Thanks to this chapter’s sponsors: Euan K. ($2.40) Joshua C. ($1) Joseph T. ($2) David B. ($1) Felix H. ($20) Scott E. ($25) Tejing ($50) Rurouin ($50)
Sumida Shiro… The man known in Origin as the ‘Druid’ Joseph Smith, thought his eyes were healthy. Indeed, his physical examination hadn’t shown any problems, and his eyesight was good.
He also thought that his mind had been recovering rapidly lately. He would still have nightmares, find it difficult to sleep, and experience flashbacks, visual hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations, but they had become noticeably less frequent since this year began.
His counsellor wouldn’t declare him as having recovered, perhaps because of his description of the dreams he had been having in place of his nightmares. Still, he believed that he was on the road to recovery.
He was welcomed into the house of the Amemiya family, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.
“It’s been a while, Joseph. I’m glad you came,” said Hiroto.
“Sumida-sensei… I shouldn’t be calling you that, should I. Joseph-kun, thank you so much,” said Narumi.
Joseph hadn’t seen the pair for over half a year, but they didn’t seem to have changed much.
“N-nice to meet you, Joseph-san! My name is Amemiya Hiroshi!” said their eldest son, using Joseph’s first name despite it being the first time they had met.
“Hey! You should be calling him Smith-san, shouldn’t you?” Narumi said, gently scolding him.
“No, don’t worry about it. Boys should be bright and cheerful,” said Joseph.
Narumi and Hiroshi looked like a very ordinary mother and son.
And then there was the daughter in Narumi’s arms, the one-year-old Mei… If Joseph recalled correctly, she would turn two years old in another two months or so. Narumi’s husband Hiroto stood to her right, looking at his wife and daughter, and to her left was… a mysterious figure.
From a distance, it simply looked like a person wearing a cloak and a creepy-looking mask. But Joseph was looking at it from only about a meter away, and he could tell that the four eyes on its face and the mouth that stretched from ear to ear were real.
“Meh-kun, say hello,” it said.
“I’m, Meh. I’m one!” Mei said.
“Good girl, Mei, greeting Mr. Smith like that. You did so well,” Narumi said proudly.
“Yes, you did very well, Meh-kun,” said the mysterious figure.
That thing… it resembles the mysterious being in my dreams, the one that calms me, holds me close, and guides me! Joseph realized.
The mysterious figure… Banda, looked familiar to him. That was because Joseph had met Vandalieu in his dreams, and Vandalieu had given him a piece of his soul.
Banda was also made of a part of Vandalieu’s soul; it was only natural that Joseph felt a sense of closeness to him.
But why can I see it? I am currently awake. This isn’t a dream… No, is it a hallucination?!
Joseph’s intuition was not sharp enough to immediately realize what Banda was and accept what he was seeing; he was a logically-thinking person.
“We’ll be counting on you to protect the children for the next three days,” said Hiroto. “There are bodyguards as well, and there’s the backup of the army and the police, but…”
“Yeah, I know. The enemy might be the Eighth Guidance, right? I won’t let my guard down,” said Joseph.
Although he was agitated by Banda’s presence, he was well-trained enough to suppress his mental discomposure and keep observing Banda while continuing his conversation with the Amemiyas.
“It seems that everyone from the Eighth Guidance really were very strong,” Banda said to himself.
Because Joseph wasn’t reacting to Banda’s presence, Banda was under the assumption that Joseph couldn’t see him, just like every other person, including the ‘Titan’ Iwao.
Vandalieu, the person Banda originated from, had plenty of experience in battle, but the military also conducted intelligence-gathering, and he had not received any training in that.
Amemiya and the others can’t see him or hear his voice? In other words… I must be hallucinating after all, Joseph decided.
As the Amemiyas couldn’t see Banda, Joseph assumed that Banda was a hallucination.
And so began three strange days of Joseph and Banda living in the same house.
However, the misunderstanding between Banda and Joseph was resolved on the first day.
As Joseph watched Hiroshi study, Banda came over and started whispering in Hiroshi’s ear, teaching him how to solve the arithmetic problems. The moment Hiroshi heard Banda’s explanation, he began solving the problems, and Joseph realized that Banda was not a hallucination that only he could see and hear.
“So, you can see me,” said Banda. “That is surprising… Anyway, Hiroshi, if you remember this formula, you’ll be able to solve those problems, so let’s try that.”
“Banda, now’s not the time for that!” said Hiroshi. “Mister, you can see Banda?! That’s amazing! I can only see Banda when he shows himself to me!”
“Y-yeah. Could it be that you’re someone’s ability? Do the Amemiyas know about you?” asked the surprised Joseph.
Banda shook his head. “No, I’m not something that was created by the ability of one of the Bravers. And the only ones who know about me are Amemiya Mei, also known as Meh-kun, and Hiroshi. We’re keeping it a secret from their parents.”
“Then why are you in this house?! It must be the Eighth Guidance after all…!”
“No, that’s not the case. I’m just a split entity of my main body that was bound to Meh-kun. My objective is for Meh-kun to grow up to be healthy and happy. That’s all.”
“Main body?! Banda, you never told me that!” Hiroshi exclaimed. “And does that mean you don’t care about me?!”
“Of course I care about you. You’re family to Meh-kun. Meh-kun’s happiness can’t be achieved without the happiness of her beloved older brother,” Banda told him.
Joseph looked like he wanted to interject, but Banda held up a hand to tell him to wait and let him finish.
“If I put it that way, when you grow a little older, you might think that you only matter because you’re Mei’s older brother, and I don’t care about you as a person, but that would be very incorrect,” Banda continued. “People are put in various positions from the moment they are born, and these follow them for their entire lives. You are the eldest son of Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi, and Meh-kun’s older brother, and these facts will not change until you die. Try to grow your mind to be able to accept that without denying it or becoming cynical or bitter about it.”
“Umm… Well, I kind of get what you’re trying to say. Probably,” said Hiroshi, looking quite confused.
“That’s good,” said Banda, patting his head with one of his four hands before turning back to Joseph. “Sorry to keep you waiting. If possible, I would like for you to listen to what I have to say.”
“… Yes. I have no objection to you continuing to speak. There are a few things that I have come to understand,” said Joseph.
While Banda was talking to Hiroshi, Joseph had remembered something – Banda’s voice was the same voice that he had heard in his dreams.
He had also reached the conclusion that when Hiroshi and Mei were kidnapped, Banda was the one who had slaughtered the kidnappers.
Their corpses had been in a state that made it difficult to think that their murder had been the doing of any human; it wasn’t strange to think that their murderer was an inhuman being.
“But there’s something that I want to say first,” Joseph said.
“Joseph-san, I know Banda’s appearance is… that, but he’s a good guy! He really is!” said Hiroshi, standing between Joseph and Banda.
There was something that Joseph needed to say, for Hiroshi’s sake as well.
“Thank you, Hiroshi,” said Banda. “What is the thing you wanted to say, Smith-san?”
“Then I shall say it… Your words just now, they were too argumentative. I know you wanted to explain things in detail, but don’t you think it’s also important to directly express what you feel?” said Joseph.
“I see. You’re right,” Banda agreed. “Hiroshi, I love you. Would you like to touch my tentacles?” he said, immediately accepting Joseph’s advice and embracing Hiroshi from behind while extending his tentacles.
“Aaaah! Stop it!” Hiroshi shouted, surprised and embarrassed, batting Banda’s tentacles away.
Unlike his younger sister, it seemed that he did not like wriggling things.
“Wriggle wriggle,” said a small, happy voice.
Mei, who had woken up from her nap, was trotting her way over to Banda.
Seeing this, Joseph understood that Banda was not a threat to those who did not wish to harm the children.
Having finished his study, Hiroshi began his secret training… his no-attribute magic training, and while Mei took another nap, Banda and Joseph shared further conversations.
The other bodyguards were patrolling outside the room where the children were, and they couldn’t hear Banda’s voice in the first place. Joseph had told them that the commotion earlier was just the children playing around.
Unlike them, Joseph could see and hear Banda, and the theory was established that this was because of his ability, ‘Druid.’
Ordinarily, it was an ability that manipulated plants, but perhaps because its power was similar to life-attribute magic, Joseph was able to see the auras of living things.
It was likely that this allowed him to see Banda as a part of Mei’s aura, as he was a part of her soul.
Banda had also whispered in Joseph’s ear, telling him about the situation in Origin that he had heard about from Kanako and the others.
