The rest of the expedition went by uneventfully, especially since I didn't think about wanting more Anomalies to appear.
There were still a few stragglers that appeared but none of them were a problem for the Vanguards accompanying us to handle.
All I had to do was to follow them from behind and that's it. Being a passive support type is pretty boring…
Though I'm pretty sure I'm not actually meant to just sit at the back considering I also had my strength increased so maybe I was supposed to fight alongside them and buff them at the same time.
Oh well, there's still another chance to come back here to test out my powers.
We eventually completed our recon of the area and returned to the portal to leave the rift.
When we stepped through to return back to our own world, I realized there were even more people outside this time.
Not only were there more reporters, it looks like there were also other people who came here just to watch the portal for some reason.
Maybe they were trying to see if their Mortal God's first expedition would result in failure or success?
Predictably, cameras started flashing the moment they saw us and several media people tried to reach us.
However, the people in black suits were there to stop them and had cordoned off the area ahead of time so they could not get close.
Ignoring the onlookers, Olivia directed me to the front of the expedition group to address them.
I cleared my throat, "Ahem. This expedition was only supposed to be a recon expedition but all of you have managed to deal with the unexpected effectively and the fact all of us came out unscathed is thanks to your prowess. Thank you all for accompanying us on this expedition and your dedication to keeping our world safe."
Thankfully I have experience as a guild leader to draw from to know what I should say or else I would probably be making a fool out of myself here.
I then gave the floor to the other staff members on site who gave the usual spiel to them about being scanned for the miasma and for them to return their weapons at the counter.
As for me…
"My Lord… Would you be open to accepting interviews from the media now?" Olivia asked.
I sighed internally, "I don't have a choice, do I? Even if I don't, they would most likely ask the Vanguards questions and they'll probably answer them anyway."
Olivia shook her head, "We had them sign contracts not to leak out any information about the expedition today to anyone. Although I'm sure someone will eventually leak it, they would not be disclosing anything so soon."
Yeah… Especially with the anonymity of the internet, I bet someone would definitely go online later to post something like 'I went with the Mortal God on his first expedition AMA' or something.
"I'll take a few questions I suppose," I decided.
"Of course, my Lord. Please follow me."
I followed behind her as we approached the massive group of reporters who immediately started to role themselves up when they realized I was headed towards their direction.
A few of them tried to push their way to the front and even shoved each other aside just to get closer to the front.
I ignored that and simply stood in front of them while the men in suits separated us.
Olivia nodded at the reporters, "The Mortal God will answer a few questions."
And of course, hearing this from her, the reporters immediately started trying to talk over each other as they tried to throw their question out ahead of their peers.
Olivia growled at them and surprisingly, that quieted them down and she pointed at a random reporter, indicating he should ask the first question.
He immediately pushed his microphone towards me, "Divine one!! Please tell us how the expedition went!"
Not a completely unexpected question.
I nodded at him, "It went well. This was merely a recon expedition as we are scoping out this rift first. The danger within the rift was as expected but the talented Vanguards who participated in today's expedition handled it very well."
Once again, I was making use of my public speaking bullshitting skills as a guild leader to the max here.
Several hands went up and I found it amusing that these reporters are being so well behaved.
Olivia pointed at a female reporter.
"Was there any point in the expedition that your group faced any dangers?"
I almost answered the question directly until I paused to think about it.
The reporter looked like a foreigner and I also recognized the news network that she was representing was not a local news network.
She was trying to gauge how strong I was as a comparison to other Mortal Gods, no doubt.
"As with any rifts, there will always be dangers no matter if you are strong or weak," I started, trying my best to give her a non answer. "I have learned from my predecessors that even with this power as a Mortal God that I should never be complacent and think myself to be invincible. So any expedition into the rift will no doubt have their own dangers."
I could see from how her face scrunched up slightly that she was not satisfied by my answer but she could not force me to clarify as Olivia quickly pointed at another reporter.
"Divine one! May I ask for the real reason behind your mask? Is it really just to hide your identity or is there another reason for it?"
"Yes, it is to hide my identity. Next question."
"Does your friends and family know about your status?"
Olivia growled and pointed at another reporter, "No personal questions. Next one."
"Divine One! Some people online have already started giving you names! Do you have a name that we can call you?"
Oof… This is one of the problems I knew I would have needed to deal with… Naming myself.
I sucked in a breath, "I would most likely name myself something related to my own mythology but since the government prefers that my powers remain secret for now, I'm afraid I will have to withhold that information as well. I might give myself another name in the meantime and I will let you know if I do."
Yeah, that was complete bullshit on my part. I'm surprised that I even managed to say that much bullshit in one go.
Olivia pointed at another reporter, "Last question please."
The reporter straightened himself, "Do you have anything to say to the other Mortal Gods as the newest awakened Mortal God?"
Ah geez… Why did he have to bring the foreign Mortal Gods into this…
I shook my head, "As a newly awakened Mortal God, I can only see them as my seniors who have dedicated themselves to the protection of this world and I would like to follow their example. As I do not know them personally, I cannot speak anymore than that."
Olivia then raised her hand, "That is all. We will release another official statement regarding today's expedition. Thank you all for coming."
Several reporters tried to shout out a few more questions but we ignored them and returned to where the cars were parked.
Along the way, however, we found the elf mage from earlier waiting for us with a smile.
She curtsied again when I got close, "Divine One. I hope to be able to join you in your future expeditions and bear witness to your true power one day."
I wasn't sure if she was talking about my enhanced strength or the fact that I still do not have my full power as a Mortal God yet.
Thus, I just gave her a non-committal grunt and thanked her for the hard work before moving on.
I climbed into the car with Olivia following after me and I collapsed onto my seat, feeling the fatigue of having to keep up airs as a Mortal God washed over me.
"Thank you for your hard work, my Lord. You handled it perfectly."
I let out a sigh, "You can thank my experience in public speaking for that… If I'm not wrong, you mentioned there would be another recon expedition after this, correct? When will that be happening?"
"It is scheduled to happen on two days, my Lord. And the next one would be two days after. Finally, we will have the clearing expedition scheduled three days after that."
I turned to her, "That fast?"
"If my Lord thinks that it's too soon, I can reschedule it."
I grimaced, "No, it's alright. I might as well just get this over and done with. I still want to find out more about my powers at least so let's proceed as scheduled."
The sooner I finish this the better… Guess I would be getting barely any rest for this entire week…
At least this somewhat beats a nine to five job…