Reincarnated to judge worlds after complaining about God

 Valo looked at us with an expression I couldn't begin to fathom, then excused herself as she went to inform the guildmaster we were present.

 As we moved aside to not obstruct business, I spoke to Doran about what I had said about making examples. Trying to assure him I was no bloodthirsty killer, and I only meant I'd take their thumbs or some other means of robbing their ability to hold a weapon, but he pointed to Sil.

 There was a strange look in her eyes, wrapped in enough anger to hide it well, but something strange lurked there. Even now she was scanning the hall, as though trying to identify all that had been eying her until she seemed to find one, then that hidden spark bloomed and I recognised it as disgust.

 I chopped the back of her head lightly and told her to drop the lofty attitude, stunned by the amount of hostility she was emanating. Though not nearly as much as I was by the fact I hadn't noticed it, as sensitive as I was.

 Valo returned not long after and ushered us upstairs.

 As we climbed up the first set of steps to a room elevated above ground floor, but not quite all the way to the next floor, Valo informed us that the second floor was mostly staff lodging with a few admin rooms and upon reaching the top she opened the heavy door with strength belying her stature.

 The master as it turned out was not human, but a Dragon folk, otherwise known as Wyrmkin who introduced himself as Byurik. Naturally large and bulky, they are practically built for combat, but the most notable thing about his kind is the ability to pass down memories hereditarily.

 Which made me even happier about my choice of backstory,

 The people I was pretending to be from, known as Timeless, lived on average a hundred and fifty years but stopped aging at around twenty-five to thirty. It was a peculiar fact I wished to study, was it genetic mutation, mana infused cells, or were they demi humans of some kind? 

 Such curiosities were a hobby of mine, I always behaved respectfully and humanely, but I would be lying if I said I hadn't studied blood samples on soiled bandages etc.

 Living apart from the main continent, which was populated by many different peoples and dwarfed the continent we were on, they resided on an island called Oross which and acted as peacemakers when this world was still embroiled in chaos.

 That also happens to be the last time the seven origin wyrms interacted with the mortal races, but one line in particular held even the seven's respect and I would use that to my advantage.

 As I introduced Sil and I as travellers from Oross, then waited for the predictable expression of his disbelief at meeting a Timeless to pass, I continued by expressing my thanks at having someone to help others understand why we wouldn't age.

 Doran and Valo were left slack jawed, making me chuckle as I told them I was almost fifty, which I only added to amuse myself.

 I had anticipated that Byurik would be distrustful, my personality was far from what I knew of theirs, which is where that special lineage would come into play.

 "As you're a Wyrmkin, I should let you know I'm this generation's Seraph as well, my forebears were most taken with yours afterall." It was a gamble, but I had no real choice and the pros far outweighed the cons. The seraph line was unique and incredibly secret, which no outsider would know of and the wyrms swore to treat that line as equals which put him in a station he could not doubt lightly.

 A few more honeyed words as I helped him to his feet and his suspicion died, along with the last of my capacity to lie. I walked a fine line after that, having to word things carefully so I didn't start rambling in the hopes of getting caught in a lie as I had done with Doran.

 Luckily between that and the fact he was a busy man, it meant he was happy to sign off on my registration as soon as he had read Haslan's letter.

 The last thing he did before politely ending our meeting, was instruct Valo to show us to a free dorm room, which would serve as lodging for as long as we needed it, or until I was no longer considered an active adventurer.

 With that, we all excused ourselves from his office. Making our way downstairs since Valo insisted we eat after the day we had recounted.

 We found a table and got seated, though I wasn't a fan of eating food prepared by others, particularly since my hopes weren't high as to its quality thanks to the lackluster reception from patrons and the absence of any discernible scent.

 A while later I was proven right.

 The bland porridge-like substance proved barely worthy of the label food, though my singular inherited trait saw me eat every bite and thank the cooks for their effort.

 As I waited for the others to finish their dinner, I began planning for the next day, admitting I longed for sleep. Doran laughed at that, then suggested we head to the garrison to view his commander in action early while he is as fresh as possible.

 Valo then talked me through various guild rules and obligations then, after I nearly fell asleep in my chair, realised I was too tired to actually listen and guided us to the room we would be occupying.

 She apologised for the single bed, offering Sil the chance to stay with her if it was preferable, but Sil refused on the ground that she was still uncomfortable in this new land.Clearly a bit disappointed by the rejection, Valo bid us goodnight and left us to rest.

