Ch.87Protagonist (1)

Imaginary Space.

A place of pitch darkness and madness permitted only to outer gods.

Cartesia, the master of this place, calculated time while sitting on Populus.

‘…This is difficult.’

The Aether concentration in Alcatraz was beyond imagination. It was hard to endure for long.

He needed to either break the contract with Eidel and escape, or exploit other outer gods to obtain Pron.

Thanks to this, Populus had become a crawling Pron vending machine.

“Give me more.”

“GAAACK!”

This wasn’t enough.

He needed to form <Bonds> with more outer gods to guarantee the conditions necessary to remain by Eidel’s side.

Cartesia, who had been keeping his eyes closed, rose to his feet.

His target was prisoner number 888887.

A girl who was single-handedly dealing with up to 20 outer gods.

The girl was similar to Eidel yet different.

Her manageable Pron value was roughly 300,000. And about 290,000 of that was already filled.

At this rate, the girl would die soon.

Though it wasn’t out of mercy, Cartesia decided to extract a few weak outer gods from the girl’s brain and make them his servants.

Every baby outer god he touched screamed and transformed into a girl. This was Cartesia’s <Transformation> skill.

He caught about five and implanted them into Eidel’s brain.

Eidel’s Pron value was still NULL.

The single supply had increased to six. The supply amount was naturally six times greater. Now he could finally breathe a little easier.

“Hey, do you want to die?”

It was Saphaul’s voice.

Saphaul, who had invaded Cartesia’s imaginary space with his monitor-like face, displayed fierce hostility.

Cartesia grinned and stepped back.

“I need to make a living too. Don’t I?”

“Are you picking a fight with me right now?”

Blood-red wires extended from behind Saphaul’s back.

It seemed like a fight between outer gods was about to break out.

Saphaul examined the abilities of the outer gods who had been captured and enslaved.

They were all weak. Weakness was a sin. There was no need for sympathy. On the other hand, Cartesia was quite strong on his home ground.

Having made his assessment, Saphaul withdrew his tentacles.

“If this wasn’t your place of exile, you would have been finished.”

Then he disappeared.

The Alcatraz planetary system in this galaxy was Cartesia’s front yard and also his place of exile.

A lonely outer god unable to escape from this place.

But in return, he possessed immense power and dominance within this galaxy.

Even someone as high-ranking as Saphaul could be defeated in a one-on-one fight if he took advantage of the home ground effect.

Rather, it was as if Saphaul was “daring” to meddle in his territory.

At that moment, Eidel yawned and spoke.

“For the third paper… I should jump straight to making a graviton bomb.”

Eidel had received an email.

It said that as soon as he got out, they would make him a graduate student no matter what. So focus on calming your madness. That was the message.

All of this was Eidel’s scheme.

Defying both the laws of the country and the fate given to him.

Cartesia found this quite interesting.

But he couldn’t stay in one place forever.

So he set a mission.

Leave Alcatraz prison by the end of this month.

Reward for success: 500 Pron.

Penalty for failure: Pregnancy.

“Isn’t that too stingy?”

The one who grumbled was Populus. He, or should I say she? Anyway, Populus had become a maid covered in ribbons due to the <Bond>.

“Shut up.”

Cartesia pulled on Populus’s collar.

This is how it was when he came to his senses.

At some point, she had been serving the human called Eidel.

“If you look at it that way, you’re not an outer god but rather, ack, gack.”

“I told you to shut up.”

Populus, bound by the bond, couldn’t resist.

It was then that something fell in front of Cartesia, who had been watching Eidel.

A coin that suddenly appeared in the imaginary space.

A golden coin that was both a blessing from the constellation and food for outer gods.

It was a Coin.

[─ The contractor of the ‘God of Wealth and Investment’ has sponsored you with 2000 Coins.]

Cartesia blinked blankly.

It was sudden. So it was absurd.

Who would dare?

To sponsor me?

“Ahaha! Coins, coins!”

Populus and the other outer gods rose. They had become unsightly human maids with flowing ribbons, but outer gods were still outer gods.

“Give me the coins!”

“Once I regain my strength, you’ll be nothing!”

“Goodbye, half-breed!”

But they didn’t know.

That the effect of <Bond> produced by Descartes-type outer gods was stronger and more cruel than anything else.

“Stay still.”

Boom! With one commanding word, the outer gods who had been rushing forward buried their heads in the ground and bowed.

Thoughts, behavior, tone. Everything changes.

“M-master.”

“Please bestow coins upon us worthless beings.”

“We’re sorry…”

Before they knew it, they were clinging to Cartesia, busy begging. Betrayal? Revenge? What were those again?

Cartesia clicked his tongue. The bodies of the outer gods, steeped in slave mentality, rolled on the ground.

“Master, please don’t abandon us.”

