The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time Chapter 367: The Jahan Duchy is guided smoothly and the Demon King tries to make copies of himself

Chapter 367: The Jahan Duchy is guided smoothly and the Demon King tries to make copies of himself

The revival and awakening of Botin, Mother of the Earth and G.o.ddess of Craftsmans.h.i.+p, and Peria, the G.o.ddess of Water and Knowledge, shook the earth-attribute and water-attribute subordinate G.o.ds who belonged to Alda’s forces.

The G.o.ds who had originally served Botin and Peria were particularly shaken. After the war against the Demon King, only two great G.o.ds had remained, and these G.o.ds had chosen to join Alda.

G.o.ds who admired Bellwood, who had fought continuously on the front lines during the war against the Demon King’s army.

G.o.ds who refused to accept Vida after she not only created her own circle of transmigration system and created races like t.i.tans and Beast-kin, but even went as far as mating with evil G.o.ds who had once belonged to the Demon King’s army and her own champion, whom she turned into an Undead, to give birth to other new races.

G.o.ds who hadn’t supported either side but devoted themselves to maintaining the world’s existence and found themselves becoming a part of Alda’s forces after he was victorious in his conflict with Vida.

Although they each had their own circ.u.mstances and reasons, what they all had in common was that they had not aided Vida.

But their masters, Botin and Peria, had declared that they would side with Vida, not Alda.

They were joined by the G.o.ds who had been sealed alongside Botin, as well as Pagtarta, the G.o.ddess of Flow, who had watched over Peria during her slumber.

What shook the subordinate G.o.ds the most was that there had been no strong call for them to return to their masters.

What did that mean? Had they been given up on because they were foolish subordinate G.o.ds who became Alda’s allies because they were unable to understand the will of Botin and Peria, their true masters? Or were Botin and Peria simply completely ignoring their existence?

After much indecision and lamenting, the subordinates came to a certain conclusion.

“There is no doubt that Botin-sama is disappointed in us. The truth is, we were mistaken about what Botin-sama wished for. By blindly accepting promises of restoring our honor, we disrespected Hillwillow and the others.”

“And although there are differences between us in how much we are responsible for, all of us worked as a part of Alda’s forces. From the perspective of Vida’s faction, we are their enemy. Now that Botin-sama and Peria-sama are a part of Vida’s faction, they wouldn’t do something as thoughtless as asking us to join them.

The subordinate G.o.ds had not been deceived by Alda. They had either willingly chosen to become Alda’s allies, or willingly chosen to not side with Vida.

From the perspective of Vida’s faction, they were members of Alda’s forces and nothing more than enemies. Even now, with the situation having changed due to Botin and Peria’s return, they no longer had a relations.h.i.+p where they could be freely welcomed.

They were not like the subordinate G.o.ds who had ascended to divinity tens of thousands of years after the battle between Alda and Vida, such as Bashas, the G.o.ddess of Rain Clouds. Those G.o.ds had been given no choice but to belong to Alda’s forces.

“But I believe that Hillwillow and Ark’s honor has already been restored.”

“That is not correct. It is true that there are few who speak ill of Hillwillow, Ark, and Solder in the current era. But that is not because their honor has been restored. It is simply because few are very knowledgeable about them.”

The creation-oriented champions were summoned to this world by Botin, Peria, and Ricklent, and their names were taught to the people of this world as mythological history when they were young. However, unlike Bellwood, Farmaun, and Nineroad, who had ascended to become G.o.ds after sealing away the Demon King Guduranis, there were no tales to tell of the creation-oriented champions after the war against the Demon King, as Guduranis had destroyed them.

Thus, few in the current era were knowledgeable of them or even knew who they were. There were carvings depicting them in Churches of Botin, Peria, and Ricklent, but people almost never paid them any attention.

“One of the reasons things turned out that way is because some of their achievements were attributed to Bellwood and the others. And the rest of their achievements were left to be forgotten.”

“Of course, us G.o.ds were already unable to dwell on the world’s surface by then. But even so, it is true that we did nothing, simply believing that it was ‘for the sake of building a new order.’”

