Knights of God

A few minutes later:
"Edward! Freya!!"

The two arrive together, walking toward us.
The wannabe knight and the weird healer.

Edward had a very serene face, looking more to the side than at us:

"Ah, there they are..."

Meanwhile, Freya was smiling big, waving at us from afar:

"Ohhhh, I missed you so much!"

It's pretty weird to see a guy dressed in medieval armor in this city.
I mean, everyone wears more “fancy” clothes, like suits — no one dresses up as a knight here.

Ah well... think nobody dresses as a wizard, a goth, or a... 21st-century guy...

The two finally reached us. Freya seemed slightly excited, and Edward looked a little downcast.

Edward: "I was so looking forward to doing the mission... damn."

Freya: "Ai ai, don't be so ungrateful. It's always good to leave the tavern and just have fun!"

Edward: "Yeah yeah, I agree, but..."

He rushed forward and pointed his index finger angrily at Anfang.

"THIS GOOFY LEADER COULD HAVE SAID THAT!! I PREPARED MYSELF FOR NOTHING!! WHY DID I BRING THREE SPARE SWORDS THEN?!"

Ruma: "WHO DID YOU CALL GOOFY?!"

Mochiko: "WHO DO YOU THINK—"

Interrupting the little wizard, Edward turned toward me and almost started crying in my lap, grabbing my shoulders:

"Hey man, could you tell me how you beat him? Pleaseeeee... I lost a lot of money to him... sob, I never won a bet against him waaahhhhh..."

H—He’s the weird guy actually!!

Ignoring everything Edward said and did, Anfang simply took a black beret off his back:

"Hey Edward, I bought this for you."

Edward slowly turned to Anfang and quickly frowned:

"I'M NOT WEARING THAT!"

"Well actually—"

Freya interrupted with her classic gentle, calm smile:

"I wouldn't mind wearing—"

"I was going to say it was just a joke. I'm gonna use it myself."

"Oh..."

Freya's world seemed to fall apart with these words.
I don't know much about fashion, but I think a black beret would suit the loan shark look better than... a yellow noblewoman?

Mochiko quickly pointed her staff at Anfang:

"THAT THING IS NEVER GONNA BE BETTER THAN MINE!!"

Ruma: "Huh? For real? It doesn't even look like you only wear that overly large hat because of that hamster!!"

"T-That doesn't matter!!"

Anfang: "Hey, it's not that deep..."

Placing the beret on her head, without losing her little smirk, Anfang looked at the skyline of the beautiful city of Lyndell.

"Well, do whatever you want! Explore the whole city, have as much fun as you want, it's all on me!"

Everyone started celebrating effusively.
But I don't really know what to do here — I think I'll just go with the flow.

Anfang spoke softly to Edward, in a low and very provocative voice:

"Hey, would you like to go to the casino? I—"

"OF COURSE!!! I WILL WIN THIS TIME!!"

Mochiko & Ruma: "DON'T YOU LEARN YOUR LESSON!?"

Oh well, I guess we'll go to the casino then.
I've never been to one because... I'm 16, and it's not something that really catches my attention but—

"Hey, where are you going?"

Who whispered that is— G-GOTA?!
S-SHIT! I DON'T WANNA BE WITH HER!!

"U-UH uh, a-actually I—... M-MOCHIKO!! Y-YOU KNOW IF THERE'S A GUILD HERE?! B-Because—"

"Of course there is! Every self-respecting city has one!!"

"A-Ah, good... B-Because—"

"AND WE'RE GOING THERE RIGHT AWAY!! ‘CAUSE... you're not a Suicider yet, a-and THAT'S AN OFFENSE TO A GROUP AS POWERFUL AS OURS!!"

...

Everyone started to stare at me like I’d committed a crime or something, everyone's eyes shaking.

Ruma almost ripped my cheek with her right hand:

"W-WHAT!? HOW ARE YOU IN A GROUP OF SUICIDERS WITHOUT BEING ONE!?"

