The Village Where Screams Echo
The joy didn't last. I was already stuck on one serious problem. Sure, I'd found something that could pass for a stroke of fortune — but how the hell was I supposed to actually use it?
Normally, a problem like this would be solved by just yelling—
"Hey, Status Window!"
—and getting an answer right then and there. Instead, nothing but dead silence answered me. Not even the wind.
So the bare minimum really was all I had. I considered waking Marie, who was still asleep, then dropped the idea. This was Forbidden Area business — the only answer I'd get was that she didn't know.
Marie was sleeping for a full body reset. The reset itself hadn't started yet. It would only truly begin once I poured in two thousand points of Divine Power. Right now, she was just… sleeping.
"Eh, might as well deal with Marie first and worry about the rest later."
DP 1900 / 2000
Time Remaining: 00:50
Two points of Divine Power recovered every second. Honestly? Completely broken. In game terms it might not sound like much, but factor in how fantasy worlds usually work — mages meditate, priests pray — and this recovery rate was pure bullshit.
"Alright!"
Squish, knead♡
I sat down on the bed where Marie lay and spent the remaining fifty seconds groping her chest while browsing the shop for something to kill the next twenty-four hours with.
Masturbation? Obviously I was going to do that — but even a hardcore gamer doesn't dump a full day into clam-polishing alone.
…Well, a true degenerate might, but you get the idea.
"First things first — pick the useful stuff. Let's see… Doctrine of the Goddess Church, International Court Etiquette, Absurd Verdicts and Defense Cases. And a history compilation, too."
Genuinely useful books, all of them. And who the hell would look at me reading this and call me an empty-headed cunt-brain?
Knowledge is power. Knowing court etiquette while you're being a filthy degenerate just makes it hotter.
"These for today, then? Now for the toys…"
The selection ran from a plain average fifteen-centimeter model to a shota type, a massive cock type, a dark-skinned type, and a breeding-uncle type.
"Orc or horse dick don't look half bad either."
While Serena hummed to herself picking out dildos, a coffin a short distance away from her went—
Creeeak.
—and its lid opened with the tiniest of sounds. But Serena's attention was elsewhere, and she never heard it.
Consume 2000 DP?
"Yeah."
She emptied every last drop of her Divine Power.
"Cheap! Dirt cheap! Fresh fruit just arrived this morning!"
"Seasonal fish here! Kept ice-cold in a magic refrigerator the whole way!"
"♚♚MAGICAL MANA ST☆RM♚♚ Sign up now$$ Every player gets an SSR unit☜☜ Includes exclusive backside special illustration※ ♜World of…"
A noisy marketplace. No matter how thoroughly the curse of miasma had fallen over the children and the elderly, it still couldn't snuff out the clamor of Corson Village's market. The mood was a touch gloomier than usual, sure — but people still figured they could tough it out.
And right in the middle of that market stood a mage, black high-grade robe pulled low enough that only his jaw showed, dragging a staff along the ground as he walked.
Mages were usually loaded, and that robe looked expensive, so the merchants weren't about to let him pass without a hard sell.
"Mage, sir! How about a box of chocolates? I heard sugar's good for keeping the mind sharp. Perfect for snacking on while you research — and if there's a lady mage you've got your eye on, there's no better gift!"
The dessert merchant held up a luxurious box of chocolates as he spoke.
"Nonsense! Fresh fruit beats chocolate any day! A man who researches all day needs to look after his health! How about something from my stall, then?"
An older fruit seller refused to be outdone, holding up apples with smooth, firm skins and oranges of vivid color.
Every single item on display was top-shelf. The other merchants watching the scene quietly wondered what the mage would pick — and how free he'd be with his coin.
"What's the most expensive chocolate you've got?"
At the mage's question, the two merchants' fortunes split clean down the middle.
"Ah! I've got a top-grade set that goes for one gold. Yes — the very product popular with noble young ladies in the capital. And not just chocolate — I've also got confectioneries that pair with anything. Not too sweet, of course."
"I'll take both. And for the fruit… someone of high station will be eating it, so give me whatever the nobility prefer. Highest quality, naturally."
