"We believe Your Lordship is our Guardian Deity!" A girl in her late teens said in part hurry part excitement.
Before her was a man in his early twenties, sporting reddish-brown hair that resembled spikes of iron that was in the process of melting. His body was somewhat lean but it had a sickly feel to it as if he were a poisoned blade.
'Guardian Deity…huh?' The man thought as he stared at the girl, for a moment unleashing a tinge of killing intent that somewhat terrified her, causing her to be on alert as he spoke, "I don't like to converse in riddles. Whatever you are thinking of, lay it out bare before me."
"Leave nothing aside, including the most insignificant of details."
"Y-Yes, Your Lordship!" The girl trembled like a leaf caught in a gale as she began to recount her village's legend, "Our ancestors disliked war and fled the battlefield. Eventually, they ventured upon Your Lordship's land. And it's only thanks to your blessings that we prospered to this day."
She then recounted every single tale told to her in the village, followed by the economics of the place, the culture, the thoughts of the villagers, and their daily lives. It took her a few hours to tell everything in as much detail as possible, despite only giving the gist of things that had happened.
It wasn't easy to tell generations' worth of history in a mere few hours, after all. But, just this was enough for the individual to understand everything he needed.
'So, the Deities in this world are basically what people worship them to be. Their powers are based on the believers, but at the same time, they can't act out against the core norms that hold up the belief of their followers. Doing so is equivalent to shooting themselves in the foot.' He thought, 'It seems the closest region supported by a Deity is six months away by foot. That's a considerable distance.'
He stared at the sky before nodding in thought, 'The powers of these Deities seem vast. I'm surprised the foundation of this world is strong enough to support that. Or wait…'
He smirked in the end, 'The foundations of all of us were consumed to create this, and that includes Martial.'
He sighed in the end, 'This means it's impossible for me to break out of this world. The power system doesn't seem like it has the means to facilitate such a power creep. That means…'
He massaged his forehead, 'Winning is probably the only mode of escape. No, even if I were to win, there doesn't seem any possibility that I would be able to leave. Maybe being stuck in this world for all eternity is the only option?'
'No, if that's the case, once I finish my task, I need to wait it out long enough until reinforcements arrive from outside to rescue me.' He got up and dusted himself, 'For that to happen, I need to avoid becoming a Deity. I can't afford to be stuck rooted to a region for all my life. I need to proactively hunt Compass before he can grow to be powerful.'
"It's a vast world, huh?" He smiled and patted the girl's head, asking, "Are you living a life of content?"
"Yes, Your Lordship!" The girl bowed in response, "All thanks to your blessings."
"Let's head to the village now." Saying so, he exited the cave, prompting the girl to follow after him.
A couple of minutes later, a bear whimpered as it rushed into the cave, trembling in relief upon seeing its cub alive.
"Why are you this far away from your village? There are even bears here. It's dangerous." The man said once they were almost upon the village.
"Some special herbs grow only in that particular spot, Your Lordship." The girl replied as she showed the herb that she had collected in her basket, "We need this to treat the rashes that break out during the rainy season every year. We ground it into powder and store them for later use."
"I see," The man nodded and then walked past a clearing, gazing at a sprawling village. Immediately, his eyes focused on the people, making a mental tally in an instant, 'There seem to be around five to six thousand villagers. That's a pitiful number to do anything.'
'I see,' He nodded, realising the game at play, 'Even the closest territory with a Deity is six months away on foot, not to mention my enemies. Who knows how many years it might take me just to reach them, not to mention the sheer logistics involved to take up an army until there.'
'It's a very long game, huh.' He understood, gazing at the villagers with an enthusiastic gaze, 'In that case, I don't need such numbers. I can simply start with a handful and increase their numbers over the generation. That way, I can gear them suitably towards my goal.'
"This is our village!" The girl said as the man calmly sauntered into the village, noticing the village head's house as he ignored the gazes of shock and confusion of the villagers and opened the door naturally, despite it being locked.
He entered it and took a seat in the living room, patting the seat next to him as he motioned at the girl, "Come, sit here, child."
"It would be my honour, Your Lordship." The girl did as told as she expressed shyness upon sitting right next to him.
The Village Head rushed into his home in a hurry upon hearing the news, prostrating to the floor immediately upon staring at the seated figure, "We have been expecting Your Lordship's arrival!"
"So it seems." The man nodded, observing the villagers crowding around the house, their ears trained on the conversation occurring within. It was apparent that everyone was curious as to what this supposed Deity of theirs wished to say.
"But," The man suddenly stated with a crisp voice, making everyone feel as if their hearts would leap out of their chest as he spoke curtly, "It seems the legend passed in your village has become horribly twisted over time. That idiot priest of mine,"
He expressed mild irritation, "I had warned him to pass down a written legacy."
