When The Cute Godkiller Opens A Tavern [OP Mentor, SoL, LitRPG]

"Only when the world stops, do people like us finally have a chance to think. And when we breathe again, it reminds time that the world has to keep on spinning." ~Apple, when she could still speak

The next morning, Shallies found Valor'el already wide awake, as always. This time however, the seraph stood at the other end of the hallway, past the stairs and near the window. He was talking to someone through his System Console. And as expected once again, he noticed her presence almost immediately.

"Phey'lan," he explained after saying his goodbyes.

"She must be worried," Shallies said, making her way towards the stairs, but stopping just in front of Valor'el. "I had to pull you from your duties."

The seraph sighed and shook his head. "Not at all, Lady Shallies. Securing Arun'dul is also part of my duty. As for Phey'lan's worry, I would say, not likely. We decided to give each other some space a long while ago."

"That doesn't mean she's not thinking about you, you know? You don't spend time together without developing some sort of attachment." Shallies eyed the seraph, who decided not to comment.

"Why did you separate, though?" she asked, preventing the atmosphere from turning awkward.

He shrugged this time, his pair of feathered wings moving along with his shoulders. He had not stretched them for a while now, keeping it hidden when in other people's company or outside the house. It was better this way in order not to startle anyone who happened to be passing by.

"Since we weren't getting kids until our Divine Mandate was released, we didn't have a reason to be together all the time. She has her dreams, I have my responsibilities. We promised each other we would let the other know if our hearts found another one."

"Did she?"

"Fortunately, I haven't heard such ill news."

"Did you?"

"That would be an impossibility, Lady Shallies. The only reason I couldn't become a Godkiller is because the Great Sacrifice demanded of me was giving away my capability to love someone."

"I see," Shallies said. She considered apologizing, but it would sound disrespectful coming from someone of her position. She had delivered the Mandate in order to protect them in the first place. "Mind if I ask why you called her, then?"

"I told her about your plan to gather and monitor all the orphans," he replied, smiling now that the topic was something more palatable to him. "She instantly wanted to be a part of it. Told me she had fulfilled enough of her ambitions."

"You going to try and see if that can rekindle your fire?"

"Part of it, yes. I'm sure she's still agreeable to it. To us. But also, I'm absolutely sure that I can't handle kids on my own. I have not trained for it. It feels like skipping steps and adding new ones, complicated ones, for us to become a family."

"Well, you can start with that one over there." Shallies pointed behind her, towards Arun'dul's current room.

Valor'el agreed. "Yes. I'll go check his condition. You mentioned something about going to town, yes?"

"Yeah, but stay here for now. Until Arun'dul wakes up, we can't afford to leave him alone. I can monitor him from afar, but I'd rather have someone close at all times."

"Agreed."

Shallies headed down the stairs to prepare breakfast and meals for everyone who would be spending time in her home today, but she quickly looked back to the seraph heading for the unconscious boy. Her next words felt foreign, but she said them with a silent joy, realizing that it would be a normal thing she had to get used to soon.

"Did you want something from town, though? I can check for you, if you want. Aside from the cowblinks, I mean."

"Something to drink other than tea or coffee, perhaps." Valor'el didn't even notice anything as he bid her safe travels.

Shallies smiled as she walked down the stairs, giggling to herself. The entire conversation sounded nothing like how high-leveled adventurers that fought gods would talk to each other.

Shallies tried one of Catelyn's recipes, or at least, she experimented with one.

Vinegar-Braised Pork. Simply studying the recipe, Shallies knew it was lacking in a lot of things. The flavor would turn out unbalanced. Something this sour would not be palatable for everyone, especially when considering meat. Not to mention the lack of color it would have. Still, out of all of the recipes Catelyn had left for her, this was the simplest one.

In the end, the only addition Shallies could think about was balancing the amount of vinegar used in the recipe with some soy sauce and a bit of sugar. It would have to do, at least for now. The end result was acceptable—confirmed by Yor'ylin, Danilo, and Valor'el—but as far as the Chef was concerned, a full revision of the recipe was needed.

"Well, let me know if there's something you want to add to the recipe," Shallies told them. "I have some bread left by the counter. I'll just buy a new batch on my way back."

"Thank you, Shallies," Yor'ylin said. "We'll finish up everything today and give you a tour."

The Builder's face told of genuine excitement for the food. It was new, and at the very least, it was edible. The Chef took that as good enough of a sign to continue experimenting.

As simple as that, she and Apple headed for Cinterbrim town.

