Joseph T. ($20), Charles G. ($5), Mamerto C. ($50), Heikki A. ($20), Valentin B. ($25), Rasmus K. ($30), Teresa M. ($10), Wade A. ($50), Jeffery M. ($10), Johari N. ($20), Michael K.K. ($10)
During Tsuchiya Kanako’s first life, her childhood dream was to become an idol. Her parents, younger sister, younger brother and her friends all said that she was cute, and she thought of herself as a genius when it came to dancing and singing.
With the help of her parents, she attended the ballet class in her hometown and did her best to practice singing. With effort, she did become good at these things, but… she realized that her talent was only average.
Perhaps her parents hadn’t thought that she would survive in the entertainment world either, or perhaps they had actually been opposed to Kanako chasing such a career, or perhaps they had simply experienced financial problems. For whatever reason, they did not do the paperwork to register her at a training school.
And so, Kanako went through elementary school and middle school with no production crews miraculously spotting her talent. She experienced having leading and secondary roles in her school’s theater club, but it was not the resplendent idol life that she had imagined.
And in middle school, Kanako realized that although she was the most attractive girl in her class, there was at least one girl in each class of her school that was about as attractive as her.
Around the time she entered high school, she became aware of how mediocre she was. It was true that she was relatively attractive, and she was certainly good at singing, dancing and acting for an amateur.
She stood out among the other students in her year, and she was popular in her class.
But it would have been impossible for her to use those as her weapons to survive in the entertainment industry. The media at the time was obsessed with approachable idols that were “about as attractive as the cute girl in your class,” but it wasn’t realistic for Kanako to be among such idols.
Maybe it was possible for her to pass an audition. Maybe she could be chosen to stand at the center of a group of members. But Kanako would have needed to work desperately hard just to acquire the chips she needed to gamble on all of these maybes, and she would have been left with nothing if that gamble failed.
Not only that, it was possible that she would become mentally strained, fall into debt and be forced to appear in adult videos.
Kanako had heard the saying that failures were lessons in life, but in the end, she decided to give up on her dreams.
She would live a fulfilling school life, enter university and then get a job. She would look for a boyfriend while working, get married and, if possible, live a comfortable life as a housewife.
Forgetting her bright, childish dreams, Kanako spent her days thinking absentmindedly about living that kind of ordinary life. But when a terrorist incident occurred on the ferry during her school field trip, she made her best efforts to survive, but died in the end.
Tsuchiya Kanako’s life was supposed to end here.
But through some kind of miracle, Kanako was able to live a second life. What’s more, she lived in a world in which magic existed, with a variety of gifts given to her by a god.
It was a greater miracle than her talent being noticed by an entertainment production crew.
In Origin, she was born as the daughter of the owner of a company. On top of that, she had become even more physically attractive than before (This was subjective at the time, but other reincarnated individuals confirmed it later). On top of that, her average singing and dancing skills from her previous life were now real talents.
With all of these circumstances put together, it was only natural that Kanako strived to achieve the dream that she had failed to attain in her previous life.
A man was lying on a bed, laughing in a deep voice. “Very good… You’re quite good at this, considering it’s your first time…”
Meanwhile, Kanako continued what she was doing, making sure not to look at him.
“There really are people who laugh like that… Let’s see, there are no hidden cameras. That’s good, because I don’t want to leave any evidence of my crime. But I’ve found the remote control that will have a bunch of scary men come running in here. I’ll keep that to the side,” she said to herself. “All that’s left is my objective… There it is! It really is a black notebook!”
Naturally, what she was rummaging through was the luggage of the man who was letting out erotic noises on the bed. As for why Kanako found herself in this chaotic situation, the events leading up to this point were a little complicated.
With the chance given to her through her parents’ connections, Kanako had used her cheat-like ability and worked hard to debut as a child actor, and she had gained popularity in no time.
She had continued on to debut as a singer, maintaining her popularity as a talented singer, dancer and actor as she entered middle school.
Rodcorte hadn’t granted her anything as convenient as ‘talent for being an idol,’ but as a result of her increased physical capabilities compared to when she was on Earth, her singing and dancing had become significantly better. Her acting skills came from her useful experience in the theater club on Earth and the serious study that she had done in this world.
Well, even then, I’m sure that there are people who think I cheated. There are problems like the one I’m dealing with now, after all, Kanako thought to herself.
Kanako had been granted a cheat-like ability… the one that would eventually come to be named as Venus. It allowed her to copy the memories and emotions of others and implant them into herself, and vice-versa. She had used this ability with no restraint.
She had implanted favorable impressions of herself on her producers and her co-actors, and turned the people who came to her concerts and autograph sessions into her own fans.
She had copied the memories of her rivals who were skilled at dancing, playing instruments, singing and acting in order to obtain these skills for herself.
Kanako didn’t think of herself as having done anything wrong. Venus wasn’t a powerful enough ability to brainwash others or cause large changes in their personalities. She had also only implanted favorable opinions of herself onto others; she had never implanted negative opinions of her competitors, and she had never made fans so engrossed with her that it would cause them trouble in their daily lives.
As for her dancing and singing abilities, they were the result of the hard work she had put in after copying the memories of other performers onto herself.
However, these methods had occasionally caused unexpected problems. Kanako was currently dealing with one of them.
The man on the bed cackled with glee. “That’s right! Make me happy and I will endorse you to Director Michael Golden-Silver, so do your best!”
Kanako had used Venus to implant favorable feelings towards herself in one of the people in the entertainment industry, and that person had recommended her to a variety of masterminds and those who pulled the strings behind the curtain in the industry.
As a result, the man on the bed, who was one of the big-shots who had taken an interest in Tsuchiya Kanako, had tempted her with the possibility of being in the next work of a world-famous director and offered her a chance to sleep her way up the ladder.
Incidentally, Kanako was thirteen years old at this moment in time.
“So there really are people like this… It almost makes me cry to think how pathetic the entertainment world is to be controlled by lolicons like this,” Kanako muttered to herself.
“That’s right! You’re letting out some nice noises, I can’t get enough of it! It’s too good!” the man on the bed shouted in delight.
“… It seems that he’s taken a liking to the edited fake memories that I’ve given him, but it’s making me really tired.”
Though Kanako was the daughter of a company president, she could not stand up to the masterminds who ruled the entire entertainment industry. She had pretended to accept the man’s demands, copied his memories and the emotions attached to them using Venus… She then edited them, creating false memories that she had slept with him in order to make her way up the industry.
She had no shortage of memories to use as base materials, as he seemed to have demanded plenty of other young girls to sleep with him to improve their careers.
Now, that man was on the bed, reliving his best memory of a girl sleeping with him for her career.
“Now then, I’ve secrets to use in self-defense once this gets out… All I need to do now is see how things unfold,” Kanako said to herself.
Having taken a record of the contents of the black notebook, she returned it to where it had come from. All that was left to do now was finding an opportunity to take a shower and have the man’s employees take her back to the production studio. After that, she just needed to pretend that nothing ever happened… after all, nothing had actually been done to her body.
Nobody would find out about this; not her manager, who was completely oblivious to everything, and certainly not her parents or older brother.
“Still, it’s quite strange. That god gave us good fortunes and destinies, so why am I still running into trouble? If I were in a shoujo manga and I really did have good fortune and a destiny, then wouldn’t I have been rescued by some handsome older man with a strong sense of justice?” Kanako wondered.
This wasn’t the first time that she had found herself in trouble. She had once been abducted after unexpectedly discovering an executive director’s conspiracy to take over the company, and she had also once been attacked by a stalker. During her older brother’s engagement party, terrorists had snuck onto the boat on which the party was held.
She had also once gotten involved in a murder case that was straight out of a mystery manga.
Kanako had resolved all of these problems. Most of the time, she had done so by using Venus to pass clues that she had discovered herself onto others and make them the hero… She wanted to be an idol, not an action hero or a great detective. She couldn’t afford to stand out in those kinds of ways.
“Those times were really troublesome,” Kanako recalled to herself. “If I were to ever become a suspect, my life in the entertainment industry would be over… Well, not that there were any criminals that tried to frame me, since I’m underage. Still, if I really am blessed with good fortune, wouldn’t it be normal for me to not get caught up in these incidents?”
Of course, there was nobody to answer this question, and she naturally received no response. Her ability was one that copied and pasted previously-existing memories and emotions; it could not produce answers that nobody knew.
“Maybe I should think of myself as fortunate for being able to get through all this by using my ability, but… it isn’t like I can ask the other reincarnated individuals,” she murmured.