Gota didn't say anything, but that look masked by that attentive smile... the suspicion about me only increased.

Anfang: "Well then, go to the guild and register him. Then we'll meet up in the tavern. Come on, let's go make some money."

He turned around and started walking with his hands in his coat pockets.
Edward yelled "Wait for me!!" as he ran after him.
I'm sure all that armor just makes him slower... How stupid.

"I am ready to experience the love of gambling."

Said Freya, while following Anfang.

Ruma: "Oh well, gambling isn't really my thing... I also have some things to do at the guild."

Gota: "Me too."

She definitely just wants to be around me to keep an eye on me...
Damn, the fatass gothic tomboy is also a yandere!!

Mochiko: "Alright!! Here we go! Follow my lead, peasants—"

Ruma instantly began a shoulder fight with Mochiko:

"WHO SAID YOU'RE THE LEADER!? IF THERE'S ONE, IT SHOULD BE ME!!"

"I-I'm the future best wizard in the world!!! SO I SHOULD BE IN FRONT!!"

Can't they just walk?...
Ah, it seems that in the end the groups stayed the same.
Tsk, that gothic won't stop staring into my soul...

Well, here we are.

The three of us are currently sitting inside the guild, just waiting for my turn to go sign up.
The best way to describe it is that it looks like a hospital, with several people sitting on benches just waiting to be called to the front desk between them and us.

But well, it's not white like in a hospital — the benches are blue and very... medieval, with some dragon designs and everything.
On the outside, it’s one of the few non-white buildings in the city, the purest brown of wood, with a cute bar door.
I think it must be a general rule for guilds to be like this all over the world.

...

I'm sitting in the middle of three girls!
Heh, of course! A genius like me would get it sooner or later!... Or is it just luck?
I just hope none of them notice — that would be a really embarrassing thing—

Ruma: "Hey, this looks like a harem."

...

G-GODDAMMIT!!!

Mochiko: "W-Why would you bring this up..."

I DON'T WANT TO SAY A WORD!! NOR THIS TYPE OF ATTENTION!
SHIT! ANYONE FROM THE OUTSIDE WILL THINK THAT! WE'RE ALL THE SAME AGE AND—

"Boo."

"WAHHHHHH!!!"

W-WHY DID GOTA JUST TRY TO SCARE ME!?"

"What is your goal?"

W-Why is she asking that all of a sudden?...
Well, think, the three have their eyes on me! I have to give a great answer—

"Money, power, and women."

...

"Really—"

"I-I mean, that's what a k-king would probably want, right?"

"But I asked you, not the king."

"OHHH, HAHAHA!! T-THAT MAKES SENSE!! HAHAHA!..."

I KNOW! I HEARD IT THE FIRST TIME! I JUST TRIED TO MAKE A STUPID JOKE FOR NO REASON!!!
I'm glad I managed to think of a quick excuse... BUT I'LL NEVER MAKE JOKES AGAIN IN MY LIFE!!

"Hm, my goal?... W-Well uh, I don't know—"

Wait, that's actually a bad answer.

Being honest here will only make me more suspicious to her, so—
No! I'm not going to lie! The truth is absolute!!

"I-I don't really have one... M-Maybe just survive and... prove my worth in some way."

That's not also a 100% honest answer, but it's the closest I can say.

Her eyes, simply looking at me without showing any emotion...
What is she thinking? I genuinely can't—

"MY GOAL IS TO BECOME THE BEST WIZARD IN THE WORLD!!!"

Ruma: "Nobody asked you..."

And finally, a middle-aged woman appeared in front of us with a simple smile.

"Boy, you're next. Come in."

"Ok..."

Here we go...

Here we are at the reception, with the same woman standing on the other side of the counter from us, divided by small open curtains.

"Where is it, where is it... Ah, here."