 I told Sil the bed was hers before producing a bedroll from my pack, only noticing at that point I had failed to recover the sword Doran held.

 Feeling safe enough to talk, Sil asked where it all came from, and I made a gesture to tell her what I was too tired to explain.

 "That's right, you didn't sleep last night. You should take the bed; I'll take the floor."

 I'm not sure why that of all things felt like a ploy, but I was almost surprised she had done something nice. Whilst she seemed somewhat surprised when I didn't argue. In fact, all I said after that was that if she couldn't sleep she should study the knowledge of this world or go to Valo.

 I wanted to call her on the inconsistencies of her story, as well as the unease I felt toward her, but I was too tired and even as I heard her begin to respond, she heard me snore before she finished the first word.

 When morning came and Sil was gone, I didn't care enough to be worried, but I was surprised to feel a little sad at the idea of her leaving. Allowing myself a brief moment to dissect the feeling, the best reason I could think of was simply that she had the best hope of being someone that may one day understand what I had had to endure, which felt pathetic.

 I used magic to clean my clothes and body then exited the room, pondering as to why I was feeling so unbalanced, I surely didn't know her and yet I felt some form of attachment. Still it was like the hollow feelings magic induced, as opposed to the genuine article.

 As I made it to the stairs outside Byurik's office however, I caught sight of her and the imbalance seemed to fade from my mind as I spied her eating with Valo.

 I'd forgotten we had only eaten twice since arriving, with one of those times being the gruel from the night before.

 I joined them and noticed Sil had muted herself mid-sentence which I assumed was because of the explanation I gave Doran.

 I cracked my neck as I sat down, resting my arms on the table and my head on the arms and as Sil asked if she could get me anything, I waved away the request just as the door creaked open to reveal Fala.

 Valo asked if she could help her, but Fala trotted in from the doorway and thanked us for helping her and her father. Valo seemed disgruntled by the lack of response, but more out of jealousy of Sil and I, as opposed to the fact she was so blatantly ignored.

 Sil asked her if she just came to say hello, but Fala shook her head and put the herbs we had picked the day before and some coins on the table, saying that Rein told her to hire us as bodyguards for her gathering for the week.

 He was clearly trying to pay us for healing him, and I had made a show of the rudeness of declining a gift, so I massaged my temple for a bit to think.

 In the end I suggested that she speak to Valo about the job request, but made her joining us for breakfast and observing the guards a prerequisite, since it hadn't escaped my notice that she was on the thin side.

 Demonstrating the family's stubbornness, she was too proud to accept breakfast, until I told her I could tell she hadn't eaten and reminded her what I did when her dad was being stupid. Not that I would ever be so rough with a child, but luckily I was still enough of a stranger for her to not know that.

 Though confused by Fala's sudden cooperation, Valo stood and made her way to the contract drafting desk behind reception.

 When the young girl was nearly done feasting, they all asked if I was going to eat but I told them I was going to eat while we were out. What I told them wasn't a lie either, I truly did intend to investigate the culinary situation and if possible improve it.

 Not long after that, Valo returned with an official guild contract and seeing that she actually included the conditions I set forth made me chuckle, as I also caught a glimpse of how seriously she took her job.

 When we had both signed the contract, she explained that unless we returned with Fala unharmed and before dark, the job would be considered a failure.

 So far this was a good world, I liked the people I had met, and deeply regretted the lies and manipulation that my purpose necessitated. I never enjoyed lying to good people, but it was a necessary deception and vital part of the role I found myself playing.

 A role that I believed was worth all the self-loathing such things brought me, because no matter the awful things I said or done, I truly believed that in the grand scheme of things I was minimising suffering.

 I accidently thanked Valo aloud for being so cautious which caused the three ladies' eyebrows to furrow in confusion, but Doran stepped in to distract them.

 Whilst Doran filled his belly, we filled him in on the plan for the day, growing nervous after he asked if I would really gain anything from watching a couple of evaluation fights, and I informed him I had my ways.

 At that point he returned the sword I discarded, and admitted to unsheathing it out of curiosity, though doing so only made him more curious.

 I told him to draw it as he did before, and he pulled the handle to reveal the peculiar shape of the weapon. The hilt was that of a longsword, but where the blade should have been looked like someone removed the body leaving it appearing as a steel-edged blade of thin air.

