Volume 17 Chapter (6-10) Side Story 1

Chapter 6, Rampage

Bad premonitions were usually right.

Of course, there were those who state, because those were negative feelings, they were hard to forget, and therefore, felt accurate.

However, for Kousuke, especially since he became a living god, bad premonitions seemed to have become increasingly accurate.

This time too. It happened soon after he felt a bad premonition.

Oddly, Peach came into the lab, looking a little impatient.

Currently, Isnani had gone to the 5th layer, so Kousuke was the only one in the lab.

As a side note, a separate room was purposely built for creating golems.

So Kousuke and Mitsuki were in the lab, and when they saw Peach's condition, they looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

"Peach, what happened? Why do you look so flustered?"

"Kousuke-san, come here for a minute. This is urgent."

Then, without hearing Kousuke's reply, she took Kousuke's arm and left the lab.

"Wait a minute, what happened?"

"It's better to ask them directly than to hear it from me~"

Peach came to him saying such a thing, having calmed down somewhat while they were walking.

Kousuke was inwardly wondering what had happened to make Peach so upset, but for the time being, he kept quiet and let her take him away.

Naturally, he was followed by Mitsuki.

Peach brought Kousuke to the meeting room where the regular meeting was always held.

Three people were waiting for him in the room, which was rarely used except for regular meetings.

Two of them were Shrein and Floria.

The other one was not a member of the administration, but a high-ranking official of the 5th Floor executive branch.

Kousuke remembered him because he had been there at the last regular meeting.

Kousuke tilted his head, unable to think of a reason for him to come here, even though it was not a regular meeting.

"What's wrong?"

"Kousuke, you came."

They all looked overtly relieved to see Kousuke.

Seeing this, they recognized that something was really going on.

The dignitaries who had come here also had overt expressions of relief on their faces when they saw Kousuke's face.

This dignitary, as if prompted by Shrein, began to talk about what was going on.

As he listened, Kousuke's face began to go blank.

It all started when Kouhi visited the 5th Floor to pick up the golem materials he had ordered from Schmidt.

Collecting the materials itself went off without a hitch.

The problem was what happened after that.

Wondering what was going on, Kouhi did not return to the Administration Floor immediately after receiving the money, but instead took a look around the 5th Floor.

Kouhi, of course, was well aware of the fact that her appearance attracted a lot of attention.

Using her appearance, Kouhi started to hear rumors about what was going on in the town.

Among the rumors was the one that started this incident.

To put it simply, they were all rumors that were meant to put Kousuke in a negative light.

Kouhi, who heard the rumors, did not do anything at that moment, but went straight to the executive branch.

Naturally, someone who did not know Kouhi, responded to her first.

However, a high-ranking official who happened to recognize Kouhi's face passed by the spot, and his face paled.

He said that when he saw Kouhi's expression at that moment, he instantly understood what was going on.

Kouhi was immediately taken to another room and placed in Alec's custody, and the official came directly to the Administration Floor after receiving Alec's permission.

Kousuke had to deal with what was in front of him.

"Mitsuki, please don't run off without me."

Kousuke's words caused everyone but Mitsuki to look at her and inwardly break out in cold sweat.

Her expression was smiling, but everyone could see that she was livid.

"Oh? Why so?"

"Just stay put until I know what's going on. Okay?"

" haah. …Alright"

Mitsuki nodded her head, as if reluctant to do so.

Seeing this, all the rest let out a sigh of relief and looked at Kousuke.

Their gazes were probably an indication of their expectation to deal with Kouhi, who was currently on the verge of causing a typhoon.

"…I knew my bad premonition would be right…"

Kousuke thought to himself as he was led by the dignitaries to the 5th Floor.

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"Oh, I can't. This is just impossible for me."

That was Kousuke's line the moment he saw Kouhi's expression in the administrative office.

Alec's expression when he heard that line was something to behold, but Kousuke was having none of it.

"Let's just calm down for now, Kouhi."

"Oh, Master, you're here. Please wait while I crush this infidel for the time being."

The words that were about to go out his throat, 'You don't have to crush him for me,' never made it out.

He knew it was useless to say it.

"Alec, what's this all about anyway?"

Rumors spread throughout the 5th Floor that Kousuke was being disgraced. That was the cause of the problem.

Kousuke didn't think Alec would just stand by and let that happen.

Alec let out a sigh.

"It's not like there haven't been rumors like this before. It seems that they have been deliberately induced recently…"

Kousuke hastened to offer advice in response to Alec's apologetic statement.

"Alec, I don't care about political games. It seems you don't understand, so I'll tell you, it's already too late. You'll get involved if you don't say what needs to be said, you know?"

At Kousuke's words, Alec stopped moving and looked at Kouhi.

He knew exactly what Kousuke was talking about. And that his words now were akin to stepping on a tiger's tail.

Alec naturally knew of the existence of the rumors.

As he'd mentioned earlier, he even had some idea of who was deliberately manipulating him behind the scenes.