Clink.
The sound of metal on metal, and gold coins glittering in the sunlight dropped into the two merchants' hands at a two-to-one ratio. Smiling as they took the money, they hurried to fetch everything the customer had ordered.
Snap!
The mage gave the gifts a once-over, flicked his fingers, and the packages floated up and began drifting along beside him.
"And this is a tip."
He pulled two more gold coins from his pocket and handed one each to the dessert merchant and the fruit seller.
The people in the market gasped once at the magic, then again at the mage's openhandedness.
"Oh, thank you, sir!"
"Think nothing of it. Consider it travel money for the whole village — cheap at the price, really."
"Hahaha! A man of your generosity, even the travel money's on a grand sca— …travel money?"
For a second the dessert merchant thought he'd misheard the tip. Normally someone would have scolded him not to say such unlucky things — but the fruit seller beside him just looked puzzled.
Swish.
And then the mage pushed back his hood.
"Huuuuh…!"
The moment the face beneath the hood was revealed, people throughout the market sucked in their breath, stumbling backward or collapsing where they stood.
There was nothing. Above the jaw that should have been covered by skin and muscle, hair, eyes — every organ — there was only bare white bone.
"A skeleton…!"
"How rude. They say the customer is king, and yet… is this how you treat me the moment the deal is done? Even for merchants, that's rather cold."
"…AAAAAAAH! GUAAAAARDS!"
The skeleton delivered what he clearly considered a killer punchline, but the market crowd was not moved. The place erupted into pandemonium in an instant, and the guards stationed there came pouring in.
The lead guard swung his weapon as he charged.
"Die again, skeleton!"
"Not even a scrap of mana in it. Pathetic."
The skeleton watched the sluggish attack with a sneer — and the guard's body jerked to a halt, then floated gently up into the air.
"Wh-whaaa?!"
The guard had no idea why he'd stopped mid-swing and was now hovering. He also couldn't figure out why his guts were churning so violently. No — more than churning, it felt like his stomach was swelling, bubbling—
Bubble-bubble-bubble!
In an instant the guard's body inflated like a balloon, and then—
SPLAT!
—he burst. One whole corner of the market was painted in the guard's blood, shredded flesh, and organs.
"Wh-what the hell was that?!"
"No — more importantly, he spoke. And that was… magic?"
The guards arriving late fell into a murmur. The shock of their comrade's death was one thing, but the sheer unreality of the scene was harder to accept. Then one of them spoke.
"A l-lich!"
Clatter.
"AAAAAAAH!"
The moment the word "lich" left someone's mouth, one guard dropped his weapon and fled — and none of his comrades said a word about it. They were all running too. No one had the heart, or the time, to scold anyone.
"As if running will help…"
A lich — and among them, one called the greatest: an Archlich. Paul watched the guards flee in disgrace, sighed inwardly, gripped his staff in both hands, and slammed it hard into the ground.
Kiiiiiiing!
Along the trail where Paul had been dragging his staff, black lines bloomed across the earth and began to radiate an eerie light.
A high-level priest or mage interfering would shatter this easily, and it'd burn through most of the miasma I have…
But this village had no one of that caliber. With no real enemies, pushing a little hard would be fine.
"KRAAAAAAAAH!"
"Ugh, uwaaaah!"
"MOOOOOM!"
Screams rang out from every corner of the village. The screams became the sound of bodies collapsing into meat, then the sound of hands pushing up from the dirt, and then—
"Kieeeeek!"
—a grotesque, keening wail that rose toward the sky.
"Uh, Lady Philotes. Are we really just leaving that alone? Looking at it… it seems like he's trying to take the Forbidden Area from Serena."
From the impossibly high sky, Ei — who had been watching everything unfold — asked Philotes, to whom she was linked, whether they should intervene.
When Philotes had first touched this world she'd been uncertain, but the moment she saw what lay in the Forbidden Area, she was sure. This fragile little world would collapse.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
And when Philotes felt Serena's scream come through the mana that connected them, she laughed with genuine interest.
"Huh?"