“To think that things have turned out this way… It’s difficult to believe that Rikudou was pulling the strings behind the incident with the Eighth Guidance in the Hexagon in the Federal States,” Joseph whispered back. “No, wait, it’s not difficult to believe at all.”
Banda had needed to explain the situation to Joseph in order to have him keep quiet about his existence, and because he wanted Joseph to be wary of Rikudou.
However, Banda had not told Joseph of Lambda and his true identity. Explaining Lambda’s existence would be an overload of information, and he didn’t know if Joseph would believe him. And if he revealed his true identity to Joseph, it was possible that Joseph would become suspicious of him for his relationship with the Eighth Guidance and his conflict with the Bravers.
“However, you have no reason to lie to me. And if Rikudou is controlling the mind of ‘Metamorph’ and manipulating her, then his alibis are worthless. He can use ‘Metamorph’ as a body double while existing in another place at the same time, after all,” Joseph said, still whispering. “I shall believe you on this, and I shall believe that you are what you say you are.”
What Banda described was astonishing, and Joseph suspected that he wasn’t telling him everything, but he decided to accept it as the truth.
Incidentally, Joseph and Banda were continuing their conversation in whispers because rare alarm systems fitted with sensors that could detect death-attribute Mana had been installed inside the Amemiya residence as a security measure against possible intrusion by remnants of the Eighth Guidance. Thus, Banda was currently unable to cancel the sound of his voice with death-attribute magic.
“… I know it’s strange coming from me, but are you sure you are alright with believing me? There’s no proof that I’m not a part of the Eighth Guidance, you know?” said Banda.
“Well, that is true, but… if I were to begin suspecting you, then there would be no end to it. And if you were a part of the Eighth Guidance, you wouldn’t try to help me… and even if Mei-chan is very attached to you, I don’t think Hiroshi-kun would take such a liking to you if you were,” said Joseph, watching Hiroshi use ‘Telekinesis’ to stack building blocks to practice controlling his magic.
The existence of no-attribute magic had not been observed in this world, so there were no sensors that could detect no-attribute Mana. Thus, Hiroshi was free to practice as much as he wanted.
“But then, you must be the ‘Undead’ who has returned to this world from the afterlife,” said Joseph, guessing at Banda’s identity. “If that’s the case, why would you help me? Although I was not present at that time… Even so, I am not someone you should be considering your ally.”
Joseph was partially correct, but Banda did not correct him or deny it.
“It’s just a coincidence. It’s not like I introduced myself in your dreams, is it?” Banda said as he stretched out a tentacle.
“You did not, but… you have not told the Amemiyas of this?”
“Do you think I could?”
“It would be difficult. Perhaps it might be safe if Narumi-san knew, but it would be dangerous to reveal it to Hiroto. He described the death attribute to his companions as a forbidden power that should not exist. There is no telling what he would do if he were to learn about you… about Mei-chan.”
Joseph considered Amemiya Hiroto to be a virtuous individual. Mentally, Amemiya appeared far stronger and more stable than Joseph. But it was difficult to imagine that he would remain a good father to his daughter if he were to learn that she possessed death-attribute Mana.
“But if it is possible to erase death-attribute Mana, he would certainly attempt to erase the death-attribute Mana from his daughter. If the fact that his daughter possesses an affinity for death-attribute Mana were to be discovered… and if your existence were to be discovered, there is no doubt that his daughter would be put in the same position as the ‘Undead’ and ‘Pluto,’” said Joseph.
“That’s troublesome, isn’t it? If Amemiya Hiroto was not Meh-kun’s father, things would be simple,” said Banda.
“… Can you not do something about Rikudou? If he is the one pulling the strings in the background, it may be possible to convince Amemiya that the people using the death attribute are the cause of others’ misery, not the death attribute itself.”
Joseph was grateful that Banda was trying to maintain a good home environment for Mei, and at the same time, he was also friends with Amemiya. Thus, he was suggesting that Rikudou’s evil deeds be revealed to Amemiya, so that things between Banda and Amemiya could be settled peacefully.
As Banda and Joseph were unaware that other reincarnated individuals and influential figures in political and business circles were working with Rikudou, this seemed like the most realistic plan to deal with Amemiya.
“But is that even possible?” Banda questioned.
“I think it would be difficult for me on my own. But if we can help the ‘Metamorph’ Shihouin Mari to regain her mind and secure her safety, that should provide irrefutable evidence of Rikudou’s deeds,” said Joseph.
To the public, Shihouin Mari was known to be dead after her prison cell was destroyed by a bomb planted by the Eighth Guidance. If it were to be proven that she was transforming into Rikudou and acting as his body double, it would be over for Rikudou.
After Mari regained her mind, if she possessed memories of the time during which she was acting as Rikudou’s body double, her testimony would become very valuable as well.
Banda nodded, but he pointed out something else. “The problem is whether I will be able to remove the mind control effect on her. And it will be difficult to differentiate whether it’s her or the real Rikudou.”
“Huh? Could you not do to her what you did to me?” asked Joseph.
“If I had the ability to control people’s minds, I would have controlled Amemiya Hiroto and made him be more wary of Rikudou long ago,” Banda replied.
“I suppose that is true.”
Joseph’s plan would not work if Banda could not save Shihouin Mari.
Banda was confident that he would be able to remove the effects of brainwashing done by magic or a fragment of the Demon King, but he was not confident that he would be able to remove the brainwashing on Shihouin Mari, which had already been in place for a long period of time.
Of course, Vandalieu had also given Mari a piece of his soul in her dreams, but… neither Banda nor Vandalieu were aware of that.
“Then what shall we do? I think there are limits to what we can do on our own,” said Joseph.
“There are several people other than you to whom I’ve given a fragment of my soul, so… if fate wills it, we might be able to meet them. Until then, let’s maintain the current situation and keep an eye on things. Please don’t do anything reckless,” said Banda.
“We don’t have any other choice, do we…?” said Joseph.
If Joseph were to do something risky and was captured by Rikudou as a result, and Banda’s existence became known, Mei would be in danger.
And Banda didn’t intend to use Joseph as a disposable pawn. That wasn’t why Vandalieu had given Joseph a piece of his own soul, after all.
Just then, Hiroshi came over, having finished his ‘Telekinesis’ exercise.
“Banda, I’ve stacked all the blocks,” he said quietly, knowing that Banda would be nearby.
Indeed, there was now a castle made of building blocks where Hiroto had been practicing.
“Well done. You’re quicker to learn than I am, Hiroshi,” said Banda.
“R-really?” said Hiroshi, blushing a little.
“Yes, you are,” said Banda. “Well then, shall we try building a pyramid with playing cards next?”
Hiroshi’s expression changed completely. “That’s really hard! Isn’t there an easier exercise to do?”
“Well, if I’m honest, I think it is difficult even for an adult. But I think you’ll become able to do it. And once you do, I’ll teach you the next spell,” said Banda.
“Mmm, alright,” Hiroshi said reluctantly. “But make sure you give me some of your Mana.”
“Yes, of course,” said Banda.
Despite his reluctant expression, Hiroshi wasn’t all that unhappy, and he put away Mei’s building blocks and began trying to build a card pyramid.
“To think that you can share your Mana with others… There seems to be considerable depth to no-attribute magic,” Joseph remarked.
“Well, it’s a matter of practice and the amount of Mana you have. It seems that Hiroshi has a talent for it,” said Banda. “Ah, it’s snack time soon, so can you please feed the jelly in the fridge to Meh-kun?”
“… I almost forgot. I am not only the children’s bodyguard, but their babysitter,” Joseph sighed.
Meanwhile, in his Divine Realm, Rodcorte was just about to return Edgar’s soul to Alda and his allies, having finished his treatment.
“This task would ordinarily take one year, and I have completed it in less than half a year. I am sure they will have nothing to complain about,” Rodcorte murmured to himself.
He had used fine pieces of the Demon King’s soul – which would perhaps be better described as soul dust – but even so, Rodcorte did not believe that Alda had any right to complain.
Edgar’s soul had been wounded, and there had been damage not only to his memories and Skills, but his personality as well. Rodcorte had put it back together along with the fragments of the soul of Luke, a heroic spirit of the God of Judgment Niltark, to restore it.
This had been an exceedingly difficult task even for Rodcorte, a god who ruled over reincarnation and was an expert on souls.
In order to carry this task out within less than a year, he had been forced to use the extreme method of adding the Demon King’s soul dust.
