At this point, it wasn’t a question. It was a thinly veiled threat under the guise of a command. He had the power to remove their right to receive infinite resurrections, which was exclusively granted to the Goddess’s chosen few. The man in front of them was like the first pope, Eument— No, he might have been stronger than him. Faced with his power, they had no choice but to accept him as the messiah. Vermeita clenched her jaws to keep them from chattering in fear. Along with the other two cardinals, she lowered herself to a knee and bowed her head. Is he really the messiah? No, if he’s using violence to control people, he’s like the— She couldn’t let these words slip out. She had to keep them in. —He’s like the Demon King, she’d wanted to say. Back to the public announcement. Shinichi was frozen from shock as he looked at Hube, who’d been appointed as the new cardinal. The rest of the onlookers exhibited a similar uneasiness, chattering nervously among themselves. “Anyone remember who this ‘Hube’ guy is?” “I feel like there was a bishop that went by that name…” “Oh yeah. I think he was responsible for some region, but I heard he was a huge dud.” Other than members of the clergy and merchants—who were always up-to-date on the latest news—the average city dweller hadn’t known much about Hube, including his name. Of all people, why had this man been suddenly promoted to the rank of cardinal? Hube attempted to quell the confusion that rang through the crowd. “Brothers and sisters, there is only one reason why I have been made cardinal. And that’s to enact the Goddess Elazonia’s will… In other words, wipe the demons in the western lands of Dog Valley from the face of this world!” “““……””” The spectators were further confused by his fanatical speech. “Defeating the demons, well yeah… That’s a given.” “I mean, is it even true that these legendary demons or whatever have come to this world?” “Yeah, they definitely exist. They crushed the troops of Boar Kingdom and even defeated a few heroes.” “Oh, that’s right! I’m pretty sure Hube was originally the bishop in Boar Kingdom, but I thought he was arrested for doing indecent things to that hero, Red…” As the crowd started to murmur about his terrible reputation, the onlooker’s glances turned increasingly icy cold at Hube. Not that he noticed. He kept yakking on, as if conversing with the Goddess, invisible to their eyes. “I understand that you’re afraid. The demons are far more powerful than humans. Evil! Cunning! Cruel!” By the way his voice quivered in fury, one could only think he had a certain twisted bastard in mind. He gestured grandly. “But have no fear! We are protected by the mighty grace of our Lady Elazonia!” With that, thousands of members of the church filed out of the Archbasilica, forming ranks in front of the crowd. Their faces didn’t show ambition and bravery: They showed deep unease and disapproval. “Why is this criminal…?” “You saw, didn’t you? Everyone on duty last night was standing there trembling. I don’t know what happened, but I know we shouldn’t resist.” They didn’t know the details of the night before, but the cardinals had ordered them, which left them no other options but to go along with whatever this was. Hube turned to the uncertain clergy members. “Crusaders for our Goddess Elazonia! You will now receive an undying body so that we may destroy the evil demons— You are fit to be heroes!” A blinding light was unleashed from his hands, bursting forward from the symbols of the Goddess. It coursed through the air, breaking off into infinite new iterations of itself, melding into the hands of the clergy. “Ack?! Is this the proof of a hero?” “No way. Does that mean we’re heroes now, too…?” They’d longed for this divine privilege, but they were afraid to ask for her blessing and risk rejection. There were some that had tried and failed. But now they were all heroes. This was one source of their bewilderment. The other was that it had not been Goddess Elazonia who had granted them this blessing—but a new cardinal. “To endow this proof onto us… Only the first pope, Eument, could do such a thing…” “Does that mean that Hube is…I mean, Cardinal Hube has been given the Goddess’s power? Does that make him the messiah?!” A single cry turned into a buzz, then a chatter that spread through the thousands of clergymen, until it became a roar among the tens of thousands of onlookers. Once everyone had finally grasped the meaning of the miracle before their eyes, Hube calmly addressed the crowd once again. “The chosen few. The new heroes. Death is beyond you! In the spirit of the Goddess Elazonia banishing the Evil God into the depths of the earth, we, too, will defeat the evil demons!” “““Yeah… Yeeaaah!””” “This is a battle for holiness… Yes, a crusade!” “““Whoooooooooa—!””” The confused murmurs had