In order for Bellwood and the others to lead what was left of humanity, it had been necessary to make the people believe that they were worthy of being leaders. Hillwillow, Ark, and Solder’s achievements had been used to make this happen, and neither Botin’s nor Peria’s subordinate G.o.ds had stopped this from happening.

“And the greatest reason is… it is Zakkart who receives the most contempt from the people, including that which would normally be directed at Hillwillow and the others.”

Unlike Hillwillow and the others who had simply been destroyed, Zakkart had been resurrected as an Undead (though as little more than a mannequin that bore only residual traces of his thoughts). This had caused Zakkart to be known as the ‘Fallen Champion’ and looked down upon by the people.

This was particularly true in nations like the Amid Empire, where the wors.h.i.+p of Alda was the national religion. Zakkart was even often treated as the leader of all evil beings. There were plays and performances where Zakkart was portrayed as an evil villain, and bards would sing songs doing the same.

And in such plays and songs, the names of Hillwillow, Solder, and Ark were rarely mentioned. By having a single villain in Zakkart, they made him a more prominent figure in their performances and drew their audiences’ attention to the battle between him and the protagonist who defeated him.

Given this, it could not be said that the honor of Hillwillow, Ark, and Solder had been restored.

“We have simply allowed this situation to continue up until now… Even if it did become an age where people ruled one another, it was our laziness that caused us to do nothing. There is no way Botin-sama would go out of her way to call us back to her side.”

“It is true that Botin-sama has not tried to call us to join her once more. But she has not denounced us, either. Perhaps her true will lies hidden in that fact?”

“No, it is not her true will that is hidden. It is her compa.s.sion – not for us, but for the people who offer their prayers to us.”

If Botin and Peria were to send Divine Messages to denounce their subordinate G.o.ds for joining Alda, the clergymen and wors.h.i.+pers who belonged to Churches that wors.h.i.+ped them would become enemies of Peria and Botin’s wors.h.i.+pers.

The subordinate G.o.ds suspected that Botin and Peria did not wish for the conflict that would arise as a result.

“Then what are we to do?”

“… It is impossible for us to do what Yupeon did. We cannot bare our fangs against the G.o.d who is our master.”

Yupeon, the G.o.d of Ice, had been a subordinate G.o.d of Peria; he was not here now. Some time after Peria had sided with Vida rather than Alda, Yupeon had turned his back on his master and re-affirmed his devotion to Alda as his leader.

The G.o.ds gathered here didn’t know what had gone through Yupeon’s mind after Peria made her choice, and they had no idea if that was the correct thing to do. But after Yupeon’s declaration, other G.o.ds followed suit, deciding to remain as a part of Alda’s forces and fight against Vida’s faction.

“We should learn from Yupeon’s determination… his decisiveness. We are G.o.ds. Although we do not have as much power as the people believe we do, it is negligent of us to continue wavering while we are in a position to teach and guide them.”

“But even if we wanted to return to Botin-sama and Peria-sama now, is it even possible? And if we leave this place, who will continue the work necessary to maintain the world’s existence!”

These wavering G.o.ds were not simply sitting around and doing nothing. They were working in their respective Divine Realms to uphold the world’s existence.

“And what will we do about those to whom we have given our divine blessings? We made them heroes to suit our own convenience; it would be unfit for us as G.o.ds to abandon them to suit our own convenience as well. Only evil G.o.ds would do such a thing.”

The G.o.ds were also currently nurturing their potential heroes.

“We have no choice but to continue our maintenance of the world’s existence while guiding our chosen potential heroes so that they encounter Vandalieu and his companions, and carry out discussions to ensure that we do not oppose Vida’s faction. a.s.suming that we do not want to cut ties with Botin-sama, that is.”

“Until we become able to make preparations in our Divine Realms so that we can continue our maintenance of the world’s existence like Bashas has, we have no other choice.”

“Wait, it’s true that I don’t wish to fight against Peria-sama and Botin-sama, but is Vida’s faction… Is Vandalieu truly doing the right thing?!”

“If we let him run loose, the world will be overturned. Irreversible changes will take place!”