Machida Aran had insisted that Rodcorte should be honest and inform Alda that he had used the Demon King’s soul dust, but Rodcorte had ignored him.
The Demon King’s soul dust consisted of vestiges of meaningless memories and emotions, things that even the Demon King Guduranis himself would consider to be worthless. It was completely impossible that the soul dust would take over the core of Edgar’s soul.
He might be confused by unfamiliar memories, and his personality may be affected to some degree, but Luke’s soul should have a far greater effect on him than that. And if I tell Alda and his gods that I have used the Demon King’s soul dust, they will be pointlessly wary of Edgar, which will hinder them in their task of defeating Vandalieu. Thus, my decision to hide it from Alda is correct, Rodcorte thought, justifying his actions to himself.
Next, he went to check on the reincarnated individuals in both worlds.
He had been receiving information every day on Lambda from records of its humans and updates from Alda and his gods. He was aware that Vandalieu was continuing to guide people as he pleased, thanks to the error alert sounds made by his circle of transmigration system.
Recently, Endou Kouya and Shimada Izumi had been dealing with these errors quickly, so the alert sounds had been stopping soon after they began.
“The soul Vandalieu destroyed this time was one of the remnants of the Demon King’s army, I see. How troublesome,” Rodcorte muttered to himself.
Monsters that served as the servants of evil gods were under the jurisdiction of the Demon King’s circle of transmigration system, so no matter how many of their souls were broken, it meant nothing to Rodcorte. The same was true for the souls of the evil gods that commanded the monsters.
To begin with, even Rodcorte wasn’t knowledgeable about where the souls of gods went. It was possible that there was a being on an even greater scale than gods like Rodcorte who managed the souls of gods, who was currently being troubled by Vandalieu’s recent actions.
But even if that were the case, it had nothing to do with Rodcorte and his familiar spirits. Even after the destruction of the souls of gods that had served Guduranis and the souls of Lambda’s gods, no such superior being had revealed itself.
Leaving such delusions aside, Rodcorte checked on recent news from Lambda and sighed as he learned of the current situation in the Alcrem Duchy.
“With this, not only does the strength of Vandalieu and Vida’s forces increase, but the strength of Alda’s forces will be reduced. To think that Vandalieu would be stealing not only believers, but gods as well. How lenient of Alda and his servants. The moment they knew Zerzoregin still existed, they should have attacked and destroyed him along with the city of Alcrem and Borgadon,” he lamented.
If the gods of Alda’s forces had done that, the gods of Vida’s faction would not have gained new worshippers, and they would not have gained a bridge to human society that was even greater than the city of Morksi. A million lives would have been lost in the process, but all Rodcorte would have needed to do was recover their souls before they could be used by Vandalieu.
There was even a promising individual who had been appointed as the Pope of the Great Church in the Amid Empire, so they could have even had the Amid Empire invade Orbaume without any problems.
“No, Vandalieu and his allies would escape using teleportation. If he did that, then it would be a waste of strength to take direct action upon the world and destroy a large city. I suppose they did not want to be at a disadvantage in the battle that would follow. I see,” Rodcorte muttered, coming to his own biased conclusions.
Next, he checked Asagi and his companions in the Birgitt Duchy, Mao and Gotouta who had left the Bahn Gaia continent, and finally, the ‘Urðr’ Kei Mackenzie.
“She should be five years old, soon. I had her reincarnate as a fetus that should have been a stillbirth, so she should have developed more than if I had reincarnated her as a newly-fertilized zygote. Still, it seems that her memories have not yet returned. I suppose I will keep an eye on her for another few months or perhaps half a year.”
After that, he shifted his gaze towards the reincarnated individuals in Origin. He started with the ‘Avalon’ Rikudou Hijiri and his companions. Though it was extremely unlikely, it would be problematic if their research had succeeded in achieving immortality.
“For now, it doesn’t seem that there are any signs of that. Then, Amemiya Hiroto and the others…”
Rodcorte was hoping that Amemiya Hiroto would defeat Rikudou and stop his research on the death attribute, but Rodcorte couldn’t see any change to his situation.
As for the other reincarnated individuals –
“What is this?!” Rodcorte shouted suddenly upon seeing the memories of the ‘Druid’ Joseph.
In his memories, Rodcorte saw Banda.
“Impossible. This must be a piece of Vandalieu’s soul, a split entity. Why is it in this world… How, and for what purpose?!”
Dumbfounded, Rodcorte hastily checked the memories of the other humans in his system, but they did not give him any answers to his questions.
He tried to search the records from Joseph, who had spoken to Banda directly, as well as Hiroshi and Mei, but the images and sounds of Joseph and Hiroshi’s records were obscured by noise, and Rodcorte couldn’t make out any fine details. As for Mei, he couldn’t see any records from her whatsoever.
“They are being guided, in Origin? A world where no circle of transmigration system exists but mine, a world with no Statuses or Skills? Even if the God of Origin is working with Vandalieu, is such a thing even possible?”
Rodcorte was bewildered, as he had believed the Status System to be active only in Lambda, but he sensed the truth – Mei, Hiroshi, and Joseph had been partially guided.
No, as Rodcorte had just said to himself, his circle of transmigration system was the only one in Origin, so it was possible that they had simply become stuck in his system. If they were moved to the world of Lambda, it was likely that they would be incorporated into Vida’s circle of transmigration system.
How in the world had such a situation occurred?
“Is it the guidance of Zuruwarn? And as for Vandalieu implanting a part of his own soul in Amemiya Hiroto’s daughter… Is it to gather information on the reincarnated individuals while staying close to Amemiya Hiroto, slowly take over his daughter’s body, and devour the souls of the reincarnated individuals before they are reincarnated? … No, perhaps he intends to invade Origin, for when Lambda is destroyed,” Rodcorte murmured.
If Lambda were a country, then the battle between the gods of Alda’s forces and the gods of Vida’s faction, which was led by Vandalieu, would be a civil war. Both sides needed to win at all costs, but if they went too far, the world of Lambda would be destroyed.
Even if Vandalieu were to be victorious, if many of the gods of Alda’s forces were destroyed, it would become impossible to maintain Lambda’s existence, and it would be destroyed before long.
Was Vandalieu planning for this event by sending a split entity of himself to Origin as an insurance plan? In an emergency, would he open a Teleportation Gate between the two worlds and invade Origin, just as the Demon King Guduranis had invaded Lambda in the distant past?
No, there were very few monsters and Undead in Origin and no Status System; its military forces would be defeated by Vandalieu and his allies with ease. Perhaps he would invade Origin before the decisive battle against Alda and his forces.
And then he would kill all of humanity in Origin, turn them into Undead, and make them worship the gods of Vida’s faction. With the support of the prayers of approximately ten billion Undead, the power of the gods of Vida’s faction would exceed that of Alda’s forces, allowing them to prevail in the battle and even maintain Lambda’s existence with ease afterwards.
Rodcorte suspected that this was Vandalieu’s plan.
“How could this happen! If the God of Origin is working with him as well, then at this rate, all of humanity in Origin will be turned into Undead…”
And then Rodcorte became certain his suspicions were true.
He was panicking, knowing that he needed to do something, but even if he were to warn Alda and the other gods of Lambda, they could not do anything in Origin. As Rodcorte himself was not worshipped by Origin’s people, he couldn’t interfere with anything there except for the reincarnated individuals.
It was possible to send a Divine Message to the reincarnated individuals, but…
“Even if I were to warn Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi, even if they were willing to kill another reincarnated individual, it is uncertain as to whether they could kill their own child… In fact, if I told them of Vandalieu’s split entity, there is the risk that this will result in the destruction of their souls. In that case… I should make use of Rikudou Hijiri, whom Vandalieu’s split entity is being wary of.”
Rodcorte would set Rikudou Hijiri on Vandalieu’s split entity, and while Rikudou was busy focusing on that, he would warn Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi.
This was the only way to eliminate Vandalieu’s split entity.
“To think that I would end up supporting Rikudou Hijiri’s research into the death attribute. But will he be able to interpret my Divine Message correctly?” Rodcorte wondered as he began preparations to send the Divine Message.
Machida Aran, Endou Kouya and Shimada Izumi were watching him, wondering what they were supposed to do.
“… I’m willing to bet on it. He’s wrong about what he thinks Vandalieu plans to do,” said Aran.
“Nobody will take you up on that. It’s a losing bet,” said Izumi.
“I suppose you’re right.”
