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As March began, it was already spring according to the calendar, but the Alcrem Duchy, like the Sauron Duchy, was on the northern side of the Orbaume Kingdom. The duchy was separated from the frozen sea to the north by a mountain range, but perhaps because a part of that Mountain Range had become covered in Devil’s Nests, snow fell in the duchy even at this time of year.
But Alcrem, the capital of the duchy, was a large, lively city on any given day, and today was no exception.
In a private room in the back of a bar were three people who had gathered in a meeting.
“I can’t believe it,” one of them said, over the chatter of the drunkards on the other side of the wall. “The threat of the Demon King is approaching, but the city is the same as always.”
“Don’t speak so carelessly, Carlos. I know the other customers are making a lot of noise, but what if someone hears you?” said a second man – a young, blonde fellow.
“Don’t worry, Hendriksen. You probably don’t know this, but this private room’s walls are Magic Items that let sound in from the outside, but don’t let any sound escape from the inside. We can hear the drunkards out there, but we could sing loudly in here or plot a conspiracy to destroy the authorities of the nation, and nobody outside this room would hear us,” the man named Carlos said with a laugh. “Do you want to sing a song to test the walls out?”
“I’ll pass. Do you intend to defile Lady Ediria’s ears?” said Hendriksen.
“I don’t think my ears would be defiled, but you should display your singing voice on another occasion. Let’s move on to the problem at hand,” said the third person in the room, a female mage with shoulder-length, chestnut-brown hair.
“Yeah. Well then, getting right into it… I received a Divine Message this morning,” said Carlos.
“Again? Your god seems to be quite overprotective… but then again, I got one as well,” said Hendriksen.
“It’s too strange to say that it’s a coincidence. I got one too,” said Ediria.
Carlos, Hendriksen and Ediria were adventurers working in Alcrem. All of them were hero candidates, and each of them had received a divine protection from a different god.
Carlos had received his divine protection from Rubicante, the God of Heat Hazes, who had once been a subordinate god of Zantark.
Hendriksen had received his from Elk, the Goddess of the Holy Spear, a subordinate god of Alda who had been hand-picked by Bellwood.
Ediria had received hers from Hirshem, the God of Strings, a subordinate god of Nineroad.
The three of them each had a divine protection, but they were not companions belonging to a single party of adventurers. It was by coincidence that they had gathered here.
They were competing against one another, but there was no hostility between them. In the sense that they were all trying to become stronger to stand against the Demon King that the gods warned them of, they were allies.
However, it was difficult to say that their personalities meshed together very well. They could be allies in battle, but not friends. But nevertheless, they were meeting here in order to exchange information.
“All three of us got a Divine Message at almost exactly the same time… Did your Divine Messages tell you to stay away from this place for a while, and to pray to some god called Rod-something?” Carlos asked the other two.
Hendriksen and Ediria nodded.
“I received a Divine Message telling me to take my companions and head to ‘a certain place,’ spread the name of a god that I’ve never heard before, and pray to him. But don’t tell anyone about it,” said Hendriksen. “I really haven’t ever heard of this god, so I am unsure what to do. And I haven’t been told anything about this ‘a certain place.’”
“Mine was similar to that,” said Ediria.
In truth, there were others in Alcrem who had received divine protections from the gods as well. However, all of them had taken their companions and left Alcrem between the end of the previous year and early this year.
That was around the time when Carlos, Hendriksen and Ediria had received their Divine Messages as well.
However, the three of them had disobeyed their Divine Messages. They all had different reasons for that – such as not being able to simply abandon commissions that they had already accepted, or simply being too proud to flee after having received the divine protection of a god.
A month had passed, and then two, and then finally a third, when even the gods could wait no longer and had sent a second Divine Message to them.
“I see. Leaving aside the matter of this god called Rodcorte, my party has decided to flee as well. After carefully considering the contents of the Divine Message, we figured that the threat of the Demon King was closing in on us, not the city,” said Carlos.
“As for Rodcorte, I’ve figured out that he’s really a god. I prayed to that name, just as my Divine Message told me to, and I received his divine protection. Of course, I still don’t know what he’s the god of, though. And… he told me that everyone should leave Alcrem, and I’m going to listen this time,” said Ediria.
Hendriksen nodded in agreement. “I’m going to carry out a strategic retreat as well… As unfortunate as it is, this meeting may be the last of its kind.”
Carlos, Hendriksen and Ediria were individuals who had received divine protections from the gods. If a threat was approaching, it was their role to fight and protect the unsuspecting people. That was why they had made excuses to themselves to remain in Alcrem.
However, there was no sign whatsoever of this ‘threat of the Demon King’ that they had imagined. A monster rampage had reportedly occurred at the city of Morksi, but it had already been dealt with.
That was certainly dangerous for the city, but far from ‘the threat of the Demon King.’
However, the gods had sent a second Divine Message. It seemed that the ‘threat of the Demon King’ really was approaching, but they had figured out that it was likely only a threat towards individuals who had received the gods’ divine protections. Thus, the three of them had decided to flee this time.
“Come to think of it, what do you think about that group of four in the rumors that is causing a stir at the Adventurers’ Guild these days? They look suspicious, they stand out, and I heard that they’ve caused some troubles with several other adventurer parties,” said Ediria.
“Yeah, that group of four who only registered a few days ago but are unusually strong and look really suspicious… No, I suppose it’s three suspicious people with one other person. If I recall, the leader is a guy called Arthur, right?” said Carlos.
