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With the false identity of an Elf Bard named Rudolf, Randolf ‘the True’ succeeded in entering the city.
Being a bard was a profession that did not require being in any particular Guild, so bards were even more like wanderers than adventurers. Thus, it wasn’t uncommon for those with bounties on their heads and spies for intelligence organizations to disguise themselves as bards.
However, an Elf bard with blue hair and eyes was very conspicuous, so the city guards at the gate assumed that Randolf couldn’t be someone with a bounty on his head and quickly let him enter.
Morksi was a city of commerce that had many people coming and leaving, and it had worked in Randolf’s favor that there were plenty of bards among them.
“But things aren’t going very well,” he said to himself in the high-pitched voice of ‘Rudolf,’ his lips curling in a bitter smile. “To think that we’d pass by each other. My timing is rather poor, if I do say so myself.”
His objective in disguising himself and coming to the city of Morksi had been to meet Vandalieu. He wanted to meet him and see what kind of person he was.
But the city guards had informed him that Vandalieu had already departed for Alcrem.
Perhaps it was because I flew here, so I didn’t pick up the information from the villages and cities on the way that I normally would have… To think that things would come to this. But coming here on foot would have taken me nearly a month. I wouldn’t have been able to run at full speed along the highway in plain view of other travelers, so it can’t be helped, Randolf told himself.
He rented a room in a cheap inn as the bard he was disguising himself would do, then began gathering information.
He was currently a bard who had come to this city to write songs about the rumored Dhampir boy, so it wouldn’t be unnatural for him to go around the town and ask people questions. By paying for the lunches of adventurers and mercenaries on their break and asking other bards, he could hear plenty of gossip.
The information Randolf learned as a result was surprising to him. Several of the main rumors he had heard were true, and on top of that, the Dhampir boy was the true ruler of the entertainment district, the hero who had protected the city, the inventor of Magic Items that Randolf had never heard of, a figure recognized as a saint by the Church, and the recipient of a decoration awarded by the lord of the realm.
He had learned all of this diverse information just from talking to the townspeople a little. It was difficult to believe that a single person had achieved so many things.
And the achievements of one other individual in particular were impressive as well.
One adventurer that Randolf had started up a conversation with, a man named Rock who led a party known as the ‘Iron Boulder Brigade,’ had nothing but praise for the actions of an individual named Darcia.
“Speaking of what Darcia-san and the others did back then! You could really tell that Rodriguez is a B-class adventurer, and Simon and Natania were amazing as well, but Darcia-san was really the best!” he said fervently.
His passionate tone was likely to be partially due to the fact that he was having a drink after an early morning’s hunt, but he truly admired Darcia.
“Using ‘Familiar Spirit Descent’ and Magic Items that change form, casting a huge number of enchantment spells, then fighting at the front to take down one of the bandits herself… Truly amazing. I wish I were there to see it!” Randolf responded enthusiastically, his mind working furiously in the meantime.
It is good that Natania is back on her feet, but I would never have imagined that she’d have become Vandalieu’s disciple. So, it really was him who was approaching that time when I left her in the care of the one-armed man. With that being the case, it really was him who influenced the Demon King’s fragment? But the people around him are no ordinary people, either. Her in particular.
Randolf considered the stories he was hearing about Darcia, whom Rock was praising so highly, as well as those about the two Ghouls Vandalieu had brought into the city from somewhere, the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael, Kanako and the others… and Natania.
This is true for the one-armed man as well, but she did not look particularly strong. At best, she should have been well within the realm of D-class. And yet, they achieved all of these things. Even if their Magic Item artificial limbs were of extraordinary quality, it is still too strange. Her growth is simply too rapid.
The other members of Rock’s party chimed in as well, each mentioning a different companion of Vandalieu.
“Rock, what are you saying? Rudolf-san, the ‘Giant Slayer’ Basdia-san, is even more amazing! As an axe-user myself, I can’t help but be in total admiration of her! I’m no knight, but I was really moved by her morale speech!”
“No, no, you have to think about Zadiris-chan. I mean, Basdia-san is awe-inspiring and all, but nobody beats Zadiris-chan in being adorable! I really feel like she’s doing her best, even in practicing for the stage. Isn’t that awesome?!”
“I prefer Kanako-chan. It’s true that she didn’t really stand out during that battle, but I don’t think anyone’s more adorable than her. I mean, she’s the diligent girl leading the others on stage and supporting them during performances.”
“Adorable… Isn’t she a little too cunning to be called that? You have to give that one to Juliana-chan. Looking at her reminds me of my niece and really calms me down.”
“Umm, what do you mean by ‘stage?’ And could you please tell me who this ‘Juliana’-san you are referring to is?” asked Randolf, not knowing the meaning of several words in this conversation and realizing that there was one name that he had not even thought of asking about.
“Huh? You don’t know, Rudolf-san? You said you came to this city because you’re interested in Vandalieu, so I was sure you knew,” said Rock.
“Yes. Actually, I wanted to get to this city as quickly as possible, so I didn’t even stop at the villages and cities on the way here,” said Randolf.
“I see. In that case, I’ll show you once I’ve finished eating this. We were actually thinking of going to watch after we finished lunch.”
Randolf learned that the ‘stage’ was one where several of Vandalieu’s companions performed song and dance for some reason, and there were apparently two Ghouls among them. The idea that Vandalieu was simply showing off his Ghouls and Dark Elves that were rare around these parts… was difficult to believe. Was his objective perhaps to deepen the people’s understanding of Ghouls?
If Randolf went there, he would likely be able to see Vandalieu’s companions going about their normal routines.
“And it is the first time I am hearing of this person named Juliana,” said Randolf.
“Oh yeah, she’s one of Vandalieu’s familiars. She’s apparently some kind of mutant born between a Minotaur and a human, but I don’t know too much about it.”
“She’s adorable; she looks just like a human girl but with a cow’s horns. She’s still little, so she didn’t join the battle at the front gate, but she’s sometimes helping at Vandalieu’s food carts, which is where we met her.”
It seemed to Randolf that Juliana had not recovered in the same way that Natania had.
But what does this mean? She looks just like a human girl? There has to be a limit to how outrageous a mutant can be! he couldn’t help but shout to himself internally, despite his wealth of experience as an adventurer.
Mutants were individuals that possessed characteristics and abilities that others of its race did not normally possess. Randolf had slain numerous mutants in his career, such as Goblins that breathed fire, Kobolds with venomous fangs and Huge Boars with horns.
To begin with, Minotaurs and Ogres were considered to be races that produced more mutants over time. There was nothing strange about a mutant Minotaur hatching from an egg implanted by a Minotaur King using the power of the Demon King’s oviduct. In fact, it could even be expected.
However, that mutant being a perfect resemblance of a human girl… something like a cow-type Beast-kin, which didn’t exist, was impossible.
But it would be strange for the bard named Rudolf to be so knowledgeable about monster biology.
“I would certainly like to meet her,” Randolf said with a nod.
However, his mind was completely filled with his own thought processes.
Well, there are some monsters that disguise themselves as humans. And at the very least, it is a true fact that these people have met a young monster that goes by the name of ‘Juliana.’ I suppose I can’t deny anything without having seen her for myself. But… even if she does resemble the human Juliana, why would she be named after her mother? Although it is questionable as to whether one can consider her to be the mother.
Randolf decided not to deny what he was being told just because they did not match the knowledge from his own experiences, and began trying to deduce why Vandalieu had named the young monster ‘Juliana.’
“Sorry to tell you this, but Juliana-chan has headed to Alcrem with Vandalieu and the others, so she’s not in the city right now,” said Rock.
“I see, she’s gone to Alcrem…” Randolf muttered.
Juliana was apparently headed for the capital of Alcrem. The thought of immediately going after her and Vandalieu briefly crossed Randolf’s mind, but he decided against it.
Leaving on the same day he arrived would simply draw too much attention. And since some of Vandalieu’s companions still remained in Morksi, Vandalieu would likely return to the city at some point.
With that being the case, it would be best for Randolf to stay and keep gathering information in this city… though this would mean having to actually make several performances at bars for the drunken patrons, even though he had only chosen this occupation as a disguise.
It would be suspicious for a bard to have money even though he isn’t working, after all, Randolf told himself.
Fortunately, Randolf had previously learned how to play the lyre and the drums, and was confident in his singing. Back when he was still inexperienced as an adventurer, he had earned his living by imitating what bards did.
Randolf’s thoughts wandered for a moment to those times… over two hundred years ago.
“If we leave now, the stage performance should just be starting when we arrive. What’ll you do? Are you going to come with us?” asked Rock, bringing Randolf out of his short trance.
“Ah, yes. Let me accompany you,” Randolf replied.
They left the dining hall and headed for the stage set up in the city’s plaza. Vandalieu’s companions apparently sang and danced here once every two days.
When they weren’t using the stage, it was used for the songs and performances of other bards and entertainers, as well as plays performed by theater groups. However, it was said that the ‘concerts’ performed by Vandalieu’s companions were the liveliest events.
“I see. I can see why this is so popular,” said Randolf, seeing the concert for himself and understanding why Rock and his companions had spoken so highly of it.
“Everyone, we are so very terribly grateful that you have all gathered here to see us again!” Zadiris said to the crowd.
“Today’s performance will be a trio with me, Zadiris and Basdia! We’ll be singing our hearts out, so we hope you enjoy it!” said Kanako.
“Alright, let’s go. Transform!” shouted Basdia.
The three of them held up their transformation equipment and transformed, then began singing to the high-tempo music.
The audience was dazzled by the unusualness of the transformation equipment and the sound and light performance that was created using magic. On top of that, the performers clapped in time to the music, encouraging the audience to join in to create a sense of unity.
It was very showy. Those who believed that music ought to be a more refined art would certainly not be fond of it.
But at the very least, Randolf preferred the showy concert taking place before him over the refined kind of music.
