Chapter 343: Insincere gods and the neighborhood that almost became a nightmare

With Vandalieu telling the Five-colored Blades about Rikudou Hijiri at the cost of putting himself through a great deal of stress, Alda, the God of Law and Fate, also learned of Rikudou Hijiri's existence.

Naturally, he was furious to learn of this situation.

Like Heinz and his companions, Alda had mistakenly believed up to this point that Vandalieu was the one manipulating Urgen Tercatanis. Despite Tercatanis being one of Alda's worshipers, Alda had become unable to see what he saw, and he had made the unprecedented proposal of providing the army with weapons made from fragments of the Demon King. Alda had believed that he had been guided by Vandalieu and was acting under his orders.

But this was apparently a conspiracy carried out by a reincarnated individual named Rikudou Hijiri, whom Rodcorte had reincarnated in Lambda without speaking a word of it to Alda. Alda could not remain silent about this.

He immediately sent a messenger to summon Rodcorte and demand an explanation.

But Rodcorte's response was brazen and shameless. "I must say, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You intend to feign ignorance?" Alda said furiously.

"Feign ignorance? Don't tell me you really believe what Vandalieu says?"

"... Vandalieu would have no reason to go out of his way to lie. And it is true that a reincarnated individual named Rikudou Hijiri died in Origin."

"It's possible that he's spreading misinformation to sow discord between us, isn't it? And it is true that the reincarnated individual named Rikudou Hijiri died in Origin. But where is your proof that I reincarnated him in Lambda?"

"If you are going as far as to say that, then you should be able to prove your innocence by showing me Rikudou Hijiri's soul. If he has not been reincarnated, his soul should still be in your Divine Realm!"

Rodcorte had promised that he would use newly reincarnated individuals as forces with which to fight against Vandalieu. Thus, he needed to contact Alda whenever he reincarnated someone.

But Rodcorte had not spoken a word of Rikudou's reincarnation to Alda and his subordinates. This was only natural, as his cooperative relationship with Alda would vanish in an instant if he were to contact him and say, "There is a reincarnated individual who became a demigod and learned death-attribute magic in another world, and I reincarnated him in Lambda with fragments of the Demon King serving as his body."

Rodcorte still wanted to use Alda, so he wished to postpone the breakdown of their cooperation as long as he could - until he was certain that Vandalieu could be defeated, if possible.

In addition, Vandalieu had caused the people of his nation to recognize Rodcorte as a god of the world of Lambda. Unlike before, Alda's divine authority, the Stakes of Law, would work on him now.

Alda's divine authority, which allowed him to punish gods, was extremely troublesome. Rodcorte surpassed Alda in terms of overall power as a god, but now that he was an eligible target for Alda's divine authority, there was no guarantee that he would be able to forcibly undo it if it was applied on him.

He was a god of reincarnation with tremendous power, and Alda was a god of law and order who possessed significantly less power than him. If they were to simply fight one another, the god of reincarnation would win. But a god of reincarnation could not go against a god of law and order if he were to be judged by the law.

That was the nature of a god's authority.

With that being the case, one might believe it would have been wiser to simply wait for Heinz's party and the potential heroes being nurtured by the gods to grow strong enough, rather than dealing with someone as dangerous as Rikudou Hijiri, but Rodcorte thought differently.

From his perspective, the potential heroes were developing too slowly. It looked to him that they were barely capable of putting up a fight against Vandalieu's lackeys, never mind Vandalieu himself - even though Vandalieu's lackeys were growing stronger at a terrifying pace.

As for Heinz and the rest of the Five-colored Blades, it seemed that they did not have much desire to fight Vandalieu. Up until now, Rodcorte had been doubtful whether they would actually fight Vandalieu or not, and after seeing the encounter and conversation between them and Vandalieu... or rather, his Demon King Familiar, it seemed that his fears had been confirmed.

Whether Vandalieu was displeased with Heinz's actions and words, or whether they were nothing more than hypocrisy, was of no concern to Rodcorte. The problem was that Heinz, who was supposed to be Alda's greatest fighting asset, had no intention of killing Vandalieu.