Since Kanako was the daughter of a company president and also involved in entertainment, she came into contact with people from all kinds of industries. Among them were children her own age that she had never met before.
Politicians’ sons and daughters, famous artists, local celebrities and children from well-known families. These people always averted their gazes when they noticed Kanako – these children with traces of the same features possessed by her classmates, the students from other year groups and the school staff who had died on the same ferry as her on Earth.
They probably didn’t want to get involved with her. Kanako felt the same way.
Though they had been companions who shared memories together on Earth, they were now all living their own, separate lives.
There was no benefit in gathering together.
However, there had been one reincarnated individual who tried to make contact with Kanako.
“… I wonder if Asagi has really thought things through?” Kanako wondered.
It was her former classmate, Minami Asagi. He had sent her an encrypted message disguised as a fan letter… describing the events of their first lives in an essay with novel-like sentences, and asking her what she thought of reuniting with their former companions.
Back then, Kanako had replied, “I think it’s strange. Wouldn’t it be unnatural for us to gather without some large incident occurring?”
“My ability becoming known would be fatal for my idol career. I really hope there’s no large incident,” Kanako murmured to herself.
The man on the bed had fallen quiet, so Kanako used Venus on him once more to plant false memories upon him, then returned to her production studio as if nothing had happened, just as she had planned.
Incidentally, as a result of this incident, she was cast in Director Michael Gold-Silver’s next work as the niece of an Asian police officer, the secondary lead actor. Her character was kidnapped by a mafia group that was illegally trading military-grade magical media, and rescued by the main character. She was on-screen for just five minutes in total, and her only spoken line was “Thank you” after being saved.
After that, Kanako’s life was supposed to go smoothly, but a large event occurred when she was eighteen years old.
The reincarnated individual Amemiya Hiroto publicly announced to the world that he and 99 others possessed special abilities. Following that, he united Kanako and the rest of the reincarnated individuals.
The truth was that Kanako and the other reincarnated individuals had received messages from him prior to his public announcement, but… that didn’t change the fact that Amemiya had united them forcibly.
If they had refused, their special abilities would have been made known to the world.
Having reluctantly reunited with the other reincarnated individuals, Kanako formed a group with like-minded reincarnated individuals, including the ‘Chronos’ Murakami Junpei and the ‘Gungnir’ Kaidou Kanata. Together, they joined Amemiya Hiroto, as well as Asagi and Naruse Narumi who already knew him.
However, Amemiya and the others told them of a terrifying truth. Various nations’ intelligence agencies were already learning of their special abilities.
At this rate, it was possible that they would be kidnapped in secret and placed in confinement inside research facilities. Amemiya’s plan was to acknowledge their special abilities to the public and form a group so that this could not happen.
Under these circumstances, many of the reincarnated individuals cooperated with Amemiya and the Bravers organization that he formed soon afterwards. They used their special abilities that they had kept hidden up until now for the benefit of humanity, being of use to society. For them, this was their liberation from their secret.
But several of the reincarnated individuals, including Kanako and Murakami Junpei… were dissatisfied from the very beginning, as the revelation of their special abilities had cost them dearly.
Though the explanations of the Bravers’ abilities to the public were brief, they had indeed been revealed. Kanako lied about her ability and told everyone that Venus was an ability that allowed her to charm others. If she were to try to pretend that her ability was something completely different, it would have been seen through by Shimada Izumi’s Inspector ability, and she would be very troubled if she were asked to demonstrate her ability… though she could have gotten away with any lie if it weren’t for the fact that the cheat-like abilities didn’t work as effectively on other reincarnated individuals, however.
Thus, people began to think that Kanako’s popularity among her fans and the people of the entertainment industry was because of her ability. There wasn’t any proof, and the media couldn’t criticize the Bravers directly. Many of the fans didn’t even care.
But the people of the entertainment industry took very clear steps to create distance between themselves and Kanako, regardless of whether she had really used her ability or not.
Not only that, but even her older brother and his fiancé had cut contact with her.
Kanako told herself that the changes in the way the people around her treated her were something that she had brought upon herself by using her ability. But at the same time, she did not forget her resentment towards Amemiya and the others. However, it was also true that she had nowhere to go except for the Bravers.
For about two years, she took part in international disaster rescue as a part of the Bravers. Being proficient in earth-attribute, water-attribute and life-attribute magic, she was quite active in the field, but it was difficult for her to make use of her Venus ability.
Its only real application was to charm the people she was rescuing to make them temporarily forget the trauma of the disasters they had experienced.
Following the ‘Undead’ incident and the revelation of the existence of the death attribute to the world, she began fighting against terrorists with the rest of the Bravers.
Kanako went through military training that she had never wanted to do, fought against terrorists with guns and magic, and used Venus to interrogate captured suspects.
But many of these political criminals refused to talk, even with favorable impressions of Kanako implanted upon them. Thus, Kanako secretly copied their memories in order to extract the information they knew.
“Now that I think about it, that was my first mistake,” Kanako said to the group gathered around her as she reminisced back to the past.
“Why? You’ve done plenty of copy-and-pasting with memories, so aren’t you used to it?” asked Bilde, the Ghoul woman from the village that had been led by Zadiris.
“That’s what I thought,” Kanako replied. “But once I actually did it, I started to throw up whenever I ate, have nightmares and hear auditory hallucinations. It was very troublesome.”
“Wow… So, the memories of those ‘political criminals’ were really bad?”
“That’s right… I thought I’d be fine because I was used to it, but I’d underestimated the toll it would take on me.”
Up until that point, Kanako had believed that she had mastered the use of Venus, despite the fact that there was no Status system in Origin to check Skill Levels in numerical values, unlike Lambda.
Until she began her anti-terrorist activities in the Bravers organization, Kanako had only used her ability on ordinary people… There had been some criminals among them, but she failed to realize that they had all at least possessed sane minds.
The terrorists, on the other hand, had possessed extreme beliefs and values that were not accepted by society, and did not fear death. Kanako had been unable to accept those memories.
“We can only imagine how hard it was to copy and paste the memories of others, but… I shudder at the thought of having to relive the memories of someone like Rick Paris as if they were my own,” said Privel.
She was referring to the man who had deceived and then gruesomely murdered a number of Scylla, including Orbia, whom she had loved like a sister, in order to make his older brother the duke of the Sauron Duchy.
She could see the reasoning behind his actions, but he had seduced Scylla to fall in love with him and then murdered them. She could only think of the mind of someone who would do such a thing as grotesque. That was especially true considering that he had respected and loved his brother, Raymond Paris.
“I suppose it means that warriors taking lives to survive are different from political criminals who kill for their beliefs. I suppose Gordan would fall under that category, as well as Isla when she was still alive,” said Basdia.
Kanako nodded. In Origin, she had copied the memories of soldiers who had killed enemies in battle and policemen who had fatally shot criminals, but nothing had happened.
“Well, I never met Gordan or Isla while she was still alive,” Kanako pointed out. “But I think you’re absolutely right. The memories of a fanatical fundamentalist and a Vampire who had disturbing interests for tens of thousands of years… I get the feeling that those would be pretty dangerous.”
“It was hard for you, too… I went through the same thing, so I understand,” said the ‘Gazer’ Minuma Hitomi, who was a reincarnated individual with similar experiences. “But I turned to alcohol to escape reality, attempted suicide and did drugs. Next thing I knew, I was in a hospital… You didn’t get hospitalized, did you?”
“At the very least, you didn’t appear to be suffering that much when you joined us,” said Pluto, another of Legion’s personalities.
“I didn’t do anything incredible. I simply used Venus to cut away the memories that were likely to be the cause of my nightmares,” said Kanako. “I’d delete my own memories or overwrite them with those of others. After doing that repeatedly, I became impervious to anything I saw.”
“Did that… go well? It sounds as dangerous as Vandalieu and Luciliano’s experiments,” said Kachia, a former adventurer who was a Ghoul like Bilde.
“It didn’t,” replied Kanako with a sigh. “I couldn’t talk to anyone about it since I was keeping my ability a secret from everyone, so I did my best to manage on my own, but… in the end, I killed people, and I became the kind of person who felt nothing after betraying people who thought of me as an ally, like ‘Marionette.’ I totally forgot that memories aren’t simply pieces of information; they have emotions attached to them and form the basis of the experiences that mold our personalities.”
