"Then, please tell me the answer from earlier. Why did you challenge me? Child of the Gods?"

  "Wait a moment, first let me sort through some things."

  It would have been inconvenient to continue talking in that pce, so to also maintain information control, everyone present moved to a soundproof room in the temple.

  The room resembled an interrogation chamber.

  Cudia, pying the detective, sat across from me while Nell stood behind me. The other priests stood silently behind Cudia, perhaps intending to observe how the conversation would unfold.

  "First, please stop with that grandiose title. I have no such awareness of myself, so just call me by my name normally.""...Understood."

  The atmosphere made it feel like an interrogation was about to begin.

  Amidst this, I desperately racked my brain to sort through the current situation. First, I had to address the name—if I didn't do something about it now, it seemed like I'd be stuck with that title.

  "Um, first, I'd like an expnation about this 'Child of the Gods' thing.""It refers to children like you. Children who possess abilities that should be impossible for their age. The northern tribes had a child who could wield every conceivable skill. The child from the eastern nds had the power to control a dungeon that produced all kinds of materials. I never met the child from the west, but I heard they possessed a vault containing immensely powerful weapons."

  Are those guys reincarnators? Their extraordinary talents make it obvious.

  "Compared to them, I'm pretty pin, don't you think? Maybe you've got the wrong person?""The fact that you understand my skills—which I've never taught anyone—makes you an anomaly. Your power isn't something visible, but to me, you're undoubtedly the most terrifying of the four.""I got beaten to a pulp, though.""That's only true now. Given a little time, you'd produce a completely different outcome from today. Just knowing that makes you a considerable threat."

  From Cudia's perspective, since she knew about the other three, it wouldn't be strange if I were the fourth.

  "Even if you say that... I really have no idea what you're talking about. I don't remember receiving anything from a god."

  But, sorry Cudia, I genuinely have no clue. The reason I could csh with her at full strength and hold my own to some extent was all thanks to my "past life."

  Hmm... If I had to name something, maybe just my good memory? I definitely drilled FBO knowledge into my brain through obsessive grinding, but being able to recall and access memories this clearly is weird if I think about it.

  "If I had to say, maybe my memory is just really good?""Does that mean you can perfectly remember anything you've seen or heard once?""It's not like that. More like... I don't forget past experiences easily and can recall them quickly."

  If that's the "divine blessing," it's pretty underwhelming.

  "Then, how were you able to counter my attacks?""Because... I just knew them?""...Are you saying you have the power to know things just by wanting to?""No, more like... I knew them before we even met?""...I don’t understand.""Honestly, I'm confusing myself trying to expin it."

  Wait, are you saying the gods created FBO? If that's the case, then my power would have been given by Kefeli, the God of Wisdom—but is that even possible?

  This is another world. That would mean they can interfere with Earth.

  And FBO was just a normal game run by a company, right?

  ......Well, in novels, manga, and anime, that kind of setup isn’t unheard of.

  I had some awareness of being a reincarnator, but I never once thought it might be god-reted reincarnation, so I'm just confused now.

  "Cudia, can I ask you something?""Of course. I'll answer if I can.""Does Kefeli, the God of Wisdom, have enough power to interfere with other worlds?""I don’t know. We have no way to measure the power of gods, so I can only say it's possible.""Right..."

  I asked to try and clear up some of my confusion, but it didn’t help at all.

  "By asking that, does it mean you have some idea of being a Child of the Gods?""Not so much an idea as... a vague suspicion that it might be possible?""Can you talk about it?""Hmm... I challenged you precisely to protect this secret, so I can’t really talk about it now."

  But little by little, a hypothesis was forming. We were both trying to piece things together...

  And then, we stumbled upon a topic that might just hold the key.

  "So this is where it leads. Then let's settle this part first."

  The reason I challenged Cudia was to ask for her protection. The connections with nobles, the recent conflicts among adventurers...

  Amidst all these circumstances, I needed a powerful backer, and Cudia was the ideal candidate.

  But since I kept my knowledge hidden, my expnation ended up being pretty vague.

  "From what I hear, if you just live quietly in the city, there shouldn’t be any problems... But after the stampede incident the other day, I can understand wanting to grow stronger out of caution. Still, protection? And not from the temple, but from me personally?"

  Even so, her willingness to parse my words was a huge help.

  I gave a concise summary of events so far, and from her perspective, Cudia was right—just living quietly in the city should be enough.

  But knowing what the named characters are capable of, I see ndmines buried everywhere. I don’t have the luxury of slowly leveling up.

  "Named characters" might sound impressive, but they’re also nicknamed "event triggers." Their events range from peaceful slice-of-life moments to outright horrifying disasters.

  The former would be fine. But the tter drags innocent people into unimaginable chaos.

  When you know a bazooka could come flying at you from nowhere at any moment, staying weak is not an option.

