"Alright, repeat after me."

So she says. My whole life has prepared me for this moment! While others were training in mana manipulation and magic, I was training my ability to repeat complete sentences in other worlds! Some will say playing the telephone game and repeating an anime main protagonist's lines doesn't count. But! They are wrong!

"I vow to serve the water goddess and all her possessions on this Earth realm."

[I vow to help Aqua and to do my best to protect her stuff.]

"…."

[What's the next line?]

"…"

[?]

She seems to be internally deliberating. If I had to say, the devil inside her is saying to whoop my ass for slightly rewording the lines. The angel inside her is probably saying the same actually. But her rationality seems to hold her together and prevent her from erupting in anger.

To be honest, I'm not even doing this to be difficult either. Could you picture how embarrassed Aqua would be upon seeing the scene of her followers making me swear some goddamn antiquated solemn vow?

It will be fine if I casually do it on a whim, but all seriousness is lost when you remember our positions. She's part of my sect and I'm her direct superior hierarchic so this makes the whole thing a big joke. Hell, I'll probably use this event to tease her later on. I can't wait to see her face haha.

"I vow to defend the Water Goddess's people to the best of my abilities."

[I vow to help Aqua making sure her fans don't all get violently murdered or anything of the likes.]

"I vow to embody the very core teachings of the Water Goddess."

[I vow to follow the same core teachings Aqua herself follows.]

Yes, that means my own goddamn teachings. This whole thing is so ridiculous. But eh, as long as it brings all these people peace of mind, I do not care one bit. I'm not the petty arrogant type. You know the kind to go I will bow to no one; the entire world will bow to me and yadi-yada.

That is when she looks at me gravely. She then slowly raises her hand in the most majestic way possible. She looks akin to an otherworldly regal undine empress commanding her water domain (no link to the Water Empress). Side note, it's hilarious how the subordinate is wearing a gorgeous blue robe and the deity she is revering was only wearing a fish when I first met her.

That is when the water surface starts rippling and out of it comes an altar! Remember that one red goldfish I saw at the city's entrance? For some obscure reason, it's lazily swimming in it. There is this whole very serious ceremony…and a goldfish. Am I the only one that finds this weird?

Apparently, everyone else finds this normal. The ceremony conductor starts mumbling in some kind of weird language. Since I'm bored, I start petting the small red creature. It looks at me seemingly annoyed that I can't read the serious mood. Except, this loses all credibility just from its cute appearance.

Just as I'm wondering what will come next after the goldfish and the tuna, happens something marvelous. Out of nowhere, comes a torrent of water that raises upward like in a gigantic building-high tidal wave (actually I lied, it came from somewhere, the lake). It starts swirling around me with incredible momentum. Yet the very center is extremely calm.

I feel like I am observing a natural disaster with a VIP seat. I feel both insignificant in the face of it and truly powerful for I can assist to this without fear. I raise my arms in the air and I can't help but mumble.

[Let the sea rage as it pleases, for I am an immovable rock! In front of me every disaster is but a puny thing!]

I turn smilingly, that is when I see the judging expression of the fish. Please! Then the water starts swirling more and more violently all with the radius in the middle reducing. Before long I am left with only about 1 meter of space to move in.

Just as I'm wondering if I should be worried it instantly stops. In the nearby water altar, I can see my reflection. On my forehead is a pulsating shiny blue symbol. I somehow get the feeling the power of the waves themselves is contained inside it.

How much would people pay for an interactive tattoo?! Except, I do worry a bit this will bring attention to me. That is when I see the smiling Anonymous mage by the side. She is overseeing the situation. In fact, she is so relieved that the ceremony went well that she begins cackling.

"Hahahaha we did it! We really did it! From now on we have a protector!"

It is the same for the other Head-mages, they too are cackling for some reason. Ah, I just want to point out that the Water Empress is evidently super confused. She's laughing too but she clearly doesn't know the specifics of why they are laughing. She's just following along.

[Is this thing really hard to do for you guys to be so happy?]

"Yes, exactly! It is very hard to accomplish."

Yes, they really need to work on their laugh. They all sound like a third-rate villain in a fourth-rate movie. The worst is that all the sect members assembled somehow start copying them. This whole event is becoming a crazy game of Simon says, apparently with only a weird laugh on the menu.

"Alright, now there only remains one thing to do. We need you to go get the Naked emperor and bring him here."

[Eh, I don't even know exactly where he is. I've legit been touring the city the whole day. Just send people to look for him instead. Right, how does this blue glyph even work? Will it stay there forever? That would be an issue.]

"It will always remain there but it should turn invisible in a few days once you have integrated with it."

[Oh, I see!]

That sure is a relief. Sure it sounds cool in theory, but having a big "hey look at me I'm the main protagonist" mark is a big no-no. Well, not that I was really worried. This is all Aqua's power after all.

"Everyone! Disperse and try to find the Naked Emperor, he could be anywhere. We need to quickly locate him! Once you find him bring him in at all costs!"

That is when I hear a shout.

"Water Monarch, he's coming this way already! He's with the Water Princess and they seem angry!"

Water Monarch, who the Hell is..? Right, Anonymous has a name. Wait, but why are they angry?!...