Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

"Groooooooooooooooooowl"

Suddenly a vicious beast sounded its discontent. We both looked at my belly at the same time and Chris laughed while the unscarred half of my face became red like a tomato.

"You must have been starving, let's dig in."

We could always talk after eating so I just nodded and started ravenously digging in. It's been a while since I ate so much. In recent memory, I've been getting only strictly regulated meals done by hospital staff so the inn's cooking tasted like a feast that even G. Ramsay wouldn't curse about.

"That's seriously tasty!" I exclaimed when I managed to gulp down the stuff in my mouth.

"Yeah, lady innkeeper can cook really good when she wants to. She would always have so much clientele if she cooked like that all the time."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The reason why her inn was almost ruined was that the innkeeper lady was lazy - didn't clean much or cook. She thought the income from the booze was enough until it wasn't. When I happened to rent a room she hadn't had any customer in quite a while which made her energetic and she finally started doing chores and even hired more staff as more and more people trickled in."

Chris then sighed and continued.

"It makes leaving here difficult because of meals being good and the room being nice…"

"Why would you want to leave this inn? Is it too pricy?" I asked curiously.

The question made Chris sigh once again. "I had to beg the lady to pay for the room, thanks to her beliving I am a lucky charm for her inn."

"So what's the problem?"

"She's a member of an Axis Order."

Seeing my questioning look Chris continued.

"Axis cultists worship the water Goddess Aqua and can be quite… insistent."

Where have I heard that name?

"And you don't believe in that Goddess Aqua? I've seen the reactions of some people when the lady praised that goddess."

"Hmmm… it's not a matter of not believing in Aq- goddess Aqua. It's that… you could consider me a Goddess Eris's devotee."

'Oh, so there are multiple gods that are worshipped in this world.'

"And by the way, it was Goddess Eris that told me to find you."

Chris released the bomb.

'Gods were real? Wait… I already talked with angels, so of course, there would be gods as well. After getting reincarnated I just… didn't have the time to realize what exactly my situation implied. Huh.'

There was a slight pause while Chris was measuring my reaction.

"So… what do Goddess Eris and her devotee want with me if you don't mind me asking."

I know I was sent here to be a 'hero' that tries to defeat the Demon King but in games and novels, gods are rather impartial and do not try to talk with heroes unless it's absolutely necessary.

Chris nervously scratched her cheek.

"Goddess Eris got contacted by an Angel-sama that had reincarnated you. Apparently, there have been some mistakes in your reincarnation."

'What? Please don't tell me I've been reincarnated in the wrong world and I have to be killed and re-live the process or there's some defect in my body that will kill me after a year…'

Seeing me began to panic Chris quickly interjected.

"Don't worry! Everything is good now!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and asked:

"So what had happened?"

"The Sylph-sama is still inexperienced and you were the first person to be reincarnated in this world by her. She had problems with injecting the language in your brain so you were knocked out. She also placed your 'respawn point' too close to the water. This made her think she made you drown and she contacted Goddess Eris immediately."

'So… I almost died twice in one day of living in another world.'

Chris continued after a short pause.

"Due to her panic, she also forgot to equip you with any clothes or money."

…

'How unlucky can one get?'

"Goddess Eris asked me to help you and provide with some basic necessities."

I kinda wanted to complain, but… Chris looked somehow really apologetic so I didn't say anything about that. Instead, I asked…

"Could those 'basic necessities' include helping to find that adventurer that accused me of assaulting her and explaining the situation to her?"

Chris nodded awkwardly.

"I think you will be able to meet her tomorrow in adventurer's guild. She can be a little bit headstrong but she will listen to you… I think."

'Chris didn't sound so sure at the end. I decided to not press the matter, I will try what I can. In the worst-case scenario, I could just skip this town…'

We continued talking while eating. I asked Chris about her connection to goddess Eris and about how she knew I was the goblin. I only got ambiguous answers and Chris kept nervously scratching her cheek.

It felt as if my questions were bothering her so I let the matter rest. She said she wanted to become friends and I never had one because of those scars so I didn't know what to expect. Maybe she would answer those questions when we got to know each other.

Next, I asked if people of this world knew about reincarnated people and supposedly it's a secret that only chosen people connected to gods know of, for example, her. There were also apparently quite a few people from Japan. With nothing more coming to mind we continued to eat in silence.

When the plates were empty Chris asked awkwardly:

"Hey, how do you feel about masks?"

"Umm… back in my world, I found it harder to use a mask than to walk around with my face in the open. In both scenarios, I was stopped by the police repeatedly but when people were scared of my face they rarely reported me with their phones."

"How about you try them out here? I think one of the previous reincarnators from your world made them popular during events and there's a mage race that loves using them. I think a mask might help you with… first impressions because they can be…ummm... strong. "

I thought for a second and nodded.

"Why not."

"Okay! Then change into that cute mouse form and the mask shop will be our first destination."

I did as Chris asked and jumped on her shoulder and hid under her shawl.

She took the plates with her and headed downstairs. There was some paper underneath that I didn't notice but I didn't manage to read it. When innkeeper saw Chris putting down the plates she loudly said:

"I told you many times that you don't have to bring these back. I pay my workers to do it!"

"It's not a problem for me, really. By the way, do you have a free room? A friend of mine…"

"For my lucky-charm-Chris? We have room for a hundred of your friends!"

"Great, then please book it for me. I will come with him in a few hours?"

"Ohoho. Chris-san finally found a boyfriend? As Aqua-sama have said: 'Thou shalt not avoid bodily pleas-'"

"It's not like-" Chris tried to interject but the Innkeeper shouted:

"A free round for Chris finding a boyfriend!"

