Chapter 119: Wouldn’t It Be Faster to Be Reborn?
An underground prison where not a single ray of light entered.
The Schemer, Kairas, sat alone in his solitary cell, staring blankly into empty space.
“Kairas Selun.”
Then suddenly the heavy voice of a prison guard from the Ashen Wolf Guild rang out.
“You have a visitor.”
Dragged away without resistance, Kairas was forced into a seat somewhere.
Everything was completely dark, but unlike the solitary cell, faint outlines could at least be seen.
Beyond a glass window submerged in darkness, someone sat whose build was not particularly large.
“Sir Kairas. You look much more haggard since the last time I saw you.”
“……”
Golden Crow Kar.
The man who had thwarted Kairas’s plan continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“Have you abandoned your faith?”
“…Yes. I tried to delay it as long as possible, but it didn’t work.”
Kairas gave a weak smile and slumped his body.
“I no longer serve Lord Ernysiv. But you won’t be able to make me abandon the dream of a world where everyone lives in equal harmony.”
“I never intended to do that anyway. Why would I make you discard such a sincere aspiration?”
“…Then why did you come? To mock me for losing?”
“My goodness. How could I do something so vicious?”
Speaking casually in an emotionless voice, Kar handed something to the guild member standing nearby.
Several minutes later.
After passing through a complicated procedure, the item Kar brought was finally placed into Kairas’s hands.
A cobra statue containing fire.
Strangely, it was clearly visible even in the darkness.
“…What is this?”
“The Watcher of Solitary Silence. An idol depicting Lady Leria. I bought it in the [Metropolis of Pleasure] to give to you, Sir Kairas.”
“And why would you give something like this to me?”
“Just keep it.”
Kar whispered quietly in the darkness.
“If you do, you will encounter a gloomy twilight and cyclical death.”
Leaving behind only that mysterious statement, Kar departed.
Returned to his solitary cell, Kairas blankly caressed the idol.
At first he considered throwing it away and smashing it.
But for some reason, he suddenly no longer wanted to.
“……”
Everything was silent.
Nothing entered his field of vision.
The only thing that existed was complete solitude.
‘…What is this feeling?’
It was strange.
The darkness that had once choked his breath and the silence that had weighed down his mind were now soothing his body and soul that had sunk into the abyss.
Ever since he held the cobra statue.
“…Huh?”
Kairas suddenly widened his eyes.
They said the prisons of District 3 drove prisoners mad through endless silence.
Had he already gone insane?
“A snake…?”
Kairas saw a snake coiled within the darkness.
A very small snake that made no sound, dyed in silence, quietly watching him.
“……”
He had clearly never seen this snake before.
Yet he knew exactly what it was.
The Watcher of Solitary Silence.
The Evil God of gloomy twilight and cyclical death.
Leria.
“Ah….”
He could feel it.
The unbelievably faint trace of faith contained within that tiny snake.
He could understand it.
The thoughts of that higher being that simply watched him quietly.
His conviction wavered.
The faith he had continued to hold in his heart toward the Maintainer, even after being forced to abandon it by Golden Crow Kar.
—Sss.
At last, the snake whispered something.
He did not understand the words.
Not at all.
But—
He was certain that this moment was the rare hallucination known only to a few people.
A faith experience.
Because…
‘How can she be so weak!’
The Watcher of Solitary Silence did not possess enough faith to project her illusion upon the world.
“Lady Leria?”
Kairas slowly crawled forward on his knees toward the tiny snake.
The snake climbed up his arm.
Watching its slow movements, Kairas suddenly thought,
‘I want to protect her.’
A small and adorable divine being.
He wanted to protect Leria.
The moment that thought appeared, Kairas felt his mind grow peaceful.
‘…What have I been doing all this time?’
It was ridiculous.
The tranquility he had never achieved despite living entirely for Ernysiv had only arrived after abandoning that faith.
His thoughts were confused, yet his heart was calmer than ever before.
At last, Kairas understood Kar’s words.
“O Watcher of Solitary Silence, please grant your flame to this humble body.”
That day, Leria gained her fourth believer.
Thus the half-elf who had despaired of the world finally found peace of mind for the first time in his life—thanks to a small and adorable Evil God.
I was walking along the northern road of District 3 with Lucius.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to play a secret game that will make our hearts race.”
“…That sounds enjoyable.”
It was exactly the kind of response expected from a priest of Arteine.
Which meant he found it boring.
“In truth, I’m going to confess a love I’ve been hiding.”
“I see.”
“To you, Sir Lucius.”
“…I suppose I will have to think deeply about that.”
Crackle.
Thanks to Lucius accepting everything harmoniously, the Lofty One seemed reasonably pleased with our conversation.
After diligently carrying out my religious duties, we soon arrived at our destination.
It was the headquarters of a guild symbolized by a sign depicting a liquor bottle filled with colorful gemstones.
“In fact, since we’re already in District 3, I came to complete a task I had postponed.”
When we entered, the Eastern Continent dwarf inspecting gloves at his workbench greeted us with enthusiasm, pounding his chest.
“Oh, welcome!”
《Tabirek, Guild Master of the Jewel Wine Guild (Eastern Continent Dwarf, 78). The artisan who previously requested corpse retrieval. Unfortunately, he looks far happier than the last time we met.》
“Sir Tabirek, have you been well?”
“Quite productive! Ever since I made that subspace storage for you, my skills—previously stuck in a slump—have suddenly improved!”