Some of the subordinate G.o.ds viewed Vandalieu’s actions as dangerous. However, it was an irrevocable fact that Botin and Peria had joined Vida’s faction, which supported Vandalieu.

“I’m sure that Botin-sama and Peria-sama are aware of that. I wonder what they are thinking.”

“Perhaps they seek to restrain him by being his allies rather than to defeat him as his enemies.”

With this possibility being brought up, even the subordinate G.o.ds who seemed like they would follow Yupeon’s lead lost their reason to fight.

So these subordinate G.o.ds, unable to make a decision, remained as a part of Alda’s forces but did their utmost to not oppose Vida’s faction.

But this situation changed with the ‘Dark Avalon Incident’… Guduranis’s resurrection.

“What has Alda done?! Does he intend to use not just fragments of the Demon King, but the Demon King himself, to defeat Vandalieu?!”

“That can’t be! This has to be an unexpected situation for Alda as well. But still… even if that is the case, this is a situation that cannot be allowed to happen!”

“I mean, it’s true that Guduranis’s resurrection should not be allowed to happen, but is that also not true for the refusal to acknowledge the accomplishment of defeating Guduranis? If this is all for the sake of maintaining order, then peace should be made with Vandalieu at any cost in order to completely destroy Guduranis,” one G.o.d said, advocating for the acceptance of Vandalieu.

But another G.o.d disagreed. “Allowing Vandalieu to do as he pleases will bring irreversible changes upon the world. The way the world is will change completely. Are you willing to accept that?!”

Accepting Vandalieu’s existence was not a simple matter of making peace with him. It would mean giving up on Alda’s goal of returning the world to the state it was in before the Demon King Guduranis’s invasion and accepting all the changes upon the world that would be brought about by Vandalieu and the races created by Vida.

Monsters would roam freely, the dead would be turned into Undead or Demons, and while Vida’s races enjoyed all of the things the world would have to offer, humans would live in shame in their shadow. This sight, which could already be seen in Orbaume now, would become commonplace everywhere.

… This was how the G.o.ds of Alda’s forces saw things, and the reality was slightly different. However, there was no mistake that society would undergo great changes.

“And you seem to believe that we should allow Vandalieu to devour Guduranis’s entire soul, but what will you do if that causes Guduranis to take over him?!” demanded the disagreeing G.o.d.

Like Heinz, the subordinate G.o.ds of Botin and Peria who currently served Alda’s forces were unable to trust Vandalieu.

What if the parts of Guduranis’s soul that were devoured by Vandalieu were actually simply laying dormant and biding their time? What if Guduranis was resurrected and took over Vandalieu from within the moment Vandalieu devoured the last fragment of Guduranis’s soul? They could not ignore this dangerous possibility.

“You said that changes will be brought upon the world, but changes are already occurring. Given that Alda himself impaled Rodcorte with stakes, we cannot expect that reincarnation will continue to take place as it always has. Something must change,” said the first G.o.d.

“That’s a simple matter of nurturing another G.o.d to become capable of governing reincarnation!” the disagreeing G.o.d retorted.

“That would be true if it was only our own world that is affected. However, in addition to our world, Rodcorte also manages the reincarnation of other worlds that we do not know of. What do you intend to do about that?” the first G.o.d questioned.

“Th-that’s… We can have Rodcorte’s familiar spirits manage reincarnation for a while, and once we succeed in nurturing a new G.o.d who can rule over reincarnation, we can separate our world’s reincarnation from his system. After that, Alda can remove his stakes from Rodcorte under the condition that he never becomes involved with our world again,” the second G.o.d said, but even he was aware that this was not feasible to carry out; he was wearing a pained expression.

First, there was no telling how much time would be needed to succeed in nurturing a new G.o.d who was capable of ruling over reincarnation. G.o.ds were not beings that were born very frequently, and it would not be a simple task to have an existing G.o.d acquire a divinity concerning reincarnation.

To begin with, Alda’s forces had a chronic shortage of hands. Alda was the only great G.o.d, and he was simultaneously tasked with both the light and life attributes.

