Just a Bored Housewife Taking a Stroll - I

Ash regulated his breathing... deep but steady and calm, ridding himself of any unnecessary distractions.

And an unknown period of time later, he slowly opened his eyes. His serene crystal clear blue eyes became as sharp as a drawn blade that anyone who sees him eye to eye would feel so fragile and vulnerable.

And with poise but at the same time uptight posture, It can be said that his mind and body attained a certain threshold of absolute focus and concentration.

With no other thoughts in mind but only to understand the true essence of the sword and its art. He picked up the katana laying in front of him and stood up.

He was about to proceed with his swordsmanship training when the system interface suddenly pops up in front of him followed by the sound of Wise's mechanical voice.

[*Quest:

Duration: --

Description: Forge your path to martial arts. Cultivate your mastery with the sword and advance your proficiency to the next realm. Complete the early stage mastery realms.

Rewards:

*System Exp: 200

*System Points: 1,000

Early:

-Novice (Mastery: 0%)

-Advanced (Mastery: 0%)

-Master (Mastery: 0%)*]

[*... Notice... You've received a new quest...*]

Ash just raised a brow and said "Oh?... another one huh?"

He didn't mind too much about the new quest he just got and proceeded to walk towards the grass-covered land and started his training.

He went at it for hours without even realizing it himself. From the correct posture, drawing, sheathing, stances, blocking, and finally the basic strikes. All of these while maintaining his concentration.

He performed everything in repetitions upon repetitions without stopping even for a single second.

---

While Ash continues with his training, on Erethel's side, she is sitting on her throne as usual, with a glass of wine in her hand.

She was pondering hard on where and how she should create their personal realm. She wanted to make it special since it would be hers and her husband's temporary home... only for the both of them... at least for the time being.

And although it's just temporary and she knew that Ash wouldn't mind how and where she should create it as long as he could stay with her from time to time, she still wanted it to be perfect.

Erethel, as the strongest Goddess who is standing at the peak of all existence, has countless methods and ideas on how it should look and could make it with just a snap of her fingers but she's stuck at the moment.

"Fuuuh... I need inspiration..."

She was thinking of visiting Ash before loitering out somewhere but seeing that he's busy with his training, she decided to go against it. And with that, she stood up from her seat and suddenly vanished.

---

Dungeon City, Orario...

In a dark and cold alley at the southwestern part of the city of Orario, a few blocks away from the babel tower suddenly appeared a black-haired, fair-skinned mature beauty.

Of course, that said beauty is none other than Erethel herself who finally decided to get out from her shell... partly because of boredom.

And of course, with the purpose of finding inspirations from the outside and with the help of different views, ideas, and opinions of common creatures to create the perfect place for her and her husband.

She's currently in a disguise and appears to be no different when compared to the local common-looking women in Orario.

She's wearing a simple, neat, and elegant-looking white long dress yet even in that disguise, anyone could tell with one look that she's anything but just a simple woman.

There's just this regal air around her that seems to emit superiority just by feeling her presence alone.

She waved her hand and made a cloak out of thin air and proceeded to walk out from the cramped place.

"Hmm?... what happened here?" she asks herself nonchalantly.

She got out to the southwestern main street expecting a bustling crowd of different creatures coexisting in the same place living their day-to-day life.

Unfortunately, what greeted her were scattered rubbles. Debris of wood, bricks, and concrete that was once part of the building structures around her were messily scattered around her.

She glanced further away only to see not only broken debris but corpses of different races and ages. Men, women, children, and elderly, no one... or at least none in her presence was spared to the utter chaos and devastation around her.

"Let's see..."

She was about to snap her fingers and use her powers to see the previous events and to know what really happened when...

"Help!... someone!... anyone!... please help us!" Erethel heard a ruckus coming from behind her and a woman's voice pleading for help.

When she looked behind, she saw a female cat person desperately running away from multiple pursuers in black masks and crying for help while carrying a child about four years old of the same race in her arms.

"Hahahaha!... run kitties run!"

"Oh~... another one! and a beautiful one at that... hahahaha!"

"Hahaha... that pretty face isn't going to save her from us!"

Erethel ignored the screaming insects who are currently in pursuit of the female cat person and just continues to walk in their direction.

The woman saw Erethel and their eyes met. She wanted to ask for help but when she realized that the woman in front of her doesn't look like a fighter, she tried to warn her to run to safety.

"Run!... they're going to kill you!... Ru- ahh!"