The rumors spoke of a party with a fierce-looking swordsman named Arthur, a beautiful yet sharp-eyed priestess named Kalinia, and a shifty Dwarf mage named Borzofoy. And there was one more, a naïve young girl who seemed to be getting dragged around by the other three.
They were apparently from the countryside, and they had caused rumors because on the day they registered at the Adventurers’ Guild, they had gotten into a quarrel with another party, and caused a stir by hunting several high-Rank monsters that no rookies would be able to hunt.
“None of that matters, right?” said Hendriksen. “It’s a group of suspicious-looking country bums who were already strong before they registered at the Adventurers’ Guild, and a girl being dragged around with them. That’s all.”
“You’re right. Even their quarrel with other adventurers were apparently guys who were essentially thugs picking fights with them,” Carlos agreed.
The group seemed suspicious, but they hadn’t committed any crimes, and they weren’t doing anything particularly suspicious. And although they seemed to be stronger than average, they were far from what the gods would fear and refer to as the Demon King.
“Yes. I don’t think they’re the Demon King or subordinates of the Demon King, either. But I was thinking that maybe they have divine protections of the gods like us,” said Ediria.
“Divine protections, huh… I suppose there is that possibility…” Hendriksen murmured.
Those who received the divine protections of gods did not really know what the requirements to receive divine protections were, and Hendriksen was no exception. There were certainly more devout, more capable worshippers of the gods than him. So why had he received Elk’s divine protection instead of them? He couldn’t understand what the goddess was thinking.
The gods seemed to have clear reasons for granting their divine protections, but… in the end, they were beyond the understanding of mortals.
Even though Arthur was a person from the countryside with a somewhat unpleasant appearance, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have the divine protection of a god.
But Carlos disagreed. “I don’t think that’s very likely,” he said. “They came to Alcrem just as the gods told everyone, including us, to get out of here. If they’ve received Divine Messages as well, then that would make them quite the problem children.”
“That’s… true,” said Hendriksen with a nod.
“Either way, we’ll never run into them. We’re leaving the city tomorrow, after all,” said Ediria. “Where are you two going? I’ve heard that there is a new form of music around Morksi, so I’m going to go and have a look.”
“What a coincidence. I’m going to Morksi as well. I heard rumors that there’s a new Dungeon there, so I’m going to have a look and take a nice stroll around while I’m at it. And I’m interested in seeing the very first food cart where Gobu-gobu originated!” said Carlos.
“… You have strange tastes as always. You’re not starving, and yet you want to go and eat Goblin meat,” said Hendriksen.
Rubicante and Hirshem, the gods who had sent Divine Messages so that they would run away from Vandalieu, were likely screaming, “No! That’s not what we meant!” But these screams did not reach Ediria or Carlos.
Having returned from the Dungeon that had been renamed to ‘Garess’s Ancient Battleground,’ Vandalieu and his companions finished reporting what they found to the Guild, and Kanako, Simon and the others completed the process of their promotion to C-class. Their next goal was to depart for Alcrem.
“It’s kind of touching,” said Kest, the wolf-type Beast-kin rookie guard.
He was the one doing the paperwork at the gate for Vandalieu and his companions’ departure.
Every guard and knight who had fought in the battle at the front gate had undergone a Job change, so it was considered that everyone had contributed equally. Thus, no particular individual had been greatly promoted as a result of the battle.
But Kest was an exception – the title of ‘rookie’ had been removed, and he was now treated as a proper city guard. It was a small improvement; the only things that had changed were the fact that his wages had increased a little, and he was no longer looked down upon by the others in his company. However, to Kest, it was a large change.
A newfound confidence was visible in him, even as he checked identification documents and filled out forms for Vandalieu and his companions.
“It’s about ten days’ journey for a one-way trip to Alcrem, I guess. Be careful, I know there aren’t any bandits around this city these days, but… I guess you’d be fine even if there were,” said Kest.
“Well, it’s always best to be careful…” said Vandalieu, averting his gaze.
The first time he had met Kest, he had told him the false story that he had been the only survivor of a bandit attack.
“Kest, you’re right that they’d be fine even if there were bandits, but… I think the bandits would be running from this lot,” said one of the senior guards, taking no notice of Vandalieu’s strange behavior.
From a bandit’s perspective, Darcia, Vandalieu, Juliana, Natania and Simon would certainly look like easy marks. They were a group of women and children with no men other than Simon and the carriage’s coachman.
However, the carriage was jet black with spikes attached in various places, and if one looked closely, they would see that the two horses pulling it were monsters.
And to top it off, there was Fang, who gave a short bark in agreement to the senior guard. He was visibly enormous even from afar, and nothing but a complete nightmare for bandits.
Bandits might not be knowledgeable about monsters, but they were not reckless enough to attack a monster that was larger than a horse.
The rat sisters squeaked loudly to remind everyone of their presence.
“Yes, yes, I know they can count on you as well,” Kest reassured them.
Still, Fang was the one with the most impactful presence. When it came to people who weren’t knowledgeable about monsters, appearance and size were the most important factors.
“Well, we’re planning to leave the highway partway through our journey and take a side road, so I don’t think we’ll be encountering any bandits,” said Vandalieu.
“A side road? Why in the world would you do that? Leaving the highway between here and the Alcrem Duchy won’t make your journey any shorter, and only more dangerous,” the senior guard warned him.
The highway was kept maintained and guards patrolled to keep it somewhat safe. But side roads weren’t highways, which meant that there were no villages or cities on the way to replenish food supplies or rest, and there were no guard patrols. Travelers taking these roads would need to sleep out in the open while being alert against bandits and monsters.