 I then told him to sheath it again, then poured mana into the scabbard and told him to redraw it.

 When he did, the blade was solid, inscribed with the language of my original world to hide the fact that it was an anathema. A special kind of weapon that uses the magic infused emotion it was forged with to rob one's enemy of strength.

 The sword didn't just stab and slash, or even inflict some additional effect like make an enemy weaker though. It worked like radiation, simply being near it left you feeling lethargic in a way that eats away at you for a month or two.

 If you are struck by such a blade meant for you, then non-lethal isn't a thing, even if your body recovers your soul is infected by a wound which will fester throwing your emotions out of balance, altering your perspective and thinking.

 The inscription on the blade also glowed, when first empowered and drawn, or in the presence of its enemy.

 Which made me wonder why it continued to glow.

 My blood ran cold suddenly, I could feel a god's eyes on me, and my hand reclaimed my sword, and I silently begged them to come within reach of the single scratch it would take to pass judgement on them.

 The others flinched as my knuckles bleached white with my grip around the hilt and my eyes trembled with desperation.

 When the god proved himself too cowardly to take my challenge, my hand relaxed and I fully put the blade to rest in its scabbard as I told them that the weapon can intensify the wielder's hatred if they are feeling stressed.

 Doran shifted as he empathised with how I could've been stressed given the make believe baggage I dumped on everybody the previous day. Though as he did, Valo began to grow impatient, reminding us that we had to return before dusk and kicking us out.

 The streets were quiet as we meandered through them toward the garrison, which was another peculiarity since the denizens of such worlds typically rose with the sun. Despite that, Doran was loud enough to make the whole town seem alive, though little Fala was apparently unused to carrying a full stomach so early, finding herself asleep in Sil's arms before long.

 Doran was busy trying to ask about my strength, regardless of my honest statement that it was a hard question to answer without knowing how strong the locals are.

 Overall it didn't take long to reach the barracks, which was a shame since if it had lasted a little longer it would have been possible for me to go more than two days until I met someone I didn't like.

 Welcomed by the sight of one guard embarrassing another.

 We made our way to the commander, where I observed intently, grading every aspect of his ability put on display. 

I was truly impressed when his eyes found me and narrowed mid match, at full strength I would have expected it, but he was clearly run slightly ragged.

 He ended the bout swiftly after noticing me, then approached introducing himself and asking if I came looking to challenge him, making me laugh as I told him I wasn't gullible enough to believe he didn't know about me.

 I apologised if I was being rude then looked in the direction of the bully, stating as a 'teacher' I would rather educate someone in need than fight a pointless fight.

 To my surprise Leeson called me on observing him so I knew how hard to go, adding that I would be saving him a job if I was as good at teaching as I am at fighting.

 The commander summoned the man over, then gathered everyone around and introduced me.

 I then asked the crowd to raise their hands if the guardsman had embarrassed them, four raised their hands, their expressions told me they misunderstood my question.

 As the man introduced himself with enough courtesy to prove himself not a total waste of his moderate potential, I told him to save it until his name was one worth knowing, adding that I intended to embarrass him for each comrade he embarrassed.

 The commander let out a thunderous laughter, loud enough to startle his men, then said I spoke like an old man and caused Doran to tell him about my age in case I took offense.

 With the crowd left flabbergasted by the 'revelation' I was close to sixty, I held one arm behind my back in a fencing pose, blade held outstretched with its edge facing toward the floor as I wondered if the stance I hadn't even practiced was still overkill.

 I was pleasantly surprised by the speed he opened with. His footwork was solid, having one foot planted at all times whilst moving was difficult, all child's play however.

 He had forgotten that despite his efforts, mastering novice level forms merely made him a journeyman and not a master and as his blade ran parallel to mine, I sent it wide by twisting my wooden blade into it.

 "That's one."

 With his blade no longer between us, I struck his side with the flat of mine, hard enough to wind him and make him stumble sideways.

 "That's two."

 With him no longer directly in front of me, I stepped forward and stuck sideways into the back of his knee, making him fall hard onto his back.

 "That's three."

 I then tapped him on the groin with the wooden blade, making him release his weapon and roll around melodramatically.

 "That's four."

 As I finished, I noticed the four who raised their hands snickering and approached them, slightly more imposing than intended. Telling them laughing at him makes them just as bad, burying their relish in shame.

 The commander applauded and stepped forward asking if I would share some aged wisdom with his men.