After walking one more mile, Michael finally saw the shape of a house… Called it a house but it looked more like a cube.
Plus the construction was extremely unique. It was simply huge, extremely heavy logs stacked on top of each other like playing a stacking game. The whole house stayed standing entirely due to the heavy weight of each log, with no other joints.
If this area had an earthquake or some really huge animal rammed hard into the house, it could actually collapse. This weight wouldn't kill a demigod, but Leo would be dead for sure.
"You're saying that dangerous thing is your house?"
Michael swallowed a gulp of saliva. He was genuinely scared by this house. It looked like it could fall apart any moment.
"What the hell are you scared of? I've been here the whole time and nothing happened. Besides, you're a genie. You shouldn't get crushed to death by a few logs."
Leo pouted, looking down on this cowardice. A god this scared of dying was the first time he'd ever seen one. Before this, whether in legends or religion, he'd never heard of any god this timid.
'System, there's no problem around here, right?'
[…]
The system felt utterly embarrassed having to help such a dumb genie. Clearly he'd studied a lot, yet he didn't know anything.
[You studied so much before, so how come you don't know how to apply any of it? Try calculating how much force it would take to make that house collapse.]
???
How was he supposed to calculate that? He wasn't an architect, so how would he know this stuff? If he knew everything he probably wouldn't be human anymore… Well, he really was a god, but also really useless.
But Michael understood that the system talking nonsense like this meant low danger or none at all… Just trust that and his mind would feel lighter. As for the actual truth, he'd ignore it for now.
Just like that, he stepped into the house with Leo. As soon as he reached the door, what hit his eyes was an extremely frail-looking guy sitting with his eyes closed on a stone bed.
His hair was messy and dirty, as if he hadn't bathed in years. His outfit was just a pair of pants patched together from scraps of rags, looking no different from Leo's.
His body was shriveled up as if suffering from muscle atrophy and malnutrition. His whole body at this point looked like just skin and bones. But with a body like this, being able to sit still like a stone statue was enough to prove he wasn't ordinary.
Michael had to rub his eyes several times to realize this was the Raphael he had just met less than a day ago.
"You're sure this beggar is Raphael? No, more like a dying beggar."
Recognizing him was one thing, but Michael fundamentally didn't believe a demigod could end up like this. When he himself was heavily injured and covered in blood, he didn't even look this miserable.
"Why would I lie to you? Do I have a hobby of calling strangers my father?"
Leo was baffled by this weird question. Michael had told him he knew Raphael, but the unfamiliar look in his eyes right now wasn't fake either.
Raphael had already noticed when Leo brought a stranger home. Seeing that Michael was just a weak little brat, he wasn't afraid Michael could escape.
If he were a countryside kid, maybe he could be let loose, but his outfit was too special. The style was a bit strange, but how valuable it was—someone with knowledge like Raphael recognized it at a glance.
Being able to wear this kind of outfit meant he must be the child of nobles… More precisely, a high-ranking noble, because an ordinary noble couldn't make something this special. The durability of this outfit wasn't something good fabric could compare to.
He originally thought Michael was just an ordinary noble, but hearing his tone, he knew who he was. That made it even more impossible to let Michael leave.
"You talk as if you know who I am. And not just recently, but from quite a while ago, so you're not used to how I look now."
Raphael spoke in a flat, normal tone. His eyes didn't even open, but Leo had already noticed that his father was planning to kill someone.
"It's true that I saw you not long ago… No, to be exact, I saw you when you and Rias were fighting Elio's group."
"Who are you?! Cough, cough, cough…"
Raphael widened his eyes and stared at Michael, losing focus and coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood.
He quickly took deep breaths and then calmed down to regulate his body. Just sitting still in one place was enough to make a demigod sweat this much.
"Who am I? I'm a genie, a type of god. I'm not as strong as Sun God, so don't overthink it. Back then I was watching you guys and accidentally deflected the fourth technique Elio used to attack you. So you could call me your life-saving benefactor."
Michael said this part with immense pride. Clearly a weakling who wasn't a contractor, yet he had the ability to save a demigod.
???
Both Raphael and Leo were in shock, staring at Michael. Leo obviously didn't believe that useless genie was the one who saved his father. Raphael seemed to think of something for a moment, then understood everything.
"What kind of bullshit story are you making up? With your chicken-catching strength, how could you possibly save him?"
Leo pouted, looking down on Michael's random bragging to build a relationship with a stranger. He clearly understood that Raphael genuinely didn't know who Michael was.
"You made it so I can't have any more kids, and you want me to thank you? Looks like you're looking for a way to die."
Raphael's eyes were filled with murderous intent as he stared at Michael, making his heart feel like it would jump into his throat.
Cook God's killing intent was way more terrifying, but the problem was that intent wasn't aimed at Michael. While Raphael here clearly really intended to kill him.
"You… you… don't come over here!"
Michael yelled, then ran for his life out of this dangerous house.