-- Belphegor’s Perspective --

It was already past midnight when we reached Devera Town, located south of Dream Lake. Valle Verde Town is just north of here, across the lake that was the first town I went to get to the Kingdom of Arcadia.

The lake breeze warmly brushes my hair. I couldn’t describe the entirety of this place with my blindfold on, but as far as I’ve heard, this town is five times bigger than Valle Verde. We have to hire a carriage or a wagon to get to the southern gate of the town. The houses around here are not much different from the houses flying above the sky of Arcadia.

After we disembarked, Sora warned me not to get too close to her as Freya might burst out if she saw traces of light on her body. Hachiro told me what happened when they stopped at the stables right after they left me in the streets of the Kingdom of Arcadia.

He said Freya was totally annoyed when she was wiping off the traces of light on her hands. She tried to wipe it off with a towel, yet it wouldn’t come off. It was spreading like ink. They were clean to their naked eyes, yet Freya acts like they’ve been sullied in mud. Nanatsu suddenly threw a bucket of water at her hands. The traces of light were washed away satisfyingly to Freya’s eyes. With a wet towel, she wiped off the remaining traces of light.

 

“You really are sent by Bell-sama.”

 

She said with gratitude in her eyes, but she never thanked him. Soon after, Hachiro and Nanatsu took a bucket of water for each one of them. They both cleaned themselves while they were at the stables with Freya’s guidance.

 

--

 

Back to the present. We are currently looking out for stables. They’ll be renting a wagon from there. As for myself, I’ll be buying a horse since I already knew Freya wouldn’t allow me to ride along with them.

During the night, the residents of Devera rarely go outside. Several guards roam the streets, checking up on each store that is still open. Sometimes we encounter some merchants looking out for an inn to stay. Those who already knew that there’s nowhere to sleep set up camp outside. Beggars shivered in the cold as they tried to stay warm. Dogs would often bark from their homes whenever they sense some stranger until they get tired of it.

While we silently walked beside the street, one of us suddenly stopped.

 

“What is it, Hachiro?”

 

Nanatsu turned around and asked. Hachiro was standing in front of the small bazaar filled with school supplies placed on every table, the place was barely lit by four lamps, yet to Hachiro’s eyes, it was all clear to him. He stood there, staring at them silently, mesmerized by various shapes and sizes with different colors of school supplies displayed on the table. 

 

“Is someone following us, Hachiro?”

 

Sora's brows began to furrow when Hachiro ignored her. She walked back towards Hachiro, but she was gently pushed away by Nanatsu's arm. Nanatsu patted his shoulder.

 

“What’s wrong, Hachiro?”

“...”

“...”

“Can we buy one of these, Aniki?”

 

Hachiro calmly said while he pointed his finger at the school supplies.

 

“Are you insane?! We’re on a mission, we’re not here to go to school.”

“Calm your t*ts down, Deredere, you’ll wake up the entire neighborhood.”

“Hmph! Even if you beg in front of me, I won’t lend you any money.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I will take it myself.”

“!! Hey, hey…!”

 

Nanatsu snatched Sora’s purse before she could even back away. Sora struggled to get her purse back, trying to reach out for his hands. He took two silver coins from her. She was pissed off after she got it back. She recounted how much she had left while puffing her cheeks.

 

“Just you wait, I’m going to tell Freya-sama about this.”

“Sure, and we are going to tell her that you used Bell-sama’s right hand~ to pleasure yourself.”

“!! H-how did you know that!”

“Simple. Because we are Bell-sama’s eyes.”

 

Nanatsu flashes his hand in front of Sora.

 

“Then… I-I-I will tell her…”

“Don’t push it, Sora, you can’t win against me. Give up already.”

“...”

 

Nanatsu snorted right after Sora turned away her gaze.

 

** knock, knock, knock  **

 

Nanatsu knocked on the wooden table, but no one answered. After a long silence he glanced at Hachiro. Nanatsu shook his head, he was disappointed that no one answered inside.

 

** slam! **

“!! Mmmh?!”

** thud **

“Aw!”

 

Someone underneath the table was startled, and accidentally hit her head. Soon after, a little girl came out of her little bed made out of a box. She went out of balance after she got out, stumbling in all four, face first. We silently watched her while she stood up and grabbed her blanket to put on for the cold. Now, standing upright, her arms crossed, she holds tight on her blanket. 

 

“What is it?”

 

Said the owner. She’s from the dog race. She has short brown hair reaching her jawline, bent dog ears, red cheeks, and saggy eyes from sleepless nights. Her frustration can be seen just from looking at her mouth that shapes like “へ”. She glanced at each one of us until her raccoon eyes stopped at Sora.

 

“Why are you looking at me? It’s him.”

“...”

“Tsk! Fine, It’s me alright!”