There had been semi-great G.o.ds in Bellwood, Nineroad, and Farmaun, and it had been expected that these three would become the second generation of great G.o.ds. But Bellwood had been put into a slumber about fifty thousand years ago by the Evil G.o.d of Sinful Chains, and Farmaun had left to join Vida’s faction.

There had been some success in nurturing new G.o.ds over the past hundred thousand years, but it could not be said that Alda’s forces had plenty of room to breathe.

Even if a new G.o.d were to be tasked with ruling over reincarnation, there was no telling how long it would take for them to do so successfully. As for having an existing G.o.d do it, it was unknown whether such a thing was even possible – whether they would be able to both manage reincarnation while simultaneously carrying out their work of maintaining the world’s existence.

And it was also unknown as to whether Rodcorte’s familiar spirits would be able to keep the circle of transmigration system running without problems until one of these two plans succeeded.

In addition to that, even if everything went according to plan, there was no guarantee that Rodcorte would obediently accept Alda’s conditions for releasing him or that he would keep his vow to never become involved with Lambda again.

“To begin with, is it even possible for Rodcorte to withdraw from this world? Given that the Stakes of Law took effect on him, I am almost certain that he has become a G.o.d of this world,” the first subordinate G.o.d pointed out.

The other subordinate G.o.d groaned, unable to give an answer.

If these G.o.ds were loyal to Alda, they would have believed that Alda must have a plan… They would have trusted him blindly and not listened to a word of these arguments. But none of the subordinate G.o.ds gathered here, including the one who was in disagreement, fully believed in Alda. But even so, none of them were able to make the decision to change sides and join Vida’s faction.

“Then what will we do? Should we join Vida’s faction, despite being late to do so?”

“That’s… But still, I’m against following Alda’s orders to move the elite chosen among the potential heroes and wors.h.i.+pers.”

Having seen Vandalieu gain great power in the Orbaume Kingdom, Alda had come to the decision to move all the available fighting forces in the Orbaume Kingdom to the Farzon Duchy, which had deep connections to Heinz and the Five-colored Blades. Perhaps he would later have them depart from the Farzon Duchy’s port to join the rest of the fighting forces via the maritime nation Kalahad, one of the Amid Empire’s va.s.sal states.

However, this was a matter of life and death to the subordinate G.o.ds. A good number of them were only wors.h.i.+ped in the Orbaume Kingdom.

Naturally, they wouldn’t dismantle their Churches in the Orbaume Kingdom and rebuild them elsewhere, and it would be a painful blow to have to do so without any replacements for the elite individuals… those who were mainly in charge of wors.h.i.+p and the propagation of their teachings.

It was understandable for them to be wary of their wors.h.i.+pers being guided by Vandalieu and his companions, but there was simply too much to lose for the subordinate G.o.ds.

“Then do you suggest that we just allow our wors.h.i.+pers to become guided by Vandalieu?!”

“Then do you suggest that we allow our wors.h.i.+pers to head for the Farzon Duchy?! Allow the Churches and wors.h.i.+pers they leave behind to be taken in by Vida’s faction?! If we do not gain any new wors.h.i.+pers after that, our fate will be to simply vanish from existence in a few decades’ time!”

“It will be a repeat of what is happening in the Jahan Duchy.”

“Speaking of the Jahan Duchy… As of late, I have not seen Elk-dono, the G.o.ddess of the Holy Spear. And other G.o.ds who had given their divine protections to the heroes that were guided by the ‘Heroic Princess’ Miriam have vanished as well.”

And so, without coming to any answer or conclusion, the subordinate G.o.ds’ meeting came to an end.

But over time, more and more subordinate G.o.ds of Botin and Peria distanced themselves from Alda’s forces in a pa.s.sive way by not obeying Alda’s orders and avoiding showing their presence.

They didn’t have the power to openly oppose Alda, but as long as they kept giving the excuse that the elite individuals including the potential heroes still needed more time to move, Alda’s forces currently didn’t have the spare strength to punish them – This was how many of the G.o.ds saw things.

Indeed, Alda was unable to punish the subordinate G.o.ds of Botin and Peria who didn’t obey his policies and orders.