He had planned to get solid evidence and use it to his political advantage, but Kouhi's presence blew it all away.

Kousuke was right, if left unchecked, not only him but the executive branch itself would become the target of Kouhi's wrath.

Kouhi would not hold back just because it was the executive branch of the 5th Floor.

"…The parties involved here have already been allocated. Most of the places that are pulling the strings behind the scenes are also…"

"Tell me."

Kouhi answered shortly and simply.

"Master Kouhi, if you make good use of this time, the position of this town will be more…"

Alec managed to explain the advantages and tried to dissuade her, but Kouhi ignored all of them.

"It doesn't matter. Are you going to tell me or not?"

Understanding that this was an ultimatum, Alec immediately presented Kouhi with a single document.

"Here's the information we have so far, in case you're interested."

Kouhi left that room as soon as she received the document.

She probably went to the Defrayer Clan to get some information to back up the report.

Even Kousuke could tell that much.

Alec let out a sigh when he saw Kouhi leave.

But then Kousuke looked at Alec and grimaced.

"Alec, I'm sorry, but it's still too early for you to feel relieved, you know?"

"What? What do you mean…?"

Alec was about to ask what was going on when he saw Mitsuki standing by Kousuke's side and immediately understood what Kousuke meant.

Alec cleared his throat and looked at Mitsuki.

"Well, I'll let you off the hook this time because it's your first offense. But the next time you do the same thing… Maybe Kouhi will immediately make a move, even if I don't."

Both Kouhi and Mitsuki were angry with Alec because of this incident.

Or, more accurately, against the executive branch.

The executive branch dared to overlook rumors that unfairly undermined Kousuke.

They wanted to gain political advantage by exposing those who were intentionally spreading the rumors.

However, both Kouhi and Mitsuki feel that they were equally guilty when they let the rumors go unchecked.

The only reason they overlooked it this time is because of Kousuke's heavy reliance on Alec.

"…Understood."

Alec bowed to Mitsuki and Mitsuki backed down.

As Kousuke was also concerned about Kouhi's movements, he could not stay there any longer, so he had to immediately leave the executive branch.

Peach, who had come with them, told Alec after Kousuke and the others had left.

"For Kouhi-sama and Mitsuki-sama, Kousuke-sama is their tiger's tail, so you shouldn't think of using him in any way you could think of~"

"…I wish you would have warned me first if you could."

"Oh my~. I thought you already knew that because of what happened when Floria first got introduced."

When Peach told him, Alec finally remembered what had happened.

"…Indeed."

Peach threw some words of consolation for the depressed Alec.

"Well, the situation is different from that time, so it's not unreasonable. However, it would be better to make sure that the means we use before and from now on, no longer cross that line"

"Let's do that."

Alec nodded gravely in agreement with Peach's words.

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Chapter 7, Rampage (2)

When Kousuke and his team visited the Defrayer Clan on the 79th Floor, Kouhi was already gone.

Even if they had managed to catch up with her, they did not expect to be able to stop her now.

Giselle, the head of the Defrayer Clan, had noticed Kousuke's arrival, and came over with a complicated look.

He must be feeling uneasy about the fact he gave Kouhi the information that the clan had without permission.

However, if he had not given the information to Kouhi, who knows what would have happened.

"Ah, well. I won't say anything in particular this time, so don't worry."

When Kousuke said this, Giselle looked obviously relieved.

"But the Defrayer Clan had information about that rumor, didn't they?"

At Kousuke's words, Giselle's expression turned bitter.

"Of course. But, as an excuse, the person who had the information was not aware of it, and the report was not brought up to me."

"Oh, I see."

Basically, the Defrayer Clan's priorities were limited to cases where there was direct damage.

Of course, even with rumors, there could be cases of direct harm, which should not have been ignored.

However, in this case, since the content that defamed Kousuke personally and the way the people perceived it was laughable, the person in charge had to give priority to other matters.

Since the number of people involved was limited, it was inevitable that priorities would be established.

"I'm sure the priorities of those in the Clan will change as a result of this case."

"I mean, if it doesn't change, the Defrayer Clan might be a possible target, you know?"

Giselle grimace at his words and nodded.

"… Let's be thorough from now on."

"You'd better do that. So where did Kouhi go?"

Kousuke finally asked the important question.

"Somewhere between Sajival in the north and Ryusen. That's where those fools are based."

"I see."

Kousuke nodded one and turned to Mitsuki and asked.

"Just to be clear, can you stop Kouhi?"

Mitsuki smiled when asked.

"Why should I stop her?"

"Ah. I knew it… Well, what should we do?"

Giselle asked Kousuke, who was beginning to worry.

"Why not stop her directly?"

"Hmmm… It's not that I can't stop Kouhi from doing what she plans to, but I don't think there's any point in stopping her."

"I see."

Giselle understood what Kousuke meant.

When Kouhi reached Sajival, there was no telling how she would act, but they knew what she wanted to do.

