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Genderless. Literally genderless.

Eldest's adult form looked like a man and at the same time, a woman. With that long blonde hair and that delicate small face in frame, in just another blink, the jawline would seem sharp and dignified like a man. The body is petite in its form, however, it also looks a bit muscular.

It's a bit hard to comprehend. The only words I can combine to describe it is literally genderless. I blinked my eyes furiously, caught off guard.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, bewildered. I just got surprised because she, wait he? How the hell am I going to address Eldest now? Them and they?

Eldest's voice also surprised me. It was...intriguing. The voice was deep but not so deep, so I still can't point out which gender this form infront of me is.

The latter raised a brow, arms crossed before stepping aside of my view. There was a few moment of silence before they also gestured their hand, as if to let me walk pass by.

My eyebrows twitched upon realizing what just happened, a smile forced upon my face. "That's not what I meant by excuse me, and I'm not joking."

A smirk went its way to their lips. "Neither do I." Ignoring their sarcastic remarks, I chose to assess them a little further. Their physical appearance is, indeed, marvelous. Fitting for a deity!

"Soooo, are you a man or a woman?" Even if it's obvious that the form infront of me is genderless, I still want to make sure. Maybe they can actually transform into a man and a woman, not just into a kid or an adult.

Crossing their arms, a blunt reply followed. "Take a guess, Cly."

"...a woman-man?" I questioned, wondering why I chose to give that kind of an answer. I was only given a sneer, making me huff out in annoyance. "Okay, I don't care anymore. Let's just get going."

"Wait," blocking my way, I frowned at the height difference of a child and an adult. That God earlier named Luminescence was already frustrating enough, now even Eldest is this tall?

Why are deities so perfect?!

"Why are you asking my gender instead of praising me? Odd." Eldest stated with narrowed eyes, crossing their arms. How am I odd? I mean, deities are perfect, I get it. I don't think I have to tell them that since they literally hear that to other humans.

Ah, and I just recognized their attire and it looked the same to what priests usually wear. That's understandable, I guess.

Taking their question into consideration, I cleared my throat and replied nonchalantly. "Weren't you the one who got embarassed when I called you pretty before?"

"I'm a man right now, do you want me to act gay?" Eldest growled, making me gape at him. I never knew taunting him was the best method to make him reveal his gender!

He soon realized what he just said, a familiar grimace on his face. "Okay smarty-pants, now you got the answer, do me the favor and feed my pride."

I rolled my eyes at him, but still giving him what he wanted. "You're the best."

"That's it?"

"I mean, why bother about others praising you when you already know you're perfect?" I reasoned, suddenly recalling Aureus and her legendary I know moments. Ehem.

But Eldest wasn't easy to fool. "I could have believed that if only I didn't know the reason behind your words."

I gave him a shrug. I bet he read my mind, since he's omnipotent like he claimed himself to be. This is the most casual thing I've ever done as a response to a deity. I'm such a bad human.

"How about this?" My eyes remained fixated at him, who soon transformed into a woman. Still the same, however, she got smaller but still tall enough. Her petite yet slender body was something comparable to Aureus.

Holy, if there was a Miss Universe in here, Aureus and Eldest will be the ones to compete for the crown.

"..." I was about to give her a praise, but I found myself speechless for a moment. She's oblivious to my mental crisis, making her bend down to look at me.

"Still on this world, Cly?"

She flinched in surprise the moment I slapped myself back to reality right after blanking out. "What the heck?"

"Can we get going now? Go and transform back to your child form already." I demanded, before opening the book she gave me and pretending like I'm reading it.

Act chill, guys. And act cool.

But God, this deity is persistent! She circled around me, muffling her laughter. I feel like prey being looked down by a predator, and I literally felt chills run down my spine. "Are you making me laugh?"

"No, I'm serious." I seriously replied, praying to the heavens that she'd let it pass and we can just continue on with our recent activity. There's still a lot of booths that I want to see!

