God of Assassination, Become the Strongest Healer - chapter 8

When I was born as Pagan Claudius, there was a quick connection between us, but since it was so brief, I think my first real meeting with him was six years ago. At first, he appeared as a fire. I believe it was about four years ago, which was two years after we met, when he came to see me in his current shape instead of as a flame. He told me, “You should feel lucky because I have chosen to show you my true form.”

One rainy autumn day, he came to see me, saying this was who he was. After that, he started coming by more often. At first, he came about once a week, but then it changed to every three days, then every other day, and soon he was coming every day. Now, six years later he  lives here without asking, as if he feels no guilt at all.

And now, six years later, he’s taken over my place without permission, as if he has no sense of guilt whatsoever.

“Ah, only three left now. Guess I’ll lick up the crumbs first.”

His soft, pink tongue gently brushed over the silk pouch.

It’s been a long six years, a half-cohabitation that could be boring if you look at it one way. But over all this time together, with all the frequent visits, I’ve managed to uncover a few things about this miniature tiger.

“Chew, ugh… just two remaining now…”

First, he has an incredibly beautiful coat of golden fur. I can guarantee no silk in this world could shine as brightly or as softly as his fur. Just looking at it is dazzling, and when you touch it, it’s soft and fluffy beyond belief.

On top of that, he never sheds, so my bedroom stays perfectly clean—lucky for me.

“Crunch… sniff… down to the last one.”

Second, he’s chatty, loves snacks, and has a huge ego. From the stories he occasionally shares about his past, it seems he’s been around here in Espetarra for quite a long time. If I had to put a timeline on it, he was probably hanging around even back when I was famous as the god of assassins in a past life.

The funny thing is, you’d never get the sense he’s been around that long from the way he acts. Every time he grumbles, I think to myself, It’s only tolerable because you look so cute. If you  looked like you’d been around for hundreds of years but still acted like this… that’d be a nightmare.

Gulp “Ah, it’s a shame it’s over, but at least it was fun while it lasted.”

“Why not! I had a great meal today, so I’ll give you a proper review this time.”

With a full belly, he fluttered his wings and came over to me. I reached out to place my hand on his head, which was brimming with cuteness and had not a trace of dignity.

The third thing I’d learned about him was this:

“Let’s start. I’ll properly evaluate the progress from today’s practice!”

He knows more about Angelus than anyone else and has a close connection with Claudius’s founder, Orpheus Claudius.

“Hmm, hmm. Judging by the flow, you haven’t just been slacking off. The mana flow has gotten much smoother lately.

His whiskers twitched next to his round nose as he sent a cool energy into me. He was giving me a small dose of mana to check how I was doing. Since we first met six years ago, he has regularly checked my health and how I’m doing with Angelus. 

“The mana pathway is tilting to the left. You noticed that too, right? You need to work on balancing it. Right now, there’s not a lot of mana flowing, so it’s not urgent, but if you ignore it, it could become a bigger problem later.”

The main idea is circles. Remember that the basic shape should be a circle. As long as the flow you create stays circular, don’t worry too much. If the circle stays complete, the structure will be fine. He was usually whiny and loved snacks, but this time he was very serious about helping me. His advice was really useful, and I know I wouldn’t have learned Angelus so quickly without his support.

“Hmm… but something’s strange.”

“What is?”

“Everything’s flowing smoothly, and I don’t see any issues, but… there’s this lingering chill I keep picking up. What could it be?”

“A chill?

After he finished checking things, he tilted his head in confusion while I acted calm and pretended not to know anything. The cold feeling he noticed came from Arkai. Arkai is hard for most people to see because it’s organized uniquely and differs from regular mana methods. However, with his keen senses, he could catch that slight coldness in the blood moving through the mana rings of Angelus.

He may look like a round little dinner roll, but you have to hand it to him—he’s sharp.

Repeating “Strange, strange,” he kept twitching his whiskers in confusion. I casually tossed out a comment, avoiding his gaze.

I guess I’m just a bit more distant than others. 

“Oh, really? Well, it doesn’t seem to be a big issue. Plus, you can be pretty heartless sometimes, you know. Haha!” 

Fortunately, even though he is very observant, he is easygoing and never asks too much about it. 

“I’m full now. I feel sleepy.”

With his meal and inspection duties done, he flopped onto my bed, rubbing his round belly with his two pairs of wings, fully enjoying his full stomach.

Guess he  is one of the spirit beasts on this island, huh?

Usually, I’d just toss him a silk handkerchief to use as a blanket and go back to my o tasks. But since I’d talked to Lana about spirit beasts earlier in the day, a curiosity about him suddenly bubbled up.

It’s been years since we started this semi-cohabitation arrangement, yet I still didn’t know what he  was. For some reason, it always felt like too much of a hassle to dig into his background.

Of course, given his chatty and braggy nature, I figured if I asked him seriously about his identity, he’d probably give me an answer.

“Ahh… I’m full, and with my back nice and warm and the bed so soft, this feels great. Hehe.”

But in the end, I decided against it. If I grabbed that golden ball of fluff, who was rolling around on the bed wrapped up in the handkerchief, and asked him seriously about his identity, I’d probably get a response like:

“Hehehe, I knew it. You acted like you weren’t curious, but in the end, you wanted to know, didn’t you? I knew it! Alright! Since you’re so desperate to know my identity, I’ll tell you just for you!”

