I, Who Came From the Abyss, Will Save Humanity Again Today - Volume 2 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Departure

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When the first ray of sunlight pierced through the thin mist, dawn slowly drew back its curtain.

I stood in front of the Holy Church’s carriage with Carlos, carrying a small bundle, while Grandma Claire and Barry, with his gloomy expression, came to see us off.

“…You must take the main road, don’t try to save time by taking shortcuts, you’ll run into bandits,” Grandma said while helping me smooth out the wrinkles in my clothes, “Your cloak, I washed it clean and put it in your bundle, along with your favorite fruit-filled pastries, you can eat them when you get hungry on the road.”

“I know, Grandma.”

“Sir Carlos, I’ll leave Little Syl in your care for now. Although I’m just an old woman who can’t understand what you’re going to do! But you’re an important person, and no matter how important she is to you all, she’s still young, so please be patient with her in many things. This old woman only hopes that she can stay healthy and happy…”

Grandma Claire held my hand, her eyes full of reluctance.

Actually, from the first moment she saw Little Syl, she understood that she was different from them, destined not to stay in such a small place forever, just didn’t expect the parting would come so soon. Grandma Claire truly loved this well-behaved and beautiful girl, but now it was time to part, and she would be going with a legendary hero to do things she couldn’t even imagine.

Little Syl was so capable, and naturally, she was happy for her in her heart, but the lingering emptiness in her heart was hard to bear.

“Don’t worry, ma’am.”

Carlos rarely put on a serious face as he nodded slightly to the elderly woman before him.

“Grandma, go back now, I’m leaving.”

I gazed longingly at Grandma’s wrinkled face, took a deep breath to suppress my emotions, gave her a gentle smile, then lifted my foot to climb into the carriage.

“Sylvia!” The previously silent youth, seemingly having finally made some kind of determination at the last moment, spoke slowly with a resolute expression, “I know you must know many impressive, excellent people… maybe in your eyes, I’m just an immature boy who really, really doesn’t catch your attention.”

In the sunlight, the youth’s body was tense, his voice trembling, his gaze drifting slightly towards Carlos, somewhat unfocused, before gathering courage.

“Although I’m very unwilling… very unwilling. But with you leaving like this, not knowing if we’ll meet again, there are some words that I won’t give up if I don’t say them… I, actually I wanted to say from the first time I saw you, I, I, I…”

The youth clenched his fists, stammering “I” for a long time, finally sighed, looking frustrated and red-faced as he lowered his head, not daring to meet my gaze anymore.

“…You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen! There, I’ve said what I wanted to say, you can go now.”

Still couldn’t say what he really wanted to say… but, this is fine. Next time, if there is a next time, I’ll tell her properly. Before that, I need to become outstanding enough.

At this moment, determination shone in the youth’s eyes.

“Barry, thank you.” I smiled gently.

How could I not see the feelings harbored in the youth’s heart. However… such things, it’s impossible to accept, no matter how excellent he becomes, it’s impossible, or rather it’s not even about that at all.

Although my body has become female, that was unavoidable, but if I were to actually engage in romance and whisper sweet words with a man…

Ugh——

A shiver ran through my whole body as I quickly escaped into the carriage.

“Well then, until we meet again.”

Carlos made a rather gentlemanly bow to the two, turned around and also got into the carriage, sitting down across from me.

The carriage slowly began to move forward.

I stuck out my little head to look back at the familiar village once more. It was the first place that accepted me in this strange world, where people who loved me were.

“Grandma, I will, come back!”

My eyes felt a bit sour as I waved my little hand vigorously at Grandma and Barry until I could no longer see their figures.

Secretly wiping my eyes, I sat back in the carriage to see Carlos staring at me with a strange smile across from me.

“What are you smiling at?” I said irritably.

“I can’t even smile?”

Carlos put on an exaggerated expression.

“…No.”

I glared at him fiercely, wanting him to know I was in a very bad mood right now, so don’t provoke me. But it seemed to have the opposite effect, as Carlos smiled even more strangely.

“What, feeling attached?”

“None of your business.”

I didn’t want to discuss this topic with him, because I felt like I would cry if we continued talking about it.

Since my body changed to this state, some things have been changing unconsciously. Originally, I had a fairly rational and calm personality, always able to make decisions rationally without being swayed by emotions. But now I’ve become particularly emotional, getting angry easily, blushing frequently, and wanting to cry when sad.

Most terrifying is that I’ve started noticing many things I never would have cared about before, like disliking dirty things, liking pretty clothes, wanting to eat delicious food, being unable to look away from shiny objects, and feeling very happy when people compliment my appearance.

