Farmer Boy's Prayer

"Goddess will always be with you."

Remembering the words that is always said by his parents, a teenage boy with short green hair is picking up tomatoes at his farm. That boy is wearing light brown shirt and short blue pants. As he look at the tomato he just picked, he starts thinking to himself. 

(This month is also not that good huh...)

He sighs as he thinks that. Then he puts the tomato in his quarter cran basket and continue picking the rest of his crops in the morning.

The boy has two farms to manage: The tomato farm and the eggplant farm. After he finishes collecting the crops, he put two big bamboo baskets containing tomatoes and eggplants each on a wooden storage house.

After picking the best-looking tomato and eggplant one each, the boy goes out and locks the storage house.

Then he puts the tomato and eggplant to another quarter cran basket that he prepared near his wooden house beforehand. The quarter cran basket already contain wooden brush, small black cloth, and bamboo bottle before getting tomato and eggplant inside.

He immediately bring the basket to the two tombstones behind his house.

After arriving near the tombstones, the boy talks to the tombstones with a smile.

"I'm going out. Dad. Mom."

He immediately picks up his basket and goes out after saying that.

The green-haired boy runs though many wooden houses in the village while carrying his basket with his right hand. His destination is at outside of the village.

However, before he goes outside of the village, an old man's voice calls out to him.

"Ain~! Going to Goddess Statue today~?"

"Ah, yes!"

The boy named Ain looks at the source of the voice. It comes from bald old man sitting on wooden chair outside of his house.

The old man starts talking again while Ain is approaching him.

"Sigh~, if I don't have my back pain, I would have been able to help you..."

Hearing the old man's discouraged voice, Ain is happy at his intention to help and replies with a smile.

" Please don't mind it and focus on your recovery. Besides..."

Ain pumps his left hand's fist to his chest before talking again.

"I am already 16 years old this year! I should be able to clean the Goddess Statue by myself already."

"Understood. Just be careful of monsters okay? There is no monster around here lately but do be careful. Always run away if you encounter one."

"Yes!"

Ain shouts that as he leaves the old man and goes outside of the village.

Then an old woman's voice calls out to the old man from the wooden house.

"Was that Ain just now?"

"Yeah, he's going to Goddess Statue today. Man, I wish I can go as well..."

The old man replies while looking at his wife going outside of the house. His wife immediately replies.

"Don't. Remember that Ain had to bring you back here from the Statue because of your back pain? You will just give him more trouble to deal with."

"I know... but c'mon... Ever since his parents passed away, that kid had to be burdened with lots of stuff. You can't blame me for wanting to help him."

His wife softly holds the old man's shoulder before talking again.

"We all do dear. It's just that... he is the only one young person in this village. No one can keep up with him anymore in this village full of old people."

"... that's true."

The old man says that while looking at the direction where Ain left.

Meanwhile, Ain is jogging on a trail across the plain. Not only that the plain is full of green weeds, it also has few trees and flowers. The sun is already up in the sky indicating that it is already noon. 

His destination is the Goddess Statue which is located inside forest area. It has been a tradition for people in his village to clean the Goddess Statue once every weekend assuming that the weather is clear. Being the only young person in the village who is capable of making long trips towards the Statue, the job falls to Ain.

Ain finally reaches the forest area and proceeds to walk towards Goddess Statue as he is already used to going to that place every week. Though this is the first time he ever goes alone.

There is no trail inside the forest so he has to walk carefully while holding his basket.

He eventually reaches his destination. In front of him, there is a grey statue of long-haired woman wearing robes while her hand are clasping as if she is praying.

Ain approaches the Statue and then puts his basket on the ground.

Before he starts cleaning, he bows towards the Statue.

(Excuse me Dear Goddess.)

After asking for permission in his mind, he takes out the wooden brush from his basket.

He starts brushing off the dust on the Statue. He also notices a spiderweb near the Statue's eyes so he brushes it first.

After around ten minutes of brushing, he puts the brush on the ground and then picks up the small black cloth and bamboo bottle. He opens up the bamboo bottle and pour the water inside to the cloth. After the cloth is wet enough, Ain uses it to wipe the Statue.

While Ain is wiping the Statue, he remembers his parents. As far as he knows, his parents are kind people who always ask Ain to always be respectful to Goddess.

They always told him the story with title 'Legend of Goddess", a story about Goddess' journey that is often used as a reference for Ain's moral lessons. Therefore, the moment Ain got his responsibility to clean the Goddess Statue after his parents' death, he didn't mind at all since he used to go clean the Statue with his parents back when he was a kid.

After Ain finishes wiping the Statue, he picks up the tomato and eggplant from his basket and put it on the ground near the Statue as offering. 

Then he clasps his hands mimicking the Statue to pray.

While praying, his mind is thinking about his farm. Lately, his farm condition deteriorates due to the village not having rainy weather for a long time.

(Dear Goddess, please give our village your blessings...)

He continues to pray in silence for about ten minutes.

After praying, Ain picks up his tools from the ground and puts them into the basket. 