He didn't dare to stop her too, since he also believed this was the best way to end the matter.

"So, anyway, tell those there to stay out of the way. Well, I doubt there will be anyone who dares to mess with us either way."

"…I'll let them know."

Giselle nodded gravely as he listened gratefully to Kousuke's advice.

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Zizarion, Sajival's mayor, was in his office settling accounts at that time.

Although he usually left most of the work to his subordinates, there were some tasks that Zizarion himself had to perform.

One of his subordinates came running into Sajival's office.

"Zi, Zizarion-sama…!"

"What's going on? What's going on?

The subordinate who would normally be upset at the sound of Zizarion's voice, but this time he seemed to have no interest in the matter, and continued pointing out the window.

"That, outside. Look out the window! Quickly!!!"

Seeing the way his subordinate looked, Zizarion, who had an idea that something must really be wrong, did as he was told, approached the window and looked outside.

"What, there's noth… What is that?"

At first, it seemed to be nothing more than the sky, spread out as usual, but then he noticed something strange.

He stared at it and immediately understood what it was.

No, it made him understand.

A figure was floating above the city of Sajival.

To be precise, it was a figure with wings.

The figure, which would normally be seen only as a small figure, had a strong presence even though it was seen from a distance.

An apostle of God, a Messenger, etc.

The figure was exactly as it was described in legends.

The sense of intimidation one felt from the figure was as described in the legends. No, once a person bathes in its presence, it feels stronger than anything out of a fable.

"What? Why is someone like that here?

There shouldn't have been anyone there who could answer Zizarion's question, but the answer came back quite normally.

"Are you qualified to ask that question? How presumptuous."

"Hey, who are you!"

Zizarion looked around for the unfamiliar voice, but saw no one that sounded like that.

"Where are you looking? I was just answering your question earlier?"

"…. No way!

Zizarion looked toward the one he had been subconsciously avoiding.

"You finally realized? People like you are what others call a fool."

"Wha…?"

Zizarion's head nearly boiled at this unprecedented outburst.

But there were no words to refute it.

He was forced to stop.

"For the time being, I don't want to hear any more of your words. Just shut up and watch what happens next."

Zizarion tried to open his mouth, but found he could not.

It was as if his mouth had been sewn together, and when he tried to open his mouth, it remained tightly shut and would not open.

He tried to move his legs, but he couldn't even do that.

Even when he tried to ask for help, he couldn't do anything because he couldn't open his mouth.

Zizarion could only watch what was about to happen.

"O people of Sajival! Listen well."

The voice of the winged Messenger echoed through the streets of Sajival.

It was a strange phenomenon that the voice could be heard throughout the entire town, even though it was not loud.

"Three fools in this town have wrongfully defiled our Lord."

The residents screamed in their hearts at this confession.

They immediately understood what the words of the spokesperson meant.

They guessed that something similar to the story that has been passed down from generation to generation from the past was about to happen here as well.

"But my Lord is generous. He says that there is no need to sacrifice the entire city for the sake of just three fools."

At these words, there was an air of relief among the residents.

"However, even though the Lord is generous, I will not overlook this. I leave it to you to dispose of the fools, but if they are not dealt with properly, the same consequences as in the past will rain down on this city."

The air, which had relaxed a short time before, tightened again.

The past consequences the winged Messenger was talking about had been passed down through lore.

"The names of the fools are Zizarion Sabes, Pat Reines, and Kiki Franess. l will give you ten days to show these fools and their ilk and the results this city is willing to offer."

After saying this, the spokesperson disappeared from the sky above Sajival.

As soon as the figure disappeared, the intimidation that had been somehow generated in the city of Sajival disappeared.

The city's inhabitants began to move as if released from the tension, but they had not forgotten the words of the spokesperson.

Rather, they began to act immediately, not wanting to incur its wrath.

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Chapter 8, Rampage (3)

Puzzled, anxious, doubt, etc.

The emotions that emerged after the people of Sajival received the notice from the Messenger were not good ones.

The shock was just that great.

Although the people had begun to move after the Messenger had left, they could not immediately ascertain what had brought the Messenger to them after all, or what the three fools had done.

In the meantime, a rumor soon began to circulate among the moving populace.

That the Messenger who had just appeared was fake.

Naturally, that rumor was a rumor being spread by Zizarion's people.

People tended to turn their eyes away from things they would rather not believe.

Within a day, as the rumor began to spread among the people, there was a major movement.

The Temple in the city of Sajival announced that it was their unanimous opinion that the Messenger was real.

Moreover, they even had the endorsement of the three Mixen Temples.

No one doubted this.

A Messenger was a divine representative.

Naturally, the prevailing rumor among the people was that it was unthinkable that the Temple that worshipped that god would announce something false at this point in time.

Some were even saying that the first lie was a rumor spread by the fools who the Messenger was referring to.

At that point, the anger of the town's inhabitants was completely focused on the culprits who had incurred the wrath of the Messenger.

