Chapter 6

Chapter 4 Talk and Money Make the World Go Round Thanks to the river flowing from Dog Valley, Boar Kingdom controlled large swaths of fertile land, ideal for agriculture. This made it a target for many neighboring countries. As a result, the city was surrounded with high walls, and the castle gates were guarded by many soldiers, harshly questioning and interrogating any suspicious individuals. Obviously, they weren’t going to let a scruffy, middle-aged farmer walk in with a gorgeous, pale maid with blond locks. “You there! Where’d you come from?” “Oh yes, my name is Manju from the Daifuku village in the south. I’m here to find some work,” replied the farmer. “Daifuku? I’ve never heard that name before,” said the guard, leering incredulously at the friendly farmer who was smiling from ear to ear. “And why’s a backwater hick like you looking for work with a beauty like this?” He ogled the fair-haired maid from head to toe. The farmer stooped in closer to the guard to interrupt his lewd stare. “Yes, well, she’s the most beautiful girl in our village, so she’s been called to serve a noble household,” he said, fishing out a few small pieces of glittering gold from his pouch and firmly pressing them into the guard’s hand. “So you’ve come to serve the nobility. Impressive.” With a grin, the guard quickly slipped the gold into his breast pocket. His demeanor completely changed. “I’d also like the service of a woman this beautiful.” The guard knew she would’ve had a letter of introduction if she’d actually been invited to serve a noble household. Seeing she didn’t, he knew their story was a lie and guessed she was probably being sold to a brothel. “Yes, of course. Please come when you have the chance.” “I look forward to it. All right, on you go,” prodded the guard with a vulgar smirk as he opened the path for the small-statured farmer and his companion. The two passed through the gate, walking down the road before quickly ducking into the shadows between some buildings. At that moment, the Illusion spell melted off them, and the middle-aged farmer turned back into a high school boy. “He didn’t see through our magic and eagerly caved to a bribe. It seems the average soldier doesn’t have much talent or interest in the job.” Shinichi snickered. “We did that little role-play so you could confirm that?” The blond maid questioned Shinichi, shrugging with some annoyance. The woman, of course, was Celes, but she continued holding her illusion, as her long ears would immediately give her away. “Just in case. I wanted to get a feel for this country.” If they wanted to enter the city, they could’ve waited until nightfall and flown over the walls, but Shinichi insisted on walking through the gate in order to investigate. “It isn’t safe to make assumptions based on a sample size of one, but the gatekeeper didn’t seem afraid of execution for accepting a bribe. Their laws probably aren’t super-strict and stuff,” he noted as he smiled wickedly. From a criminal’s point of view, he was thankful for this. He patted the heavy pouch swinging at his waist and filled with gold pieces. “The King gave us access to his mountain of gold, to use it all if need be. It didn’t work with the knight and his party, but it may well win over or settle things with the nobility and merchants,” he continued. “Settle things with money? Human culture is completely incomprehensible,” said Celes, cocking her head in utter confusion. Shinichi had assumed this method was universally applicable. “Huh, I figured you also had a monetary system in the demon world, I mean, you collect gold, for crying out loud.” “Yes, but we usually barter and trade.” “So you never pay money to avoid wars or bribe the enemy’s general?” “Why would we do something like that? One should just aim to win those fights. If you lose, isn’t it your fault for being weak?” “Ah yes, you’re completely right,” he said, looking at Celes, as she pursued her peculiar logic. He decided to give up trying to explain it to her. If their culture’s so advanced they build castles and use cutlery, why are they such muscle heads…? Shinichi guessed it might have something to do with magic. Come to think of it, armed with the knowledge of fire, monkeys evolved into humans precisely because they were weak. They weren’t like bears with their incredible strength and claws. They didn’t have fast reflexes or the fangs of tigers. And they definitely didn’t have the massive bodies of elephants. In order to survive in this cruel world, they were forced to forge a weapon no other animal possessed: intellect. They learned to sharpen rocks into weapons, coordinate attacks with their companions, and lure enemies into pitfalls. All because they were weak. If they had the strength to defeat bears and tigers with their bare hands, monkeys would’ve never evolved into humans, and they would all still be living freely and easily in the forest. But demons were born with magic, a power far greater than claws or fangs. This was why every situation was settled with it, and it definitely wasn’t coincidence they’d think every problem could be solved by their magical prowess. If that’s the case, I’m not sure why the demons were able to develop intellect on par with humans. Even though there were so many physical differences among them, they all seem to share a base level of intelligence. Should I just chalk that up as a coincidence, too? It’d be easier to believe a higher being created them. “What’s our plan from here?” asked Celes, pulling Shinichi out of his thoughts. “Well, first, let’s gather some more information,” replied Shinichi, walking down the street again. “Information? Do you intend to find the hero’s location?” Celes called after him. “That’s one piece of information, but food first.” “…What?” Shinichi ignored the maid’s exasperated voice and walked down the street in search of a suitable store. “All right. Let’s go with this