Ch.369Adjustable NPC. (7)

Even before demons appeared in the tutorial region of Ponia, a monster parade had occurred. As a result, the minimum estimated death toll was recorded at 300,000.

In Aigram, instead of Envy with almost no combat ability, Wrath appeared with all points invested in fighting power. If I hadn’t known about the game or used Avalitia, the city’s destruction would have been certain.

In Neiti, those who were kidnapping children and summoning spirits for contracts discovered us and tried to accelerate their research. Though they ended up being the ones defeated, if we had lost or simply fled, many more children would have been kidnapped and killed.

The Grand Elder of Siltra should have been barely alive, his body corrupted by one of the Seven Deadly Sins, but instead, he used the demon seed attached to his body to gain even greater power. If only Green had returned, Siltra would probably be attacking human nations by now.

Just listing what comes to mind, I have no rebuttal to his words.

[Reincarnator. It’s your fault. The world is going mad because you acted however you pleased!!]

-WHAM!!

[GAAAH?!!]

I may have no rebuttal, but I do have Mr. Attorney Fist.

After smashing my fist into the face of this modern art piece who was blaming everything on me, then kicking him to roll away, I stood up, loosened my shoulders, and spoke.

“So, because it’s my fault, you want me to die? Did you think I’d go ‘Oh! Is that so! Yes! I understand!’ and just drop dead because you said so?”

[Kuk, kuk. At this point, one person like you dying won’t change anything. Too much has already happened. The last chance was to trap you in the world of trials for the sake of this world. But even that failed.]

“For someone saying that, you tried to kill the king, didn’t you? When killing me wasn’t enough, you looked for another method, right?”

[……]

From the beginning, even if beings this powerful had targeted the king, Ragni and the other knights by his side would have been enough to suppress them. Thanks to my kind, capable, and pretty little sister who could fortunately sense the mixture of holy power and demonic energy, we were able to expel him first without needing to worry, but ultimately, this guy’s plan had no reason to succeed from the start.

“Let me ask you something. What would even change if the king died? Do you think Ponia would suddenly collapse if the current king died? Is your head not working, or did you just not think that far?”

[Weakening it would be enough. The current Ponia has enough military power to repel even the Empire with the Seven Deadly Sins attached to it. It’s becoming a massive barrier that destroys the cycle of this world. If such a country continues to grow stronger and starts blocking beings that conform to the cycle, the possibility of this world returning to normal will disappear.]

How should I put it? Has he given up? Looking at him finally speaking properly without spewing nonsense, I felt that forceful education (physical) truly is magnificent, and continued with my curious questions. Well, I don’t think this bastard knows much anyway.

“I doubt it, but then, were you also behind what happened in Aigram? Because it should have been attacked by now, because it should have fallen at least once. Is that why you attacked?”

[…Ha!]

Feeling like the modern art piece was mocking me, I raised my fist again, and he quickly opened his mouth before I could hit him.

[Reincarnator, you brought this upon yourself. There was no reason for the world to be twisted so quickly. What happened in Aigram is a crack in the world that you twisted. And from now on, that crack will continue to grow. Until it breaks everything in this world.]

“Haa. Speak more clearly, will you? What exactly is that fragment? Do you even know who the mayor of Aigram is…”

[Kekek. As if I would tell you tha— Ha! Clenching your fist won’t help. Hitting this body won’t help. If you hit me again, the conversation truly ends here. Won’t you talk? I said it clearly! I am the world and a single will. If you hit me again, I’ll really let this body die and disappear. That is the will of the world now!!]

Why is this guy who’s threatening to run away so confident?

Honestly, I don’t care if he disappears like this. He’s definitely not the main body. He seems to feel pain, but only when hit. Since he’s talking so well with a modern art-like body, my education clearly hasn’t meant much. Besides, I don’t care whether that body lives or dies. Once you’re involved with him, there’s no way to save all those people anyway, right? I’ve already destroyed one of them.

[…Have you never wondered how you can be so cruel to others?]

“Cruel, my ass. My life is too hard to worry about others while living…”

[Someone who used to faint at the sight of people dying, how can you kill people without hesitation now? Have you never questioned that?]

“…What?”

I’m momentarily speechless at the modern art piece’s words, as if he knows about my past self. Well, I’ve been thinking it’s because I recalled my past life’s memories, but wait. How the hell do you know about that?

[…Since you were born wearing the mask of a human, at least try to think for yourself. Beyond this, there’s no meaning in talking with you…]

“Did you think there was meaning in getting beaten up by me? I clearly said I’d kill you if I found you, didn’t I? Tell me all the reasons you talked to me, whether there’s meaning or not. I need material to make judgments even if I want to think.”

[…Tch. It’s impossible for you to kill me. I am the will of this world. I will block your path again and again, and stop you for the sake of the cycle again and again. But let me tell you this. Think once more. If you stop interfering with the cycle any further, ‘the world’ won’t reach out to you more than necessary.]