"I didn't expect the Temple to move."

Zizarion muttered to himself in his office with a panicked expression.

"Hey, what are you talking about! The rumors you've been spreading have backfired, haven't they!?"

"Mister Pat, calm down a little. There is no point in panicking here and now."

"But, Kiki-dono!"

The man called Pat now turned to Kiki, who admonished him.

"It is not good to be hasty now. Besides, the Temple can't do much more than this."

Indeed, the rumors that Zizarion and his group had spread were denied by the Temple.

But they also thought the Temple had no influence either.

"Even if the people get a hold of us, what can they do?"

At Zizarion's ensuing words, Pat sat back down, a little calmer.

The three of them held prominent positions in Sajival.

"However, I am concerned that the Temple has identified that message as the real one. And they moved really quickly this time. It's as if they knew from the beginning that a Messenger really got involved."

At Kiki's words, Zizarion appeared pondering.

"It's the usual Divine Authority thing anyway, isn't it? They want to strengthen the Temple's authority here and there, don't they?"

"I, I see."

"I guess so."

They both looked convinced by Zizarion's words.

They came to this conclusion because they believed only what they wanted to believe.

It had not even been a full day since that intimidation, and yet this was the way it was.

"…How can you think so much to suit yourselves?"

It was then that a woman's voice echoed through the relaxed air.

"Who the…!"

The three of them are now gathered in Zizarion's office.

No one should have been able to enter this room without permission.

When the three of them turned their heads in the direction of the voice, they saw a woman.

The three of them, without exception, gasped when they saw her.

She was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.

Incidentally, if they had clearly seen the face of the Messenger yesterday, they would have thought she was a beauty to be reckoned with, but unfortunately, they could not clearly see the face of the Messenger who was in the sky.

Zizarion was distracted by the face for a moment, but quickly came to his senses and raised his voice.

"What are you doing! Intruder!!!!"

Zizarion raised his voice to that effect, calling out to the guards who were always outside the door, but none of them responded to his voice.

Zizarion turned pale with anger, but the woman in front of him laughed at him mockingly.

"No matter how much you scream, it's useless. I've put up a barrier so that your voice won't get through."

"What…? What…?

Kiki changed her expression when she saw something she rummaged from her bag and took out.

She knew the woman was telling the truth.

"Do you understand? Hey, we can take your lives anytime we want, you know?"

Zizarion, finally understanding the situation, glared hard at the smiling woman.

"… What do you want?"

"Oh, my. She already told you what we want, didn't she?"

"… What?

At Zizarion and the others' reaction, the woman let out a sigh of exasperation.

"You know what? At this point in time, a woman comes alone to a place where she is not supposed to be? You should have known better."

The three of them gathered were not so stupid as to be unable to understand what they were being told.

Zizarion glared at the woman again, then gritted his teeth.

"… You're a proxy or something."

"Oh no. Of course not."

"What?"

"I'm not her errand runner. I'm simply here to see how you all will end up. It's on behalf of a girl who couldn't be here for some reason."

The mutterings of 'I'll have to write out a report of the results, too' didn't reach the three of them.

"If you're not a Messenger, then you are… What are you?"

"Why should I tell you my name?"

The woman in front of him tilted her head, looking truly puzzled.

Zizarion's eyes turned red with anger at the humiliation he had never felt before, but he suppressed it and asked the woman in front of him.

He already knew that if the woman in front of him wanted to, she could easily take their lives.

But at the same time, he also knew that there was a reason why she would not do so.

"I don't care what your name is. I'm asking who you are."

"Oh dear. Can't you really not tell? You silly fool… It's just like what she said, you really are a fool."

The conversation was not going to go well.

Zizarion could not determine if the woman was deliberately deflecting the conversation.

"Then let me change the question. What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting?"

"… What?

"I told you before. I'm here to see what happens to you. You know what? Do you realize that no matter what the people of this town do to you, it won't change the outcome?"

"… What are you trying to say?"

"Oh. Oh, you really don't get it, do you? How can you not know what happens to a city abandoned by its representatives? After all, it's even been passed down as stories to children."

At the woman's words, Zizarion snorted with a hum.

"I don't see how that's possible…"

"You don't think it's possible to do that, huh? That's why she called you a fool. Well, it's possible to do it physically. Though, that won't be necessary this time."

The woman's amused expression gave Zizarion a chill for a moment.

He understood, or rather, he was made to understand.

The woman in front of him was truly capable of destroying this city in an instant.

"Me… Messenger!"

Kiki's voice came from behind Zizarion.

At the same time, Pat's short 'hiccup' scream was heard.

"Ba… That's ridiculous. Why are there two Messengers?

Finally, Zizarion remembered what they had done.

"Oh no… It can't be true, right? That Amamiya Tower's ruler is an actual God…?"

"That's why I called you a fool. The Temple has officially announced it, but you only believe what you want to believe, and that's why you're stupid."