The events following that were just as Legion and the others knew. Kanako had started spending time with Murakami’s group of members who felt dissatisfied with the Bravers… Those who had also had their dreams crushed and those who felt that their work was dangerous and they were not being paid enough for it. Following that, the group had accepted the ‘Avalon’ Rikudou Hijiri’s suggestion, kidnapped the hospitalized Minuma Hitomi, joined the Eighth Guidance and –
“And then I died, and now I’m here,” Kanako said.
“Wait, I think you just skipped over something important,” said the Arachne Gizania.
“Huh? But the stuff that happened after I was reincarnated in Lambda isn’t interesting.”
“It is not that, it is the way you reformed or changed your way of thinking,” said the Empusa Myuze.
Kanako gave a confused blink. She didn’t consider herself to have reformed.
She had betrayed Rodcorte and joined Vandalieu’s side because she had thought that the reward for doing so was greater than the alternative. She hadn’t decided that Rodcorte and Murakami were in the wrong and that Vandalieu was in the right.
From Kanako’s point of view, Vandalieu versus Rodcorte wasn’t a conflict of justice against evil. It was simply that their interests conflicted with each other.
It was the same as the wars that she had seen on Earth and in Origin.
Kanako didn’t believe that Vandalieu was on the side of justice. However, she was certain that in this world, she stood to gain the most in Talosheim, the nation that he ruled.
“Hmm, I don’t think I’ve reformed or anything. I mean, I suppose I haven’t killed many people after being reincarnated here, but I have killed some for work, including the bandits that I killed in the beginning. To begin with, I never killed people for no reason in my previous life, either,” Kanako said.
“That might be true, but… Are you not aware of it?” Pluto asked her.
“You’re surprisingly unperceptive,” said Enma.
“Aware…? Pluto, Enma, do I look like a saint or something to you? What do you think, Bilde-san?” Kanako asked, turning to Bilde.
Bilde gave her a smile. “Maybe not a saint, but I do think that you’re a good girl.”
“That’s right, that’s… Wait, why do you think that?! The inside of my stomach is pitch black, you know?!” Kanako exclaimed.
“What?! Isn’t that some kind of disease?! I’ve never heard of someone’s internal organs being black!” Privel shouted in alarm.
“It means I’m a bad person!”
TLN: The inside of one’s stomach being black is a Japanese phrase that means that the person is scheming, wicked or malicious.
“Kanako, leaving aside what you think of yourself, there’s proof that you’ve reformed… or rather, that you’re a good person. All of us received the divine protection of Deanna, the Moon Giant, didn’t we?” said Basdia.
Recovering her composure after hearing Basdia’s soothing voice, Kanako thought back to that time.
But it wasn’t such a long time ago. When she, Darcia, Zadiris and Zandia were on-stage, Deanna had appeared along with Tiamat and given them her divine protection.
“That’s true, but what are you trying to say? You and Pluto and the others received divine protections as well, didn’t you?” said Kanako, not quite understanding.
“You know, Kanako. Gods aren’t all-knowing or all-powerful. But they aren’t careless enough to directly give their divine protections to those who oppose their teachings,” said Privel, who was also Merrebeveil’s shrine maiden.
Kanako fell silent for a moment as she considered the meaning of these words… and was dumbfounded. “I-I see… When I think about gods and divine protections, the impression that Rodcorte left on me is so strong that I never thought too deeply about it, but… Uwah! Should I go and thank her right now?!” she said hastily, having realized that she had received something very valuable.
But Privel and the others were still calm.
“Considering Kanako’s reaction, this god called Rodcorte must be really untrustworthy,” said Privel.
“Ordinarily, granting a divine protection upon an individual is a way that gods show their belief in that person’s qualities and personality,” said Gizania.
“Well, there are some cases in which individuals receive them through their connections,” said Myuze.
“That is true for myself and you, Myuze-dono, but… even so, gods do not grant them to those of ill nature.”
Indeed, receiving a divine protection from a god carried a great meaning.
The act of granting a divine protection was a declaration from the god that the recipient was an embodiment of their teachings, a holy person.
Divine protections were only granted to a handful of priests, ministers and clergymen who directly explained the gods’ teachings to the masses of believers. In other words, such individuals were those who had been chosen by a god.
Of course, if such individuals began to ignore the teachings and gave into immorality… In Vida’s case, that would mean forgetting the preciousness of life and repeatedly committing meaningless massacres, mercilessly wounding and killing pregnant mothers, babies and lovers.
The people would not revere a god who would give a divine protection to such an individual.
That was why gods carefully chose those whom they gave their divine protections to… or at least, most gods did.
When granting her divine protection to Kanako, Deanna would have considered Kanako’s personality and thought that there were no problems. The people of Talosheim would certainly interpret it this way.
… As for Rodcorte, who taught nothing, did not lead the people or look back on the past, he had simply granted his divine protection to the reincarnated individuals to make them stronger.
“Calm down, it’s alright,” said Basdia. “She might give you a bitter smile once she learns that you have only just realized it, though.”
“Really?!” Kanako gave a sigh of relief as she corrected her posture and faced Basdia and the others once more. “… It would have been more than just a scandal if I were to have such a great thing taken away from me so soon after I received it… I thought that my life as an entertainer, which I worked so hard towards, was over.”
“You’re staunch, aren’t you. It’s true that you’re not a bad person, but you’re not a saint,” said Pluto.
“I’ve learned something I never would have expected, and things have turned out differently from how I imagined in the beginning, but… I’m going to turn over a new leaf and do my best, so let’s all put in our best efforts together!” Kanako said, raising her fist into the air.
“Yeah!” everyone else cheered, raising their fists into the air with her.
“Hmm? Incidentally, what is everyone putting their best efforts together towards?” asked Myuze.
“Why are we all gathered here in the first place?” Hitomi questioned.
Everyone suddenly realized that there was something strange about this situation. Why had they all gathered in one room and listened to the story of Kanako’s life?
“It’s because I want you to help me with the ‘Hundred Magical Girls’ plan to make more idols, of course,” said Kanako in a casual tone, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about what she had just said.
“What?! We can become magical girls?!” Bilde shouted in excitement.
“Bilde, don’t get excited! Kanako, we haven’t heard anything about this!” exclaimed Privel.
“Because I didn’t tell you,” said Kanako. “If I explained it beforehand, I didn’t think all of you would come.”
“So what was all of that talk about, then?” Privel asked.
“I hid nothing and told the truth, planning to persuade you by moving you to tears, telling you the pitiful tale of my past and saying that I need everyone’s love and help for my new life,” said Kanako.
She had gathered everyone here without telling them the important main topic, planning to create an atmosphere where they would be willing to cooperate with her by telling them of her past to gain their sympathy and pity.
“I started suspecting that you had some kind of objective partway through, but…” muttered Pluto.
“But why do you need more members? It seems that you four are doing well,” said Hitomi.
“It only seems that way,” said Kanako. “There are so many things missing to continue our entertainment in a sustainable way. I’m not planning to create concerts every week or every month or anything, but –”
Kanako had only just recently experienced being part of her first idol concert in Lambda. She had used sermons and hymns to gather people, but the audience’s response couldn’t have been better.
However, if she were to stop here, the idol concerts would not take root as culture. There were more races with long lifespans than there were humans in the Demon Continent and the southern region of this continent, so they would not be forgotten quickly like it would be on Earth and in Origin. But there were no storage media like televisions, the internet or DVDs, so they would fade away unless they were conducted regularly.
That was why Kanako wanted to hold an idol concert every season if possible.
In order for her to do that, she needed members and facilities.
“Being an idol is not the main job of Darcia-san, Zandia or Zadiris. We can’t have Knochen be our venue every time, and I might not be able to work on the entertainment industry full-time,” said Kanako. “That’s why I thought we should have more members that will be able to work regularly.”
Kanako was aiming to register several dozen idols… magical girls, and she would recruit the members that were free for sermons. That was the system she was planning.
The only requirement for becoming a magical girl in this world was being sufficiently accustomed at controlling one’s Mana to manipulate the transformation staves, which were Magic Items. That was why Kanako had gathered the people who were present now.
“You only really need one member, do you not? So then, should you not be thinking about what to do when Knochen isn’t available?” asked Gizania.
“Gizania-san, that would be too much for me to handle. I won’t do that. And Vandalieu has promised that I can borrow Demon King Familiars for performances, so we’ll be able to sing as long as we have a venue that is big enough,” said Kanako.
Speaking honestly, there was no better stage in this world than Knochen. He could improvise a stage at will in any location, and would pack himself up afterwards as well. Even on Earth and in Origin, there was no live performance venue as efficient and flexible as him.
