The Goddess and the Grilled Meat

There was no mistaking what she’d said. I had seen her wipe a bead of drool from her lip as she muttered, “That looks absolutely delicious.”

My gaze locked with the floating woman's, and Caelus, who was eating beside me, finally asked what was wrong. He’d noticed I’d stopped eating to stare at something over my shoulder.

“Did you hear that?” I asked him.

“Hear what?”

“Someone,” I clarified, “just said that something looked delicious.”

“Well, I thought that was you. I definitely heard someone mutter it from your direction.”

That settled it, then. I gave her another glance. She was now attempting to cover her face with her fingers, a rather useless gesture. Time for a little test.

I speared a chunk of grilled beef with my fork and held it out in her direction. Her eyes, peeking from between her fingers, darted from the meat to my face. A moment later, she lunged for it.

Swoosh.

I snatched the fork back just in time. Her hand passed straight through the space where the beef had been, unable to touch it, let alone grasp it. When she pulled her incorporeal hand back, it was clenched into a tight, trembling fist, her expression a mask of pure fury.

Odd. So she can’t touch things?

Munch. I popped the morsel into my own mouth. It was every bit as good as it looked. I’d never tasted beef so tender; the juices exploded across my tongue, the meat practically melting away. It was superb as it was, though a touch more seasoning might have elevated it to perfection.

As I was savoring the aftertaste, a sharp tug on my hair broke my reverie. It was her.

“No! Why are you eating it?” she shrieked.

Once again, unwelcome attention turned to our table.

“Hey, stop that! It hurts!” I hissed, trying to offer her the steak again. “Here, take it! Just take the food!” But it was no use. She still couldn't so much as brush her fingers against the meat, let alone take a bite. Yet, she could pull my hair and her fingers could dig into my wrist, which at least confirmed she wasn't a figment of my imagination.

“Axel? Is everything alright?” Kyoto asked, his expression laced with concern. He’d heard the shout and had just seen my hair yanked by an unseen force.

The floating woman now had her back to me, pouting. All traces of her haughty, distant demeanor had vanished, replaced by the sulk of a child denied her most-wanted Christmas present.

I combed my fingers through my hair to smooth it out. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

I turned my gaze to Mona, who was also watching the commotion.

“Mona, you have an inn upstairs, right? Any rooms free?”

“Oh? Yes, that's right. There’s one room left, right at the end of the hall.”

“Excellent. I'll take it.”

“Oh, right now~?”

“Right now. Here's for the room and the meal.” I produced the pouch containing our group's Aetrium Crystal.

“Alrighty, just a moment while I get the shop's crystal~.” She scurried behind the counter, returning with a small, ornate key and their own Aetrium Crystal.

Holding my pouch close to her crystal, I murmured the transfer spell, “Aetrium Senaris.” The convenience of not having to reveal the crystal itself was a common practice for discretion. In our case, with a high-value crystal that could attract the wrong sort of attention, it was an essential precaution.

The bill came to nearly 900,000 Aetris, almost half of which was for the round of drinks I’d bought for the entire tavern. I pushed the thought aside and took the key from her.

As she confirmed the transfer, she chirped happily, “Thank you for your patronage, nya~.”

Ms. Latina looked at me, a question in her eyes. “You have something that needs doing?”

“I do. The three of you, please come upstairs once you've finished eating.”

“Aren't you going to finish your meal? Is it that urgent?”

“I'll grab something else later. It's not life-or-death, but it's better to deal with this now.”

“I'll come with you,” Kyoto added. “I rather lost my appetite after finding out it was Grokk flesh.”

Mona's ears drooped. Realizing his blunder, Kyoto immediately tried to backtrack.

“Oh! It's not that the food is bad! I can't eat Grokk meat for... personal reasons. My apologies! I'll be sure to order something else later!” He seemed genuinely panicked. I wondered what the issue was; he'd asked for beef, and the steak certainly looked and smelled like it.

Mona seemed to accept his reasoning, nodding in understanding.

“I'm coming too, boss.” Old Voktah's plate was already scraped clean. The man was a remarkably fast eater.

“If you're asking us to join, it must involve all of us, right? I'll come along, then,” Ms. Latina said, her tone softening with concern.

“We... we...” Elara and Elira exchanged uncertain glances. I could understand their anxiety; we had just offered to treat them to a meal and were now abruptly leaving.

“It's alright,” I reassured them with a smile. “Please, take your time and enjoy the food. We'll be back shortly. Just wait for us, alright? I have something to ask you both later.”

“All right, Sir Axel,” Elara replied courteously.

And so the four of us—plus one uninvited guest—headed upstairs to the rented room. The floating woman trailed behind me, her simmering fury suggesting some unspoken rule tethered her to my side. Whatever was going on, the truth would soon come to light.

Inside the simple room, we all remained standing. My attention went to the pouting beauty hovering near the ceiling.

“Alright,” I began, breaking the silence. “We're alone now. You can talk freely.”

“...” She merely glanced at the other three, folded her arms, and scowled.

“Who are you talking to?” Ms. Latina asked, her eyes scanning the empty spaces of the room.

