God of creation system : The apocalypse

Chapter 21 : The opportunity

After Queen Sei ordered them to release me, her guards immediately drove me away. I could do nothing but obey, yet I still tried to plead with them over and over again.

"Get lost," Nyabu shouted.

"You're lucky Queen Sei ordered your release, otherwise you'd be one of those suffering inside the cells," she snapped harshly.

She shoved me until I stumbled down the steps of the building's entrance. It was infuriating, but I couldn't act tough or pick a fight with this mean woman because she was surrounded by soldiers.

"I didn't do anything wrong. All I want to do is what's right here," I said.

They wouldn't listen to me and just kept shooing me away as if I were a stray.

"You know, you'd be dead right now if it weren't for the leader's mercy, yet here you are, trying to put her in danger again."

After pushing me outside, she warned me that if I kept causing trouble, Ataparag would face an even harsher punishment.

It was true. Suwi's execution had been stopped because of Ataparag's help, which was a huge deal for us. Because of that, it felt like I'd be completely ungrateful if I caused her any more trouble.

"Please, I just finished military training last week. I'll die if they send me back there," Ataparag said, near tears.

She looked pitiful, though it felt a bit strange hearing that from a military team leader. But from the very beginning, you wouldn't have guessed she was a soldier because of her gentle demeanor.

Still, what could I do except keep quiet? Even if I made a fuss and caused trouble out here, they weren't going to let Suwi go.

A moment later, a hand suddenly grabbed Ataparag by the head, as if to intimidate her.

"Ah, good. At least you know what your punishment's going to be, Ataparag."

Ataparag was practically terrified to her bones, unable to speak as General Aoi threatened her for her mistake.

He threw an arm around Ataparag's shoulders and casually tossed out ideas for a good training camp to send her to. "I wonder where we should banish our fine team leader."

Their general looked like he was thoroughly enjoying his bullying, and not a single soldier dared to make a sound.

A moment later, his gaze shifted to me, and he spoke.

"You know, you're very interesting for an ordinary human."

"But let me tell you this: don't you ever interfere in matters beyond your control—especially when you don't even have the ability to defend yourself against others."

He said it without a hint of hesitation, practically threatening me over my attempts to protect Suwi.

"Don't think I'm just threatening you, because it's not just me or the Eskapa that wants to kill the soul eaters—every single living being in Endoryo does."

I fell silent because what he was saying was true. I was even lucky that Sei was the one who caught him, meaning I'd get to live for a little while longer.

After that, he mentioned that the soul eaters had caused an overwhelming amount of suffering and tragedy, which was why anyone who sided with them or served them was shown no mercy and killed on the spot.

"But I'm not a bad person, and I just want to make it clear that Suwi is different from the other soul eaters..."

Aoi fell silent for a moment, then smiled at me as he asked why I was defending a soul eater when I had nothing to do with her.

"What is your real motive for desperately defending that soul eater?"

I just smirked because I couldn't exactly tell him the truth, so I stubbornly repeated that Suwi and I were friends. "I already said Suwi and I are friends, so I know she's a good person."

Even so, he didn't believe a word I said.

"You know, lying isn't going to help you at a time like this—especially since you have nowhere to stay and nothing to eat in this place."

I was surprised that he knew I had no shelter, but someone must have reported it to him.

"There's just one thing that really puzzles me about you: absolutely no one else knew what you said earlier about a spirit pet giving its spirit energy to a soul eater."

"Even that soul eater herself was shocked by how you knew about her spirit pet," he added.

I didn't know what to think or why he was bringing all of this up, until a certain memory about him suddenly crossed my mind.

" That's right, I remember now. As a member of the Escapa, Sei is one of the commanders and he is the vice-commander of the Fourth Weapon, and their finest tactician."

His leadership in the group's battles during the Crimson Game was exceptional, especially with the upcoming rampage.

And that was largely thanks to the ability of his Crimson Eye, which allowed him to read people's thoughts and communicate telepathically.

"Oh, so you even know about the power of my Crimson Eye?" he asked me.

I was startled by what he said, a bad premonition washing over me. "Wait... does that mean you've been reading my thoughts this whole time?"

"Yes. That's how I knew you were lying, and I already told Queen Sei, which is why she let you go."

I couldn't answer back. I had nowhere left to run, and I felt a chill of dread knowing I'd been caught in a lie. Yet, even after finding out I lied, he didn't treat me poorly. Instead, he offered me help.

"According to reports, you don't have anything to survive in this town, so why don't you just stay and join the forces of Galica?"

I was shocked by Aoi's words, unable to believe what I was hearing. He immediately added that there were events this month where the Eskapa held tryouts and trained new members.

"We aren't convinced of your true motives, and your background is suspicious. So why don't you prove yourself to us—and to our Queen?"

"Prove myself to Sei?" I asked, confused.