But Kanako could not always rely on him. Unlike Vandalieu, Knochen could not make copies of himself.
“I can also use the Chaos Skill to glow a little, and I can also become transparent and make wings to fly,” Kanako added.
She had acquired the Chaos Skill by becoming a Chaos Elf, allowing her to temporarily transform her body. It seemed that there were differences between individuals in what kinds of changes could be made, but fortunately, Kanako could make many changes that would be useful in performances on-stage.
… These would have been evaluated as changes that would be useful in combat for anyone else, however.
That was why Kanako had decided to think about venues later. Talosheim had permanent theater facilities, and in the deeply religious nations of the southern region of the continent, there would always be churches. These churches had open spaces in front of them for teachings to be preached and for ceremonies worshiping the gods.
These would be enough for singing and dancing.
That was why Kanako had prioritized gathering members.
“But are you alright with me? I only sang and danced as best as I could during festivals…” Bilde mumbled; she had wanted to become a magical girl, but she was hesitant now.
“It’s fine! You’ll become great soon, Bilde-san, I promise!” Kanako declared, leaning forward and grasping Bilde’s hand.
“Really?!”
“Really. You have talent. I promise you.”
Kanako was not speaking insincerely. It wasn’t just Bilde; she had gathered everyone here because all of them had talent.
None of them had received dancing lessons or vocal training, but they were all powerful warriors. Dancing lends itself to combat skills, and the reverse was also true to some extent. At the very least, none of them were hopeless.
Thus, Bilde would learn dancing relatively quickly if she practiced it. There would be some kinds of dancing that she would be suited for and others that she wasn’t, but it was certain that she would become able to dance to a certain standard.
Her voice isn’t bad either, and she’s cute, too. She’s the mother of an eight-year-old… Everyone else, too. Maybe it’s because there’s a lot of beautiful women in this world, or maybe it’s because they’re members of Vida’s races, Kanako thought. In any case, everyone should shine if I polish them.
Bilde grasped Kanako’s hands with her own. “I’ll do it! Varbie is cheering for me, too. I told her I’m going to meet you today, and she looked so excited, asking me if Mama’s going to become a magical girl… I’ll do my best!”
“W-wait, are you serious?!” shouted Kachia.
“Kachia-san, please join us!” said Kanako.
“Me too? W-well, if you’re counting on me then I’ll try my best but…” Kachia said hesitantly.
“You invited me a long time ago and I did intend to accept. I’ll be prioritizing taking care of the children; will you be alright with that?” asked Basdia.
She often left her daughter at nurseries and such while she went to work clearing Dungeons and hunting monsters; this was one thing that she could not sacrifice.
“Of course,” said Kanako. “In fact, you can bring them to the venues, and that would actually be helpful. It would be contributing to our efforts of expressing the teachings of the goddess of life and love through song and dance.”
On that front, it would be convenient to have an active idol who was the mother of a child.
“So, are you including me?” asked Privel.
“Of course. You can sing and dance, can’t you, Privel?” said Kanako.
“I mean, I can, but… my body is different from yours. It’s impossible for me to dance like you, you know?” said Privel, pointing at the eight tentacles that formed her lower body.
She didn’t have a complex about these legs; in fact, they were a source of pride for her. They were quite beautiful legs, but performing the same dances as members of two-legged races would be impossible.
“For the same reason, I too cannot… and I think it would be dangerous for me to dance as actively as you,” said Gizania, a large-build Arachne.
It was impossible for her to dance like a human as well. On top of that, her spider-like lower body was very large and solid. An ordinary person being struck by it would be a recreation of a traffic accident on Earth.
But Kanako would not back down. “Privel-san, you can do Scylla-style dances… no, I want you to. And Gizania-san, it will be fine since I will have you mostly singing for a while,” she said.
Many of Vida’s races had bodies that were very different from humans, just like Privel and Gizania. This was an important point, showing that even these races could become magical girls, allowing Kanako’s activities to reach a broader audience.
“Myuze-san, you’re alright with it too, aren’t you? Your scythe-arms aren’t dangerous if you fold them away,” said Kanako.
“That is true, but… I am a ninja; is it acceptable for me to be so conspicuous?” Myuze wondered.
“… The recent ninjas of Earth and Origin go wild in a spectacular way without concealing themselves,” Kanako told her.
“Is that so?! In that case, I shall make an effort for the children that will bear the title of kunoichi in the future,” Myuze declared.
“… You kind of lied to her, Kanako,” said Pluto.
“Well, the ninjas of this world don’t hide either, so it’s fine,” said Hitomi.
“More importantly, things are surprisingly going the way that Kanako intended. Does nobody feel hesitant about this?” Pluto wondered.
“I don’t think they do,” said Hitomi, analyzing why Kanako’s recruitment was going so well.
According to that analysis… First of all, Bilde, Myuze, Privel and the others did not have a negative impression regarding the ‘entertainment world.’
In human societies, bands, theater groups and troupes of traveling entertainers existed; perhaps they could be considered the entertainment world of Lambda.
But the Ghouls had lived in Devil’s Nests, the Scylla had been enclosed in their own territory and the rest of Vida’s races had lived inside the Boundary Mountain Range. They had no connection to such entertainers.
Thus, they didn’t have any bad impression of entertainers.
Second, none of them intended to bet their entire lives on their entertainment activities. It would be a side-job for them at most.
All of them were capable of hunting monsters in Devil’s Nests and Dungeons on their own, which was plenty to make a living.
Also, they were from cultures where the women wore highly revealing clothes, but… to begin with, all of them were famous before even making their stage debut.
Basdia had been close with Vandalieu since before Talosheim’s restoration, and she was the daughter of Zadiris, who had already debuted as a magical girl.
Privel was one of the daughters of the central figure of the Scylla race, a shrine maiden of Merrebeveil, and one of Vandalieu’s fiancés. Gizania and Myuze fell under this category as well.
Bilde and Kachia weren’t as well-known as the rest, but… even so, they were famous among the Ghouls.
Thus, they had almost no hesitation in standing on a stage.
“I see… So, you want us to stand on-stage as well? Sorry, but I’ll leave that kind of stuff to Pluto,” said Baba Yaga.
“How terrible of you, Baba Yaga,” said Pluto. “We worked so hard together to gain fans in our previous lives!”
“You were blowing kisses at cameras before breaking them, weren’t you?” said Hitomi.
“You don’t have to dig up the foolish things I did when I was younger! That stuff has nothing to do with Kanako inviting us!” Baba Yaga shouted indignantly. “Kanako, you’re better off asking Jeena or Tarea rather than us; they’ll happily agree to join you! And you should try your friend Melissa!”
“I’ve been inviting Melissa at least once a month. She’s kept refusing up until now, though,” said Kanako. “Also, Jeena-san and Tarea-san have already agreed to it.”
“What?!” Baba Yaga exclaimed.
“Jeena-san loves cute girls, so I sat on her knees and looked up at her as I begged her and she agreed right away, and Tarea-san said that she won’t let Zadiris do as she pleases anymore,” Kanako explained. “Well, Tarea-san is busy with making equipment made of the Demon King’s fragments, so she’ll have to teach her team of workers to a certain point before she can take part in our activities.”
Kanako’s reach had already extended further than Legion had expected.
On top of that, she intended to persistently persuade Legion to join her, including Baba Yaga. Currently, Legion could only transform into the original appearance of one individual personality at a time, but… in the future, perhaps they would be able to separate and all simultaneously take their original forms.
If that ever happened, they would be able to lead a sermon on their own. There was no way that Kanako would let such a valuable resource slip away.
“… You’re living it up, aren’t you? Aren’t you even livelier than you were in Origin?” Baba Yaga muttered.
“Of course,” said Kanako. “In my third life, this is the time that I have been blessed the most. Well, I feel sorry for the family I left behind in my previous lives, though.”
Kanako’s family had already cut contact with her in Origin, and in the end, Kanako was officially an investigator for the federal states, so they wouldn’t have been harmed by the rumors surrounding her.
Kanako had asked about her family on Earth before she was reincarnated in Lambda, and it seemed that they had recovered.
And now, in her third life, the journey up until her becoming a citizen of Talosheim had been a great deal of trouble, but things had gone surprisingly smoothly after that.
Vandalieu had not only accepted her, but he had trusted Kanako and her companions unexpectedly quickly. Though it had been at Zadiris’s request, he had given Kanako a transformation staff which was a state-of-the-art weapon, and he was also very cooperative with her entertainment-related activities.
