Standing in front of Hoffman Monastery in Carterburg, the man who donned his cloak’s hood smiled and nodded gently at the opening gate and the terrified Church followers behind it.
Like he was encouraging them, and also comforting them, he pulled back his hood to reveal an ordinary smile. "Where is Colin, that child."
"Recently, Bishop Colin has been presiding over work at the Church; the old Bishop has retired... Sir, what brings you here?" said the lady at the door who was welcoming the visitor, with a hint of panic on her face, cautiously asking the deity in front of her.
"I’m here to see a child who is very ill and doesn’t have much ti left," said the Naless standing before the mortals.
"Do you an... that child called Susu?" Being the manager of the monastery, the lady quickly identified the child ntioned by the deity amongst those living in the monastery.
"Yes, her," the deity said, looking at the lady, "May I see her?"
"You can, but sir, her condition is quite poor, it seems she’s contracted a very tricky epidemic. We’ve confird it’s not the Nagoth disease, but... she just can’t recover. Can you save her?" The lady’s eyes were filled with pleading as she boldly asked the Naless.
She thought she would receive a definite affirmative response from this benevolent deity. Her favorite girl would have a happy future, so she looked at him, until she saw him shake his head.
"Only she can save herself," said the Naless, and then he walked towards the children’s quarters as if he belonged.
"Sir, even you can’t? But you’re a deity..." The lady halted halfway through her pursuit, turned around sowhat dazedly, and looked at the equally confused attendants, "Why didn’t you close the door? Who are you welcoming, the freezing cold wind?"
Listening to the complaints and apologies coming from behind, the Naless walked through the corridor, where the children ignored him except for a few spiritually attuned ones who glanced his way.
Upon reaching the door at the end of the corridor, the Naless opened it and saw a child sitting by the bed, accompanied by a stove fire, lamp light, and a black cat, reading a book with a humanized look of worry on his face.
"Susu, I’m here."
"Ah, it’s you... it looks like my life is coming to an end again, right?" The girl brushed her long hair from her forehead behind her ear, looking at the Naless with a smile, her pale face devoid of any color.
The black cat on her bed raised its head, staring at the Naless as the kitten slowly stood up and began to bristle, until its owner reached out and brought it into her embrace.
The kitten curled into its owner’s arms, its eyes fixedly following the trajectory of the Naless without blinking.
"Susu, I want to know, do you regret it?" the Naless asked, standing in front of the girl’s bed. The roots of the World Tree behind him wove into a chair, its master sat down, and then he spoke.
"I believe this is the thirteen hundred sothing ti, right?" she said, pausing between breaths and coughing once before she raised her head and shook it.
"I don’t regret it, Naless. Even if another six millennia pass and you co to see , I’d give the sa answer," she said, her face showing a flush of color as she smiled and leaned back against the soft cushion on her bed.
"Even if each life only lasts six years, even if each ends in agony, even if your guardianship is endless... is that alright?" the Naless continued.
He stared intently at the young girl in front of him, seeking a new choice from her lips that he had never heard before.
The girl answered with silence, her gaze at the resolute eyes of the deity likewise offering the first reply.
Finally, the Naless sighed, reaching out his hand, and sacred Positive Energy healed the girl in front of him.
She sighed contentedly at last.
"Thank you," she said.
"Just like the first ti I t you, you still answer the sa way, Susu. Is this world really that important to you?" the Naless stroked the head of the girl in front of him.
"Yes, I rember when I summoned you, you asked the sa," the girl gently brushed away the deity’s hand, lifting her head to look at this grand being, "I let soone down. We had promised to stay by each other’s side forever, to grow old together, but I lost him... Fate has reborn in this world on the eve of great destruction, perhaps to give a chance to protect this planet we once lived on."
ntioning the past filled her face with reminiscence and even more regret.
"Do you know, Mr. Naless, whenever I regain my mory, I see this world getting better because initially, I could only be born in a cave and then die in a cave, doubting for a long ti if civilization would ever reignite... until once, I was born in a wooden house."
"I rember, that was almost six millennia ago, that ti you were born in the heartland of the Thainan Empire in the world of the Easterners," said the Naless looking at the young girl before him, continuously healing her, striving to maintain her body, "I rember when I ca to bid you farewell, you passed away surrounded by your family of that life. That was the first ti... I saw you cry."
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