episode_0024

The implication market must have ended.

They must have brought back harpy slaves.

There were various things, but first of all, I gave her the position of a shrine maiden.

“You are now the shrine maiden of the cult of evil. Child, live your life to the fullest.”

Can’t she use language?

Whether she is an child who has never learned it, or if she has aphasia, I just left her with the shrine maidens.

I specially instructed them, so they won’t engage in other activities.

“By the way, tomorrow we will go on a trip with the children.”

I muttered as I watered the plant that was given to me as a seed.

It’s hard to stop talking to myself these days.

Since I have quite a bit of time alone, perhaps this self-talk is to soothe my loneliness.

“I should finish preparing in advance.”

Starting to pack casually while using a tone of voice that had become a habit.

There wasn’t much to pack, but I decided to prepare various other things because I was worried about the children.

Since it’s a desert trip, it would be good to bring along a few useful items.

For example, some medicine and gloves were packed.

You never know. Since even for me, going to the desert, this group trip itself is really rare, I packed some miscellaneous items just in case.

Hmm, okay.

That’s right.

“Sigh… I guess the preparations are roughly done.”

Saying that, I closed my eyes on the bed.

The next day, when I came out of the room for a morning walk, I could meet Mari right away.

She was wearing a white dress, unlike usual… I wondered if such a dress was appropriate for going to the desert.

“Did you have a peaceful night, Lord of Evil? The weather is nice today. How about a morning walk together?”

With fog around and dew-covered grass in the early morning.

On the day of the trip, I started walking with Mari right away.

Just walking near the sect, but oh well.

Breathing fresh air always felt new, cool, and therefore made me happy.

“Do you have something you want from me, Lord of Evil?”

“Hmm, well. I’m still not sure.”

Managing the World Tree and revering it fervently.

While not hiding her feelings towards me, she doesn’t engage in actions that would harm me.

Mari had a rather cute side than I expected.

…Of course, I couldn’t know everything about her, but that’s how she appeared to me.

“I cannot reciprocate your feelings. If you ask for a reason, it’s simply because you are my children. So, please refrain externally.”

“Well, I don’t do that much these days. In that case, is it okay for us to have this time alone?”

“…Still, please refrain.”

As I watched her playfully smile, I couldn’t help but smile too.

Isn’t she just completely like a girl?

Of course, other executives and key figures of the cult of evil clearly warned me to be cautious with her, suggesting that she might be hiding something.

However, I didn’t intend to pry into every little secret the children held.

They needed freedom.

“You are very lenient, Lord of Evil. The scriptures of evil observe everything about us, place everything in their hands, and let us move freely as we wish.”

“…I’m not sure exactly what those scriptures are, but once they were like that.”

Yes, before I was possessed.

“Well then, let’s end the walk here and head out on our journey.”

I said to Mari as I stopped talking here.

Mari also smiled and nodded her head.

We slowly returned to the cult of evil.

It was late to call it dawn, and it was too early to say morning had arrived.

All the executives of the cult of evil had finished all the preparations.

“Uh, thank you. Terraesia came to wake me up today, but why did she have to pour mountains onto my bed of all days? So, I struggled to survive and came here.”

Ryu chuckled as he spoke.

Well, okay.

You’ve come through a life-threatening situation.

“They say that crisis will make you even stronger.”

“Even the devil seems excited for the journey? Making jokes like that.”

He spat out a pointless joke and went outside.

A massive airship.

It was the airship I had boarded for the continental conference.

“It’s been a while since we took this out. It’s our first group trip, so I thought it would be nice to bring it out while we’re all together.”

A young man wearing Shimagu lightly over his body.

It was Abel.

Hmm, Abel. Of course, he’s wearing Shimagu. Um… well, no, not really.

There’s a lot to say, but it feels a bit inappropriate to speak freely here.

“Everyone has gathered. It seems like it’s almost everyone’s first vacation, so everyone looks excited.”

“Let’s all go.”

“You can have fun to your heart’s content today, so let’s try to get there as quickly as possible.”

And so everyone boarded the airship, which rose high into the sky.

Who would dare to touch this airship?

Unless someone dares to tamper with a more massive airship than a dragon, they wouldn’t think of touching it.

“Well then, let me briefly inform you all of the schedule. Today, you can spend your time freely, and the schedule will start from tomorrow.”

Abel was very meticulous in planning this trip.

He had perfectly thought out where to go, how to go, and incorporated various schedules such as Beatrice’s diplomatic issues and mysterious explorations in the desert in between.

Yet, he never forgot the original purpose of the trip, the joy of traveling. How remarkable is that.

“Oh, of course, if any of you want to go somewhere else from here… No one does. Except for Father, no one is listening to my opinion.”

Well, okay.

What’s with the sudden change in the Evil Cult?

Abel was nodding off, Veronica and Caesar were sharpening their swords, Ryu was taking medicine, and Terraesia was preparing medicine to give to Ryu.

Mary was holding my pot in her arms, caring for it without knowing when she brought it, and Beatrice and Cecilia were organizing documents.

They weren’t exactly in harmony; they were just doing their own tasks.

“Phew… Alright then. Let’s choose who will be in charge of Father’s escort on this trip.”

As he said that, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Abel.

This seems… quite important.

In the end, all these kids were kind enough to follow me here.

“But it’s still a vacation, so an escort…”

“No. No matter how strong Father is, no matter what miracles he can perform. If we all hope together… Well, it’s a bit difficult to talk about if everyone hopes.”

As if expecting this, Abel casually took out a piece of paper.

…Ladder climbing?

Wait, how did this end up here?

But maybe because he’s a character born in a modern writer’s mind. He even knows ladder climbing.

“First… here, two people are selected as winners. Also, each person can draw three lines. The order will be… Let’s go clockwise starting from me.”

But then Terraesia will be last, isn’t that a bit unfair?

I can solve incomprehensible formulas in seconds, so aren’t you supposed to immediately choose three lines that connect you among these lines?

With that in mind, they started their serious game.

Actually, from what I see, this is not a fair game.

The story of earlier Theresia, and all the kids have their own abilities.

0.4 seconds.

In that short time, already dense life force, a bit of swordsmanship, and numerous memorizations flashed by.

“But, this is not allowed.”

I said while covering Adele’s mouth, flames flickering as if I would breathe out fire right away.

…My head hurts already even though we haven’t reached the travel point yet.

“You can decide as you wish. However, I hope you won’t attack each other.”

With a firm expression on my face, it was surprisingly handled more fairly than I thought.

…Of course, the dense life force filling the surroundings was inevitable.

“…Then, Father’s escort will be… Unfortunately, Caesar and Cecilia have been decided.”

Originally Beatrice and Theresia, but they had to take care of some other schedules, so it was changed to Caesar and Cecilia.

By the way, is it okay to waste life force so much?

However, everyone returned to their usual tasks as if nothing had happened, seemingly unaffected by everything.

Silence.

…Of course, there were faint noises here and there.

“It’s a shame. I should have won in this fight too…”

I hope you don’t look at me with a wistful expression.

I feel like my head will split open right now.

Cecilia working on documents with a pleasant expression over there, and Caesar looking out the window of the airship with a wide smile.

…Well, if the kids are happy, then that’s good.

“Oh, of course, not just an escort, we will all act together.”

Abel, who seemed to have lost the world until earlier, suddenly smiled broadly and said so.

“What? Then there’s no reason for winning!”

“…It was the original plan. You didn’t listen; the original plan was for all of us to act together.”

…

Yeah, that’s right.

That was the atmosphere of the evil sect.

Amidst the lively atmosphere, we arrived in the desert.