one,” he said as he opened the door of a building that appeared, based on the sign out front with a beer keg on it, to be a tavern. Inside, there were four old, well-polished, round wooden tables in a neat row and a grim, middle-aged owner standing at the front counter, cutting some potato-like vegetables. “Welcome. Please take a seat at the counter,” he invited. It seemed they’d just opened, as they were the only customers. Taking a seat at the counter as directed, Shinichi placed three pieces of gold in front of him as he ordered. “Two of your shop’s most expensive and delicious meals, please,” he said. “You idiot! Everything we serve is delicious.” The owner seemed perturbed by Shinichi’s cocky order, but he smiled as he took the gold. “You don’t have any silver coins? What boonies did you come from?” “From the Senbei village in the south,” replied Shinichi. “Hmm, that’s the first I’ve ever heard of it,” said the owner, making small talk as he pulled about twenty thin silver coins from his cashbox and placed them in front of Shinichi. “Your change. The currency exchange shop’s right down this road toward the castle. It’s the shop with scales on the sign.” “Ah, okay. Thanks.” Sincerely grateful, Shinichi placed the silver coins in his pouch. He wasn’t sure he’d been given the correct change, but the owner didn’t seem like a bad guy, seeing as he’d given them some money back. He’d even told them about the currency exchange shop. “So has there been anything interesting going on lately?” asked Shinichi. “Not really. Let’s see. Those legendary demons showed up in Dog Valley. Oh, and we lost horribly against them. Everywhere you look, we only have bad news.” The owner sighed as he placed wooden cups filled with a pale brown liquid in front of Shinichi and Celes. Is this ale? I’ve heard in ancient Europe, they drank alcohol because it didn’t carry parasites, unlike water. It was admittedly a bit too late, but he started worrying whether the water at the Demon King’s castle had been safe to drink. Never mind that. Sipping his glass of ale, he chose to forget the legal drinking age. Celes watched him and followed suit. When she took her first sip, her eyes opened wide at its bursting flavor profile, and she pressed her hand over her mouth. Just as I expected. Alcohol in the demon world must be pretty horrible, too. He remembered he’d consumed a tiny amount of ale in the human world. It didn’t exactly taste that great. And when he was a kid, his uncle let him drink a bit of alcohol just for fun. This was the extent of his experience, and though he couldn’t be certain, he still felt this ale tasted like really watered-down Japanese beer. It’s either the ingredients or his cooking skills. If this continues, then the food must be… “I’m warming up the soup, but eat this in the meantime. Here ya go,” said the owner, plunking down a plate with thinly sliced ham and black bread. “Thanks,” replied Shinichi, lowering his expectations as he lifted the ham and bread to his mouth. Hmm. The ham’s a bit salty but not too bad. This bread, though… It’s hard and sour. It wasn’t like the white loaves sold in Japan and tasted similar to rye bread in Germany. Flour in the twenty-first century was far superior to this bitter wheat grain. Thank you, selective plant breeding. As he thought, Shinichi looked to his side at Celes, whose eyes opened wider out of wonderment and delight. Their reactions couldn’t have been more different. “It’s delicious…,” she said, her stony face giving way to a rare sight—a slight smile. “So this is the bread Lady Rino spoke of and properly cooked meat. I never thought it’d be this wonderful.” These dishes were real, authentic cuisine from the human world, completely different from the unrefined food at the banquet. Celes’s eyes sparkled like a child’s as she furiously stuffed the morsels into her small mouth. Shinichi caught himself staring at her uncharacteristically childlike mannerisms and slid the plate with his leftovers in front of her. “You can have the rest if you’d like. It’s a bit salty for me,” he said. “Lord Shinichi… There’s no use trying to dose me with an aphrodisiac. I’ll never sleep with you,” she insisted. “I’m not dosing you! I don’t have any!” Though she was hell-bent on treating him like a pervert and accusing him of wrongdoing, she went ahead and ate his bread and ham without reservation. Afterward, the owner handed them some soup with potatoes (or some similar vegetable), simply seasoned with salt but definitely edible. For the first time since coming into this world, Shinichi was satiated. He smiled and went back to the task at hand. “By the way, I heard there’s a hero who’s come to beat the demons you were just talking about,” he said to the owner. “Hero? Oh yeah, you’re talking about that young maiden Arian. If I’m not mistaken, she’s actually staying here at my inn,” he replied. “…Hmm, is that so?” Shinichi swallowed his surprise. He looked beyond the owner’s extended finger, pointing at the sleeping quarters on the second floor. I’d heard she was in the city, but to think she’d actually be at this shop… Though it was a simple coincidence, Shinichi’s mind was so corrupt it made him suspicious this was some kind of trap. “This hero, Arian, is she really that strong?” he asked. “Aye, I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, mind you, but I hear she’s got the strength of a beast. We’ve had some other heroes, and she single-handedly beat ’em all at once.” “Oh, that’s impressive.” He knew she’d been able to injure the Demon King, so it was obvious she was more powerful than those five heroes, all of whom failed to leave a single scratch. Shinichi considered this as he tried to change topics as naturally as possible. “The Goddess’s heroes…if they’re that incredible, I wonder if I could be one.” “……” Fearing he might be contemplating betraying them, Celes silently sharpened her gaze. But he wasn’t