Leaving that aside, those three… They are quite the fighters. The female Ghoul warrior named Basdia is particularly capable. She is on par with the Five Knights of Alcrem… No, she is even stronger than them. And it would be best to assume that these items called ‘transformation equipment’ have even greater functions than the rumors say, Randolf thought to himself.
He let out a sigh as he realized how powerful Darcia was if she had fought alongside Basdia and played an even bigger role than her in battle, and how capable Vandalieu must be to have tamed Basdia.
If Duke Alcrem was thinking of doing anything careless, it was possible that there would be one less duchy in the Orbaume Kingdom this year.
By the time these thoughts finished running through Randolf’s mind, several songs had finished and a short break had begun. Basdia and the others left the stage, and Arman and several other priests from the Communal Church began singing some hymns.
Fortunately, the priests were dressed normally and did not dance.
Rock and his companions had been fixated upon the stage, but once the priests’ hymns began, their attention returned to Randolf. Their singing voices were quite loud, but… it was considerably less entertaining than the concert.
“What do you think, Rudolf-san?” asked Rock. “Quite amazing, isn’t it? There were three performers today, but sometimes there are more and sometimes there are less. On some days, there’s even an opening performance from the familiars of the children of the orphanage.”
“There are all kinds of things during the short breaks, too. We have hymns from the priests at the Communal Church and a sermon from Priest Arman who worships Alda, but there are even open-stage musical performance competitions sometimes,” said one of Rock’s party members. “Why don’t you join in when you get the chance?”
“Yes, it was very interesting. I don’t think I’ll get bored while waiting for Vandalieu-san and the others to return,” said Randolf, deciding to stay in the city of Morksi as the bard named Rudolf.
Vandalieu and his companions took no notice of Randolf, who had entered the city of Morksi under a disguise.
Vandalieu had seen a blue-haired Elf enter the city through the Golems and Demon King Familiars positioned on the city’s walls, but he had not made the connection that he was the S-class adventurer known as Randolf ‘the True.’
If Randolf had hostile intentions towards Vandalieu or his companions, there might have been a response from ‘Danger Sense: Death’ detecting the smallest amount of killing intent. Indeed, several assassins who had been hired to murder Vandalieu’s allies had already been buried in this way.
However, Randolf’s current objective was to gather information; he currently had no intention to fight. Thus, he did not direct any kind of killing intent towards Vandalieu’s allies.
In addition, Vandalieu and his companions were famous as heroes who had protected the city. There were plenty of adventurers, traveling merchants and bards asking about them.
Vandalieu’s surveilling eyes took no particular notice of the addition of one blue-haired Elf.
And the three stage performers were currently resting in a tent set up at the back of the stage. Naturally, they hadn’t taken notice of Randolf, either.
“I’ve talked about this with Van, but I’m thinking that I’d like to have more people on the stage,” said Kanako.
Basdia nodded calmly. “I see. It is finally time to call for Vigaro.”
“What does this have to do with your father?!” Kanako asked incredulously, surprised by the idea of having the two-meter-tall, muscular, four-armed, lion-headed Ghoul named Vigaro joining them as a new member.
“I mean, the people are starting to see Ghouls as ‘people’ rather than ‘highly intelligent humanoid monsters,’ so I was thinking that it was about time to show them a Ghoul man,” said Basdia.
“There are large differences in appearance between men and women for us Ghouls, after all. Even if the people get used to me and Basdia, their overall impression of Ghouls as a race will not improve, will it?” said Zadiris.
“Your reasoning is surprisingly serious, but… I don’t know about having him make a debut on the stage. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have such a wild show all of a sudden,” said Kanako.
She understood their point, but at the same time, she found herself forcibly erasing the image of Vigaro as a magical girl from her mind. If they were going to introduce a new culture, it was best to start with more ordinary things… although the members that had been introduced to the public so far were certainly far from ordinary by Earth and Origin’s standards.
“Well, since Kachia is planning to go to Alcrem with Van, how about asking Bilde? We can rule Tarea out, since she’s busy helping Van build Artifacts… maybe Van’s grandmother or one of the former chiefs, since they’ve become Chaos Elves?” suggested Basdia.
“Either way, they would have to enter the city through the gate. I think it will be difficult until the boy ‘returns,’” said Zadiris.
Kanako shook her head. “No, I was planning to recruit people in the city. We won’t give them transformation equipment or tell them the truth about our circumstances. But we’ll teach them our songs, dancing and choreography, and have them singing with us on stage. That’s all.”
Kanako and the others were showing off their singing and dancing on stage, so others would likely imitate them and the concert format as it spread. Thus, Kanako thought that it wouldn’t matter if they simply taught others how to perform the way they did.
If those wishing to learn were already bards or dancers, it wouldn’t take too much effort to teach them.
“I see. By interacting with us, the people’s understanding of Vida’s races will deepen, and as we are claiming that the concerts are sermons for Vida, we will also be propagating her faith. I am sure you brought up these points when you persuaded the boy to agree to this?” said Zadiris.
“Yes! He gave his permission right away! … Although I’m a little scared, since I feel like he’s trusting me too much these days,” said Kanako.
“I’m sure Van already thinks of you and Melissa as family. You’ve transformed into members of the race that Darcia is the founder of, too. But there might be assassins or radical believers of Alda among the people who apply, so you can’t let your guard down,” Basdia reminded her.
“Yes, of course. I’ll have everyone from Starving Wolf Security help out as well… and I plan to ask the Demon King Familiars, too. There are apparently bards who are actually spies or wanted people in disguise, after all,” said Kanako.
She remembered seeing a blue-haired Elf in the crowd during the performance she had just given. She thought he was a bard because he had been holding a drum, but she wondered whether that was his real profession or whether he was someone else who had disguised himself as a bard… but she quickly stopped this train of thought.
I can’t tell just by looking at him. But I’m interested in the performing techniques of Elves, so I’ll be happy if he’s not a fake and he applies, she thought.
She had the impression that Elves had a long history in performance arts.
“Now then, it’s about time for the second half of the performance. Let’s do our best,” she said to the other two. “The first half is important for gathering an audience, but it’s the second half that determines the sales of our goods!”
With that, she and the two Ghouls headed for their battlefield (the stage).
Alcrem, the capital of the Alcrem Duchy, was a large city with a population of approximately a million people.
The Alcrem Duchy was far larger than the Sauron Duchy, which was located at the front line of the war against the Amid Empire that had been an enemy nation ever since the nations were founded, and the Hartner Duchy, which had few mineral resources. As one would expect, its capital was larger and had more people.
Even the thriving population of Morksi, with its population of three hundred thousand, paled in comparison.
Thus, there was a very long line of people trying to enter through Alcrem’s gates every day.
“What a long line. Can we even get into the city today?” a young man at the back wondered out loud as he looked towards the front of the queue.
A woman, a guard of the carriage that was one place ahead of him in line, turned around. “Hey, Mister.”
“Ah, umm, what is it, Miss?” said the young man, his voice suddenly sounding high-pitched as his eyes were drawn to the crimson lipstick on the woman’s lips.
The woman gave a pleased smile. “I’m not young enough to be called ‘Miss,’ but thank you. Mister, is this your first time to Alcrem? Judging from your appearance, you seem to be an adventurer.”
“Yeah, it’s my first time. I got promoted to D-class the other day, but the party I was with disbanded. I thought it was a good opportunity to come out to the capital,” said the young man. “I’ve heard rumors of initially unsuccessful adventurers suddenly rising to the top in Alcrem, so I wanted to try my luck in joining them.”
The young man was unusually talkative and gave more details about himself than was asked, perhaps because he was not accustomed to speaking to women. The rumors he was speaking of referred to the people chosen and granted divine protections by the gods of Alda’s forces in order to fight Vandalieu.
The truth was that this was occurring not only in Alcrem, but in other duchies and the Amid Empire as well. However, information didn’t travel very accurately, so the rumors only mentioned that there were a lot of adventurers suddenly rising to success in large cities with large populations.
The young man had continued talking in an attempt to draw more attention from the woman, but this seemed to have had the opposite effect.
“I see… If you were more knowledgeable about Alcrem, there was something that I wanted to ask about…” she said.
It seemed that she had started up a conversation with the young man in order to gather information.
Damn it, the young man cursed in his mind, hastily trying to think of something to say so that the conversation would continue.
But because he really was unaccustomed to speaking to women, nothing came to mind right away.
Just then, one of the people standing in line shouted –
“M-monsters?!”
The young man immediately cleared his mind, raised his spear and shield, and began looking for the monsters.
Several hundred meters behind him, he spotted a carriage being chased by a number of monsters – or so he thought for a moment.
“… Huh? There are monsters there, but they’re not chasing it?”
Even from this distance, he could see that the carriage wasn’t running at speed, and there were monsters not only behind it, but directly to its sides as well. He realized that the carriage was not under attack.
“That black carriage and large, gray, dog-shaped monster. Could it be…” the woman murmured.
The young man took no notice of her, staring at the black carriage as it entered the highway and drew closer. “Are they a tamer’s familiars? But are there even any tamers with monsters that are big enough to be seen from this far away?” he wondered out loud.
The people in the line began muttering amongst themselves.
“They’re just familiars. Man, they scared me.”
“Wait, they could be smart monsters that are pretending to be familiars…”
“You fool, there’s no way a monster would be able to drive a carriage on its own.”
“B-but wouldn’t it be best to call the city guards just in case? I’ve never seen a familiar that big, and not all tamers are good people, right?!”
Perhaps realizing that they could not simply leave this situation alone, several knights on horses rode out from the gate.
Meanwhile, the carriage and its company approached the back of the line where the young man was.
A female warrior with grey-brown skin was walking in front of the carriage that was being pulled by two sturdy horses. To the right was an enormous, grey-furred wolf – no, a dog monster. On the left, there were three large rat monsters – one red, one white and one steel-colored. Behind the carriage was an enormous arachnid monster. Only a part of it was visible, but its eight legs were visible on either side of the carriage –
“I-it’s not a tamer after all!” the young man shouted.
The person at the front of the carriage was a Ghoul! And the creature behind the carriage was an arachnid monster, which was supposed to be impossible to tame. Realizing this, the young man raised his weapon once more.