They were roads that one wouldn’t take unless they were transporting drugs or stolen goods.
“I wanted to gather medicinal herbs and try taming monsters that can’t be found around here,” said Vandalieu.
“I see, that makes sense,” the senior guard said.
Adventurers and tamers would sometimes take side roads for reasons like this, so the senior guard seemed convinced.
“Well then, we’ll get going,” said Vandalieu.
“Alright. Safe travels,” said Kest.
Kest, who seemed much more strong-willed than when they had first met, waved as Vandalieu and his companions departed from the city of Morksi.
Several hours later, when the city of Morksi was no longer in sight and people traveling along the highway became sparse, the party left the highway as they had told the city guards they would, and entered a side road.
The plan was to continue along this side road for a while, then teleport to the Demon Empire of Vidal. They would teleport to the Alcrem Duchy ten days later… no, several days later than that, since the story was that they had passed through unmaintained forests and grasslands. They could then say that they had made the journey.
Vandalieu had already sent Undead insects to where he wanted to teleport – a forest that was a few hours away from the capital of Alcrem.
There were no problems with this.
“I’m a little worried about Zadiris and Basdia,” said Vandalieu.
Not all of his companions had departed for Alcrem; they had left Zadiris, Basdia, Kanako, Doug, Melissa and Miles behind.
The reason for this wasn’t the possibility of the gods serving Alda attacking the city of Morksi in the absence of Vandalieu and his companions. There was nothing for them to gain by attacking the city of Morksi if Vandalieu wasn’t there.
Gods needed to expend vast amounts of power in order to exert influence on the world’s surface. That wasn’t the case for small miracles… such as causing a wilted flower to bloom once more. But destroying an entire city would carry the risk of having to slumber for several centuries afterwards.
Even if they took such a risk and erased the city of Morksi, the only thing Vandalieu and his companions would lose was a single city that they could use as a base of operations… not taking into account the mental shock and rage that they would feel.
However, they could set up base in any number of cities similar to the city of Morksi.
Although this was undeniably an unfortunate thing… in any city, there was always a certain number of people in enough despair to become charmed by Vandalieu.
And in the Orbaume Kingdom, there were the duchies of Birgitt and Sauron, which both had even more Vida worshippers than the Alcrem Duchy.
Thus, the gods of Alda’s forces wouldn’t take any direct actions. And… if they made too many of these hasty moves, the people might start having hostile views towards them, believing that Alda, the God of Law and Fate, intended to destroy their nation in order to unite all of humanity on the continent in the Amid Empire.
With the destruction of Fitun, the God of Thunderclouds, the gods of Alda’s forces were likely looking for a way to calm the situation down, so they wouldn’t take such risks. Probably.
“Even if we think it’s alright in theory, we can’t help the fact that the earl and the others are uneasy about it,” said Darcia.
The reason for Kanako and the others remaining in the city was that Earl Morksi had made an unofficial request, with the exception of Miles who ran and directed Starving Wolf Security who were contracted officially.
“I am sorry to ask this of you, but could you please leave a few capable fighters in the city?” Isaac Morksi had asked Vandalieu.
The B-class Dungeon, ‘Garess’s Ancient Battleground,’ was near the city. With a monster rampage having already happened, it would be a considerable amount of time before another one could occur, and the earl knew that. But there were some monsters from the rampage who had not headed for the city.
Even though the knights and city guards had changed Jobs and grown considerably stronger, there was considerable doubt as to whether they could defend the city from Rank 7 or 8 monsters on their own.
That was why the earl had made this unofficial request for some forces to be left behind, even if he could not stop Vandalieu and Darcia from leaving as their presence had been requested by Duke Alcrem.
Thus, Kanako and the others, who had received permission to hold concerts in the city’s plaza in return for accepting this request, had remained behind, along with Zadiris and Basdia.
“And it’s a good thing that the earl isn’t concerned anymore about the two Ghouls being legally treated as Vandalieu’s familiars,” said Darcia.
She was happy for the opportunity for Ghouls to become treated as people rather than monsters in the city of Morksi, elevating their position in society.
“But I’m a little worried that someone will try to get their hands on them while I’m not there like Gordon, and they’ll overdo things when they deal with them. Both of them are very attractive, after all,” said Vandalieu.
“Ah, so that’s what you meant when you said you were worried… I think it will be fine, Master,” said Simon. “The earl said that he would have people to protect them and ensure that those kinds of things don’t happen, didn’t he?”
The earl, seeming to have the same concerns as Vandalieu, had arranged for some members of the Knights’ Order to prevent unpleasant individuals from approaching the Ghouls and causing trouble. These knights were fans of Basdia and Zadiris, so it was also unlikely that they would have any trouble getting along.
“You’re right. It might be too relaxed a job for Basdia, but I’m glad that it shouldn’t be an unpleasant one,” said Vandalieu.
Among the monsters who hadn’t headed to the city, the Thunder Dragons, having been influenced by Vandalieu’s ‘Scaled Emperor’ and ‘Elder Dragon Emperor’ Titles, had already been dealt with.
The other monsters had been teleported to the fake-Morksi Dungeon, and Juliana, Kasim, Fester and Zeno were defeating them, so there were no actual threats around the city.
Thus, Kanako and the others were in the city as a defense against a threat that didn’t exist. But with that said, the city wasn’t entirely safe, as there were still the heroes being nurtured by the gods of Alda’s forces, and there were some people in human society who felt animosity towards Vandalieu and his companions.