It is already sunset by the time he gets out from the forest.

Suddenly he notices a gaze from behind. While holding his basket with his right hand, he looks behind.

He sees a big purple bear with dark aura lurking in the forest.

(!? A bear...?)

Right after thinking that, Ain notices the dark aura surrounding the bear.

(That's... mana. In other words, it's a monster!)

As far as Ain's knowledge goes, monsters are evolution of animals and plants. Animals and plants do not have mana to use magic. So monsters can be identified immediately the moment they show any kind of magic power. Also, monster will attack any person they set their target on.

Knowing that, Ain starts running while holding his basket. The bear monster gets out from the forest and chases after him.

Ain gets more and more panic as the bear monster is closing in distance. He considers to throw away his basket so that he can run faster.

However, before he actually execute his plan, he heard another teenage boy's voice from the sky.

"BLAZE SLASH!!!"

Right after hearing those words, Ain witnesses a falling brown-haired teenage boy from the sky swinging his sword. His swing creates a flame slash that is launched towards the bear monster.

The slash instantly split the bear into two. Ain cannot hide his surprise while the brown-haired teenage boy lands on the ground.

Upon closer look, the brown-haired teenage boy is wearing a blue shirt and brown pants. He is also wearing a pair of silver shoulder armors and a black sheath on his belt.

After that teenage boy put his sword back into his sheath, Ain hears a girl's voice from the sky.

"Kou!"

Ain looks at the source of the voice and sees three girls sitting on top of flying red carpet.

The three girls consists of a bunny-eared blue-haired girl wearing a black martial art uniform, a girl with long orange hair and long ears wearing blue witch outfit and a girl with long blonde hair wearing a white nun outfit.

All three of them jumps from the red carpet and lands on the ground smoothly. Then the red carpet floats towards the brown-haired teenage boy's shoulder armor and attach itself to become his red mantle.

The brown-haired teenage boy looks at Ain and approach him while talking.

"Are you okay?'

"Ah... yes..."

(T- this person's magic killed that monster in one hit... Amazing...)

The brown-haired teenage boy's impression was so strong that Ain can only muster a weak reply. Then the blonde girl with nun outfit walks towards the brown-haired teenage boy's side and then talk to Ain.

"Are you perhaps from Mofoeru Village?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. I'm from Mofoeru Village. You guys are...?"

Ain looks at both the boy and the nun girl while saying that.

"My name is Amakusa Kou. Amakusa is my family name so feel free to call me Kou."

Right after the brown-haired teenage boy's introduction, the nun girl also introduces herself with a smile.

"My name is Reize Orsolace. Feel free to call me Reize."

(That boy just now... did he say his family name before his given name?)

Saying the family name after the given name is the norm for Ain. Despite thinking about Kou's unusual name, Ain knows that he needs to introduces himself as well.

"My name is Ain Harbourfrost. Please just call me Ain."

Kou immediately replies after hearing Ain's introduction.

"Got it Ain! By the way, did you know where is Goddess Statue around here?"

"Eh?"

Ain says that as he is surprised that Kou suddenly talks about Goddess Statue.

Reize the nun girl then talks again to explain their circumstances.

"We come here as Church's messengers to search and visit the Goddess Statue near Mofoeru Village. So it would be helpful if you can tell us where it is."

"Yes, I know where it is. Should I bring you there?"

"You mean it!? Thanks! It will be a great help!"

Kou becomes cheerful the moment Ain offers his help.

While Ain is talking to Reize and Kou, the bunny-eared girl and the witch girl are looking at the corpse of bear monster. The bunny-eared girl talks to the witch girl.

"How is it?"

After looking at the corpse, the witch girl replies.

"It's just a normal monster."

"I see."

While they are talking, Kou suddenly calls out to them.

"Oiiii~! Time to go guys~!"

The bunny-eared girl and the witch girl soon follow Kou after hearing that.

Kou's group follows Ain to the forest. They talk about Ain's circumstances on the way towards Goddess Statue.

"I understand your reason to come here alone... but it's still too dangerous especially if you cannot fight. You know that you will be in deep trouble if I didn't help you right?"

Kou says that with serious tone while looking at Ain.

"Y- yes... I'm in your debt in that regard..."

Ain says that with soft tone since he feels like he just got scolded.

After few seconds of awkward silence, the group finally reaches the Goddess Statue and it's already night.

"We arrived. That is the Goddess Statue."

After hearing that, Kou, Reize and the witch girl walk towards the Goddess Statue while the bunny-ear girl stays near Ain.

Ain expects Kou, Reize and the witch girl to bow at Goddess Statue and prays.

"!?"

However, much to Ain's surprise, Kou brings out his sword and slash the Goddess Statue.

The metallic sound can be heard the moment Kou's sword fails to cut the Goddess Statue.

"It's hard... so we finally find the genuine one huh..."

Kou says that while looking at the statue with serious look.

"Wha- what are you doing?!"

Ain shouts that while attempting to rush towards Kou. However, the bunny-eared girl holds both of Ain's shoulder causing Ain to drop his basket.