thinking about that at all. The owner let out a loud guffaw as if to blow away the chilled air between his two customers. “Don’t be stupid. If a scrawny kid like you could be a hero, then I could become a hero, too!” he said. “Ha-ha, yeah. You got me there.” Shinichi smirked. “There are fifty thousand people in Boar Kingdom, but legend has it that only six…no, seven people have been chosen by the Goddess to serve as heroes. Are you that good at sword fighting or magic?” “Nah, there’s no way. Guess I should just give it up,” said Shinichi with a warm grin that matched the owner’s. On the inside, his smile was much more sinister. So there’s seven people. If you take out the knight and his party of four, that leaves us with Arian and one other. He’d also learned the heroes weren’t chosen by blood or heritage but for being the strongest. There was only one other thing he wanted to check. “Hey, is it true that if you become one of the heroes, you can be resurrected without a corpse?” This wasn’t just an inference; it was a wish. If every single person could be resurrected from nothing, the demons had no chance of winning. Shinichi waited nervously for his answer, and the owner nodded with a wry smile. “Yeah, well, it sounds nice to be resurrected in any condition or circumstance. But normal folk like us don’t really die in horrible ways anyway,” replied the owner. “Mm, yeah, it’d have to be pretty terrible if your body sustained so much damage it was incapable of resurrection… I guess it could happen if you’re incinerated or something.” “Or if a hunter gets swallowed whole by a giant snake, digesting you to your bones.” “Blech. You’d be pretty traumatized even if you could come back to life.” “I mean, there are the poor, who’re told they didn’t donate enough to the church to receive the spell. It’s a luxury to be resurrected with no strings attached,” mused the owner. “I see.” Shinichi nodded in agreement, but he was dancing in victory on the inside. All right! Their normal conditions for resurrection are about the same as the demons. The heroes are just a special case. Shinichi didn’t know the reason behind this, but the Goddess sure seemed miserly, only saving her chosen few. Thanks to that, though, he only needed to worry about the heroes. “By the way, if I visited the cathedral without any money, would they be all, like, Heathen, get out! and chase me away?” asked Shinichi. “…Is the priest in your village that cruel?” “Ah, um, no? It’s just the city’s such a scary place, so I wasn’t sure if the priests were also kind of stingy or something,” Shinichi responded hastily. He’d asked out of curiosity, but the owner expressed such pity for him that Shinichi found himself backpedaling. “Our priests aren’t that miserly. In fact, they’ll even wait for you to pay your donations. But a debt’s a debt. It looks bad if you never pay, so if you’re some old guy out of a job, there’s not much you can do…” “Well, that can’t be helped.” To the owner’s strangely vague reply, Shinichi looked back at him quizzically before nodding. Guess resurrecting the dead certainly has its own problems, huh? Just imagining the aftermath of resurrecting some people was terrifying, like a woman who’d been killed by her husband for committing adultery. If he’d had more time, Shinichi would’ve been interested in learning more about their laws and population issues. “Thank you, sir. We’ll definitely come back sometime,” Shinichi promised, rising from his seat. He was thankful from the bottom of his heart for hearing such useful information. Celes followed him, and they placed their hands on the door to leave. At that exact moment, an energetic call echoed down from the second floor of the tavern. “Good morning, sir!” “Ah, morning, miss. You’re up later than usual today,” greeted the owner. “Yeah, I was up all night training and accidentally overslept!” said the redheaded girl as she bounded down the stairs to take a seat at the counter. The scarf on her neck was the same color as her hair and served as a symbol of justice. She seemed energetic and honest, and she walked in the path of light, a far cry from a certain someone and his twisted personality. This was the Goddess’s hero, the only person who’d been able to injure the Demon King. “She really is just a girl…,” observed Shinichi. He’d only seen her for a moment, but he was unable to conceal his surprise at her physique, even after hearing the King’s story about their fight. “Is it that strange she’s a girl?” Celes asked. “No, that’s not it.” In this world, magic eliminated any semblance of a gender gap. One look at Celes was proof enough. No, the thing that caught his attention was much simpler, more pedestrian. “It’s just I thought she was kind of cute,” he admitted. “And it’d be fun to get her all wet with her tears and an unnamed white substance? You’re a pervert.” “What? Do I really look like a sex offender?” What’s with her perpetual need to put people down and her sexual innuendoes? This was perhaps a greater mystery than the unexplainable methods the heroes used to respawn. After leaving the tavern, Shinichi and Celes asked for directions from passersby to find their way to the center of the city, where the castle stood. Right next to it, there was a massive stone building, overloaded with garish decorations. This was a place of worship for a certain being who’d come up in their conversation earlier and was the greatest threat to the Demon King. “Welcome, travelers. What brings you to the Boar Kingdom Cathedral of Our Goddess Elazonia?” A middle-aged woman who greeted Shinichi and Celes was wrapped in a pure-white robe with a golden symbol and appeared to be a member of the clergy. She spoke with a gentle smile that seemed tired at the same time. A church dedicated to the Goddess who chose the heroes. All right, let’s see what’s going on. Shinichi spoke with a perfectly natural smile on his face, despite