“There’s Jadal-chan in the Dungeon in the basement, and Zadiris-san has the concerts to keep her busy, so I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Darcia.
“Yes… though it might be better for Zadiris to be more relaxed,” said Vandalieu.
“Incidentally, Vandalieu-sama, are you not worried about Kanako-san and Melissa-san?” asked Juliana, poking her head out from inside Sam’s carriage. “I think they are quite attractive as well.”
Vandalieu thought for a moment. “Kanako will be fine, since she’s used to having those kinds of troubles. As for Melissa, Doug can worry about her so I don’t have to. But I’m not so sure about Jessie-san, so you can turn back and return to the city if you want to, Simon.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden, Master?! She and I are certainly close, but… right now, my priority is having Master Borkus train me again so I can improve myself,” said Simon.
As Vandalieu lightly teased his apprentice, the carriage had traveled a considerable distance away from the highway, so the party teleported to the Demon Empire of Vidal.
Vandalieu and his companions had various things to do during the two weeks or so that they were in the Demon Empire of Vidal.
One of them was diplomatic work.
“I have brought our guests,” said Gufadgarn, opening a dimensional gate.
The members of the Storm of Tyranny came through, along with a group of Dark Elves.
Today, there was a meeting with a group of Dark Elf visitors from the west side of the Bahn Gaia continent. They would be discussing matters related to immigration and inspecting the city.
The leader of this visiting group was a calm-looking young man… the Elder Chief Dangar. He bowed in greeting to Vandalieu.
“Thank you very much for greeting us in person, Emperor. My name is Dangar, and I have recently succeeded the position of Elder Chief. I am honored to meet you,” he said.
“The honor is mine, to be able to welcome the Elder Chief to my city. I am Vandalieu Zakkart, the emperor of the Demon Empire of Vidal,” said Vandalieu. “I am sorry to be abrupt, but may we put our work on hold and treat this meeting as a private one?”
“I would love nothing more. I was about to request the exact same thing,” said Dangar.
Both of them bowed slightly to each other, then shook hands. Vandalieu turned around and gave a nod towards Darcia, who had tears in her eyes.
As soon as he did, Darcia rushed past Vandalieu and Dangar towards a pair of other Dark Elves.
“Mother, Father!” she cried.
“Darcia!” the man, who seemed to have a similar air about him as Darcia, shouted in joy as she embraced him.
“Darcia, it’s really you!” said the woman, who resembled Darcia as if they were sisters.
These two were Darcia’s parents – Vandalieu’s grandparents.
“Darcia! After we heard that you’d died, there wasn’t a single day we didn’t regret not doing more to stop you from leaving the village!” Darcia’s father cried. “But Dalton-dono told us that you stayed in this world as a spirit, and that you were with your son…!”
“At first, we couldn’t believe that you’d come back to life, but I’m so glad! We never thought we’d see you again, but to be able to hold you like this now!” Darcia’s mother said joyfully.
“Mother, Father, I’m so sorry! I… I never hated you, it’s just, I had to –”
“It’s alright, Darcia. Everything is alright now. We’re with you now, and that’s what matters. But your father looks like he’s struggling to breathe a little, so loosen your grip on him a little,” Darcia’s mother said gently.
Normally, Darcia was careful to control her strength, but it seemed that she had failed to do so because of the emotion she felt at having been reunited with her parents.
“I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself!” she apologized, hastily releasing her father from her embrace.
Having escaped the danger of being asphyxiated and crushed to death, Darcia’s father took a few moments to regain his breath, then examined how his daughter had grown.
“Darcia, you’ve grown so strong…” he said in a newfound calm, joyful tone.
“Gah, I’m crying…” muttered Schneider, wiping his eyes.
“It’s times like these when I feel glad that I betrayed the Demon King,” Lissana whispered.
Schneider and his companions were watching quietly so as to not interrupt Darcia’s reunion with her parents.
“Mother, Father, let me introduce you. This child is Vandalieu. The son that I had with the man who loved me, the son that I’m so proud of,” said Darcia.
Vandalieu was expressionless, but nervous. This was a new experience for him.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Darcia’s father, Zerethia. I’m your grandfather, though I find this somewhat strange,” said Darcia’s father.
“And I’m your grandmother, Fidaril,” said Darcia’s mother with a giggle. “It really is strange, introducing myself to my grandchild who’s already grown so big.”
Dalton had already given them a general explanation of Vandalieu’s story – they knew as much about him as the average citizen in the Demon Empire of Vidal, such as the fact that he was a reincarnated individual and the fact that he used death-attribute magic.
Vandalieu was also aware of this.
“I’m Vandalieu Zakkart. I also find all of this quite strange. But I would be most grateful if you just thought of me as your grandson that you’ve met for the first time,” he said. “After all, it’s the first time in any of my three lifetimes that I’ve had grandparents.”
During his first life on Earth, Vandalieu’s grandparents had passed away before his parents were married, and there hadn’t been any photographs of them at his uncle’s house.
During his second life in Origin, he hadn’t even ever seen his parents’ faces.
It was during his third life here in Lambda that he was able to meet his grandparents for the first time. He didn’t really know how he was supposed to behave.
“I see… You are the grandson born between our beloved daughter and the man who loved our daughter enough to protect her with his life. As your grandfather, I hope that we can grow closer,” said Zerethia.
“And you brought our daughter back to life, didn’t you? I think it’s a little odd to say that you’re our savior, but we are very proud of you, our grandson. Thank you for being born to our tomboyish daughter,” said Fidaril.