After rummaging through the drawers for a bit, she simply pulled out a strange metal mechanism.
It was like a metal rectangle with a hand shape in the middle.

It's pretty obvious what I have to do.

"Put your hand here and wait a little bit, please."

Yeah, that was what I was thinking.
Here I go.

Bippppp.

...

It suddenly stopped beeping, and she took it off.
What a disappointment, I only felt a slight vibration.
Also, what was I expecting? It's not like—

"Theodore Moretti, 16 years, 176 cm, 72 kg, born in... 2009!? Almost 500 years in the future? Tsk, the machine must be broken..."

The woman said this while analyzing a rather primitive computer next to her.

...

Oh shit—

Mochiko & Ruma: "T-THEODORE!?!?!?!"

Fuck, I always forget that...

Both of their eyes were extremely wide, and even a little offended, especially Mochiko’s:

"W-What kind of name is that!? T-THAT'S SURELY SOME TYPE OF CULT NAME OR SOMETHING!!"

Ruma was also looking me up and down:

"Heh, what an exotic name huh, T-H-E-O-D-O-R-E, is Theo a nickname?"

"Y-Yeah... Everybody calls me Theo, I genuinely forget that's my real name sometimes... I've lost points on tests for writing Theo instead of Theodore actually..."

Mochiko said very quietly, with a soft smile: "Theodore..."

T-THAT STUPID LOLI IS MOCKING ME!? YOU HATE YOUR OWN NAME!!

"J-Just call me Theo please...—"

Mochiko: "Theodore."

G-GODDAMMIT!!!!

Ruma bent her long legs a little, looking into my eyes from bottom to top while giggling, covering her mouth with her right hand.

"Should we start to call you that? Theodore?"

"N-No... please..."

"Hm, hiding your real name with a fake one... very interesting..."

S-SHIT!! THE GOTH IS JUST GETTING MORE AND MORE SUSPICIOUS OF ME!!

"As I-I said, I literally forgot that was my real name... L-Like—"

"Theodore."

AUGHHHHH!! SHUT UP!!!—

Finally, the girl at reception decided to speak:
"Well, do you have a Lygi by any chance?"

Ah great, something else to raise suspicions about me.

...I'm screwed.

The girls started explaining. After three hundred nudges from Gota, a lecture from Ruma, and a performance by Mochiko, I think I got it:

A Lygi is a rare personal ability — a random superpower that some people are born with. It can be trivial or game-breaking. It coexists with the world’s magic, and no one knows its origin, why it exists, or if it has anything to do with mana. Nothing. Think of them like lottery tickets of power.

I think it was just a way for Brain to make the power system more interesting, instead of just being magic and mana hehe.

...

"GOT IT!?"

"Y-Yeah yeah, understood..."

Oh yeah, we're still here, in front of the reception and the receptionist, doing my registration to become a Suicider.

"I-I just wonder, does someone in the crew have one?"

Gota: "Yes... Princis, and probably Anfang. I mean, he never said what it does, or even confirmed that he has one, but it's very likely."

Ruma, with her hands behind her back, whispered in Gota's ear with a big smile:

"You're forgetting someoneeeee~"

Gota: "Ah, you—"

"THAT'S RIGHT!! Obviously I would also be chosen by God, right?~"

I didn’t choose anyone...

"W-Well uh, what is it—"

Mochiko murmured softly:

"She still can't beat me."

"YES I CAN—"

As the situation was heading toward another typical argument between the two, the receptionist gently spoke to me:

"So, you have one?"

"Hm... I thought it was quite obvious that I don't—"

"Great! Here is your Suicider card. And now you're officially one, welcome."

...She was already expecting that answer... Anyways.

Oh, a simple plastic paper with my name, basic information, a—a photo?! When did they take it!? And how did they take photos in the Middle Ages?! Stupid Brain... Or maybe it’s her Lygi.
And a fingerprint?! Oh, it must have been on the machine...

BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MIDDLE AGES!—

When I noticed, the three girls were looking curiously at my Suicider card.

Mochiko: "Oh, so that's how you spell T-H-E-O-D-O-R-E."

TSK, SHUT UP!!!

"H-Hey Mochiko... Didn’t you say it was supposed to show the number of monsters I killed or something?"

"W-WHAT!? YOU’RE INTENDING TO BECOME A WIZARD!? Just so you know, I WILL BE—"

"N-No... Y-You said before that the number of monsters I killed should show here or something..."

Ruma simply grabbed Mochiko's hips from behind and lifted her into the air to throw her to the side.

"W-WAIT?! WAH—WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!—"

"This brat is just way too dumb...
Sigh, that number of monsters killed thing is just for the wizards competing in the wizard tournament. Those who don't participate don't show up, because it's not necessary."

"I-I WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO SAY THAT!!"

"NO YOU WEREN’T!!"

Goddamn...

Suddenly, we heard a rather sad and dizzy voice coming from the entrance of the guild, along with the sound of it opening.

"H-Hey guys... I lost everything, again..."

The voice came from Edward, slowly staggering toward us in the doorway with a defeated look on his face.

"T-That man is truly unbeatable..."

Gota whispered very softly:

"Almost..."

Tsk, I'm still that sus!?

Ah well, judging by Edward's reaction... he probably lost all he had.

"I-I'm never gonna bet with him again!... Never never!"

"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!!"

...What a strange guy.

A few minutes later, the five of us were walking through the golden streets of the city.
By the way, I also left my card with the guild. Maybe one day I'll need it to get some type of authorization, but it's better to leave it there for now.

We don't have a set destination; we're just wandering around looking for something to do.
I don't know what I feel like doing — I really don’t think anything. I'm just going to go with the flow. Again...

Edward: "Hey... Could someone, someone veryyyyy gentle, like really really really gentle and kind, like really—"

Ruma: "Nobody will lend you money."

Mochiko: "If you need money so much, why don't you sell that useless armor of yours?!"

Ah, finally someone noticed that walking around the streets wearing medieval armor is not common!

Edward ficou bastante ofendido com a fala de Mochiko, chegando ao pé dela e cutucando a sua cabeça, rangendo os dentes:

"No way! This is the proof of my pure lineage! From billions of years practicing the most perfect chivalry—"

Gota: "You are the son of farmers."

"...S-Shut up—"

Ruma: "And there are few who can go from farmer to Suicider! So please, pray 24 times a day to Anfang!!"

"I-I know... If it wasn’t for him, I would probably still be there..."

It seems like he has a sense of debt to Anfang... Does this apply to the other members as well? They all seem so devoted—
Ah, it applies to me too...

Edward then threw his hands up in the air, trying to change the subject.

"Well anyway, we should—"

Gota: "But hey, be proud of your story, it's a good one. You see, actually I think people should be valued for their work and effort, not for blood."

Edward scratched his left cheek and looked away, turning a little red:

"O-Oh, haha, thanks..."

It seems they just discovered meritocracy—

"I wonder what work and effort you did."

G-Gota whispered that in my ear...
Merit... Merit...

I said that in this world I wanted to do things on my own merit, that everything I achieve will be a consequence of my efforts, but—

As I was thinking about everything that had happened since I was isekai’d, a voice echoed throughout the city.
A female voice, extremely thin, childish, and irritating, coming directly from the top of a church, reaching the entire city.

"Hey hey? Hello? Is this working?!... NHAHAHHAA!!"

We, as well as the entire city, instantly froze, looking intently around us.

Edward: "W-What was that?..."

Mochiko: "It doesn’t sound like a priest."

Ruma: "DON’T TELL ME!!"

The voice that seemed to be coming from a giant megaphone continued:

"I am Melina! Member of the Knights of God! And well, how can I say it hehehahah... THIS CITY IS OURS!!"