“The Oracle”

Hakuma and Ginka were sent to the Liebe Forest. Currently, Queen Vespoid has taken over after Sugaru, using ants to manage the farm. There are also Queen Beetle and Queen Arachnea, and they help with training and forest management.

Similar training is also being conducted in the Teur Forest, where there are several queen-class entities. Considering the vastness and difficulty level, these forests are quite powerful.

"The beetles have higher heat resistance than ants. Even if they can't enter the volcano, they should be able to manage the forest at its base. If there's a Queen Beetle who has completed training in Liebe, let's dispatch her."

Leaving Hakuma and the others in Liebe might be excessive in terms of strength, but there are currently no other tasks, and it's acceptable to leave them as a precautionary force for any future events.

The kids are accompanying Queen Vespoid's training, playing pretend shepherds on the farm. Disobedience has decreased significantly, and recently, they seem eager to be helpful and offer assistance. It seems they are growing well.

Once Queen Beetle, who has completed training, was sent to the forest near the volcano – though it's unnamed on the map, so it might be okay to give it a name – to establish a nest, increase her subordinates, and manage the forest.

Next, they stopped by La Colinne to check the situation.

<Everything is going smoothly, boss.>

There is no longer any impression of a hill of rubble. It has grown into a fantastical forest where greenery and ruins harmonize. Occasionally, giant insects fly in the sky. They don't resemble beetles, ants, or spiders, what could they be?

<They are a species called Megasyros. Since there no queens, I can only directly produce individuals, but their combat power is higher compared to others.>

It was an unfamiliar term. After researching later, it seems to be the ancient insect species called Mazothairos. However, it was better not to think too deeply, given their large size, numerous legs, and sturdy armor.

"Are there several queen-class beings in La Colinne?"

<We have a complete set of them. It's at level where you can leave it to The same goes for the treants, they seem be increasing within reasonable range. aerial troops bring rodent-like creatures as food insect-type monsters from Liebe Forest, and already succeeded in breeding them too. rodents are fed with treants' fruits, so it's not problem since produced LP consumption.>

With that, there shouldn't be a problem even without Sugaru.

I flew to the capital and [Summoned] Kerry and the others, along with Sugaru, to the audience room.

*

"Initially, I didn't plan to make the capital my base, but considering the location and dungeon management, making this the base isn't a bad idea."

It's not a lie, but it's not entirely the truth either.

The main reason was that I was slightly envious of Blanc's lord mansion and Lyra's royal castle.

Of course, there are practical reasons as well.

Within my dominion, the capital is the most important target for players. Considering the process of capturing the capital, it can be said to be a symbol of the Seventh Calamity.

La Colinne and other places might be targeted as footholds, but they have sufficient strength. With three queen-class beings, the forces there are greater than the former Liebe Forest. Moreover, most of the trees forming the forest are Treants. If small monsters for food increase, they will automatically attack players who intrude into their territory.

"I didn't really intend to plant Treants around the capital perimeter… They don't mesh too well with undead."

It could be divided by day and night, similar to the Teur Forest, but when the undead become active at night, Treants don't disappear. They are just affected by miasma and go into dormancy.

"I can't force such a black working environment on my subordinates. Well, like Blanc's Erntal, let the insects work hard during the day."

"Then, I'll produce several queen-class beings later."

"I'm counting on you. No matter how much experience points I have, it's never enough."

Creating queen-class beings consumes experience points unlike others, so it's a painful expense. Rare also wants to use experience points for her own growth. Originally, the Demon Lord is said to be a race with few subordinates, and indeed, if Rare hadn't used experience points on his subordinates, she would have become even stronger. Even though paying 5000 for the World Tree was necessary, she has consumed quite a lot otherwise.

"I'll have to earn and balance it from now on. Dias is currently with Blanc, and Hakuma and Ginka are babysitting in Liebe, but for now, these members can be considered as top executives."

In the audience chamber, there are Kerry, Riley, Remy, Marion, Sugaru and Sieg, totaling six. Rare sat down on the throne.

"Oh, come to think of it, Yoroizaka-san is here too."

Although the seating position was much higher than the previous throne she sat on, it was more comfortable to sit on. It seemed to be Yoroizaka-san's knees. As ordered, it sat here instead of Rare and stayed still.

Since Yoroizaka is not really a living being, its body doesn't stiffen even if it stays still, and it doesn't seem to have any discomfort.

"Then, let me put a knee blanket for you."

I took out a large monster fur from the inventory and placed it on Yoroizaka-san's knees. With this, even if Rare sits on Yoroizaka's knees, she shouldn't feel any discomfort.

"…Now, let's think about that skill, [Divine Oracle]."

Finally, there was time for contemplation. It might have been more prioritized, but if a new calamity-class monster were to be born, it would likely be during an event, and now that they've passed that phase, there's no urgent need. Thinking this way, Rare temporarily set it aside.

While calling up the skill screen of the Archbishop, who is likely in the Aural Kingdom, Rare considered it. When it comes to adjusting the skills of subordinates, distance is not a factor. You can choose the character from your list of subordinates, and open a dedicated window in your mind. This is also due to the application of the brainwave control technology of the VR module, so it's different from the conventional meaning of 'in the mind'.

