Overlord Journey of Tima, the Creator God

"Maria, this is the great mage who helped drive away the werewolves and healed you," Susan whispered in the girl's ear.

"Um..." Maria's face flushed slightly.

"Excuse me, are you a god?"

"No." Aya had no idea how many times she had explained that in a single day, but she was already used to it.

Her mental state was still very unstable. That was Aya's assessment as she looked at the girl.

"Here, take this." Aya found something tucked away in the corner of her inventory and handed it to Maria.

It was a necklace. Its pendant was a silver cross with a red gemstone set in its center.

A beautiful but useless little accessory—that was Aya's assessment of it. She had crafted it when her level was still low, originally intending to add a skill for summoning angels. The attempt had failed.

She had wasted quite a few materials and ended up making nothing more than a toy. Its stats were mediocre, and its only additional effect was "Increased Mental Resistance."

Crafting failures like this had actually been quite common in the game. Usually, all one could do was accept it and toss the item into the inventory.

Yet today, she had unexpectedly found a use for it. It could at least be considered making use of something that would otherwise go to waste. For the girl before her, "Increased Mental Resistance" should be extremely useful.

"Can I... really accept this?" the girl asked in a trembling voice.

"Take it." Aya did not say aloud that it was merely a trinket no one had bought even when priced at a hundred gold.

Maria stretched out her trembling hands and accepted the necklace. Then she clasped it tightly in both hands and held it against her chest.

"God, I will treasure it forever."

It was not really something worth treasuring that much. Aya still had several necklaces of the same design, though those were successful versions with abilities other than "Increased Mental Resistance."

However, the required level for those pieces of equipment was above 70, so Maria could not wear them.

"Great Mage." There was a knock at the door. Standing outside were representatives of the village, including the old woman.

"We have unanimously decided to accept the great mage's proposal." It was the expected outcome. Aya was not surprised, but seeing things proceed smoothly still made her unable to suppress her happiness.

Indeed, for the villagers, all it took was a little thought to understand that even in the worst-case scenario, Aya's proposal meant they would be spending money to purchase the protection of a great mage who might be even stronger than a refined steel-ranked adventurer.

What was more, she had promised to provide oxen and magic for farming. Those two things could be said to perfectly solve the problems facing the villagers.

On the other hand, the villagers understood that the debt of gratitude they owed her was already enormous. Whether it was resolving the werewolf crisis or treating the wounded, the value of either was beyond what they could afford.

When they could offer nothing but gratitude, how could they possibly refuse her well-intentioned proposal?

"One more thing—if possible, we hope the great mage will tell us her name. It feels rather presumptuous to keep addressing you like this." After confirming the deal, the old woman made a request that hardly counted as one.

A name... Indeed, if they were going to have further dealings, calling her "great mage" would not be very appropriate. In truth, Aya's classes were Summoner and Priest; Preya was the genuine mage.

"Aya." After hesitating briefly, Aya realized another issue—her surname.

After all, one could use a game nickname. Her nickname had simply been Aya, but in a reality like this, a surname should be quite important.

From the perspective of her two daughters, Aya also wanted a surname—something that could connect them through a legacy beyond blood.

Should she find a suitable one for herself? The surname she had used in her previous life was clearly unsuitable for this medieval European cultural atmosphere. Aya pondered for a moment, and by some strange coincidence, a name came to mind.

It was a name she seemed to have heard in a dream, one that felt incomparably familiar.