the fact they were about to infiltrate the home base of their enemy. “I’m from the Senbei village in the south, and I thought that I’d like to offer my prayers to our Goddess in this magnificent Boar Kingdom Cathedral.” “Oh, what a wonderful idea. Things are somewhat hectic right now, but please come on in,” the woman offered. The two followed her lead, passed through the door, and set foot in the Goddess’s cathedral. Inside, its complex and beautiful construction featured many arches, and made of finely polished marble, its floors and pillars had a certain grandeur. “It looks like they’re doing pretty well for themselves. Maybe I should found a religion to make some money, too.” “That’s your only impression?” Shinichi and Celes spoke in quiet whispers so the priestess walking in front of them couldn’t hear, but suddenly, Shinichi saw something that interested him. “This is…” There was a massive painting on the wall depicting a horned demon sitting astride a sinister black dragon, both falling into a bottomless abyss in a terrifying and hellish scene. “This painting shows the defeat of the Evil God and Evil Dragon, cast into the bowels of the world long ago by the almighty powers of the good gods in an effort led by our Divine Goddess,” the priestess kindly explained, but there was a shadow of fear and anger on her face. “Sometimes, I think about how terrifying it is that there are such evil beings sealed below the land we walk on,” she continued. “I agree,” said Shinichi, responding appropriately and then asking a quick question. “I can understand how the Evil God might be feared, but is the dragon really that evil?” He wasn’t particularly surprised about dragons in this world. After all, they were in a fantastical world where magic existed. Even though the massive beasts tended to have a reputation for evil on Earth, there were many legends of good dragons in Asia and the Middle East, such as the Azure Dragon of the Four Symbols. He also vaguely remembered hearing that certain types with colors in their names, like the Red Dragon, were evil, but those associated with the color gold were good. This was the train of thought going through his head when he asked his question, not really meaning anything more by it, but the woman’s eyes opened in surprise and suspicion given he was a foreigner. “It’s been said that the dragons ate and killed all the gods other than our Divine Goddess, Elazonia. They are truly evil existences. Our Goddess will punish you if you’re ever foolish enough to think there are such things as good dragons,” she warned. “Of course. I’m sorry.” Shinichi did his best to seem apologetic after being told off, as a child might for acting mischievously. He then cast a glance at Celes next to him. “Is what she said true?” he whispered. “…It’s completely different from the tales we’re taught as demons.” The maid’s face looked slightly upset as she replied. “We have no idea how long it’s been there or where it came from, but demons do talk about a Black Dragon sleeping in the depths of the demon world.” She also explained they regarded the dragon as a powerful and noble being, though not necessarily “good” if measured by the human concept of good and evil. “Let me tell you about one legend. Some time ago, there was a demon who called himself the Black Demon King. As a result of his own hubristic desire to be the only black creature, he led a massive army against the Black Dragon.” “I feel like I can see where this is going.” Shinichi moaned. Celes shook her head at Shinichi, who’d hastily concluded the whole army had been eliminated. “No, he and his entire army were said to have returned without a single casualty. However, he gave up his title as the Black Demon King, and upon hearing this, not a single demon took up the name Black ever again.” “Why?” Shinichi thought about the Blue Demon King. Having a title associated with a color must be quite an honor for demons. When Celes continued her explanation, it was quite obvious why the Black Demon King had given up his name. “His entire army put everything they had into attacking the Black Dragon, but they failed to tear off a single scale, much less wake the dragon from its slumber.” “What?!” Shinichi accidentally exclaimed, making the priestess eye him suspiciously. He tried to brush it off with vague smile. “So you’re telling me this self-professed Demon King’s will was broken just by being treated like a pest?” “The story’s been passed down as a lesson to humbly keep improving oneself, so there’s no proof it’s true.” Even so, many demons believed the Black Dragon existed, and they worshipped and aspired to such absolute power. “And our own Demon King?” he asked. “He reveres the Black Dragon and said he’d like to go search for it once Lady Rino has grown up and leaves his side.” “I seriously can’t imagine him ever leaving Rino given how he acts.” Shinichi poked fun at him, but he couldn’t help but be nervous deep inside. Hmm, dragons, huh…? In recent releases, there’ve been games where you’d hunt them for their scales and claws, but I’m guessing that’s not the case here. Dubious about its existence, he took it as a good thing that there was no chance he’d be meeting this legendary being. He wanted to ask for more specifics about the dragon but was worried they might seem suspicious if their conversation went on any longer, and the two walked away from the painting. Almost immediately, something else caught Shinichi’s eye: At the end of a very broad aisle, there were rows of armored figures. There were several hundreds of them, and each one had a clean hole in its chest. They were the soldiers’ corpses. “Those can’t possibly be…,” began Shinichi. “Yes, these are the royal soldiers who gave their lives in a brave fight against the evil Demon King,” confirmed the woman, bowing deeply to show her respect for their service, though she expressed visible bitterness toward