“Calm down, mister. These people are alright,” said the woman.
“Yeah, you’re gonna make a fool of yourself if you make a fuss,” said the man who was with her.
As the confused young man was trying to figure out what made them so sure, he heard voices coming from the black carriage.
“Wow, I’ve never seen a line of just a ton of people,” said the Ghoul.
“Bocchan, there is quite the queue. Perhaps it would be best to wait a day and come back first thing tomorrow morning?” said the middle-aged coachman. “Bocchan? Hello? Bocchan?”
“Vandalieu is riding on Gizania-san’s back right now, so he might not be able to hear you. But I don’t think we can just turn around and go back into the forest,” said a Dark Elf woman sitting next to the coachman.
Seeing these people and hearing their voices, the young man lowered his weapon again. There were few monsters who could speak human language like Ghouls, and the coachman and Dark Elf didn’t appear to be such monsters.
Undead did understand human language, but… the most they could do was repeatedly express their feelings of resentment; they were considered to be incapable of conversation. The young man believed this common theory.
“And we’ve managed to meet our acquaintances,” the woman next to the coachman said.
As the carriage came closer, the young man saw that she was quite the beauty; he couldn’t help but be enchanted by the sight of her.
“Hello,” she said to him with a smile.
But it was the Starving Wolf Security employees who responded immediately.
“It has been a while, Holy Lady!”
“I hope you are not too tired from the journey, Holy Mother!”
The young man, slightly embarrassed at having not been able to respond first, tried to step aside… but feeling too scared to stand in front of Fang and the rats, he stepped backwards instead.
“You must be the people Michael-san sent. And I see you’ve brought Gobu-gobu and dried Kobold meat for us,” said Darcia.
“Yes, I am Vivi of Starving Wolf Security! We have done our utmost to protect the goods that will be presented to the duke!” said Vivi.
Her lips, which were vividly colored with Miles’s characteristic lipstick, smiled at Darcia.
Moments, later, the knights were on the scene.
“The Dark Elf lady over there! I suppose those monsters are a tamer’s familiars, but still, we will need an explanation!” said one of the knights.
They had realized that the situation wasn’t dangerous during their short journey here from the gate, but they still wanted to confirm some things just in case.
“First, who is the tamer who commands these familiars… No, what is that monster at the back?! Some kind of arachnid monster?!” the knight shouted in alarm.
“Could you possibly be referring to me?” said the creature behind the carriage… an Arachne, with a spider’s body and the upper body half of a woman where the spider’s head would normally be.
Gizania, the large-build Arachne, poked her head out from around the carriage.
“This thing speaks?!” one of the knights shouted, reaching for his weapon.
“Wait, she’s an Arachne!” another, more senior knight said, stopping the first. “I’ve never seen one before either, but… they’re one of Vida’s races, if I recall correctly?”
“Yes, Gizania is a large-build Arachne, and I’ve tamed her,” said Vandalieu, who was riding on Gizania’s back.
Gizania was wearing a Magic Item that covered her with an illusion that made her appear to be an ordinary large-build Arachne. Someone with a deep knowledge of Arachne would have thought the difference in size between her and an ordinary large-build Arachne to be suspicious, but the knights were seeing an Arachne for the first time, so they couldn’t tell.
“Me too! I am also here!” said Myuze, opening the door at the back of the carriage and showing herself.
She was also wearing a Magic Item to make her look like an ordinary Empusa.
“Ah! What is this woman?! I-is she a woman?!” shouted one of the knights.
Empusa, unlike Arachne, were extinct outside the Boundary Mountain Range. Naturally, the city’s guards had no knowledge of them; they panicked because they didn’t know what this woman with mantis-like features was.
“Am I a woman? Is that not going too far! You could have questioned whether I am a person or not, but this is the first time I am facing the humiliation of having my gender questioned!” Myuze said indignantly.
“Myuze, they’re just confused because they’ve never seen an Empusa before. Let’s be more understanding,” said Vandalieu.
“Y-you are right. Forgive me. I am one of Vandalieu-dono’s familiars,” Myuze told the knights, moving her wings and the human-shaped arms below them, as if she were trying to convince a group of children that she wasn’t scary.
“I-if she’s a familiar, that’s fine… I’ve heard the rumors of the ‘Genius Tamer,’ but I’ve never heard of anyone taming an Arachne. Your Ghoul’s features are different from what I have heard, and you have monsters that the rumors did not mention. What is the meaning of this?” the senior knight asked suspiciously.
“After I left the city, I met and tamed them in the forest,” said Vandalieu plainly. “More importantly, you’re quite knowledgeable about my familiars, aren’t you?”
The rumors about Vandalieu’s familiars didn’t have any detailed information other than that of Basdia and Zadiris, who possessed known Titles. It was likely that nothing was known about the rat sisters other than that they were new races of monsters.
The knight turned away, avoiding Vandalieu’s eyes, and remained silent for a few seconds. “… My colleagues are fans of yours,” he mumbled. “In any case, welcome to Alcrem. The formal process will be done at the gate, but we welcome all of you to our city.”
The knights gave a short bow and headed back towards the gate, telling the people in line that there was nothing to worry about.
“It seems that you and the others are well-known, Van-dono,” Myuze said quietly as she watched the knights leave.
“It seems that spies were sent over, so I suppose they investigated those kinds of details. Well, I’m sure there won’t be as big a fuss over here as when we fought against Fitun and the others,” said Vandalieu.
In any event, Vandalieu and his companions arrived safely at Alcrem.
Incidentally, Simon and Natania were completely exhausted from their training, so they were sleeping together in a pile with Privel inside Sam’s carriage.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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taterskins
Privel seems like a very comfy nap partner. Lots of squishy tentacles to cram in to
lazygeko
Brings up a good point though, where is the boy band?
Hobbes
Well Miles might appear too mature to head a “boy” band, but if he’s the leader the name’s already set… Backstreet Boys are back baby lol
Zenden1st
awwwe a Simon natania dogpile that’s wholesome
JKingSniper
The harem brigade appears lol
prnewt
she found herself forcibly erasing the image of Vigaro as a magical girl from her mind.
OH GOD NO PLEASE NO!!! I CAN”T ERASE THAT FROM MY BRAIN NOW
Chiu ChunLing
It’s just his usually kilt and some ribbons in his hair, though.
Alke
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Rizeres
“UwU” But in a gruff manly voice.
Rasho
Yay! Finally Kachia gets some screentime!!!! The Author should’ve mentioned her a lot sooner, I felt like he’d forgot her sometimes.
galonesdeagua
Could it be that Randolph was involved with Talosheim’s invasion? Can’t remember anything else his thoughts could be referring to.
Chiu ChunLing
No, he’s just thinking back on when he was a novice adventurer, 200 years ago. Obviously he was far too inexperienced to be involved in a war, besides living in the Orbaume Kingdom rather than the Mirg Shield Nation.
FunniFear
Quite a bold twist to bring his entire harem at once under the guise of familiars. It’s a bit of a farce, isn’t it?
Ozarazil
The damage Alda has done to this world is so big. 100.000 years of hate, racism, genocide. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Alda’s and Bellwood’s teachings have been just as harmfull to the world as what Guduranis did when he attacked.
It’s because of Alda’s fear of change and Bellwood’s influence that this world has remained stagnated for over 100.000 years. I don’t quite remember but are any of the 4 remaining heros awake? How do they feel about this awfull world that Alda and Bellwood created?
Chiu ChunLing
The other two Champions that survived the war are Farmaun and Nineroad.
Both have realized that they were brainwashed by Bellwood’s total insanity.
Farmaun defected, while Nineroad decided that there was nothing to be done about it because they’d already gone too far to ever seek redemption. She seems to secretly hope that the world is completely destroyed in the coming conflict, or at least she has no particular interest in trying to prevent that outcome.
Wolf
Thanks for the chapter
gomezseba37
Ohh van made a really good choice of companions for this trip. the reactions were what I expected the guards were very competent alogside the people there. On some other places they wouldve just attacked without even asking questions
Jonathan Hurd
Van was directly invited by the Duke and he’s famous as a tamer so they must have been forewarned. It would be terrible if your own guards assault the guest you’re trying to bring into your side. Who also happens to be a local hero. The PR nightmare a fight could cause especially at a crowded gate would be terrible.
Kazza
…What *would* Vigaro’s music be like? Would he have a 4-necked guitar? Like the one guy from Cheap Trick whose name escapes me?
Kanako, how dare you? Clearly you have no respect for the departed legend David Bowie if you think feminine men are antithetical to awesome music.
That was a nice chapter. Good to see Gizania and Myuze again. I’m also interested in these “Alcrem Five” Rudolf mentioned. Sounds like the 15 Evil-Slaying Swords, but probably not even close to as powerful. And since Van curbed them, like… (80? Is it 80) chapters ago… Well, we know the Duke isn’t looking for a fight.
Anyways, I’m excited for the meeting between him and Juliana. Anyone else?
gomezseba37
Vigaro with his several arms would be the best at playng a drum battery.
Jonathan Hurd
Whatever instrument he chooses he’s gotta play Heavy Metal. I like your drums idea. Could put Borkus on Base Guitar with Mikhail on Guitar. To be really weird could have the Hydra for Vocals and Rappiecage on electric keyboard.
I don’t know how they’d make an electric keyboard, but I have faith Van make it happen!
Irazori
While introducing Vigaro is a huge step, it might be better to show the other more relatively normal male ghoul warrior and mages. I wonder what the Night Tamers (the orphans) are doing on stage, circus tricks?
gomezseba37
but vigaro Is a giga chad. and Im sure his attitude would mend well with people.
Lord Rin
I think most people would be terrified of Vigaro and might try to attack him on sight because since he has 4 arms, that signifies he is a high rank ghoul that to the general public is practically a legendary calamity. He’s much higher rank than what they would think but we’ve already seen how the public is scared of even rank 6 monsters and Vigaro is clearly above that rank. It’d kinda be like an Elder Dragon walking down the street. Adventurers and others may just attack out of sheer terror. Basdia and Zadiris can get away with it because they hardly change when ranking up so they can pass off as low level ghouls and most people wouldn’t attack them on sight out of terror.