The familiar spirits didn’t believe Rodcorte’s theory for a second – the theory that Vandalieu intended to invade Origin and turn the entirety of its population into Undead in order to have an advantage in the battle in Lambda.
It was true that Origin was not a world that Vandalieu had fond memories of. On top of that, both of his parents in his second life had abandoned him. There wasn’t a single member of the Eighth Guidance, the people who had worshipped him, left there.
The familiar spirits did not know that Vandalieu and Legion had received the divine protection of the God of Origin; as far as they were aware, Vandalieu’s connection to the world of Origin had been severed completely.
They suspected that the majority of humanity in Origin were people that Vandalieu didn’t care about.
“But he’s not the kind of person who doesn’t mind killing people just because he doesn’t care about them,” said Machida.
“Yeah. He doesn’t consider nothing to be a negative,” Kouya agreed.
Vandalieu wouldn’t kill people without a good reason, even if he wasn’t acquainted with them and had no connection to them at all. If he did have a good reason to kill someone, he would do it without hesitation, and that was something that set him apart from the average Japanese person from Earth, but at the very least, it was unlikely that he would do what Rodcorte was worried that he would do.
In fact, he was capable of doing what Rodcorte feared in Lambda rather than Origin. He could turn its inhabitants into Undead, charm them, and make them worship the gods of Vida’s faction.
He hadn’t done that, so it was unlikely that he would do it in Origin.
“With that said, if you look at him, he won’t listen to whatever we have to say. We can’t stop him, so we have no choice but to leave him be,” said Kouya.
“I’m sure Vandalieu knew that he was going to be noticed at some point, so let’s have him deal with things on his own,” said Izumi. “More importantly, Aran, how likely is it that Vandalieu and his friends will win in a battle against the God of Law and Fate and his servants?”
“Hmm… I’m using ‘Calculation,’ but don’t put much faith in what it says. I can only estimate the strength of Vandalieu’s forces, and Alda’s lot don’t trust Rodcorte or us, so I don’t have detailed data on them, either. But… if Vandalieu and his allies joined forces and instigated an all-out war against Alda right now, their chance of victory would be ten percent,” said Aran.
To begin with, Alda’s gods were in their Divine Realms, so Vandalieu and his allies would need to somehow enter them.
The Divine Realms would be a home ground for the heroic spirits and the gods. They would be limited if they were to fight on Lambda’s surface, but in their Divine Realms, they would be able to wield their full power.
Finally, there was a difference in numbers. Alda’s forces had many gods, as well as countless heroes and people like Aran who had ascended to become heroic spirits and familiar spirits over the past hundred thousand years.
Vida’s faction also had significant numbers, and many of Vandalieu’s companions were capable of fighting against gods. But even so, Alda’s forces had the advantage in numbers.
If the heroic spirits of Alda’s forces were to descend upon Lambda, their time there would be limited, but such a time limit would not exist in their Divine Realms. And unlike the heroic spirits that Fitun had created hastily, they would be equipped with what could be called the arms of the gods.
“Well, if it’s a simple question of whether they can win or not, I think it’s fifty-fifty,” Aran continued. “Many of the gods of Vida’s side are in a state of exhaustion, but they have Zantark, Farmaun, Gufadgarn, Tiamat, the Pure-breed Vampires, and even if they’re exhausted, there’s the three great gods including Vida. And most importantly, there’s Vandalieu. But even if they win, if Vandalieu destroys too many gods and too many of the remaining gods use up their strength, they’ll be unable to maintain the world’s existence after the battle, and the world will be destroyed.”
The forces of Alda would likely make a frantic effort to fight against Vandalieu and his allies if they were to invade, and it would also be impossible for Vandalieu’s side to defeat Alda’s side while holding back their strength.
If both sides were weakened, it was highly likely that everyone would perish along with the entire world. That was the answer given by Aran’s ‘Calculation.’
“Well, to begin with, it’s questionable as to whether Vandalieu would be able to take his allies into the Divine Realms. And my calculations were made assuming that Bellwood remains slumbering. If Bellwood returns, Vandalieu’s chances of victory are even slimmer,” Aran concluded.
“Incidentally, what are Vandalieu’s chances if Rodcorte’s theory on his plans is correct?” Kouya asked.
“The plan of turning Origin’s population of ten billion or so people into Undead? In that case, Vida’s side’s chance of victory is solidly over ninety percent. After all, it’s a hundred times the number of people worshipping the gods of Alda’s forces in Lambda,” Aran replied.
“… In other words, Rodcorte’s reasoning isn’t completely unreasonable,” said Izumi.
“But I’m sure that Vandalieu wouldn’t even be capable of coming up with a strategy like that… I’m sure Vandalieu doesn’t intend to begin a decisive battle against Alda anytime soon,” said Kouya.
Aran nodded in agreement. “Probably not. Personally, I don’t think Vandalieu will begin a decisive battle at all. He’ll have people convert from worshipping the gods of Alda’s forces to worshipping gods of Vida faction, like he did in the Alcrem Duchy, then invade the Amid Empire when the time is right. With that, he’ll flip the power balance between Alda’s forces and Vida’s faction. I’m sure Alda’s lot will make a move before then, but… setting things on the world’s surface rather than invading their Divine Realms gives Vandalieu the advantage.”
“… Then I suppose that means that we still have some time,” said Izumi. “Aran, Kouya, have you gotten used to the operation and maintenance of the system?”
“If it’s just making it work, yeah. I’ve started getting used to the errors, but… it’s hard to apply the theory,” said Aran.
“Same here,” said Kouya. “To do things perfectly, I’ll need another few years.”
With that, the three familiar spirits nodded and agreed to carry on doing things as they had been, and returned to assisting the circle of transmigration system.
Want to support Yoshi's translations? Head over to the Donations Page
NOVEL DISCUSSION
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Ronin
You know not to completely give Alda credit but, at least he actually thinks about things calmly and using what limited information he has as a possibility of what might happen. Rodiot and the other heroic gods I swear jump to conclusion that make no damn sense.
Merashin
Alda sees reality as a chessboard and evaluates his opponents as intelligent adversaries. Rodiot views reality as a program and is paranoid that any error is a catastrophic error (since only catastrophic errors could interfere with his perfect programming). So, Rodiot’s thinking makes sense when you remember he’s a self-aggrandizing super-geek who has way too little social experience. Basically, imagine Rodiot as the stereotypical anime con-goer who never showers is trying to get upskirts of all the cosplayers.
Alke
Rottencortex is reeeaaally sick in the head 😑😑😒😒💩💩💩. If he continues like that, Alda will be the one who’s gonna kill him, two incompetent sh*ts are gonna kill each other. Giving hijiri the result of the research 😒😒so, how can I explain that? 🤔Let’s see, you are planning to create two nutjobs in two worlds, who can destroy these worlds just based on your crazy composition of maybes that are more the thoughts of a lunatic conspiracy theorist 🤔it’s pretty much that, isn’t it ? 😑💩💩💩If you said sorry the first time when you messed up or even tried to fix things afterwards, it would have been fixed. Now you’re putting in jeopardy worlds to kill only one person because he eventually has the ability to destroy them, and you?!
Akachi86
Ratcortex is slowly losing his mind 😀
Zenden1st
ohno when has someone taking dust into their body did any good
Einherjar
Is so sad that every single time Rodcorte shows up in this series makes wanna quit…Like when Alda way of thinking and how he reacts is the same but Rodcorte.. really really makes wanna let go the series
Polaris
Who?
asked
bitch.
🎤💥
ManlyArmorCombat
I just laugh at him.
Randy Rando
Rodcarte is almost like a comic relief character. He’s SUPPOSED to be unbelievably stupid.
Rollrock
I swear, Rodcorte has got to be getting all his good ideas from Hitogami. If there ever were a god of failure, foolish ventures and incomprehension, Rodcorte definitely qualifies as one.
bk3k
I call him the God of Incompetence and Reincarnation.
DarkCarnage
we need more people to worship him like this so that it become true and he can’t avoid it ^^
Hobbes
Hitogami is at least a decent schemer, though that mostly has to do with his foresight.
Rotcortex wouldn’t know a good idea if it bit him & mauled him like a pack of wild dogs (until it has to move aside for Van to eat his soul).
Irazori
I forget, was Smith one of rikudo’s research subjects in death-attribute? Or just one of the reincarnators that was facing mental problems like when Hitomi used Gazer too many times?
