Phew. I escaped from those holy priests. Their desire to check my profile gave me the creeps. I felt like an experimental subject and it didn’t help that I was only wearing a robe with nothing underneath.

When they were shuffling around in a frenzy, I was bombarded by light breezes that entered through the openings of my robe. None of them noticed, but I was just standing there feeling completely embarrassed.

Luckily, the locking magic on their doors was simple, so I was able to break through effortlessly. After a bit of wandering, I found the church’s entrance hall, where I dashed out and ran into an alleyway nearby. From there, I traveled deeper into the city from the rooftops.

I was definitely seen by a few people, but whatever—no one could stop me now. The adrenaline made my hands and legs tremble, so I instinctively clutched my thighs to regain my composure.

My idea of using reincarnation to escape my father initially made me question my own sanity, but now that I was here, I had no regrets at all. I had such a stupid grin on my face that wouldn’t cede even after squishing my cheeks together.

I took a deep breath before reviewing my current situation. I was a ten-year-old human who was also apparently a hero candidate. My new name was Camay, and I was within a kingdom.

Seemed simple enough. From the tomes I had read, the humans referred to this world as Celestia, created by the goddess, Cerelious.

Scattered around Celestia were many enormous cylindric towers that pierced its sky and bored deep into its lithosphere, called Arcadia. Kingdoms were built around Arcadias to harvest the vast amounts of treasures and monsters within.

The angels ruled the top half, known as the Aether, while the demons ruled the bottom half, known as the Nether. These were all terms mentioned within the Goddess’s prelude, the prologue to her Holy Scriptures.

I was surprised when I learned that I was living almost a hundred kilometers below the ground. What should’ve been a cavern was instead an underground world with its own artificial sky, and that was only what I could see from my room window.

My father’s castle was extravagant too—embellished with chandeliers, statues, velvet couches, marble flooring, fancy pillars, and blah blah blah. It was one thing if he accepted visitors, but that never happened. No… forget visitors, he didn’t even use it himself. It was such a waste—honestly, as long as he had that crystal ball, he would do fine in a closet.

I should just forget about him. I could think about all that when I saw him again in the far, far future. It wasn’t like he could find me that easily—

Oh no. I changed my name. I even took a few hours to change my abilities. But… I forgot to change my appearance! I needed to know what I looked like. After all, my previous clothes transformed into this robe, so it was possible that my appearance changed as well.

Leaping from the rooftop, I was looking for anything that could cast a reflection. Spotting a large river, I rushed toward it.

Staring at my reflection… ah… besides the demonic features, I looked the same—silver hair and amber eyes, just like my father. If I were to numerically compare the difference between the old me and the me now, I would say the contrast was ten percent. Not great, not terrible.

Gah! No… this was bad. I prayed to the Goddess hoping that my father would never notice me. Now that I was human, angels would hear my wishes, right?

Anyway, enough brooding—I came here to become an adventurer!

Even miles away, Arcadia was impossible to miss. It reached into the heavens, and coupled with its tremendous width, I could only think of a single word worthy of describing it: unfathomable.

I decided to go there immediately. Securing proper attire came second. Besides, I had yet to possess any coin. Even if I wanted to buy better clothes, it would be impossible.

The ground level of Arcadia marked the entrance to either the Aether or the Nether. The surrounding area outside, an extensive square, was bustling with not only adventurers, but also gatherers, miners, merchants, nobility, and common folk. The square itself had wide paths connecting with the kingdom like a radial, was paved with decorated bricks, and had lush sections of greenery, altogether creating a picturesque scenery.

Inside, the hall was spacious and lively. I heard a nearby group’s conversation.

“Where is Elena? She’s taking forever!”

“You sure she agreed to join?”

“Yeah. I handed her a thousand Cera and she took it.”

“I mean… did she say ‘yes’?”

“Nope.”

“My fellow dipstick, you got hoodwinked.”

“Ugh. I just wanted her help for the seventh floor…”

The ceiling was about ten meters above and hanging on it were many magical chandeliers. The interior was limestone with ostentatious designs of various emblems, insignias, and scriptures.

At the end of the hall was a glossy marble counter with five clerks protected by thick glass panes. Behind the counter were ten alcoves containing what seemed to be magical portals that connected with Arcadia’s floors. Marble tables were placed around the hall for convenience. To the far left and far right were entrances to other halls, which I planned to explore later.

Walking toward the counter while peering around, I could only imagine that a place like this was built by angels and perhaps furnished by humans. Eerily, it felt as if the towers themselves were brought into existence by the cooperation of both angels and demons. Architecturally speaking, it made sense, but I couldn’t reason why.

“Hi. I want to go into the Nether.”