Irazori
Sure personality-wise he’s good, but you do have to remember that he’s got 4 arms and a third eye on his head.
Chiu ChunLing
Pretty much everyone who isn’t on Van’s side has the same problem Randolph is encountering here, Van simply moves faster than any of his opponents consider possible, and when he really can’t do something faster than anyone else thinks he can, he goes and does something else rather than waiting around.
Heinz is stuck in a dungeon for who knows how long, but if Alda wants it to reflect how strong Van is it’s just going to take even longer. Rotcortex is waiting around for more Bravers to die, like that even will help, and meanwhile the various political opponents are haplessly sitting on each other’s thumbs.
Of course, the essential problem is that there is simply no real excuse for opposing Van in the first place other than complete ignorance or abject stupidity.
Jonathan Hurd
To be fair to Randolph, Van had been staying in Morksi for quite a while and he needed to handle the Demon Kings Fragments asap.
It is funny against Alda that Van is constantly evolving his power but also makes sure to hide a lot of his upgrades. It’s not even possible to predict what weird direction Van might end up going at this point. So there is never a chance of having up to date information about Van.
Alda at least stopped Heinz and his crew from being instantly one shot by things like Legion. So I’ll at least give him credit there.
As far as Roidiot goes. Well I think we all understand at this point. If Roidiot decided to do it, then that was the wrong choice.
CyberDre
I call BS on their information gathering, I call it cus they one shotted Vigaro and Basdia which is impossible, I call BS cuz legion has a vitality of 10 million last time it was mentioned, even if they learnt their fighting style , there’s a lotta things missing and the sad part is they don’t know it even now…..
Lord Rin
The Vigaro and Basdia they encountered in Alda’s dungeon were versions of them when they were much weaker like somewhere around Rank 6 versus a group of S Rank Adventurers. Curatos had been planning to put versions of them with more up-to-date information on their strength on lower levels to try to show how abnormally fast Van’s allies got more powerful. As for how they countered Legion, it’s because they just kept trying different tactics by abusing how they can’t die in the dungeon until they found one that works. It’s the equivalent of saving and reloading a fight multiple times to learn how the enemy fights and how it can be dealt with.
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah, it’s pretty clear that the records being used were obsolete/incomplete for all of them, not just Van and Iris. That’s because Curatos is relying on abilities observed by those worshipping Alda’s faction, none of whom have ever really pushed any of Van’s companions to their limits.
But the Trial was structured to have them fight progressively stronger versions of all those, and force them into the mindset that the enemy would be getting stronger over time, as LR says.
The B.S. part is simply that the Five-Colored Blades can’t get stronger fast enough to keep pace with how fast Van’s associates get stronger. Heinz has one guider job, Van has like half a dozen, and the Vida races are just inherently stronger in the first place. Plus Van’s side outnumbers Heinz’s party and doesn’t have crippling morale issues.
The Trial is thus a stupid idea in the first place cause even with ‘perfectly’ optimized training Heinz’s party is continually falling behind, while the ‘perfect’ nature of the training cheats them of chances to face real danger and encourages things like throwing their lives away in the first several fights to figure out how to succeed next time…that’s an extremely counterproductive strategy in a real fight. If the Alda faction had better information they’d have realized the futility of the trial beforehand.
Then again, if they weren’t morons they’d have figured out that Bellwood was a raving lunatic with a completely untenable morality that would have caused them to lose the war against the Demon Army if not for Vida and Zakkart.
Jonathan Hurd
I didn’t say they were getting great info, but they did at least come up with a countermeasure or two. Its better than nothing. Not much better than nothing, but there’s not much else Alda can do because Van is paranoid and has always treated Alda seriously as a foe. While Alda is just starting to try and understand Van as a foe.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, to be fair to Randolph, he’s aware that he’s ignorant of Van to some degree, which is why he’s trying to investigate rather than assassinate him.
If he figures out what Van was really doing in Morksi for so long (setting up two major gods forces for unilateral massacres, along with assorted other good deeds to spread the faith of Vida), he’ll be on his side or at least get the hell out of the way.
iamleejn
Someone is sending assassins? It doubt it would the Hartner Dutchy, that castle is still…tilted. Sauron Duchy seemed curious about Darcia, but their interest seemed more in line with recruiting her rather than killing her.
That leaves me with two ideas; either an unknown party or possibly Alcrem itself. Juliana the half-minotaur might be raising concerns for the Duke. Sauron Duchy considered the Scylla (a recognized race) in their family a stain, so having a minotaur (a known monster) in the family tree must be bad.
But if it’s an unknown party, I have no idea who it might be. Alda fundamentalists? Seems like he’d call them off after what happened to Fitun. Servants of an Evil God? I can’t imagine any Evil Gods (or their forces) would come out of hiding. Another Duchy? What’s their beef with Van?
CyberDre
It’st probably the Alda extremist across different duchies , the chapter about Selen implied they would start to make moves soon
Chiu ChunLing
The Alda fundamentalists aren’t driven by Alda, he actually discourages Alda fundamentalism when he can cause it leads to an excessive backlash helping Vida and also detracts from fighting against the remnants of the Demon King’s army.
While Alda is fine encouraging political leaders to implement Alda worship as the state religion and outlaw Vida worship as much as possible, those who resort to criminal extremism are already incapable of receiving messages from him.
Irazori
He can probably blame his own champion for that.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, Alda originally held the Law authority even before Bellwood. So he’d never have been particularly compatible with subversive activists.
But I guess you mean that alienating all the surviving great gods is Bellwood’s fault. Naturally, that situation makes Alda fundamentalism more inherently extremist and thus tends towards unlawful activity.
Jonathan Hurd
Honestly Alda has been sending messages to try and make everyone act like Alda fundamentalists since the beginning. It’s just he keeps getting ignored. He wants everyone on his side to kill all of Vida’s races and monsters. He also lives in fear of other world technology spreading and wants that burned down.
I think the reason he’s against the fundamentalists out there is one part endorsing them would look terrible for his image, but i think the bigger part is he doesn’t want to accept that they are doing exactly what he has demanded for a hundred thousand years. Alda wants to believe he is the ‘good guy’s in this war that he started himself, but even he can’t stand what he sees when people actually truly follow what he preaches.
Chiu ChunLing
That’s fair because Alda fundamentalism really is based on the fundamental teachings of Alda. The problem is that those teachings are incompatible with a lawful society, since they would have caused defeat by the Demon Army if strictly followed.
Before Zakkart decided to try both creating “forbidden” weapons and inviting Evil Gods to defect from Guduranis, the victory of the Demon Army was a foregone conclusion. The decision to sacrifice the creative Champions (driven by Alda and Bellwood’s attitude towards them) nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and led to a situation in which the remnants of the Demon Army would still have inevitably wiped out the remaining humanity if not for Vida’s decision to create stronger races capable of adapting to Devil’s Nests.
Human society is still dependent on allowing Vida races to inhabit and mitigate Devil’s Nests that aren’t economically viable for humans to cultivate, so extermination campaigns tend to hurt human civilization.
But Alda still embraces the fundamental teachings that support such campaigns, with some vague idea that ‘eventually’ the situation will turn around despite all past evidence.
If Alda had just accepted Vida and Zakkart’s actions, the Demon Army could have been defeated and the worst damage to the world essentially healed in a few thousand years at most. But Alda considers leaving any traces of the invasion as fundamentally unacceptable, resulting in a world in which rule of law is vanishingly rare and precarious.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like you’re overvaluing how much Alda cares about human lives. I don’t think Alda is going to waste the energy to try and tell people trying to kill Van and his people to stop.
If they succeed Yay! One less enemy to worry about during Armageddon. If they fail? Who cares wasn’t relying on them to begin with.
Part of the problem as well is these people are fanatics to begin with and they are technically doing exactly what Alda wants them to do. I don’t think he could stop them even if he wanted to and why would he want to?
They are extreme but honestly they are the truest followers to Alda’s will around. He can’t openly admit that for PR reasons and I think even he is a little creeped out by them, but they are doing Alda’s will a lot better than the giant faction trying to make peace with Vida’s group.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, the issue is more whether he can tell them to stop if they’re doing it in a blatantly illegal way.
Alda is fine telling people to kill Van as long as they do so under the color of law. In fact, he’s already done so, and has no intention of rescinding that. But that means making a law against Dhampirs and hunting them legally like Gordan did, not sending assassins.
Since the Alda Reconciliation faction is the ones that are seeking to make the Alda church more politically influential, allowing Alda supporters to change the laws to officially sanction the religious duty of Alda supporters to exterminate Vida races as monsters, Reconciliation supporters are naturally closer to Alda’s will and more likely to receive divine messages. Once Vida worship has been displaced from having any political influence, Alda’s fundamental teachings can be easily legislated even while making noises about ‘reconciliation’.
Heinz pretends to be ignorant of the long-term implications of championing Reconciliation in a land where Vida worship is naturally strong due to Alda worship being considered the religion of the enemy empire.
But that’s just a pretense. All of Heinz ‘moral qualms’ only ever set in after he does what is necessary to advance Alda’s agenda. If they were real, then he’d have completely stopped being an Alda worshipper a long time ago, even if he didn’t convert to Vida.
Right now, he’s in a situation where he can wallow in all the qualms he wants without it affecting what he’s already done or what he’ll do in the future. But are those qualms going to mean a damn thing when he has the chance to go out and try to murder everyone Van cares about?
We’ll see.
Doc
Man, Randolf sure is being cautious. I would have immediately tried to question Van’s companions once I heard who they were.