As usual, rod-moron is showing us a line of thinking to be fitting as the #2 of the aldiots.
Tejing
He’s one of the reincarnators with mental problems (till Van cleared them up)
Chiu ChunLing
Okay, it seriously looks like Joseph Smith is an intentionally chosen name, and he’s going to become the prophet of Vandalieu to Origin.
Hopefully it doesn’t end with him getting imprisoned and killed, that would kinda suck. And this story is best when it’s made of win.
Who Cares
So what will happen with Edgar.
1) Pseudo demon king due to memories on one side and a permanent familiar boost on the other side?
2) Van notices the dust and does the equivalent of yelling “Kids come home I’ve got food for you” resulting in Edgars soul being pulled out of his body by the dust only to be dragged towards Van so it can be consumed.
3) Similar to 2) but only the demon king fragments leave giving Edgar a split personality that end up fighting each other more then Van due to ideological differences.
4) The Greater demon King class plus all those nice guide classes straight up convert Edgar to Vans side through the dust used as cement.
5) Similar to 4) but instead you get a 3 way fight to control the body (and mind) of Edgar.
6) Edgar notices, thanks to the dust, how WTFBBQ powerful Van is and leaves because he isn’t payed enough to fight THAT.
7) Dust and spirit get in a fight of control of Edgar once they get close to Van. Van snacks on both of them freeing Edgar from their influence.
7A) Edgar high tails it out of there once freed.
7B) Edgar join Vans side.
7C) Ghost Edgar joins Vans side after Edgar commits suicide by Vandalieu.
8) Edgar sensing how strong Van is due to the dust, the dust leaving a moment later while pushing Edgar to being guided by Van which results in the heroic spirit rebelling after which Van snacks on said spirit freeing Edgar from control of any other entity and voluntarily joining Van in gratitude.
9) Something even more convoluted (and requiring dozens of one in a million chances occurring just right) that just happens because Vandalieu and crew are in the area for sight seeing, looking for new food, or just trying to be nice to someone.
Saintdragon
Vamos louvar o deus gênio rodcorte, aquele que conseguiu desvendar o plano maléfico do ser mais vil e hediondo do universo o grande rei demônio vandalieu!!!
(ironia)
(Caso os gringos queiram ler esse comentário traduzam seus preguiçosos)
Irazori
Pretty sure Van would just destroy edgar’s soul, since he is one of the founding morons of heinz’s fake peace aldiots.
Bob, Son of Bob
More Banda and Meh? Awwww yisss!
Silverdrem
I would like to invite all of you to imagine that you own a mansion and have invited a guard to protect it while you are away enjoying your vacation. As soon as you are out, this guard starts carrying out a really ingenious plan: he orders the servants to gather all your belongings from the entire mansion; the jewels, clothes, and the furniture and bring them to a single room, so he can keep an eye on everything at the same time. The reason he never told you about his plan is because he knew you worry pointlessly, even though he knows it’s a perfectly sound plan. When the servants refuse to do it and say the plan is completely deranged, he insists that it was requested by you and even threatens them with violence to make them comply, all to fulfill he’s job. However, he actually has other, more important jobs to worry about as well, so he finds a few strong-looking people who already have their own guns and gives them a huge amount of money, as well as you mansion’s keys so they can watch your stuff in his stead, making sure to warn them, that he will only be back the day before you return. When he does come back, he is really surprised to discover the people he hired stole all your stuff on the very first day and he asks himself:
“How could this have happened?”
When you question him about he insists there was nothing wrong with his plan to gather everyting in one place and it would have normally worked perfectly if weren’t for the random people he hired having betrayed him, which he couldn’t have possibly predicted. It was also inpossible for him to have watched your stuff himself because he had more important things to do, which you should have been well aware of. So this is really all your fault and he can’t be blamed for it in anyway, he would also do it all again in a heartbeat.
This guard, if he were real, would be the one person in the entire multiverse who thinks in the same way Rodcorte does. Which should demonstrate why asking for Rodcorte’s help for something important, or worse, giving him something important, such as Edgar’s soul is an incomprehensibly terrible idea.
ObserverBias
Do you imagine the Magi trio letting him know that they’re training to take over for him would redouble his efforts to remove himself from his responsibilities, or would he instead take that as a challenge and actually start doing his job properly to not get shown up by some whipper-snappers?
.
Or would he take option 3, electing to actively make every situation that he could /worse/ before loudly passing off responsibility to them, because “clearly they’re on Vandalieu’s side” based on some logic that he can’t explain convincingly?
Chiu ChunLing
Let’s be honest, the only reason he hasn’t come up with a wild theory about those three conspiring to betray him to Van in the end is because that’s exactly what they’re gonna do.
Silverdrem
Let’s not be unfair, doing he’s regular job (maintaining the rencarnation system) is the one thing Rodcorte clearly does really well and better than anybody else. This is the only why all the other gods have no choice but to tolerate him.
Chiu ChunLing
I’d say that developing a highly perfect system in the first place is also quite an accomplishment. But it’s a bit spoiled by the whole “even saints can be bugs or weeds in their next life” thing. Though I don’t really think that’s so terrible myself….
bookworm12
That’s the biggest problem with Rodcorte’s system. No karma. That might be the real reason mortals aren’t allowed to know details about the reincarnation systems (some details seemed to be allowed, but others were wiped from the minds of the Bravers as soon as they left Rodcorte’s divine realm). If people found out about the lack of karma, there’d be no reason to stick to morality and not just rape, murder, steal, etc. as they please. Just commit suicide as soon as they’re caught and there would be no punishment other than moving on to the next life. I’m not saying that all people behave because they’re afraid of hell, but I’m sure it helps. What would REALLY help would be Van standing over them in his soul form (possibly in their dreams if they know he’s real) and saying, “You do any of these things and you may end up spending 100 years as a toilet before reincarnating into a cockroach.”
Phantom Knight
LMAO Rodcorte is too convinced of his own wisdom and intelligence to the point that he ignores the opinions and deductions of everyone else
Chiu ChunLing
I hate to tell you this, but there have been way too many instances of this actually happening for it to all be the work of just one guy.
Silverdrem
!!??… really? I guess it was mistake to underestimate the limitless potential of the human species. Would you mind adding a link to such an story?
Chiu ChunLing
I actually would mind, but I’ll give you a hint. Take a good hard look at “public servants”.
Silverdrem
LOL, fair enough.
Phantom Knight
Your example just goes to show how single-minded Rodcorte is, how arrogant he is, and how he doesn’t know anything about interpersonal relationships. Lol
CyberDre
I think Rodcorte might be just as if not more insane than Van, I mean having your enemy inspire such fear that you start to overestimate their abilities and misread their intentions, I have no doubt Van and Co can one shot everything thing in Origin, but c’mon, why would the gods of Origin allow or help him do any of that, just adding this small detail would shatter Rodcorte’s entire theory, why would they help someone whose plan is to turn everything on their planet into undeads? infact he must have seen at least images of the kidnappers or something, right , right? So he should know that isn’t Van’s intention
Again Rodcorte must truly be insane to conclude this as Van’s intentions, He might be the new DK but he’s clearly different from Guduranis, the more Rodcorte and Alda make leaps in logic like this , the less it takes away from Van’s eventual victory! They’re basically throwing themselves to him, it’s Sad!
Alke
CyberDre : they are totally more insane than Vandalieu! I mean the scale of their half-baked antsy scenarios and delusional ideas and comportements is on another level! 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳Espacially Rottencortex, he is really a total nutjob, there is no solution no possibility of treatment at all, not that Alda can be helped too😒💩💩💩. The difference between the two incompetent and crazy gods and Vandalieu is : Vandalieu knows when he is acting irrational and at least he asks for advice and accepts to be helped and adviced when it comes to it, and he doesn’t create a world that only takes in account his own needs while destroying what he doesn’t like or need like the two other idiots and nutjob b*stards. It’s because they are considering his actions by their own standards that they think he’s gonna destroy the world, they would do it, (like Alda’s genocide or Rotcortex trying to separate the 3 worlds from the system aka destruction of 3 worlds) so they think he would.
Treason
I’m starting to think of Banda as less a stand and more like Ryuk from Death Note but with a passion for childcare and developmental psychology. Mei should start trying to feed him apples.