Today, the two decided to take the forest path from her backyard. With Apple's encouragement, Shallies went slowly, walking while appreciating the view. The last time they went through this path, they had just been through the town, excited to experiment on their acquired ingredients. Now, however, they could take their time.

She looked to the right and saw the view south of the forest path, which Shallies now named as Catelyn Road. It showed a small bank in the distance that eventually led to what she assumed was the river. She remembered that it was moderately wide, with mild to strong currents flowing eastward, but the name eluded her. She made a mental note to visit it later down the line when she had the time.

Unfortunately, she couldn't see the river from here. Fortunately, even just the horizon itself was beautiful enough.

Wild animals grazed upon the land. Trees scattered throughout gave homes to little critters and birds. It represented everything calm and peaceful in the world. True, it didn't match the other wonders Ysvil had to offer, from glacial volcanoes spewing explosive ice crystals, to a giant turtle in the sky with a country on its back. But this tranquility, this slowness in front of her, that was rare to find. It was usually the first to vanish whenever a god turned mad.

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Shallies caught herself just standing there, her breath held at the simple marvel before her. Her Soul Confidant was there, just watching as well. For some reason, their connection began to ache. She took the fairy into her hands, wiping away her tears.

It was a delay, she realized. Probably it was this view, where almost nothing was happening, that had made them both realize that they had not truly taken a break at all. They had been recuperating since Schooner had brought them to their new home. Despite their Skills for recovering mana and energy, not once had they been actually fully, naturally rested at all. Not until now.

Awareness of the self, and utterance of words, were too removed compared to the actual experience. To just stop and stay still. To let the time pass without any thought of consequence. To be one with tranquility and ignore everything else.

Shallies stayed there for a while. Just standing. Allowing for their new reality to sink in.

"It's not so bad," she whispered. "I don't think I'll ever tire of this view."

Apple silently agreed. Only when the two were satisfied did they finally move on.

Catelyn Road reconnected to the main path at the end, leading Shallies directly to the main gates of Cinterbrim Town. The guards didn't recognize her, but she provided them with proper permits, courtesy of Mayor Schooner. They gave her a nod and allowed her to pass through.

Shallies and Apple were still basking in their new feeling of peace, so they decided to take a roundabout path towards the Adventurer's Guild Hall. Instead of heading towards the market area, they took the road circling around the residential area, where houses upon houses stood side by side.

Kids frolicked on the streets, playing war games or tag, or whatever else the children did to pass the time before lunch. Soon, some of these little fellows would be preparing to properly chase their dreams, while some would be forced to take more practical things.

For now, let the children be…

Adults were not much different, as far as Shallies was concerned. In fact, they probably had it worse. Some still played games, but they now involved bits. Wagers upon wagers until one of them completely lost their savings, or worse, drowned in all sorts of debts. Those that had better to do were nowhere to be found on the streets.

Shallies didn't mind the laziness of these people. To find joy in leisure was not a bad thing if taken moderately. At one point in her life, she had wanted to do anything else but work. For a Godkiller, that was equivalent to a death sentence. Not just her own, but billions of lives as well. Now was a different case. There was no need for her to enforce her authority. No god to kill. She was free to do whatever she wanted, at least until the next Divine War showed its signs.

As she made her way towards a final turn before heading to the Guild Hall in earnest, Shallies saw an old woman carrying some groceries. The woman looked frail, her steps were a crawl, and her back had craned forward to a perpetual bow. Worse, she was carrying paper bags full of heavy produce. Sure, a lot of groceries was a good thing, but for this old woman and her back, this was tantamount to torture.

Shallies made her way and lifted the bags.

The old woman spared a surprised glance, but she observed before she reacted. When she saw Shallies wasn't going anywhere, she smiled.

"Bless you, dear, but say something before you take someone else's purchases. You gave my heart a small fright."

"Ah," Shallies mentally tapped her head. "Apologies, ma'am. I was more worried about you breaking your back. I'll be careful next time."

"Bah! I can carry twice more if I really wanted to!" The woman proclaimed her stubbornness, but she didn't take back the groceries when she continued walking. "But still, I appreciate your help. Youngsters these days are too busy to care for us old people."

"No kids to help you out?" Shallies asked, following the old woman.

"One. He and his wife are risking their lives on a raid quest down in the Southern Fissures."

Shallies remembered the place, and the fact that Mayor Schooner's son also went there on the same raid quest.

"That was a month ago," she said. "You've been on your own for a month?"