This white dress with lace trim that I’m wearing was given to me by Carlos, and both its overall design and material quality are much prettier than the linen casual wear I wore in the village. Although I don’t want to admit it, when I put it on, the excitement in my heart was quite obvious.

These thoughts, like those of a young girl who hasn’t grown up, have been becoming increasingly strong as time passes.

The changes in personality fill me, a straight man, with deep despair, yet there’s nothing I can do about it. Emotions are something that can only be restrained, not controlled.

For example, right now I really want to punch that guy with the nasty smile in the face, really really want to.

So that’s exactly what I did.

Bang——

“Ouch——” Carlos let out a cry of pain, holding half his face in shock, “Why did you hit me?”

“Just felt like it.”

I nimbly dusted off my little hands, feeling much better.

“…So willful? Can I hit back?”

“You dare!”

I immediately widened my eyes, glaring angrily at the man before me.

“…Alright, I’m a gentleman, and gentlemen don’t hit women.”

After a few seconds of staring, Carlos surrendered with raised hands. I let out a light snort, raising my neck haughtily like a proud swan.

“Where to next?”

“Forsel, the Holy Church’s headquarters within the Sylgaria Republic, where His Holiness the Pope will receive you and bestow upon you the honor of Pontifical Knight and rewards.”

“Lots of gold coins?”

“…Is that all you care about?”

The Carlos before me was dumbfounded, looking somewhat incredulous with exaggeration. Seeing this, I knew I’d embarrassed myself again, my face slightly heating up as I quickly changed the subject.

“What does, a Pontifical Knight, need to do?”

Then I saw Carlos cover his face again, looking as if my stupidity had struck him.

“I think I should first teach you some common knowledge, otherwise there might be quite a few embarrassing moments… Pontifical Knight is just a title, it’s the highest honor in our human society, it doesn’t belong to any knightly order’s organization. Therefore, no one except yourself can decide your actions. You don’t need to bow to anyone, and in some special circumstances, even kings must obey your commands, because you represent the entire Holy Church. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“…Of course. Don’t treat me, like an idiot.”

In this world’s understanding, God is not an intangible faith, but a definite existence. There are the Bountiful Mother Goddess who governs nature, the God of Wisdom who maintains world balance, the Goddess of Sin who constrains good and evil, and so on. The Holy Church, as the existence closest to the gods, bestows endless grace upon humanity through great miracles, and is an institution that transcends nations.

In a sense, the king is just a high-level administrator who governs the people on behalf of the church, similar to a CEO position, while the church is like the major shareholder behind it. Therefore, the significance of representing the entire church is self-evident.

These most basic things, I do know.

“Aren’t you just an idiot?”

“Kagus, you dare say that again?”

“It’s Carlos… come on, read it with me, Ca-r-los… can’t you call my name properly?”

Carlos looked at me seriously, but of course I wouldn’t actually read along with him, that would be too stupid.

“Will we, live in, Forsel?”

“No, after the knighting ceremony is completed, I’ll take you to the Royal Academy in Isenbell, you need to learn the basic knowledge of Order Power.”

“What? Order… Power?”

“Your ability, besides the Chaos Power of the Abyss, you can also use ice power, right? This is Order Power… damn, do I need to explain everything from the beginning?”

I nodded. No one had been able to teach me these things, and I had been figuring things out on my own all along, there were indeed too many things I didn’t understand.

“Tch, what a pain…” Carlos impatiently brushed his hair aside before continuing, “Normally speaking, life can control three types of power. The first is Body Refinement Power, simply put it’s physical power, which any living being possesses, but different species have different upper limits, just like how humans can never have greater strength than dragons no matter how much they train their muscles, this is easy to understand. The second is Faith Power, which is God’s gift to humans, and can only be used by the Holy Church as miracles. And the third, Order Power, is the power to drive rules, using natural laws for one’s own use, which is also the most important type for you.”

Although Carlos’s face was full of reluctance, I sat up straight like an elementary school student, listening to the lecture with complete seriousness.

“This world is composed of six primary sources: fire, water, earth, wood, wind, and thunder, they have the most basic operating rules, I don’t need to elaborate on this for you, right? What you need to know is that a few extremely gifted humans will develop a close relationship with one of these sources, then harness them for their own use, like my Thunder Order. And sometimes, the sources might undergo variation and fusion, becoming new rules, like your Frost Order. Just considering Body Refinement Power, humans are considered a rather fragile race, which is why Order and Faith are particularly important…”

“Clop clop——”

The carriage carried the bearded swordsman with his impatient expression and the young girl listening intently to the lecture along the path, stirring up dust.

And so, the story begins here.