No. I can’t let that happen.

It was wiser to live with a little curiosity than to deal with that overly confident, pompous attitude of his. And honestly, there were a few clues that could hint at his true identity.

He always stuck to this mysterious principle of not revealing his identity unless I begged him, but there were little hints dropped in his speech that could point to it.

“For real, this is something even Orpheus himself acknowledged! Your great-grandfather said it! Really!”

“This is something Orpheus himself had trouble with, but you? Heh, do you think you can handle it?”

Stuff like that, for example.

He often mentioned the name of Orpheus, the founder of our family, and through his way of speaking, I could vaguely guess his true identity.

“He’s probably one of the spirit beasts from Espetarra who’s been with Orpheus since he made this island the land of Claudius. The problem is, this guy has traits that are completely different from the other spirit beasts…”

There were a decent number of spirit beasts on Espetarra, but not one of them could speak human language, nor was there any spirit beast that couldn’t be seen by anyone except me. And this guy was the only one with such a deep understanding of Angelus that he acted as a tutor for the heirs of the family.

“Ah, right, and next week is ‘Eternal Day,’ right?”

Just as I was piecing together my thoughts about his identity, he suddenly asked a question.

“How does a guy who thinks about food all day even know about that?”

“Well, of course I know. You think there’s something is going on on this island that I don’t know about? No, wait, more importantly, what do you think I am, that I think about food all day?!”

“What do I think? I think you’re a winged dog.”

“What! A dog?!”

“If you don’t like ‘dog,’ should I call you a flying roll bun instead?”

“Stop talking nonsense and answer seriously. You think the Eternal Forest is some kind of joke or game?”

“I know exactly what the Eternal Forest is.”

“Hey, don’t get so mad.”

As I softly petted the little creature that puffed up and floated away, I took out the schedule from the drawer with my other hand. In big letters in the middle of the schedule, it said “Eternal Day.” I was playfully teasing him, enjoying how annoyed he looked, but the visit to the Eternal Forest next week was the most important event of the year that everyone in Espetarra was getting ready for.

“Eternal Day.”

It’s the day when the heirs of the family enter the Eternal Forest, the sacred ground of Espetarra, and choose their lifelong spirit beast companion. It’s the most important event in all of Claudius.

When you think about how the spirit beasts living in Espetarra affect the island’s wellbeing, it’s easy to understand why everyone cares so much about Eternal Day.

“I remember Dad saying that when he rode on Belorus’ back and came out of the Eternal Forest, the people living along the coast cheered. He said that if he became the head of the family, we wouldn’t have to worry about damage from the waves for a while.”

The spirit beasts living across Espetarra each used their unique abilities to protect the island.My father’s friend, Belorus, looked like a big black bear and was great at building breakwaters. He helped keep the island safe from typhoons. Then there’s Esanti, the one I liked better during afternoon tea (the one that made Lana upset, saying “No way!”). Esanti helped protect the people from sudden large fires.

If a big fire started in the Espetarra Forest, the people wouldn’t need to worry. Esanti could use his long nose to suck up seawater and spray it out to put out the fire quickly. Each spirit beast had its special powers to protect and keep peace in Espetarra. The “Eternal Day” ceremony was a way to remind everyone of the old agreement between the spirit beasts and the humans, making sure their connection stayed strong.

In the past, when a descendant of Orpheus entered the sacred area, a spirit beast that matched their personality would appear and promise to be their companion. This promise lasts until the contractor dies or brings shame to the name of Claudius. If the contractor becomes the family leader, the spirit beast will gain much more power during that time than other spirit beasts.So, depending on which spirit beast a candidate for head of the family contracts with, and who among the candidates is ultimately chosen as the head, the policies of Espetarra could change. That’s why there’s so much attention on Eternal Day.

“So, which spirit beast do you want to contract with?”

“I haven’t  thought about it yet.”

“Hey! The contract’s next week and you still haven’t thought about it?”

“Well, it’s not like I can just choose, so what’s the point in stressing about it now? Right now, I’m just thinking that I’ll be grateful for whatever spirit beast comes my way. Besides, it’s not like every contract goes through anyway.”

“Well, I’ve heard that sometimes a spirit beast won’t accept you and will reject you, you know?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! No way would happen to you… Hmm, well, I guess it could happen.”

The expression on his face clearly showed he knew something. It made my suspicion that this guy was also a spirit beast more likely, so I locked eyes with the fluffy creature and said,
“Why don’t you just do it? I mean, at this point, I’d rather stay with someone familiar someone like you, my little puppy, instead of making a new friend.”

―”I can’t do it.”

“Really?”

―”Yep.”

The fluffy ball didn’t even get upset at being called a puppy; it just turned its head. I tossed it aside without hesitation.
“See? It’s not like I get to decide anyway. I guess I’ll just have to wait.

The creature flew up to the ceiling, then changed direction in the air and landed beside my head. I shut my eyes. I thought, “Whatever, I’ll just ignore it.” With my eyes closed, I could feel the soft fur of the creature by my nose more clearly, and the night went on, just a week before I met the spirit beasts.