Chapter 79: A God's Petty Sabotage

My first morning as a mortal was an exercise in minor pains. After an aching start, I went downstairs to find the party already in their morning routines. Natsuki, cheerful as ever, was making flapjacks in the kitchen.

“Alright, team,” he announced after breakfast. “Today, we’ll take Aki on her first quest. Farmer Giles has a problem with overgrown ‘Root-Weasels.’ It’s a simple F-rank extermination.”

“Big, grumpy rodents,” Kaelen explained, giving me a pointed look. “More annoying than dangerous. You should fit right in.”

An hour later, we were at a vast pumpkin patch. Farmer Giles told us to bring back the tails of the weasels chewing up his prize-winners. Natsuki laid out the plan: we’d spread out, and I would stick with him to watch and learn.

From a high, unseen dimension, Isao watched, a cold fire in his heart. He couldn’t kill the boy, but he could make him look like a fool to show me the weakness of my attachment. He sent a thread of misfortune down into the pumpkin patch.

Natsuki’s first step forward, he tripped on what should have been solid ground. Without thinking, I “accidentally” stumbled into his back, pushing him upright just as he was about to fall. I landed in a heap at his feet.

“Aki! Are you okay?” he asked, his concern for me overriding his own near-fall.

“I’m fine! My boots are just… slippery!” I said with an embarrassed smile. Isao, watching from his realm, was annoyed.

The hunt began. A Root-Weasel burst from the ground, and Natsuki lunged with his spirit blade. Just as it was about to connect, the blade flickered and died. It was another of Isao’s hexes. “Look out!” I shrieked, firing a “[Sparkle Shot]!” at the hilt. The glitter washed over it, and the blade roared back to life, brighter than before, allowing Natsuki to cleanly sever the weasel’s tail. He stared in bewilderment.

“How did you do that?” he asked.

“I-I don’t know! I just thought your sword needed more… sparkles!” I stammered. Lirael and Elara exchanged looks of disbelief. Isao’s curse had been undone by glitter, and he was infuriated.

He tried one last time, summoning an invisible whirlwind aimed at Natsuki’s face. I couldn’t counter it directly, so I pointed at my familiar. “Mochi, sneeze!”

Mochi let out a surprisingly forceful sneeze. The puff of magical air hit the dust-devil, deflecting it just enough that it merely ruffled Natsuki’s hair heroically as he dispatched another weasel.

We finished the quest, collecting a dozen tails. Each time Natsuki fumbled due to Isao's meddling, a clumsy trip or a blast of "support glitter" from me inexplicably saved the day. On the way back, Natsuki praised my unconventional support, Kaelen called me their "chaos mascot," and Lirael and Elara just watched me with unnerving suspicion.

I was exhausted. Protecting him had been a frantic juggling act, and I knew it was only the beginning. From his perch, Isao vibrated with frustration. His divine sabotage had been thwarted by a clumsy girl with glitter and a sneezing rabbit. He was patient and very, very jealous. He would find a way to prove that my mortal ghost was nothing but a fool.