God’s Guide for Teasing Heroes

Narrator POV. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Ever since Calm went missing, a group of knights has been looking for her without rest. 

"Calm-sama... where are you..."  

A male in his late teens said as he grasped patches of golden hair in his hand. 

He gripped the patches of hair tightly and affectionately. 

He pulled his hand over his forehead as if praying to god while still holding on to the patches of hair in his hands. 

"Calm..." 

His heart is in a stir. 

This man's name is Aaron Van Zelle. 

He is Calm Eastertale's most loyal knight. 

  

  

Aaron had been looking for Calm around the area where the "Angel Wings" might have teleported her somewhere within the forest. 

Looking around for 7 days around the clock, all they managed to find were patches of bloody golden hair and bloody torn clothes that seemed to be caused by monster claws and fangs. 

All of the clues he and his man were able to find so far point to the fact that the saint of Riles is already dead. 

  

  

Since when the Assassin Order attempted to assassinate the saint 7 days ago, Aaron had been looking for her non-stop without resting. 

As the days pass, Aaron's men are slowly losing hope day by day. 

Especially, since the only clue they found was bloodied clothes and hair in the middle of the forest. 

A normal person would conclude that the saint is attacked by monsters and died from all these facts. 

The saint has an exemptional skill to buff and heal others. 

Unfortunately, the saint herself has almost zero ability to fight by herself. 

If she was attacked by monsters within this forest, she will definitely not survive. 

  

  

Despite finding clues that point to the fact that the saint might be dead by now, Aaron still believed that the saint is still alive somewhere. 

He had no basis to believe this since all of the proof they gathered so far goes against this belief. 

Aaron could feel deep within his heart that the saint is still alive. 

He thought that this feeling was just to cope with the fact that the saint might be dead. 

Maybe it was just him not wanting to believe that she was already dead. 

Maybe he knew that if he believed otherwise then he would fall into despair and just give up. 

Despite all that, he has this strong gut feeling in his chest. 

The feeling that the saint is still alive somewhere.  

He doesn't have any proof or basis to believe it but he knows that Calm is still alive, he just feels that she is alive. 

  

  

"Aaron, you should rest." <Knight> 

One of Aaron's men suggested that he should rest. 

Aaron has been looking for Calm for 7 straight days without rest. 

"Lark... I..." <Aaron> 

Aaron replied to him. 

His voice sounded very tired. 

  

  

Lark is one of Aaron's closest friends among the Calm's guard knights. 

He is a beastman who has been close to Aaron and Calm since they were young. 

Out of all of the members of the guards protecting the saint, Aaron knew Lark for the longest. 

Aaron trusts Lark without a shred of doubt in his mind. 

Right now, Lark shows his worries looking at Aaron. 

  

  

"You need to rest Aaron." <Lark> 

"But... I need to find her as soon as possible." <Aaron> 

"I understand what you feel but you need to rest too." <Lark> 

"But." <Aaron> 

"You can trust me, plus, if Calm sees you looking like that, she will feel sad." <Lark> 

"..." <Aaron> 

Lark places his hands on Aaron's shoulder. 

Aaron looked up and met his eyes. 

Lark showed Aaron a determined yet compassionate gaze asking him to trust him. 

Aaron was still reluctant to follow Lark's word to rest. 

  

  

"How about this, while you are at it you should go back to Vestir and see if you can find something about Calm there." <Lark> 

"..." <Aaron> 

Aaron was still very reluctant. 

"Come on, a day would not hurt." <Lark> 

He pats Aaron's shoulder once again while saying this in a gentle voice. 

"..." <Aaron> 

-sigh- 

  

  

"Just a day..." <Aaron> 

"Yeah... so rest well..." <Lark> 

"Alright..." <Aaron> 

Then again, Lark taps Aaron's shoulder and gives him a gentle grip too. 

"Go now, you can leave things to me while you're gone." <Lark> 

"Alright, I'll be going." <Aaron> 

Lark nods. 

He was happy that Aaron considered his suggestion. 

If it was any other person, Aaron would have definitely refused to accept this offer. 