Had there ever been an entertainer in history who had received so much assistance from the ruler of a country, and such a great country at that? No, there certainly hadn’t.
Though Kanako had been promised a reincarnation in a world similar to Earth, there was no telling what would happen after that. A fourth life had no worth compared to the one she was living now.
“That’s exactly why I can’t devote myself completely to idol activities until a while later. I need to recruit and train members and staff, and set up a proper system,” said Kanako.
“Why?” asked Basdia.
“Because in the very unlikely event that Vandalieu is defeated by Alda’s forces or Rodcorte or whoever, my blessed life will come to an end,” Kanako replied. “I’m definitely not weak, and I have Venus, so I’ll fight while I’m able to do so.”
Though Kanako was no saint, it was only natural for her to want to do something in return for the wonderful way that she had been treated.
And so, Kanako gained new members, but Gufadgarn appeared the next day right after her lessons and took Darcia to the Bahn Gaia continent. Thus, Kanako needed someone to replace her right away.
And as she dozed off to sleep, searching through her thoughts for a good idea on who to go for next… the next thing she knew, she was standing in a dome-shaped building with an open ceiling.
She could see a countless number of lights being held by the audience that was sitting in the seats around her, and she could see everyone doing some kind of work on the other side of the audience.
Thus, Kanako assumed that this was some kind of stage, so she sang a song in order to cheer everyone on, but… in the middle of her song, she came to a realization.
The light from what she had thought were round glow-sticks was actually a countless number of glowing eyeballs, and what she had thought was an audience was actually made of the silhouettes of squirming masses of flesh, horns and carapaces. The white dome around her was actually an enormous skull.
She had actually been singing inside Vandalieu’s head, which had been split in two!
Kanako awoke and stared at the ceiling, startled. “… You have to let me know if I’m not supposed to wear my shoes. I ended up stepping on those squishy grey things,” she muttered to herself.
And then she closed her eyes once more. In her dream, she took off her shoes properly.
When she woke up for real later on, she realized that she had received some mysterious divine protection.
“Just how much is that person intending to spoil me?!” she asked herself as she squirmed about in her bed.
- Name: Kanako Tsuchiya
- Race: Chaos Elf (Transformed from Elf!)
- Age: 2 years old (Approximately 15 years old in appearance)
- Title: Reincarnated Individual, Magical Girl, Evangelist
- Job: Magical Idol
- Level: 27
- Job history: Apprentice Thief, Mage, Archer, Thief, Earth-Attribute Mage, Firework Technician, Magical Girl
- Passive skills:
- Dark Vision (Transformed from Night Vision!)
- Mental Corruption: Level 2
- Intuition: Level 6
- Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5
- Enhanced Agility: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
- Detect Presence: Level 5
- Increased Attack Power when equipped with a bow: Small
- Rapid Regeneration: Level 1 (NEW!)
- Superhuman Strength: Level 1 (NEW!)
- Magic Resistance: Level 1 (NEW!)
- Allure: Level 2 (NEW!)
- Self-Enhancement: Ancestor: Level 3 (NEW!)
- Self-Enhancement: Guidance: Level 3 (NEW!)
- Active skills:
- Earth-Attribute Magic: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
- Water-Attribute Magic: Level 7
- Life-Attribute Magic: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
- Mana Control: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- Singing: Level 7
- Dancing: Level 7
- Dagger Technique: Level 4
- Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3
- Archery: Level 5
- Silent Steps: Level 5
- Lockpicking: Level 3
- Trap: Level 3
- Throwing: Level 3
- Compounding: Level 3 (NEW!)
- Artillery Technique: Level 1 (NEW!)
- Firework Manufacturing: Level 3 (NEW!)
- Unique skills:
- Venus: Level 10
- Chaos (NEW!)
- Deanna’s Divine Protection (NEW!)
- ヴ■■■■■’s Divine Protection (NEW!) [V]
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Naberisu
Wait a moment, is this dream world actually a divine realm?
At this point becoming a God would only add restrictions on what Van can do, which is kinda funny to think about.
Randy Rando
Though Kanako had been promised a reincarnation in a world similar to Earth, there was no telling what would happen after that. A fourth life had no worth compared to the one she was living now.
.
.
.
Basically a bird in hand is worth more than two in the brush? But in this case it’s more like a turkey in hand is worth more than a robin in the brush.
Akachi86
Let’s be honest, she had no reason to trust Ratcortex.
She was both a traitor and someone who as betrayed, so I’m sure she had trust issues. What she knew for sure is pissing off Vandalieu possibly meant having her soul destroyed, the worst roddy boy could do is send her back to the reicarnation cycle. “She” would stop existing, but her sould would not.
God-stealth0
I fell happy for she, even if she was a betrayer for the “Bravers” that in really don’t mind for us and now is a inportant part within the Vandaliu forces i’m not sure but i think that even is considerate like a Sister since Darcia is her “mother”
A_wandering_otter
Since she’s gonna lie about her ability anyway she could’ve just said it causes nausea for others or something like that why tf did she say charm that is the worst choice she could’ve made
MadMaxton
Because it had already been determined that her overwhelming success as an idol was abnormal. She wouldn’t have gotten to this point if her cheat ability had been to cause nausea.
Also I’m not sure she can cause nausea with her ability and ‘Inspector’ would have uncovered the lie. That she got away with her half truth was only because she phrased her answer ambiguously.
Zenden1st
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
EldenXS
Maybe the more of the protection is revealed, the stronger/more effective it is? Just my conjecture.
Dr. Steel
I would have, rather than say that her ability could charm others, said that it allowed her to experience memories as though they were her own. Better for her public image (rather than her cheating and brainwashing fans, she used other idol’s experience to practice. Less negative, and a better of the 2 to be known), and it would have worked better for it to be known like that for future missions. Also easier to tell half-truths about.
ObserverBias
Not that much better. In the same way that “Big Brother is Watching” goes for governments spying on their own citizens, that would have very much been “Oh, so she can literally read our minds against our wills, let’s put a target on her head ASAP”
Chiu ChunLing
Yeah, that was probably why Rikudou plotted her death. Even if he didn’t know about her memory reading ability, he was most cautious of her role as an interrogator.
Inea
NOOOOOOOO !!! I want to know more about the former slaves TT_TT
Chiu ChunLing
We can safely assume they won’t turn into monster girls immediately. They joined an ongoing experiment Luciliano was conducting on himself and Doug which hadn’t produced any results so far, so they’ll probably get back to them when some results happen.
Kerlark Dgrayman
“Just how much is that person intending to spoil me?!” she asked herself as she squirmed about in her bed.
Just how cute you can be.
Vitor
A lot, a frigging lot, nice picture, BTW
hungsayori
The Death Mage.. and a Certain Magical Idol Who Doesn’t Want A Fourth Time
Zauberbiest
lmao
Vitor
Well, with this one can easily discard the chance of Kanako betraying Van
polynesianvibez
damn, being a pioneer for idol groups is pretty big
thanks for the chapter
TruePath111
Kanako is dangerously cute…
duffer919
I think this is the only time you’ve ever commented positively.
Void
Probably cuz she’s still a virgin
Chiu ChunLing
The funny thing about Kanako is that even though she’s the most outrageously mercenary of Van’s harem, she’s too mercenary to be a thot.
In her first life, she was simply intelligent enough to do the math and realize that getting (and staying) married was the best return on her virginity.
In her second life, she had Venus, so she never had to put out…and never especially wanted to either.
And now she’s met Van.
SuicidalSkeletin
well at least it seems that Kanako can’t edit Van’s memories as she would most likely go insane by viewing them
DieOfSanity
She already couldn’t edit his memories. His unique soul makes him immune to any mental attack. She can give him memories though, which she used to give instructions to his familiars, but the memories wouldn’t fit into Vandalieu’s, so he wouldn’t think they were his.
Chiu ChunLing
She can copy his memories and paste them into herself, but that won’t be a problem for her.
In other words, Kanako is already highly compatible with Van’s sense of ethics and morality. The people whose memories she couldn’t accept were those who did believe they were ‘on the side of justice’ and killed for ideology rather than practical reasons.
People like El Braver, Heinz, Asagi, and Bellwood.
El Braver and Heinz at least get that being an ideological killer who yells “seigi no tameni mo, nandemo ii!” while committing atrocities without pause or hesitation looks bad no matter how ‘righteous’ it is.
So they try to pretend they are ‘conflicted’ and ‘have no choice’.
But it’s just a pretense.
Kanako also kills people when she really doesn’t have any alternative. But when she has any realistic option, she chooses to avoid killing.
