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Darcia’s sermon at the Communal Church was a great success.
I’m really glad they weren’t expecting anything too formal… I can’t memorize those bulky scriptures in just a few days, after all, Darcia thought to herself.
Ordinary sermons at the Communal Church would have a priest of a different god come every day to teach their doctrines, tell anecdotes that were related to their teachings and tell stories of past heroes, creating a session that was both religious and served as leisure.
Nobody, including Vida’s priestess, had expected Darcia to talk about the history of the religion or the ‘correct’ interpretation of her doctrine.
It seemed that the priestess had sensed something about Darcia, but many of the people who had gathered here today had come to see the ‘rumored Dark Elf beauty’ and hear unusual stories.
Indeed, the ratio of men to women among the people gathered in the Communal Church was considerably skewed towards the men.
Some might lament the men’s impure intentions despite the Church being a place to come and listen to sermons, but it was only natural for the sermons of attractive clergymen and clergywomen to be popular.
… Darcia did let out a sigh when she saw that Aggar, who was apparently off duty, and the men he had previously brought to the food cart, was among them. But she was happy when she spotted the faces of Kest, customers of the food cart, Seris, Vestra and the children of the orphanage. They were all interested in what she had to say.
And although she didn’t know their faces, the adventurer Rock had been brought here by his companions in the Iron Boulder Brigade, and Bachem, the Guild Master of the Tamers’ Guild, had been brought here by his wife.
The spies sent by the region’s lord were also among the audience.
“Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Darcia. Thank you for allowing me to come and speak to you all today,” said Darcia, greeting the crowd.
She heard the audience whispering words of admiration amongst themselves. Many of these words were regarding her beautiful appearance and her serene, clear, wonderful voice.
The voice training that she had received from Kanako was coming into play.
“But I’m not a real clergywoman, so… I’ll be talking about the goddess’s religion of the village that I lived in, and the legends of the heroes related to that,” Darcia continued.
She did not tell stories from the hidden Dark Elf village on the Amid Empire side of the continent; she described the religion of Talosheim and told of its legends, with some amendments here and there.
She did her best to ensure that she would not sound like an extremist, but she also made sure to properly tell the audience of Vida’s original teachings.
She did not want the audience to think that her teachings were similar to the mainstream teachings of Vida’s religion in the Alcrem Duchy, which were taught by those who had a friendly relationship with Alda’s followers.
Needless to say, Darcia was an enemy of Alda, the god of law and fate… a Vida fundamentalist.
But starting off with things like “Undead should be acknowledged” or “Alda is the true enemy, and reconciliation with him is unthinkable” wouldn’t win her the people’s support. She was aware that this would only cause them to turn on her.
That was why Darcia talked about the festivals inside the Boundary Mountain Range celebrating Vida, and heroes who were members of Vida’s races, while choosing her words to make the stories sound pleasant and interesting to the audience.
And once she had finished speaking, the audience’s reaction was quite favorable. Considering that this was her first time doing the work of an ordinary clergyman, it was quite an excellent result.
But Darcia decided to add something more for good measure.
“Last of all –” she began.
It’s a little flashy, but it should be fine if I hold back, right? Murakami’s group will have received information about me from Rodcorte anyway, and if Birkyne wants to face my son, he won’t back down even if I get a little stronger. Okay, let’s do this! she told herself, firing herself up.
Darcia offered a prayer to Vida and sharpened her consciousness.
“‘Familiar Spirit Descent!’”
A pillar of light descended upon her. Something that wasn’t her own, but that she wouldn’t describe as foreign, entered her.
Bathed in light, Darcia faced the audience with open arms. “The goddess’s blessings to everyone,” she said.
The audience froze for just a single moment, and then burst into a passionate cheer.
Gods existed in the world of Lambda, and its inhabitants never doubted that fact.
For a religion to gain followers in such a world, it needed more than a good doctrine and physically attractive, charismatic clergymen giving sermons.
Something that was visible to the eye was the most effective.
That was why clergymen traveled to various lands as training, saved people from everyday troubles and monsters like adventurers, and provided medical treatment and education. Churches even dispatched groups of priest-warriors to Devil’s Nests and remote regions to exterminate monsters.
But visibly doing something like that in a single sermon was impossible, so Darcia had decided to use ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ to summon a familiar spirit upon herself to show the people.
She possessed the ‘Goddess Descent’ Skill, which was a far superior Skill to ‘Familiar Spirit Descent.’ But summoning the goddess herself would stand out too much. If it became a topic of too much conversation, Vida’s Churches from all over the Orbaume Kingdom would invite her to speak for them, and messengers might visit her from Duke Alcrem or from other duchies. That would make it impossible to move freely in human society.
That was why she had decided to summon a familiar spirit that served Vida. Acquiring a superior Skill did not cause the forgetting of the previous Skill. It was no different from Vandalieu still being able to use ‘Death-Attribute Magic’ and ‘No-Attribute Magic’ even after acquiring ‘Dark King Magic’ and ‘Hollow King Magic.’
It was not rare for clergymen of large Churches of Alda to perform ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ at the end of their sermon, though some priests of Alda were discontented by this practice, thinking that it was making a show of the gods’ servants.
But it seemed that Vida’s priestess thought favorably of it.
“Darcia-san… No, please let me call you Darcia-sama!” she said.
“No, you know, I’m just a worker at a food cart, Priestess-sama,” said Darcia.
She hadn’t expected even the priestess to react like this, never mind the gathered audience.
“Please call me ‘Paula,’ Darcia-sama!” the priestess said, clutching Darcia’s hand, her eyes shining like those of a young girl.
Darcia panicked a little, even though she was supposed to have been used to receiving the passionate stares and cheers of an audience from her concerts.
Maybe it’s because they’re so close? Kanako-chan always made sure that the audience didn’t climb onto the stage… I was so lucky to have Bone-Man-san and Mikhail-san on security, Darcia thought to herself.
Despite her sermon being over, the audience’s excitement didn’t seem to subside. As Darcia looked at the front row, she saw Vandalieu there.
His expression was unchanging as always, but he gave her the thumbs up. He probably thought of her sermon as a job well done, including the fact that Priestess Paula was clinging onto her.
… In the opposite situation, Darcia would always think of Vandalieu’s actions as jobs well done. Perhaps one could say, like mother like son.
“Darcia-sama, please take me as your disciple!” said Paula.
“No, that’s… I can’t teach a priestess… Umm, what shall we do?” said Darcia.
She couldn’t just suddenly tell her about the region within the Boundary Mountain Range, and the ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ Skill wasn’t something that could be taught. It was a Skill that became possible to acquire by becoming more devout, changing one’s everyday actions to follow the gods’ teachings, and conforming with the gods’ way of thinking.
In other words, one could only tell devout followers to “continue doing their best.”
But this was a chance to convert Priestess Paula and the rest of Vida’s believers in the city of Morksi to an anti-Alda stance.
“I will do it, but I’m not an official priestess, so… do you mind if we just say that we’re friends? Let’s talk more about our faith from now on,” Darcia said, deciding to accept Paula as a friend.
With this, the Church of Vida, which didn’t make it clear just how much influence it had in the Orbaume Kingdom, wouldn’t make a fuss over it.
“Friends… Yes, it’s an honor, Darcia-sama!” said Paula, overcome with emotion and embracing Darcia.
“So, you won’t stop using ‘-sama’ with my name,” Darcia sighed as she returned Paula’s embrace.