Rodcorte needed to kill Vandalieu and recover his soul to either seal it away or, if that wasn't possible, to throw it into a distant world whose reincarnation Rodcorte did not rule over. And he would be troubled if the nation ruled by Vandalieu wasn't wiped out.

He would be very troubled indeed if Heinz managed to reconcile with Vandalieu against all odds, or if Heinz was killed without fighting at all.

Rodcorte had previously had high hopes in Heinz, as he had resurrected Bellwood, the heroic god who had the greatest achievements in this world when it came to killing Vida's races, but...

"Prove my innocence, you say? If you are to demand this of me, Alda, perhaps you should first prove to me that Heinz really intends to defeat Vandalieu," said Rodcorte.

"What nonsense are you saying?!" Alda exclaimed.

"From his conversation with Vandalieu's familiar, it does not seem likely that they will reconcile, but it did not seem to me that the Five-colored Blades have much desire to fight him, either."

"... That is because they encountered Vandalieu's familiar, not Vandalieu himself. Even if they fought this familiar and defeated it, it would not have mattered in the slightest to Vandalieu. In fact, fighting it would only have served to give him information about the strength of Heinz and his party. It is only natural for them to avoid battle in that situation," said Alda.

He was trying to avoid telling Rodcorte that Heinz intended to offer up his life to Vandalieu in exchange for meeting several conditions.

If Rodcorte became aware of this, there was no telling what extreme actions he would carry out. Alda intended to persuade Heinz and change his mind before Rodcorte could ever find out about it.

He believed it to be possible, as Heinz's companions had also tried to persuade him.

The outcome that Alda feared the most was Rodcorte abandoning this world and stopping his management of its circle of transmigration. If he did that, only the Demon King's and Vida's circle of transmigration systems would remain. This would mean that the only future for the world was one where it was inhabited only by monsters and Vida's races; all people, animals, and plants would perish.

The ideal world that Alda desired would only exist in the past.

In truth, Rodcorte had already attempted to cut his connection with the world of Lambda, along with Earth and Origin, but failed due to Vandalieu, the one that Alda was trying to defeat, and the people of the nation that he ruled, being aware of his existence.

There was no trust, teamwork, or desire to help one another between Alda and Rodcorte.

That was why Alda had never reported or discussed Heinz's intentions with Rodcorte, and why Rodcorte was continuing to plot his conspiracy.

Still, Rodcorte decided to confess, knowing that it would be difficult to continue to feign complete ignorance.

"... However, as you say, it is true that the reincarnated individual named Rikudou Hijiri has already been reincarnated," he said.

"As I thought! You, of all gods, should understand just how much devastation another death-attribute magic user can cause! Even if it was for the purpose of defeating Vandalieu, what were you thinking?!" Alda demanded.

"Do not misunderstand. I reincarnated him, but it was an ordinary reincarnation," said Rodcorte.

He did not intend to confess the entire truth. His confession was a lie with only a part of the truth, designed to fool Alda.

"What did you say?" said Alda.

"I have reincarnated Rikudou Hijiri through ordinary means, erasing his memories and personality from his previous life and recovering his cheat-like abilities. And he has been reincarnated in Origin, not in Lambda. I'm sure he is in his mother's belly right about now," Rodcorte said.

Rikudou was not in Rodcorte's Divine Realm because he had been reincarnated in a body created from fragments of the Demon King, so Rodcorte was unable to show Alda his soul. Thus, he had gone with the story that Rikudou Hijiri had been reincarnated like any other ordinary human.

"... Really?" said Alda, unable to immediately believe this.

His suspicion was only natural, given Rodcorte's past words and deeds.

"Don't tell me you would demand proof of that as well? I do not mind showing it to you, but... I do not think you would understand even if I were to show you my circle of transmigration system, seeing as you have no authority over reincarnation," said Rodcorte.

