goddess decided to show up at my door in person. I had a strong feeling that I was being taken advantage of without asking my personal opinion on the matter.
"Even though you made me hesitate, I'd been preparing for this day all my life, and I was foolish to think that I would just say no, believing the words of a stranger. - However, I answered Alice differently." - Besides, you're a monster. It must be to your advantage to make one less hero.
"If there's one less slave Ilias, it's not a bad thing, really." - Nodding, Mamono agreed, and then she ran her long bifurcated tongue through the air. - "But the real reason why I don't want you to be blessed is because of your scent. It would be a great loss to lose someone so appetizing."
So she decided to turn the conversation into a joke and embarrass me in the process. Apparently she expected me, like an insecure teenager, to say something unintelligible about myself, blushing like a cancer.
How was she to know that I had read so much ethical literature with Kakashi that tricks of that level would have no effect on me?
"Mma... thanks... I guess?" - I answer, not knowing how to respond, and hastily try to change the subject. - "To make a final decision with this new information, I need to ask a knowledgeable person."
"And who is this knowledgeable person?" - With interest the girl asked.
"My mom." - With some pride I answered.
I am indeed proud. Sometimes I think my mom knows everything. Why she didn't tell me about the effects of the blessing, though, remains to be seen. Maybe it was her way of reassuring herself that I wouldn't be touched by monsters, but I should have known what I was doing!
"Phew!" - The echidna burped, covering her mouth with her palm. - Your mother?
"By the way, you shouldn't be laughing." - Offensively I answered, shooting her a dissatisfied look. - "She is the wife of a former hero and knows a lot about monsters, thanks to her lessons I have learned a lot about you, and, if anything, will know the weaknesses of the possible enemy."
"An enemy?" - The echidna tried to catch me on the word. - "But you said you wanted peace."
"I'm not an idiot, Alice." -My irritation escalated a little, and I answered a little more harshly than I could have. - "Even if I say I want to make peace between humans and monsters, there's no way it's going to go smoothly. I'll have to fight, and a lot of it, not just against mamonno, but against humans to."
It's not clear, is Alice mocking my goal or interested in it seriously? Some of her phrases are mocking and sarcastic, while others are spoken with a kind of inner irritation and even anger, especially when it comes to Elias. And now, after listening to my little rebuke, she changed her face, removing the notes of sneer and superiority from his expression, thinking about something.
"But how do you even imagine the possibility of peace?" - After a moment of silence the serpentine girl asked a question. Her gaze became serious, and the lamia put the jokes aside and actually wanted to know what I thought. - Ilias directly forbids her followers to engage in sexual acts with mamono, and for us it is vital, most simply cannot reproduce without human semen. How are you going to resolve such contradictions?"
- "There are several regions on Sentora in which our peoples coexist peacefully, living together. It's already a good example, to begin with, if they can do it, so can others."
Sentora is the largest continent in the world, covering more than three-fourths of the landmass. It is divided into four main regions: Safina, Natalia, the Golden Region, and Noa. It is in Noa that cohabitation between humans and monstrosities is most common; Mamos there can even serve in the royal guard of human rulers. If you understand the key to such cooperation, I think it might be possible to find a way to arrange something like this everywhere.
Besides Sentora, there are two other continents: Ilias and Hellgondo. Ilias, as you might guess, is a land of goddess followers, where contact with monsters other than killing them is strictly forbidden, and the inhabitants are deeply religious. Hellgondo, by contrast, is the fiefdom of the monsters. There used to be human settlements there, but after the tragedy at Remina, humanity left those lands. Also, the citadel of the Lord of the Monsters stands there.
- "Fool. If you think you can just tell everyone to do as Noah did, you'll be laughed at."
- "I understand that as well as you do." - I snort, turning away from the girl demonstratively and looking at the road. - "But I'll give it a try."
"How do you start?" - She growled at me, curious.
"Well, I'll start by going on a journey for a while." - I begin to answer, and at the same time I talk to myself an approximate plan of action, it certainly would not prevent me. - I want to learn a lot, to gain experience and gather information, to become known, so that my word has weight. Then it will be possible to make some global plans. Does that sound like a good idea already? - "There was a hint of mockery in my voice toward the end of my sentence that clearly hurt Momono, judging by the slight shake of her shoulders."
"For instance?" - Alice asked grudgingly.
- "To find out what happened in Remyne. And talk to the Monster Lord."
"Even if the Lord of the Monsters agreed with you, Ilias would never do that." - With some bitterness, the echidna said. - "She hates us, Luca, you just can't convince her."
- "If I can find out the reason for her hatred, there is a chance. I understand that there are contradictions that are difficult to resolve, but I believe that nothing is impossible."
Especially if Elias has already turned her attention to me. This whole story of centuries of enmity, if you think about it, seems very strange. And from whom, if not from the goddess herself, could I learn the truth? If she wants to tell it, of course...
In this situation, I have no choice but to make every effort I can.
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