long disappeared, replaced with an earth-shattering cheer. In the face of this historic moment, the only people who didn’t share that joy were the three cardinals, and of course, Shinichi and Celes, who were tucked away in the shadows of a building. “That’s insane… Thousands and thousands of heroes? You’ve got to be kidding me…” Even he couldn’t have predicted Hube’s return to power and the birth of the army of heroes. “I’d thought about what we would do if we couldn’t get a cardinal to work with us, but what the hell are we gonna do about this…?” He’d managed to turn two heroes, Arian and Sanctina, but each one took a number of days to persuade to switch sides. Now he had to multiply that by thousands, and he couldn’t be sure that their numbers wouldn’t grow even more. “I was able to break Ruzal and his guys—five in one go—but that was dumb luck. Even if I could manage ten per day…” It would take them twenty days to walk from the Holy City to Dog Valley and the Demon King’s castle. To move thousands of soldiers, they’d need to secure food, water, and shelter. That would slow down their advances considerably. But that wasn’t the case for their newest enemy: Every member was a priest or holy warrior. They could use Physical Enchantment spells and treat themselves with magic. The biggest problem of all was that they were undying heroes. They would be able to trudge through this hellish march. “Eh, let’s just say it takes them twenty days. Rough estimate. Even if I managed to do ten people a day, that’s only two hundred… It’s impossible. There’s nothing I can do.” After he’d rationally calculated the situation, he knew with certainty that doom was coming—and fast. His back slid down the wall of the building, and he crumpled to the ground. These newfound heroes were weaker than the usual ones, as they wielded the strength and capacity of the average priest. A group of a few dozen wasn’t enough to take on Arian or Sanctina, even if they worked alone. But there were thousands upon thousands…upward of ten thousand. And they’d all be ready to attack. “I knew war was all about having the largest troop, but…” But the almighty Blue Demon King would be able defeat a few thousand men, easy. After all, he’d blasted away three thousand soldiers from Boar Kingdom in one fell swoop. What difference did one, maybe two, times make? But the third time? The fourth? The fifth? They could come back to attack infinite times: an army of zombies springing back from the dead. It was only a matter of time until the demons were defeated. “Is our only option to retreat to the demon world? But that’d mean leaving behind the people of Tigris Kingdom…” They’d be branded heretics, allies of the demons—starting with the captain, King Sieg, down to all the other jolly miners and exuberant children. The church would slaughter everyone that Shinichi had gotten to know through Rino’s live performances. He needed to quash this horde of heroes. He’d do whatever it took to stop them. But he couldn’t conjure a single strategy, even as he racked through every inch of his brain. “What are we going to do…? What should we do…?!” Shinichi cradled his head in his hands, crushed under the full weight of his responsibility. In a frenzy, he desperately tried to think of a plan. But the more he panicked, the less he could think. A shadow cast over him as he writhed in torment. He looked up to see the maid towering over him, hiking up the hem of her skirt in both hands. “Celes…?” Before he could follow up, she lifted her right foot and slammed it into the wall behind him, grazing his cheek as her shoe sailed past it. “Ack?! You trying to kill me?!” “Keep up your spineless whining, you freeloader, and I’ll toss your corpse to the parbeguts.” “Hold up, do parbeguts eat people?!” he screeched, voice cranking up a notch. He’d heard its name being thrown around a few times, but he still hadn’t cast eyes on this mystery animal. Seeing he’d returned to his normal self, Celes cracked some semblance of a smile before glancing away. “Please try not to look so uncool.” —Put on that sinister smirk of yours and solve this problem. That’s what I want to see. She didn’t have to say as much, but color crept into her cheeks anyway as she sulked. Shinichi forgot his worries for a moment as he was a little charmed by this sight. “…Celes, I can see your panties.” “I’m letting you see them.” She was acting a little too bashful for that bold proclamation, slipping her foot off the wall and dusting off pieces of errant brick from her shoe. “Now that I’ve paid my dues, I need you to hurry up and deliver some of your dirty tricks.” “Couldn’t you have come up with something hotter?” “Aren’t they red-hot today?” “That’s not what I meant! And side note, nothing’s better than white panties against olive skin! Mmm! That contrast!” Shinichi