I’m really glad I held back and only used ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’ she thought to herself.
There was no telling how much commotion she would have caused if she had summoned the goddess herself rather than a familiar spirit.
The voices of praise coming from the majority of the audience gathered at the Communal Church did not subside for some time.
Priestess Paula had actually already improved the public opinion of Vida’s religion in the city of Morksi during the previous incident where a part of the statues of Alda mysteriously crumbled.
While the priest of Alda let out a scream and lost consciousness, Paula had calmed the people down, ordered that the incident be reported to the guard, and took charge to ensure that panic did not break out.
Of course, command soon returned to the earl that ruled over the region, but Priestess Paula had continued to make efforts to keep the people calm even after that. The people of the city had been impressed by her sincere personality and the way she worked for the city’s sake during an emergency situation.
And now, the people were extremely excited by Darcia’s sermon.
Despite the atmosphere of excitement in the Communal Church, there were some who quickly walked out with pale faces. One of them was one of the spies sent by the lord of the region.
… This has gotten out of control. But the lord’s decision to refrain from actively attempting to contain that woman and her son was correct, he thought to himself as he moved quickly down the street, wanting to make his report as soon as possible.
If one listened to her words without being distracted by Darcia’s charisma, the novelty of her stories and her performance with ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’ it was very clear that her stance was not friendly towards Alda’s peaceful faction; in fact, it was the exact opposite.
The concepts that all of Vida’s races should be acknowledged as people, that new technology should be accepted, and Devil’s Nests should be adapted to rather than fought against.
All of these ideas were against Alda’s religion.
On top of that, Darcia had used ‘Familiar Spirit Descent.’ This performance was enough to make the spy certain that Darcia could become the leader for a group that stood against Alda’s peaceful faction.
From a social status perspective, a Dark Elf working at a food cart might be too weak to use as a leader, despite her ability to use ‘Familiar Spirit Descent.’ But if she were to make a move, the fact that she was the mother of a Dhampir would likely become a weapon for her.
If Isaac Morksi had already created a favorable relationship with Darcia and Vandalieu, Duke Alcrem, who was friendly towards Alda’s peaceful faction, would suspect that he was plotting something.
Feeling proud of his master’s keen insight, the spy continued hurrying down the road.
There was another person walking down the same street, with a look of determination in his eyes.
“I’ll do it… I can do it if I try. I’ll do it!” he muttered.
The man, who was dressed in rags, repeated his words to himself over and over as he walked towards the slum district.
The last group leaving the Communal Church unhappy was Aggar and his companions.
“Damn it, this isn’t what we were told!” one of them said.
“Nobody told us she was gonna use ‘Familiar Spirit Descent.’ We can’t follow Joseph’s orders no more,” said another.
They had gathered at the Communal Church under nobody’s orders; they had gone of their own free will.
This was not because they were devout believers who regularly attended priests’ sermons. Naturally, they had gone because Darcia was there.
They had believed that Vandalieu wouldn’t be able to bring his monsters into the Communal Church, and the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael’s lackeys wouldn’t show their faces there either.
Of course, Aggar had already received a stern reprimand from his superior officer for trying to make a move on Darcia. The captain of the guards had visited his house first thing in the morning and given him an earful, followed by a warning to not get involved with that woman and child anymore.
If Aggar continued doing these abnormal activities, he would face the wrath of someone above his captain… possibly even the region’s lord.
If he kept causing trouble, he would lose his job… In the worst-case scenario, he would lose his head. This thought had made him fearful for a while. But Aggar was the kind of guard who would repeatedly take bribes, thinking that it was fine as long as he wasn’t caught, and his companions were the same.
Telling themselves this, they had chosen not to listen to the captain’s warning.
But they were unable to hide their shock upon seeing Darcia summoning a familiar spirit.
“If we make the wrong move, we’ll be killed,” said one of Aggar’s companions.
“According to the rumors, summoning a familiar spirit gives you some crazy Attribute Value bonuses. Even all of us together wouldn’t be able to take her in that state,” said another.
Indeed, ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ was a Skill that enhanced the user’s Attribute Values. The most remarkable change it caused was the increase in Mana, but other Attribute Values such as Strength and Agility were increased as well.
With that being the case, Aggar and his companions, who were only as strong as an ordinary guard, wouldn’t be able to defeat her even if they gathered dozens of others like them… though in reality, Darcia would be able to easily knock out a hundred knights, never mind guards, without even summoning a familiar spirit.
Unaware of this, Aggar and his companions’ backup plan of using force was out of the question. They were forced to accept the fact that they would be helpless if Darcia fought back.
If they took her by surprise and dealt a single blow to her head or a vital organ before she had the chance to use a Skill… This would be the way an assassin would think, and this wasn’t their goal anyway.
“And wouldn’t it be bad to mess with her? We might receive divine punishment…” one of Aggar’s companions muttered.
The mental pressure was also troublesome. If one had no malicious intent towards the user of ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’ it would merely seem to be a divine miracle, a wonderful opportunity to witness a god’s power.
But to those like Aggar, who did have ill will towards the Skill’s user, ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ only caused a sense of pressure. It instilled a fear of the gods, who held absolute power, a fear that Aggar usually forgot.
“D-don’t be such cowards! I’m not going to give up. We’re gonna get our pay from Joseph! If you want out, then get out!” Aggar told his companions.
As Vandalieu and the others had expected, Aggar and his companions had been hired with the Deputy Guild Master Joseph’s money. And also as expected, the objective of their task was to assist Joseph in harassing them… though it had gone too far to be called mere harassment.
Aggar had been planning to take advantage of this and also make a move on Darcia.
“You say that, Aggar, but do you really think we’d be able to do anything against someone who can use ‘Familiar Spirit Descent?’ She’s definitely stronger than us even without using it,” one of Aggar’s companions said.
“What?! Are you saying that I’d lose to her?!” Aggar demanded.
“Do you really think you wouldn’t?! She can use ‘Familiar Spirit Descent,’ you know?!”
In general, it was believed that those who could use the ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ Skill were clergymen or heroes that had undergone strict training.
If one were to think of it in terms of Adventurers’ Guild classes, they would be a minimum of C-class.
In contrast, Aggar and his companions were somewhere between E-class and the lower end of D-class. There was no way that they would be able to overcome Darcia, even with the most conservative estimate of her strength.
“Let’s give it up, Aggar. There’ve been a countless number of women that we couldn’t make a move on in the past, haven’t there? She’s just another one on the list.”
“If you think about it, she’s a woman that someone as dangerous as the ‘Starving Wolf’ has his hands on. I’m glad we didn’t make a bad move and meet some ugly fate. Let’s think about it that way!”
“The captain warned us, too… It’s true that we took money from Joseph, but it’s not an amount that’s worth being fired from our jobs as guards, right?”
Aggar gave a frustrated sigh. They might be right, he thought.
If he gave up here and stayed quiet for a while, he could return to his life of working as a guard, earning a reasonable income as well as a little extra from his side activities from time to time. He had no obligation to return the money that he had received from Joseph, either.
He hadn’t lost anything. He just needed to give up on something that he couldn’t obtain.
No matter what I do, it’s not within my reach… no, wait, Aggar thought.
He thought of the start of a plan that could possibly work out well.
“That woman donated to the orphanage in the slums, right?” he asked his companions. “The one that we raided about ten years ago when the priest of Alda was going on about slave trading or something.”