A dozen of people started cheering and whistling.

"Chris Chris Chris!" "Yeah!" "Way to go!" "I can be your boyfriend too!"

I wasn't sure if these people were seriously cheering on Chris or purposefully bullying her.

Chris quickly left the inn afterwards and almost run through the streets while muttering words like 'Stupid' 'Should've chosen another inn' and 'Axis Cultists'.

I, on the other hand, tried to remember the way because I was totally not acquainted with this city and if we got separated I would at least how to come back to the inn.

It wasn't long until we stumbled upon a stall with various masks. There were indeed a lot of masks that I've already seen in my world like kitsune masks, tengu, demon, and many others.

To my surprise, Chris boldly took me on her palm and asked.

"Which one do you like?"

I looked at the person behind the counter but Chris's spontaneous decision-relying to a mouse didn't phase the man so I just calmly assessed masks.

Choosing a scary demon one would be counterproductive and I didn't want to look like a clown with a funny mask either. So I just pointed at what seemed to be a kitsune mask with silver adornments. I felt that it might seem a little bit weird on me but I felt pressure coming from the crowd of people gathered around us.

Was it that weird of a scene?

The man quietly handed over the mask after Chris paid him. I forgot to ask Chris about this world's currency…

Chris nonchalantly put me on her shoulder and turned around. She then finally realized we were surrounded.

"E-excuse me…"

She became a bit red but quickly started pushing through the crowd of people who realized this isn't some kind of show and quickly dispersed.

I could hear some annoyed grunts like 'I thought something interesting would happen' or 'Boooo…". I also heard some girl saying something about a 'mouse' but I couldn't make out the details thanks to the crowd's rowdiness.

Chris quickly found a place devoid of people and let me down on the floor. I changed into a human form and took the mask from Chris and put it on. It covered my entire face and only had holes for eyes and nostrils. It wasn't the most comfortable but Chris appraised it and said.

"Not bad. People shouldn't run from you now, like that one cowardly thief-girl you might now."

I just chuckled in answer and asked where is our next destination.

"I didn't realize it was getting this late. We should manage to get you some normal clothes before sunset. We will take care of guild registration tomorrow and since you don't know your class yet we should hold off buying your equipment to after that."

Afterward, Chris took me to a nearby clothes store. There were a lot of outfits to choose from but I almost immediately spotted an outfit that went well with my mask and since it wasn't that expensive Chris bought it for me without questioning my tastes.

Though a lady clerk wasn't so happy when she saw Chris taking out her moneybag. She sent me that 'why is this girl paying for you' look to which I couldn't even comment. Fortunately, I could quickly escape that blaming gaze.

Sun started to set so we returned to the inn. The way back was uneventful so it took us only 20 minutes to come back.

When we entered the same bustling atmosphere welcomed us. Chris came up to the counter and asked for the key for my room.

"So this is Chris' 'friend'? How mysterious~" The innkeeper lady said with a wide smile.

I nodded my head politely and introduced myself properly.

"Hello, my name is Satou Kazuki"

"And what a polite, lad! Say Kazuki-san, which god do you worship?"

There was this sudden question. The lady kept on smiling politely but when I glanced at Chris she had that 'oh shi-' look on her face.

'What? Was that some trick question? The lady wouldn't raise a fuss if I said I didn't know yet? I mean… I knew the gods existed now but I haven't decided on which god should I worship… yet. Gimmie at least two or three days…'

"I don't-"

"He worsh.i.p.s Goddess Eris as well!"

Chris has cut in suddenly.

There was a moment when I swear I could see a vein bulge on Innkeeper's forehead but it quickly disappeared as she swiftly handed me a key.

'Was that just my imagination?'

"Please enjoy your stay here." She answered with the same smile.

Chris tapped me on the shoulder and told to follow with a blank look on her face.

When we got upstairs Chris said in a grave tone.

"You should be safe for today but we will need to find you another inn tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"Trust me. There's a reason why only Axis Cultist usually rent rooms here. You don't want to have a room here if the innkeeper knows you don't worship any god. That would make things even worse than worshipping Eris."

"Huh? What about you?"

"She believes I was sent by sen- goddess Aqua to help her with luck in trying times even though I am Eris' believer"

Chris exhaled heavily and continued.

"Anyways, go to your room and rest, we got to stand up early so we can meet with sen- that blue-haired adventurer in the guild tomorrow."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

As Chris went towards her own room I found mine and after unlocking the door I entered inside.

The room wasn't as fancy as Chris' but it had everything needed for comfortable living like a bed, table, chairs, wardrobe and a few other minor things.

I decided to use the clothes I got in prison as pajamas since they weren't dirty at all and sleeping in just b.r.i.e.f.s didn't sit well with me.

After folding my clothes and putting them on a desk I moved towards the bed. As I was moving the cover to lie in the bed I noticed a piece of parchment lying below the pillow.

I took it out and gave it a read.

"Axis Church Sign Up Form… what is this?"

There were spaces to fill out like a name, surname, contact details, etc. At the bottom there was more text:

"Only today you will receive a silver cross perfect for exorcising ghosts from houses and removing bad dreams. All you got to do is pick up the pen from the drawer, fill out the form, put it inside the drawer and knock four times on the wall behind the bed. You can keep the pen."

…

"Let's ignore it."

I put the form aside deciding to not think much about this obvious scam and got onto the bed.

"Tomorrow I will start my adventure in another world properly…"

And then I fell asleep immediately.