Vandalieu and his grandparents were related by blood, but that didn’t cause them to instinctively realize anything, nor had they been able to feel each other’s thoughts the moment their eyes met.
But nevertheless, Vandalieu gained two blood relatives on this day.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Zenden1st
arigato for chapter
Rasho
Huh, so the Author didn’t forget about the common way of naming children in that world, the one that the child’s name consists of the parents names.
Darcia = Dar/Cia
Fi[dar]il & Zere[thia]
Darthia=Darcia
NsP7737
I mean, Rodcorte’s plan is litteraly a way of telling Lambda’s gods that he’ll implant himself in Lambda
Chiu ChunLing
You mean his Bravers plan or his plan to also give a few dozen other people blessings? Though he intended the Bravers to think of themselves as “cheats” rather than “heroes”, and thus not tell anyone where they got their powers.
Kerlark Dgrayman
Van-sama: Currently enjoying his first meeting with his grandparents.
Alda and other subordinate gods: Disgusting!
conscript117
Thank you to the sponsors and translator for the chapter!
It was a heartwarming end of chapter, I really wanted Vandalieu to meet his grandparents.
Treason
Now is the perfect time for Van to turn around and demand 11 years worth Birthday and Christmas presents or equivalent.
Kazza
*Kazza is unable to comment. He has fallen into cardiac arrest due to the rampant sugary sweetness of the final part of the chapter*
**He is also not a doctor, so doesn’t know if that is medically possible, or if he is merely exaggerating diabetes.
Lord Rin
This is what happens when the gods don’t specify things in their Divine Messages. All they say is to leave the city of Alcrem. So what do they do? Decide to go to Morksi. I’m actually wondering if they’ll end up getting guided while there. One has already expressed interest in Kanako’s music and concerts while another has expressed interest in gobu-gobu. With those sorts of interests it seems like they’d be more open to being guided if Van meets them.
Anyways it was cute and heartwarming that Van finally met his grandparents.
Doc
Van’s guidance only works in his presence (or via dreams where his soul wonders about). Van and crew teleported to Vidal and then will teleport to Alcrem skipping any potential point he might run into the 3 hero candidates to guide them.
So while it’s entirely possible they might meet Van eventually, it likely won’t happen any time soon.
Dyneamaeus
While it’s true that Van’s guidance wouldn’t work on them, I’ve been kind of wondering if a guider can guide other guiders. I could easily see Kanako developing one due to her single handedly constructing idol culture. ‘Idol guider’ maybe. Since guide jobs seem more about inspiring other Zadris could get one for magical girl too. I’m sure there are other possibilities I’m not thinking of.
Lord Rin
With Zadiris’ luck, she’d probably become a princess guider >.>
The gods in charge of statuses seem to get a kick out of making fun of Zadiris by giving her princess-related jobs and skills along with race titles.
lazygeko
Those ‘gods’ are just blank entities that manage the system, under their original orders. So they don’t feel anything.
My theory is they have gained some semblance of awareness and since they have no entertainment there in their hiding places, they get a kick out of messing with peoples titles and skill names etc. “Check it out, I made that macho guy shout out ‘Super Grand Mega Fist of Destruction’, he must be so embarrassed.” “Haha, the daughter is a queen and the mother is a princess. lol.”
ValiantHex
Hey Lord Rin, this has absolutely no relevance to the topic, I just wanted to ask how you’re enjoying Impregnable Demon King Castle?
BLK
Plot twist: Rodcorte’s divine blessing makes the heroes dumber . . .
Dr. Steel
Not that they need the help.
lunavamps
[Rodcorte’s Divine Blessing]
Greatly increases agility and strength, completely obliterates your inteligence.
FunniFear
I’m waiting for him to become famous in Lambda as a god of idiots.
Gohankuten
I mean he already is famous in Lambda as an incompetent idiot God, at least in the Vidal empire portion of Lambda lol.
Sverrir
Now that’s a feel good ending to a chapter. Brought a big smile to my face.
JeKeBe
Pretty standard chapter, a little of this, a little of that, getting a few more inches of background on the coming storm of idiot hero-wannabes…
and then the author sets loose the onion ninjas at the end. Awkward and sweet, dear Van meets new family to begin filling in the gaping holes from his previous lives, repairing the tears in his heart one heartwarming drop at a time.
Thanks so much for another chapter!
Doc
First thing, “God of heat hazes”…boy these gods are getting real specific. I see we going full ancient Japan, god for literally everything, approach.
Second, fascinating that Juliana is coming with for the trip. I mean Van must know she’s the Duke’s relative right? She’s part minotaur now but she still essentially looks just like she did before. I mean story wise this is comedic gold waiting to happen from the audience’s perspective. From the in universe characters’ perspectives I don’t know why Van would bring her. Duke Alcrem requested him and Darcia’s presence, not his other companions. So while it makes some sense to travel with a larger entourage for “security” reasons there’s no particular reason Juliana needed to come specifically.
Finally, loved the interaction between Darcia, Van, and the grandparents. It’s these moments where you really feel for Van. He’s just a kid who wants a normal, loving family.
ravelphenex
i think van is just bringing juliana back to vidal. he won’t bring her to the alcrem.
Doc
I think the idea was that everybody that was seen leaving Morksi will be the same group that shows up in Alcrem’s capital. Earl Morksi was aware of half-minotaur Juliana and thus knows she’s with Van’s entourage.
Lord Rin
They are taking Juliana along because they know that the duke knows something about her existence. The real reason why he has requested to meet them is to find out exactly what is up with the mysterious half-minotaur who is named and looks exactly like Juliana that suddenly appeared among Van’s group after they took in a disabled woman that was believed to be Juliana.
