(MC POV)
"And your name is Jack, right?"
The floating eyeball blinked all of its eyes simultaneously, "For Divine One to remember the name of one as insignificant as I… I am honored."
Well, I once entertained the thought of someone named Jack and it's hard to forget a floating eyeball too. Not that I would tell him that, of course.
I nodded at him, "Umu… So what do we have here?"
"You mean the forge, Divine One?"
"Yes, everything going well here?"
A few of its eyes turned to look back at the monsters working on the forges while keeping most of his eyes on me, "It is, Divine One. Almost everyone that is able to have been equipped. We have learnt from our previous fight that we were not prepared enough so we are working to better support Divine One in our next engagements."
"I see, I see… That's good, that's good. I don't suppose you're outfitting everyone as well?"
"A few had declined, saying they had no use for such things. It would make sense since giving them armour and weapons would be of no use, Divine One. But we do have equipment for everyone that requires them in case of anything."
"Oh? Who declined them?"
"The Leviathan, Melody, for one."
Great, so the Leviathan is named Melody, should I even be surprised at this point of time?
Speaking of which, maybe I should pay her a visit and find out how a Leviathan of all things came to be here.
I got her whereabouts from Jack and set off to find her after bidding him good day, giving the monsters who were paying respects to me on the way out a courteous nod as well.
Xun Guan has also been a little quiet all this while and I'm not sure if she's just busy taking the sights in or she's being silent for another reason.
I had wanted to introduce her to everyone too but she had vehemently declined such an action, stating she wasn't ready for it.
Maybe she's just naturally shy or something?
Well, I suppose if there's something she needs, she would tell me.
Following Jack's directions, I found a hall that actually had a large body of water within it. It seems like the monsters had excavated this hole and found an underground water source. Why they were doing it in the first place was the question.
I stepped to the edge of the water, feeling as though I was at sea with how far the water stretched and how deep it seemed to be.
I could see a very faint shadow within the water, slowly drifting around.
"Melody?" I called out, not really sure if it's her or not.
The shadow stopped moving and swam upwards towards me.
It stopped just below the surface for several seconds before the shadow suddenly shot itself up and blasted out of the water, hovering in the air.
"Divine One, well met," A low, rumbling voice echoed, causing the room to shake.
Ah, she's a big girl.
"Well met," I greeted back.
"Divine One was looking for me?" She asked, causing the entire room to quake again from her voice alone.
"Oh, before that. Are you able to do something about your voice? I'm worried you might bring the entire room down on top of us."
"Ah."
The body of the Leviathan glowed and began shrinking down into a ball of light, floating down to land in front of me.
There was a flash of light before a little girl that looked to be a little younger than Cai Hong appeared in front of me, naked.
She had grey skin and had fins instead of ears, there were also a distinct set of gills at either side of her neck and her hands and feet were webbed.
"Divine One," She greeted me in a distinctly childish voice, except her demeanor suggests maturity.
"Hmm… You're naked," I pointed out.
She looked down at herself, "So it seems… Does this bother you, Divine One?"
"Well a little, yes. You're a girl and you look really young."
She smiled at me, "I apologize Divine One. My shapeshifting is one of my weakest abilities and I do not have any clothing to clothe myself with at the moment. I hope you will forgive me."
I sighed and brought out one of Cai Hong's spare clothes that I keep with me, "Use those for the time being."
"You honour me, Divine One."
I turned away and waited for her to dress herself before turning back to her. Huh, with those clothes, she would definitely be mistaken for a normal little girl, ignoring her grey skin and ears.
"So… You were looking for me, Divine One?"
I nodded, "Yes. I was wondering how did you even join us? Or better, what made you join us? I know your kind belongs to the sea and not on land."
She shrugged, "I do not know either. But this body of water you see before you was… Is my home."
"You were already here?"
"That is correct. I do not know how, but when I was born, it was in an isolated underwater cave. I believe Benjamin had sensed me and excavated his way down to me, freeing me from my prison. That's when they told me of Divine One's existence and I have devoted myself to you ever since."
That sounds…. Awfully convenient.
"So being rescued from that place was enough to secure your loyalty to me?" I asked a little cautiously.
Melody tilted her head at me, "You are the Divine One. Why would I be anything but loyal to you? Sure, I had my doubts at first, but the fact that you managed to stand your ground against that demon where I would have no doubt perished… That was enough to wash all my doubts about your divinity away."
Ah, right. They do value strength over everything after all, so it makes sense for her to feel this way.
"I see… In that case, could I ask you for a favour?"
She tilted her head at me, "There is no need to ask, Divine One. All you have to do is command me and I will gladly do your bidding."
I looked at her, "Well, it's hard for me to imagine you as anything but a little girl when you're like this."
Melody looked down at herself, "Ah… I see. I apologize for that, Divine One. Though I'm actually quite young anyway. I'm only two hundred and seventy this year."
I guess that's young for a Leviathan.
"And what is your command, Divine One?" She asked, bringing the topic back.
"Oh, I was just thinking that my cute daughter could use another playmate…"
Hey, she looked so happy with Joanne! Doesn't hurt to give her another one, right?