couldn’t keep himself from laughing at their usual sexual schtick. “Heh-heh-heh, you’re right. It’s not like me to get pushed into a corner in a panic. I should be the one doing all the cornering. ’Cause I’m the advisor for the Blue Demon King, Shinichi Sotoyama.” “And that’s the bare truth.” “Seriously? A pun?” yelped Shinichi as he shuddered at her joke, but his senses had come back to him and the gears in his mind started to move. “We don’t have time to take down the heroes one by one… Could we break them all at once? Nah. I won’t be able to break them with something half-assed, since their morale is, like, off the charts… Plus, they can kill themselves and escape, so we can’t imprison them anywhere…” He shot a quick glance at Hube, standing over them on the balcony, and then at the new heroes in the crowd as they continued to cheer wildly. Shinichi shook his head. “It’s impossible. There’s no way to defeat an army of heroes.” But the moment he muttered that, the corners of his mouth twitched up into a diabolical grin. “If there’s no way to defeat them…then we don’t need to beat them.” “I’m guessing you’ve come up with something.” She knew that much, even though she couldn’t solve his riddle-like words, as she broke into a smile. He smirked back. “Let’s give that pedo-Cardinal Hube and his motley crew something to cry about. They’ve bitten off more than he can chew. But first—” “First?” “Could ya fix that wall with magic?” “…Forgive me.” Celes’s face burned as he pointed to the wall, a huge chunk missing from the sheer force of her foot. The crowd still hadn’t died down when Hube spun around to leave the balcony, tailed silently by the other three cardinals. Upon returning to the prayer room, Hube hunkered down in the seat in the middle of the room with dramatic flair. It was the chair of the bedridden pope. “Cardinal Snobe, prepare the necessary resources to mobilize the army.” “Yes, sir.” “This crusade may be an offering for the Goddess, but the church’s coffers still belong to her. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” “…Of course.” The Materialistic Cardinal bowed his head in order to hide the visible displeasure in his eyes. Hube was implying that he should shell out his personal funds to pay for the food and lodging and weapons to equip thousands of soldiers—every little thing between here and Dog Valley. It wouldn’t be impossible for Snobe to cover these costs. His pockets were lined deep enough. But he’d have to live frugally in the future to compensate for his losses. He wouldn’t have minded if he were spoiling his mistresses with lavish gifts. But for this loathsome scum? He didn’t want to waste a single copper coin. Snobe thought about Cronklum, overcome with shock when his status as a hero was stripped from him. In an instant, he’d become older, aged considerably and half-senile. With these threats in mind, his only possible choice was to comply. “Cardinal Effectus, I would like you to oversee the Holy City in my stead.” “Indeed,” replied Effectus. “And focus on the wretches attempting to sleep with the wives and girlfriends of other men. Make sure they’re handled accordingly. We can’t have anyone act immorally.” “Leave it to me.” Unlike Snobe, the Agreeable Cardinal was eager to accept these orders. As a blind follower of the Goddess’s teachings, Effectus regarded Hube as the second coming of Eument. Hube’s words may as well have been words from the Goddess’s own mouth. With a personal goal of enforcing public morals, Effectus had no interest in love affairs and a particular dislike of philanderers like the Materialistic Cardinal. “Thank you for your help.” Hube got out of his chair and sauntered out of the prayer room without so much as a word to Vermeita. He saw all women as filthy traitors. Maybe. Ha-ha-ha. If we weren’t in such a pickle, I really could have enjoyed this situation… Vermeita smirked over her dirty fantasies even under these tense circumstances. But she desperately needed this escape. Backed into a corner, she couldn’t have kept her cool without her lewd thoughts. He isn’t just able to take away a hero’s status. He can grant it, too… There’s nothing anyone can do to stand against him. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to claim that the church was able to maintain its power and control with the support of these undying heroes. It was the reason the Goddess’s teachings traversed the continent at breakneck speed. It gave the bishops and cardinals in the upper ranks confidence. It granted a feeling of complete security. Once the chosen few were blessed with this gift, they hadn’t needed to fear that it could be taken away. Other than reaching the end of their natural life span, there was no way they could die. Who could ever stand against the terror of having that stripped away? And then there’s those prisoners and their empty minds… Expressionless as dolls, they never spoke a word, listening to Hube’s every command and following orders obediently. Shivers ran down Vermeita’s spine whenever she caught sight of those living marionettes. Even their tormented minds had been ripped away from them. If Hube keeps going and becomes pope, there is a chance that will happen to everyone in the Holy City… Any dissenters would have their minds erased. It would turn into a city full of slaves to the Goddess. How would that be any different from the undead milling around the city of the deceased? We have to do something… If they didn’t, the world would begin to deny her even the purest, honest love between two boys. There wouldn’t be a shred of anything undignified in sight. Humans are ugly and rotten creatures… Can you call something “living” if it isn’t? Vermeita left the prayer room. Someone had to do something to stop Hube, but who could stand against him, especially as the supposed messenger of the Goddess? She didn’t have a single clue. Her feet carried her forward. Eventually, she realized that she’d arrived at the orphanage on the outskirts of the city. “Welcome home, Mother!” “It’s nice to be back.” Trying her hardest to hide her dark fears, she broke into a smile at the children’s beaming faces as they ran up to greet her. The eldest girl walked up hesitantly. “Mother, this was delivered while you were gone…” She held out an envelope with the name Manju scrawled on the back. “Thank you.” Vermeita took it from her with a smile, stopping her quivers from erupting to the surface. To prevent the children from suspecting anything, she took her time to hug each one tightly before heading to her room. She locked the door behind her, finally ripping open the envelope when she was alone. The letter was packed with words in a neat, graceful script, making her think the dark elf had written as the boy dictated. “…I see.” As she read through it, a smile slipped onto her face, chasing away her brooding expression. “No intentions of giving up, huh, even in the face of thousands of heroes.” The letter didn’t contain minute details of their plan, which made it difficult to gauge if their strategies would be successful. They must have taken this extra precaution out of suspicion that Vermeita would turn on them. But with Hube on his way to world domination, she was willing to take this gamble. “Even if they defeat demonkind, it won’t make my current situation any worse than it already is.” After all, she was only responsible for assisting with the cleanup, which meant she wouldn’t interact with Hube directly or incur his wrath if things went south. She had nothing to lose even if she accepted the directions in the letter. “But I do want the demons to live. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to read Ms. Mimolette’s newest piece. Hee-hee-hee.” Vermeita took the BL manga out of its hiding spot in her desk, a rotten smile spreading out. Meanwhile, as thousands of heroes were dispatched from the Holy City, hordes of people were ramming their way into the cathedral in Tigris Kingdom, far to the north. “No need to rush. Please proceed slowly. There’s plenty to go around!” “You there! No cutting! Join the line at the end where you see the sign!” With Arian and a group of Rino’s fanboys skillfully directing throngs of people into neat lines, they were able to prevent any serious brawls from breaking out. In any case, the crowd couldn’t hide their obvious anticipation as they moved forward in the long line. It led to the prayer room deep inside the cathedral, right to the massive crystal—the national treasure of Tigris Kingdom, a magic conductor called the Tears of Matteral. One by one, they approached this huge hunk of rock, making contact to pour their magic into it. “Woah! That made me dizzier than I thought it would…” A young man walked unsteadily, unsure of his footing after he was drained of his magic. “Are you all right? Should I cast a little healing spell?” Rino asked, concern coating her voice. “Nah, I’ll be all right.” He flashed her a smile, grounding himself down through his toes and heading toward the back of the room. There, Celes stood in front of a mountain of gold, handing a piece to each person for their participation. “Thank you for your help. Please make sure to get plenty of rest today.” She placed a nugget in his hand. “I—I will! I can’t believe you’re giving us so much…” It was equivalent to two days’ pay for hard labor in the mines. He was almost drunk off his excitement. Though he would have trouble moving about for the greater half of the day, this was more than enough compensation for his troubles. “Wow! If it’s this easy to make money, I might just come back tomorrow.” He exited the rear door, ecstatic. There were those