the demons. “Thanks to our Goddess’s protection, their bodies will all be resurrected, but there’s just too many victims. We’ve tried everything—half of them were taken to churches nearby—but it’s just too much for the bishop to handle…” A spell had been cast to keep the corpses from decomposing as they waited for resurrection. “I’ve tried to help out where I can, but considering the Bishop’s other duties, we can only save fifty people per day…,” she continued. “I see. Thank you for your service.” Shinichi’s expression was somber, but he was gleeful to glean more information. So they don’t have many people capable of casting the Resurrection spell. On the demons’ side, the King and Celes were the only two who could cast these spells, though Rino might be able to with great effort. They’d have some serious problems if the humans had spell casters like them all over the place. They’re relatively weak, but it seems they can help each other out. I wonder if they can lend their MP to others or divide their powers. One particular battle manga comes to mind. Either way, they shouldn’t take the humans lightly or look down on their potential. The trio finally reached the prayer room at the end of the cathedral, as Shinichi was still deep in thought. The prayer room, taller and wider than any of the others, didn’t contain any corpses. Instead, the light filtered through the glass windows to illuminate the only thing present—a saintly white statue of a woman. “So this is the Goddess…,” remarked Shinichi. She was a beautiful woman with long hair and a serene smile, but she had no wings and resembled a human in physique. Shinichi and Celes pretended to give their appropriate prayers by taking cues from another family praying in the chamber. Afterward, Shinichi asked Celes for a handkerchief, which he used to wrap up a large amount of gold to place in the hands of the priestess. “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to help us. We don’t know the ways of the city,” he said, “but I would like to give this to the Goddess…” “Oh, that’s not necessary,” objected the priestess. “Please. We’ve been able to live peacefully thanks to the blessings of our Divine Goddess. It’s the least I can do.” “Well, if you insist…” She accepted the gold after he repeatedly insisted she take it. “You’re really good at imitating plebeians,” whispered Celes. “Hey, I know that’s not a compliment.” Shinichi let her sarcastic comment go before making a face as if he’d suddenly remembered something. “By the way, I was wondering if I might be able to ask you a question,” he said to the priestess. “Of course. What is it?” she replied. “My youngest brother’s heard those stories about the demons lately, and he’s gotten himself all worked up, saying things like, ‘I’m going to become the Goddess’s hero and beat them all!’” “Oh, he sounds like an energetic little boy,” said the priestess. “It’d be too dangerous for him, so we don’t plan on letting him do it, but I was wondering if I could ask you a little about the heroes.” “I can definitely do that much.” Having accepted a large amount of gold from them, the priestess happily invited them to take a seat in some chairs against the wall. “First of all, how are the heroes chosen?” asked Shinichi. “First, they must excel in either the martial or magical arts, and they must also have the courage and strength to defeat the monsters who threaten humanity. Once they receive the Goddess’s blessing, they’re accepted as a hero for the first time.” Shinichi noticed the priestess used the word monsters instead of demons, but he continued asking about the heroes for now. “I see. What’s this blessing like?” “It’s nothing difficult. Those who are confident in their courage and strength stand in front of the statue of the Goddess in the church, offer themselves to her, and vow to fight for the people,” explained the priestess. “That’s it?” Shinichi sounded incredulous. “Yes, and if you’re accepted by the Goddess, proof of your status as a hero will appear somewhere on your body.” She pointed to the symbol of the Goddess depicted on her own robe. “That’s really all there is to it? I mean, if that’s the case, I’d think there’d be far more heroes,” said Shinichi. His point left the priestess looking slightly confused. “Well, if the criteria was only mastery of swordsmanship or magic, there’d probably be many more people capable of becoming heroes, but when you think about the courage and purity needed in order to be chosen…” “Are you saying some people are skilled enough and still not chosen by her?” asked Shinichi. He reworded his initial question, sensing it was difficult for her to answer, and the priestess leaned in to prevent others from overhearing. “Being chosen as a hero is one of the greatest honors. Those aspiring for high positions in the church, like a cardinal or archbishop, must receive the Goddess’s blessing. But if they aren’t chosen… You know where this is going, right?” she asked. There were many people who didn’t seek the Goddess’s blessing out of fear they might be labeled as impure and talked about behind their backs. It’d be a particularly hard blow for those in positions of power or those vulnerable to rumors, such as the royal family. It would also close off possibilities for future advancement for priests, as it would serve as proof she had rejected them. In the worst-case scenario, they’d be forced to leave the church—a death sentence, in essence. These risks would explain why more people didn’t aim to become heroes, despite the obvious benefit of resurrection without limitations. Would it be like being excommunicated from the church? I guess that’d be scary… When someone volunteered themselves as a hero, they theoretically had the necessary skills and resulting achievements. Yet, they could be branded as “virtueless” in seconds and lose everything they’d worked for, which was a huge gamble with pretty poor odds. The knight and his party must have been high rollers. Though now, that knight was on the brink of destruction with no future prospects or a way to receive his title as an earl. While Shinichi was deep in thought, Celes let out a huge sigh of relief next to him. “I’m relieved you have no chance of becoming a hero and betraying us.” “Yeah, yeah, I’m a twisted bastard. Whatever.” By this point, Shinichi was used to letting Celes’s spiteful comments go and stood from his chair. “Thank you for speaking with us. One last thing: This might be rude of me to ask but…does the Goddess really look like that statue?” “Excuse me?” For a moment, the priestess seemed at a loss for words, staring back with a blank look on her face, but she regained her composure and smiled. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been blessed with the opportunity to see our Divine Goddess, so I can’t say for sure.” “Oh, I see.” “However, the statue in the Archbasilica, which serves as a model for all other statues of the Goddess, was carved by the first pope, who’s said to have been taught directly by the Goddess.” “I see. What a beautiful story. I’ll share it with the other villagers.” When Shinichi finished expressing his thanks, he turned his back on the priestess and the statue to leave. As the two made to depart the church, a man in his thirties walked up to them with a crowd of clergymen in tow. His robes were simple but more impressive than others in the church. He raised his hand and smiled to devotees who bowed their heads as he passed by. Shinichi followed their lead, shuffling to the side to leave the aisle open and bowing his head in a position that would let him hide Celes. The man didn’t seem to notice the maid in the shadows and walked by them as he continued to smile genially. Hmm… Shinichi saw something just before the man walked past him. Inside his right palm, there was the golden symbol of the Goddess. So he must be the seventh hero and the highest-ranking church member here. It was somewhat inconvenient that the last hero was also someone who could use the Resurrection spell, but it seemed he had neither the capacity to resurrect the remaining hundreds of dead soldiers nor the time to advance to the King’s castle. It seems our only real threat is that girl, Arian. Shinichi continued calculating as he left the church and looked up at the blue sky. “Were you able to extract the information you needed?” asked Celes. “About seventy percent of it.” Shinichi answered Celes’s question half-heartedly and continued his musings. I’d hoped to see a Goddess’s hero get resurrected, but I guess that’s asking for too much. Though he delighted in his twisted fantasy of torturing the knight’s party to reveal more information or conducting human experimentations on them, his expression started to cloud over. I would’ve seemed too suspicious if I’d asked that priestess how the heroes are resurrected. Then again, she probably would’ve said something cheesy like “by the Goddess’s power.” It’s possible that no one—not the priestess or the other members of clergy, not a single other human being—knew the truth besides the Goddess and Her heroes. I don’t know if this Goddess Elazonia is a single intelligent being or a larger formless system in place, but one thing I do know is that someone or something exists. Nobody had met the Goddess. But the heroes were capable of resurrection. And— The Goddess can do something the King can’t. She can bring people back to life from nothing. Does that mean she’s more powerful than he is? Scared by his own suspicions, Shinichi clenched his jaw to keep himself from trembling. He didn’t even know exactly how powerful the King was, except that he was as powerful as a small-scale weapon of mass destruction. He had more than enough power to cause wide-scale devastation. Could there be a deity that could surpass him? If you’re out there, please don’t reveal yourself. At this point, there didn’t seem to be any chance of the Goddess appearing, but what would happen if a situation arose where humanity teetered on the brink of annihilation? I need to make sure things don’t get out of hand for the sake of the humans and the demons. Sometime earlier, Rino had told him that if the humans attacked the demon world, the demons would annihilate humankind in retaliation, but it might just be that the demons would be the ones to find themselves on the brink of total destruction. “What do we do next?” asked Celes. “Uh, yeah.” Shaken from his thoughts, Shinichi focused on the task at hand. He tried to speak optimistically. “We have a haiku where I’m from: A computer is / nothing more than just a box / if the OS breaks.” “Huh…?” “To put it in simpler terms, everything’s over when you sever the head issuing the orders,” he said, making a perfunctory effort to reword the saying as he turned his gaze to the large castle next to the church. “In other words, let’s overthrow their king.” Presumably, it was their king giving the orders to attack the demons. There’d be no need to fight the heroes if they defeated the ruler of Boar Kingdom. “We can win without fighting. This is the most basic strategy of war,” he said. “You put all this effort into investigating the heroes to reach this conclusion?” asked Celes. “It’s because I investigated them. It’s pointless to take on the heroes if we can’t get rid of whatever trick they’re using to resurrect,” replied Shinichi. If all went according to plan, it wouldn’t matter if more heroes came along if they kept the King in check and could preserve the peace at the Demon King’s castle. “But can we defeat their king?” Celes sounded concerned. To the basic mind-set of a demon, it was natural to think the king was the most powerful being, but Shinichi nodded to reassure her. “It’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re going to get into a fistfight.” “What?” “A fight between politicians