She wasn't able to finish her words when she suddenly stumbled down. She didn't notice that her foot got caught with something while running and caused her to trip.

She tried to get back up but felt pain and realized that she injured her leg.

'It's over, it's over... we're going to die... I can't even protect my daughter... I'm sorry baby...' she thought.

Drowning in grief and self-blame for not being able to protect her child, her daughter stared at her mother's eyes asks.

"Mommy, are we... are we going to die?..."

When she heard that, she felt her heart was breaking into a million pieces. She was so heartbroken seeing her daughter's teary eyes staring right at her.

Although she's unwilling, she knew that in her state, she couldn't do anything.

"It's okay, it's okay... Mommy's here baby... mommy's here..."

Her tears couldn't stop flowing and she just hugged her daughter tightly realizing that their pursuers were already just four meters away from them.

"Hahaha... why'd you stop!?... too bad...."

"Goodbye kitties!"

"Let's kill them quick! We still got lots of people to kill!"

She already saw them raising their bladed weapons ready to hack them down to their deaths. She just closed her eyes while still hugging her daughter in her arms succumbing to their fate, however...

"Huh!?... what the!..."

"Wha-!... Arghhhh!"

"Wha-what's this!... Urgh!..."

"Gryaaahhh!..."

"S-stop this!... no no no... Ahhh!"

The expected blow never came, instead, she only heard her assailants' painful cries.

It took a while for the shrieking to die down and when it did, she opened her eyes only to see the back of the same woman she saw and warned to run.

'W-what's... what's going on?... where are those men?...'

The female cat person was puzzled when she glanced around but wasn't able to see any signs of the armed men who were, seconds ago, about to kill them.

Their weapons, body, and even their clothes suddenly disappeared leaving not a single sign that they've been there.

"...Was it... you?"

Turning her eyes to the figure of the woman still with her back against them, she asked.

"Hmm?... oh, you mean those insects?..."

Erethel slowly turned to them and looked at the woman and the child in her arms who are currently in a pitiful state. After taking a good look at the woman, she fixed her eyes on the child, smiled, and continues...

"You don't have to worry about them... they can no longer hurt you..."

'Who is she?... is... is she a noble from somewhere and on a vacation but was unfortunate enough and got stuck in the city?...'

The female cat person was speechless when she heard the woman call those men insects but didn't dwell on it further.

She heaved a sigh of relief and thank Erethel profusely for saving them. Although she didn't see how she defeated those men earlier, she knew that they are saved by her.

The child in her arms suddenly got out from her embrace and slowly approached Erethel.

"I'm Kylee... thank you for saving me and my mother from those bad guys pretty big sister..."

She smiled and politely bowed her head in front of Erethel, introduced herself, and thanked her for saving them.

Upon seeing the cute child calling onto her and thanking her, Erethel's lips couldn't help but curl upwards feeling something new blooming inside her. She didn't know what it was and thought...

'Maybe this is one of the reasons why he likes children so much...'

She slowly approached the child in front of her while maintaining her smile and patted the child's head and said...

"Ara~... what a polite child... you're welcome..."

While still gently patting the child's head, Erethel turned his eyes to the mother who is still on the ground enduring the discomfort she's experiencing from the injury she got.

Erethel immediately waved her hand and healed her leg. The mother suddenly felt a comfortable sensation and found out that it was completely healed.

She turned her eyes to Erethel and knew that she was responsible for healing her. She slowly stood up and approached her child who was still being patted by their savior.

"My name is Mina... I would like to thank you again for saving me and my child..."

"Fufufu... you're quite welcome... and you can call me Erethel..."

After the introductions, Erethel asked what happened and why was the city in chaos.

Through the mother and daughter pair, she learned that the city was attacked by evil fanatics called Evilus who are aiming to destroy the city and killing even the defenseless innocent residents.

She also learned from them that Evilus was founded and backed by Gods who proclaimed themselves as absolute evil and couldn't help but thought...

'Hmm... my dear husband will come to this city soon. If he knew the events from this day and the innocents, especially the children who were caught in this mess, he would be devastated...'

'I guess I should clean-up?...' a dangerous thought came into her mind.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

A series of loud explosions interrupted her from her thought so she turned to the mother and daughter pair and told them that she'll escort them to a safe place.

Using her Godly eyes, she began to scan the surroundings, and not long after that, she managed to find a cafe nearby that seemed to be a shelter for the civilians.