After all this time, Zizarion and the other three finally understood what they had done.

"Oh my. Don't get me wrong. I'm still grateful to you fools. I'm sure you'll make a great example so no one does anything this stupid ever again."

After saying that, the woman suddenly inclined her head and chuckled.

"Well. Now that there's been a previous example, maybe some of them will not do something so braindead again. Oh well. Well, then, the three of you enjoy your remaining days of glory."

The woman said this and disappeared abruptly.

At the same time the woman disappeared, there was a knock at the door.

"Master! Master! What's wrong?"

At the sound, the three finally moved as if they had grasped the current situation.

Listening to their subordinate who opened the door and entered, they realized that more than half a day had already passed.

It was clear that the woman had done something, but they had no idea what she had done and when.

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Chapter 9, Appearance of the Messenger

The time he spent talking to the mysterious woman felt like less than an hour to him.

But when he came to his senses, a day had passed.

He did not know if he had been talking for a long time or if the woman had used some sort of trick.

As a result, a lot of time had already passed when his men came into the room, looking panicked.

The men said that no matter what they did, they could not open the door, and eventually tried to destroy the entire wall, but that was not possible either.

They had no idea what kind of condition the three of them were in, as they could not break down the door and could not see what was inside.

"… They got us."

Zizarion spat this out, but he was not so dull as to be unable to recognize the current situation.

He knew how precious a day could be in this situation.

To some extent, he could guess the woman's purpose.

By isolating the three of them, she was probably trying to delay them in reacting to this dire situation.

However, Zizarion thought she was still too naive.

If he was in the same position, he would have kept his enemies isolated until his purpose was achieved, not simply let them out after a day.

Or maybe there was a reason why only one day was allowed.

Nonetheless, Zizarion still believes that he could still deal with this situation.

Sure, the three of them were the ringleaders, but they were not the only ones involved.

He thought that the others would have taken some measures to deal with the situation.

And until that moment…

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Soon, it was clear that there was nothing unusual in the Oval Office, so Zizarion immediately began to take action.

He considered the possibility that the woman had some kind of trick up her sleeve. However, for some reason or another… it wouldn't be efficient to work in the Oval Office so they had no choice but to still work in that room.

The main reason being, there was a magic tool they couldn't move.

It was a magical tool for long-distance communication.

It could only be used once and was extremely expensive, but it was effective in such a situation.

Because of its various restrictions, such as the fact that it could only be used in a fixed location, they could not leave this room by any means.

Pat and Kiki had already returned to their respective residences.

Of course, they had decided to use long-distance communication to keep in touch.

Zizarion then contacted the various parties to see what could be done, but he had to admit that he had been naïve in his outlook.

He was unable to contact those directly involved in this case.

They were in the same condition as Zizarion and the others who had been isolated for a day, locked in their rooms or not knowing where they were.

There was no doubt that the woman had done something while Zizarion and the others were in lock down.

The public that had not been involved in the case, while the three of them were in isolation, were already able to identify what those three did.

For Zizarion, he believes that he could have prevented this scenario from occurring if he had been more cautious. However, that thought was useless right now.

The reason why they did not directly attack Zizarion to enforce their stance was because of his position.

If it was a normal person on the street, he would have been caught and punished in some way a long time ago.

Be that as it may, Zizarion was going to make the most of his position and get away with it.

If he could not use Sajival's personnel, he could use someone from the outside.

He doubted the Messager's group would be able to get their hands on anyone from a town so far away, no matter how much they wanted. Thus, he began to make calls.

"…What do you mean?"

"It's nothing. You have gone too far. No, you have meddled in something you shouldn't have."

Zizarion was taken aback by the response.

"Whether the ruler of that tower is a real god… No, as long as the Temple has announced it, we have to regard it as true. You should have surmised well enough that he has direct connection to the gods, right? And yet, this is what happened. I don't think there is anyone to blame but you and those close to you. No one would want to get caught in the middle of this."

"… May I ask you one question? Where did this story come from?"

The advent of the Messenger happened in the city of Sajival.

For such a matter, information was conveyed not only too quickly, but also too accurately.

The answer was easily brought by the other party.

"Of course it was from the Tower's executive branch or Crown. Well, I knew they were hiding something, but this time, it was corroborated. After all, we cannot underestimate them. Besides, it's only natural that no city would want to undergo a 'purge', right?"

"Nonsense. Can't you see that's what the Tower is for?"

"Perhaps. No, I think you're right. I don't know if this whole thing is a setup or not. But the Messenger that appeared in your town is at least real. The Temple has recognized it. You can't change that now."

Zizarion's face contorts at the other party's dismissive tone.

"It's not just me. I checked with the others, and not one of them want to help you guys."

The legend of the Messenger was so deeply rooted in this world.

The Mixen Temples acknowledged the Messenger's authenticity when it was informed that it had appeared.

There was nothing Zizarion could do to spin the truth.

"So please do not contact me again. I don't want them to think that I'm on your side. I will not answer if you call me again. Goodbye."