can be settled with talk and this right here.” Shinichi slipped a silver coin out of the heavy pouch hanging at his hip. “You can do anything as long as you have money. Long live capitalism!” “That’s so dirty,” said Celes coldly. She might not have known anything about human society, but she knew this as a fact. Every morning, Tortoise IV began his daily duties by making an appearance in front of an audience. He met with the lower-ranking nobility, the guilds that supported the city’s economy, and ambassadors from other countries. He listened to their suggestions and requests and provided answers after consulting with his ministers. He always thought it’d be faster to get rid of this stiflingly formal affair and deal with their issues by letter, but part of his duty was to act with a particular degree of pomp and circumstance in front of them. Not that a puppet of the church has a say in anything. Inside his mind, Tortoise IV let out a heavy sigh and held on to his last shred of self-respect as he took his seat on the throne with performative regal grace. “Who do we have first today?” he asked. “Yes. About that…,” said the prime minister, looking puzzled at the parchment in his hand. “It seems to be a merchant called Manju from the Daifuku village.” “A village merchant? If it’s about trade, he should contact the guild.” The king wasn’t so idle that he had time to meet one-on-one with merchants. The minister knew that, of course, but pressed on. “Yes, but to express his desire to meet directly with Your Highness, he sent this…” Blinking rapidly, he signaled two guards to carry a large chest forward. They set the chest down in front of the king with a heavy thump and gently opened the lid. The gold inside reflected an immense light, filling the audience chamber and momentarily dazzling everyone. “What?! The chest’s filled with gold bars?!” exclaimed the king. “The contents have been tested. It’s all pure gold—no other metals mixed in.” Converted to the country’s currency, its contents were the equivalent of over one hundred thousand gold coins. Considering the yearly pay of a solider was fifteen gold coins, it was an absurdly large amount of money. “He said he gives it as a gift in hopes of your appearance, regardless of your answer.” “Absurd! Who exactly is this person?!” The king’s surprise was not without reason. The guild leaders and ambassadors had offered gifts to appease him in the past, but their combined monetary worth wouldn’t even make up one hundredth of what was within this chest. It was customary for the value to be in proportion to the request, but this merchant called Manju had just given a mountain of gold to meet with the king. “He can’t possibly be some village merchant. Who is he? Where is he actually from?” inquired the king. “Nobody in the Merchants’ Guild has heard of him…” Merchants were known to receive information faster than nobles and knights. If they didn’t know who he was, then no one in Boar Kingdom did. “Your Highness, what shall we do?” “Hmmm…” Tortoise IV groaned, deep in thought. This merchant was obviously suspicious, likely an agent from one of the other countries aiming to take over Boar Kingdom. Despite this, the king was tempted to devour this forbidden fruit, even while knowing it was poisonous. In front of him, the gold glittered and winked as if to guarantee there was more where this came from. Boar Kingdom was not so rich that he could reject such an offer without at least considering it first. If only half our treasury hadn’t been drained out by our attempts to resurrect the fallen soldiers… The country had made large donations to the church in order to cover the costs of resurrecting the soldiers who had fallen at the hands of the Demon King. Half the soldiers needed to be taken to churches in neighboring countries, which meant the king needed to prepare dozens of horse-drawn carriages. For some reason, he was burdened with this responsibility, though Bishop Hube had originally insisted—no, forced him—to deploy the troops. To take it one step further, he was starting to suspect the church might have waged war on the demons in order to receive more donations and weaken the power of his kingdom. Is this merchant one of the church’s pawns? Tortoise IV glanced furtively at Bishop Hube, standing next to him and looking at the gold with unchanging serenity. “Bring him in,” ordered the king. He wouldn’t know if it was a trap or who sent him until he met the man. Obeying his request, the minister brought the merchant to stand in front of his throne. Wearing modest clothing, he was a middle-aged man of average build, average height, and no distinguishing features. Behind him, however, was a blue-haired maid so beautiful that gazing upon her felt like looking at the world for the first time. “Your Excellency, King Tortoise IV, I’m truly honored to be in your presence,” said the merchant. “It’s my pleasure. Raise your head,” said the king, responding with routine formality. The merchant had respectfully taken a knee and slipped his head into a bow. “Well, what did you wish to speak about?” “Yes, I wish to request Your Highness’s permission to open trade,” stated the merchant. “Trade? If that’s the case, would it not be faster to discuss this with the Merchants’ Guild?” If he approached them with that amount of money, the guild would certainly welcome him with open arms. However, the middle-aged merchant Manju gently shook his head. “Unfortunately, I cannot begin this trade without Your Highness’s approval.” “I don’t understand. What exactly is it that you wish to do?” The man answered with a tiny, evil smirk after confirming he’d grabbed the monarch’s attention. “I wish to open trade with the demons in Dog Valley.” “Wh-what?!” The king, the minister, the ambassadors, and even the guards were all shocked by the merchant’s words. Even Bishop Hube opened his eyes wide in surprise. “Are you insane? Are