Aaron turned around in the direction of Vestir and went back to rest. 

  

  

Aaron knew that He could trust Lark. 

He had known Lark for 11 years now. 

He had been with him since he was still young. 

He was like a nice uncle to Calm and himself. 

Lark was also Calm's guard for as long as Aaron did, both of them had been loyal guards protecting Calm since she became the goddess' Oracle. 

There is no way that Lark was after Calm's life. 

He had many chances to kill Calm back then but he never did. 

He was there protecting Calm when the assassin tried to kill Calm that day. 

There was no doubt in mind that he is on their side. 

There was no one else Aaron could have to leave the search of the saint other than Lark. 

So, in the end, he decided to listen to him and rest. 

  

  

On that same day, Aaron arrived back in Vestir. 

Aaron is living within the Temple just like the other members of Calm's guards. 

He has been living here ever since he came here to Vestir 11 years ago. 

He took a shower and changed into casual clothes. 

He saw his bed and went straight to sleep. 

He fell into a deep sleep. 

  

  

. 

. 

. 

  

  

-AWAKENING- 

In this world, once a person turns 10 years old, they will have an "awakening". 

Upon "awakening" people will receive their "Job Class" from the goddess. 

They will have a sudden increase in Stats depending on the job classes they gain upon their awakening. 

They will also start to be able to learn "Skills". 

  

  

In this world, after you turn 10 years old, you have to visit a city to have your abilities assessed. 

The people of this world will go to the cities and be assessed with The use of status reading items to determine their Stats, Job Class, and Skills. 

At the same time, they will also receive a status card that works as this world's universal "Identification" method. 

At the same time, the Empire uses this assessment of the citizens served as a yearly census. 

The empire also use this opportunity to recruit promising people to work as manpower in local cities. 

  

  

11 years ago. 

The church of Life was established in the name of the goddess Gaiah. 

This was due to the awakening of the Oracle of the Goddess of Life, Calm Eastertale. 

For several special circumstances, Calm had her "Awakening" 3 years before she turned 10. 

This was because she became the "Oracle" of the goddess. 

Calm Eastertale awakened and she has the job class "Saint", one of the rarest job classes in this world. 

Becoming the "Oracle" of the goddess and on top of that awakening with the job class "Saint" Calm Eastertale's life changed. 

  

  

  

Oracles 

Oracles are individuals who received blessings from the gods of this world to do works for them, they are the god's representatives in this world. 

It had been hundreds of years since people of this world came in contact with the Goddess. 

At the same time, Oracles such as Calm have not appeared in this world for a very long time. 

When Calm Eastertale became an Oracle it immediately became the biggest news in the entirety of the land. 

News of her spread like wildfire and reached even to the farthest lands. 

  

  

At that time, the people of this world were starting to forget about the goddess. 

They thought that the goddess have forsaken their world after all the things that happened in the past. 

Thanks to the descent of the Goddess of Life, Gaiah the faith of the people was reawakened. 

Thus, the Church of Life was established to praise the Goddess of Life. 

Not long after that, the church of Life became the religion of most people in Riles and later, most of the world. 

  

  

Well... that is except for the empire of Ecclesia. 

They rather see Calm's existence to be very blasphemous. 

That is why they wanted her dead no matter what. 

To them, she was the symbol of what was wrong in the world. 

  

  

Aaron 

A commoner born in the countryside of Artesia. 

At the age of 10, he came to the capital to be assessed for his abilities. 

It was revealed that Aaron was a very talented individual for having the rare job class "Magic Knight". 

He was immediately recruited by the empire to be trained as an elite soldier. 

He was given the last name "Van Zelle", as a sign of the Empire's acknowledgment of his promising future. 

They granted him an honorary noble title. 

  

  

It was around that time when a piece of news came from the country of Riles. 

After several hundred years, a new "Oracle" appeared from the country of Riles. 

It was said that the Oracle was a 7-year-old female half-Elf. 

She single-handedly annihilated a group of Ecclesia Inquisitors who attacked their small town after the goddess of life descended using her body as its vessel. 