Chiu ChunLing
I don’t really get the whole “Stand” thing in the first place. Banda isn’t an expression of Mei’s own innate character, he’s a part of Van’s soul gifted to Mei, but retaining Van’s basic personality and behavior. It’s true that at this point he seems to be bonded to Mei’s soul, but from what we know of how Divine Protections and Spirit Clones work Van could take him back on his own initiative (once he learns how), he just won’t because he wants to protect Mei.
Banda respects Mei’s own needs and desires, but he isn’t controlled by them or limited from doing things outside her understanding. And it seems that most of the influence actually goes the other way even if that’s not Banda’s intent.
Doc
I mean the stand thing comes more from how Banda practically works. Not his origin. He’s a super strong entity that nobody except Mei (and now Joseph) can see (he manifests himself to allow Hiroshi to see him). And is “role” is to protect the person he’s bonded to.
So yes, while the circumstances to which Banda found himself attached to Mei are different than JoJo stands, functionally it’s pretty similar.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, that’s true enough.
blaze_ji
1 chapter per day? thank you for your work, sir xD
wai311040
I got a feeling that those three was already start preparing to manage the system in place of Rodidiot.
ObserverBias
iirc, they mentioned it a few side chapters ago, yeah. Probably around the time he thought he could remove Lambda itself from his transmigration system and received a grim reminder.
asdsdsffdhffggkl
it was mentioned some time ago, as soon as rodcorte weakens or gets killed, there will be new “administation” lol
Lord Rin
So the Druid Joseph Smith has finally met Banda and been brought up to speed about Rikudou. He does bring up a valid point that they should worry about how Hiroto might react if they revealed Banda’s existence and how Mei is a Death Mage since Joseph says that Hiroto talks about the death attribute as being a forbidden power. I would hope this is just needless worry but Hiroto has a horrible track record of constantly making bad decisions. Anyways look at Banda acting like an older brother to Hiroshi and assuring him that he doesn’t just care about him only because he’s Mei’s brother. Hiroshi is getting all shy and embarrassed on the other hand.
“It was completely impossible that the soul dust would take over the core of Edgar’s soul.”
Yeah keep telling yourself that Rodcorte you dumbass. Anyways once again we bare witness to the sheer idiocy of Rodcorte. Apart from the whole thing with Edgar’s soul and how he refuses to tell Alda about it, now that he’s been made aware of Banda’s existence his first thought is to try to warn Rikudou about him despite how previously he wanted him eliminated because of his research into the death attribute and immortality. Then there’s his incredibly narcissistic opinion that Van would totally, definitely, absolutely 100% turn everyone in Origin into Undead and order them to worship Vida because Rodcorte would do the same and if he would do that then everybody else would also do it too.
Meanwhile looks like Aran’s group are preparing for when Rodcorte inevitably loses. They know that whatever Rodcorte thinks and plans can’t be stopped by them so they aren’t even going to bother trying to stop him. Better to instead focus on figuring out how to work the transmigration system so they can continue to maintain it even after Rodcorte gets destroyed. Anyways so even with all those caveats of how inaccurate a prediction using Aran’s Calculation to find out how good Van’s chances of winning against Alda are, I’d say even a 10% chance is still pretty good odds considering that would be under the scenario of Van walking right into Alda’s home without any particular preparations. If Aran got better information then Van’s odds are probably significantly higher especially if under the scenario that Van has prepared before confronting Alda. Rodcorte’s ridiculous and paranoid plan doesn’t even need to be Calculated given all the other possible plans Van can do instead.
Triduo
Hiroto’s bad decisions being :
-Creating the Bravers by revealing TO THE WHOLE WORLD that there’s 100 super-powered mages and destroying the lives of those 100 people, except the self-righteous, wannabe heroes.
-Not even consider the ‘Undead’ anything more than a lost soul that needs to be put to rest.
-NOT supervising the ‘Eight Guidance’ children, and bear, to the point where they become just another group of people to kill.
If you have more, feel free to add to them. ^^b
ObserverBias
For the second one, in /fairness/, he did resort to the tactics that he did based on the advisement of Endou, who in turn asked the “appropriate” question too late. Think his (Hiroto’s) power resembles him; “really inappropriate for any situation, seriously, what was he thinking? /Was he/ thinking?”
.
Though, in fairness to that, if we’re assigning Rikudou the “Aizen” role, Avalon could probably be blamed for many of Hiroto’s terrible decisions, presuming he advised Hiroto on every one of those clutch terrible decisions. But, maybe that’s a stretch.
Chiu ChunLing
Lying to Narumi about being the guy who tried to save her in her previous life.
Deciding to shut down any further investigation into what happened to the real Amamiya Hiroto because it would be inconvenient for him if the answer was anything other than “he decided to be reincarnated on Earth cause he didn’t want to meet Narumi again.”
Lying to Narumi about that too.
Deciding to hide the information when it came to light despite having shut down the investigation.
Lying to Narumi about that too.
Deciding to go after Eighth Guidance rather than just accept that they weren’t doing anything he even considered really wrong other than taking the spotlight.
Lying to Narumi about that too.
Continuing to trust Rikudou even after the guy betrayed him on the Death Attribute research ban.
Considering Eighth Guidance a bigger threat than the people trying to kidnap his own children.
Various other examples of putting his ego ahead of his children’s welfare.
Lying to Narumi about that too.
Doc
“Lying to Narumi about being the guy who tried to save her in her previous life.”
I’m pretty sure that’s not how that went down. From what I remember, Narumi thought Hiroto was the same person and he initially didn’t deny it though he didn’t confirm it either. Though he did tell her eventually. There’s a difference between malicious lying with the intent to deceive and not clearing up another person’s misunderstanding.
It’s not like their relationship was built upon that lie. She had kids with him well after she was already aware he wasn’t the person who tried to save her on Earth.
I’m also pretty sure the timing of him not telling Narumi about the identity of the undead doesn’t line up the way you’re talking about it. He had no clue the undead was a fellow reincarnator until I think it was Endou had the conversation with him around the time they were investigating the 8th guidance. Not telling Narumi was just because he didn’t want her to know she had a hand in killing a fellow reincarnator. Not because it was inconvenient information for him (because again, she already knew Hiroto wasn’t the guy who saved her at this point in time). I also believe she becomes aware of who the undead was after Pluto sacrifices herself to save Narumi’s unborn child (Mei).
Chiu ChunLing
No, we initially didn’t know that El Braver knew for sure that Narumi was mistaking him for someone else and deliberately lied, but it’s been confirmed since. He didn’t try to save anyone else at that time. And Narumi caught him out cause Amamiya was her classmate, he didn’t admit it on his own initiative. He was maliciously lying with the intent to deceive her, and that was made very clear by his stance on anyone actually trying to find out what happened to Amamiya.
Their relationship wasn’t built on that lie, cause it fell through. That’s why he lied to her that Kouya and the other information Bravers COULDN’T find out anything about what happened to Amamiya, and that he must have chosen not to be reincarnated in Origin after all.
There were obviously a lot of other lies involved in their relationship. El Braver choses “lie” far too readily for this not to be a habitual pattern of behavior. Even granting that he probably suspected that Kouya had found out the truth about ‘the Undead’ before Kouya told him, he doesn’t even pretend to consider telling anyone the truth.
And yes, that was for the sake of preserving their relationship, even if they’d already had a kid by then. There is maybe a chance that Narumi would just not care that she ended up killing Amamiya because El Braver lied to her about not being able to find him…but he didn’t want to take that risk. And let’s not pretend that wouldn’t have been really inconvenient for him.
If Narumi has become aware of the Undead’s identity…well then she’s doing a really good job hiding it so far, and now you’re the one making convenient accusations. Not that I’ll defend her if that does indeed turn out to be the case, but so far it isn’t.
Wyverius
I’ve read through the story multiple times and don’t remember it ever being stated that Amemiya even knew he was being mistaken for someone else, only that Narumi had mistaken him as being Van. The most likely scenario being she never outright mentioned the events on the boat until after they started dating.
Shut down the investigation? They found the reincarnators by asking about individuals who had been reincarnated with Rodcorte’s cheats, so when Van didn’t show up in that number they all assumed he didn’t reincarnate.
One of the goals of the 8th guidance was to kill bravers. Even if they were no threat to him, they allied with Murakami who defected from the Bravers, so he had to go after Murakami’s group at least. And even subtracting Murakami from the situation the nations of the world would eventually go after them and possibly kill them, which is part of the reason he went after them; to save them. This backfired horribly, but that was because of the 8th guidance themselves.
