The Laziest God Mortal Reincarnation

"Fine. Continue."

She tapped the route again.

"Once you reach human-controlled territory, don’t hide your identity unless Nyra believes revealing it would put you in greater danger."

I nodded slowly.

"If they’re soldiers from your kingdom, your name should prevent them from immediately attacking."

"Should?"

"Nothing involving frightened soldiers and weapons is guaranteed."

Wonderful.

She pointed toward my storage ring.

"And do not immediately show them the letters."

"Why?"

"Because most of them can’t open the seals anyway, and displaying confidential beastkin correspondence to every soldier you encounter defeats the purpose of confidential correspondence."

"...Fair."

"You tell them you have diplomatic messages intended for someone with an SS-ranked core or higher."

"And if they don’t believe me?"

"Then prove who you are."

I paused.

"How?"

Lyssairia stared at me.

I stared back.

Then realization arrived.

"My Vortex identification crest."

"There you go."

I sighed.

"I knew that."

"You clearly didn’t."

"I was testing you."

"Of course."

Her finger moved away from the map.

"There’s something else."

I waited.

"If you become separated from the others, don’t try to find them."

That made me frown.

"What?"

"Don’t search for them."

"What if they’re injured?"

"Al."

Her voice became firm.

"They know this territory. You don’t."

I fell silent.

"If you’re separated because of an attack, wandering around looking for them only creates another person they have to find."

"But if someone needs healing—"

"They know you’re a healer."

She leaned forward, both hands resting against the table.

"If they need you and can reach you, they will."

Her golden eyes held mine.

"If they can’t, then running blindly into danger won’t help them."

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t particularly like that rule.

Probably because I knew she was right.

Lyssairia noticed.

"Your instinct to heal people is useful."

I raised an eyebrow.

That sounded suspiciously close to praise.

"But?"

"But you’re still twelve."

There it was.

"And your healing doesn’t make you invincible."

"I have Mana Aegis."

"And one week ago, you couldn’t dodge a wooden sword."

"...You really know how to ruin a moment."

"I’m making sure you remember."

She tapped my forehead with one finger.

"Your barrier is a final defense, Al. Not permission to behave stupidly."

I rubbed my forehead.

"I don’t behave stupidly."

"You blocked one of my attacks with your face."

"We already discussed that."

"It deserves repeated discussion."

"It happened once."

"Three times."

"The other two were tactical."

"They were mistakes."

"Tactical mistakes."

Lyssairia closed her eyes.

For a moment, she looked like she was asking some higher power for patience.

Unfortunately for her, I had once been one of those higher powers.

And patience had never been one of my specialties either.

Eventually, she exhaled.

"There’s one final thing."

She reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out a small object.

She tossed it toward me.

I caught it.

Barely.

It was a small wooden token, no larger than two fingers, carved into the shape of a cat’s head.

A thin line of golden mana ran through its centre.

I turned it over.

"What is this?"

"A clan token."

I looked at her.

"Yours?"

"Mine."

That surprised me.

Lyssairia pointed toward it.

"If you become separated and encounter beastkin belonging to one of the neutral factions, show them that."

I examined the little token again.

"What will it do?"

"Prove that you’re travelling under the protection of the Cat faction."

I blinked.

"A human?"

"Yes."

"Carrying the personal token of the Cat faction leader?"

"Yes."

I stared down at it.

"That sounds politically inconvenient for you."

"It is."

I looked back up.

"Then why give it to me?"

Lyssairia didn’t answer immediately.

Her ears twitched once.

Then she looked away.

"Because I’d rather deal with political inconvenience than hear that you got yourself killed three days after leaving."

I stared at her.

She noticed.

"What?"

A slow smile formed on my face.

"Nothing."

"Al."

"You care about me."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I tolerate you."

"You gave me your personal faction token."

"For practical reasons."

"You trained me for an entire week."

"Because you were incompetent."

"You prepared a map."

"So you wouldn’t get lost."

"You just admitted you’d rather suffer political consequences than let me die."

Her tail snapped behind her.

"Would you like that final lesson to become physical again?"

I immediately looked down at the token.

"This is a very beautiful carving."

"That’s what I thought."

I slipped it carefully into my storage ring.

Despite myself, I smiled.

Lyssairia was difficult.

Violent.

Impatient.

Completely incapable of expressing concern like a normal person.

But somewhere between being thrown into the dirt, struck with wooden weapons, insulted repeatedly, and told that surviving counted as my reward...

I had grown to like her.

A little.

Very little.

An extremely reasonable amount.

"Thank you," I said.

Lyssairia paused.

The room became strangely quiet.

Her golden eyes shifted toward me.

This time there was no sarcastic response.

No insult.

No threat.

She simply nodded.

"Come back alive, Al."

I hugged my pillow a little tighter.

"That’s the plan."

"Make it more than a plan."

I smiled faintly.

"I’ll try."

"Try harder."

And there it was.

I sighed.

"You really couldn’t let us have one nice moment?"

"No."

"Terrible woman."

"Lazy child."

I stood and tucked my pillow beneath one arm.

Outside, the last light of the day was already beginning to fade.

Sunset was approaching.

Which meant it was almost time to leave.

I reached the doorway before stopping.

Then I glanced back.

Lyssairia had already begun folding the map.