As a result, the 7-year-old half-elf became the Oracle of the goddess of Life. 

This also caused Calm Eastertale to awaken early and gained the job class "Saint". 

  

  

Hearing this news, the empire of Artesia decided to send people to support and help with the protection of the newly awakened Oracle. 

This is how Aaron Van Zelle joined the church. 

He was one of the promising young prospects of the Empire of Artesia at that time. 

Aaron is one of the many people sent by the Empire of Artesia to support the establishment of the Church of Life. 

  

  

Aaron was assigned as Calm Eastertale's escort knight. 

As a young promising knight, he wanted to prove that the Empire of Artesia was not wrong to give him such an opportunity. 

It became apparent that Aaron was very capable and driven. 

Thus, it was not a brainer to assign Aaron to be Calm's close guard. 

Also with the reasoning that it would be nice if Aaron who was 11 years old at that time be placed next to the 7-year-old, Calm Eastertale. 

As expected, Calm became very attached to Aaron very quickly. 

It was expected since Aaron had the closest age gap with the saint. 

They became really close really fast. 

  

  

Since the establishment of the Church of Life, Calm's life changed. 

Calm became very busy and could barely meet her parents as she wanted. 

Her parent could not do anything about it and would meet her whenever they could. 

Also, her parent helped in dealing with the Ecclesia Empire to protect their precious daughter. 

Because of that Calm could not help but feel lonely at times. 

  

  

Calm was very mischievous and playful in her childhood days. 

She was naturally a bright and active girl who loves to play. 

She was unhappy seeing the change in her life after becoming an Oracle. 

She would often play pranks within the church and would often make the adults sigh with her little pranks as an act of rebellion. 

Vandalizing, escaping away from her guards, destroying the temple's properties, teasing the adults around her and many mischievous acts of a rebellious kid would do. 

She used this prank to vent her frustrations. 

She could not go out normally to play with other kids due to her status as the newly awakened saint and as the "Oracle" of the Goddess of Life. 

  

  

Aaron who was the youngest knight amongst all of the people send to become Calm's guards was assigned to be next to Calm. 

The people from the top think that having Aaron around Calm who was close in age might be helpful to deal with the rebellious young saint. 

Thus, Aaron met Calm for the first time. 

  

  

Maybe it was because Aaron was close in age to Calm Eastertale that the two naturally became close. 

It did not take long for Aaron to become Calm's closest friend. 

Unfortunately, in contrast to what the adult expected... 

Whenever Calm would play pranks within the Church, Aaron is often standing next to her as her guard. 

In a way, Aaron became Calm's playmate within the lonely temple in the center of Vestir. 

At first, he was cold to her. 

He would often say "Saint-sama please refrain from doing such acts." 

  

  

Aaron was young at the time and he could resist his childish mind to eventually come along with Calm's pranks. 

Without realizing it, his words changed. 

When Calm thinks of new pranks he would now reply "That's a nice Idea." 

He became Calm's accomplice in doing the pranks. 

  

  

The adults knew that the reason why Calm was acting as she does right now was that she was frustrated with all the changes in life after becoming the Oracle of the goddess. 

Seeing that the saint started to smile once again, the higher-ups could not separate the two. 

So, in return, the adults around them decided to look over these young people. 

They did their best to guide this two to become nice adults in the future. 

Of course one of those adults was Lark. 

  

  

As a result, the two would often get scolded by the adults for doing such pranks. 

At the same time, the adults would look at them with gentle eyes seeing them grow up day by day. 

They would always forgive the two children after scolding and asking them to act properly. 

Of course, the two were a big headache for the people looking over them as they grew up within the temple walls. 

  

  

Thanks to Aaron being next to Calm, her childhood became colorful. 

Thanks to Aaron being next to her, Calm never felt as lonely not seeing her parent often anymore. 

It was also the same with Aaron, his life became colorful growing up with Calm. 

Aaron could not dream of having such a life. 

He was once a commoner and after his "awakening," his life changed. 

He may have left his parents to push his luck in the city, he planned to return to his hometown if things did not go well and work as an adventurer instead. 