I did not see Myuze and Gizania being brought, coming. The balls on Van. Basdia and Zadiris and now Kachia are one thing. Female ghouls look very similar to humans, so there’s a smaller culture shock in introducing those ghouls to human society. Gizania and Myuze look nothing like humans (other than the human torso bit) and are two Vida races human society has very little knowledge about. I know Van wants to lesson the stigma Vida races have in an Alda dominated society but that’s very risky to bring those two to one of the largest human cities in the kingdom.
Also, not sure I quite understand the logic of both of them having a magic item that changes their appearance to a “normal” member of their race. The humans wouldn’t know the difference either way, so what’s the point. To make them seem less scary I guess?
CyberDre
I think the reason for the bracelet is to put the people at ease a bit, they may not know much about their race but a jewel skin Empusa and a horned Arachne is definitely gonna make them a bit uneasy
Irazori
It’s because Gizania and Myuze are evolved species of their race. So introducing them to humans with their unevolved base appearance would not alarm people of how strong they really are.
Doc
Again, people don’t know either species. They’d be afraid either way. The gesture only works if people are aware of what the base form looks like.
Irazori
Yeah I know, but it also hides their true power from the aldiots. In case those incompetent gods can reproduce the girls’ strength in the dungeon that’s raising the 5 colored morons.
gomezseba37
There are probably some historic records. and It would be for the best If the descriptions match them.
because otherwise it would warrant more attention onto him.
It doesent matter for normal people but for the ones that are dealing with information and things like that It really matters
Jonathan Hurd
Empyusa aside there are still Arachne living beyond the Boundary Mountain Range. So they at least have some records of them. There might be some ancient archives about Empyusa too if they dig deep enough.
Also Van is still around ten and supposedly picked them up in the forest along the way. Showing Myuse is already going to cause an uproar, but it’s going to be hard to say he just keeps randomly finding mutants to tame.
Add in how much Fang, the horses, the orphanage children’s pets, and the Rat sisters have evolved. It’s obvious animals seem to evolve into monsters around Van, but if it seems that not only monsters but Vidas races also mutate and evolve around him that could mark him as a threat.
There’s a big difference between small animals becoming rank one beasts and leveling from there and apparently breaking into new heights with Vidas races who are usually born strong. He’s already shown he has two fairly strong Ghouls. If people start to think he could collect up even more of Vidas races strengthen them and make an army… Well the threat Alda so desperately wants Van to represent could finally come true.
nadirku
I wonder if there is going to be anything more that comes out of this Vivi woman, particularly since she is wearing Miles’ favorite color of lipstick…
Lord Rin
Oh hey it’s Rock’s group. I remember them. They’re a decent bunch. I remember they encountered Fang in a Devil’s Nest and wanted to kill him to avenge the boy at Fang’s feet they thought was killed by him. Other adventurers might have been indifferent if they saw such a situation especially since the boy very clearly wasn’t one of the human races but Rock’s group still tried to avenge the boy even when they knew that it would be a hard fight for them. Anyways so now they are fans of idol concerts and each got a favorite idol. I don’t think Zadiris would appreciate being called ‘Zadiris-chan’ and adorable by them though. She’s never gonna break free of the Princess Curse at this rate.
Also looks like the other priests really did go through with singing on stage. They don’t seem popular but at least it looks like they’re having fun.
Randolf has finally infiltrated Morksi. He’s surprisingly talented if he knows how to play the drums, lyre and sing despite being an adventurer. Anyways looks like he’s going to infiltrate Kanako’s group and perform with them as a bard. Would be funny if he finds idol concerts so fun that he decides to finally quit being an adventurer so he can perform in them. The music, not the dancing. Nobody wants to see a middle-aged elf dude dancing in a magical girl costume. That’s almost as bad as Vigaro dancing in a magical girl costume. Anyways he seems pretty open-minded since he’s not immediately dismissing everything he hears about Van and his people as fake information or impossible. Maybe he might actually become an ally of Van or at the very least remain neutral.
Isn’t that Vivi woman at the end the bodyguard from a brothel that once tried to threaten Darcia to stay away from Miles or am I just misremembering? I feel like she was named at that time. Well whatever. Looks like Van’s group finally reached the capital of Alcrem Duchy. Van sure ain’t messing around about spreading awareness of Vida’s races since he even brought Gizania and Myuze along. I guess he wasn’t satisfied with just spreading information that ghouls are a race of Vida. I wonder who else he’s brought? Also it’s been ages since we’ve seen Kachia.
iamleejn
Hmm. There’s a chance (albeit small) that she could meet the gods in charge of jobs and titles. Wouldn’t that be an interesting meeting?
CyberDre
Didn’t Riklent take steps to make sure it was impossible even for him?
Irazori
Yeah. Before the system was completely closed off (even to the creator), gudurunis had only managed to plant the god of ranks into the system. So manipulating ranks, jobs and titles is impossible.
ObserverBias
A bodyguard at a brothel… that tried to threaten Darcia away from Miles?
That sounds more vague than Vivi’s name itself. When was Miles at a brothel, and what was he doing there? Like, phrased like that it sounds obvious, but neither her character nor the situation are ringing a bell.
Lord Rin
I looked back and I have no idea where the hell I got the idea that the bodyguard was named Vivi since it turns out she isn’t named but anyways this was back when Miles was still disguised as Michael and had become the new boss of the red-light district and there were a bunch of prostitutes and one bouncer who wanted to seduce him so when they heard the Darcia was his rumored lover, they went to the food stall to threaten her to stay away from Michael but the bouncer stopped halfway through her threats and ran away. Van thought it was because she had an Intuition skill so he decided to notify Miles about her to potentially hire her. I have no idea why I equated Vivi with that bouncer but they might be the same person for all I know.
Tejing
Poor Randolf, just trying to figure out what’s going on with Van. I wish him luck. He’ll need it.
Bold of Van to throw in Gizania and Muze on top of the demon horses (which apparently the guards didn’t even notice were monsters). I look forward to seeing them interact with people though.
gomezseba37
Poor randolf about to have the last 1000 years of common sense he developed shattered like glass
Jonathan Hurd
I do like the fact that he’s at least flexible enough to discard common sense if what he sees contradicts it. That’s probably part of the reason Alda dislikes him.
Superboy8338
I wonder who Van will be fighting in the next big battle?
gomezseba37
I think there probably will be a battle with a god when they go to the other side of the world.
I dont think alda or heinz will take action for several years. maybe he will spar with randolf
Superboy8338
Thank, you very much for the update, Yoshi!!!
no1
Thanks for the new chapter Yoshi, So randolf is still gathering info, Kanako, Basdia and Zadris are still in the city and Van, myuze and Gizania have moved on to another city. Hope to see the next chapter soon
Entropy
Thanks for the chapter. Find it interesting that assassins are being dispatched to slay some of Van’s allies. I wonder who sent them or if they are part of some extreme branch of Alda’s religion. Might be telling of which duchy will still exist at the end. I do wonder if Randolf will become unknowingly a supporter of Van or if he will turn into an enemy. I suppose he could also be indifferent to Van. I am also curious if Van will gain any unknown tamer jobs in the future. I know he has a few jobs that relate to tamer such as those for insects, plants, and undead, but I don’t think any of them were pure tamer jobs. If I recall correctly the curses have decreased in power, so Van might be able to learn jobs that few other people have gained. Can’t wait to find out.
Doc
I assume any assassins going after Van’s companions at this point would be Alda extremists. Previous chapters said there were pockets of extremists in various places who would try to assassinate Van’s crew if they got the chance.
Entropy
Probably true, but I can see a few dukes wanting to eliminate him to limit the power of the duchy that he is in. Another possible dispatcher could be the empire. Of the possible results, I would assume that it is extremists trying to kill races of Vida.
Chiu ChunLing
Criminal syndicates trying to reassert control over the commerce hub seem more likely, but they’d be more likely to go after Miles. Even if they are aware that Van is ‘the hidden boss’, they’d probably assume that’s because of Miles being infatuated with Darcia, making her and Van targets for hostage-taking rather than assassination.
Reconciliation supporters can’t be counted out either, given that Darcia is pretty clearly a Vida fundamentalist. But I’d assume most of them would be more likely to gather more information and attempt influence operations before fully committing to violence.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like there’s to much for the conciliation party to lose if their efforts to hurt the only other Dhamphir got out. I think there’s plenty of Alda extremists and small time villains who over estimate their strength to go around.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, that would be fair to say if not for the behavior of Heinz in the Trial when confronted with Van as an enemy.
He had significant moral qualms, and he decided to ‘overcome’ them rather than listen to them. Not that quitting the Trial is supposed to be an option, but if Heinz had said “Screw this” and gone back to the entry town to wait for someone else to be deemed eligible, Alda would have had to consider letting someone else try rather than let the whole thing go to waste. And killing Heinz for not continuing would have severely impaired the willingness of anyone else to try.
While Heinz is not identical with the Reconciliation faction, it’s not unfair to consider him a representative.
Anyway, the point was that Van is not the only potential target of assassination, Darcia is rather inconvenient for some people as well.
Libio
Thank for chapter
ÁH, my imaginary eyes! I will not get this out of my head for weeks!
But please, please make Randolf the True idol singer and dancer and them show it to Alda group or better, to angels of reincarnation! Their reaction will be priceless!!! (I know this is just translation etc. but that doesn’t stop me in praying to Van!)
Doom
PRAISE VAN-SAMA, OUR LORD SAVIOR, OUR CHAMPION, OUR DEATH GOD, AS HE ATTAINS THE ATTENTION OF POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS AND IS RECOGNIZED AS A GREAT INDIVIDUAL! THE SACRED MESSAGE TODAY IS:
Don’t worry about it, the graveyard definitely is not mysteriously growing overnight, and those randomly disappearing people just got lost or left the city surely.
CyberDre
Or became fertilizer for the Skösgar
Chiu ChunLing
It would be wasteful to bury the bodies. Or rather, it wouldn’t even be surprising if the graveyard became largely vacant, not that there would be any point making that known to the townfolk.
Knocken can always use more bones, after all. And Luciano no doubt has experimental uses for fresher bodies.