“Yeah, I remember that. We were still rookies back then, so we were just put on lookout and carrying things about. Not sure what came of it,” one of his companions replied, recalling his vague memories.
“If I recall, nobody got caught because of that uproar. I think they didn’t find anything, so the captain of the guards back then was made to take responsibility, and the priest of Alda just stayed quiet and pretended that nothing happened,” added another.
The details that Aggar remembered were about the same. The guards had entered the orphanage and searched it, but they found nothing, so the case was closed due to insufficient evidence.
It was an incident that the majority of the city’s inhabitants had forgotten about.
“What about it?” one of Aggar’s companions asked.
“Well, I actually stole a copy of the key to the orphanage back then. I thought it might come in handy one day. We’ll enter the orphanage from the back using that key, then kidnap a few of the kids,” Aggar suggested. “Then we’ll tell that woman’s Dhampir brat to come alone if they want to see the orphans alive again, and leave his monsters behind. Once we get him, we’ll tell the woman –”
“W-wait, Aggar, that doesn’t sound like a good idea!” one of his companions said, hastily trying to talk Aggar out of this.
“Yeah, we can cover up stealing small change as much as we want, and we can silence women. But we can’t cover up something like what you’re planning!”
Aggar didn’t want to hear any of his companions’ complaints.
“Don’t be so damn scared! Once everything is said and done, we can just have the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael take the fall for it! He’s a hoodlum to begin with. We just need to fabricate some story about him being blinded by love and that’ll be the end of it,” Aggar said. “So, what’s it going to be? I’ll do it even if I have to do it on my own, you know.”
His companions did wonder whether things would go so conveniently, but their sense of danger seemed to be loosened by the fact that they had never been caught for their evil deeds so far.
Perhaps things would go fine as long as they didn’t mess anything up. That was what they thought.
“Y-you’re right. Alright, we’re in.”
Aggar gave a low laugh. “That’s what I’m talking about,” he said with a vulgar grin.
He led his companions to his room to discuss the details of the plan.
That night, the food carts in the dirty alleyway had been completely transformed.
A woman who always ate here after work approached, and her eyes grew wide open in surprise.
“… What is this?” she said.
She couldn’t help but be surprised that the food cart that she was so accustomed to seeing was now clean, and for some reason, there were large, pink hearts drawn on it.
“… W-welcome,” said the owner of the food cart with a slightly stiff smile.
The woman was relieved to see that it was the same owner as before.
“Oh, it’s you, old man. What happened to this store? I was sure that you’d been driven off somewhere else and some other food cart had taken your place,” the woman laughed.
“Well, there are circumstances, you see…” the food cart owner mumbled.
“What do you mean by ‘circumstances?’ Your food cart is so clean, and this heart is Vida’s holy symbol, isn’t it? Are you copying that skewer cart?”
“That’s… exactly right.”
“W-what?! You’re really copying them?!”
“Shut up and try it! You’re gonna have the usual anyway, right?” the food cart owner said, handing over a serving of soup.
The woman was bewildered, but she took the bowl as she always did… and frowned as she looked at its contents.
“Old man… It smells better than the stuff you had before, but what is this purple ingredient?” she asked.
The meatball soup that the food cart had been selling yesterday had been replaced by a soup with some purple objects inside it.
“I’ve tried the flavor myself. Just take my word for it and try it,” the food cart owner assured her.
“If you say so… It tastes better than it looks! It’s actually more delicious than the stuff you had before! This purple stuff tastes more normal than I thought, too! What is this?!” the woman asked.
“Goblin meat. That bra – What should I call him… Boss, says it’s a Ghoul dish called Gobu-gobu.”
“Onee-san, we’ve got Kobold sandwiches here! Come and give it a try! It’s so good that even I was surprised!” another food cart owner said, calling out to her.
“We’ve got stir-fried meat over here. It’s one Baum for one pack, same as before, but we’ve got Goblin and Kobold organs starting from today. They’ve been properly processed, so come and give it a try,” said the owner of a third food cart.
“W-wait. How many meals am I supposed to try in one night?” said the woman.
“Hey, this customer is still enjoying my soup. Save yours for later!” the owner of the first food cart told the others.
These businesses had been selling slum-style food such as soup made with meatballs containing shredded Goblin and Kobold ears, sandwiches made with scrap vegetables and meat, and slum-style stir-fried mouse and fish meat. They had now been reborn as businesses that sold Gobu-gobu soup, steamed Kobold meat sandwiches wrapped in Kobol leaves, and stir-fried organs.
Goblin meat was smelly and unpleasant. Frying it and boiling it didn’t change that. Using a mountain of expensive spices would make it about as edible as ordinary meat, but… that wouldn’t be affordable to those who weren’t wealthy.
But if Goblin meat was pickled for an entire day in the juice of Gobubu grass, a magical grass that grew everywhere, the meat turned purple and its unpleasant flavor and smell was removed. Its surface turned slick, creating a rather strange texture, but it wasn’t inedible. This was how the preserved food known as Gobu-gobu was made.
It made for a better soup ingredient than Goblin and Kobold ears whose flavor had been forcibly concealed by turning them into meatballs.
Kobold meat, when wrapped in Kobol leaves that grew only in places where Kobolds lived and then steamed, lost its odor and its sinewy, hard meat became soft. Using Kobol fruit in addition to the leaves would make it taste even better, but that would put its price far out of reach of the inhabitants of the slums, so it had been just wrapped in the leaves.
But as the softened Kobold meat had been mixed well with tare sauce and other ingredients, it made an excellent filling for sandwiches made with hard, heavy, black bread.
And the Goblin organs and Kobold organs also underwent the same odor-removing process when baked, so they became edible.
Cut into bite-sized pieces and fried with sauce, it was far more delicious than the slum-style fried meat… and more nutritious, too.
All of these dishes had the same price and quantity as their previous versions, and they were slightly cheaper than Vandalieu’s skewers. Perhaps even the curious who wandered in from the entertainment district would buy them, not just the inhabitants of the slums.
“But Vandalieu-sama, couldn’t you have taken a little more payment from them?” Chipuras asked Vandalieu, who was busy grilling skewers.
The fact that the other food cart owners were selling their new products at the same prices as their old ones meant that Vandalieu had sold them Gobu-gobu and Kobold meat at the same value as the monster ears that could be purchased almost for free and scrap vegetables and meat.
“Goblin and Kobold meat has so little value that ordinary butchers refuse to buy it,” said Vandalieu. “And I processed the ingredients for them this time, but they’ll be doing it themselves from now on.”
“They promised us a little once they make some profits, so it’s alright, Chipuras-san,” said Darcia.
“… Ordinarily, you would ask for a cut of their total sales. I believe that asking for a mere one percent of their profits after stocking costs and other expenses are deducted is too little, but… well, if our objective is missionary work rather than profit, then I suppose there is no problem,” said Chipuras.
By having the business owners paint Vida’s holy symbol on their food carts, the people of the slums were able to tell that they were affiliated with Vandalieu and Vida’s religion at a single glance.
That was a big thing in and of itself.
Vandalieu wasn’t expecting to gain any passionate followers from that alone. But just having them give a short prayer or thinking of Vida after their meals would be enough.
Increasing the people’s faith in these small ways would still provide strength for the goddess.
