Chapter 49

Chapter 1 Nature Venture with the Demon Diva: Who Are Those Mysterious Long Ears Living in the Secret Forest?! Uverse. A midsize town with a population of a thousand located in the eastern part of the continent of Uropeh. With grapes abounding, this little region was famous for its wine. Other than that, it was a totally average town, absent of distinctive features—until now. Unparalleled terror had swallowed the town, dissolving into chaos. “Aaaaaah—!” The vineyards roared with red flames. Townspeople bolted away from the blaze, screaming at the top of their lungs. If this had been a normal fire, they would have desperately tried to extinguish the flames that threatened their livelihood, but that wouldn’t do in this case. Standing firmly in the hellfire was an incredible creature towering over the houses, flames spewing from its fanged maw. Its body wasn’t covered in scales but stony armor, and it balanced on its hind legs and tail. It was obviously the legendary beast—a dragon. “Wh-why is a dragon here of all places…?” “Didn’t the Goddess Elazonia seal them away?!” There was no way for the townspeople to fight against the stone dragon that had suddenly ravaged their vineyards. They could only shake in terror as they watched. From the sky, a strange figure took in the entire scene, letting out a shrill laugh. “Ah-ha-ha-ha! You humans and your ignorance! Use your last breath to scamper away in shame!” Under the black mask, the mysterious person was the unholy priest, the True One. The dark elf who accompanied him used magic to amplify his voice, making his evil words boom across the town. “Elazok—the Evil God, the divine, the great ruler of the world—has no need for filthy followers of the Goddess. Squirm, writhe, suffer until you meet your end!” cried the unholy priest. The stone dragon blasted out another burst of fire, scorching the field of grapes. “If this continues, our vineyards will be destroyed!” “Someone… Anyone…! Please save us…” Right when the townspeople gave into despair, crying out for their final salvation… “Rain, rain, come this way! Please let lots fall down today! Squall.” As soon as the townspeople heard the cute voice across the vineyards, the sky gathered with rain clouds, and heavy rain started to pour down from the heavens and quench the flames ravaging the vineyards. “What?! How could someone use magic to make a storm?!” This spell couldn’t even be compared to that of the church priests in this town. Even as the townspeople cried out in surprise, they turned toward the voice that had summoned the rain. Before them was a young girl with pearly skin and glossy black hair—Rino. And… “Arian the Red, you’ve come!!” The young heroine’s crimson scarf and hair whipped around with the wind. “Unholy priest! True One! Your evil deeds end here!” she shouted, drawing her magic sword from the sheath on her hip, dashing toward the stone dragon across the charred vineyards. “Hi-yah!” Arian let out a courageous cry as she brought her sword down from over her head, carrying out a vicious slash and slicing the stone dragon in two with one strike. “Oooh! Wow!” the townspeople cried in joyous surprise, as the unholy priest shook with rage on the other side. “Damn you, Arian! Curse you, Rino! How dare you stand in our way!” he cried. “Scheme all you want in secret! Evil will never triumph!” shouted Arian. “Exactly. Bad eggs will always be taught a lesson!” Rino called out. “Tsk. I’ll play nice and retreat for today… Resist with every fiber of your being, but the time will come when you will crumble before Elazok’s power! Ah-ha-ha!” shot back the unholy priest, getting the last say as the dark elf recited the incantation for Invisibility. The two seemed to melt into the clear blue sky. “Justice always prevails!” announced Arian happily as she struck a heroic pose. “It’s safe now, everyone,” Rino said, her behavior far more gentle. The townspeople burst out in hoots of joy when they witnessed Rino’s angelic figure paired with Arian’s brave stance. “They did it! They saved us!” “Thank you, miss!” Those cheering for Arian and Rino had no way of knowing the whole thing was orchestrated by the unholy priest, the True One—known to us as Shinichi Sotoyama, the advisor to the Demon King. With no imminent danger, the townspeople quickly got to work cleaning up the blackened vineyard. Among the fray was Shinichi, having changed from his costume, acting none the wiser about the charade. “I’m so sorry for making you help us. I mean, you’re just a traveling companion of the hero,” apologized one elderly farmer. “Don’t worry about it. It’s our mission to help people who’ve fallen victim to Elazok the Evil God,” replied Shinichi, flashing a pearly-white smile. “Says the arsonist,” Celes snapped in a telepathic message as she snapped grapevines from the field. Shinichi acted like he didn’t hear anything, continuing his conversation with the elderly farmer. “What an unfortunate situation.” “I never doubted the Goddess’s teachings, but I didn’t actually think the Evil God existed. What a shock.” “I know exactly how you feel, but the Evil God is real. I don’t believe he’ll try to attack this town again since he failed once, but don’t let your guard down.” “Of course.” The farmer was very gullible. Celes couldn’t keep herself from sighing. “You’re practically a religious door knocker.” “In the religious handbook, it’s standard to incite fear to get people to believe in your version of god. Speaking of, are there any religions in the demon world?” Shinichi telepathized. “The major religions worship the Blue God who became our sun or the almighty Black Dragon. I respect the Blue God and the Black Dragon, but I loathe the stubbornness of the more devout believers.” “Ha-ha. I guess that’s the same whether you’re human, demon, or an earthling.” Shinichi chuckled on the inside, but he kept his facial expression serious