Like Van.
Fundamentally, Kanako never did anything wrong. The Bravers deserved to die, and Eighth Guidance were doing to die no matter what she did or didn’t do about it. So she helped them die while killing some Bravers.
It wasn’t her fault that the Bravers were an ideological murder organization, that was mostly El Braver’s fault along with people like Asagi and Kouya. And it wasn’t her fault that Eighth Guidance were doing to die no matter what (again, most of the blame falls on El Braver).
She just wanted to get out of the ideological murder organization, even if the only alternative was a pragmatic murder organization.
EdgeGod
I want Kanako to become one of Vandalieu’s potential wives. I don’t think it will be so won’t for them to be together I mean they’re both the same age (mentally) and she also had the most extreme reaction to guidance compared to Doug and Melissa. I’m on the KanaVan ship and I’m looking for members!
Pallington
I’m pretty sure she’s there to fill the “imouto” slot for van’s harem, but yeah
SO ADORABLEEEEE
Yoki
But what about Pauvina, Rappie, and Yamata for the “imouto” slot?
I do agree that KanaXVan is super adorable
Gohankuten
Pauvina and them seem a little closer to daughter than imouto lol.
Vitor
I usually don’t comment about these topics, while that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to be in any relation with others, specially Privel is cute.. but I’ve to say that I agree with you good sir
conscript117
Thanks to the sponsors and the translator for the update….
I was waiting patiently, everyday visiting the page but then I got sick & it appears it got updated while I was sick.
Finally she got her retribution, good for kanako, she will fall eventually for vandalieu-sama if she hasn’t already.
All Haill Vandalieu-sama and his ever growing harem!
Chadd
They call her a traitor but she was forced into it, you guys deserve to be betrayed. They used Oracle to find everyone and to determine how to convince everyone to join them. They WANTED to play superheros and forced everyone to play with them otherwise they would make their lives hell. Just an excuse to use their powers, but no reason to drag everyone with them. They didn’t even make sure that their classmates were good people or weren’t committing crimes. Childish and selfish all the way. They could have used Oracle to find a way to keep everyone safe instead, the ones that were under observation probably misused their abilities anyway.
hidefreek
Spiderman complex.
Amemiya original ideal maybe not radical but other founding member like Asagi and Rokudou made this radical ideal fruition.
But They trust in their cheat too much and it cause tragedies in many way.
Chiu ChunLing
On the other hand, Rikudou was doing it so he could play “evil mastermind” rather than “hero”, but yeah. He played on the desires of the ones that wanted to play “hero”.
WolfLord_Jordon
They would be incredibly disgusting finding that you were singing inside of a brain.Thanks for the chapter on a good story
Nox
Thanks for chapter.
We finally got an character which actively changes other peoples’ memories to reach her goals. I know she got to Talosheim long ago but she was now finally interduced to us and if she were to be released on other contries Van could easily obtain them without doing anytbjng.
mexgema
I mean… no? not really? She lost her ability when she was guided by Vandalieu’s guidance skill.
hidefreek
She doesn’t lose it but It has efficiency against her target now(Van and Legion immune to brainwashed).
Most importantly is Kanako own rule: She will keep using her cheat in minimum so after she found good environment so she rarely use it because she isn’t in danger.
ObserverBias
The things she lost were Rodcorte’s Guidance and mana-tracker, it was mentioned when Roddy went to “court” with Alda that he himself couldn’t just yoink their cheats away from them (which, like, man, he didn’t think any of this through), and Doug and Melissa still have Hetaconchier and Aegis.
.
Heck, you can still see Venus in her skill list.
Kazza
My prayers have been answered! New Chapter.
Ooh, partially in Origin, too. Closer and closer to checking in with Mei and Banda. I know I shouldn’t be harping on it so much, but that’s one of the threads I really want continued.
Anyways, another good world-building chapter. Kanako isn’t really high on my list of favorite characters, but I do enjoy her sort of grayish morality. Much like Van, she tends to think out the ramifications of a generally evil power (Brainwashing) and set clear limits on what is actually evil, and what is just based on a difference of perspective.
I like it. Serves as another foil to Alda (i.e. god of light committing genocide) and Heinz (i.e. defining a Hero based not on what you save, but who you destroy).
mexgema
Me when a chapter get uploaded: Aw yiss
Me when Yoshi leaves a comment: AW HELL YISS
kagemao
I assume Kanako dealing with kidnappings and murder conspiracies as she’s growing up is part of that destiny Rodcorte attaches to them. It gives more credence to the idea that they would have all been exposed some day. I still find the bravers distasteful though.
A good number of the reincarnated people seem to be divided on whether or not they care about their new/old families. I wonder if Amamiya broke off contact with his family. It feels like a litmus test for people who will get along with Van.
franz941
yeah pretty sure that part of it, He want them to train so they can devolep a world so the good luck of having a “paeceful life” doesn’t really fit his agenda.
That surely could be a good litmus test for van faction but it would’t fit Amamiya character to have broken his contact with his family, he seem someone that want to be friend with everyone and that everyone does the thing he consider right. And from what we have seen with mei he really care for his family(but we have never seen his parents).
Jonathan Hurd
I’m not so sure Rodcortes given destinies caused all the kidnappings. That might of just been because Kanako was in the entertainment scene that stuff like that happened. We have heard some details for instance about Kanata’s preBraver life and he said it was completely normal til Amemiya busted in. I think same can be said for Murakamis flashback of his rise to pro.
I think the fortunes and destinies just helped move things a little more into your favor. That would be why Kanako never died or seems to have been injured in those events.
w1ck3d
The issues Kanako faced in Origin, before everyone was outed, were likely caused by the negative influence of another reincarnator. Remember the Eighth Guidance noticed that the Bravers were more likely to fail or take damage if one of the people in conflict was a fellow reincarnator?
I believe all that talk of various government agencies investigating, which lead to Amemiya outing everyone, were entirely instigated by Rikudo. And that Rikudo took advantage of the fellow reincarnators distancing themselves from another, allowing him to conduct experiments on how their destinies influenced another. In-other-words Rikudo was evil to the core, from the very beginning.
Hobbes
Nah Rikudo is a scumbag, but his manipulating really started after the ‘Undead’ incident in Origin. Rikudo realizing the Undead was Van as well as the possible applications of the death attribute was what pushed him over the edge. I’m not saying he wasn’t shitty to begin with, but the events I just mentioned were the temptation that made him lose any and all restraint.
hidefreek
It was Amemiya own fault in fear of himself.
His cheat is the strongest and the most deadliest .
He used himself as a standard and believe everyone must be exposed or they will committed crime in the shadow.
Still his beginning (founding) are trash (Oracle, Laplace demon, inspector) , brainless commissar (Mage masher) and evil mastermind (Avalon), so his action became radical and the trusted in cheat (Ability, Blessings, always successful) backfired against most of them.
Braver himself is cherish life and care for other and their word. (But he trusted his “friend” too much and cause many problems)
Leandro99
Obrigado
Easykiln
Van won’t cure your insanity but he’ll make it a happy and wholesome kind.
Hobbes
It makes me wonder what he’d do in a mental hospital lol
Julian Skilton
If you keep up with raws, he actually does go to a mental hospital and the results are….amusing to say the least.
Vitor
Indeed… I’m pretty sure none of the implicates would have guessed these results
nopar610
It here!
Niemand
a thought that just occurred to me, but if rodcortes divine protection makes it easier to get desired circumstances, wouldn’t that mean those that don’t want to oppose van would have it easier to become his allies?
franz941
doesn’t he remove those if someone betray him(i think he do buuuuut we are talking about Rodconte…)
Niemand
from how I understand it they only lose it when they leave his circle of reincarnation
Valeth
I think the gods of Origin answered this in a previous chapter, when they discussed granting their Divine Protection to some of the Bavers. When they were concerned that they would not be able to remove it from them, and they could reincarnate as Van’s enemies.
As such outside of strange circumstances I don’t think gods can just take back their Divine Protection once given.
This also in a way explains how Farmaun Gold could go against his god during the war, without losing it.
ObserverBias
It was established further back (I think when Vida was first freed?) that Divine Protections /usually/ have the clause of only lasting one lifetime, just in case the person has a change of heart in their next life and winds up going against the beliefs that got them that Divine Protection.
.
Like, a virtuous person becoming an assassin or ruffian in the following life, probably wouldn’t have use for the Protection that they had previously (at the very least, it reflects poorly on the Protection giver).
.
