Savior! Redemption in Another World! - Chapter 78

“Based on the look on your face, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched does it,” Zerath said, putting the last nail in the coffin.

Given everything Gust told me, adding that little fact makes perfect sense. It would explain his change in behavior towards me and his sudden disappearance.

Noticing that the pieces had all come together in my mind, Stephanie gave a confident, smug, grin.

“See? I told you. That thing is a monster. It’s a miracle that you were even taken in as his son. You’re lucky he had no idea about your heritage, or you would have been abandoned or worse.” She said, enforcing every fear I had lingering in my mind.

Is that, true?

Would he actually do that?

I mean, he did just leave in a hurry and even knocked me out in order to escape unnoticed.

No. He wouldn’t. If he did think of me like that, he wouldn’t have left me a letter made of blinktree parchment. He wouldn’t call me his son and tell me all those things if he didn’t mean them

Gust is a great many things, but he’s a terrible liar.

Steeling my resolve, I met Stephanie’s gaze with a grin and determination of my own.

“No, you’re wrong. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t even come close to abandoning me. Do you know why? Because he does know, and he didn’t. He gave me a letter and invitation back to my home village for whenever I want to return.” I say, letting a bit of mana leak into my voice before I continue my tirade. “If anyone abandoned me, left me for dead, it’s you! You and my meathead of a birth father left me in the woods to die. Gust saved me, which is much more fatherly than anything Damien or you ever did.” I say, my lips curling into a sneer.

“The actions of your father had nothing to do with me! I tried to look for you, I tried to head into the forest with you, but he stopped me!” Stephanie yelled back, mana leaking into her voice as well.

“Oh really? Then how come it took you so long to come and find me huh? Or were you and Damien too busy replacing me.” I said as the look on Stephanie’s face tells me I’ve hit a button I should not have pressed.

“You think I enjoy being with that man! That marriage was nothing more than a ploy by our parents to trap me in this world and tie a chosen one down to my family. The only thing he ever gave me was children, and you’re the only one who took on any of my blood!” Stephanie raged, causing Zerath to step between the two of us.

“Now now, I’d hate to come between such valuable family bonding time, but I think you both need to be careful with your words. Antonio, I understand you have a lot of things to say to your mother, not all of them good, especially after she allowed you to remain in a Tiamat village for so long, but I think you ought to make up with each other. Aside from your siblings still living within the county, she’s the only family you have left.” He said, looking over to Stephanie as he continued to rant.  “And you, Stephy, you’re better than this. Do you really wish to burn the bridge between you and the only child you had that inherited any of your spirit blood? If you cut him off, you may still have your other children, but no Fae.”

“Wait, you left my siblings alone? In charge of an entire county”, I ask, my mouth moving before my brain.

“Yep! After I killed that pig-headed Duke, his children were handed the authority by Stephy, since she agreed to leave with me. Speaking of that Damien guy, he was planning on killing you ya know? He even pleaded with me to help him, saying something about a ‘dread lord’.” Aunt Elandria said, hitting me with one gut punch after another.

Okay, on the ‘dread lord’ thing, he’s probably an emissary, and that’s just what his patron told him, most likely fed his egotistical ass something along the lines of ‘oh Hero, slay this child or he’ll become a Demon Lord’. Weird way to do it, but he did seem like a huge nerd. I mean, who would just speak Korean at a person?

Unless he was Korean…

Maybe this world is making me racist.

“You’re the one who killed him?” I ask, breaking the slightly extended silence.

However, instead of replying, Aunt Elandria simply replied with a laugh.

“That’s what you were thinking about! Good lord, you inherited more of our family’s blood than I originally thought. You sound exactly like your grandfather.” She said, continuing to laugh.

“What’s so funny! You said he was trying to kill me, why would I be upset about him kicking the bucket?” I reply, admittedly a little salty. I mean, I know it’s kinda funny, but you don’t have to laugh in my face.

“I’m sorry, I’m just a little lost here. Who’s Damien? How do you all know him? Antonio, mind filling me in?” Ivy said, taking a seat right next to me with her now fully cooked breakfast.

“Damien is his birth father, as well as one of the Chosen. He was a pig-headed idiot who was apparently trying to kill his own son at the service of some weird god he worshipped. He even had an entire secret room hidden in our manor in order to ‘escape the eyes’ of another strange god. Truly, a maniac in life and death.” Stephanie said, revealing more interesting information about Damien that I had no idea about.

We had a secret room? Also, there’s stuff that can keep Ego’s eyes off me? I need to go home eventually it seems.

“Oh, I see. So that’s why Antonio is so freakishly strong, he’s the son of a Chosen and half wind spirit.” Ivy said, looking down at her plate for a moment, before quickly stabbing her eggs and bringing some into her mouth. “Neat.”

She accepted that rather quickly. However, one thing sticks out to me that I think these people can answer.

“Hey uhh, not to let my ignorance show here, but what’s a ‘chosen’.” I say, adding the air quotes myself.

“Ugh, did those savages neglect to teach you something so basic?” Stephanie said, scoffing.

“To be fair, I also don’t really know what a chosen is.” Flare chimed in, bringing the total amount of confused parties to two.

“I’ll take it from here Stephy,” Zerath said, clearing his throat and re-entering teacher mode.

“A Chosen is a person from a group known as ‘Heroes’. Chosen are children born from a blessed ritual, who are said to be created and blessed by the gods themselves. Through a special ritual, three to five children can be born at once who are ‘Chosen’ by the gods, hence the name. Due to the unique, method of casting, the ritual is highly frowned upon and is reserved for moments in which the Oracles hear a message from above, calling for the ritual using a special phrase only known by the Pope herself. It’s said the last batch of ‘Chosen’ was summoned in order to vanquish a horrible evil from this world, and Damien was one of those who survived the battle and ordeal.” Zerath said as I could feel a cold sweat slowly forming on my brow and under my armpits.

What?

A literal hero summoning.

If Damien was a chosen, aka an emissary or person taken from the earth and brought here by a figure such as Ego, how was I brought here so easily?

I wasn’t summoned with some special ritual, nor was I told anything grand such as me being a ‘chosen’ person.

“What exactly is that method?” I ask, my voice coming out a lot more nervous than I ever intended.

“Ah, it’s a bit grotesque to be discussed at breakfast time. But let’s just say the cost of summoning a batch of chosen is higher than most places are willing to pay on a regular basis.” Zerath explained, now looking down at the breakfast he had begun to cook with a slightly disgusted face.

A-am I an exception to the rule? Or is the entire ritual just some weird thing that some fucked up existence like Ego wanted to force people to do in order to send down ‘helpers’.

Actually, that suddenly sounds much more plausible. Hell, I can imagine a bored Ego inventing some type of weird fucked up ritual out of sheer boredom.

“No need to get so sad or worked up Antonio, as long as all of the chosen are still alive, more can’t be summoned. I highly doubt you’ll ever have to know about, let alone experience, the summoning of any chosen.” Zerath said, walking over and placing his hand on my shoulder, failing to reassure me.

Why did you have to say that? That is such a flag.