That was the end of the conversation. He disappeared, leaving a status window showing (DEAD) in normal letters above the dying man’s body. Sigh, what the hell. This is really giving me a headache…

[Master. There’s an emergency. I think you need to come right away.]

“Ah, shit, you startled me.”

Having just been talking with that guy, I reacted a bit sensitively to the status window, and Gorn tilted his head through the status window as if wondering what was wrong. Hey, I was just talking to something similar to you, didn’t you sense it?

[…You can tell me about that in detail later. More importantly. You need to come right now. It’s urgent.]

“Oh, alright. The conference room?”

[Yes.]

What could be a bigger issue than Aigram being attacked? Thinking that there probably isn’t anything bigger than what I just heard from that guy, especially after such an irritatingly headache-inducing conversation, I headed back to the conference room.

*

“You’re covered in blood?”

“Well, that’s how it turned out. Your Majesty, I apologize. I couldn’t find out who the spy was or who sent the assassin.”

“That’s fine. Rather, if I think about how you took care of it before anything happened to me, I should be thanking you for your help again.”

Again? What do you mean again? All I’ve done for Ponia is quit being a forest keeper without even submitting a resignation letter. Are you really thinking that it was thanks to me that you learned about professions being persecuted because I ran away, as the former minister said? Wow, you’re truly a man of character!!

“More importantly. Jack, this report just came in. What do you think about this?”

Wait, wouldn’t it be better for you to judge any report rather than me? Ragni, who’s definitely much smarter than me, handed me a document that looked like an inscription at first glance, and I tried to read it using my knowledge, finally free from illiteracy.

[OO City Adventurer’s Guild Report.]

[XX Year X Month X Day Report – Undead have begun to frequently appear in Aigram.]

[XX Year X Month X Day Report – Three parties of gold-rank adventurers encountered Wraiths and Liches, disposing of them with holy water they possessed and one priest who was a member of the party.]

Looking at the dates and years, this was before I rushed to Siltra. Well…

“…Uh, hmm. It’s a neat report?”

The report I made with Miho seems to be neatly recorded too, so… Why is this urgent?

“No, not that part! Here, start reading from the fifth page.”

Ragni irritably snatched the document, flipped several pages, and handed it back to me. You could have just told me that from the beginning. I thought to myself that it’s unfair how even her frowning face is pretty, as I quickly scanned the document.

[XX Year X Month XX Day Report – It was just a few months ago that the Aigram Guild Master reported a significant decrease in undead. However, for some reason, they have begun to increase explosively again, and they have sent letters to the Neiti Adventurer’s Guild requesting personnel to deal with it.]

[XX Year X Month XX Day Report – A white-rank adventurer party from the Empire and nearby small countries was killed by a high-ranking Lich. Two parties of gold-rank adventurers from Ponia were fortunately able to successfully deal with it and drive it away, but they couldn’t defeat it. Evacuation orders were issued before casualties occurred in nearby villages.]

[XX Year XX Month X Day Report – The evacuation guidance from Aigram and Neiti is proceeding appropriately, but Aiti is still not accepting them. Additional negotiations are needed.]

[XX Year XX Month X Day Report – The Holy Theocracy has agreed to accept refugees, and an agreement has been reached to transfer about 1,200 refugees to the Theocracy.]

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Wait, transferring refugees to the Theocracy? Ah, this is the date before the war broke out. But still, did Avalitia approve this? That can’t be…

[XX Year X Month X Day Report – A massive holy power formation was drawn in the sky, annihilating the Liches, Wraiths, and undead army that was invading nearby cities… according to reports. We decided to confirm the scene with scouts composed of gold-rank adventurers and get confirmation from the Theocracy through Neiti.]

[XX Year X Month X Day Report – Incredibly, it was said to be a ‘miracle’ caused by a single person. The undead that had been overflowing until now are hardly reappearing, and the traveler who caused the miracle is currently heading toward Aigram. For now, reports will be sent to all major city adventurer guilds…]

The entries after this date suddenly shift to talk about the Empire and Theocracy declaring war, with no further mention of the person who caused the miracle. Wait, hold on. One person? A miraculous traveler who single-handedly stopped an undead army with holy magic?

“…Jack, do you understand what I want to ask?”

“For something like this to be possible. Haa, there’s really only one person I can think of.”

“The princess said she heard a name from you and mentioned one person. If we calculate from when the reports stopped, assuming slow travel without a carriage, it ‘coincidentally’ matches exactly with the day Aigram was attacked. What do you think?”

What do I think? Well, asking me if anything comes to mind after I’ve already spilled everything about what the demons and the Theocracy want is clearly important to them. And…

“Ragni’s thinking is correct. Benedict Eight. The Pope of the Holy Theocracy. There’s no one else but that monster who could bury an undead army with a holy spell cast alone.”

My answer clearly identified who was behind the current situation.