For the Origin gods in particular, it was a worry /specifically/ in the case that they might have to give protections out to people to oppose Avalon, and if they wound up in Lambda due to shenanigans (Rodcorte), there was a chance they would wind up opposed to Van. /If/ they wound up retaining the Protection, it would suck to have Van damage the Origin gods unintentionally.
Kuro-san
Obviously. Rodcortes would never have thought of this possibility, so he has no means to prevent it from happening.
hidefreek
Rodcorte isn’t sane god but a completely self-preservation and shut-in (technically has mental illness).
He saw 101 reincarnators as tools to complete his object (Increased human population and eradicate Vida’s race).
he gave those bravers divine protection to increase their survival rates (Bravers are very lucky)
Braver fortunes give desired circumstances to the user because it will keep them save but it’s turnout backfired because not all Bravers are good person worthy the blessings.
Rodcorte also has fault in divine protection as the god of circle of transmigration (reincarnation) . his blessings will disappear when his target had been remove from his reincarnation system or their mind has taken over by other.
Hobbes
That’s completely correct until they are actually guided by Van at which point Rodcorte’s divine protection, destiny, and blessing are removed from their statuses. They will still have the unique powers he gave them because they are bonded to the soul and not conditioned on being within Rodcorte’s reincarnation system.
Vaccaria
Finally. Thank you very much for the chapter.
Vrotophthoros
Thank you for the chapter! Awesome as always!
Superboy8338
Huh, so a decent number of the reincarnated are pissed at Hiroto for revealing them and the powers? No wonder some of them betrayed the bravers.
franz941
i immagine most of them being like: “dude i get what you saying, but i want just to chill fk going against terrorist.”
gomezseba37
we need to know more about hiroto i really dont want him to be an enemy but seeing what he did so far it seems like he is like the most generic hero possible and i also will be pissed with him for revealing that
Haraken
He may think he acted on good faith, but in the end what he gave to his fellow reincarnator that he pretend to be helping, was an ultimatum that shattered any semblance of having their own life outside the Bravers group. It’s like crippling someone so they cannot run the risk of being attacked when running errands on their everyday life when going out.
Hobbes
I think he did act on good faith, but it was a half-baked plan to begin with. The best way to go about protecting those who were being investigated would have been to find out exactly who was being targeted and why and proceed from there. Another possibility would have been to start the Bravers organization, but without giving away so much info so that all the reincarnators would have at least had a choice between joining or denying the invitation.
Lord Rin
Honestly I think Hiroto got a Hero or Messiah Complex. Back when Rodcorte was reincarnating everybody and giving them their powers, he praised Hiroto for having an unusually high amount of fortunes like he’s special. That probably made him think he was some hero who needs to save or protect everybody. The problem is that he doesn’t think it through any of the possible outcomes of his actions like forcibly revealing to the public that they have special powers. He seems to have done it with the intention that it would protect everybody but he didn’t realize that there would be people who would resent that like Murakami and Kanako or that they’d eventually be made to do things like fight terrorists which messed up a lot of them like Gazer who became a drug addict and suicidal or all the people that Banda is currently guiding who had been mentioned were having problems like insomnia or suicidal thoughts. Or when he went to go after the Eighth Guidance. It seems he genuinely thought that he could save and protect them without giving thought that many of the Bravers resented them for killing some of their own and how they also allied with Murakami’s group of traitors. Or that there would be multiple nations that would try to capture the Eighth Guidance for experiments and the lengths that they would go to like betraying other nations that they were on the same team for the operation or that Murakami’s group were undercover agents that forced Hiroto to hand over the bodies of the Eighth Guidance for experimentation while countless people from multiple nations died during the operation along with multiple Bravers too. All that happened because he didn’t want to make a hard call and tried to save people who had already professed that their end goal was to die in order to be reunited with the Undead. Also Hiroto is a horrible judge of character. He implicitly believes that everybody is good. He didn’t realize some of the messed up things some of the Bravers could do like the Gungnir or Rikudo by abusing their powers or positions. I don’t think he even knows about what people like the Marionette or Death Gaze did when they were still part of the Bravers and only knew about Gungnir because his crimes where exposed to the public. Honestly I think of Hiroto as a disappointing failure.
Morgan
small correction. Rodcorte got Amemiya Hiroto (Later the Braver Leader) and Hiroto Amamiya (Later Van) confused and gave Amemiya the fortunes that should have gone to Amamiya. He praised him because “Hiroto” attempted to be heroic and died saving that other girl (who later killed Van with the other Bravers and married Amemiya)
Morgan
Thanks for the chapter!
I wonder if Van’s gonna wake up with a headache now
Morgan
Annoying and Tedious Request:
Would you be able to make and post a list of the characters and a small description of who they are in a later chapter? It’s getting a little hard to keep track of them.
Randomreader
There is a character description chapter coming up so don’t worry
Supreme king
There is something like that at the beginning of every volume I believe
Tejing
The character summary chapters (the ones for this volume are coming up next) help with that, though they don’t list every character by any means. We also have some pinned posts on discord that help keep track of certain categories of characters, like reincarnated individuals and gods.
Supreme king
SO basically a useless chapter next well it isn’t useless useless but u should get what I mean I wanna see content after that long wait sigh~
Necessarious
Its interesting to me that some of the reincarnated individuals are so against having souls smashed or devoured when realistically when your soul gets recycled through Rodcorte’s system after death you lose all memories, personality, and might not even be reincarnated as a human anyway. Either one is a permanent death. Rodcorte passes no judgement on souls for being good or evil and so knowing this Van does it himself. Many of the criminals who destroyed Talosheim or hurt citizen’s are punished even with having their souls devoured or broken. It wouldnt surprise me if the end of this resulted in Van becoming the God of Death and jointly with Vida replacing the system Rodcorte built to have standards of judgement for recycling, rewarding, and punishing souls. It would also fit the concepts of Gods in general. If there is a God of Life, there MUST be a god of Death.
Superboy8338
Can’t argue with that logic.
Supreme king
That sounds like a god of judgment
Gohankuten
I mean they probably need one of those as well since the current one is a complete idiot.
WizziBot
*JUDGMENT KNIGHTS OF…*
franz941
That pretty much how i see this novel ending with Van on the place of Rodcorte as a god with his own pantheon.
Jonathan Hurd
I gotta agree with you that the reincarnators have some weird hang ups about Van destroying souls. I think though part of it is their usual hypocrisy. For instance how angry they are when Van kills people but keep saying it’s necessary when they do it to their opponents.
I don’t think Van of all people would try and judge peoples lives and sins. The problem is the judgements are to subjective. Sure there are some legitimately evil crimes such as rape and forceful slavery, but even with those what makes them bad to us is our own values.
A good example of the problem is how someone would judge a person like Mikhael. From his and Mirg Shield Nations view he fought as a hero against a nation of monsters. From Vida and Taloshiems view he slaughtered a peaceful city that had done nothing wrong. Whether he is punished or rewarded changes on the view.
Add in that if he isn’t even going to remember why he’s being punished is that even really punishment to him anymore? Personally I like Vans current system. He gives the final punishment to those that try to or have hurt him. They need to have done significant damage to deserve that punishment though.
Bloodysorcerer
I have to say that this argument is a bit debatable.
When you die it’s the end, you’re not supposed to keep your memories(I actually hate when stories does allow the mc to keep his memories I certainly hated that with Mushoku tensei and the pedophile 35 years old MC. With only a few offering an acceptable explanation for that to happen, such as this one).
But just because you became a new being it doesn’t mean thay you ceased to be you, it’s just that you no longer recognize your former self as being you. It’s like playing a final fantasy game. You change protagonists in both name and personality but the PoV remains the same.
That said, the idea that your soul may get reborn as another animal or insect or even another kind of being altogether is ludicrous at best.
Curiously enough only a few cultures had that aspect to it’s belief in reincarnation, many others believed that humans would only be reborn as humans, as it makes more sense if you think about it.
After all the spirit of a person would be totally different than the spirit of another being in multiple ways. For example I could see a human being reborn as a mammal, But how would a human be reborn as a bug when the size, the volume, and even, the amount and quality of information is absolutely different from that of a bug.
As for Van’s soul break ability. When your soul is destroyed you literally cease to exist.You lose everything. Soul Break is pretty much true death, because normal death is only the loss of a body. And this is worlds apart from a mere memory swipe.