In the end, things worked out well. 

He was very lucky to have such a life. 

He did not expect that he will have such a happy life next to the saint. 

Aaron was happy. 

  

  

 

 

Time passed... 

As the two became older they became more inseparable. 

They matured little by little as they grow older. 

Without realizing it, 11 years had passed. 

Calm Eastertale accepted her role as the Oracle of the goddess of Riles wholeheartedly and became the "Saint of Riles" that everyone looked up to. 

Aaron became a proper knight next to the saint. 

He also became a mighty knight and became the Strongest amongst all of the guards protecting Calm. 

In no time, he became the leader of the knights guarding the saint. 

  

  

Aaron opened his eyes. 

He dreamt of the day he first met the saint. 

He dreamt of their childhood together. 

After resting, he was determined to find Calm with more energy than ever. 

Having this dream only made him believe that the saint was still alive. 

He could feel it in his gut. 

"She's still alive, I know it." <Aaron> 

He said to himself with a determined face. 

He strongly believe that his feeling was correct. 

  

  

He quickly changes to his usual uniform. 

The exclusive uniform was worn by the Guard Knights who protect the saint. 

He was more determined than ever to find the saint. 

He was very thankful for Lark's suggestion to rest. 

He thought of thanking him once he comes back to the forest to find the saint. 

  

  

Aaron went out of the guard knight quarters. 

When he was about to go to the forest he saw a man sitting by the temple. 

He looked like a dandy old man wearing formal clothes. 

They made eye contact. 

He walked up from his seat and walked away but he did not break eye contact with Aaron. 

It was as if he was telling him to follow him. 

Aaron obeyed his intuition to follow the man. 

"..." 

"..." 

  

  

The two walked for a while. 

The man entered a fancy eatery and entered. 

He sat down on a table with an open seat. 

Aaron followed and sat down opposite the man. 

At first glance, you can tell that this man was living decently as he was wearing clothes worn by a well of a nobleman or rich merchant would wear. 

At first look, you can tell that he was no ordinary man. 

  

  

A female server went close to the two and asked for their orders. 

The server seemed to be a demi-human as she had a pair of small horns peeking out at the side of her head. 

"Special rabbit meat sandwich and a cup of tea. For this man over here..." <Dandy Man> 

The well-dressed man said with a relaxed tone toward the server. 

"Tea is fine for me." <Aaron> 

Aaron said but his voice was serious and sharp. 

The server took the order and bowed to place their orders. 

  

  

This was not the first time Aaron saw this man sitting opposite him. 

He knew that man. 

Not long after, the well-dressed man spoke. 

"It's been a while Aaron-sama." <Dandy Man> 

The dandy old man bowed at him elegantly. 

"..." <Aaron> 

Aaron glared at the man in return. 

"You don't have to be so weary of me. Didn't my gift from that time became very useful after all." <Dandy Man> 

"..." <Aaron> 

Aaron could not protest this man's word. 

It was true, the last time he met this man, he received something from him. 

And... as the man said it turned out to be useful in the end. 

  

  

The gift the man was talking about was the "Angel Wing". 

The item that Aaron gave to Calm before leaving Vestir to visit her parents staying at Calm's hometown after a long time. 

Thanks to that gift, Calm was able to escape from the assassins who attacked them that day. 

"I wanted to look for you but I was too busy looking for Calm in the forest. But this is perfect..." <Aaron> 

  

  

In a flash, the sword that was sheath in Aaron's waist just now was pointing directly at the man's neck. 

The other customer of the place looked at them in confusion. 

Despite that, the man in fancy clothes did not react. 

It was as if he knew that there is no way that Aaron would harm him. 

"You knew that we will be attacked that day. Tell me... who are you." <Dandy Man> 

Aaron's face was serious. 

He gave off a terrifying aura that would make anyone's leg turn soft. 

  

  

But... 

"Now, now... you don't have to be that hostile, it is troubling the other customers. Please, put down your weapon. I shall introduce myself properly, I am sorry for not introducing myself properly before. My name is Condrad, I work as the head butler of the Azurearozi mansion in this city." <Dandy Man> 

Aaron's eyes were surprised to hear the identity of the man. 