“Give us coins, coins!”

Their appearance, drooling like dogs with rabies, was not only pitiful but even disgusting.

And they call themselves outer gods.

Would I become like this if I were caught in a <Bond>?

It didn’t matter now.

Thump thump, the organ equivalent to a heart was noisy.

This was the first time he had received such a donation, and the first time he had felt this way.

Cartesia, having shaken off the outer gods, approached the pile of coins.

Swish swish.

While sweeping the gleaming coins, he traced back through memories. This was Cartesia’s unique skill, <Tracking Mind Reading>.

And he knew whose gift it was.

“…”

Sister.

Eidel’s sister.

Not only had she awakened, but she had also awakened her constellation and even donated money to him.

It was an unexpected and unanticipated result.

Anyway, having received this much, he had to do something in return. That was Cartesia’s principle.

Rustle.

Cartesia, preciously clutching the pile of gold coins, turned his gaze toward Eidel.

***

Cartesia had given me only two weeks. I had to leave Alcatraz before then.

It was about time to leave anyway. The second semester was approaching, and Rustila had already returned.

The professors’ opinions were also being gathered.

[We will proceed with Eidel’s admission to graduate school. As soon as he leaves the prison, he will receive treatment equivalent to having earned a college degree.]

In short, we’ll make you a graduate student.

I don’t know if it has legal effect, but that’s enough.

Rather, I’ve done as much as I could. Staying any longer would only damage my reputation.

A person should know when to retreat.

I packed up my computer and other things. Then, the door burst open and someone came in.

“It’s me, young master.”

It was Sonia.

“Are you thinking of moving out soon?”

“Yes.”

“I was expecting the timing. Let me help you.”

So we cleaned what needed to be cleaned and organized everything to be shipped by courier.

“This reminds me of that day.”

“After I was scolded by father?”

“Yes. You suddenly started cleaning your room and organizing all your collections.”

Sonia looked at me with a slight smile.

It was a natural smile. I almost mistook her for a human.

“You changed from that moment, young master.”

Her voice was calm and reassuring. That’s why it was comforting.

“Human affairs are unpredictable. I’ve learned something. Still, I wish you would maintain a bit more discipline, young master. That’s my only concern.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Please speak.”

“If I became perfect in daily life too, you’d be out of a job.”

I shrugged as I answered.

Sonia chuckled.

“Then I’ll correct myself. Please continue to live as you do now.”

“…”

“There. Done. We’ve packed everything.”

“Yes, it’s about done.”

I dusted off my hands and checked my email.

There was one from Professor Feynman.

[Eidel, this is Professor Feynman. I’ve heard that by pleading with government agencies, they will provide an opportunity for you to enter the graduate program as soon as your madness is cured.]

Well, what do you know. A windfall had dropped.

I couldn’t help but smile.

The email concluded with wishes for my health and a safe return.

“Young master, let’s go back. Miss Seti and Miss Rustila will be waiting.”

It was truly time to say goodbye to Alcatraz.

Was I here for about three months?

It was short, but long enough to develop an attachment.

“Student, are you finally leaving?”

The prison warden and Officer Weisel came to see me off.

I fixed my expression and smiled.

“Yes, I seem to be fully recovered.”

“Good, please leave already. Take care of your health.”

“I will.”

“I heard the Aether Belt has been fully restored. There won’t be any more outer god invasions or relapses of madness. Eidel, you’ve done well. This is our final farewell.”

Both of them looked extremely tired. Their hollow appearance made them look as if they were possessed by outer gods.

They must have had a hard time. I believe they were somewhat relieved while I was here. After all, I took care of all those difficult administrative tasks for them.

“Take care!”

“It was nice meeting you, but let’s never see each other again!”

“We won’t be far apart, Eidel von Rheinland!”

I’m touched.

I left Alcatraz proudly, receiving their send-off.

And then.

“Hey, you there.”

I heard a woman’s raspy voice.

Black hair and black eyes. The girl who endured the persistent stares of men every dawn during jogging stopped me.

She approached me and said,

“Who are you?”

“Me? Eidel Rheinland.”

During our confinement, we were only called by our prisoner numbers, so we couldn’t know each other’s names.

This was the first time I had told my name to a fellow inmate.

“Eidel, Eidel…”

The girl who was repeating my name frowned.

She stared intently at my eyes as if searching for something.

At this point, I felt something odd.

This girl didn’t seem to be a nameless extra.

From the beginning, the gap between her madness and her normal state was too great. It was like she was turning a switch on and off, controlling when to be crazy and when not to be.

“Ah, no. It can’t be.”

Her brilliant eyes lost their vitality.

At the same time, the guards prepared their batons.

By the looks of it, she was destined to be beaten severely and returned to her cell.

Just in case, I spent 100 Pron and opened the parameter window.