"It's dangerous over there so stay here okay?"

Despite Ain being in panic, the bunny-eared girl says that with a smile.

The witch girl who is looking at the Goddess Statue notices that there is no single scratch on Goddess Statue. The she talks to Kou.

"Kou, no need to hold back. We need to destroy this statue as soon as possible."

"I know."

Right after saying that, Kou takes a few steps back and then chants his magic.

"Limit... Break!"

Suddenly a silver aura envelops Kou's body. Kou also put his sword back into the sheath preparing for his next attack.

"Stop it! That Goddess Statue is an irreplaceable existence for us!"

Flashbacks of Ain's memory with his parents cleaning and praying at Goddess Statue comes to his mind the moment he says that.

Despite Ain's plea, Kou's group does not have any intention to stop what they are doing.

Reize looks apologetically at Ain for a moment before turning her attention at Kou.

The she puts both of her hands forward towards Kou. A white magic circle appears in front of her hands.

"Holy Enchantment!"

Right after Reize says that, golden particles appear around Kou as if it exists to boost Kou's magic power. Ain does not understand what the magic does but he instinctively understands that the Goddess Statue is in danger.

"Let me go!!!"

"Hey now, stay still."

The bunny-eared girl says that while restricting Ain's movements. Then the bunny-eared girl's right shoulder accidentally hits a tree besides her. The impact causes something to fall on the bunny-ear girl's right shoulder. As the bunny-eared girl looks at the fallen object, she finds a spider crawling on top of her shoulder.

"!? KYAAAAAAAA!!!!"

The bunny-eared girl is shocked by the spider that she let go of Ain and falls to the ground.

Not missing the chance, Ain immediately run towards the Goddess Statue.

At the same moment, Kou pulls out his sword again to use his magic attack.

"Sacred Blaze- !?"

However, the moment he sees Ain arriving in front of the Goddess Statue, he stops his slash midway but the slash magic attack is still launched towards Ain.

*splat!*

The slash magic attack is not directly aimed at the Goddess Statue but it still cut the right part of Ain's stomach open.

The blood spluttering out from Ain's stomach shock Kou and his friends.

Ain who just realizes that his stomach has been cut open immediately loses strength and falls towards the Goddess Statue behind him.

As Ain's back is leaning against the Goddess Statue, the lower part of Goddess Statue is getting painted by Ain's blood. He eventually sits on the ground with his back touching the Goddess Statue.

The long-eared witch girl then shouts at Kou.

"Kou, you...!"

"I- it's not my fault! He suddenly appear there on his own!"

While the witch girl is arguing with Kou, Reize the nun girl runs towards Ain and casts a green magic circle near Ain's wound.

"Advanced Heal!"

However, despite Reize's best effort, her magic cannot heal Ain in an instant.

(This is bad... the wound is too large.)

"Ain! Get a grip! Ain!"

Reize attempts to make Ain stay conscious during her healing process. However, Ain can no longer hear her words.

(Am I... going to die here?)

Ain thinks that as his vision surrounding him starts blackening.

A flashback of his farm together with a man and woman wearing light brown shirt and short blue pants appears in his mind.

(I still need to... attend Dad and Mom's farm...)

A flashback of many old people back in Mofoeru Village appears in his mind.

(I still need to... help them...)

A flashback of the Goddess Statue appears in his mind.

(I still need to... pray and thank... the Goddess...)

At the same time as he thinks that, a rainbow magic circle suddenly appear at the ground of Goddess Statue. The magic circle expands below both Reize and Ain.

"Reize!"

Kou says that as he immediately takes the surprised Reize and jumps away from the rainbow magic circle.

As the rainbow magic circle radiates its shine from the ground, Kou puts Reize behind him and prepare his sword. The bunny-eared girl and the witch girl also stand near Kou to cover Reize.

Much to Kou's surprise, four people suddenly appears out of nowhere within the rainbow magic circle.

Standing in front of Ain is a tall person wearing a full black jacket with hood. The hood covers the face but it shows a bit of the person's white hair. She looks at the direction of Kou's group.

At the left side behind the tall person, there is an adult woman wearing black and white maid outfit. Her hair color is light blue and she has bun hairstyle. She also has a pair of black wings on her back.

At the right side behind the tall person, there is a small cat-eared girl wearing pink frilly noble dress. She has a long brown hair and she is holding a small pink umbrella.

The light radiating from rainbow magic circle is so shiny that even Ain can clearly see the three people in front him despite his current condition.

Then he realizes that the fourth person is currently sitting at the right side of Goddess Statue.

His faint eyes sees a teenage girl wearing blue Japanese Highschool uniform. She has a long black hair with side braid hairstyle. On top of that, she is wearing glasses. Ain who does not recognize the concept of Japanese School uniform thinks the fourth person's appearance as magical and mysterious.

The schoolgirl in question looks around in confusion until she makes eye contact with Ain.

The moment Ain's eyes meet hers, he speaks in soft tone.

"Dear... Goddess..."

The confused schoolgirl hears Ain words and replies.

"... huh?"