“And spreading the fact that Gobu-gobu and baked Kobold meat are dishes from Ghoul culture is the first step to laying a foundation for proclaiming Ghouls to be one of Vida’s races rather than a race of monsters… Well, not that there are any Ghouls in the Devil’s Nests around here anymore,” said Vandalieu.
“You asked the spirits of adventurers and Miles-san to find them and invited them to move to Talosheim, after all, Your Highness,” said Princess Levia.
Indeed, there wasn’t a single Ghoul left in the Devil’s Nests around the city of Morksi.
“Now all that’s left to do is amplify Van-kun’s influence in this city?” said Orbia.
Vandalieu gave a small sigh. “… We didn’t actually need to do that in the beginning, but yes. Our original plan was just to conspicuously operate a food cart for three months.”
Now that he thought about it, he was just supposed to have set up store on the main street, buy ordinary meat from wholesale stores and sell skewers that were just slightly more delicious than ordinary food.
But it seemed that the turning point of fate had come when Joseph set his sights on Vandalieu at the Commerce Guild.
“You’re right. But I’m glad we were put in this place. That’s the one thing we can thank Joseph-san for. Thanks to him, we met Fang, made friends with the people at the orphanage and experienced a lot of good things,” said Darcia, smiling at Fang, who was keeping watch from the shadow of the food cart as usual.
“Well, there’s more things for us to do, but I don’t regret it, either,” said Vandalieu. “Fang, Maroru, Urumi, Suruga, dinner’s ready.”
After cooling the cooked meat to a reasonable temperature, Vandalieu took the meat off the skewers and tossed it into the air, where it was caught and eaten by Fang and the rats.
The customers who had come to buy skewers smiled and enjoyed this sight.
The Great Giant Rats were still Rank 2 and hadn’t transformed into strange races. As there was a Tamers’ Guild branch in this city, the customers didn’t feel any aversion to the rats.
They would normally be terrified of the Rank 3 Black Dog Fang, who was about as dangerous as a bear, but… he was suppressing his Aura of Darkness that instilled fear in others, so he didn’t look any different from an ordinary large dog.
“Maybe I’ll go hunting with you tomorrow,” said Darcia. “We need to save up a lot of Goblin and Kobold meat for the next little while, don’t we?”
“Yes… though I can grow Kobol leaves myself,” said Vandalieu.
Fang gave a happy bark.
‘You are the only one who can do it, the only one we can ask. If you refuse, it will be the end of us; you are our only hope.’
The man had heard these words so much that they could have made his ears rot. And in the majority of the cases, things could have been managed by someone other than himself.
Even this time, the situation could almost certainly be resolved by someone else.
“A Minotaur King has gathered a horde, and the Adventurers’ Guild has missed them. I know that the Five-colored Blades have their hands full with a god’s trial and whatnot, but this is something that can be handled by gathering up some A-class and B-class adventurers. Even if a Minotaur King gathers a horde, they’re monsters that tend to stay in packs. There’s certainly time to gather the forces needed to fight them off,” the man muttered as he walked alone.
He remembered the greasy, sweaty face of Duke Alcrem, the man who had made the request of him.
A village near a Devils’ Nest had been wiped out about a month ago. Judging from the fact that all of the houses had been burned down, it was thought to be the doing of the ‘Hyena’ Gozoroff and his gang of kidnappers, and an order of knights serving the duke had been dispatched to hunt the ‘Hyena’ down.
But the order of knights had never returned; in fact, they had discovered that a horde led by a Minotaur King existed in the Devils’ Nest near the wiped-out village.
And the order of knights was led… or rather had been led, by the youngest daughter of the previous Duke Alcrem – in other words, the half-sister of the current Duke Alcrem, although the difference in their ages was about the same as that between a father and daughter.
“The duke might not have intended it, but he ended up giving a good meal to a starving lion,” the man muttered.
Having learned the identity of the leader of the order of knights, Duke Alcrem had managed to make contact with the man by chance, and made his request.
“To think that I could make contact with you… This must be the will of the gods. Please exterminate the Minotaur King and his horde, and if my half-sister is still alive… no matter what kind of state she is in, dispose of her.”
An order of knights would certainly not be weak by any means, but Minotaurs were a superior race of Ogres. Fighting a horde of monsters led by a Minotaur King… that would be a far taller task than hunting down the ‘Hyena.’
And now that a month had passed with no word from them, there was no need to imagine their fate.
“His predecessor took good care of me, and I’ve been paid well for my silence. It’s not a bad job, but… is the name of his family of dukes that he holds so dear, so cheap that it would be tarnished by his sister who has given up her rights to succession being impregnated by a Minotaur?” the man wondered.
The hush money paid to him could have been used to buy an expensive Potion, hire a first-rate healer and create a Magic Item that erased harsh memories for her treatment.
If it still concerned the duke, there were still plenty of other options, such as sending her to a monastery far away from the commoners.
These thoughts did cross the man’s mind.
“But… I suppose it’s none of my business,” he told himself.
Randolf ‘the True,’ the S-class adventurer who had publicly stepped back from duty and did indeed wish to live in seclusion, stepped into the Devils’ Nest that contained the Minotaur horde with his bow and arrow on his back and a thin-bladed sword in his hand.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Vitor
That was why Darcia talked about the festivals inside the Boundary Mountain Range celebrating Vida, and heroes who were members of Vida’s races
If I where Darcia I would start with tales from the Titans of Talosheim resisting the invasion of the Mirg-Shield Nation and others races that doesn’t have ranks, and tales of the “heroic goddess” of the Scylla Merribel, who “were” considered “people” in the Sauron Duchy, protecting her people from Alda’s extremist from the Amid Empire, since they would consider them as people opposing the same country that is their enemy and Alda’s priests would have to remain quiet, later, I would start with tales from other races with ranks, save Ghouls, who aren’t considered a race of Vida, and then, when people are more used to these tales start telling tales on which the Ghouls are considered part of Vida’s races, when this is done I would start telling tales of the Evil Gods who changed sides
Naberisu
If you want to convince people you can’t start with something that may upset them
Zenden1st
hope this makes a new race of monster for talosheim diverse races
JKingSniper
Damn guards deserve to die
that’s why Alda faction deserve to die
Arshavin
I wonder why most of the female characters of this novel is either prostitute, slut, or virgin girl that had been raped by bandit or monster..
I see that the author prefer g*ngb*ng, r*pe, and hardcore genre.
Chiu ChunLing
It’s not most of the female characters. It’s just most of the female characters that Van rescues…and even then, that’s only if you only count named characters.
Temp950
That is just you projecting your own insecurities onto the story and author.
emergency3808
Lambda is practically a harsh, untamed land filled with racism and sexism. You are either strong and liked, or you get trampled on.
Baldingere
Randolf is a pretty grey caracter. Or rather, it feels like life’s issues and disappointments flowed over him till there was no color left anymore, just a husk of a human being. He’s anaesthetised to it all.
He won’t be on Alda’s side (he’s already a pain to them) but will he come over to Vandalieu?
A_wandering_otter
When will he fight a Balrog and turn into Randolph the white
Hobbes
Well we can count on Van for the Balrog, but to me Randolph seems more like an atheist than a servant of the Gods, thank Vida.
Zauberbiest
”’impregnated by a Minotaur”’
Oooof those words strike hard, cough cough
OtakuOnCaffiene
… Please don’t imply what I think you’re implying… Please
Samildanac
Finally! Some proper hamburger meat!