So yes I can easily understand why the reincarnators would see that as a bad thing to do. That said, it’s not like I mind that Van has this ability or even makes a use of it frequently. But I’d certaily hate for him to come to abuse it. Few beings in this story actually deserve to have their soul broken, not even Alda or Heinz deserves that. Especially when the story itself mentions that Alda may have been manipulated by his hero Bellwood to think in the way he currently does.
Wsteven7o7
You were going well and i was wondering why you had dislikes…
But you had to say Alda…
And even if he was brainwashed is still his fault for being a god and falling to one of human most basic natures Control.
Hobbes
I agree, but remember the first few times Van broke someone’s soul? Secrent and Gungnir both were either cocky or somewhat scared of defeat/death…, but when Van grasped the core of their soul they instinctively became terrified even without knowing what it was that he was doing to them.
So based on that I think the thought of soul destruction is more of a primeval and instinctual fear for all beings that have a soul. It is a rejection at the most fundamental level and as has been shown multiple times even Van’s companions and allies aren’t entirely immune to this.
Zauberbiest
they already lived past 2 lives
the fear of death, hasn’t changed.. its just this time they have preobtained information of a 4th life, which causes the default death to become less scary and the soul death become the actual death. even if roidiot was lying, it has already created that psychological fear as long as their memories r kept
an extreme case of this was kanda, he went as far as to see lamada as a virtual reality game with no consequences
and then we have kanko and the few others who i forgot the name of, lol like mc who doesn’t want a 4th life /as they r plenty happy with their current life, dying would be the end of it even if she is given a 4th life and if not.eitherway it would be the end for her as she can’t see the future, unless van personally brings her back as undead or back into lamada to be by his side, after all she is the type to prefer favourable circumstances, as the logic she used to join van’s side and be guided away from rodidiot’s cycle and a potential 4th life which she deemed was impossible, to defeat van even if the possibility was there it was not ”favourable” after all
another example r the demons van has tamed
they didn’t fear death before. but they do now
cuz they would die for real if van kills their soul
all of this we already know but putting it together like this makes more sense right?
Lord Rin
I feel like Kanako might want to join Van’s harem. She’s squirming around on her bed like she’s all happy while mentioning just how much is Van gonna spoil her. Also she previously tried to sneak into Van’s room before because as she put it: it was the imouto’s job and privilege to wake up their onii-chan and end up in an ecchi situation.
On another note it was kinda funny that once she woke up after realizing she was dreaming of singing inside Van’s head, she promptly went back to sleep and took off her shoes in her dream to be respectful.
Gawain
The real question though is why she did she go to sleep wearing her shoes? If she woke up, then took off her shoes, it means that she was wearing them while sleeping, right?
franz941
I think she fall asleep while she was thinking on what to do so she hasn’t really planed to go sleep.( tho why she still had shoe in the bed is still strange)
Tejing
She took off her shoes in the dream, not while awake.
franz941
I am pretty sure she want to be in Van harem but cause it pretty full she come up with the little sister role. LOL
Tejing
I don’t know if she consciously wants to or not, but things do seem to be heading that direction. I thought they wouldn’t when she first showed up, but it looks pretty likely now. EDIT: also, the whole “no way, you like melissa more than me” thing is a pretty big tip off.
Jonathan Hurd
Honestly who doesn’t want to join Vans harem at this point. Considering the tremendous benefits an d no downsides why not?
VEreality
Thank you for the chapter!!!!!!!
Even if there is less Van than I was hoping for, I like this chapter. Nice side story.
Btw, I was like :3 when Kanako pretty much echoed what I said in the comment section a couple of chapters ago. No good, no evil, just personal interest.
franz941
That one of the thing i love of this whole novel isn’t good and evil just different interest (while the some TRY to spin it like good vs evil).
Jonathan Hurd
It’s pretty sad how many evil and horrible acts those trumpeting themselves as good keep comiting. I guess though that’s kind of the point. The bigger the evil you’re fighting the more you can be forgiven for doing.
VEreality
In the end it’s a matter of perspective. Being forgiven for something means that the ones around you have to consider that you did something wrong in the first place. Given how mindless some of the belivers of Alda are the people might just say that it was all a sacrifice in the name of their god
Paps
Thanks for the chapter.
Yoshi
If you have any questions regarding donations or this series’ translation, please see this article: https://lightnovelbastion.com/death-mage-translation-and-donations-faq/
Superboy8338
THANK YOU… 😀😭😆😭😁
Kuro-san
Yoshi, you can change “Beast-People” to “Beastkin”. I think it gets better. Besides being easier to write.
I’m sorry if there are any typos. I don’t speak English, I’m just using Google Translate.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
kazamakj
She became a guider? Self-Enhancement: Guidance: Level 3 (NEW!)
So she has become a guider of magical girls?
Tejing
No, that means she’s stronger when she’s being guided. lots of van’s followers have that skill.
Destro777
Yeah i think its she gets stronger when being guided by Van
Lord Rin
I do wonder what Self-Enhancement: Ancestor: Level 3 means though.
Morgan
She gets enhanced when acting together with Darcia who is essentially her ”ancestor” maybe?
Jonathan Hurd
Stronger around Darcia is also how I read that.
bk3k
No she hasn’t become a guider. Yet.
Zeronime
Yes, she is. At least in WN Raw she became Geisha (Entertainer Guider).
Vitor
In other words, as we are seeing, she guides others into magical girls (idols), give it up Zadiris, I think she doesn’t want to let you go XD
TypicalReader
Quick question, what’s the difference between donating on the patreon and using the donate button of the website. If there is one, which one supports the translation of this novel better.
Yoshi
The yellow “Donate” button at the bottom of the Death Mage chapters is the one that links to my PayPal; Patreon donations go towards the maintenance of the website. If you want your donations to contribute towards sponsored chapters, please donate to my PayPal.
Thanks for your support!
Arha
How does your sponsored chapters system work? I looked around briefly for details but I didn’t see much.
Yoshi
$150-$250 in accumulated donations = 1 sponsored chapter depending on chapter length.
Donations accumulate faster than I can translate (This has been the case since 2017 I think). You can see how many sponsored chapters are in the queue and how much has been donated towards the next one through the stickied post in the Death Mage channel of our Discord server. The sponsored chapter queue count has never dropped below 4 in the past two years and I think the record was over 30…
This means that donating does not speed up my releases – the limiting factor here is not the amount donated, but my translation speed. I have a job and social life outside of translating this series so the releases tend to be quite irregular.
I hope this answers your question!
Arha
Gotcha, thanks for letting me know.
Morgan
Glad to know you’re getting paid for your hard work.
Jonathan Hurd
Keep up the good work Yoshi!
no1
nice chapter to connect Kanako’s appearance in chapter 203
Tejing
So, do we think all chaos elves get the allure skill? or did kanako just get it because of her job?
Nobody2
I really appreciate this look into kanako’s past. I’ve always liked her and sympathized with her lost dream so getting to see more of her old life and now her new one is really nice
Makaayplays
I lerked here on this site for a solid week and a half waiting for a new chapter. Totally worth it.
On a side note, I absolutely love the new cover for Volume 6 of the manga! Princess Levia looks stunning, and Vandalieu looks badass!!
(Fuck Kaidou)
Sebas Tian
Not the manga, that’s the cover for the Light Novel. What you’re reading now is the Web Novel.
Nobody2
Do they change much between the web novel and light novel?
akatsuki kuranashi
not realy most of the time its just a minor changes that the author or the publisher decided on
franz941
Can some make a list of the minor changes( also this novel is so good that don’t really need changes)
Supreme king
Wait is the light novel translated?
gomezseba37
yes but its far behind the WN in the LN van is fighting kaidou kanata at this moment if i remember correctly
Sebas Tian
The LN isn’t translated, we just know generally what each volume is about because of the illustrations and the bits and pieces of info we get from people that can read the Japanese.
Sebas Tian
The LN is not translated
Supreme king
WHy dose that always happen one version is translated while the other isn’t it’s the same for serei gensouki which hasn’t stopped translating completely anyway isn’t there any differences between the other version of this
ReikoLupus
The Magical Idols are taking over the world!!!
Akuma the holy
Damnit I wanted a normal chapter, but I’m not complaining. THANK YOU YOSHI!!
Destro777
Lolol same
Sebas Tian
Hope everyone enjoys Kanako’s backstory and tale of torment and recruitment. Glad she’s having fun with her life on Lambda.
kazamakj
It does seem like all the defected heroes are having fun. The only ones that seem to struggle are the ones whom are actively going against Van.
franz941
Well bunch of idiots struggling isn’t so strange.
Destro777
Thanks as always sebas