who came to make a little extra cash, like the young man. Others were fans of Rino. Together, they formed a long line that snaked out the doors of the cathedral. The Tears of Matteral was beginning to shine luminously, eagerly gulping down magical energy from the people in line. Sanctina gazed up at it with a complicated expression on her face. “I know this is a testament to Rino’s charisma, but it’s just so different from when I…” Her eyebrows scrunched as she remembered her own tribulations when she’d been tasked with gathering magic. Instead of a line out the door, people hadn’t come at all. Shinichi approached her, though he wasn’t trying to console her. “Well, in this particular case, money has a lot of power. Either way, if you want to receive, you have to give first.” “Give first… You’re right, I’m still lacking in that area.” As a saint, she’d always been treated with respect without giving anything in return. Over time, she had started to take that respect for granted, forgetting this most basic rule. She nodded sheepishly at her own shortcomings. “I guess I can start by giving my panties to Rino.” “…I’m seriously gonna feed you to the pigs if you take things too far,” Shinichi warned. “But if that pig is served to Rino, I’ll be indirectly ingested by her.” “That’s not the same as an indirect kiss!” Shinichi shuddered. They say that love makes you stronger. In the case of this particular pedo-lesbian, it seemed to have made her mentally tougher—and not in a good way. As he walked away, a cheery voice called out to him. “Sir Shinichi, thy plan doth appear to be proceeding well.” “Captain. It’s going well, thanks to you.” Shinichi grinned at the approaching young man in the shape of a marshmallow: He just so happened to be a huge fan of Rino—and King Sieg of Tigris. “Are you sure it’s all right for us to use the Tears of Matteral? It is your national treasure after all.” “No worries, good friend. If I am truthful, we only made it a national treasure as it is rare. We have no real use for it.” It was a pain to attempt to gather magical energy from tens of thousands of people, not to mention the fact that they’d need a very powerful magic user on par with Sanctina to unleash its power. In reality, it just sat around gathering dust. “Thou hast provided a significant payment for its use.” Sieg eyed the mountain of gold, guarded dutifully by Celes. When the people prospered, the kingdom followed suit. Plus, Shinichi had agreed to give any remaining gold directly to the kingdom afterward. “Instead, I should inquire of thee, can thou truly afford this expenditure?” “It’s cleaned out the Demon King’s wallet, but no pain, no gain, right?” Shinichi’s master had approved of this plan, boasting, “I’ll secure more if it’s not enough,” and returning to the demon world to seek gold deposits in the mountains. “Then all is well. Also, that thing hast been completed. Dost thou wish to view it?” “Ah, it’s done already? Should have expected as much from a mining country.” “The Matteral Mountains doth provide many blessings.” As they chatted, the pair left the cathedral, heading toward the castle. But instead of making their way to the castle proper, they passed through the gates to turn toward a small stone building near the wall. Used to store weapons for emergencies, it had been coated with a thick layer of dust for a long time. But now a number of magic users were gathered together as they looked at something with uncertainty. “Sir Shinichi, thank you for coming.” Dritem, the stern-faced head court mage, bowed his head upon seeing Shinichi and King Sieg enter the room. “No need for formalities. Can I see it?” Shinichi asked eagerly. “Of course. Here it is.” With a nod, Dritem carefully offered a small bowl. Inside was black powder. “Ah, that looks about right.” Impressed with their work, Shinichi carefully scooped an amount of the powder on the tip of his little finger and placed it on the stone floor. Then— “Fire.” The moment the tiny fire flashed from his palm, the black powder ignited in a grand explosion. “Success! That’s the stuff—black gunpowder!” His eyes twinkled at the sight of the first explosive to be created by humanity: gunpowder, a mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. “No matter how many times I see it, I’m still shocked that this kind of explosion can be created without magic.” Dritem had prepared the gunpowder himself upon receiving the ingredients and instructions from Shinichi. But he still had a hard time believing it as he looked at the mark left on the floor from the explosion. Sieg was the only one there who didn’t seem happy as he gazed at the gunpowder with a concerned expression. “…Sir Shinichi, dost thou truly believe thou should teach us these secrets?” “Quick as always, Captain. You’ve already predicted the potential