“I'll be direct,” I said. “There's someone else in this room with us.”

“Another person? Where?”

“She seems to be invisible to you all. I don't know why, but it looks like I'm the only one who can see her. But I know she's not a hallucination—she can touch me, and you all heard her shout downstairs.”

“That's true, I did hear a woman's voice,” Ms. Latina confirmed.

“Invisible...” Kyoto murmured. “Is she a ghost?”

“I don't know. Let's just ask her.” I addressed the empty air. “Miss, would you care to introduce yourself? Since they can hear your voice, I'm guessing you can let them see you, too.”

She remained stubbornly silent, her arms crossed.

“Fine. If you won't cooperate, I'll just have to ignore you. You can spend the rest of your existence anonymously watching me eat one delicious meal after another.”

“NOOO!” she shrieked instantly. The simple threat had worked like a charm.

Ms. Latina and Kyoto both jumped at the disembodied cry. Old Voktah, however, simply stood there as if nothing unusual had happened.

“Then please,” I said, pressing my advantage, “reveal yourself and tell us who you are.”

“Hmph.” She scowled, looking utterly put upon.

But despite her annoyance, she complied. A soft glow enveloped her for a moment, and from the stunned expressions on my companions' faces, I knew they could finally see her.

Ms. Latina gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. “She's... beautiful...”

The floating woman possessed a beauty so profound it was almost incomprehensible, enough to draw a gasp from a woman as lovely as Ms. Latina herself.

I had to stifle a laugh at Ms. Latina's awestruck expression. Kyoto's reaction was far more dramatic. He abruptly threw himself at the woman's feet in what I would later learn was a dogeza—a full, sliding grovel.

“Grant me cheat abilities!” he roared, his face pressed to the floorboards.

We were all taken aback by his behavior; even Voktah, who maintained a perpetually neutral demeanor, arched an eyebrow in surprise.

“Kyaaa!” the woman shrieked, instinctively darting behind Ms. Latina for cover.

“Oh, beautiful Goddess, grant me your blessing!” he pleaded with religious fervor, completely unaware that his audience had fled. “The power of flight! X-ray vision! Laser eyes! The ability to breathe fire! Invisibility! And... and...”

“Kyoto, calm down! You're scaring her.”

“No! You don't understand how important this is!” he shot back, still on the floor. “A goddess has finally appeared before us! This is the moment when people transported to another world are supposed to get their special powers! I have to ask now, since I didn't get any when I first arrived!” Realizing she had moved, he locked onto her new position and performed another perfect dogeza toward Ms. Latina.

“Kyaaa! Don't ask me! Ask him!” she cried, cowering and pointing a trembling finger directly at me.

Why me?

“Both of you, calm down!” I commanded. The shouting stopped, though Kyoto remained in his prostrated pose and the woman stayed firmly hidden.

I turned to the woman. “Alright. Let's start with your name, and why you've been silent this whole time.”

“Why should I deign to speak to the likes of you? Hmph!”

“The likes of me? What did I ever do to you?”

“What did you do?” she shrieked, her voice dripping with venom. “You stole my precious from me! My very essence! And then you squandered it as if it were nothing!”

The sudden accusation left me speechless. Kyoto looked equally baffled, but to my horror, Ms. Latina was now directing a venomous glare at me.

“You're a real scoundrel, boss,” Voktah chimed in, a wicked grin spreading across his face. The old man almost certainly knew this was a misunderstanding but couldn't resist fanning the flames.

“I completely misjudged you,” Ms. Latina said, falling for Voktah's bait. She spread her arms protectively, shielding the woman behind her. “To think you would defile an innocent woman and then shirk all responsibility... You don't deserve to call yourself a man!”

“Wait! This is a huge misunderstanding!” I protested. “Miss, don't say such ridiculous things!”

“What was incorrect about it? You stole all of my power and authority, and then wasted it for nothing!”

Okay, that made a little more sense.

“Power? Authority? I have no idea what you're talking about. You're going to have to explain, in detail.”

“It happened the moment you arrived in this world! Don't you dare say you don't remember!”

“I honestly don't. I have no recollection of ever meeting you, much less stealing anything from you.”

“You... you really don't remember?” Her aggressive posture softened slightly.

“Honestly. If you would be so kind as to explain, I would be very grateful. But first, allow me to introduce myself.”

“Fine...” she conceded. “First, I will explain. We will see if it jogs your memory.”

She seemed convinced by my sincerity and promised an explanation. The tension in the room dissipated; Ms. Latina's glare softened, and the others relaxed. We all found places to sit, our attention fixed on her.

“I am Zephyra Lixil Linuel Makia,” she announced, her voice regaining its regal tone, “the revered Goddess of Humankind in this world.” We were all stunned into silence. She was an actual goddess. Kyoto, in his own mad way, had been right all along. “Souls that arrive in this realm through the peculiar process of summoning all fall under my domain. In your world's terms, you would call it a hero summoning ritual. All such souls appear before me for an introduction and to receive certain blessings before their physical bodies are constructed in this world.”