Alda wished to avoid spending his power, such as by impaling the subordinate G.o.ds with the Stakes of Law, before the decisive battle against Vandalieu. And he couldn’t afford the number of working G.o.ds to fall below the number required to maintain the world’s existence.

This was simply yet another agonizing decision that Alda had no choice but to make, as he was losing wors.h.i.+pers in the Orbaume Kingdom to Vida’s faction due to the activities of Vandalieu and his companions.

As if it were a sign that Alda’s forces were gradually crumbling, the wors.h.i.+p of Vida was permeating rapidly throughout the Jahan Duchy.

Almost none who had wors.h.i.+ped Alda for many years suddenly turned their backs on him to wors.h.i.+p Vida. But Vida was a great G.o.d like Alda, and she was the G.o.ddess wors.h.i.+ped by the hero who had defeated the Demon King Guduranis. The number of people who revered her in the same way that they did Alda was growing.

Or to put it more clearly, there was an increasing number of people who claimed to be long-term traditional wors.h.i.+pers of Alda who actually wors.h.i.+ped Vida on the inside, though perhaps not to the same extent as Hadros Jahan.

They continued following the teachings of Alda that had already become a part of their everyday lives and societal norms. They lived orderly lives. They avoided over-indulgence in luxuries and showed respect for those in high positions.

But while doing so, they also followed Vida’s teachings. Giving thanks before and after meals was an example of an easy-to-follow teaching of Vida that was taught in the region within the Boundary Mountain Range. The people placed Vida’s holy symbol next to Alda’s in their homes and offered her their prayers.

And they no longer followed the teachings of Alda that contradicted the newly-spread teachings of Vida… the teaching that all monsters, especially Undead, were evil beings that needed to be exterminated without exception.

Undead that loathed the living indiscriminately were indeed terrifying beings. But the people had recently learned that not all Undead were like that.

Although it was only a small portion of Undead, there were some Undead who had fought alongside heroes to save the world from the Demon King Guduranis.

“It is nothing short of marvelous that you have changed the people’s way of thinking so much in less than a month after I invited you to my duchy,” said a grateful Hadros, who had come to see Kanako and the others in the backstage dressing room. “People have started calling for new Churches of Vida to be built. Planning for their construction will be starting soon.”

Incidentally, Hadros had snuck his way over here. After all, the public reason for his invitation of Kanako and the others to the Jahan Duchy was ‘to learn about the wors.h.i.+p of Vida.’

It was a secret that the real reason was to cleanse the Jahan Duchy of people who were devout wors.h.i.+pers of Alda… to guide them.

Thus, he was pretending to be resting after finis.h.i.+ng his official duties early, and Gufadgarn had teleported him here directly – so that he could express his grat.i.tude for Kanako and the others.

But there was one more reason he had come – to request another split ent.i.ty of his first ever friend.

“Now that you have already finished your performances in the main cities, including the capital, I am sure your next stage will be in another duchy. And so… I was wondering if you could station one more in my mansion, my friend,” Hadros said to the dis...o...b..ll in his arms… the illumination-type Demon King Familiar that was a combined ma.s.s of sparkling compound eyes resembling a dis...o...b..ll.

“Hadros, there are already two Demon King Familiars stationed in your mansion,” the Demon King Familiar said.

But Hadros showed no signs of backing down. “Yes, I know. The one that is my bodyguard, and the emergency one for if something happens to the one that’s my bodyguard, right?”

Hadros was a friend and a hard-to-come-by collaborator to Vandalieu, and although Hadros found this regrettable, he was an ally who was not particularly individually strong.

Hadros was protected by firm security and capable guards, and he himself had enjoyed learning the art of combat, more than the average duke. His life was not one that would normally be targeted. But the ones to be wary of were Alda’s forces and their wors.h.i.+pers.

There were numerous superhumans who were capable of splitting mountains, breaking oceans, or rending the sky. And the Jahan Duchy ruled by Hadros was a land where there had been many wors.h.i.+pers of Alda for a very long time. It was possible that one of his servants who wors.h.i.+ped Alda would try to poison his food or drink and a.s.sa.s.sinate him under orders sent from Alda by Divine Message.