Hobbes
Exactly, Quinn’s famous meatballs don’t just rain down from the heavens and Eisen’s apples don’t just sprout out of thin air.
karatekrab
Thanks always for the great work!
Long time lurker and created an account just to tell you that I appreciate all the good work that you are doing.
keep it up!
CyberDre
Thanks for the chapter Yoshi!
Trap Vigaro……. This more cursed than Alda simping for Bellwood or Van’s curses for that matter😲
Chiu ChunLing
…
I don’t believe that any amount of magical transforming equipment could possibly qualify Vigaro as a trap.
Actually, I don’t believe any costuming efforts could even reach the level of leaving the impression that he was wearing feminine clothes rather than some kind of exceptionally manly kilt.
Irazori
A Scottish ghoul warrior……that actually sounds pretty awesome.
Chiu ChunLing
Actually, if you look at the manga depiction, his loincloth already has a significantly skirt-like aspect. That seems to provide some padding for the hip armor.
Irazori
I’ve read that first, then found the novel. The design in the latest chapter doesn’t look like a skirt to me. It’s more like cloth poking out the sides when held up by a belt.
Chiu ChunLing
…
A cloth held up by a belt…if a girl were wearing it, most people would call that a skirt.
That it gives an entirely different impression when Vigaro wears it is kinda the point I’m making.
Jonathan Hurd
Man now that I’ve read it I really want to see Scottish Kilted Vigaro, lol. Thank you for that image.
JeKeBe
Ah, it’s good to see Myuze and Gizania get some screentime, it’s been a while since we’ve seen them. I guess Van figures what the hey, if they’re going to expand the range of known familiars and sentient races, may as well do it right.
Thanks for the chapter!
CyberDre
Heinz and Asagi’s group are gonna have a high hurdle to jump, heck by the time they’re ready to make a move , I won’t be surprised if Van already has half the duchies in his pocket by then.
More importantly, he’s already an important figure in the Tamer’s guild and a member of the commerce guild as well as a person of interest in the mage and adventurers guild, won’t be surprised if he also becomes part of the Craftsman and Alchemist guild , meaning legally, by Lambda’s standards , no one can touch him. Heck as he brings in more and more culture from the boundary range , no one would touch him , as it would be more beneficial from a Noble’s POV to align with him than make him their enemy as more and more of their citizens would be wom over by him.
The icing on the cake is they can’t use gods as an excuse , 4 have sided with him , one is looking for an opportunity to defect and the last one might as well join him at this rate. You could say Vida went mad with grief over Zakkart or that Zantark went mad after fusing with multiple evil gods or that Riklent never cared about the concept of good and evil or that Zuruwarn’s appearance and line of thinking was closer to that of an evil god , but if Peria and Botin join him? The “sane” ones , men I feel pity in my heart for Asagi and Heinz now.
At this rate , rather than the whole world against Van, isn’t it the whole world against Alda and his forces?
Entropy
Even funnier will be how Heinz appears to outside observers. He talks about coexisting with Vida’s races and then proceeds to attack several members of Vida’s races. I do wonder if Van will spread the idea that ghouls are part of Vida races.
CyberDre
I do wonder if Van will spread the idea that ghouls are part of Vida races|
I think it’s already spreading as a rumor thanks to the whole idol stuff going on
Irazori
Isn’t that what Van’s doing already? By showing actual facts that the aldiots were hiding for thousands of years that coexistence was possible, it will also reveal the hypocrisy the so-called peaceful faction was keeping quiet about. Though the undead thing will still be difficult because the wild ones are essentially true to the “resent the living” trope.
Dyneamaeus
Solid points all around, but I think you may be overestimating things on the god front. While Van is allied with Many gods, including several of Lambda’s originals, from a human perspective Alda and Vida are the only ‘great’ gods, The others are all still trying to rebuild their image and faiths after their various slumbers, and aren’t really seen as the equal of the other two. From the average citizen’s point of view, Alda is Head God of the Pantheon and Vida is the only one who can challenge him as his opposite. The Chaos of Life to his Order of Law as it were. In fairness, it was not Alda’s intention, but thats how the people see it now.
CyberDre
I agree , Alda and Vida in the eyes of every mortal are the two who stand out the most, even Van has the support of the others he won’t necessarily gain the support of everyone who isn’t an Alda worshipper , but they would question why every great god has chosen to side with the supposed evil DK, rather than their “Chief” god.
What I feel is , many would want to stay neutral so as not to be caught up in the power struggle but may end up joining Van, not just because he has proven to not be a mad dog like Guduranis , but also the aggressive personality of many Alda fundamentalist. They just like their have a “You’re either with me or against me mentality” , they would not take any excuses and might cut down people for not joining their crusade against the DK which funnily enough would drive many towards Van.
It also doesn’t help that Van isn’t someone that everyone living thing needs to band against, as he isn’t doing anything any nations hasn’t done in one form or another in the past , be it brainwashing (which he doesn’t use often) killing (lols a norm in Lambda) or gathering followers, Alda recognizes this and that’s why he truly fears Van.
All in all , they don’t need to be “the other great gods have joined him , so we will also join him” , they just need to be “the other great gods have joined him, doesn’t that mean they don’t agree with Alda” , that’s all that’s needed for the Mortal races to ruin Alfa , Heinz and Asagi’s chances of uniting the world against Van, After all , no one who isn’t an Alda fundamentalist would wanna fight someone strong who simply wishes to coexist with them, the other great gods would make people see it that way, doubt is simply the key to Van’s victory here.
Even lowly mortals would start to ask these questions, that maybe , just maybe , the reason why they’re opposing Alda is because they don’t agree with what he is doing? That punishing Vida was unjust? Those doubts are enough to make sure no mortal carelessly join his faction during the war.
Entropy
The main problem for most mortals is that they will probably side with Alda. He has already defeated Vida and the demon lord once before. Most will side with a winner rather than with a dark horse. At the time Vida and the demon lord were enemies whereas alda was Vida’s ally and he did attack her immediately after defeating the demon lord, but I imagine Alda spun it as Vida coming to him and asking to be sealed to protect people from her “madness”. Another problem most people might have with van is that he represents change and people prefer the status quo over changing. Even if the mortals realize that they were in the wrong, some might refuse to admit it. Even alda refuses to admit that he overreacted and heinz is not much better. Overall I am guessing that the empire, the shield nation, and probably a quarter of the kingdom will side with Alda while another quarter of the kingdom will be neutral. There might be outliers that join with random evil gods, but I suspect that will consist of a small nation at most. Time will tell if the war will round up being like that.
CyberDre
The vast majority of the Duchies may remain neutral but I don’t see them suddenly joining hands with the Amid empire to kill Van, they’ve been enemies for centuries , they’re not gonna join hands with the Amid nation especially for an enemy that isn’t indiscriminately killing people, Nineroads pointed this out to a lesser god after Fitun perished, like I said he’s currently aiming to show he and his people aren’t mindless monsters trying to destroy the world , besides as much as people fear change, if a better life comes with the change , people will see it as a necessary change , food , new jobs , entertainment, resources and medicine, if that’s all they get in exchange for acknowledging his people as people, that’s a pretty Good deal for not starting a pointless war against someone who doesn’t wanna fight you.
Besides we’ve seen the thought process for the average nobels, both the wicked ones like Lucas Hartney and the good ones like Isaac , they all have one thing in common, they despise wasting Mullah , imagine whether they’ll wanna waste money and manpower fighting a guy that again just wants coexistence , this is something the dukes and nobles of Orbaurme need to consider when handling Van all the again this is while he is going around showing people the benefits of coexisting with him.
The mortals don’t need to feel sorry , they just need to see the benefits of being on this person’s good side. Besides in the matter of Alda’s side , people who aren’t fundamentalists won’t join him , why? Cuz even if he won against Vida , that doesn’t mean he’s going to win this time. It doesn’t help that Van’s side has numerous great gods , new technology and most importantly the luxury of having a good reputation despite being the DK.
Lord Rin
Well don’t forget that Van is a Guider. More specifically he’s gotten multiple Guider jobs that give a very broad range of influence and he is actively working to spread knowledge about Vida’s races and her faith. I mean it only took Van a couple of months of just making food and Kanako’s group doing idol concerts to have guided the entire city of Morksi. Meanwhile Heinz has had only a single Guider job and he’s never been shown to actively try to guide people like Van. Him and the whole Alda Peaceful Faction basically just go, “Wouldn’t it be nice if a select few of Vida’s races were treated marginally better?” without really doing anything. The so-called progress they’ve made seems to mostly be that other nobles just improve the treatment of Vida’s races only because they want to look good in Heinz’s eyes and hope that they could forge a connection that way purely out of self-interest. As for Asagi, he isn’t trying to guide anyone so his influence would be very small while Alda isn’t doing anything really. He’s ordered the other gods to raise heroes but he hasn’t even told those heroes what their purpose is and he’s not going to say anything to the Amid Empire since they are all his believers and he doesn’t feel the need to warn them about Van yet. Also Alda has little influence in the Orbaume Kingdom with only a few hardline pro-Alda duchies.
Chiu ChunLing
Well for most mortals that’s not really a problem since they’re too utterly irrelevant for Van to bother killing them, let alone devouring their souls.
Sure, they maybe won’t change their tune till Van finally kills off Alda, causing every focus of Alda worship (i.e. idols in temples and stuff) to crumble to dust. But so what? What are they losing as long as they’re honest and upright and don’t go out of their way to become particular targets of Van’s vengeance?
SchmidtNation
The importance of multiple great gods choosing to support Van isn’t meant to be understood by the people of Lambda, but by the gods. The younger gods who have only ever known Alda’s rule. Those who have been convinced that once Peria and Botin awaken they will join hands with Alda and things will get better, that this stalemate of being barely able to maintain the world while remnants of the demon king’s army remain at large will finally end. They are the ones to be swayed by the allegiance of the great gods.
Zantark going insane after fusing with 2 evil gods can be considered fact. Vida becoming lost after the death of her champion, and choosing the wrong path to rebuild the world is an easy argument. Zuruwarn being a trickster with questionable morals and Ricklent having unique interpretations of reality fit with their characters. But, what explanation can Alda give for Peria and Botin siding against him.