Alda had no way of confirming whether Rikudou Hijiri had indeed been reincarnated in another world or not. Understanding the circle of reincarnation system that Rodcorte had created simply by looking at it would be almost impossible for other gods unless they had created a circle of transmigration system themselves or ruled over reincarnation like Rodcorte.

There were none among Alda's subordinate gods who met these conditions, and the only beings in this world who had created similar systems were the Goddess of Life and Love Vida and the Demon King Guduranis.

And the reason Rodcorte had told Alda Rikudou had been reincarnated in Origin rather than Lambda was because Alda was a god of Lambda, and there would be no way for him to confirm the reincarnation of a soul in Origin.

Alda didn't have the ability to determine what a baby had been in its previous life simply by looking at it, but Rodcorte had taken this measure just in case... though his main reason for doing so was because it would be troublesome if Alda demanded that he tell him the identity of the mother who was carrying Rikudou.

"... Did you ask for the agreement of the God of Origin before doing that?" Alda asked.

"There is not even a need to ask for their agreement. It was the same as any other reincarnation. Now that Rikudou Hijiri's soul has lost its memories, its personality, and its abilities, it's no different from any other soul. Of course, I did grant it affinities for some attributes once more," said Rodcorte. "That's a natural precaution to take, as if I didn't, it is possible that it would learn death-attribute magic once more."

"I see... I heard that Rikudou Hijiri became a god in Origin. Is your system able to reincarnate the souls of humans that have become gods?"

This question hit a nerve for Rodcorte, causing him to feel irritated.

"I was worried about that myself, but I spent more time than usual to make the necessary adjustments, and by recovering the cheat-like abilities I granted him, I was able to reincarnate Rikudou Hijiri's soul with no problems. Now that his cheat-like abilities have been stripped from it, I'm sure it has become an ordinary human's soul once more," said Rodcorte. "Of course, there is no guarantee that I will be able to do the same for any other reincarnated individuals that have become gods. To begin with, I never expected that any of them would reach godhood during their mortal lives, so I cannot say anything for certain."

Rodcorte had no choice but to make up these careless lies. Alda was a little suspicious at the fact that Rodcorte had started speaking slightly faster, but because he had no way of confirming the truth, he couldn't press the matter any further.

"... Then what about the reincarnated individuals who were cooperating with Rikudou Hijiri?" Alda asked.

"I've done the same with them as I did with Rikudou," Rodcorte replied. "I hoped that we could use them to fight Vandalieu, and tried persuading them to join our cause, but like Rikudou, they had no desire to obey my orders."

"... Fine. Then it is Vandalieu, not Rikudou Hijiri, who is behind Urgen Tercatanis's actions?"

"Of course. It seems that he has already been guided by Vandalieu; I am unable to gain any information from his soul. I'm sure Vandalieu mentioned Rikudou Hijiri's name to create cracks in our cooperative relationship, or perhaps he was aiming to spread misinformation to buy time for himself."

Alda pondered Rodcorte's words. Rodcorte is certainly behaving suspiciously, but it is certainly possible that Vandalieu was spreading misinformation, he thought.

The idea that the person using fragments of the Demon King had to be Vandalieu was deeply rooted in Alda's mind as well.

It also didn't occur to him to question those who knew of the truth behind Rodcorte's actions... His familiar spirits - Aran, Izumi, and Kouya. Alda considered familiar spirits to be the ascended souls of those who worshiped their gods as their masters, so he was under the assumption that Rodcorte's familiar spirits would be loyal to him.

If he had actually thought to question Aran, Izumi, and Kouya, who had been forced into a state that prevented them from saying anything that would cause Rodcorte inconvenience, he might have been able to discern the truth from their unnatural behavior, but...

Still, it is dangerous to trust Rodcorte. It would be wise to continue to keep our potential heroes in Orbaume, Alda thought to himself.

This time, Alda had not had the young potential heroes that were being nurtured by the gods of his faction evacuate Orbaume, where Vandalieu was active.

Based on Vandalieu's previous actions, Alda had determined that he would not attempt to find and kill these potential heroes.

Of course, he had instructed the gods to send Divine Messages instructing them not to get involved with Vandalieu and his companions.