"It's not a problem, lass," the old woman said. "Us old folks don't want to bother the young ones. Being a burden is the last thing we want, you know? Holding back our kids from achieving their dreams, that would be the worst failure a parent could ever have."

The old woman paused and stopped walking.

"I just wish his dreams didn't involve risking his life so much." She turned towards a moderately large house. "This is my stop, lass. Care to join me for some tea?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, ma'am. I have some things to take care of." Shallies smiled. It didn't take much for her to understand that the old lady was lonely. While she wanted to help, it would not do well for her to give a hand to everyone in need.

"I see, I see," said the old lady. "It's quite alright. There's always next time."

After leaving the groceries on the doorstep, Shallies went on her way to the Guild Hall.

The Hall was vast. Enormous mana-lamps lit the structure, historical paintings decorated the walls, and curtains boasted the El'doron Kingdom colors of red and gold. Small plants added life to the establishment, along with more decorations that were pleasing to the eye.

Tables and chairs were set in neat rows, but these were not meant primarily for dining. Sure, there were some drinks and snacks available for adventurers, but these spaces were used mainly for accounting of sorts. Or for the rare, great gatherings whenever a complicated quest—or quests—was involved.

An adventuring party of three was at one of these tables. With them was one of the officiating Quest Handlers and their Quest Client. On the table were a bunch of materials and carcasses in containers tight enough to prevent any odor from filling the Hall.

Shallies looked around more. She ignored the obviously large Quest Board, with a bunch of papers on it referencing various quests. It wasn't as filled in as compared to the cities of El'doron Kingdom, where some had two or more boards to accommodate all the available quests. Regardless, these Quest Boards were mainly for symbolism and records now that someone was able to integrate these to any adventurer's System Console with an official Badge.

Still, Shallies appreciated the fact that these traditions had been kept up even to this day.

The two reception counters were empty. Based on her past experiences with the bank of this town, this was to be expected. It meant Shallies had to wait for the current party's transaction to finish before she could inquire about her request. She didn't mind. It looked like there were no other people around anyway.

Shallies helped herself to some coffee, while Apple took some tea. The coffee tasted different from what she had back home. She assumed this was the common flavor for this town, since it had the same taste at Mayor Schooner's house.

With their drinks made, the two waited at one of the free tables, observing the party settle their deal with the client.

"I asked for five stonehorns, my friends," the client complained. "You only have three. My quest requirements indicated a full provision. I can't make do with just these three."

"What about the crolikins?" A guy in full-plate armor asked, pointing to the carcasses. "We have exactly four here like you asked."

"I can take them, but I'm not marking your quest as completed." The client held up a hand. "Would you rather have a failed quest, or get me my remaining stonehorns? I'm willing to wait until the end of the day."

"What?!" a smaller adventurer yelled, slamming the table. She furiously rapped at it while she kept talking. "Do you know how hard it is to find them out here? Even the nearest dungeon or nearest ruins will take half a day by carriage! Back and forth, those cost more than your quest reward!"

"I don't much care how you get my stonehorns," said the client, standing his ground. "I made proper documentations for what I need, and it's crucial that I get them all in one go. I can't go around waiting for two stonehorns! No one would take on a quest like that. That's why I added more things in the first place! And despite your complaints, miss, I'm paying handsomely."

This time, the third adventurer, a brooding, muscular man, stepped forward. He leaned close to the client with a frown so curled that it looked like he was possessed. The two party members behind him backed away.

"Give us the quest complete," he said simply, voice rumbling deep. He held his axe in both hands.

At this point, the Quest Handler stepped in, her hands forwards, trying to make distance between the brute and the client.

"Please, no violence in the Hall. It's not right," she said. She wore a long maid uniform, complete with an apron, gloves, and a frilly headdress. "The client reserves the right to withhold your quest completion. Under the Code of Conduct of Adventurers, each quest must be completed according to the client's wishes as documented on the Quest Board. There is no point in documenting, recording, and allowing adventurers to choose these quests in the first place if you only comply with what you're comfortable with."

The brute stayed quiet the entire time. Even the others behind him listened. Even the client. But there was no mistaking the brute's face when he raised his axe, intent on making it fall through the Quest Handler.

In a flash, Shallies stomped on the axe's flat, kicking it out of the Wroth Fell's grip as he swung down. The weapon flew across the Hall, creating a loud clang as everyone came to a pause. She landed in front of the Quest Handler.

"Hey…" The semi-retired Godkiller's eyes met the brute's. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"