dangers of these explosives.” “What do you mean?” asked Dritem, unable to pick up the undercurrent of their exchange. It wasn’t because he was a blubbering fool. It was because he was a magic user, which meant he had little use for this new discovery. On the other hand, Sieg was a man of authority—and more importantly, an extraordinarily average man with no particular powers. That was exactly why he could see the unrealized potential of this powder. “If a man hath access to these explosives, even if he was not a magic user, he wouldst be able to split hard stone. I do believe it to be an advantageous material. However, it hath potential to become a most fearsome weapon.” “Exactly. This can give the average person firepower to rival a magic user. Think of it as a magic powder.” Shinichi broke into a daring smile as he gave a brief description of weapons with gunpowder, using the construction of grenades and matchlock guns as an example. “You’re telling me it shoots out small balls of lead?” asked Dritem incredulously. “Faster and stronger than an arrow. Early iterations of guns won’t be any better than a ballista, but as you continue to refine them, they could probably rival a magic arrow.” “Meaning an explosion that scatters iron fragments…,” said Sieg. “Leaving aside range and accuracy, a foot soldier with a grenade would basically be carrying around the firepower of a Fireball spell.” Dritem and Sieg hadn’t seen that with their own eyes, and without a point of reference, it was hard to gauge its strength. Either way, they knew that the explosive spell was dangerous. “A normal soldier equal to a magic user… I would be happy to strengthen our military, but as a magic user, I’m not sure how I feel about it,” Dritem admitted. “More importantly, I fear that the world wouldst become a dangerous place if every man couldst use it.” “Exactly. That’s why I had you make it secretly in this storage shed.” Any normal farmer with no formal training could kill as easily as a trained solider. It was the same with those who lacked physical strength, women, and children. That was the scariest thing about weapons that used gunpowder. It was surprisingly difficult to subdue an armor-clad enemy welding a shield requiring brute force to cut through it or long hours of training to duck under and pierce through the edges of the armor. Neither were skills that could be obtained overnight. It was a similar case for arrows: It required high levels of physical strength to pull the heavy bowstring and skill to hit a target in the distance. But with guns, all one needed to do was load it up with ammo and pull the trigger, making a ten-year-old child capable of killing a soldier who’d been training for ten years. “With a sword, you have to live with the sensation of slicing through the meaty body of your opponent and getting drenched in their blood. There’s a certain disgust that follows it, averting most from the act of murdering someone. But you get to disconnect from that when you use a gun—or so I’ve heard. Wonder if that’s actually true,” Shinichi said, shrugging his shoulders and speaking in increasingly vague terms. Everything he knew he learned from books, and he’d definitely never shot and killed someone, so any psychological effects were pure conjecture. “Anyway, I make these weapons sound really scary, but gunpower can be useful. I guess the only weakness is that you’ll burn through your money pretty fast—unlike magic users, you know, ’cause they can get their magical power back from resting enough.” Though an added bonus was that gunpower could be stored for extended periods of time, unlike magic, as long as it’s in a dry place. “Long story short, it all comes down to obtaining high-quality guns. You don’t have to rely on swordsmanship or magical strength anymore. That means the victor of any war is decided by money.” As things were, economic strength was already tied to military prowess: It placed limits on the quantity of armor and weaponry that a country was capable of procuring. More than that, they would need money to feed soldiers—the more, the better. But this relationship would accelerate exponentially once explosives were added to the equation. Shinichi was steering the conversation too far away from Sieg’s understanding of the world. Even Sieg couldn’t be on the same page as Shinichi. But he hadn’t lost his concerned expression. “…Sir Shinichi, dost thou truly believe thou should teach us—humans—about explosives?” Shinichi noticed that his question was almost exactly the same—except for one part—and he could feel an evil smile stretch across his face. “It’s not a problem. You see, these explosives aren’t effective against demons, though it’s a different story for wars between humans, I guess.” Take Arian for example. As a half dragon with superhuman