He was capable of using ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall,’ but it was possible that he could be rendered unable to fight before he was able to use it.

That was why Vandalieu had dispatched Demon King Familiars to protect Hadros. And the only reason he was able to do this was because his connection to Demon King Familiars had gained unlimited range.

“But it’s possible that a backup for the backup will be needed, don’t you think? Ah, that’s right. I was wondering if the next Demon King Familiar could give me instruction in training. While I learned of Talosheim’s culture as a t.i.tan myself, I have taken an interest in bodybuilding, you see,” Hadros said.

“I will prepare one right away,” the Demon King Familiar said.

“Hey, Van is selling a part of himself off in order to promote bodybuilding!” exclaimed Kanako.

“Well, that is how the boy is. Although bodybuilding is something that the boy introduced rather than a part of the t.i.tans’ culture or history, I’m sure that duke is aware of that,” said Zadiris.

Hadros gave them a wry smile. “It’s fine, isn’t it? You have his main body to yourselves. Surely you can allow me to want a friend to comfort me as I put myself through the harsh battles of politics every day.”

He was looking at Vandalieu, who was being held by Kanako and Zadiris. But a moment later –

“Hmm?” he said with a frown. “That is… not the main body.”

“I would expect nothing less of you, Hadros. I thought it was quite well-made, but you noticed right away,” the Demon King Familiar said, immediately confessing that it was indeed not Vandalieu’s main body.

“This is a true-main-body-type Demon King Familiar. A Demon King Familiar that Van created in his experiment to make more main bodies,” said Kanako.

“Until just a short while ago, everyone thought that it looked just like the real one. Its appearance is exactly the same, as you can see, but there are quite a few strange things you will notice if you touch it. Mainly the legs,” said Zadiris.

“I see. It’s the legs after all,” said Hadros.

By mobilizing all of the Demon King fragments that he had absorbed so far, Vandalieu had produced a true-main-body-type Demon King Familiar that wasn’t a pseudo-main body. It wasn’t just its shape, color, and feel to the touch that were close to the real thing; its internal structure was exceedingly similar as well. But at this stage, it was still imperfect.

“Maybe it’s because I don’t have enough fragments of the Demon King to recreate my whole body, but I still feel like something is off when I try to make it like my main body,” the Demon King Familiar said. “Hadros, you’re the first one who noticed just by looking at it other than Mom, Pauvina, Princess Levia and the rest of the Ghosts, and Gufadgarn.”

“Isn’t that quite a lot of people who noticed?” said Hadros.

Darcia and Pauvina had noticed because the copy smelled different. The scent of the true-main-form-type Demon King Familiar that had freshly been created and separated from Vandalieu’s main body had smelled different.

Princess Levia and the other Ghosts had taken notice because the real Vandalieu was the only one who was surrounded by spirits.

Gufadgarn claimed to have noticed because of a difference in how much of Vandalieu’s soul resided in it. A far greater portion of Vandalieu’s soul resided in the real Vandalieu compared to the copy.

Incidentally, Vandalieu was the only person whose soul quant.i.ty Gufadgarn was able to discern.

“In that case… the reason I was able to tell is likely because I don’t know you that well yet. I noticed due to the strangeness of your movements, but it seems that this is normal for you,” said Hadros.

The Demon King Familiar made a disgruntled noise. “Indeed, I think I know what you’re talking about.”

Since he came to the Orbaume Kingdom, Vandalieu had made a conscious effort to behave like an ordinary human, but when he was inside Silkie Zakkart Mansion, inside Eisen’s Iggdrasil form, or in the Demon Empire of Vidal, he relaxed and behaved however he wanted to.

He would crawl about on Silkie’s walls and ceilings to look for hidden contraptions, produce threads from his mouth to sew with, and produce jointed legs, tentacles, or extra arms to do things while his ordinary two hands were busy with something else. He also often did things that humans couldn’t do, for no particular reason at all.

This was a constant thing for him, so those who saw him regularly would perhaps overlook his un-human-like behavior because that was how he always was.

“Now that you mention it, Miriam and Elizabeth-chan were very surprised at first as well,” said Kanako.