I spoke to a female clerk who seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She had shoulder-length almond hair and emerald eyes.

“Excuse me, miss, but… how old are you?”

“Ten.”

“I see. Where is your guardian?”

What was with these questions? Could it be that there were restrictions for entering the tower? And worst of all, I needed someone to watch over me? My father was in Hades, but I obviously couldn’t say that. Okay, breathe. It was simple—I just had to be honest.

“Um. My father is back at home. I came here alone.”

“Little miss, to enter the Nether, you need to either be an Adventurer or be escorted by one. It’s very dangerous inside.”

Bleh. So there really were restrictions. What should I do? I needed coin to buy necessities and normal clothes. Where would I sleep tonight? I couldn’t back down now.

“Can I enter the first floor? I promise I won’t get hurt.”

“I’m sorry little miss. It’s just too dangerous for a child…”

She wasn’t budging at all. Fine. I tried appealing to her sympathy.

“But I need proper clothes! I only have this robe!”

“Eh…?”

She had a bemused expression as she scanned me up and down. Then her eyes widened.

“Umm, little miss. Please take a seat over there.”

She gestured me toward an empty table near the counter that was fancier than the others within the hall. I guess I was able to get through to her. While sitting at the table, I was dangling my legs in anticipation. After feeling the stares of several people, I stopped.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became cold. I slumped my body to hide behind my arms and peeked at the source of the coldness.

A daunting man had appeared from one of the portals and was making his way toward the hall’s exit. He was almost two meters tall with silver hair and sapphire eyes. Donning lustrous armor and a sheathed longsword on his back, his presence was that of a cold-blooded veteran. Honestly, he looked pretty cool, like my father.

I could hear muttering and murmuring from the nearby tables.

“Hey, look over there… it’s Damien Hazel.”

“Whoa. I guess he finished his daily crusade.”

“Crusade? Nah. He goes solo. Word around says he’s at the sixties.”

“No way… my party is still stuck at the low twenties.”

“Well, he used to be Maria’s disciple. What can you expect, eh? He’s practically a hero himself.”

“That’s in the past though. I heard he’s changed after Maria’s death.”

“Yeah. He’s ruthless now. No one can get near him.”

“Didn’t the King make him a duke to gain his favor?”

“Means nothing. You think a man like that is gonna sway to a mere title? He’s practically a king himself—of adventurers, that is.”

Hmm, Maria’s disciple? She must’ve been someone really important to him.

“This little miss here.”

The clerk had returned with an elder beside her and was politely directing her hand at me. The elder was accoutered in an extravagant uniform. Maybe he was a guild official, as in, someone who could grant me permission to enter the Nether.

“Indeed. This is the robe of a summoned hero,” the elder said.

Oh no. News of my escape had already reached here? Perhaps they used telepathy magic? Yet again, I needed to escape.

Dashing toward the exit in a flurry, I was slipping between the cracks of the crowd. But when I made it outside, someone clutched me by the waist and lifted me up. The strength of the grip left me completely helpless. I turned to look at the person holding me.

Damien Hazel.

“Another hero?” he said. “Heroes shouldn’t run from—”

He abruptly paused. His narrow eyes became full for a second before shrinking back. He lifted me higher, both his hands on my hips, and changed the way he held me. Umm… he was cradling me.

The elder was pleased and spoke humbly, “Duke Hazel. Thank you for catching the hero and my deepest apologies for the inconvenience. We will take her off your hands.”

“She’s with me,” Damien said. Then he faced me and asked with a smile, “Right?”

Okay so, this human here, Damien, was someone who could fight alone at the sixtieth floor of the Nether. People said he’s ruthless, but he seemed to have a soft side for heroes. What if he agreed to be my guardian for the Nether? I saw no reason to refuse. I would rather be with him than the church.

“Ah, yes,” I replied.

The elder promptly tried to protest, “P-pleas—”, but Damien’s aura allowed for no further discussion.

Still cradling me, he sauntered outside, where a lavish carriage was waiting for him. Just who was he exactly? Because the area surrounding the carriage was cleared of any people besides an entourage, like he was some sort of eminence. Oh, right—I had already heard of three titles for him: duke, king, and hero. I should stop underrating his prestige.

He felt warm. Despite fighting deep within the Nether, he wasn’t sweating at all. Perhaps he could go even deeper than the sixties.

Sitting inside his carriage, I held my hands together tightly, unable to look in his direction. I tried thanking him.

“Thank y—”

But before I could finish, he suddenly leaned his face in close to mine and whispered near my ear, almost growling, “Why do you… smell like her?”

Umm. Where did that nice, smiling Damien go?! And who was her?

He sounded like a beast who had found his prey, and I felt like he was going to eat me.