"Azurearozi..." <Aaron> 

  

  

Aaron originally came from the Empire of Artesia. 

He knew the name "Azurearozi". 

It was one of the 4 great dukedoms of the Empire of Artesia. 

Hearing that this man was with the Azurearozi he knew that something was up. 

"Alright, State your business." <Aaron> 

"Before I tell you what I am here for, do you mind putting that sword down? I don't intend to be hostile to you." <Dandy Man> 

Aaron puts down his weapon and sat back on his chair to properly talk with the man who introduced himself as the head butler of the Azurearozi mansion. 

The people looking at them let out a deep sigh seeing that Aaron put down his weapon. 

He sat back in his seat, with a closed arm. 

  

  

"We need your help..." <Dandy Man> 

"What help are you talking about? To be frank with you, I don't have time for useless banter at the moment so state your business fast." <Aaron> 

"No, Please listen first before you refuse my request." <Dandy Man> 

"... What kind of help are you asking?" <Aaron> 

Aaron's tone was serious all this time while Condrad answers respectfully like it was a normal conversation...  

  

  

A confident smile appeared from the man when speaking the next words that came out of his mouth. 

"You see, my lady had been in contact with a very interesting adventurer on her way here in Vestir." <Dandy Man> 

[Adventurer? My lady? Ah... he means the "Blue Rose Duchess". ] <Aaron> 

"I don't have time to waste listening to your random stories. I don't see how would that help me." <Aaron> 

"Hahaha... now, now don't rush and listen to what I have to say." <Dandy Man> 

Aaron continued to listen to what Condrad had to say. 

  

  

Seeing that Aaron was willing to listen to him, Condrad continued to talk. 

"Well then. Let me continue with what I was saying. That adventurer I was talking about came to see my lady and asked for a little help. She wanted to sneak somebody into the city and requested that we can provide a place for them to hide safely." <Dandy Man> 

[Sneak in secretly? Hide safely.] <Aaron> 

His eyes widen. 

His hopes went up hearing about this. 

If what he thinks the man was saying is what he was thinking then maybe... 

  

  

Seeing Aaron react to his story Condrad continued to talk with a little smile on his face. 

"At the moment we've been keeping the person who the adventurer brought to us in the mansion." <Dandy Man> 

"That... are you telling me." <Aaron> 

As if oblivious to Aaron's words Condrad shrugged. 

  

  

"We've been on high alert recently, and today, we saw several suspicious people roaming around the mansion. I've been waiting for you here for the past few days hoping that I could come across to tell you this. I think you should go there as soon as you can. I hope you know what I mean." <Dandy Man> 

Condrad looked at Aaron with a serious glare. 

"I understand." <Aaron> 

  

  

Aaron knew that what Condrad wanted to say is that people are investigating the mansion and wanted him to go there as soon as possible. 

[If that is the case... The assassins might already have an idea that Calm was within their care.] 

Condrad reached out his hand to hand something to Aaron. 

Aaron took the thing from Condrad's hand. 

It was a blue crystal with a rose-like insignia within it. 

"Show this to the guard and they will let you in. Well then see you there..." <Dandy Man> 

Aaron stood them blankly with a hopeful smile. 

Then, the man started to walk away from Aaron. 

  

  

"Hey! Wait! How did you..." <Aaron> 

Aaron tried to stop the man. 

But it seemed that the man did not have the intention to stop or to look back. 

"I'll see you there, Sir Aaron." <Dandy Man> 

  

  

********************** 

  

  

Azurearozi that same day. 

  

  

Calm Eastertale is leisurely talking with 4 boys inside her well-guarded room inside the Azurearozi Mansion. 

She was petting a wolf-like creature sleeping on her lap, a well-sized wolf sleeping on the floor right next to her, and behind her was an extremely large wolf sleeping silently as she listen to the boys. 

  

  

The four boys were Tsuchiya Daisetsu, Nobira Naonobu, and Suguta Yoshiaga, the Otaku Boys. 