Doc
That statement makes no sense. Duke Alcrem did not request she be brought with Van and Darcia. He might be curious about her but it’s not in Van’s interest to expose his new subordinate to a potential threat (who wanted Randel to kill her). What does it matter to Van if the Duke “knows something about her existence”? Juliana doesn’t have memory loss, she’s perfectly aware she used to be a member of the Duke’s family that led a group of knights.
The reason she’s being brought along is because there will be an interesting interaction between the two characters that the readers will enjoy. Not because it makes sense organically from what we’ve been told from the story.
Lord Rin
Yes Duke Alcrem didn’t specifically ask for her to be brought but it’s very obvious that he’s implying it just like how it was when Earl Morksi invited Van and his”acquaintances” to a meal. He didn’t ask for Juliana there but it was clear he expected her to be brought along.
Duke Alcrem is probably worried because he gave Randolph a mission to mercy kill Juliana yet his spies tell him that somebody matching her description is alive and being taken care of by a dhampir only to then disappear and a strange half-minotaur to show up in her place who looks like a young Juliana. It’d be normal for the duke to worry and want to know what’s up. For Van’s part yeah he can ignore the duke’s implied request but that would cause trouble for him since he still doesn’t have widespread influence that would let him get away with ignoring the implied request. Besides even if the duke decides to take hostile action against Juliana, Van can resolve it with some Mental Encroachment or whatever.
Doc
” but it’s very obvious that he’s implying”
It’s really not as “obvious” as you keep suggesting. You’re inserting a justification the text itself doesn’t support. Van doesn’t have to bring Sam and Natania for that matter either. None of them were requested. In your example of Earl Morksi, he specifically said “and acquaintances”. Everything you’re saying about why Duke Alcrem would want her to come makes sense but Van has zero reason to care nor could the Duke do anything to him for not bringing her (because again, she wasn’t requested for)
You have to be careful when forming arguments that are essentially “this is how I think it is, therefore that’s how it really is”. You’re assuming the conclusion. Van’s doing a thing therefore my reason is must be why he’s doing that thing even if the author doesn’t support that reason through what is written. Sometimes characters just do things for no explicit reason. It’s ok to accept that fact.
Chiu ChunLing
The reasons that the Duke doesn’t write “I want to talk about Juliana.” should be too obvious to bear mentioning.
But just in case, the entire situation exists in the first place because the Duke wanted to cover up the situation with Juliana. Everyone involved is well aware of this point.
Earl Morksi is under less constraint, but he also avoided mentioning Juliana specifically in writing.
Van isn’t bringing Natania and Sam for any purposes other than his own. The Duke shouldn’t even know Sam exists, and probably doesn’t care about Natania anymore than anyone else in Van’s party, all of whom know everything she does about the situation with Juliana.
Van probably should bring along the dozens of ‘Half-Minotaur’ girls just for lulz, except that’s all it would be and on the downside it would turn things into a full-on circus and raise unnecessary questions about how he transported them.
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter. Kind of curious why Rodcorte wants the world to know about him now. I am guessing that he might try to hand out powers to heroes for those Bravers who don’t want to fight or for those Bravers whose souls are later broken. I suppose another reason could be the Van detective skill which would allow the heroes to find the demon lord. Find it hilarious that so many heroes want to go to the city where Van is. I suspect if they knew where his capital was and what it was producing, they would go there instead. It does make me wonder if some of the heroes with turn against what their gods want and end up guided by Van.
Doc
It was a few chapters ago where Rodcorte gave his plans. He’s out of Origin reincarnators he can toss at Van so his only option is to wait for more people to die in Origin and in the meanwhile he can only buff Alda’s chosen heroes who are the only forces trying to kill Van at present.
In order to buff those chosen heroes he needs to be able to give them his divine blessing. But a divine blessing can’t just be given to people who have never heard of him. So Rodcorte had requested Alda’s allies spread his name so that he may give his divine blessing on top of the other gods’
Entropy
I recall that after being reminded, but I do wonder if Rodcorte will throw in the death mana detection skill. Knowing him, he will probably overlook seeing as he and Alda don’t really think that far ahead. Mind you that could be a double edge sword seeing as some heroes might be foolish enough to try and take on Van by themselves.
Doc
I don’t think Rodcorte can grant abilities to non dead people. The death magic radar and all the bells and whistles given to Murakami’s group were given while they were in Rodcorte’s divine realm, not after reincarnating in Lambda. If Rodcorte or the other gods for that matter could just directly bestow specific skills or powers they wouldn’t need to go through so much effort training them through dungeon trials.
ZeroX1
* Vandalieu gained two blood relatives on this day.*
i am happy for him he gets grandparents who love him (@_@)
thanks for the chapter 😀
Irazori
Such a heartwarming moment at the end. I can relate to how Schneider feels.
Side note: Why do the aldiots want rod-moron’s name to be acknowledged and have their wannabe heroes receive his most likely worthless divine protection? So that he could die quicker by Van’s anti-spy system by seeing the paintings in high-definition?
Doc
Because divine blessings make the individuals that receive them stronger. The more divine blessings the easier it is for the individual to level up. Rodcorte wants to increase the strength of Alda’s chosen heroes because he has no other option at present to attack Van. Nobody else has died from Origin and the people that have already reincarnated have no intention to go after Van (I mean technically Mage Masher’s group does, but they don’t want to kill Van, just seal away his death magic powers). Alda’s side have no reason to turn down Rodcorte’s assistance to further strengthen their heroes.