as he continued to help clean up the blackened grapevines. The church of the Goddess Elazonia versus the demons led by King Ludabite the Blue Demon. The battle between these two groups gave birth to the imaginary third party: Elazok the Evil God. To convince the good people of Elazok’s existence and maintain the cease-fire, Shinichi was traveling around to put on these heroic reenactments. “That said, I’m glad they attacked this particular field. These grapes were already suffering from root rot, and we were planning on burning this whole vineyard before it spread,” the elderly farmer remarked. “Really. That’s a silver lining if I ever heard of one,” said Shinichi, feigning ignorance. In reality, he had visited the town as Manju the merchant a day prior, trying to suss out the talk of the town. He had already learned about the infestation and intentionally aimed to scorch this field. I know Rino would get upset if I hurt innocent civilians, even if it brings peace to demonkind, he thought, glancing at Rino who was on the edge of the vineyard, swarmed by the townspeople. “Pain, pain, fly away! Full Healing… Great. How does it feel now?” “My gosh! I can’t believe it. My chest pain is gone! You know, the town priest couldn’t heal me at all when I asked,” replied Rino’s patient. “I’m so happy for you, dear. This is to cover the costs… I know it’s not enough, but…,” started the spouse. “Oh no! You don’t need to give me any money. All I want is to see everyone smile,” interjected Rino. Her smile was the very definition of purity and love, the exact opposite of a certain person who only looked to profit from everything. The townspeople were struck by her kindness, falling to their knees. “So mature for a girl younger than my grandchild!” “Selfless. Loving. Beautiful… You couldn’t possibly be the Goddess Rino, could you?!” “What? Who?” asked Rino. “No, seriously. What are they talking about?” Shinichi balked. He stopped cleaning up the vines, running over upon hearing the strange name for the first time. It couldn’t be some sort of mistake. The one who had called her a goddess—a middle-aged traveling peddler—recounted his experience, emotion coating his voice. “It must have been two weeks ago. I was traveling and was set on by the worst stomachache. I was on death’s door, stuck in a tiny village that didn’t even have a priest. But then, that tender traveling Saint came along.” “When you say ‘Saint,’ you don’t mean…,” started Shinichi. “Yes, Lady Sanctina,” answered the peddler. “Ugh!” Shinichi let out an involuntary groan at the name. He had intentionally ditched Sanctina at the Demon King’s castle, since she endangered Rino’s chastity, but it seemed like she had come running after them. “She healed my stomachache, and I offered her my every worldly possession as thanks, but she refused to accept anything. Instead, she told me, ‘The Goddess Rino says that love is free,’” continued the peddler. What the hell is that degenerate going around telling people?! Shinichi stopped short of howling out loud, but he was fuming on the inside. Sanctina was tailing them and giving free healings as she went, sowing the seeds for a new religion under the “Goddess” Rino. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I had deceived people through my trade until then… Her words opened my eyes. I have abandoned my selfish desires, and I treasure my love for my customers above all else!” “Uh-huh…” “It’s all thanks to the Saint and to the Goddess Rino!” cried out the peddler. “I-I’m happy I could help,” said Rino, a little confused. But she continued smiling as he squeezed her hands, tears of gratitude brimming in his eyes. Right then, someone else called out from behind the crowd of people. “Did you say Rino? You mean the Diva has come to this town?!” “What now?!” barked Shinichi. The crowd split, and a woman stepped forward. She was wearing a grass-colored cap with a short lute slung across her back. She must have been a traveling minstrel. “A little girl who’s scary beautiful. Jet-black hair. Ruby eyes… There’s no mistake! You’re the real thing—the superstar Rino herself! Ohmygosh! May I please get your autograph?” “You’ve heard of me?” asked Rino as the minstrel fangirled, holding out her lute and a quill, urging Rino to sign her instrument. The minstrel nodded emphatically. “Why, of course! Rino the Diva is the extraordinary singer who breathed fresh air into the staleness of the minstrel world. All our songs just added lyrics about the Goddess or heroes to music, but yours are totally different. Relatable love stories from the perspective of a normal girl. An entirely new sound. Dance accompaniments in performances. All capture the hearts of audience members. It’s practically guaranteed to get a standing ovation and rake in money! You’re a legend!” “This has become a bigger deal than we thought…,” muttered Shinichi. “With your songs that I learned for free, I’ve already earned ten gold coins!” “Who the hell taught—? Oh, that guy.” Shinichi managed to come to his own conclusion halfway through his sentence. It had to be the young minstrel in the mining country of Tigris who used his lute to accompany Rino during her big debut for…er, reasons. He had left Tigris in a huff after the holy warriors had treated him poorly. Shinichi had wondered what became of him. Turns out, he had been traveling around, spreading Rino’s songs. “Do you mean Mr. Minstrel? Oh, I’m embarrassed and very happy to know people have heard my songs,” said Rino. “Mighty generous of him to teach those songs for free,” quipped Shinichi. Obviously, the civilizations of this world didn’t know a thing about copyright laws or have any organizations to ban infringement. But it would make sense for minstrels to take it into their own hands to punish those who were making the big bucks by copying popular songs without permission; that was Shinichi’s main concern.