Before I could even reply, Nyabu immediately objected, insisting I wasn't fit for the Eskapa because of how weak I was. "He's just a weak human. Instead of helping, he'll probably just end up being dead weight for us, General."

I didn't like what she was saying about me, but honestly, I agreed with her—and I had zero interest in joining them anyway.

Even so, Aoi completely ignored Nyabu. While casually playing with a lock of Ataparag's hair, he left me in her care.

"Don't worry, Ataparag will take care of your training," he said.

"Huh? Me?"

"But General Aoi—" Nyabu protested.

"If Ataparag doesn't process his application by tomorrow morning, I'm sending her entire team to the borders of Ertes," he said with a smile.

Ataparag hurriedly rushed over to my side, flustered and frantic. Pure terror was written all over her face at the mention of that punishment.

"You don't need to send my team to Ertes, General! I'll process his application later today, I promise!"

She suddenly grabbed my hand and congratulated me on joining.

"Ah—um... Mister, I don't know your name, but from now on, you're an official applicant to join the Escapa."

"But Leader—!" Nyabu protested again, trying to block my entry.

"Please, Nyabu. I don't want to go back and live on that mountain," Ataparag replied immediately, her gaze pleading.

I had no idea what was going on or what was so bad about Ertes, but it felt like they had completely decided my fate for me. They had no intention of asking if I actually wanted to join them.

Before leaving, Aoi gave me one last warning.

"Let me remind you once more, kid: always stay in your proper place and do what's best for yourself as a human."

"The Queen told me to help you, but I still don't trust you, so I'm leaving you in Ataparag's hands. Hopefully, you won't waste this chance to live a little longer here in Galica," he added.

I knew he was still talking about my meddling and my insistence on tying myself to Suwi, but even though he was warning me for my own good, I couldn't just accept it and let Suwi die.

He turned his back and walked back into the building, followed by the rest of the soldiers. A moment later, I noticed there were only four of us left outside.

None of us spoke. I couldn't bring myself to say anything either, especially since I could feel Nyabu's hostile, irritated stare burning right through me. It was so awkward, but I had nowhere else to go, so I had no choice but to stay.

Noticing that I was intimidated by Nyabu's abrasive attitude, Ataparag stepped in front of me and spoke to her.

"Please, Nyabu. You can't be like that to him, especially since he's going to be part of our team."

"Leader, he's just an applicant. He's not on the team yet," she snapped back.

"Oh, come on, Nyabu," Ataparag said pleadingly.

Sei's officers were all part of the Eskapa, making them official soldiers of the organization even while directly serving their Queen.

Nyabu was clearly disgusted by the nice way Ataparag was treating me, especially since she had zero objections to letting an ordinary human join her team.

"What on earth are you thinking, Leader? Are you really just going to let this freeloader tag along with us?" she shouted angrily.

Nyabu refused to let Ataparag and the others have their way with my recruitment, warning that the team needed reliable comrades, not a liability—especially on missions.

"I'm only thinking of you, Leader."

She was worried that Ataparag's kindness would make her put someone like me ahead of completing a mission if things went south.

"We don't even know where he came from, and we won't get anything out of him," she snarled.

She said it right in front of me as if I wasn't even there. But even though her belittling words stung, I had to keep my temper in check.

" I need to stretch my patience, " I thought to myself. " I've got nowhere to stay and nothing to eat if I leave this place."

"And he looks completely clueless," she added.

Hearing her look down on me one more time finally broke my restraint, pushing me to speak up and blurt out what I actually knew about this world.

"Hey! Maybe I don't have powers like you guys, but I know a lot more about this world than you do. In fact, I even know what's going to happen in the future," I bragged.

"Oh, right! So now you're claiming you know the future? Are you really that desperate that you've resorted to lying right in front of the leader?" she fired back.

She didn't believe a word I said. Because my lies about the soul eater had already been exposed, she assumed everything coming out of my mouth was just another fabrication.

"What's next? Are you going to say you fell from another world and you're here to save everyone?" she added sarcastically.

I was startled by her words and fell silent for a second.

"Ah... um... wow, you're good. How did you know that?" I muttered in genuine surprise.

She immediately strode over, grabbed me by the collar, and threatened me for playing games with them.

"Are you seriously messing with me right now? We're not playing around here, you little pest."

"Who said I was joking?" I replied.

Before Nyabu could actually hurt me, Ataparag rushed in to pull her away, begging her to stop.

"Please, don't fight! It's forbidden to cause trouble in this place," Ataparag panicked.

"Tch. You're really taking his side over mine," Nyabu muttered bitterly.

Aggressive as she was, Nyabu still obeyed Ataparag's orders. Seeing that Ataparag wouldn't budge, she let go of my collar with a glare and stormed off.

"I'm heading to the dorms. And just so you know, I will never agree to let this guy join the team!" she snapped angrily as she stomped away.