Alda has his position above the other gods by default, simply because they believe he’s the only sane great god currently awake. Once the other untainted great gods awaken, and the subordinate gods realize that every single other great god believes Alda is drunk with power, the pantheon can avoid annihilation. Van holds no desire to kill the gods of this world. In fact, Lambda is probably his favorite out of the 3 worlds he’s experienced, and he would work to avoid its destruction. But, until the gods start questioning Alda’s rule, they will never consider Van as anything but evil. And Van kills his enemies.
Renrobt
Van is far too powerful politically to just be touched out in the open (and in the dark he is downright untouchable), anyone except for Heinz that is. He is an S rank adventurer, and we can see with Schneider and Randolf that they are pretty much untouchable. Aside that he is also quite literally the capital ‘H’ “Hero”. He has essentially influence on the level close to that of the king. Or pope might be a better analogue since he is also the head of the peaceful faction.
With a little coordination on the gods part and their heroes can solidify his stance among the people. After all they are local heroes, if they say that Heinz is correct about the DK the people will side with him. And for nobles to stay in power they can’t completely disregard public opinion to the point of doing the exact opposite of what they want. That’s how you get desertion, mutiny, and revolution.
All the towns that Van visit might see him in a better light, and might even be ready to side with him, but they would be isolated pockets amid a see of enemies. So far the only place Van has succesfully interacted with is Alcrem duchy. The rest are either unaware or wary of him, with Hartner probably considering him as an enemy. Should anyone side with Van, at the very least they will be cut of from trade and causing economic stagnation and the nobles loosing any standing in the kingdom. Of course Van might provide relief and all that but that is not something they can assume when going into it.
And that is getting away “easy”. At worst they can be invaded full force and even executed en-masse, cause you know, siding with the DK is same as outright renouncing and wishing for the destruction of humanity. At least in the public eye. If Heinz says that Van is creating a web of brainwashed people, the public is just going to accept it. It doesn’t help that he can actually do that and is taking over the underworld….
So do not underestimate the annoyance Heinz can be. He might not be able to kill Van right now, but he can very well kill Van’s public image. Something he always wanted to build up as a safety net against the otherworlders.
And Asagi, well he in his current state is nothing more of a side note. I am sure he will come back, more annoying than ever, but it’s not like Van isn’t aware of them. Last we heard of what he and his group were doing they were researching ways to suppress DK fragments and possible ways to counter and hopefully completely seal Death Magic.Mostly the former, the latter is a stretch goal atm.
Something that was mentioned is that Van is aware of them and he lets them do it for the simple reason he thinks it benefits the public if they can suppress any stray DK fragments. After all he doesn’t want unnecessary bloodshed. From this we can suspect that he keeps them under surveillance. It might be that when new otherworlders arrive they would try to use this to try to kill Van but he wont be caught unaware.
And yeah on the god front Botin and Peria while being worshiped all around are not influencial enough that them siding with Van would make people consider Alda wrong.
What would happen that Alda would loose his shit, Radicalizing him even more (I know more sounds almost impossible but still), likely forcing his followers to act. Most likely the actions will empower the radicals, possibly even the Bellwood followers. This on the other hand will drive people away from him. After all what kind of god of order would cause chaos like this. And possibly even Nineroad, the last remaining Champion on Alda’s side, will follow in the steps Faurman and leave Alda. The only “major” god on his side would be Rodcorte, not exactly the ideal man to help someone who is at the end of their rope.
If that were to happen He will probably just snap. Possibly even unleashing Armageddon by himself. Maybe even turning into the equivalent to the DK in the public’s eye. Well it probably won’t go that way, its nice to imagine such a reverse card pulled on him.
CyberDre
The only issue with Heinz part is if he doesn’t get this out in the open now, it’ll be quite difficult to convince anyone I’m the Orbaume kingdom later on, As you said Van is a guider, giving speeches , acts of charity or general socialization is enough to sway the cast majority of Commoners , if he doesn’t do anything now , by the time he has the chance it’s too late , Van’s influence and reputation would have given him a firm stance in human society, it also doesn’t help he has wounds on his soul which take a while for gods, talk less a mortal from healing, heck he might not even be fully recovered when he finally makes a move , that could months to years , again enough time for Van to make his stance firm.
Him being an S class hero wouldn’t sway people too much, if Van also is recognized as one or if fellow S class vouch for Van, it also doesn’t help that Van is seen as invaluable I’m the eyes of private organization like the Tamer’s guild , a potential partner in the commerce and promising figure in the Adventurer’s and Mage’s guild , organization that the public trust, Heinz would need to convince people that not only Van but these trusted organization are wrong which would be wrong.
As for Peria and Botin, like I said they don’t need to sway the mortals , they just need to cast doubt on Alda’s side , why aren’t they joining the “chief” god if there’s a new DK? does this mean Alda isn’t I’m the right? This is all what the great gods taking his side would cause, doubt in Alda, I don’t see that being an issue for Followers of Zuruwarn or Riklent, Zantark I’m not so sure, Vida maybe , Peria and Botin, I think the Amid empire have a Vassal nation that worships them , and we know that Vasssal Nations like the Mirg shield nation wanna break away from the Amid empire, only these ones *can* do it under pretense of following their god.
Well my main point really is, it’s been barely one month and Van already has Alcherm in his pocket, give him a year and by the time anyone wants to say or do anything, people would be won over by his tales or his acts of Charity, besides as fearful as people are, they’re not gonna start war when even the vast majority of gods don’t want that especially when Said DK is improving their general lives , as far Hartner duchy, Lucas understands he did something to upset Van and given the disappearance of certain villages , it’s not hard to guess what that is , he would not try anything funny given how easy it was for Van to twart everything, we know dukes and Marshalls have enough foresight to think things like these through.
Renrobt
Van’s influence, as a guider at least, only extends those to he interacts with. Whether that is one on one or by giving a speech to a large crowd doesn’t matter. Also those that oppose him can’t be guided (this also includes the peaceful faction) and unless people are especially compatible usually it takes time for the guidance to take hold. This is the pool of people who are loyal to Van. The thing we should not forget that Heinz has already established himself.
All of Van’s time is spent in Morksi so far, thus his influence in the “human world” only extends there. And just because Heinz isn’t active in the public doesn’t mean his influence has diminished. After all he entered a dungeon that appeared in front of him witnessed by many. It’s more likely that he is getting mythologized at this point.
If he becomes an S rank he will definitely have protection, but Van is “underage”, at this point he first has to go to the adventurer school. Berald is already bending the rules by allowing Van to register without checking his status. It likely won’t take too long but that would draw the ire of practically all the adventurers, and even as an S rank if Heinz declares him the DK his rapid rise would make sense, and turn a large number of them on Van.
And about the other S rank, well Schneider can’t really leave Amid for now, and he is doesn’t really have connections or renown in Ourborne other than rumors, and Randolf wants to avoid spotlight, but should he deem Van a threat, he will be an enemy.
I do agree about how the gods siding with Van would make people question such, but most people are not even aware of the circumstances of the gods, after all only Van’s group knows that Vida is active again not because Alda forgave her, but because Van was able to lift the judgement.
Only a select few get divine messages, and usually that depends on compatibly and worship. Julianna could get Peria’s message relatively “clearly” cause she was in a state where Peria had great influence, in amniotic fluid.
So only a few people would be able to get a clear understanding of the god’s position and people on Alda’s side would have every incentive to silence such people.
Of course the Vassal nations might break away, weakening the Amid, but that would mean they sided with the DK, making them targets not just of the Amid, but of every other nation as well. Whether they are righteous or just a neighboring island that wants to increase their territory doesn’t matter, they have a casus belli, a justification, and a strong one at that.
And yes if Van could build up a great following, but Alda and Heinz already has enough. They will probably make their move when Heinz and co. is done recovering, since they are growing more and more impatient. And it has been 2 months since their fight, Heinz is probably recovered, only waiting on Edgar. His state is questionable even if he “recovers”, but that’s a whole ‘nother topic
I do not think Heinz would do this, since Heinz doesn’t like to do things this way, but should push come to shove, he as the Hero of Alda, combined with the Pope in Amid and the many heroes the other gods have cultivated and he could practically mobilize the whole world against Van. Alcrem might side with Van and Hartner might just try to wriggle out of it. But that’s it.
CyberDre
About the S class vouching for him, I think that’s the point of Randolf’s character, he doesn’t like the spotlight but he has a lotta connections across different duchies , especially with noble families , all he has to do is give them his word(which is worth a lot!) And they will take it the heart, Randolf the true says the DK isn’t hostile? Normally I wouldn’t take anyone who says this seriously but since it’s him I should consider this. I can see a noble thinking this way. They might see Heinz as a potential partner but they certainly aren’t gonna trust him over Randolf , someone that has helped their families for generations , other than a few Radical nobles like Duke Murke , most nobles are neutral when it comes to the state of the gods.
As for the condition of the gods, Divine messages are difficult to get across if one is not compatible but Riklent and Zuruwarn have already sent theirs to a number of their followers , although they left it vague as hell , this was during the trial of Zakkart arc if I remember correctly, some of the followers questioned whether or not they were from an evil god but ultimately we’ll find out whether they take it to heart or not, the gist of the message was very simple “don’t trust Alda” , it didn’t say anything about Van but that’s specific enough for people to draw a lotta conclusions. Again they don’t need to have their followers to join Van, they just need doubt to be casted , I can picture each god sending divine messages like these to a large number of their followers , we don’t know the details of Vida’s messages she’s been sending or what her followers have been doing but I guess it’s something similar to what TRiklent and Zuruwarn are doing. I am under the assumption that everyone on Van’s side, gods alike are doing their best to assist him on his journey.