Rodcorte being incompetent is our opinion, not the in universe belief of the other gods. He’s in charge of the system of reincarnation for multiple worlds, making him a much more powerful God than Lambdas. He just can’t influence the world much because nobody knows who he is there (which he was fine with)
Entropy
Another possibility would be to give the heroes the Van detection skill. I am surprised considering Rodcorte suffered actual damage for the first time in ever to be willing to spread his name and blessings to Alda’s group.
Doc
In the chapter where Rodcorte discussed his plan he mentioned the work around for that. His familiar spirits will take the damage instead of his soul. (Not the reincarnated people in his divine realm, just nameless ambiguous familiar spirits he controls)
Tejing
Are Rubicante and Hirshem distantly related to Rodcorte or something? They’re failing that hard…
I’ve been waiting for Van to finally meet his grandparents (Gubamon doesn’t count, obviously). They need to take time to get to know each other better, but so far so good!
Doc
Why would Gubamon even come up as a grandparent? He wasn’t Van’s father’s father. Van’s dad served Gubamon but he wasn’t turned into a vampire by him. He was likely turned by some lacky of a lacky.
Skarbrand
Even then, Van’s paternal grandparents would be human.
Doc
That was covered by me saying “Gubamon wasn’t his father’s father”. However, if Gubamon “turned” Van’s father that could be considered a form of vampire parent making. In the same way Iris gained Godwin as a father when he helped turn her into a Majin. Remember, vampires in this universe record their “age” based on when they turned, meaning it’s like a second birth to them.
None of that is relevant in this case because Gubamon wasn’t even the vampire who turned Van’s father. So in every conceivable metric it would make no sense to bring his name up as a “grandfather” of Van other than in the informal Japanese way of just calling all old people “grandpa”.
Tejing
Gubamon was the one who turned Van’s father. It’s been alluded to a couple of times, such as in chapter 195 when Erpel says
If Valen had been turned by a noble-born vampire, that would be grandniece-in-law.
Or, most succinctly, in the Volume 5 Character summary, Gubamon’s section:
Eddy
I always find it funny as the common knowledge of talosheim, it’s the kind of thing that it took the Alda faction years to obtain or destroy.
Now, after this beautiful reunion, it’s time to introduce him to his other adoptive granddaughters, his great-granddaughters and the grandson’s future wives, who for some reason some fall into two categories.
Skarbrand
Van does not have any kids yet, but yeah it is a pretty interesting “family”.
Dyneamaeus
At the very least Pauvina qualifies as his daughter on a spiritual level. (Heh) I feel that extends to a few others, since several people have been (re)born directly by his power and/or been raised by him.
Superboy8338
Thank you, Yoshi.
Superboy8338
I just LOVE that Van met his grandparents for the 1st time!!!
Lucian
Gods: The Demon King is coming! RUN!
Heroes: K. Let’s go to Morski.
Gods: Oh, well.At least we tried…
Eddy
I imagine the gods hitting their heads when they happen to meet Vandeliu and subordinates and say: wow, what nice guys, for them I must try twice as hard to stop the threat of the demon king wherever they are
Zenden1st
Heroes of Alda: The demon king could be anywhere
Vandalieu and his Merry band: *Sneezes*
Doc
Well that’s what they get for not being specific. Couldn’t have even added “The Demon King is coming from the direction of Morksi” to their messages? Amateurs.
Unlimitedpower
could be too difficult since divine messages arent easy to receive
Doc
You say that but the ones they received from their gods were otherwise pretty specific. “leave Alcrem and pray to Rodcorte” are specific details and not just vague language that can be interpreted in any random way. The message lacks further specificity in what direction to leave Alcrem or where not to go, but the fact that these gods can send multiple divine messages with such specific details implies there isn’t a problem in providing information to the chosen hereos. These gods were just dumb.
Renrobt
It has been explained that the longer, more detailed the message they send the harder it gets and more prone to misinterpretation. I assume that the heroes were chosen based on how compatible they are to getting messages, but even then they wouldn’t be like Van who can fully and clearly understand it. I imagine it’s more like trying to remember a dream, the more details the hard it gets, and the more you forget.
I mean imagine if the message is:
“Leave Alcrem and avoid Morksi. Pray and spread the name of Rodcorte”
It is as clear as it can be and pretty much as short as it can be considering what they were talking about. Now imagine if just the “avoid” part is not received. You are more likely to fill in the blank with “got to” rather than “avoid”. Gods probably try to consider this when sending messages, making it as simple as possible. Usually that is. After all they are not trying to test them, but guide them.
Why they don’t send a second message is beyond me tho. I mean I can come up with any number of excuses, some that would sound reasonable, but nothing about that has been mentioned as far as I remember so that would be pure speculation.
Doc
I mean we can play this game with the message “Leave Alcrem and pray to Rodcorte”. What if the “leave” is left out, what if it’s just Rodcorte’s name and no other instructions on what to do with it. Unless you’re suggesting adding 2 extra words makes the entirety of the message unfollowable.
The initial problem with divine messages were finding people who could understand any of them. The length of the message itself isn’t the problem. If these hero candidates can understand the divine messages clearly enough to know exactly what is expected of them, then receiving the messages isn’t the problem. The gods can also just send follow up short messages. Your reasoning has so many workarounds its a non-issue.
Dr. Steel
“The gods can also just send follow up short messages.”