“About Miriam… It seems that she is being troubled again,” said Zadiris.

“Ah, you’re right,” said Kanako.

Miriam, the Heroic Guider who was even known by the G.o.ds of Alda’s forces as the ‘Heroic Princess’ was being troubled once again.

She was surrounded by fans wanting her autograph… the knights who had come as Hadros’s bodyguards.

“Please don’t lose heart, Miriam-san. What you did in Orbaume wasn’t something that just anyone could do. You should value yourself more. So please, give me your autograph,” one of them said.

“Me too. On this scabbard, if you don’t mind.”

“Me too, please.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not some amazing person or anything! Don’t blame me if your impressive-looking scabbard is worth less after I put my weird autograph on it!” Miriam said in slight self-despair as she gave the knights her autograph using ink produced by the Ink Sacs of the Demon King.

Kanako had warned Miriam that she should practice writing her own autograph, and Miriam and Kalinia had thought the idea to be absurd, thinking that there was no way such a thing would become necessary. But demand for her autograph was only going up.

“It will never decrease in value! I wish to make it a family heirloom and pa.s.s it down to my children and grandchildren!” said the knight who had wanted her autograph on his sword’s scabbard – Ludario, the Furious Mountain s.h.i.+eld General, one of the prided Seven Mountain Generals of the Jahan Duchy.

Miriam shuddered. “Please don’t! Don’t pa.s.s it on to later generations!” she pleaded.

Her autograph would be made an heirloom of a distinguished house of n.o.ble lineage, and pa.s.sed down for decades or even centuries. She could imagine nothing more embarra.s.sing.

But her party members – Arthur, his younger sister Kalinia, and their childhood friend Borzofoy – interjected. Their own perceptions of Miriam were only improving and showed no signs of worsening.

“Miriam-san, you are wrong about yourself. You are a magnificent woman. You took our hands, despite the fact that we were feared in our home village due to our appearances, and you allowed us to begin our journey to the outside world,” said Arthur.

“Nii-san is right, Miri,” said Kalinia. “n.o.body else could have done what you did in Orbaume – overcoming the difference in which G.o.ds we wors.h.i.+p in order to work together.”

“It is as they say, Miriam. It is not only us; everyone acknowledges you now. Is it not time that you acknowledged yourself?” said Borzofoy.

“Indeed, I feel that you have a gift. And if your achievements in Orbaume are acknowledged… or rather, once you return to Orbaume, the Adventurers’ Guild will likely recognize you as an A-cla.s.s adventurer right away,” said Randolf, who had just finished his maintenance work on his drum set, giving his own seal of approval.

“Even you, Randolf-san?! What are you saying?! I’m nowhere near someone like you!” exclaimed Miriam.

“It might sound pretentious coming from me, but I don’t think there are many people who aren’t nowhere near an S-cla.s.s adventurer. You’ll soon have statues of you built in your hometown, the Alcrem Duchy where you stayed before coming here, and Orbaume. You might have carvings of you displayed in Churches or paintings of you hung up at Adventurers’ Guilds. Be prepared, my junior,” Randolf said as he recalled the path that he himself had taken, giving Miriam an ill-natured smile.

Miriam clutched her head. “I’ll have to go through the same things as Vandalieu-san…!”

“Miriam, you’ll get used to the statues quickly as long as they’re life-sized,” said the true-main-form-type Demon King Familiar as it reached out to give Miriam an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

“I don’t think I’ll get used to it that quickly… Come to think of it, where is your main body and what is it doing now, Vandalieu-san? Is it at the Adventurers’ School?” Miriam asked.

“No, it’s not at the Adventurers’ School. Every time I attend these days, Princ.i.p.al Meorilith keeps overly praising me and trying to give me credits that I haven’t earned,” the Demon King Familiar said.

“She’s doing that, huh. I can’t say I don’t know where she’s coming from, but…” said Randolf.

He was playing the drums during his spare time when he wasn’t working as a temporarily-hired teacher; he pressed a hand to his brow, regretting having been away from the school for so long.

“My main body is currently with Isla and the others, trying to reach out to some old remnants that we found in Orbaume,” said the Demon King Familiar.