"Wa… wait!"

Zizarion hurriedly tried to continue the conversation, but the call had already been disconnected, and the magical tool was already useless.

Once again, he tried to call him with a new magical tool, but his 'ally' never answered, as he had promised.

After that, he contacted several people, but their replies weren't good.

In fact, they didn't take him seriously at all.

It turned out that they had completely given up on Zizarion.

What was frightening, was the fact that the information had been passed on comprehensively to all the Central Continent cities.

He knew that there were transfer gates in four cities and branches in cities North, East, South, and West, but he was astonished that the information had been passed along in just one day.

It was too late. He had to admit that he had misjudged the power of the executive branch and Crown, the organization that Amamiya's Tower used.

He did not know if they had coordinated with the Messenger, but it was a brilliant move.

Those who were supposed to be in the city but could not be reached through his device, could still be contacted physically, but by then it was already too late.

Everyone in the city was afraid of the Messenger's 'purge', so they acted quickly.

They had also sensed that information was being intentionally leaked from and to the city of Sajival. It was not something they could cope with.

If the story had been told only inside Sajival, they could have dealt with it, but when the information came from the outside and was corroborated, there was nothing they could do.

It was a brilliant move.

He didn't know how far the Messenger and the woman had been involved, but he could only assume that it was as they had intended.

Ten days have passed since the Messenger appeared.

As if pushed by that declaration, the punishment of all those involved in this case had been decided.

The unbelievably fast action was obviously done with the Messenger in mind.

Thus, the city of Sajival decided to cut off all those involved, including Zizarion and the others.

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Chapter 10, There is no worshiping a God who doesn't get involved.

The events that took place in Sajival gave rise to one unwritten rule in every town in the Central Continent.

That was to not carelessly mess with Kousuke, the living god.

The Crown and the Fifth Floor government had conducted various negotiations with Kousuke, but he had never been directly involved in them.

However, as soon as Kousuke himself was slandered, something like this happened.

It was only natural for people to conclude that there was no need to be afraid of the God if they didn't get involved.

In addition, all four of the cities where the Transfer Gates were installed decided to become part of Amamiya Tower.

Originally, Kennelsen was under the umbrella of the Six Marquises, and in Mixen, the temple with the largest power had shown reverence to the living god.

The remaining two cities decided on this matter.

In a sense, it was only natural.

After all, they had at their feet a means of transportation that could ignore distance, the Transfer Gate.

Moreover, those under the Tower could use it freely, just not use it at their own discretion.

When the time came, it was easy to see which side had the upper hand.

In addition, both Mixen and Kennelsen were already under the same umbrella.

Even though they had already established a reasonable relationship, they did not feel secure.

They concluded that it would be better to establish a similar relationship with the other two cities.

Needless to say, this was already being discussed with the latest incident accelerating it.

The four cities where the Transfer Gates were installed showed their reverence towards Amamiya Tower, and the hierarchy of the continent changed drastically.

In the first place, in the Central Continent, there was only the existence of city-states, so there was no such thing as an organization encompassing multiple cities.

In the past, there had been some, but the distance between cities and the existence of demons made it difficult to control multiple cities.

However, this problem was resolved with the existence of the Transfer Gate.

The ability to move immediately without regard to physical distance solved that problem in one fell swoop.

There was also the recent success of Crown's large-scale merchant fleet.

Securing logistics that did not require the use of complicated ships was of great importance to the Central Continent.

It was natural to think that such logistics would enable not only the movement of goods, but also the movement of others.

There were rumors about Kousuke, the ruler of Amamiya Tower, moving a large number of people. Which was hard on the politicians, who would be greatly concerned about the mass migration of their people.

Naturally, Kousuke was not thinking about such a thing. However, it was only natural for the Central Continent's city leaders, who had no way of knowing such a thing, to respond to such rumors.

Or rather, it was only natural for the local governments to respond to the situation, whether Kousuke was thinking about it or not.

Be it good or bad for the politicians, they saw the situation in Sajival. Thus, resorting to military force required much consideration.

At any rate, it was not surprising that the Central Continent cities were forced to take various measures as a result of this incident.

The fact that the effects of this incident spread to the continents across the ocean showed just how big this incident was.

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Although the incident had a major impact not only on the Central Continent but also on other continents, Kousuke, who could be said to be a central figure in the incident, had no particular intention of doing anything about it.

He did not want to do anything in particular about it, because he felt that if he meddled too much, it would be misconstrued or misinterpreted, causing the situation to get even more out of hand.

In conclusion, he decided to leave the case to others as per usual.

Needless to say, he told Kouhi and Mitsuki, who had shown up, not to touch the matter any further.

It was enough for others to know what would happen to them if they carelessly messed with him, considering the consequences for the trio of fools and their associates.

Naturally, he was not surprised that Kouhi and Mitsuki overreacted to a mere rumor. At that time, he could not bring himself to interfere with the angry duo.