Zauberbiest
the half sis- oh u meant the minotaur my bad
polynesianvibez
minotaurs, nice
thanks for the chapter
MrTrixer
Minotaurs eh? I wonder if this will be the birth of a new breed of death-attribute minotaurs in Talosheim or if this will be either another tragedy or scandal in the dutchy..
Thank you for the chapter and the treat! (^_^)/
TruePath111
Ho my prediction came true. It seems funny seeing her more an Idol meeting her fans then a preacher lol.
I still disagree that Devil Nests are good. I think they’re more like monsters spawn. Vida used them to barricade her race so no one would try to harm them.
DieOfSanity
For Vida’s races that are strong enough that every member of them can survive in the average Devil’s Nest, they are a blessing. That was the whole point of the new races.
Ozarazil
If Vandal gets to join the minotaur subjugation he’s going to make a huge kill, why? Hello!! Minotaurs!!! Basically anthropomorphic bulls!!! Basically cow meat for the food carts!!!
Isn’t Gufadgarn at the orphanage? I remember something along the lines, if I’m right Aggar will be in for an amazing ride. Nothing good never comes out for threatening something akin to a lovecraftian deity…
Yoki
Thanks for the chapter, Yoshi
Rollrock
I thought Randolph to be a better man than someone willing to accept a task like that. Unless he’s several steps ahead of the man that ordered him to take it and is just using it as an excuse to meet Van, but that seems unlikely.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel Randolph is kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place with this quest. He needs to repay the debt he owes the guys ancestor but this really is a horrendous thing to request. I feel it was requests like this that led to him trying retire in the first place. What he might be currently doing is trying to clear the slate because he knows the war between Vida and Alda is getting closer.
We saw him doing a favor for Duke Sauron before and now it’s this duke. I think Randolph might be trying to pay back all those who helped him so he can finally completely cut ties with society this time or find a place to die. Either way it is clear that he takes no joy in this job and he is sick and tired of having the dirty work pushed to him.
Chiu ChunLing
I honestly don’t buy that Randolph really feels that he needs to pay any debts. That’s just something he says to himself to keep from going down Schneider’s route of becoming infamously dangerous to anyone trying to employ him.
He’s clearly tempted to do things like tossing Rudel and Dolmad into the Scylla reservation or feed Alkrem feetfirst to a Minotaur. But he understands that this wouldn’t really fix anything.
Hobbes
Randolph just seems tired to me. Tired of everything. Exhausted by the calendar changing, but nothing else. I may just be projecting, but I empathize with his character.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, Randolph is…perfectly capable of taking a job and then doing whatever the hell he wants. Last time we saw him in action, the things Rudel and Dolmad wanted that he blew off weren’t part of the deal, but this time the deal isn’t even official, he’s not legally obligated to do anything in particular other than not say what he was hired to do (cause he wasn’t legally hired to do it).
BLK
PLOT TWIST, Birkyne takes out Aggar for messing with his puppet.
Kuro-san
I wonder, what would the story be like if Valen had followed Darcia as a spirit, or something, and Van-sama had resurrected him along with Darcia, but using the remains of the Vampires’s True Ancestor as a catalyst instead of Vida’s blood. Does anyone have any theory? If so, comment.
Kuro-san
It sounds interesting, what are the chances of this happening?
Kazza
Are there remains of the True Ancestor? I remember Zakkart’s remains in Vida’s realm, but I’m pretty sure the True Ancestor was destroyed by Bellwood.
Kuro-san
Not that I know, but the existence of such remains is part of the theory.
Valeth
I believe it was implied that the True Ancestor was sealed away or something, as Alda and them stated he would never return. If he died his soul would of gone to Vida’s Circle, and they would have no way of seizing it to my knowledge.
So more likely defeated and sealed in a place that Vida and them cannot get too, at least currently.
It was also implied that Valen was dealt with in a way that he would not return as well by the evil vampires. So most likely was not made into a undead.
Lord Rin
That grave is just a symbolic one that Gufadgarn erected to symbolize the loss of Vida’s and Zakkart’s child. The True Ancestor is implied to have been defeated and sealed away when it was helping the Ghoul Ancestor who was their sibling escape from enemies.
Triduo
I wonder what will happen first~
Vandalieu meeting Randolf while hunting for meat or Vandalieu kill-punishing Aggar and his friends ?
Paradoxe : Either Randolf and Van will run into each other and be forced to fight together in order to eradicate the Minotaurs, or Aggar will try to capture Van, only for him to fail and/or die, and be used as an opportunity to kill Van. Or worse : Neither of those.
Fair enough…
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like the minatours shouldn’t be a problem for either Van or Randolph. Considering we saw Elanora and some of the mid class people wiping the floor with them pre trial of Zakart.
Considering the advice Randolph gave duke Sauron I don’t think he is going to try fighting Van and Van doesn’t really fight unless provoked. So all in all I’m betting Aggars group commits suicide by stupidity before Van d and Randolph meet.
Triduo
Midnight : Well… At least, Van could hunt down the Minotaurs for their meat and encounter Randolf while hunting ?
Paradoxe : Leading them to save the little Sister together ? … It’s so cliché that I’m hurting just thinking about it…
Noctyrannus : Still better than Aggars’ group who’ll try to kidnap Van in order to f-ck Van’s mother, only to be the ones who get f-cked up by their monstrous strength ! ^^
Dimhélios : Strong Mothers are scary mothers… O_O’
Amen.
V4NQU1SH
Advance Rest in Pieces, Aggar.
Thanks for the chapter~!
Alke
Liked the “rest in pieces” 💯💯💯👌👌👌👌😈😈😈😈😈😈
Kazza
Whoo! Super quick update!
So, was anyone else confused when they said the order of knights never returned – but somehow Duke Alcrem knows they encountered a minotaur nest? I’m assuming they sent a message they found it, but then why would they go alone? He makes it clear backup would be necessary. Maybe the sister pulled a Leeroy Jenkins, but that whole section doesn’t follow well.
Anyways, great to know that the Duke of this Duchy sucks too. And here I was speculating he was a reverse Lucas…
I’m never right. Literally the only prediction I nailed was Fang’s name, and it wasn’t even the name I wanted.
My self-pity aside, I don’t think this necessarily makes him an Alda follower, cause I remember Luciliano debating the same thing when he was first introduced. It does mean he needs a quick lesson in what it means to make an enemy of the Holy Son of Vida… much like Luciliano learned soon afterwards…
Also, Randolf, please don’t be a dick. I don’t even want you to be a Vida follower, but don’t be a dick. You don’t even need to give the sister money to survive, just take her to a monastery somewhere or something. Like, you talk about how the previous Duke Alcrem did you a solid, so you’re going to help his son kill his daughter? And that makes sense?
I’m just hoping he’s not a dick. Please, Densuke, I know I’m never right, but please don’t make him a dick. He can be a miserable asshole (which he sounds like, to be honest), just not an unrepentant dick.
Kazza
No offense, but did I piss you off somehow? You seem to want to jump at me and correct me almost whenever I make comment.
And yeah, I can conclusively say he’s a monster. All the details you brought up are debatable and all, but he doesn’t care, doesn’t even mention any of them. He says “No matter what state she’s in, dispose of her.”
Not “Put her out of her misery” or even “ensure she dies with dignity.” Dispose of her like you would an item or thing. Like, are you seriously ok with that? Despite the fact Randolf believes it might even be cheaper to take care of her than pay him to assassinate her?