 

She might have chosen Sora to blame because she was less scarier than the three of them. I’m already excluded since I’m blind.

 

“Are you just going to stand there or will you buy?”

 

Her cold voice is as cold as the night. Clouded by her frustration, her raccoon eyes remained dead set at Sora. She practically doesn’t care anymore if she’s arguing with a princess. I don't think she's recognizable with her current looks. Not with the knights that usually hang around with her. As far as I’ve learned, she became known because of her gallant knights. 

 

“Can we have one of these?”

 

Hachiro pointed his hands on the school supplies displayed in front of the bazaar. Using the embezzled money from Sora, they bought a leather bag, a notebook, three children’s books, high end fountain pens, pencils, and some crayons. Sora was waiting outside since she can no longer stand the owner staring at her. We were about to move out when Hachiro suddenly stopped again, this time, he wanted a pencil case. Nanatsu looked into his palms and there’s only three copper coins left.

The pencil case is around twenty copper coins. It doesn’t look like a pencil case at all, rather it looks like a luxurious box used by merchants to store their money. Hachiro was a bit saddened when he saw the money they had left. In the end, I bought the pencil case for Hachiro. He was brimming with joy behind his faceless face as he put each of his new belongings onto his bag.

At the stables, right after they rent a wagon, Sora and Nanatsu were arguing about who would be driving this time. As always, Nanatsu always wins. Seeing the two dark knights first hand, they act just like humans, yet at the same time, their actions are straight-up childish. It seems they are still learning about this world.

 

“Why is it always me…? **sniff**”

 

Beads of tears are coming out of Sora’s eyes. Sora forced herself to climb up to the driver’s seat.

 

“I’ll drive instead.”

 

Hachiro raised his hand. Sora looked at him with her teary eyes that were about to burst out at any moment.

 

“I haven’t thanked you yet, so I’ll drive instead.”

 

Sora turned her gaze away and rudely threw the reins to Hachiro, she trotted and went inside the wagon. The horse neighed as soon as Hachiro stretched their reins.

 

“Hachiro, don’t be naive, I just removed her mask, she’s smiling!”

“I am not smiling! Agghhh!”

“Hey, Don’t hit me with your scabbard!”

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

“It’s okay, Aniki, I just want to thank her.”

 

Hachiro patted the new backpack beside him like it was his own child.

 

--

 

Right after we passed the southern gate of Devera Town, it started to rain. Hachiro advised me to let the rain wash away the traces of light sticking in my clothes as it would be troublesome if Freya ever saw it. I nodded in response. I then tied my hair and hid them behind my hood before I wore my mask. 

I don’t particularly know how these traces of lights are coming out of my body nor how Freya perceives it. If only I could ask her directly, somehow, I might be able to control it. The first thing that came to my mind was my own sweat, yet Hachiro said it was spreading like ink. There’s no point thinking about it, I’ll just let time answer it one day.

The rain is slowly getting intense. We have to move fast or else we’ll be aimlessly driving on our way. Hachiro noticed it as well. Just like the two of them, I’m nearsighted as well. We can’t practically see what’s beyond a few meters ahead with our limited senses. And the rain is not even helping.

Hachiro wip the reins, the horses began to run with great haste. Freya should be just ahead, sheltering under the tree.

 

** paka, paka, paka **

 

Galloping in the middle of heavy rain, we rushed further to the dense fog. Thinking about it, Freya always chooses the worst time to attack back in the day. 

 

** swoosh, bam, thunder **

 

Coming from the left, a giant golden spear pierced through the tree in front us. The horse neighed in fear as the thunderous clouds amplified its sudden appearance.

 

“Whoa, whoa!”

 

Hachiro and I tried to calm down our horses. They wanted to run away, however I restrained them with my strings. They calmed down after a few minutes.

 

“Let’s go over there. Freya-sama should be there, waiting for us.”

 

Hachiro said while pointing to the left, I nodded in response. We followed the direction the spear came out. The dense fog slowly faded away as we got closer to a cave lit by a campfire. The cave is big enough to fit their wagon inside. Freya was waiting inside a bit further away from the entrance. As we headed further inside, the noise coming from the outside soon became partly muffled. Hachiro and I were both soaking wet.

 

“You’re late.”

 

Freya said while sitting under the campfire. She was carrying my old body in her arms, wrapped in a luxurious purple cloth with golden linings.

 

“I’m sorry, Freya-sama. We… we got lost for a moment.”

“Hm, pathetic.”

 

Hachiro said while scratching the back of his head. Freya snorted in disappointment. 

 

“Did I ever allow you to bring another pest?”

“Uhm… Freya-sama, he is… Uhmm…”

“Allow me to explain it to her, Hachiro.”

“Thank you, Aniki.”

 

Nanatsu patted Hachiro’s shoulder as he took over the helm. 