It was the police and feds who prioritized investigating the 8th guidance over the kidnappers, not the bravers. And even then, considering how many of his allies they killed, you can’t blame him for being concerned.
Wyverius
1. It’s been established many of the reincarnated individuals were already being suspected of being abnormal and were in danger of winding up like Van in Origin, and that Amemiya formed the Bravers to obtain the acknowledgement of the public for protection.
2. We know he wasn’t, but all they knew at the time was that and experimental subject had turned into an undead and started killing the researchers.
And before anyone mentions the 8th guidance, there’s been no confirmation they knew about them beforehand and it seems unlikely they did considering the way they eliminated him. Feel free to put the Bravers on blast for putting too much faith in Oracle without understanding the mechanism behind it, though.
3. They weren’t just thrown out on the street. They were left in the care of official governments and the Bravers likely didn’t know they were being experimented on until they broke back out. You can blast them for failing to expect they’d be used to research Death Magic, but as far as killing them after the fact? The 8th guidance wanted them dead, and Amemiya wanted to spare them, but the deaths of several Bravers effectively forced his hands.
El Braver is naive and dumb, but he gets more hate than he deserves.
Chiu ChunLing
It’s true that El Braver doesn’t have the best track record. But I think that once he finds out his daughter has Death Attribute, it will suddenly be “a great power that should only be entrusted to the righteous (i.e. me).” El Braver isn’t actually stupid, he decides things based on what seems best for him, while claiming he’s doing it for everyone else’s ‘own good’.
Rotcortex is too stupid to figure out how to make the ‘own good’ bit work, so when he’s wrong it’s usually because he’s actually just that stupid. And he’s wrong about everything that doesn’t have a clear answer delivered by information in his system. Nice knowing you Edgar, now you get to be Birkyne v.2, except without the advantage of a Pure-Breed Vampire body.
The reason Vida’s side won’t try to invade Alda’s side is they don’t need to, as long as Van continues to expand the worship of Vida on the ground and keep the Amid Empire in check, Alda’s side is doomed to get ever less worship, especially now that Peria is secretly cooperating with Van. Alda has to stake everything on Heinz awakening Bellwood and becoming able to awaken the Skill to counter Darcia’s Goddess Descent, and then having enough additional ability to fight Van on top of that, and oh by the way one of his party members is now Guduranis in an Edgar-suit (and the rest are obviously incredibly stupid). I don’t need Aran’s estimate of the chances of that working out the way Alda hopes.
Triduo
How touching it is to see the three spirits of Rodcorte plotting to take over Rodcorte’s job as the said God is falling even deeper into his paranoia over Vandalieu’s accidental actions in Origins…
I mean, Van’s not the kind of guy that will decide to eradicate a whole city just to turn the people into brainless devotees of Vida and her friends. He could have done it with Morksi and Alcrem but he instead saved the city from :
-Birkyne’s and Hihryushukaka’s madness.
-Fitun’s handmade monster flood and heroes.
-The God of Pillaging and Cannibalism.
With a ratio of 0 death from his side or the cities.
So, Rodcorte, let me ask you a question… Why do you still believe that Van wants nothing but to destroy you and take over worlds you barely care about ?
Tejing
Everyone expects others to behave according to the same principles they themselves live by, even when presented with ample evidence to the contrary. Imagination is limited. Roddy lives by self-interest above all else and viewing all other beings in existence as mere objects to that end, (he also has like zero imagination) so he naturally assumes Van does the same.
Triduo
In short, Rodcorte’s mad and can’t be stopped unless someone put him down and out of his divine job.
I really hope this happens.
Doc
For that last bit, it’s not so much that Rodcorte is afraid of Van coming after him. The more people Van guides the more souls Van removes from Rodcorte’s system of transmigration. The less souls Rodcorte has the less power he has and the more errors Van creates in Rodcorte’s system threatens to take down the entire thing. If Rodcorte loses his system he basically loses his purpose. That’s why Rodcorte is so hell bent on stopping Van.
Rodcorte couldn’t care less about Alda’s values or all of Lambda in general. His original goal was to increase Lambda’s population to increase the number of souls going through his system to increase his power but he’s clearly shown he’s fine yeeting entire worlds just on the possibility of pain reaching him.
Chiu ChunLing
Rotcortex wasn’t worried about Van coming after him back when he could simply detach Lambda (and Earth and Origin) from his system in the worst case of Van leading everyone in Lambda to Vida’s system. But now that he can no longer do that, he does have to be at least a little worried that Van will eventually become powerful enough to enter his Divine Realm (possibly with Zuruwarn’s help) and devour him. After all, since Rotcortex is one of the main villains of Van’s legend, the more people converted to Vida by Van, the harder it is for Rotcortex to escape Lambda.
That’s why he’s become a lot more desperate to eliminate Van.
Doc
” I should make use of Rikudou Hijiri, whom Vandalieu’s split entity is being wary of.”
This statement confuses me over what Rodcorte is and is not aware of. If he went through Joseph’s memories to know Van is wary of Avalon…then how is he not aware of what Van’s stated goal in Origin is? Or does he simply not believe what Van said?
And man, like I get people call him Rodidiot and all that but he really put zero thought into it this time. He basically ignored the entirety of Van’s previous actions to come up with a potential strategy Van could do to win that Van would never consider in the first place.
And to stop that plan Van would never do, he wants to provide the one solution Rikudou needs to figure out immortality. The source of death attribute mana (well, Banda isn’t the source, but close enough).
And we’re all agreed Edgar is clearly a ticking time bomb waiting to happen right? Should be interesting to see how the demon king fragments react. Now that Van went through the “Great Demon King” job, I wonder if that will secure the fragments in place for when Van faces a dude who’s soul is blended with pieces of the fragments’ original owner.
Triduo
Rodcorte is losing his mind while thinking he’s not the one in the wrong to begin with… Erm, excuse me ? Who’s the one that forgot to give Van’s abilities to begin with and cursed him to die young in a time where he needed someone to help him ?
That’s right : It’s you, Rodcorte. You could have stopped everything from spiraling out of control if you just did your work properly. At least, it would have been cleaner.
Also, yeah it’s a real good idea to give the guy that is threatening the world of Origin way more than Banda the power of Immortality, that will DEFINITELY NOT turn against you and your stupid paranoia. I mean, dude. The gods of Origin are more worried about Rokudo’s actions than Banda’s, in fact, they’re even supporting Van’s faction !
Concerning Edgar, I definitely NOT see how that ISN’T a problem. He used the dust of the soul of a corrupted being that did worse things than Vandalieu to repair the soul of a so-called Hero. With Rodcorte planting the seed and deciding to not warn Alda about it, this will definitely not end well. Either the guy will lose his mind or he’ll become another ‘Guduranis’ like Birkyne did. There’s definitely a problem here and Rodcorte needs to be stopped more than Van.
Tejing
He doesn’t believe what Van said. Van’s values are completely incomprehensible to him, so even if he’s told exactly how Van thinks, and all of Van’s actions match what he’s told, he still can’t believe it.
Triduo
I’m definitely hoping that Rodcorte’s death will be a cruel and ironic one : Not doomed by the one he failed to stopped but killed by his own actions in a desperate measure to stop Van. ^^
Bzn
You must have not seen the part where Rodcorte says that he cant hear what Banda says to Joseph because the sound is fuzzy
Doc
If Rodcorte couldn’t hear what Van said he wouldn’t know that Banda was wary of Avalon.That information was directly communicated to Joseph by Banda. So if he knows that then he must have heard other information. Banda said what his goal in Origin is. To make sure Mei grows up happy and healthy.
Now, Rodcorte can simply not believe that. As others have said, Rodcorte seems incapable of understanding other people’s perspectives.
ObserverBias
I imagine Rodcorte clocked him not using any Death-attribute mana (after Rikudou had sensors for it installed) as him being wary. Otherwise, it’s claimed that he couldn’t hear most of what Banda and Joseph discussed due to audio interference (what, is their house based in a tunnel and the signal is terrible or something?). Banda hasn’t technically loudly proclaimed what his goal is where Rodcorte could hear him, though I reckon he doesn’t believe anything he has heard.
.
As for Edgar’s situation… iirc, he was a bit vindictive towards the assassins that Heinz got converted, wasn’t he? Add in (judgement) heroic spirit fragments and Guduranis’ clearly-biased memories… I’m thinking an edgelord is born, but if he’s properly going to be a threat, ehh… Lambda Offbrand Two-Face?