"I see." Hearing her response almost made me relieved. Take note of the word: almost. "Hi serious, I'm Eldest."

This was the day I almost reached the limit of my patience. I pride myself as a brother with a long temper to be patient enough with my bratty sister. However, right now is a different case.

I stared at her blankly, making her stare at me as well. I internally frowned.

She literally have this invisible authority around her.

Much to my surprise, she straightened her posture, clearing her throat. "Ehem. Shall we go?"

My eyes narrowed at her suspiciously. Is she finally stopping teasing me? If so, good! I can't waste my time getting teased here when there's a lot of places left for me to visit.

"One quick question, and we can go back to visiting other stalls." She added.

Ha, I suppose I should answer it real quick. "Go on."

"You said your mama is prettier." Leaning down to look at me, I gulped the lump on my throat. Why do I have a bad feeling about her question? "Did I manage to change your mind?"

...

...what?

Wait, did she get offended when I told her that Aureus is prettier?!

Oh geez, ofcourse she is! Why else would she be asking if not that?! But still, it caught me off-guard. I'm certainly not an expert when it comes to situations like these. What do you expect from an NBSB like me?

I tried to survey my mind, balancing my options and risks upon choosing Aureus or Eldest. If I tell this moody deity, "You didn't change my mind, mama is still prettier!" Who knows what sorcery will she do next time?

And if I did say, "You changed my mind, you're absolutely prettier!" I can imagine myself getting disowned already, and what more, my execution day might show up at me in an instant.

I tried to save up more time by asking her a question. "Is that like, a question if you're race is prettier than ours?"

She shrugged. "I suppose."

I could probably just give in and tell her a deity is prettier so we can get over it. Before I can even lose my pride as a human being, I heard her sneer at me. "Just kidding." That made me stare at her blankly again. "I'm not stooping low as to compare myself to a mere mortal, Cly." Eldest added casually.

I sighed, massaging my temples. "You literally caused me a panic attack for a moment." Whether she joked about it or not at all, no matter what happens, I won't choose, much more between them and Aureus.

If I choose Eldest, Aureus might really disown me. And if I choose Aureus, Eldest might snap at me. A brief summary.

"But still, there's a difference in the standard of beauty between mortals and a deity." I reasoned, deciding that I should atleast defend our human race's beauty when I was just about to give up my pride on it.

"Hey, I can't be compared even to an Empress." She nonchalantly fired back, making me frown in an instant. Of all people, she chose to use Aureus as an example again. Why am I the one whose offended anyways?

I can imagine the Empress blankly writing down with a feather pen and paper at her office and all of a sudden, the pen broke again for the nth time upon our mention of her name. Sorry, Aureus!

"My mama is pretty in a different way! She have the grace of an Empress, with her long straight raven black hair and silver orbs glowing!" I countered, not wanting to let her insult Aureus. "Your beauty is different too. A blonde with golden orbs, I guess."

With that, she completely shut up. Did she buy what I said or not at all?

"A blonde with golden orbs, I guess?" She repeated, elbow rested on the armrest of the couch, her chin rested on the palm of her hand. Eldest grimaced, attention elsewhere and in the opposite direction of me.

Uh-oh.

Now that I realized I described her plainly, I suddenly felt guilty. But if I try to appeal to her more, she'd know that I'm only saying things to brighten her mood.

Is she going to snap at me and be a moody deity now? Wait, she's always been.

"Um, I mean, you have an unexplainable beauty since, uh, you're already perfect!"

My reason didn't seem to waver her mood, but she glanced at me, brows furrowed. "What the hell are you blabbering now?"

I sweat-dropped. "Er, the standard of your beauty?" Wait a minute, not because she's a deity means I should cower in fear. I also have my own power and authority as a crown prince!

But whenever I'm with her, I feel like a dinosaur from that certain game when you don't have internet connection.

"I already know that." She blankly replied, leaning her back on the couch. "But what bothers me the most is the fact that you explained my looks ever so dryly." From that statement, she looks like her soul left her for a moment.

