A Journey Unwanted-Chapter 424 - 413: It continues

[Location: Realm of Iofiel]

"Ugh, what an insufferable man," Goddess Iofiel muttered aloud the moment his presence faded from her immediate awareness. This time she did not bother maintaining the dignified posture, nor the carefully curated serenity she wore like attire. Her shoulders dropped. The tight composure unraveled. Her beautiful features twisted openly in annoyance.

"How dare he speak to me so casually?" she continued, pacing across the luminous ground with sharp steps. "Insulting me. Calling me fearful. Saying I am guided by fear." Her lips pressed thin. "The nerve."

She folded her arms beneath her chest, fingers gripping lightly at her sleeves as she walked.

Even the Executioner had not unsettled her like this. And he had been a brat in his own right—sharp-tongued, irreverent, and provocative. But at least there had been something decent about him. A kind of reckless youthfulness.

"And at least he had a cute face while being rude," she muttered under her breath before immediately frowning at herself for even thinking it.

Grimm, on the other hand, was on an entirely different level of disrespect.

There had been no teasing in him. No false bravado and no attempt to provoke for amusement. He had spoken plainly and directly. As if her divinity carried nothing of worth.

That was what unsettled her most.

He held no awe or reverence. She did not need to see his face to know that. It had been clear in his tone. In the way he stood. In how he never hesitated before responding.

Just how could a man be so self-assured in the presence of the divine?

Her pacing slowed.

Yet beneath her irritation, it was not the insult that lingered most heavily.

It was his words.

("Defy them. Even if it means annihilation.") She scoffed quietly at the recollection. "Does he even hear himself?" she murmured. "Does he realize how absurd that sounds?"

Defiance was not some romantic act of liberation in every circumstance. It was not inherently noble. Nor inherently wise. Structures existed for a reason, and laws governed the realms for a reason. Stability did not maintain itself through idealism.

"There are rules that should never be broken," she said more firmly, as if reinforcing the thought within herself. "Because they prevent collapse."

What purpose would there be in defying those laws simply to invite punishment that could ripple outward and destroy countless others?

It would not be bravery.

It would be selfishness.

Even if she disliked her inability to intervene directly—even if it grated at her pride—the Divine Principals existed to maintain order beyond individual will.

"It is understandable," she reasoned aloud. "A being like myself interfering freely would destabilize everything."

She paused, watching the distant field of flowers sway in a rhythm.

("Though I would never interfere excessively,") she thought, narrowing her eyes slightly. ("My intervention would be precise. The people would never grow overly reliant on me.") Her gaze softened again. ("Still... I cannot interfere. Not without consequence.")

Grimm’s earlier remark echoed again.

"Even though they dispatched a Goddess themselves."

She exhaled slowly.

"There is no point in defying powers that can erase you from existence," she said, more quietly now. "The Keepers know more than we do. They must. They would not act without reason."

She let the subject settle there, attempting to bury it beneath logic.

But her mind did not remain still.

It drifted.

("Grimm...")

The name lingered strangely in her thoughts.

It felt familiar.

And that unsettled her far more than his rudeness ever could. Gods did not forget. They did not suffer from vague impressions or misplaced recollections. She could sift through millennia of memory with ease if she chose. Entire eras rested in her mind as clearly as yesterday.

Yet the name Grimm did not surface from any defined memory.

And that absence was what disturbed her.

"He did not seem familiar to me as an individual," she murmured slowly. "So this familiarity... does not stem from him directly." Her wings shifted as her pacing slowed to a stop.

"Then where?"

Ordinarily, she would dismiss such a minor curiosity.

But she found herself unwilling to do so.

("Perhaps I should consult Tamamo,") she considered reluctantly. Immediately, she grimaced. ("Ugh. She would absolutely tease me if she discovered how that oaf spoke to me.") The thought alone irritated her further. Still... Tamamo was at least someone she could speak to without bracing herself for blunt provocation.

Someone who did not look at her like she was simply another piece on a board.

She folded her arms again, expression tightening.

"Yes," she muttered. "For my own sanity, I would much prefer the company of someone who is not a complete ass."

Her lips flattened.

"And Grimm," she concluded, "is undeniably an ass."

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[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Quadling Country]

His consciousness stirred slowly, Grimm’s eyes opened to darkness thicker than before, though it did little to hinder him. The night pressed in around the clearing, heavier now and the air cooler.