A brief inquiry with the Archbishop indicated that he did not know which skill exactly granted the capability of receiving the oracle's words. This is because there is no skill explicitly named [Divine Oracle], and the situation of hearing announcements was a first for him.

However, based on what Rare observed, there was a skill that she found suspicious: [Spiritual Wisdom].

Another possibility was [Suggestion], but if what is being heard is due to a suggestion cast by oneself, it would not be a World Announcement but something else requiring the attention of a specialist.

Upon confirmation, the effect of the first tier of the [Spiritual Wisdom] tree, [Human Wisdom], was revealed to be the ability to "receive part of the announcements broadcasted throughout the world". Judging from the content, this seemed to be correct.

"This would mean that you can hear everything, regardless of what kind of being you were born into, but…"

However, that is not guaranteed.

Since it mentions "part" of the announcement, there is likely some bias in the information being heard. If there is something determining this, it would probably be the next tier of [Spiritual Wisdom], called [True Wisdom].

This skill is not effective on its own but seems to unlock the performance caps of other skills, acting more like a secondary effect such as [Soul Bind]. Its effect is to "expand the announcements that can be received in [Spiritual Wisdom]".

Since the Archbishop's [Spiritual Wisdom] tree is only open up to [True Wisdom], it is unclear if this is used to sort out whether a being is considered a calamity or not.

"…Could it be that, while the birth of a disaster-class entity is understood, whether to consider it an enemy of humanity depends on the interpretation of the listener?"

The former ruler of this continent was the Spirit Lord. When he was born, those who heard this announcement were likely religious figures. Later, when the Spirit Lord ruled the continent, those who heard the announcement would understand that the being indicated by the announcement was the Spirit Lord. Alternatively, it could have been revealed through direct conversation with the Spirit Lord.

"No, that doesn't seem right? Only those with this skill can hear the World Announcement. I probably heard it because I was the person myself, but that was a system message."

However, since I've never heard of a World Announcement, it's unclear if there is a difference in how it sounds compared to a system message. There is a possibility that what I heard was the announcement itself.

In any case, even if there was a World Announcement, it is not certain whether the NPC Spirit Lord heard the announcement of his own birth.

Anyway, if the religious figures of the past heard about the birth of the Spirit Lord through the announcement, the Spirit Lord would be recognized as a good thing for humanity. Regardless of the actual governance, if the contents were similar to those recorded in modern literature, there might have been some censorship. There might have been propaganda at that time as well.

However, around the time his rule ended – if the story Blanc heard from the Count is true – an Archangel was born. According to information on SNS, there was speculation that the Archangel and the Spirit Lord were in close factions.

From this, even if there was a World Announcement, it can be speculated that both the Spirit Lord and the Archangel would have been similar. That the specific race would not be known in the announcement is indicated by the fact that I have never been called "Demon Lord" by an NPC.

Nevertheless, I was instantly declared as an "enemy of humanity".

From the stories posted by players from various countries on the official forum, it seems that they unanimously treat me as such without having discussed it deeply.

"…I need to confirm this one at least once to see what it actually sounded like."

Thinking that it would be enough to just gain the skill, this was left under the control of the Archbishop and ignored until now, but it seems that it cannot be left like that.

Because they thought that as long as they could get the skills, the Patriarchs would leave Lyra alone after putting them under her control, but that did not seem to be the case.

{***}

Author Note for chapter 138:

In each country, there is generally a "Holy Church" that bears the name of each country. Originally, it was a single organization, but it differentiated when the nations split, and each became like a local religion.

It's like saying, "We follow Buddhism, but we are of the Jodo Shinshu Honganji School". There are variations in sutra recitation depending on the region.

The organizational structure includes:

In the bishop class:

Archbishop (Metropolitan Archbishop): Generally located in the capital.Grand Archbishop: The coordinator in major cities or, in cases where there are strong ties with the state, may ceremonially appoint nobles to this position.Bishop: Assistants to the higher-ranking individuals or coordinators in medium-sized cities.

In the priest class:

Head Priest: Coordinator in cities where there is no bishop.Priest: Coordinators at the village level.

There is no sub-deacon class, but there are monks. When monks become prominent, they directly become priests. From priests, they proceed to the rank of divine officials. Marriage is not allowed at this stage. If someone was already married before being consecrated, it's acceptable.

The god they worship is referred to as the "World Announcement." However, because the content of their training is difficult in relation to experience point efficiency and, to be honest, they don't engage in production or combat, not many people acquire skills. Even if they do acquire them, the World Announcement itself is rarely heard, so there might be individuals who never use it throughout their lives.

In addition to announcing the birth of characters of a certain rank or higher, the World Announcement provides information on normal disasters, such as a volcano erupting or a tsunami occurring somewhere. However, before the service started, such events were infrequent, making it a truly flavor skill.

It's a skill where what one wants to do and what one should do don't necessarily align, but it allows them to hear the voice of the world. It seems that people who enjoy that sort of thing created this religion.