Like, no offense dude, but think that over again. By what you said, actions like Lucas’s decision to murder entire villages because he can’t trust them, Raymond’s decision to murder Scylla to incite rebellion, Rudel’s plans to kidnap and torture villagers in contact with the SLF for information… all these actions don’t make them despicable, because they were prudent decisions… that benefited them.
No. Those are all the actions of someone who cares too little of the lives around them and will take measures to eliminate them the second they inconvenience them. That’s enough for me to declare him monstrous.
And as for the beginning, all that information you put, you came up with. It could be right, could be wrong, but my point was that the exposition was confusing. One line they were searching for the hyena, second they discover a nest, third they’re already dead/ captured. It didn’t flow properly, and was awkward.
No mention of the horde attacking, or scouts, or anything. And this is a book, so the more information you can apply without being redundant is helpful.
Also, saying that an S-class adventurer who has lived for 100’s of years is too optimistic – despite being characterized as a cynical grouch who hates his status – is selling it too short. Randolf in his career has seen some shit, so if he thinks there’s a chance she can be salvaged I’m willing to believe it. Do you think in his entire life he’s never come across a situation like this, despite Luciliano saying that these situations are unfortunately common for adventurers?
Kazza
Ok, good. Sorry if I kind of snapped at you.
Anyways, you seem to agree that Raymond and Rudel were reprehensible, but you don’t think Lucas’s orders were? I disagree. That chapter made it explicitly clear the reason he chose violence as his first option was because he saw them as enemies. And he saw then as enemies because he wanted to kill all of them just to lower his brother’s reputation and went through with multiple plans to do so.
It wasn’t a prudent decision at all. As far as he was aware, the villages were keeping Karcan’s actions secret. They didn’t blackmail him, or demand anything. Jumping to complete extermination of them was not only unjust, it was potentially more damaging than it was worth. What if they were more powerful than the Knights Order? Then, not only is he missing the power of a whole order, but he has now given this power just cause to come into Niarki and try to take his head. He didn’t even do any reconnaissance, despite having ample time and a Guild administrator in his pocket.
Paranoia, predilection to violence over diplomacy, willingness to allow corruption in his system as long as it benefits him.
He was severely unfit to be a Duke but got the position because his brother was colluding with vampires.
And these actions have clear references.
Similarly, you’re right, we don’t have complete information on the Duke, but what has been shown is clear. He doesn’t care about the status of his sister, he has asked Randolf to kill her regardless. He says word-for-word “No matter what state she is in, dispose of her.”
That shows a clear lack of empathy, and a simultaneous pathetic vanity preventing him from taking even a second to assess his blood relative’s condition for fear his reputation would suffer.
These are not good or noble traits. They show cowardice and selfishness.
And if these words are going to be recontextualized down the line to make him sympathetic, (unlikely, but let’s say it’s possible), that doesn’t matter now. His actions are still monstrous currently and will lead to the death of someone who may indeed have a chance to recover.
Rafael42069
Kazza, spoiler alert:
Tank has a point and that is all I gonna say because if I say more it will be a give away.
Tejing
I agree, I hope he’s not a dick. I don’t really expect him to be a ready-made ally for Van like Schna was, and it’s been made pretty clear he’s pretty beaten down internally, but I’d hope for some decent morals, even if he doesn’t always follow them, and a willingness to see other’s perspectives. What we do know about him is mostly that he’s against the backstabby politics of the Orbaume kingdom (even if he’s too beaten down to really try to change anything), and he sees the truth about what’s going on in a lot of cases where others don’t (Van’s actions in the Sauron duchy, the nature of the Trial of Zakkart, though I’m guessing about that one, he may have just been being pessimistic about the chance of clearing it, but I think he knew it was about Zakkart’s successor, not Bellwood’s). Given that I tend to guess he’s got a bit of redemption to go through, but he’ll end up a good guy. Time will tell.
Nox
Thanks for the chapter.
The soldier-kun is bravely digging his own grave even deeper and has now helpers in it while Vidas influence is slowly increasing. Meanwhile another S-Rank adventure is probably going to join the Van together with the Dukes little sister.
Triduo
Not sure about that… Perhaps he’ll just not care about Van’s situation and just do as he say, while saving the little Sister ?
Paradoxe : So… He won’t be an ally nor an enemy ? … Yeah, not buying it.
Jonathan Hurd
I can see Van accepting people being neutral towards him. If you don’t attack him or his allies he’s not likely to care. The real one to look out for is Alda. Alda has made it plenty clear that if you’re not with him then you’re against him.
I think Randolph wants out of human society and it’s dirty ways. What better place to vacation than Vans kingdom. Who knows by the end of the relaxing trip Randolph might join Van just to protect his retirement home.
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter, sounds like Aggar is going to die in the next chapter. So his plan is to kidnap orphans to rape a priestess of Vida and probably kill Vand and Darcia afterwards. How did he become a guard, he sounds more like a bandit. Nice to know that the duke is like the other two seen so far. He is willing to kill his sister after she has been tortured and raped to probably the breaking point just so she does not stain his political career. Considering why orcs captured human women, I assume minotaurs are similar. Randolph sounds like a mercenary in that he will do a job and accept any payment for it without a care about the victims. Hope I am wrong about him.
Entropy
Right now her mental health is unknown so that is why I dislike the duke making his decision, but I suspect you are correct. The adventurers captured by orcs were suicidal after being rescued so I suspect this noble is far more gone. Besides that, it seems like the duke is having her killed so she does not spoil his political career rather than actually caring about her, which is what I dislike but I suppose time will tell and she will be dead at the end regardless of the duke’s motivations.
Pallington
only van or legion with extreme death magic and mindfixing can even get such a victim back to proper sentience, sooooo
but hey, another girl joins the grand harem
Jonathan Hurd
I get where the putting them out of their misery feeling comes from, but as Entropy said I don’t like his motives for doing it. Also sure she might not have a great or even good life after this, but it seems unfair for her half brother to decide she needs to die above all else. Randolph pointed out there are medicines and magical to help reduce trauma and she could go to the monastery. I also find it telling how his priority is her death above all else even the minatours deaths.
Lord Rin
This mission has nothing to do with sympathy. This is entirely for selfish reasons. Randolph got paid hush money to carry out this mission in secret and as he has noted, it was enough money that could instead have been used so she can be saved, completely healed, and have any bad memories completely erased. To me it seems very clear that Duke Alcrem is using this as a convenient way to get rid of somebody that he doesn’t like because he’s a bastard. He even seems to have the stereotypical appearance of an evil bastard since Randolph says he has a greasy, sweaty face.
Morgan
Is Van gonna get a half-minotaur baby to mutate? what would it even turn into?
Ltshrek
Probably would turn the same as the goblins and other babies he first mutated tho this time I’m guessing something will happen differently because of his bestower job
Triduo
Noctyrannus : A Big Busty Female Minotaur ! (-O_O) Maybe !
Lord Rin
Oh great now reminded me of the Minotaur girls from Ishuzoku Reviewers…
Jonathan Hurd
We could have another Pauvina case and he could kill the majority of the minataur genes leading to effectively a cow beast man.
ExplodingPenguinDood
Aggar about to get rekt
Randolf, likely a marksman that doesn’t miss, is stepping up. I’m excited what role he plays in the story
Lord Rin
Aggar continuing to prove that he’s too stupid to live.