He was seated against the base of a tree, armored back resting against rough bark. The grass beneath him was slightly flattened from where he had remained still. He lifted his gaze upward. The gray cloud cover had thinned in places, peeling back just enough to reveal scattered fragments of the night sky beyond—small, distant stars breaking through.

"Sheesh, you’re finally awake, huh?"

The familiar high-pitched voice cut through the quiet.

Grimm turned his head slightly. Puck hovered a short distance away, armored form suspended effortlessly above the ground, arms folded behind her back as she leaned forward just enough to study him. One brow was raised in clear judgment.

"Guess you really do like sleeping," she added, a teasing lilt in her voice. "I was starting to think you planned to sleep through the night and the morning after."

"It was not simply sleep," Grimm replied as he pushed himself upright. The movement was swift, heavy sabatons pressing into the grass as he stood. One black-gauntleted hand rose to his neck; he rolled it once, a crack echoing beneath the alloy. "There were other matters."

His gaze shifted past her. A short distance away, the Cowardly Lion remained asleep, large body curled inward, resting on its forearms in a position that was more exhaustion than comfort.

"Sure," Puck said lightly, drifting a little closer. "You can just admit you were being a lazy bum. It won’t kill you. You don’t have to act like some brooding prude every single time."

"I will endeavor to take your advice," Grimm replied evenly, "on the day you manage to say something useful."

Puck huffed, crossing her arms over her chest now instead of behind her back. "I say useful things all the time," she muttered. "You just don’t listen."

"My prolonged unconsciousness was due to a visitor," Grimm said without reacting to her complaint.

Puck stopped pouting immediately, her expression sharpening with curiosity. She hovered a little higher. "A visitor?" she echoed. "While you were asleep?"

"It seems you were correct," Grimm continued. "The Goddess Iofiel sought me out."

"She contacted you already?" Puck tilted her small head. There was no visible shock that he had spoken to a Goddess—only interest. "That was fast. Well... you’re still alive, so I’m assuming she didn’t smite you for barging into her realm." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"No," Grimm answered calmly. "She requested my assistance."

"Assistance?" Puck repeated, her brows knitting together. She drifted directly in front of him now, studying him carefully. "From you? A Goddess asked you for help?"

"She must have recognized my greatness at first glance," Grimm said in a flat tone.

Puck stared at him for several seconds.

"...You’re serious."

He did not respond.

"That is not what happened," she muttered.

"Your disbelief does not alter reality," he said. "Because you are an idiot."

"Am not!" Puck shot back immediately, fists clenching at her sides. "And don’t dodge the question. What does a Goddess need help with? What could possibly require outside assistance? And how exactly are you supposed to provide it?"

"It concerns Albion and Ddraig," Grimm replied. "She wants them dispatched."

Puck’s eyes widened slightly.

"Wait—Albion too?" she asked, unfolding her arms as she drifted even closer, concern threading through her voice. "That doesn’t sound right. He’s nothing like Ddraig. He’s... done good. A lot of good, actually."

"Iofiel views him as a threat regardless," Grimm said.

Puck looked down, hovering lower now, thoughtful. "I mean... I guess it does make a kind of sense," she admitted reluctantly. "Whenever Ddraig went on a rampage, Albion would intervene. And even if he was trying to stop him, the clashes between them... they tore through entire regions. The destruction wasn’t always intentional, but it still happened." She glanced back at Grimm. "That’s probably what she meant."

"Then it would be more efficient to eliminate Ddraig alone," Grimm stated. "If Albion retains reason."

Puck blinked at him. A small grin tugged at her lips. "Huh. You’re being... surprisingly reasonable."

"There is no justification for killing something that is not actively malicious toward me," Grimm clarified. "However, that assessment may change depending on how this Albion behaves."

Puck exhaled in mild exasperation. "Just take the compliment."

"Our route remains unchanged," Grimm continued, ignoring her entirely. "Albion is in the Heart Kingdom, according to the Goddess."

Puck’s expression shifted quickly from annoyance to intrigue. "Whoa. You actually got useful information?" she said, genuinely impressed. "Okay, that’s progress. Took divine intervention, sure, but still progress." She floated upward slightly. "And if Albion’s there, then the Queen should be nearby too."

Grimm gave a low grunt of acknowledgment as he began walking forward, armor shifting with controlled weight.

"Wake the lion," he said. "We depart now."

Puck glanced toward the slumbering Cowardly Lion in the distance and groaned softly. "Of course you still want him coming along," she muttered as she floated in that direction. "And you could at least say please once in a while. It wouldn’t compromise your dignity."