"Hey."

She looked up.

"When I come back, I’m still not doing another week of your training."

"Of course not."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

That agreement had come far too easily.

She smiled.

"Next time we’ll make it two weeks."

I immediately walked out.

I could hear her laughing behind me.

Definitely a terrible woman.

***

It was finally time to leave.

I followed Lyssairia through the winding passages of the hidden refuge, my footsteps echoing softly against the stone walls.

Apparently, my three escorts were already waiting outside the cave.

Nyra.

Caelum.

Vessa.

Hopefully, none of them had killed each other while waiting.

I adjusted the cloak wrapped around my body.

It was black, soft, and surprisingly comfortable.

Lyssairia had given it to me shortly before we left her house, claiming that walking through beastkin territory while looking obviously human would be "an unnecessarily stupid way to die."

Her words.

Not mine.

The cloak was slightly oversized, reaching almost to my ankles, while the hood hung low enough to hide my silver hair and most of my face.

Only a small portion of my chin remained visible beneath the shadows.

I liked it.

Mostly because it was warm.

"You could have given me this earlier," I said.

Lyssairia didn’t look back.

"Why?"

"It’s comfortable."

"That wasn’t its purpose."

"It can have two purposes."

"No."

I stared at the back of her head.

"You’re strangely controlling about clothing."

"And you’re strangely capable of complaining about gifts."

"I wasn’t complaining. I was complimenting it."

"Quietly, then."

I sighed.

We continued walking.

The deeper passages gradually widened as we approached the entrance, and cool night air began slipping through the cavern.

It carried the scent of damp earth, trees, and distant rain.

Outside, night had already settled over the forest.

Moonlight filtered faintly through the trees beyond the cave entrance, painting the ground in pale silver.

Then I noticed someone waiting near the mouth of the cave.

Mia.

She stood alone beneath the dim light, arms resting loosely at her sides.

My steps slowed slightly.

Lyssairia noticed.

Of course, she did.

She stopped beside me and glanced toward her mother.

Then toward me.

"I’ll leave you two alone."

That was surprisingly considerate.

I looked at her suspiciously.

"No final threat?"

"Do you want one?"

"No."

"Then don’t die, Al."

She turned away before I could respond.

I watched her disappear back into the cave.

"...She’s getting better at goodbyes."

Mia’s voice came from ahead.

"No, she isn’t."

I looked toward her.

I walked the remaining distance until I stood a few steps away.

For once, neither of us spoke immediately.

Which wasn’t particularly unusual when Mia was involved.

Silence seemed to be her preferred method of communication.

I tightened one hand around the edge of my cloak.

There were plenty of things I could have said.

I could have complained about her searching through my belongings.

I could have asked why she hadn’t told me she knew my identity.

I could have demanded an explanation for why she disappeared for nearly an entire week.

I could have reminded her that letting Lyssairia train me might legally qualify as attempted murder in several civilized societies.

But somehow, standing there knowing I was about to leave, none of those things felt important.

So I settled for something simpler.

"Thank you."

Mia looked at me.

"For what?"

"For helping me."

She remained silent.

I continued.

"You could’ve ignored me."

"You would have died."

"Exactly."

Her expression didn’t change.

"You brought me here. Protected me. Helped arrange a route back to human territory. Convinced the leaders to give me escorts..."

I paused.

"And apparently discovered my entire identity without bothering to mention it."

Mia’s golden eyes shifted slightly.

I narrowed mine.

"I’m still annoyed about that."

"I know."

"You could’ve told me."

"You didn’t ask."

I stared at her.

"I didn’t know you knew."

"Then you couldn’t ask."

"Exactly."

She was silent.

I waited.

Nothing.

I sighed.

"You are incredibly difficult to argue with."

"I’ve been told."

"By Lyssairia?"

"Mostly."

That made sense.

I pulled the cloak closer around myself.

"Anyway..."

I looked toward the dark forest beyond the cave.

"I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t found me."

"You would have survived."

I glanced back at her.

That answer surprised me.

"You sound confident."

"You survived before I arrived."

Technically true.

Barely.

Mia’s gaze moved toward the forest.

"You’re more prepared now."

I immediately thought about Lyssairia beating me into the dirt for six days.

"Unfortunately."

The faintest hint of amusement touched Mia’s eyes.

Then it disappeared.

I lowered my voice slightly.

"Still... thank you."

This time, she didn’t ask what for.

She simply nodded.

"You’re welcome, Al."

Short.

Simple.

Very Mia.

I smiled beneath the shadow of my hood.

"Take care of Lyssairia."

Mia looked at me.

"She doesn’t need taking care of."

"Everyone needs someone."

Mia was quiet for a moment.

Then she gave another small nod.

I turned toward the cave entrance.

Three silhouettes waited farther outside beneath the trees.

My escorts.

The road home.

I took two steps before stopping.

Then I glanced over my shoulder.

"Mia."

Her golden eyes met mine.

"Next time you search through my storage ring, ask first."

"No."

I stared at her.

She stared back.

"...Worth trying."

I turned away.

Behind me, Mia said one final thing.

"Come back alive."

I paused.

A small smile formed on my lips.

Apparently, that family only knew one way to say goodbye.

"I’ll do my best."

Then I stepped out of the cave and into the cold night air.