Doc
Van doesn’t use death attribute magic near the alarms to not tip off Hiroto or Narumi. Rodcorte knows Banda is wary toward Avalon because Banda directly warns Joseph about him, implying he did hear at least portions of Joseph’s conversations with Banda.
But yes, it’s understandable if Rodcorte simply doesn’t believe Banda’s explanation.
Chiu ChunLing
Rotcortex couldn’t get the details of their memories, but he can tell that Banda has made no moves to alert Rikudou to his presence (and by reviewing the memories of Narumi etc. he can pinpoint the morning “Banda” became Mei’s favorite word, so he knows how long Banda’s been there). I think it might be normal to suppose that Banda is being cautious of El Braver, but Rotcortex realizes that Van is colluding with the god of Origin and they’re more suspicious of Rikudou because he himself understands that Rikudou is a bigger threat to Origin as a whole. El Braver might be able to harm Banda, but this probably won’t even inconvenience Van and the god of Origin. Van just gets his 100,000,000 mana back (plus some interest) and has to leave Mei in her parents’ care.
I doubt it has even occurred to Rotcortex that Van is worried about Mei and Hiroshi personally and wants to avoid them hating their parents for the rest of their lives.
I’m sure Guduranis will try to pretend to be Edgar just like with Birkyne…though apparently Birkyne’s impersonation mostly passed because nobody actually cared. But Edgar-suit’s key opportunity to screw things up for Heinz is likely to arrive pretty soon.
Flesh Sculptor
I am dying of laughter here!
Rodcorte: “He is here! Aaaaa! WEAREGOINGTODIE!”
Van: “I love you. Would you like to touch my tentacles?”
flannan
So, the calculations say that if Vandalieu just marches into Alda’s home, he still has 10% chance of winning?
Well, it sounds like Alda has no chances of winning if Van doesn’t do any blunders like that.
Utsuho
Notice that Adam don’t have many information from both sides.
“I can only estimate the strength of Vandalieu’s forces, and Alda’s lot don’t trust Rodcorte or us, so I don’t have detailed data on them, either.”
So he don’t know how dire the situation is from alda’s gods, that can only watch Vandalieu deal with a Evil god while spitting venom, neither does he know the versatility of Van team.
ObserverBias
Mm, technically, versatility does only go so far. It’s mentioned that the 10% is based on Van and co invading the god’s individual Divine Realms (or… I /think/ they have individual ones? It’s definitely not one big office in the sky), and the last I recall Van’s allies (besides Darcia) visited an evil god’s Divine Realm, it took effort for those besides Van to look upon them directly, with the evil god themselves having a similar reaction to Van.
Unless the visit to the Dark Continent counts as a Divine Realm, which… I don’t recall. That one might have been a special condition because it was in reality and caused by the mashup of Zantark with one or more evil gods?
That is to say, Van’s allies would have to do some training to square off with concept-of-the-world beings still, I reckon.
Chiu ChunLing
It’s also excluding the chance of such an aggressive strategy leaving Lambda without enough gods to maintain it. He says it’s 50/50 just to win, but basically a 40% chance of a pyrrhic victory. Basically, it’s just not a great strategy.
Even leaving aside the fact that Alda’s probably not going to deliberately invite Van and his group to visit. And Aran doesn’t have any information on how terrifying Van’s soul is in a Divine Realm.
But even if the odds of a victory are close to 100%, and a pyrrhic victory only 10%, I think that Vida’s faction would prefer to steadily move things on the ground to reduce the chances of the whole world ending. Alda’s the one who’s always willing to play dice with the world.
Nobody2
Really rodcorte I get your the dumbest Moron in history but your best plan is to sic the insane narcissistic god wannabe you consider the second biggest threat after van on the daughter of your best hero.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Tejing
Cool to see Joseph meeting up with Banda. His concerns about how Hiroto will react to the truth parallel my own. Hopefully it won’t turn out too bad…
Roddy’s conclusions and plan are both stupid, but there’s nothing new about that.
Aran’s calculations are interesting. I still figured Van would have no chance at all if he took the fight straight to Alda. I guess he’s in better shape than I thought, especially if he plays it sensibly and just focuses on gather more worship for Vida in human society.
Jonathan Hurd
I’m with you on hoping Hiroto doesn’t panic to badly when he finds out about Mei, but I’m afraid he is going to make one final terrible mistake in this life before he is sent to Lambda. I am really happy Joseph finally said what I have been for years. It’s not death attribute magic that is evil and wrong. It’s the greedy people who hurt and exploited others that are evil and wrong.
Gotta love Rodidiot logic. Let’s put Edgars soul back together with basically a time bomb and not give our ally any forewarning, lol! Also just love how his plan goes from ‘Gotta stop Hijiri.’ To ‘Oh God it’s Van in Origin guess I’ll double down and support the biggest problem in Origin.’
We should keep in mind Aran is calculating those chances while not having a solid understanding of either sides strength. So it’s accuracy is questionable, but it is amusing to think that Van has such a good chance of victory if he right now walks into Aldas base, lol.
UnveilingSage
Yay! Another adventure of Meh-kun and Banda! I love these! Thanks Yoshi-sama!
no1
Yay, another chapter. So Joseph knows about Banda and they talked, maybe a potential ally in Origin. Rodcorted was still working on Edgar’s soul? Seriously Rodcorte string of mistakes are never ending. Oh great, Rodcorte notices Banda. Rodcorte assumptions of Banda are completely biased, just shows how much he fears Vandalieu. Rodcorte familiar spirit are still the same, neither helpful nor harmful to Vandalieu, but supposedly preparing for something. They are quite indifferent considering the lives of their friends are in danger of possibly being used by Rodcorte and then destroyed by Vandalieu. This was a good chapter, thank you Yoshi. Hope to see the next chapter soon 🙂
Jonathan Hurd
Rodcortes reaction to Banda I feel is very telling of narcissistic he is. He sees no value in anyone’s life but his own. So for him killing an entire worlds population and raising them as undead is a perfectly legitimate strategy he’d do. I mean he did try to throw away at least three worlds to save himself not to long ago.
The problem is Rodidiot is so self absorbed that he neither cares nor understands anyone else’s values. So to him because he is willing to do it that must mean everyone is willing to do so.
With Rodidiots familiar spirits I don’t think it’s indifference driving them currently. They just don’t really have a whole lot of power or freedom. They can’t stop Rodidiot. He can read their minds and limit their actions at will. So directly stopping or interfering with him is impossible and as I said above Rodidiot can’t be convinced people could have values differing from his own. He’s also the type to say if there is even a one percent chance Van could do the Undead world plan he must be stopped.
So the familiar spirits can’t stop their stupid boss. They also can’t really directly communicate with anyone in Origin. They can talk to those who go to Lambda but the decision to fight Van or not is up to each person. They will advise not to, but they can’t stop them.
The best thing for the familiar spirits is to be ready for when Rodidit inevitably commits suicide by stupidity to Van. If he dies someone needs to keep his system running or else Origin/Earth collapses and all their left behind friends and families are doomed.
Thk
This.
‘we are not plotting against you rod, but we can see the writing on the wall and want to be prepared when you inevitably take yourself out’
‘P.S. This could be postponed or perhaps prevented if you listened to us, but you don’t so…’
Chiu ChunLing
I’m not sure Rotcortex has passed the point of no return just yet, but he’s definitely headed there. As it is, he’s afraid of Van sharing the technology of Vida’s cycle of reincarnation with Origin and Earth, and maybe other worlds as well. But he’s got to estimate that this would be difficult enough that he might be allowed to continue existing if he submitted and made amends. It’s true that he carelessly did terrible things to Van himself, and he’s responsible for many heinous crimes by the other reincarnators, but it might be worse to kill him out of hand without going to more trouble covering his job than it would be to just keep an eye on him.
But if helping Rikudou causes a major disaster in Origin or harms Mei, then it’s over for him. I think if Joseph and Mari (snerk) and maybe some other partly guided Bravers die, as long as he simply reincarnates them normally he won’t be faulted, but you just know that he won’t be able to resist doing something stupid to them.
Skarbrand
I guess Rodcorte’s familiars are preparing for their boss’ “retirement”.
Purimi
Thankyou for the chapter, Yoshi-Sama
Kiarthros Toveke
I love how the Rodcorte underlings are just prepping for his demise.
Triduo
Paradoxe : You would, too, if your boss was a paranoid, self-interested, blind and deaf idiot. Wouldn’t you ? -__-