Anyways Van has probably at the very least set up surveillance on the orphanage since he is trying to draw out Birkyne and Van having a connection to an orphanage would make a good target for Birkyne. Van may have even converted some things their into golems like the building itself or the locks so unauthorized people can’t get in.
I feel like Van is going to end up overthrowing the Duke of Alcrem. From what the spy of Earl Morksi mentioned how the Duke would possibly see Morksi as an enemy if he sided with people who are possibly Vida fundamentalists, he’s probably an Alda worshiper. Coupled with the fact that apparently he wants Randolph the True to kill his half-sister even after she has given up her right to succession all supposedly because she’d stain his family name, he sounds like a piece of shit that would probably get into conflict with Van over one thing or another. Meanwhile I wouldn’t be surprised if Van has already saved the half-sister and her order of knights. They said that a month ago they were sent out to hunt down Gozoroff the Hyena who burned down a nearby village and that village is undoubtedly the village of Emma and the rest and it was mentioned that Van went back to it to gather the deceased spirits a while back which is probably around the same time since only around a month and a half has probably passed since Van rescued Emma and the rest and also infiltrated the city of Morksi. Van could have probably met the half-sister and her knights during that time and saved them before sending them to Talosheim to have them be guided so he can then send them back out to help infiltrating and operating in the Alcrem duchy. Van could then also use the half-sister to overthrow the current Duke and install somebody that would be more supportive of Vida.
Paps
Thanks for the chapter, well a new S-class is introduced, lets see how he adapts to the plot. That corrupt guard has no idea of the danger he is in.
bk3k
He has been lightly introduced before. Though he wasn’t terribly relevant.
Jonathan Hurd
He has been sprinkled throughout the story. I’m interested to see how he fights and what he brings to the table. The story has said he seems to wear beaten up standard adventurer gear. I wonder if that’s a bluff and he keeps the real weapons hidden, he uses his fists, or he really is just so good the equipment doesn’t matter for him.
iamleejn
-Is Aggar really this stupid? It’s like he’s got a death wish…I’m wondering if Birkyne has tampered with his brain or something; attacking an orphanage? That’s low.
-Who was that guy muttering “I’ll do it…” after the sermon? Is that Fitun’s spirit clone/meat puppet?
-Well, Duke Alcrem is an Alda fundamentalist, so he’s gotta go. We’ll clearly be seeing his sister take over. Perhaps she’ll be pregnant and Van will use death magic to convert the baby into a new half-race with a more human appearance (Pauvina, Black Goblin, Anubis, Orcus)?
Oshibo
I disagree, even Vida Fundalmentalists might have issues with a monster’s child, while they would have no issue with her giving birth to one of Vida’s races, unless he came out as Vida’s Holy Son and said he could create new races and that Vida accepted monsters who were willing to swear their loyalty to her. Even if people like ghouls, scylla and a few others are descendants of Vida and a monster, they are still a descendant of Vida, a kid like this one wouldn’t be.
bk3k
You are mistaken about the facts here. Duke Alcrem isn’t an Alda Fundamentalist. The official policy in his territory Alda Reconciliation. Which is why Kest can work as a guard for example. Certainly it doesn’t entirely end discrimination but it is an improvement. And that is so because Duke Alcrem changed the policy.
But it isn’t as though he’s a great person, as it should be clear. Another self-interested noble. His reasoning for implementing this reform… you can probably guess with what you know already.
Ltshrek
Means that girl will definitely get closer to van like the women in the first arc,s9oooooooo probably we’ll get a new mutated Minotaur baby! * Or possibly another pauvina like*
VEreality
UPDATE! HELL YEAH!
Thank you yoshi-sama!
Nothing to say about this chapter other than Aggar is dead. However, there is a question that has been bothering me for a while. Do we know what happened with Van’s body in Origin? I know it’s kind of random but… do we?
Kuro-san
Apparently it was reduced to less than dust, after receiving the mixture of Braver (Amemiya Hiroto) and Angel (Naruse Narumi) spells in Chapter 0.
VEreality
Thank you. Even if this destroyed a good plot twist I had in mind.
Triopsate
I kinda wish Darcia actually used goddess’s descent instead of familiar spirit descent. It would have been so amusing watching Agar and his band of idiots try to logic themselves into attacking the goddess’ avatar.
Mr.Darkness
It would cause too much of a commotion… Just think of what all Alda fanatics from everywhere would do… And Dukes, Kings.
Too much commotion!
Triduo
Paradoxe : Using it while being trapped by those idiots would be a greater shock to them ! ^^
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Triduo
And now, we wait for next chapter… ( O_O)
X07Zero
Thank for the chapter ^^
“Something that wasn’t her own, but that she wouldn’t describe as foreign, entered her.”
Hehehehehehehehehehe…HMM? NOOOO! put that claw away from me! ヾ(;ﾟДﾟ;)ｼ
reisben55
It is time for Randolf to understand the splendor of Vandeliu !
gomezseba37
we are finally gonna see what he is capable of after like 100 chapters
Kuro-san
Don’t wait too long, he’s not a freak of nature like Schneider. He is closer, in terms of power, to Heinz.
Razel
How do you know this? I don’t seem to recall Randolf’s show of his ability.
Kuro-san
It is a Spoiler, so I will leave it in my native language, Brazilian Portuguese. If you want to know, just translate.
No capítulos 356, Randolf pensou: ‘Ninguém está tentando me ajudar. Mesmo que eu seja um aventureiro da classe S, eu não sou o Schneider para derrotar deuses e dragões do mal’, ou coisa parecida.
Baseando-me neste pensamento dele, eu suponho que Randolf é um Aventureiro de Classe S ‘Mediano’, que pode subjugar monstros da classe 13 a 15, contanto que esteja disposto a por sua vida em risco, mesmo considerando que ele esteja preparado para o combate.
Afastando Randolf de Schneider que é um Aventureiro de Classe S ‘Superior’, que pode subjugar monstros da classe 13-15 tão bem quanto um Aventureiro de Classe D Comum pode subjugar monstros de classe 3.
Mas aproximando Randolf de Heinz que é um Aventureiro de Classe S ‘Mediano’. Randolf possivelmente é mais forte do que Heinz (sem Espirito Heroico), pois Randolf possui pelo menos centenas de anos de experiencia a mais que Heinz.
GashBello
Wow Kuro-san não imaginei ver outro BR no capítulo 213 de death mage kkk
Kuro-san
Acredite, a praga chamada ‘BR’ está em todo lugar. Principalmente em um mundo onde existe Google Tradutor.
Mr.Darkness
Tem BR em todo lugar…
Sailon
Br é que nem gripe sempre se espalhando
bk3k
I’d say one on one, Randolf the True is stronger than Heinz, but not stronger than the 5 Colored Blades. And remember he’s S class as a solo guy rather than a party. Rather serious spoilers – [spoiler]After all he wasn’t completely useless in the battle versus the revived Guduranis. Now if you are talking about this particular point in the story, I’d say Randolf is much stronger than Heinz since there isn’t any indication that Randolf if getting especially stronger between then and now, but Heinz does since he’s training in that dungeon and even acquiring Bellwood[/spoiler]
In any case, I don’t think we’ve ever seen Randolf the True’s stat sheet. So we can only infer.
Kuro-san
I fully agree.