The boys were talking about the place they came from before coming to this world. 

The world where they and Mizusawa Kazue once lived. 

  

  

The other world... 

Listening to their stories about their original world, Calm was fascinated hearing about alien concepts in their world. 

Things like the Internet, technology, history, and the literature of that world fascinated her. 

There were a lot of things that the boys told her that their stories doesn't seem to end. 

  

  

"hooo~ what's that anime all about?" <Calm> 

At the moment, Calm seemed to be amused listening to the anime  

culture these boys love. 

She loves hearing about the stories told by the boys. 

While they were enjoying their time telling stories, a knock sounded from outside Calm's room. 

  

  

"Who might it be?" <Calm> 

Calm asked in the direction of the door. 

"It's me." <Nikko> 

"It's us -de gozaru-" <Matsuo> 

The one answer was the voice of Aoki Nikko and the Intelligent sword Matsuo Masahi. 

"Oh..." <Calm> 

  

  

Nobira Naonobu went to the door and opened it. 

As expected Nikko was behind the door carrying Masahi on his waist. 

"How is it?" <Nobira> 

Nikko made a face. 

He shook his head from side to side. 

"Unfortunately, I found nothing." <Nikko> 

"Oh... that's too bad." <Nobira> 

Nikko shook his head and shifted his attention to the boys talking to Calm. 

"Nevermind that, what are you guys doing?" <Nikko> 

  

  

"Oh, Nikko, we were just telling stories about the anime we love to Calm-sama." <Nobira> 

"Ahaha, anime seriously?" <Nikko>  

"Oh!!! Is it anime? I too am well versed with anime -de gozaru-" <Matsuo> 

"Oh right, you were like that too when you were alive." <Nikko> 

"Indeed." <Matsuo> 

  

  

They continued a lively talk. 

Not long after, another knock sounded. 

"Who is it?" <Calm> 

"This is the butler, Condrad. I brought someone who can be really helpful." <Condrad> 

"Oh, Mister Condrad. Wait a bit we'll open the door..." <Calm> 

  

  

As the door opens, Condrad bows his head to greet the people inside. 

A man was standing next to Condrad. 

"Condrad-san who did..." <Calm> 

Calm could not finish her sentence, instead, her eyes widen seeing the person standing next to Condrad. 

  

  

Calm's hand that was stroking Kaori stopped involuntarily. 

Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish, yet no sound came out of her mouth. 

"A-..." <Calm> 

The man ran towards Calm. 

He did not notice the people surrounding Calm and hurriedly came close to her. 

Calm could not say a word she just stared at the man blankly as he rushed toward her. 

  

  

The man embraced Calm tightly within his arm. 

Calm who was hugged did not say a word. 

"Thank goodness, I thought I would never see you again. I am glad you are safe." <Aaron> 

"I... I..." <Calm> 

Calm still could not muster a word, tears flowed out of her eyes. 

In the end, she just hugged the man back. 

"Ei ¹She pronounce this like saying the letter "A"..." <Calm> 

The only word Calm could say was the name of the man hugging her. 

  

  

-Ei- 

It was the name Calm calls Aaron Van Zelle when it was just the two of them. 

It was his nickname and the only one who calls him that way was the saint, Calm Eastertale. 

Hearing her say his name he hugged her tighter but with care. 

  

  

"Ei" <Calm> 

"Yes, I am here." <Aaron> 

"Ei, Ei!!!" <Calm> 

"I am here, Saint-sama" <Aaron> 

"IDIOT, I TOLD YOU TO CALL ME BY MY NAME." <Calm> 

"Sorry... I am here Calm..." <Aaron> 

After hearing Aaron calls her name, she wailed. 

"WAAAAAAA" <Calm> 

Calm wailed burring her face in Aaron's Chest. 

Aaron hugged her tightly as if refusing to let her go ever again. 

  

  

"Uh... What's happening right now?" <Tsuchiya> 

"Du know..." <Nobira> 

"Don't ask me..." <Nikko> 

The others looked at each other watching the two hug each other tightly.