When the idea of wiping out an entire town came up, he just had to stop it.

It was not only Kousuke, other members of the group who tried their best to restrain them.

Needless to say, from that day, the other members swore to never slander Kousuke, let alone allow Kousuke to slander himself.

Of course, there were no members who would do such a thing.

Incidentally, Kousuke decided to leave the outside world alone, but he did show his face to Crown and the executive branch.

He was afraid that not showing his face from time to time would have left an unnecessary lump in his throat.

Especially with the executive branch, since they were indirectly involved, he thought it might cause unnecessary impact on their operations if he did not appear amicable.

Alec, aware of this, took some steps to deal with the situation.

As Kousuke had predicted, his visit to the office greatly minimized any negative impact on operations.

Thankfully, there were few in the executive branch who were involved in this matter.

Having done the follow-up inside the Tower, Kousuke decided to go with the flow and returned to his usual administrative duties.

"Speaking of which, how is the Vermilion Clan doing?"

Kousuke suddenly asked, and Schrein was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, well, I was just wondering how they are taking this incident."

There were currently four species living in the Tower's Floors.

Of these, the Defrayer Clan was already taken care of in regard to this matter.

The Elven Clan was not involved because they had no contact with the outside world.

The Ygrite Clan also had little to do with the Vermilion Clan, as it did not exist except for its relationship with the Vermilion Clan.

The Vermilion Clan sometimes went outside the Tower using the Transfer Gate, so the story of this case would have been conveyed to them.

"No problem on our side. They were just saying, 'As expected of Lord Kousuke'. And about how you're the best."

"Is that how it is?"

"That's how it is. We have been able to revive Vermilion Castle, and are also guaranteed a safe life. We have nothing but gratitude to begin with, you know?"

Schrein did not understand why Kousuke suddenly asked such a thing.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean anything like that; I just thought you might have some thoughts about Kouhi, Mitsuki, and some other things."

"That's what you mean. That's a little too much to think about. To begin with, we understand a little bit of how strong Kouhi-dono and Mitsuki-dono are. There are some who might have strange thoughts, but there isn't anyone who is that afraid of them."

"Is that so?"

"Rather than being afraid, we are in awe of the strong to begin with. That's why we don't avoid them unnecessarily."

So they do not unnecessarily distance, dislike, or criticize people just because they are strong, but rather acknowledge strength and then respond to it.

The Vermilion Clan had lived this way since ancient times.

Just because Kouhi and Mitsuki appeared in front of them now, it did not change them in any way.

And no one among them would do anything foolish to Kousuke, who always had them by his side.

Of course, it was the same for both humans and bloodsucking clans that when they were in a group, there would be those who would think of doing something foolish.

"Among our Clan, the story ended with the foolish things we have done from when we first met, you know?"

"That's very straightforward."

Unintentionally, Kousuke chuckled.

"We have a saying, Gods who don't touch us don't curse us."

Human also had the same saying, but there would always be those who would do something stupid like this time.

Kousuke wondered what the difference was between the Human's saying and the Vermilion Clan's saying, but even after some thought, they seem to essentially be the same.

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Side Story 1, Help me, Lady Celestial!

"Hi~n."

A pitiless voice echoed in Asura's mansion, located almost in the center of the Garden of Everlasting Spring.

The owner of that voice was currently buried under a mountain of documents.

The owner of the voice finally let out a whine, as the pile of papers continued to grow taller.

"Hey, sister! I can't do it! This is absolutely impossible! I can't handle this by myself!"

It was Jal who let out such a scream.

The number of applications from goddesses who wanted to connect with Kousuke was increasing, not decreasing, and finally exceeding Jal's processing capacity.

The fact that it was not due to Jal's slacking off was obvious from the piles of documents.

Seeing Jal surrounded by that pile, Eris let out a sigh when asked for help.

"I can see that…. Why are you handling this alone?"

"…Heh?"

Eris's simple question made Jal sound unintentionally baffled.

"Why don't you just use your subordinates or something and let them handle some of it?"

Hearing this, Jal was stunned.

"…Oh, I haven't thought of that. All the trouble I've been going through…"

"Well, I suppose it's what you deserve, no?"

Hearing Eris's unrelenting words, Jal plopped down on her desk as if burned out.

"…My sister is such a meanie"

Because of Eris, they would have known from the beginning that the job would not be quick or easy.

That meant she'd known how to solve the problem all along with the assistance of her subordinates.

Incidentally, according to their rules, it was not common for them to use subordinates or minions.

It would usually involve handling the scope of one's own work on one's own.

Nevertheless, there were exceptions to everything, even for something like this.

"If you had asked me from the beginning, I would have taught you properly, wouldn't I? However, I think it's something you should know, too, don't you?"

"Hahahahaha…"

Eris let out a sigh at Jal, who faked her laughter.

Eris and Jal were among the three Great Goddesses in the world of Earthgard.

Naturally, there was a lot of work to be done with that.