Triduo
Either he’s equal in strength with Van, or he’s superior to Van, alone.
Lightnovelfan
OK, at this point Aggar basically begs to get his soul eaten by Van.
I so hope the Lords´ half-sister is still alive. I can imagine a Scenario, where she gets saved by Van, they find out the Lord wanted to kill her, they dispose him in return and she becomes the new Lord. Then Van will have a strong influence on how the Society treats Vidas races.
As Always, thank you for your great work
Tejing
I have a hard time imagining she’d be cool with disposing of him, despite what he asked Randolf to do, unless she’s the power hungry type (in which case Van wouldn’t help her anyway). Seems more likely she’ll get a new life in Talosheim with her half-brother thinking she’s dead.
Lord Rin
I don’t think that most people would be very forgiving of their family sending people to kill them. She might see this entire mission as an attempt by her half-brother to eliminate her so with some prodding by Van or his subordinates, she might be willing to try and overthrow her half-brother who seems to be an Alda worshiper which is an obstacle for Van’s plans for the Alcrem duchy.
Lord Rin
You are also assuming that she did get raped by Minotaurs. We don’t actually know. Also she and her knight order were sent to the village of Emma and the rest that got destroyed and it is very likely that Van would have been around the vicinity more or less at the same time since they previously mentioned he went back to the village to gather up all the spirits of the dead for Emma’s group’s sake. He could very easily have encountered and saved the knights during that time since we know Van tends to save anybody he comes across provided they aren’t immediately hostile because it either makes him feel good or because he thinks that his friends and family would like it if he did. Afterwards he could bring them to Talosheim for treatment and one of his subordinates could then suggest they could use them by guiding them and then having them infiltrate the duchy for various purposes.
Also you are assuming that Duke Alcrem has the support of the people. From the information we know we can infer that Duke Alcrem probably remains in power because of shady dealings and other political maneuvering. He hires Randolph to kill his half-sister REGARDLESS of what her condition is even after she had previously given up her claim to succession all because the mere POSSIBILITY that she has been raped would soil his family name and impact his political career. He does allow Vida’s races more freedom but it’s clearly only so he can get support from Alda’s peaceful faction and it doesn’t seem like he actually enforces anything. The city of Morksi for example can now have members of Vida’s races in important positions but so far we have only seen ONE beastkin as a guard. It just makes it seem like he’s only there so Duke Alcrem can go, “Look we’re progressive.” to Alda’s peaceful faction so they support him. Meanwhile at the same time one of Morksi’s spies confirmed that just having a SINGLE Vida fundamentalist as an associate would be enough for Duke Alcrem to immediately mark Earl Morksi as suspicious and probably somebody to be eliminated which sounds like paranoia.
As for the half-sister we don’t know how much support from the people she had but she probably had at least some given that she had to make a public statement were she was giving up her claim to succession. If she didn’t have support then she wouldn’t need to make a public statement in the first place. As for any mental or physical trauma she might have, Van can easily fix that quickly with blood potions and his mental encroachment. Anyways it’s unlikely that the public would be told about what happened to the half-sister in the first place. Randolph’s mission seems to be a secret one because any way you look at it, sending somebody to eliminate a relative that isn’t a criminal would not be viewed in a positive light and any information saying she got raped would not be allowed to spread because Duke Alcrem doesn’t want that to soil his family name and political career and would defeat the purpose of sending Randolph on his secret mission. Conversely even if rumors did get out about her getting raped, all it would take would be somebody like Randolph or another authority figure to refute them and the public would immediately believe it. Heck the public might not even know that anything bad has happened to the half-sister and her knight order because Duke Alcrem is suppressing information so that Randolph can carry out his mission in secret.
Chiu ChunLing
A minor point, the village destroyed by Minotaurs was initially assumed to have been attacked by The Hyena, like Emma’s village. But it was not. Nor was Emma’s village attacked by Minotaurs. So we’re talking about two different villages.
A less minor point, the nobility is hereditary and there is no indication that there was a succession dispute. Even if his sister had retained her right of succession, she’s clearly after him in the line of succession, any dispute would be with his heirs rather than him. Duke Alkrem was most likely the duly designated heir, pure and simple.
It would probably be a steep political embarrassment for it to become known that his half-sister and her entire knight order were captured and raped by Minotaurs, but he’d still be Duke, just less trusted as a competent leader and reliable partner for other Duchies.
We’ve only gotten detailed information on two other Dukes so far, and honestly Alkrem is pretty clearly the least bad from what we know.
There’s also no indication he’s worse than Marshkuzarl.
OokamiNoO
eaten? nah, there is no need to eat a soul so dirty. A normal death is enough
no1
Thank you for the chapter Yoshi. Also Aggar is really asking for it now with using the orphanage kids as hostages, he should’ve stopped when he had the chance.
Triduo
Paradoxe : Trash won’t stop digging its own grave until its last breath, sadly…
Superboy8338
THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE!!!
Superboy8338
Agger has NO IDEA how SCREWED he and his men are… I’m going to enjoy “watching” them suffer. 😈😈😈
Triduo
Noctyrannus : I’m hyped and hoping for a Bloodbath ! ( OuO)
Mr.Darkness
“There was no telling how much commotion she would have caused if she had summoned the goddess herself rather than a familiar spirit.”
It would be a commotion that could shake the entire world.
“Aggar gave a frustrated sigh. They might be right, he thought.”
Finally he’s being lucid!
“No matter what I do, it’s not within my reach… no, wait, Aggar thought.”
Shit, i spoke too soon ¬¬ This guy reeeeally wants to die…
“Our original plan was just to conspicuously operate a food cart for three months.”
Hahahhahahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahahha!!! What could possibly go wrong with such a simple plan? XD
Superboy8338
They are SO dead.
Tejing
Well, I’d say the duke’s half sister’s gonna end up joining Van. Also Aggar is a dead man walking. He just sealed his fate. Not that any of us are surprised. I wonder what Isaac’s going to make of the info about Darcia’s familiar spirit descent? I also wonder how Randolf and Van are going to end up colliding, that could go a lot of very different ways.
Superboy8338
IKR?! EXCITING, isn’t it?!
WizziBot
おもしろい
Baldingere
I would like a Randolf Heinz confrontation. To see weither Heinz will endlessly hesitate each time his ennemy isn’t completely black, or fool himself into killing everybody in his path for the greater good or go full desperate and kill people like it’s an everyday thingy.
Dr. Steel
Mm, don’t see any reason for Randolf and Heinz to clash, and Randolf probably wouldn’t want to bother. Unless Randolf joins Van, but honestly I feel he’ll just stay a renegade
Doom-sama
ALL HAIL VAN-SAMA, OUR LORD SAVIOR, OUR DEATH GOD, OUR CHAMPION! THIS USUAL MESSAGE FROM VAN-SAMA HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY VIDA-SAMA FOR THE DAY:
Yay! I made a bunch of new friends! And now everyone will find happiness!
Now, I get the feeling some rather rude people are about to do something bad. Guess we should deal with it.
Oh, and thanks for coming everyone! Have some cookies!
Tejing
Unlike the dark side, Vida’s side isn’t lying about the cookies 🙂
junior1210
The cookies are heart shaped with powdered sugar on top.
Triduo
Midnight : I’m hungry, gimme cookies ! ( OuO)/
General Gratas
PRAISE VAN-SAMA! PRAISE VIDA-SAMA!