Well, it’s just speculation, but perhaps they can’t send multiple messages in a short period of time, but instead has a cooldown? Or maybe not a limit in how frequently a message can be sent but a cooldown after someone receives a message where they can’t receive another, or if they did it would be more likely to be misinterpretted?
SchmidtNation
Why they don’t send more messages is because it takes ‘divine power’ and everyone is trying to conserve that as much as possible. Alda’s faction was already stretched thin trying to maintain the world before Van started reducing their forces (the god fragment in Mikhail’s spear, Curatos the record keeper, descended familiar spirits, Fitun + all of his subordinates, and whatever I’m forgetting). Add to that the fact that they’ve been forcing themselves to hand out way more divine protections than is usual, and it makes sense that they’re running way low on power reserves, especially since they want to save as much is possible for the full on war with Van and Vida that they’re all expecting.
Plus, they may have decided it’s not dangerous enough to warrant a message. There’s been no indication that Van or his companions have any way to see who has a divine protection (yes they might be wary of new strong people showing up, but a B class dungeon was just discovered). Van is leaving the city, and all the gods know he travels with teleportation, so passing him on the road is unlikely. They may be hoping to lessen his (and Darcia’s) lasting impression by having public focus shift into the heroes in Van’s absence. Also, there’s a (very) small chance they want the heroes to deal with the people Van left in the city while Van is busy keeping up his public appearances with the Duke (not at all likely).
Chiu ChunLing
The problem is simply that the parts of the message that aren’t compatible with the mindset and knowledge of the recipient get distorted. Like the message that Schneider was dangerous…the problem wasn’t the wording or anything, it was that the Pope wasn’t able to readily believe that Alda would warn him Schneider was dangerous rather than that he was in danger.
These heroes are being raised to fight the Demon Lord, and they know that. It’s not a good mindset for them to easily understand messages telling them to run away from the Demon Lord, or that the Demon Lord is a cute (if strange) little kid traveling with his beautiful mother and friendly companions.
And if the gods did send them a message like that, they’d be just as likely to decide it meant Selan and the Five-colored Blades as Vandalieu and company. So instead they got a message to avoid Morksi…then Morksi gets attacked by a monster horde, miraculously survives with almost no casualties, and they all think “well, maybe I was supposed to go to Morksi to reduce the casualties even further and level up a bit?”
Which makes their mental framework even worse for interpreting future messages correctly.
Chiu ChunLing
We’ve all experienced this sort of thing when playing an RTS. You order a unit to go somewhere, and they path right through the worst ambush even if they have to go halfway across the map to find it.
Demon_Lord_Yui
I don’t know if you need to hear this Yoshi but your translating this means a lot to me and many other.
So thankyou 🙂
IRONMAN000elas
I can’t get enough of this story keep up the good work
no1
Thanks for the chapter yoshi. So Alda’s factions heroes are around and so are the group of adventurers from earlier. Van has left the city and gone back home and finally met his grandparents. A cute ending for this chapter except I think that their meeting is pretty formal and stiff since Van has already grown much. Hope to see another chapter soon, preferably before the end of this month
Nobody2
Am I forgetting who the adventurers are?
nadirku
No… I think they were described for just a few paragraphs a couple of chapters ago, but I think their exact identity is supposed to be a mystery/point of intrigue for the coming story arc.
ObserverBias
Technically (iirc) they were named there and here both, and have been theorized to be champions of gods that are “technically” on Alda’s side currently; who, in turn, might be, through having their champions be in Alcrem, attempting to defect to Vida’s side passively.
Doc
I think the hint that Alda’s allies’ chosen heroes were all told to leave the Alcrem capital and Arthur’s group specifically was told to go there would indicate it isn’t one of Alda’s side. Though as you said, it could be one that wants to convey they’re secretly on Van’s side.
Dyneamaeus
I’d guess they’re the champions of the corrupted watcher gods from Alda’s faction. Alda’s realization earlier could be foreshadowing for them jumping to Van’s side.
Darquesse
I agree, earlier he said that the Goddess of rain clouds and the goddess of shadows had told their heroes to keep their divine blessing secret, as they are known as gods of ill omens.
SchmidtNation
Pretty hard to have an introduction not be formal and stiff when meeting a ghostly pale kid with dead eyes and no facial expressions who just so happens to be the holy child of the mother goddess, the melded reincarnated soul of the Champions, founding emperor of the country they’re trying to immigrate into, and the new and improved Demon King: Devourer of the Gods.
Rollrock
The dark elves are probably more open minded about that kind of thing given what kind of fellows run around as a result of Vida’s antics. Still it was very nice for Vandalieu to finally have more blood relatives. The story also reminds us that these are the people Alda was trying his hardest to destroy throughout the thousands of years of his rule.
InfernoHomura
FAMILY REUNION!!!! LET’S CELEBRATE!!!
Superboy8338
Also, a family meeting its newest member(s) for this first time.
dr.dragon
I wish the the chapters to be more frequent
it is boring to wait a whole week for one chapter only
nadirku
I have been trying to take the edge off the wait through posting daily reddit memes on r/DeathMage though I am not sure if it helps, or makes the wait worse…
Shadowfang
it’s a good thing we don’t have a fixed one chapter/week
the amount of chapters that has come out since the first one. with one week between them all … … …
it would be ~3(?) years till the next chapter
Utsuho
If you want your brain to fry, you can also see the chapter badly translated on other site, the most recent chapters (that took months to come) are at ‘405’.
But be warned, Vandalieu’s name can change 3 times in the same chapter, and that’s the easy part.
Thk
I too would like more chapters, but we are owed nothing. Each chapter is a gift.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
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