If Eris and Jal were to handle these tasks on their own, they would naturally be overwhelmed, and so they would use a number of subordinates to help them out.

In Eris's case, however, one of her responsibilities included handling the problems that arose in Earthgard.

Jal, being in the same position as one of the three great deities, also had the ability to use such people, but Jal, who had never used such people before, was completely oblivious to the fact that she could.

Eris thought it was great that Jal was able to handle the work so well without using any subordinates.

Unfortunately, she wasn't going to tell her that because she could see that she was losing her temper.

The reason why Eris got angry with Jal every time when she and Kousuke were exchanging thoughts was because… the work that needed to be done would be ignored.

Even if she wanted to prohibit the practice, she was unable to do so because she was completing all the work that needed to be done. She also could not speak out strongly against it as she didn't want the other Goddesses to know.

Leaving that thought aside, Jal decided to recruit subordinates to handle the paperwork that had increased as a result of Kousuke's remarks.

The number of applicants far exceeded their expectations.

The reason was simple: getting closer to Jal would increase the chances of getting close to Kousuke when he came next.

Although this was not a benefit for the recruitment, it was assumed to be. Thus, people gathered.

The fact that they did not dare to correct the assumption also contributed to the spread.

Jal did not correct it because technically, it wasn't incorrect.

In fact, the next time Kousuke came to their place, she intended to introduce them as her subordinates, so it was not a lie.

After all the interviews and other methods of selection, she managed to narrow it down to two subordinates.

She had already decided what she wanted the two of them to do.

They were to sort through the large pile of paperwork.

To begin with, there were so many incomplete documents filed that there were almost no documents that could be approved.

They were tasked with eliminating documents that had simple omissions or errors.

The result was a great success.

The pile of paperwork was processed in a matter of days.

All that remained was to process the documents that could be delivered normally.

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"Mufufu!"

Jal was in a good mood after being released from the paperwork of the past few days.

Not that there were no more documents for Jal to process.

After removing the incomplete documents, Jal's workload decreased dramatically, and she now had more spare time to do her work.

"Jal-sama"

"Wah…! What? I thought we were done for the day…"

Mill suddenly appeared, and Jal ended up responding in the same way as Eris.

Mill was one of the two who passed the recent recruitment with flying colors.

The other, meanwhile, was Hellen.

Both of them were accepted because of Eris's good eye, and they had shown great skill when sorting documents.

They completed a mountain of paperwork in just a few days, even though it was their first time doing the job.

…However.

"You finished it, but we received additional documents, so please take care of those as well."

Jal's face twitched at Mill's words.

"What…? What additions?"

"It seems that now we're here to help, some of the people who had been holding back are now sending us documents."

Jal was devastated by those casual words.

"What do you mean, holding back…?"

"The previous situation was communicated to places like mine, so it seems that they were refraining in various areas."

"Oh, that's why they were hesitating…?"

"Yes, that seems to be the case."

Jal shot a resentful glance at Mill, who told her without hesitation.

"That kind of glare won't reduce the number of documents. Please work on it."

Jal received an ultimatum from Mill and was taken away.

Jal realized that Mill was right, even if there was a large increase in the number of documents to be processed.

However, the increase in the number of documents did not mean that the number of items that met the criteria for acceptance had increased.

On the contrary, the number of documents to be accepted was decreasing.

"Ah, mou. I don't care if someone barely meets the criteria and gets rejected, they need to stop sending it out when it's clearly lacking."

"Everyone knows that we receive a large number of documents here daily, so it seems that they expect us to accidentally let them pass."

It was Hellen who responded to Jal's complaint.

Hellen was right, there were quite a few people who submitted their documents expecting them to make a mistake.

"Heh! Really?"

"It looks like it."

"What? What's that? Even if the paperwork is approved here, it won't mean anything unless you can grant the titles."

At Jal's words, the color of their faces changed.

""What do you mean, grant?""

"What? You didn't know? The paperwork screening is to prevent them from using their Divine Power unnecessarily, you know?"

In the first place, there was no such thing as paperwork screening in the old days.

To prevent people from using Divine Power unnecessarily, they decided to have the paperwork screening process first.

"If only I had known that earlier…"

"I'll go notify them."

When Jal came to explain these things to them in a relaxed manner, two of her subordinates started to move in a rush.

New Gods were unaware of the document screening process, let alone those who had existed for a long time.

That was why this situation was happening, but Jal, who was one of the three major Goddesses, had no idea about it to begin with.

Even if the paperwork was approved, it would be meaningless if they failed to grant titles using their Divine Power later.

If Jal had stated that there was this barrier, there would not have been so many useless documents created in the first place.

The notice issued on that date resulted in a significant reduction in paperwork, which was a good thing for both parties.

The result was that there would be more free time, and a happy-faced Jal could be seen…

"Just in time, Jal, I see you have some spare time."

"Wha…? Sister!?"

The same scene as before was still unfolding, though.