  From what I know, there are five dangerous characters who cause incidents in the city. Two of them are especially bad.

  In a game, you can wrap things up by clearing the quest, but in the real world, being underleveled with poor stats would be a death sentence.

  I want to expin, but talking about future events that may or may not happen would just get me beled as delusional.

  It’s an uncertain future, after all.

  "You sound like you’re avoiding being tied to an organization.""That’s exactly it.""...Liberta.""Yes?""What are you afraid of?"

  Among the named characters I know, Cudia is retively sane. She doesn’t cause trouble for non-pyers, has common sense, a glorious past, and can stand up to authority. She’s a rare safe haven.

  "The future.""...What do you know?""Possibilities."

  Having to give such a suspicious, chuuni-sounding expnation to someone like her is honestly depressing.

  The information I need to grow stronger is my trump card, and warning about future dangers would just sound like nonsense—not to mention being incredibly rude and possibly a capital offense.

  No matter how I phrase it, it’s a death sentence!!

  Think about it—a kid like me, dead serious, saying, "I know the future." At best, I’d get a patronizing "Oh, really?" right?

  But from my perspective as someone who knows the original story, all the faction routes suck!!

  First, the obvious adventurer route—commoners face noble interference when trying to rise up! You have to deal with that while climbing the ranks.

  Then the noble route—faction disputes make NPC favor management a nightmare!! And if you max it out, the king offers you the throne!? In a game, I’d tough it out, but in real life? No thanks.

  There’s also the merchant guild route and the temple route, but all of them are packed with events!!

  After coming to this world and experiencing trouble firsthand, I’ve realized something. The most peaceful and enjoyable path is raising myself freely.

  I feel bad for Nell, Amina, and Ingrid, but knowing the future, the best choice is to grow strong enough to move freely.

  At max level, you don’t even need organizations like countries—you’re self-sufficient.

  "If I promise to protect you, will you tell me about these things?""I’ll just preface this by saying it’ll sound like unbelievable nonsense."

  And the perfect example is right in front of me. Cudia climbed to the top as High Archbishop, only to abandon it all for a journey of training.

  There aren’t many characters who can act this freely.

  "If I take you seriously, I’m at a loss for how to respond.""I’m also at a loss for how to expin."

  And the one making Cudia hesitate like this is me.

  I can’t talk about it because it’d cause chaos, and even if I did, the event info is so absurd no one would believe it.

  *Sigh*

  In the end, she even let out a sigh.

  "In my mind, you are the Child of the Gods from the southern continent.""Yes.""And you have some idea of what that means?""Probably.""But you don’t want to join any organizations like the nobility?""Yes.""Do you realize how convenient that sounds?""Yes."

  I know how selfish I sound right now. I’m the epitome of a spoiled brat.

  But c’mon, if you know trouble’s coming, why compromise and walk right into it? This is my non-negotiable line.

  "You are the Child of Kefeli, the God of Wisdom. I suppose it’s inevitable you’d turn out like this—a sage who knows too much and has grown twisted."

  And just like that, I got beled a sage.

  "......Fine. There’s a lot I still don’t understand, but leaving you unsupervised is clearly a bad idea. I’ll protect you. Call it intuition, but I feel like if I take my eyes off you, you’ll do something outrageous.""Technically, I already have.""Nell, now’s the time for ‘zip it.’""Zip it?""Damn, this world doesn’t have zippers?!"

  My sage title now comes with extra fir, but given my actions and words, I don’t have much room to argue, so I’ll ignore it.

  After yers of compromise and resignation, Cudia finally agreed—not as a rival, but as a protector, something that never happened in the original.

  "You all, do not speak of what you’ve seen and heard here. He is, in some form, a Child of the Gods."

  Well, this is the result of the new divine element added to my existence. Even as a pyer, I never expected a god-reted reincarnation plotline.

  "One never knows what might incur divine wrath. Silence is safest.""““Understood.””"

  This is the outcome of being seen through. Was the pain worth it, or would confessing to being a reincarnator have gotten me help sooner?

  No, given Cudia’s personality, persuasion by words alone would’ve been tough.

  "Oh, and tell the High Archbishop I’ll be staying in the royal capital for a while but won’t be working."

  Who’d have thought the divine reincarnation element would be the key fg? Well, in stories, fgs like that aren’t unheard of.

  "Where will you be staying, Lady Cudia?""I promised to protect him. So, I’ll be living at his pce—"

  In my past life, there were plenty of stories like this. So this is how it pys out.

  "—to keep an eye on him."

  Having a watchdog isn’t entirely unexpected.

  Though I got what I wanted, the outcome is a little different from what I imagined, leaving me conflicted.

  "Go easy on me.""That depends on what you tell me."

  For now, I’ll ignore the weird title and just be gd I’ve gained a protector.