 

“We brought the guy we met earlier.”

“You did what?!”

 

Freya was enraged after she learned about what happened. She was restraining herself as she was carrying her master.

 

“I know… Freya-sama… You’re angry, we get it.”

“No, I’m not angry, I’m furious.”

“You see…”

“I won’t listen this time... This is your last chance, walk out of here or else…”

 

I nodded, there was no point about it already. When I turned around, Sora spoke on my behalf.

 

“Freya-sama, I brought him here after we met him again at the port of Arcadia. He… he was supposed to be heading to Marigaya with someone else, but his companion had already left… since you know… about what happened back there.”

“So, this pest is our responsibility now?”

“Somehow, yes, but of course he won’t let us go empty handed, he… he’ll teach us some magic.”

“I’m not ignorant, I already know how to wield mine before your ancestors were even born.”

“T-that’s not what I meant, Freya-sama.”

“...”

“What I mean is… Me, Hachiro, and… Nanatsu.”

“You do realize I can teach you myself, right.”

“!!”

“Turn back, heed my warning before I change my mind.”

 

Sora ran out of ideas and looked at Nanatsu for help.

 

“Freya-sama, if you teach us at the same time then who will be guarding Bell-sama’s body?”

“...”

“It would be irresponsible to practice our magic when Bell-sama is around.”

“...”

“How can we even protect ourselves when we are in danger?”

 

** suuuu, don, crumble **

 

Freya snapped. She inhaled deeply before she furiously punched the ground with her left hand. The earth trembled and its noise echoed to the deepest ends of the cave. Her pointy raging eyes are directly looking at Nanatsu, gesturing to him to stay silent. She remained staring at him for minutes. Sora's forehead was sweating bullets due to the tension building up.

After some time, Freya turned away her gaze, gritting her teeth while she pursed her lips. Then, she raised her hand to her forehead as she thought about it. We silently stood and waited for her next words.

 

“What could a pest like you offer?”

 

Freya asked while raising her chin.

 

“I can teach them about the fundamentals of magic.”

“Just fundamentals? Hm, pathetic.”

“Yes, just fundamentals would be enough, but it shouldn’t be underestimated.”

“How come?”

“Because with it, they’ll be able to learn how to properly wield intermediate to advanced spells. You no longer have to teach them everything while they learn the rest on their own, independently.”

“...”

“Well, not entirely, independent, but somehow, with a little bit of help, that would be enough.”

“Is that so…”

 

Freya said with sarcasm.

 

** hyuu, crumble **

 

Freya suddenly threw a rock at me, barely scraping my mask, but pierced through my hood before it finally hit the wall behind me.

 

“I don’t like it when you talk calmly to me like we’re on equal standing.”

“...”

“Get out of here…”

 

Freya coldly said to me. Nanatsu, Hachiro, and Sora were looking at me. They all felt disappointed in themselves that they weren't able to do anything to help me stay. I won’t push them any longer. I’ll find my way on my own. I went to my horse and gently dragged his reins outside.

 

“Why are you leaving? I’m not done yet.”

“...”

“**sigh** You can teach them, but I don’t want you around me, so get out of here...”

“Freya-sama, are you okay about this, outside in the middle of a rainstorm?”

“Did I stutter?!”

 

Nanatsu intervened, but he was instantly silenced by Freya's intimidating voice and sharp gaze. I gently waved my hand at Nanatsu, gesturing not to mind too much about me. I left my horse in the cave before I went outside alone.

 

--

 

Outside, the weather wasn’t particularly nice on me as the strong winds tried to drag away my mask and pull away my hood. I tied them tight with my strings.

 

** woooooossshhhh **

 

I staggered as the strong wind almost blew me away. I was barely holding onto the boulders of the mountain not far from the cave. With my current senses, I don’t know what was going on around me. I have to rely on my sense of touch to look for an open cave.

 

** vssshhhhh **

 

I suddenly sense a gush of water rapidly flowing down from the mountain. I was already dragged away when I realized that it was a flash flood. I gurgled as I tried to swim back to where I was. Soon after, I gave up and reached out my hand to hold onto something. I let the flood drag me wherever it goes until I managed to climb up on a tree. I sat on one of its thick branches.

 

“I never thought it would be this difficult.”

 

I said to myself as I thought about how traumatizing it would be if I were just a mere human. This world… I thought it would be easier if I did it personally… I’ve never experienced such struggles before, especially with this seal wrapped around me.

 

“I have no choice, but to stay here till morning.”

 

I said to myself as I looked at the raging torrents of water flowing underneath. I turned around and cut a whole inside the tree trunk with my string. The size is enough for me to sleep in. Before I went inside, I partially dried my clothes by squeezing it with my strings. I sat inside the tree trunk with my feet dangling outside until I finally slept in the midst of the rainstorm.