As for Heinz, again I don’t see him recovering soon, the least injured was apparently Delizah, Edgar being the worst but Heinz took some damage as well , gods take some time to heal from wounds like that, Heinz is still mortal so it’s gonna take some time as well, when he spoke with Mill she stated it would take several months for him to recover that was a week b4 Van destroyed Hihiryushukaka, it’s been around 1 month now, so I’ll say bHeinz has at least 3-4 months of recovery left , let’s not also forget what the new titles he’s been given would do to affect him, the [Holy Mother Killer!] And [Vida’s Mortal Enemy!] If my theory is correct , it would cause devote followers of not Vida or her races to be wary of him but also those of gods who have aligned with her , they can’t directly view his status but we know titles can affect a person’s state of mind and those around him, doesn’t help that Edgar thanks to Rodcorte, has a piece of the most unstable being in their world , Guduranis swimming in his soul, I don’t need to think to hard about what he could possibly do with his name and status as a member of the five coloured blades to chip away at their reputation.
The whole theme of this story is the “good” guys and the “powerful” people often have there justice twarted by Van’s group not because he’s stronger but because he has enough foresight to think ahead and the moral compass to distinguish himself from someone like Guduranis , that’s again why Alda fears him because at the rate he’s going it’s difficult to unite the world against van, he has a lotta things going for him that guduranis didn’t, loyal and powerful subordinates, numerous gods helping him, the fact he isn’t an outsider , the fact he isn’t killing people indiscriminately, an impregnable nation, and most importantly he’s a long term planner, everything he has desired throughout the story in one fashion has come to pass , from his mom, to his desire to help people to destroying the Evil vampire faction, to even getting simple cream, he desires not to wage war against the entire world, I believe he’ll have the support or neutrality of the entire Orbaume kingdom by the time Heinz is ready to do anything, heck he still needs to complete what’s left of the Duegeun to free Bellwood as he still doesn’t have to power to do anything to Van, physically.
Well my point is with all this going on I don’t see things going convenient for Alda , he’s had 100000 years of that already, besides if word got out that Farmuan Gold , champion has left Alda’s side , that along with the other great gods would shake the world greatly and leave people especially the neutral ones what to say about him, it doesn’t help that Schneider who’s job is almost complete in the Maid empire could openly switch sides soon.
Why are the gods joining the DK ? Why has a champion sided with him? Why is the DK stimulating my economy? Why is the DK helping people? Why is an Randolf vouching for him? These questions would run through the mind of noble and commoners alike , even if many believe Alda is the chief god , the fact none f his siblings are aiding him is enough to live people confused , add in that it’s the supposed apocalypse starting DK they align themselves with, people are gonna start really thinking about the whole situation, it’s either the gods have gone mad or Alda is much more dangerous than the DK , that’s their conclusion, I believe the gods of Vida’s faction are helping Can through thrir loyal followers , having a good reputation and a lotta people to vouch for a person goes a long way y’know?
Lord Rin
I think you are overestimating Heinz’ influence. Sure he’s famous but him and the Peaceful Faction don’t actively do anything really. All the “progress” that we’ve seen is just a knock-on effect of people with self-interest making changes to how Vida’s races are treated because they think that they might possibly forge a connection with Heinz and his faction if they do this. Heinz and his faction aren’t going around giving speeches or preaching at churches. Then there’s the fact that Heinz and his party have been stuck inside a dungeon for at least over a year or two and their allies are just outside waiting instead of doing anything while Van has been actively spreading Vida’s faith. The Peaceful Faction will need to wait even longer since Heinz and his party need to recover from getting their asses handed to them and then they still got to go through the rest of the dungeon which I think they still got over half left to clear and then figure out how to free Bellwood. During that time, Van could go spread his influence even more.
Also no Heinz can’t unite the whole world against Van. The Orbaume Kingdom has been enemies with the Amid Empire for hundreds of years, all that animosity isn’t just going to go away just because some random-ass pope from Amid might endorse Heinz. One of Alda’s gods even pointed that out to a bunch of other gods citing it as unrealistic. Meanwhile many people on the Amid side think Heinz is a traitor since he fled the country to go to the enemy’s side.
Chiu ChunLing
Van’s influence as a Guider may only reach those he interacts with directly enough to Guide them, but that’s talking about how many people can receive attribute bonuses.
Heinz’s influence as a Guider is pathetic by comparison.
For the larger social influence either can wield, the amount and quality of disposable wealth they can offer to their allies is the decisive factor. I mean, let’s be honest here, it doesn’t have to be a big gain for most individuals, but the amount they have to gain is the real issue.
And that’s where Van and company beats the pants off pretty much anyone else in the world. Van is bringing not only vast intellectual property wealth leveraging knowledge from another world, but products made with his Death Attribute and Demon King Fragments that simply cannot be matched. He’s basically a multi-billionaire up against a celebrity millionaire, there’s a few orders of magnitude difference in what they have to offer.
The only option for Heinz is direct military competition, and here again he’s completely outclassed, if not by so many orders of magnitude. The difference is whether he can awaken Bellwood, and what kind of state he’s in after 50,000 years of being sealed or stuck in a coma or whatever at the hands of the Evil God of Sin Chains.
And whether there’s any reason that guy can’t be brought over to Van’s side to immediately counter Bellwood again.
Doc
I mean technically “legally” as long as he is a commoner and not a noble, being a part of all those guilds doesn’t matter. That’s how feudal society with strict class systems work. A noble could always request Van’s presence, locked him up for some dumb reason, or do whatever he wants to Van due to that common/nobility hierarchy.
Granted, due the various skills and high abilities Van has, any smart noble wouldn’t “kill the goose that lays the golden eggs” as it were, but my point is he certainly isn’t untouchable just by nature of his guild positions.
Now, if he made it known he was the Emporer of a vast nation and got the Orbaume Kingdom to acknowledge his nation, then he’d absolutely be untouchable. But Van doesn’t seem to want to go that path.
Chiu ChunLing
“The whole world” of Lambda is only around 1% of the whole world of Origen, where “Eighth Guidance” is still a going concern as a religion that indirectly worships Van despite (or maybe because of) the martyrdom of their core leadership. Which might not matter if not for the fact that Van has infiltrated that world both in the dreams of those friendly to Eight Guidance and as a physical entity tied to a globally famous family.
It wouldn’t be strange at all for Vandalieu to end up the most widely worshipped god in Lambda by a pretty fair margin, since he’s probably already got more believers in Origen (not in the sense of worshippers, but just people who acknowledge his existence as “the being worshipped by Eight Guidance”) than the total human population of Lambda.
Heinz et al probably has no way of realizing this fact, let alone the implications for Van’s divinity level, until far too late.
gomezseba37
Oh yeah once vandaliu starts making big moves on origin his ammount of worshippers will sky rocket.
he can create Items to give Immortality to everyone easily. or make them undead/golems that dont decay.
that would sell so fucking well on origin It wouldnt even be funny.
we haven seen a god worshipped by several billion people but he will be insanely powerfull once that time comes
Chiu ChunLing
It’s not like he’s going to start anything, he’s just got to respond to whatever else Rikudou tries against Mei. And of course he’s still unconsciously giving his Guidance to people in dreams.
I don’t know about creating items, it’s not that Banda can’t do it but it would compromise his mission of secretly guarding Mei-kun. And handing out items to people in their dreams is not easy.
But they’d definitely sell, that much is certain. Banda has basically all the capabilities of The Undead before he was killed, so he certainly could fill the void left in the global market for Death Attribute products. It’s just that doing so would paint an even bigger target on Mei.
Irazori
Ah who cares? They’re both self-righteous, short-sighted, small-minded, retrogressive wannabe heroes that only care about voicing their own opinions while not hearing out others.
ObserverBias
Maybe I’m misremembering, but didn’t Asagi also ‘only’ ask that Van stop using Death-attribute magic, saying nothing of him absorbing Demon King parts and being the Demon King?
I mean, aside that Van has enough extraneous abilities that active Death-attribute magic is not the sole pillar of his power at this point, while Asagi’s looking into ways to safely separate DK parts from hosts safely (something Van is interested in as well), he didn’t actually ask Van to not do Demon King things… or am I remembering wrong?
Chiu ChunLing
Asagi led with asking Van to stop using Death-attribute, and the discussion never progressed any further cause Asagi is a self-righteous asshole who’s basically incapable of listening to other people’s viewpoint except under the most extreme duress.
But obviously he would have told Van to stop absorbing Demon King Fragments if he’d been given a chance. Stopping Van from doing that is the entire motive for his research into expanding options for sealing them. If he weren’t opposed to Van getting them, he’d have negotiated to turn over any his group manages to contain.
Van doesn’t care cause he’ll inevitably get them all eventually and while all the fragments are useful they aren’t the basis of his power or anything like that. So it’s fine by him if Asagi increases the ways that fragments can be safely sealed to minimize the hazard they pose till Van gets around to absorbing them.
gomezseba37
yeah It would be hilarious If van doesent have to fight a big war. and just de facto wins because he has a high ammount of political power
Absolute Zer0
As MTL reader with extremely small understanding in latest I read Van really did gain enough political power to be considered powerhouse without need of personal strength(which he possesses as BIG plus) with sole fact he is Emperor of Vidal and Alda loses entirely of Orbaume with no other choise but to centerilize his power in Amid. So yeah, Van will almost have that much political power.
Rollrock
Van’s going after that culture victory. He has Cola, magical girls, musclegirls, monstergirls, magicalmusclegirlmonstergirl idols. He has already won.
Zenden1st
Defeat the enemy without fighting
ObserverBias
Look, Schneider, this is what a proper old man acts like.
(them influencing each other would probably go weird pretty quick, I imagine)
Lord Rin
Hmm? A proper old man goes to idol concerts?
Chiu ChunLing
Hell yeah.
Jonathan Hurd
Makes sense to me, lol. Never to old to be an idol fan.
Reiji
Thank you for the chapter. I hope everyone stays safe. Take care! I look forward to more!
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
— Vandalieu had seen a blue-haired Elf enter the city through the Golems and Demon King Familiars positioned on the city’s walls,
Another personal CCTV security 24/7…
XD…