Free Web NovelChapter 7: The Voice of A Goddess
Maeve had never imagined that one day, she would see a monster with her own eyes.
At first, she thought the Cindermaws would look like big, fluffy creatures that could breathe fire, something that looked magical. But the truth was... they looked like giant, disgusting centipedes.
"Don’t get too close to them!" Cerus shouted. He swung his spear to the side, shaking off the sticky green blood from its blade.
But honestly, his body was already covered in that same green blood, and it smelled awful. Even without his warning, Maeve would never go anywhere near those things.
"I’ve killed them, but their bodies are still very hot. It will stay like that for at least a day," Cerus explained.
Maeve quietly watched the hot steam rising from the lifeless Cindermaws into the air. Even though rain had drenched them earlier, their bodies were still extremely hot.
"But the meat tastes really good!" Cerus added with a bright smile, showing the small fangs at the corner of his lips. "These Cindermaws can feed us for a few days. Don’t worry, wife! I’ll save the biggest part just for you. Do you want the head? Or do you prefer the tail?"
The corner of Maeve’s eye twitched. She had absolutely no appetite to try any part of a monster that looked like a centipede.
She couldn’t help but cover her nose as the foul smell from the dead Cindermaws filled the air.
However, what confused her even more than the idea of eating them was how naturally Cerus called her "wife."
They hadn’t even known each other for a day! ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"No... I don’t like its... meat," she said hesitantly, avoiding eye contact with the blue-skinned people.
"You don’t like it?" Ikarus raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "But the meat you ate earlier was also from a Cindermaw."
"What?" Maeve’s eyes widened. "You’re serious?"
Axan was the one who answered, "Yes. The number of animals in this forest has dropped a lot, so most of what we eat now are the wild beasts that are still alive."
That was important information, but honestly, Maeve didn’t feel good hearing it.
"Excuse me for a second," she said. "I think I’m going to be sick."
She quickly turned away and couldn’t stop herself from throwing up as the image of eating that centipede-like creature replayed in her mind.
She shivered in disgust and even scratched her arms, as if she could feel tiny legs crawling all over her skin.
"Is our wife pregnant?!" Cerus suddenly shouted. His golden eyes lit up with excitement. "She just threw up! That’s an early sign of pregnancy, right?!"
Within seconds, the others began to echo his words.
"What? Our savior is pregnant?!"
"This is a miracle!"
"We are saved! We are saved!"
Maeve froze for a second, then quickly waved her hands. "I’m not pregnant!" she shouted. "I’m not pregnant! I just feel sick, that’s all!"
Besides, how could she possibly be pregnant when she hadn’t even had sex with any of them? She was basically like the Virgin Mary!
That was also the reason her co-workers used to joke that she would gain mind-reading abilities if she stayed a virgin until she turned thirty.
"Sick?! You’re sick?!" Cerus’s smile slowly disappeared, and his eyes filled with worry. "We need a healer! Elder Vax, please help my wife!"
Maeve was about to explain, but an old man—probably Vax—hurried over and started checking her. "Goddess, where does it hurt?"
He looked truly worried, and even though he was old, his body was still strong and well-built.
"I’m not that sick," Maeve said, a bit helpless, as he kept moving around her, looking for any sign of injury.
Normally, when he didn’t find any wounds or serious signs of illness, he should have stopped trying to prove that she was sick.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Elder Vax kept thinking of possible reasons, even ones that didn’t make much sense.
"Did you suffer side effects from falling from the heavens into this lowly realm? Yes... that must be it!" he said loudly, then turned to the others.
"Everyone! I think our goddess is sick because she’s not used to the harsh environment here!"
The people of the Azuryn Tribe gasped, as if something terrible had happened.
"No! How can our goddess bless our land with her children if we can’t even take proper care of her?!"
"Maybe this tribe doesn’t deserve a goddess!"
"Our leaders don’t deserve a wife either!"
Alright... that was unexpected.
She had thought that, as leaders, the triplets would be respected, maybe even feared. But the way their people openly complained... it didn’t seem like they were afraid at all.
"We should hunt more wild beasts and give her clean water to drink!" frёewebηovel.cѳm
"Yes! We can’t let her drink rainwater, or she might get even sicker!"
"What about the water from the sacred pond? The spring is drying up, but it should still be enough for our goddess alone!"
"Ah, yes! Her body is weak, so of course she deserves the water from the pond!"
Maeve looked at them in confusion, then spoke quietly to Pinky, "Why don’t they drink the water from the pond?"
Pinky floated around her as it explained, [Just like they said, Host. The spring is slowly drying up. They only use that water for sick people or for their yearly mating ceremony.]
Hearing that, Maeve quickly spoke up. "I’m not sick! I’m really fine!"
She straightened her back and looked at them one by one. "So you don’t need to do all of that for me."
Even though she still felt a little nervous standing in front of them, now that she understood they were just a group of desperate people struggling to survive in a harsh environment, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.
"And also, my name is not Goddess, I’m Maeve!" she said as she realized they had never even asked for her name. "So please call me that."
The people fell silent for a moment, before finally saying, "Goddess Maeve! Why are you so kind to us?!"
"Goddess Maeve must be worried that we don’t have enough water."
A woman suddenly sobbed. "Just as we expected from a goddess..."
Maeve held her cheeks in frustration, then shouted again, "My name is just Maeve!"
"Yes, Goddess Maeve!"