But does a deity even possess a soul? It feels like I'm suddenly questioning my existence. "Are you mad?"

She frowned. "No."

"Then, sad?"

"No."

I laughed. "Aha, don't worry, you're not that plain—"

"Stop," she raised a hand, making me stop midsentence, with another hand on her forehead. "I don't care about your opinion anymore." At that moment, she quickly transformed back into a child.

Yep, she's totally upset. This feels like the way my sister used to throw tantrums, but at the same time, it's a bit different. How can I even tame a moody deity?

I should be relieved that she's back to her child form, but seeing her upset makes me uneasy. "Hey Eldest," I tried to call out to her, but she only hummed in response, not giving me attention. I sighed, before continuing my words. "Thank you."

"But I did nothing?" She finally glanced at me with her eyebrow raised. "Don't just thank me yet, Cly.

I chuckled, glancing down at the book. "You didn't question my identity much as a reincarnated person. I'm not even Clydeur, so I don't know how everyone will react if they know it too."

"They'll never know." Eldest stated, lowering her gaze as she tapped her fingers on her crossed-arms. "I made sure of it. And even if they did, they'll forget it anyway."

"Well, I have lots of questions to ask, but I hope this book can answer them somehow." I commented, before looking around the room once more. "For now, why don't we enjoy the occassion here? There's still quite a few stalls we haven't visited."

Eldest briefly glanced at me, before a small smile appeared on her face. "That's right. Sure." With a snap of her fingers, we surprisingly teleported in the middle of the capital city, where I saw the fountain again.

"Hey, what if someone sees?!" I panicked, roaming my eyes around to check if there are people who sees our teleportation and gets suspicious of it. Fortunately, they seem to be minding their own business.

"I'm a deity, Cly." Eldest reminded, rolling her eyes. "And even if they did, they won't care." She then casted a spell to freeze the water from the fountain, and so it froze in the air. The people who saw it stared in awe as if it was normal.

She gestured a hand towards the fountain. "See?"

I scoffed at her. Right, maybe all my worries are nothing in this world. I've been used to the normal life, afterall.

But, I'm just wondering something.

"Why are you an adult again?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward.

She was also already a child earlier, was she really that offended that she chooses to prance around as an adult woman?

As she led the way with me still tailing behind, she briefly glanced at me. "Well, can't I?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. I'm just asking." Please bring back the happy-go-lucky and can't-be-bothered version of Eldest. This one looks like she's about to beat the crap out of me.

"Roaming around here without an adult might be troublesome." She then reached out a hand towards me, and I stared at it. This suddenly feels like deja vu, but it was the Empress who reached out a hand to me. But did that situation with Aureus ever happen before?

Hesitantly, I slowly took her hand. Her grip wasn't tight nor loose, just enough to avoid letting go of mine. She slowed down her pace and so we ended up walking side by side.

I guess this is better. Without an adult, I'm certain others might try to do something funny towards children. Even while we were walking earlier before we even reached the point of meeting the co-God, there were other people who intensely stared at us.

I do hope they're not planning to kidnap us in broad daylight.

In the end, we visited some stalls that sells food. I pulled out the pouch that contained money which Eldest gave me earlier, and I felt my drool almost rolling down my mouth if I hadn't dignified myself.

I never knew barbecue existed in this world! Look, there's even street foods that I remember back in my country! Is this coincidence? Or did these foods already exist in this era?

Well, I guess I'll know that when I read the book later. For now, I'll ease up my worries.

"How cute you are!" One female vendor cooed at me with a wide smile as we bought ice cream from her stall. "Are you enjoying your time with your mom?"

Lightning seems to struck both me and Eldest, but most probably for different reasons. It even reached the point where I lost my grip on the book and it fell down, forcing Eldest to pick it up and hold it for me.

"Ah, ehehe." I chose to just laugh it off, ignoring Eldest's piercing stare.

