The Daily Grind III

Number of times König Geistdunkelrustung has resurrected: 49

While there was a bit of variance in when he returned to life, König Geistdunkelrustung continued to consistently resurrect every day. Without fail, either Inessa or Lylia would have to show up to kill him, and though both had methods to reduce the number of times his armor could revive him, neither employed them all too often.

Inessa played with him, without a hint of malice, forcing him to defend and dodge her attack between conversations about nothing important. Sometimes she’d talk about her current life, but mostly she talked about her past one.

Lylia, on the other hand, wasn’t as playful. She continued to shrink him down and crush him like a bug over and over and over again, but little of what she complained about at him was targeted at him directly. His biggest impact on her life was forcing her to teleport all the way out to the middle of the Badlands for a few minutes to collect his Mana Crystal, not exactly something worthy of emotional investment. Instead, she began to treat her trips to his ruined castle as an escape from the pressures to be the ‘Saintess’ all the time. There was nobody around to judge or disparage her, even if she acted in a manner unbefitting of the Saintess.

“Honestly, I have been trying to think from Essa’s perspective more, I really have.” She said with a sigh as she rested her head on her hand while sitting on a chunk of a wall that had yet to erode with time. She carefully measured the pressure she was exerting on Geist as she pinned him with her foot, dragging out collecting his Mana Crystal so she could air her concerns. “But I grew up dreaming of the life she has. Lavish parties, handsome nobles pining after me, going on an intimate vacation with a prince. Sure, I know now that it is not as glamorous a life as a child’s imagination, but I always thought it had to be better than whatever life she had before becoming the Champion… I also never had a family or anyone to miss before entering the church.”

She thought about how she initially treated Inessa, dismissively and with a bit of scorn, crying over what she had considered the luckiest thing that could happen to someone. The brunette slowly won her over, of course; she was just the sort of person only someone without emotions could hate once they got to know her.

“I thought that once she realized how wonderful her life was now, she would be happy. I thought she became happy, and was just complaining about the little things, like we all do. But I never noticed how much she was forcing herself to accept what we had done to her. I never thought for a second that we are truly selfish. To rip someone from their life, their families and friends, and act like we are doing them a favor.”

Thinking of how much more frequently she was seeing the dazzlingly bright, genuine smile that lit up Inessa’s cute, round face, Lylia’s anger flared up as she applied her full weight onto Geist. Not because she blamed him. Her anger was directed at her own unquestioning compliance and conformity to a tradition that upheld the peace of the land for millennia. An ignorance that caused her friend to hide an unhappiness that she knew she wasn’t capable of understanding or empathizing with. And a frustration that only grew the more she realized that Giest’s presence was the only feasible explanation for Inessa’s mental shift.

“I would say you should have known better, but the Champion summoning spell/ritual was something your Goddess gifted you, right? Isn’t questioning whether it’s right or wrong to use kind of… blasphemous?” Geist asked as he reformed from the wisps of shadow that seeped out from under her shoe, only about twenty percent certain she would reply. Most of the time, if he spoke, she ignored him, but she had slowly been more responsive to his questions, specifically if they opposed her notion of common sense.

“If you ask me, taking advantage of the Goddess Lini’s love and generosity is far more blasphemous.” The blonde said dismissively, knocking him over with the toe of her heels before he could try to get out of range and force her to stand up. “She rewarded them with so many Divine Artifacts, and then, when they stop being worthy of them, they dare to ask for her to send them Champions? I believe that was the final straw for even Her patience, as She revoked humanity’s use of resurrection magic in exchange for the Champion Summoning Ritual.”

Geist had to stop himself from pointing out an inconsistency with what she said compared to what Inessa had told him before. Whether one of them was deliberately attempting to mislead him or, and far more likely, Inessa simply misremembered a foreign world’s history, saying anything would reveal that she had been talking to him when he knew Lylia’s opinion of that. “Why… Why would they accept such a deal?” He asked instead, futilely trying to push her foot off him or squirm away.

“I used to think it was the most reasonable thing to do. By then, Chrysaor’s Curse had made it impossible for anyone to reliably break through into Superior-ranked Classes. Less magic meant there was less Dark Magic Corruption, but that also meant fewer monsters were created.” She replied, not interested in the topic, but hoping for a catalyst that could prompt her to think from a different perspective. “But was it fear and desperation? Exactly how many of these Divine Artifacts did we need to fight on equal terms with Demon Monarchs? Certainly not this many. After all, I, myself, am more than enough.” Stomping down to punctuate her point, Lylia glanced at the staff that granted her the ability to cast the Legendary-ranked shrinking spell. What true use was there for anything more than that? “Or did the people of the past just become lazy and saw getting more power from Goddess Lini as the easier solution to their problems?”

“Tell me about it…” Geist said, heaving a weary sigh.

Her internal clock telling her she couldn’t linger too much longer, Lylia stood up and stretched. At some point, going back to society became more annoying than coming to deal with the persistently resurrecting Demon Monarch, but she wouldn’t admit that out loud. “I hope Essa is at least having more fun going around the kingdom with Prince Liamion than I am dealing with all the incompetents around me.” She said, smirking as she raised a foot to perform the most enjoyable responsibility she had to do all day. “I think, if not for you, I may have already started crushing the people who cause me nothing but headaches under my heels by now.”

Whether she was joking or not, the giggle that came from her lips suggested it wasn’t a thought that only just occurred to her.

“Maybe it’s a good thing you don’t have access to revival spells then.” He said, deadpan and deathly serious as the grooved underside of her divine footwear came down on him.

“Oh, hush, you.” Lylia chastised in an unnervingly playful tone, not denying the accusation. “And don’t be a nuisance to Essa tomorrow.”