“It seems Solmiran has shone sunlight upon you.”
The One Who Burns Eternally must have bestowed brilliant creative inspiration upon the dwarf who would frequently assist me in the future.
Was that thought perhaps a little too self-centered?
“You’ve accomplished quite a feat this time! Winning the guild war! I nearly jumped out of my seat watching the broadcast!”
“I am such a capable cultist. Please praise me freely. Pat my bottom and say ‘good job.’”
“…My arms are too short.”
Instead of patting my bottom, Tabirek stroked his beard.
“So, why did you come?”
“Obviously to commission craftsmanship.”
I detached my left arm, the Hand That Grasped the Ember, and held it out.
The dwarf’s pupils trembled slightly.
“So that arm really is a prosthetic. What happened to it?”
“I was so hungry I cut it off and ate it.”
“Please don’t say things like that while smiling brightly. It sounds real….”
Tabirek shook his head and took the prosthetic arm.
He examined it closely.
“Oh ho, excellent workmanship. Nothing seems broken. Do you want to add functions?”
“That’s correct.”
Nodding, I pulled out my secret material from subspace.
—Where is this place?!
It was the head of a centaur-type elite golem.
“…What is that?”
“A trophy obtained from a labyrinth in a future timeline. It absorbs energy, amplifies it, and releases it.”
—I’m not an object! Treat me as a person!
The disembodied golem head screamed, but I ignored it.
Humane treatment for war criminals was a luxury.
“Let me see.”
After receiving the golem head, Tabirek rotated it carefully and soon murmured in admiration.
“You said it’s from a future timeline? The structure certainly contains many elements that are difficult to understand intuitively. Especially the mana core… very alien.”
“Unlike modern ones, its mana core absorbs natural mana and recharges itself.”
“Then it can operate semi-permanently without a mage maintaining it? Incredible!”
Magic power—the energy used by mages—was mana refined within the body.
Modern golems required periodic recharging from mages.
But the golems of Golemophia continued operating indefinitely.
“Please install this golem’s mana core and energy absorption function into my prosthetic arm. Is that possible?”
“Hm….”
Tabirek stroked his beard and thought carefully.
“It won’t be easy, but I’ll try. Somehow it feels like Solmiran is smiling upon this work.”
《Perhaps that feeling is not an illusion…》
“Anything else to commission?”
“Yes.”
From my subspace, I took out the handcuffs I had obtained from the Ashen Wolf Guild vault—Demon Suppressor.
“What’s that scrap? Looks like something from at least the era of the Great Holy War.”
“Correct. It’s too old and would break easily if used as it is, so I want it repaired.”
“If it isn’t rude, could you tell me how you intend to use it? Depending on the purpose, I might add special functions.”
I glanced once at Lucius beside me before looking back at the dwarf.
For some reason, Tabirek flinched before nodding.
“Ahem! I’m a dwarf who values harmony and unity. I respect your preferences.”
“I intend to use it in combat.”
“…Handcuffs? In battle?”
Before his expression grew even less harmonious, I quickly explained.
“So please extend the chain. And if possible, make it extremely durable.”
“Extending the chain isn’t difficult, but reinforcing such an old item so it doesn’t break won’t be easy.”
“That’s why I brought someone to help.”
Lucius stepped forward and clasped his hands.
“I am Lucius, the Small Lantern of Arteine. I intend to place a blessing upon those handcuffs.”
“In that case… it will work fine. Very well. I’ll take this commission too.”
The dwarf placed the Demon Suppressor beside the golem head on his workbench.
“How long will it take?”
“I’ll finish as quickly as possible. I can’t keep a future great explorer waiting.”
“That’s correct. I will become a tremendous great explorer someday. Before I become even more famous, you should get my autograph.”
“…For some reason, that actually sounds convincing.”
After some hesitation, Tabirek had me sign his hammer.
Lucius, watching from the side, chuckled.
“I didn’t expect him to actually ask for it.”
“It’s an investment of sorts. Quite common in the exploration industry.”
It was not unusual for inexperienced explorers to become legendary figures within just a few years.
Targon himself was one such case.
There was a famous story about a dragonblood blacksmith who became rich by selling a fragment of a small weapon Targon used as a beginner.
“Keep it safe. Someday it may make you rich.”
Before leaving Lucius to assist with the crafting, I suddenly asked,
“By the way, Sir Tabirek, are you perhaps interested in the Twisted Truth?”
“…Sorry, but no.”
“How strange. I promoted our faith extensively during the guild war, yet no one comes to visit me.”
“……”
Tabirek avoided my gaze and simply stroked his beard.
Lucius, who met my eyes, smiled awkwardly.
“…Perhaps people feel that Sir Kar is such an outstanding explorer that they hesitate to approach you.”
“Ah! So that’s the reason?”
In the game, promoting Evil God faith had not been possible, so I had been uncertain.
Apparently performing too brilliantly had become the problem.
Still, I had never expected much.
If there were an easy method to increase believers, the developers would have nerfed it long ago.
“Then what is the best way to strengthen the divine power of the Evil Gods?”
“……”
The sleepy-eyed priest thought long and carefully before speaking cautiously.
“…Being reborn as Benevolent Gods would probably be the fastest method.”
《The Wise One is furious!》
Crackle!
Twitch.
At that extreme solution, the Evil Gods erupted in outrage.
Clank.
Only one of them—
Okail, Chief Deity of Evil Gods—
did not become angry.
Instead, he calmly expressed a brief will.
‘Not a bad idea.’