She sighed. "My son is quite shy." I almost spat out the ice cream I'm licking upon hearing her statement. The female vendor seems to believe this deity's words. Why do I feel like she have the same vibes as Aureus when she becomes a mother figure?!

This is traumatizing me.

"I see! That's even more cute! Here, I'll give you an extra ice cream!"

I decided to just smile and nod. Yes, smile and nod, kids. It was a lucky opportunity to eat more ice cream.

As we walk around, I decided to be a little more cunning. There's a lot of stalls and stores here, even some boutique that looks fancy yet bearable for the commoners to buy to.

I suppose all these money are from Eldest. Glancing at the pouch, an idea came to mind. I wonder how she'll react if we spend a lot today. She can't be making fake money even if she's a deity, she'll end up scolded if Aureus gets wind of it.

"Let's buy that too!" I pointed at the barbecue I saw earlier. We weren't able to try them out earlier, so I'll use this timing as my chance.

Eldest didn't seem to notice my devious plan of making her broke, so she did buy one from the stalls as the man happily served us one stick each. But before we can leave, I stopped her from doing so.

"Wait! Let's buy more!"

"Ha?" She squinted her eyes at me while I desperately stared at her, please be affected by my charm. Even the vendor looks eager to earn more money from us customers. Eldest stared at us blankly before sighing in defeat.

"Thank you! 'Til next time!" The man beamed, waving a hand at us as we walked around again. I finished two sticks already, eight more to go.

Eldest widened her eyes more than I thought she could, as if she can't believe how I had such a large appetite all of a sudden. "You've got to be kidding me."

This isn't all about making her run out of money, I also missed eating these kind of foods. "This isn't all yet, to the next stall!"

"Oh God." She muttered under her breath, but what an irony, since she's a God herself.

We spent time looking around, with me eating more than she did, earning a lot of surprised indenial expressions of hers from the situation.

"Cly, you're not going to starve to death." Eldest reminded me as I chewed on another food that looks and tastes the same to shawarma. The taste is so delicious that I almost feel like tearing up, ignoring her words and annoyed stare.

I looked up to her. "Why don't you try this too?"

She closed her eyes to regain inner peace, her hand reaching out to wipe something from my face. "I already did."

"Then try more." I urged, still sticking to my plan. So far, the pouch is getting lighter, which means just a few spending left until she gets broke. I cackled to myself, ignoring Eldest who now seems horrified.

"Who are you and what did you do to Cly?"

Ha, did I got influenced by her evil cackling like earlier?

"I'm Reilouisse and I have no idea what happened to Cly." I nonchalantly replied back, munching on to my food until I finished it up. Yep, this is the life of a well-fed kid.

But I have to do some exercise after this. I don't want to be a chubby tyrant.

I wonder what else can we buy. Looking around, I pulled Eldest with me again when I saw a stall that sells jewelry. I do hope it is real, so the cost would be much more expensive.

One man with a long beard smiled at me as he gestured towards his items. "Welcome, young kid. Try to look for whatever item you would like. These are all real and expensive, but I'm sure your mom can afford it for you."

I didn't mind how he pointed out Eldest as my mom like anyone else did, and it seems she didn't have a choice but to let anyone believe it as that.

My silver orbs stared at his items, carefully observing the different kinds of jewelry. "Look!" I pointed into a silver ring with saphire diamond in between, my eyes sparkling in delight. "Is it real?"

The owner nodded quickly, so I looked up to Eldest. I wonder if she knows that it is indeed real and not just some scam.

She looked back to me. "One way to know." Eldest grabbed the ring and raised it. I immediately tried to stop her when I realized what she's about to do.

"Wait no! Don't bite—" but then the ring glowed black in her hands. "—it?" She lazily threw it back, the color returning to normal, with the stall owner looking offended.

Glancing at me, she raised a brow. "What are you saying?"

I awkwardly smiled. "Nothing." And here I thought I can waste the money for jewelry, turns out I can't, even if it's a fake. The man looks dissapointed and seems to regret not being able to urge us to buy.