strength, she’d never be hit with a bullet. Even in the case that it did hit her, it would never deliver a fatal blow. Plus, while it was difficult to stop an oncoming projectile head-on, it would be easy to change its trajectory by applying force sideways. That’s why any magic users on par with Celes could use the wind to blow aside arrows with the spell Missile Protection. It’d have the exact same effect on bullets. As for the Blue Demon King? He outclassed Arian’s physical strength and Celes’s magical abilities, meaning nothing less than the cannon on a battleship would be effective against him. “You won’t be able to create the kind of firearms that could take down the Demon King for five hundred years, at least. And by that time, we’ll all have died from old age so it’s not gonna be a problem for us.” He couldn’t care less if there were a bunch of causalities at the hands of these new explosives after he was dead. And since those people could be resurrected, death wasn’t as final in this world as it was on Earth anyway. If that hadn’t been the case, he wouldn’t have been so laid-back about the idea of introducing explosives to them. “Thou art dirty…” Even Sieg couldn’t believe Shinichi’s lack of accountability. Beaming broadly, Shinichi seemed heedless of his misgivings. “It’s not like I want wars to start. But I’m hoping these explosives will kick-start some scientific development. Otherwise, humankind will eventually stagnate.” This world had enough technological advancement to rival the medieval period on Earth. But their magical capabilities put them at an advantage, since medical treatments were far beyond that of the twenty-first century. The problem was the death rate was in a sharp decline, particularly in the past three hundred years since the church rose to power as an organized healing collective. “People aren’t dying. The human population is gonna keep increasing. But there won’t be enough food stores to feed them all. At a certain point, the world is gonna tip into a cannibalistic hell of ravenous humans or a society with stringent rules and regulations, capping the number of children per household.” This problem was already manifesting in Vermeita’s orphanage; it was filled to the brim with abandoned children, left behind because their families couldn’t feed them. It hadn’t exploded into a massive issue—yet—because the people of this world were lucky enough to have potatoes, which basically hacked the food pyramid. “There could be a policy that encourages couples of the same gender to prevent any more births. There’s already one dirty-minded lady who would be more than happy to oblige. If we want our children to be healthy and happy, we have to improve technology that increases crop yield.” There was some knowledge about science in this world, but its progress had been held back by the existence of magic, since it could do anything and everything. In order to break free from this cycle, Shinichi handed them something that could theoretically surpass magic—information about gunpowder—with that hope that it would catalyze innovation. “Hmm, thou dost see far into the future, Sir Shinichi.” This made an impression on Sieg. Shinichi responded with an embarrassed smile. Well, I am sort of cheating. The twenty-first century basically had the answers to everything. All he needed to do was work backward in order to figure out the question. But it was still too early to tell Sieg that. “We probably won’t see serious food shortages for another hundred years, so no rush. All I’m hoping is that you’ll start to look into science a bit more and rely a little less on magic.” His dreams might be dashed, but he still loved science. Seeing its advancement was one of his greatest hopes. Sieg slapped his jiggly belly upon considering this serious request. “Understood. For the moment, however, dost thou wish us to prepare large quantities of this explosive?” “Yeah, we won’t have scientific advancement—let alone a future—if we don’t fend off the army of heroes.” Shinichi was about to leave, but Sieg seemed to remember something, stopping him in his tracks. “On another note, thine incubus hast bade me to inform thee that ‘over half of the holy warriors have realized their love for me!’ …Dost thou wish to see?” “…Nah, I’m not into that kind of thing.” Shinichi’s face turned pale at the thought of the disheveled warriors, as they continue to be brainwashed by the incubus, and he made his way away from the stone shed at long last. Led by Hube, the army of heroes was nearing the halfway point to the Demon King’s castle. Meanwhile, led by the dvergr blacksmith Ivan, the demons gathered in front of the castle, working on putting together some huge structure. “Good. Now I want you to keep the obsidian slab… Hey! Sirloin! Didn’t I tell you that number thirty-one should be two over from the right?!” “Oink. This is too complicated! I can’t put it together, oink!” As the dvergr reprimanded the whining orc, Shinichi wormed in between them, a jug in one hand. “Looks like you’re having fun, Boss.” “Who ya callin’ Boss?!” shouted Ivan, but he accepted the jug filled with cool ale from the Tigris Kingdom and gulped it down in one swig. “The dvergrs hate bright places, ya know! But you’ve got me working all day under this infernal red sun. If it weren’t for this ale, I’d have gone and tossed you in the furnace just now!” “Ah-ha-ha, sorry, sorry.” Shinichi chuckled as he looked up at the thing under construction. “You’ve done a great job, turning my scribbly designs into this.” “Hmph, I may specialize in blacksmithing, but we are a crafting people second to none.” He puffed up his chest proudly and gazed at his work with Shinichi. “But you’ve got me making something interesting again. Maybe next time, I’ll try my hand at designing.” “Oh, did this pique your interest?” “Uh-huh. I’ve made good progress making a sword that surpasses His Highness. It may be time to shop around for a new hobby.” “Uh, blacksmithing is your hobby…? I’m guessing the sword thing is going well?” “It is. With your method, I was able to forge a blade that can cut His Highness’s skin. But I made it a tad too hard, so it was brittle and broke after one strike.” “Ah right. There’s that problem.” Shinichi tilted his head to the heavens. He’d totally forgotten about that. “Even though diamonds are the hardest substance in the natural world, they break pretty easily if you apply force that’s parallel to the lattice structure…” “That’s why I had the idea of keeping the cutting edge of the blade hard and sharp while making the inside flexible so it can bend. But that’s been difficult.” “Hard on the outside, flexible on the inside. That’s the same as Japanese swords.” Shinichi nodded, impressed that all experts drew the same conclusions, regardless of their homeworld. He heard Arian’s voice ring out cheerfully. “Dinner’s ready—!” With Celes, she carried out a massive pot, and all the demons immediately stopped working and dashed over to them. “Phew, I’ve been waiting for this, moo!” “The soup of the day is made with goat meat from Tigris.” “Oink?! Hot soup in this sweltering weather?” “If that’s how you feel, I’ll take your share, moo.” “I never said I wouldn’t eat it, oink!” While the orc-and-minotaur duo continued to make a fuss, the demons smacked their lips at the taste of the delectable ingredients from the human world. As Shinichi watched over them with a smile, Arian ladled some soup into a bowl, handing it to him. “Here, Shinichi. Eat up.” “Oh, thanks.” He took one sip from his spoon before his face hardened. “Arian, I should have asked this sooner, but are you sure you’re okay if I defeat him?” “Hmm? …Oh, yeah.” Her momentary confusion lifted when she realized he was referring to Hube. She nodded, but there was an inexplicable sadness in her eyes. “I still haven’t forgotten all he did for me. But there are a lot of things here that I don’t want to lose.” As she gazed at the demons scarfing down their meal in merriment, her eyes crinkled. This was a safe place for her. She could live peacefully without facing any discrimination for being a half dragon. And most importantly, there was the kind, albeit twisted, young man who had led her here— “I’ll fight against the bishop even if people think I’m a thankless brat.” She peeked up at him shyly, wondering if he’d be displeased that she was a bad girl. But he just flashed back his usual evil smile. “Heh-heh-heh, sweet. As people say, ‘Betrayal is a girl’s best friend.’ ‘Every rose has its thorns.’ A good girl with a bad streak is honestly kinda hot.” “A hot girl with a bad streak…hee-hee-hee,” Arian giggled innocently, looking the absolute opposite of a bad girl. This was the first time that someone had called her that: All her life, she’d played the act of a good girl, as if to compensate for being a half dragon. Shinichi couldn’t help but loosen his mouth into a smile at her cuteness, but just as soon as he did, he felt a murderous glare creep up behind him. When he dared to turn around, he saw Celes, eyes icy and face expressionless as she held the massive pot of soup over her head. “Um, Celes. Am I safe to assume you aren’t gonna dump that pot of hot soup on my head?” “Of course not. That would be disrespectful to Sir Goat Meat.” “No concern for me?!” countered Shinichi loudly. Meanwhile, Celes seemed to come to her senses, puzzled by her outburst as she lowered the pot. Arian’s smile vanished as she eyed the maid. “Celes…” “Miss Arian…” In between their abruptly serious expressions, he could feel their gazes sharpen. A moment later, Arian laughed nervously and Celes sighed in resignation.
Chapter 43
34 min read