you seriously asking to open trade with the demons?!” cried the king. “I’m perfectly sane. But sanity isn’t what makes a merchant successful,” he replied, flashing a fearless smile to the flustered Tortoise IV. “I’ve already heard the rumors that the demons are horrifying. However, I question whether or not they’re truly our enemies.” “Wh-what do you mean?!” The king’s shoulders unconsciously shook, suggesting the same exact thought had crossed his mind. Seeing this, the merchant seemed satisfied and continued. “Though they faced six thousand soldiers and killed half of them, the demons haven’t made further advances against Boar Kingdom, right? If they’re truly as powerful as rumored, they probably could take the country in three days if they tried.” “Mm-hmm…” “And if all that’s true, there’s only one explanation. The demons in Dog Valley don’t see us as an enemy. At the very least, it means they have no desire to destroy Boar Kingdom.” “Wha—?!” Though Tortoise IV raised his voice in surprise, he was convinced because he’d already come to the same conclusions earlier. This, however, wasn’t something that could be taken lightly. “We’re talking about the evil demons, the kin of the Evil God who was defeated by the Gods and driven to the depths of the earth. It’s only expected they find us, the children of the Gods, abhorrent!” Tortoise IV deflected the merchant’s argument by referencing this well-known folklore. He held it in front of him like a shield. However, the mysterious man simply shook his head slowly, seemingly unfazed. “Perhaps the legends were wrong. Well, maybe the demons are evil beings. But just as humans are rarely born evil, perhaps the demons in Dog Valley are friendly.” “That can’t possibly be…” “They executed a controlled attack, killing only half of the six thousand soldiers in such a way that they could be resurrected. They’ve been attacked from all sides yet haven’t retaliated. Instead, they remain in the valley as recluses… Do you not see these facts alone are enough to make this explanation seem reasonable?” “……” Tortoise IV was silent, faced with the reality of their situation, far away from vague legends and folklore. Could it be true? Could these demons not be as evil as the legends say? Had they simply been blinded by fear of the Demon King thrashing their army and his extreme strength? If he cast aside his prejudices and assumptions, the merchant’s explanation certainly seemed plausible. “I mean, even though they haven’t advanced into our territory, they killed a large number of the kingdom’s soldiers and drove away the heroes. Obviously, we can’t trust them so easily. Maybe they have some hidden motive as to why they haven’t attacked us yet,” continued the merchant. “Hmm.” “This is why I’d like to make first contact with the demons through the guise of trade and attempt to learn their true intentions.” “Hmm…” There was some truth in the merchant’s words. The king had nothing to lose from this plan. “But what’s in it for you?” he asked, and the merchant flashed another sinister smile. “If I’m able to successfully open trade with the demons, I’ll obtain items and skills known only to them. I imagine that’d be worth a fortune hundreds of times more than what I’ve given you.” “Yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll give you what you seek,” rebuffed the king. “Trading’s a gamble. It’s necessary to accept the risk of failure. Even if there are no goods or skills, there’s sure to be one thing even more valuable.” “And what’s that?” He smirked wickedly at the deeply interested king hanging on the edge of his seat. “A connection to insurmountable strength, the power to win against armies of tens of thousands of soldiers—a connection to the Demon King.” “What—?!” Everyone in the audience chamber was stunned by the answer. What the merchant was suggesting was dangerous and sacrilegious yet so incredibly tempting. “If the Demon King became our ally, you could destroy and conquer other countries. Boar Kingdom could become one large, unified kingdom. Do you not dream of creating the Boar Empire?” “The Boar Empire… I could be an emperor…?” he speculated, stunned. “Even if it doesn’t go that well, you could still form an alliance with the Demon King, putting a check on enemy countries and preventing them from attacking us. I’m not well educated in such matters, so I can’t be certain, but have we not been attacked by other countries two or three times in the past?” “Hmm…” The merchant’s words were as sweet and dangerous as nectar, and they ate away at Tortoise IV’s heart. “Say that I fail. All that you would’ve lost is one idiot merchant. Your Highness, please permit me to trade with the demons,” pleaded the merchant, bringing his request to a close as he bowed his head once again. His words were backed by reason. Boar Kingdom had nothing to lose and everything to gain. If it were up to him, the king would have no reason to consider this request further. “I—I—” Clap, clap, clap. The king’s response was interrupted by the sound of a dry clap. The noise came from someone standing next to the king, a man with an unwaveringly saintly smile—the Goddess’s bishop. “A wonderful performance, you heretical merchant,” he said. “Heretical?” asked the man, his eyebrows raising in surprise. Bishop Hube’s smile deepened as if to suggest that much was obvious. “To join hands with the enemy for money, to sleep with the vile demons who have wronged Elazonia, the Goddess of Light… If that’s not stabbing our Goddess—no, all humanity—in the back, what is it?” accused Bishop Hube, casting his gaze at everyone in the audience chamber. The look in his eyes said more than his words: If you went against the Goddess’s teachings, you could kiss your life good-bye. For the rest of your life, your wounds would go unmended, your illnesses left uncured, and worst of all, you wouldn’t be brought back to life in the face of death.