Orbaume, being the capital of the Orbaume Kingdom, was a large city, so avoiding Vandalieu and his companions was certainly possible.

"Very well. I shall warn Heinz to continue to be wary of Vandalieu and instruct him to make preparations and investigate what Vandalieu is plotting by manipulating the prime minister," said Alda.

"I am glad you understand," said Rodcorte, returning to his own Divine Realm.

After Rodcorte left, Alda did as he said he would - he warned Heinz to continue to be wary of Vandalieu. But he also decided to have the potential heroes prepare themselves for Rikudou's possible presence.

Rikudou had been defeated by Vandalieu in Origin, so even if he was a death-attribute mage, the potential heroes should be able to defeat him as well.

That was what Alda believed.

Having recovered from his mental stress after about an hour, Vandalieu almost collapsed again immediately afterwards - He had learned through the information-gathering Demon King Familiars he was keeping around Asagi and Heinz's groups that they were not turning back; they were continuing to make their way to Orbaume.

"... I wonder why they're coming? I can understand Asagi, but even Heinz's party, too. I did warn them strongly not to come. Still, I don't think I want to go and warn them again," Vandalieu said, thinking about what he should do about Asagi and Heinz as he munched on the gold-dust-covered steak that Eleanora was feeding him.

Despite his pondering, his gaze was fixed on the stage upon which Elizabeth and the others were standing. During the hour it had taken for him to wake up, the program for the parade had changed. Elizabeth, Mahelia, and Zona, the three newcomers, were now singing while wearing the mass-produced model of transformation equipment.

"Yes, I think that would be best. If you meet them again, you might be stuck in bed for a whole day," said Darcia. "Next time, how about we make familiars and have them carry a letter to them for you?"

"Or how about simply hiring someone in the city to carry the letter for you?" suggested Bellmond.

Darcia and the others were opposed to Vandalieu making contact again, especially with the Five-colored Blades. Given what had happened thus far, there was no chance that things would end peacefully even with the simple delivery of a letter. To begin with, they were enemies that Vandalieu wished to kill, so it was only natural, but... after Vandalieu woke up, when they asked him what had happened when he was talking to Heinz, there had been an unnatural blank in his memories. His memory for that period of time had likely been erased by his mental shock.

Vandalieu possessed the 'Status Effect Immunity' Skill, so this wasn't the result of some external factor such as an enemy attack. The cause of his memories vanishing was internal... Vandalieu's own mind and emotions. More anger and stress than he was capable of handling, most likely.

If he were to repeat this again, not long after the first time, it could even cause permanent damage. It would be best to avoid Vandalieu becoming incapacitated for long periods of time while Rikudou Hijiri's whereabouts were still unknown.

"It seems that the Demon Empire of Vidal, the Demon Continent, and Gartland have somehow managed. Still, it was surprising to hear that even the Demon King Familiars were affected," said Zadiris.

"Yes. I sent a Demon King Familiar because I wouldn't care if it was defeated or not, but I never imagined that something like this would happen," said Vandalieu.

Zadiris had been using a communication device to keep in contact with the Demon Empire of Vidal - because all of the Demon King Familiars in the Demon Empire of Vidal and its various regions had been affected.

To be specific, the connection between Vandalieu and his split entities within the Demon King Familiars had been severed for several seconds to several minutes. However, Demon King Familiars were built to continue simple operations even when Vandalieu was cut off from his split entities.

The most dangerous of them were the combat-assisting Demon King Familiars that were loaned out to explorers (the equivalent to adventurers in human society), but even they functioned without any problem, even when Vandalieu's connection to them was severed while they were mid-battle.

... Some battles would be difficult enough that the disconnection would have a large effect on the outcome of the battle, but the recommendation to explorers was that they retreat from powerful enemies rather than fight them. This was only natural, as an explorer's job was to keep themselves alive and bring the fruits of their labor back home rather than go through difficult battles where they would have to risk their lives.

However, there had been no significant effect because the disconnection had only lasted from several seconds to several minutes; if this were to happen repeatedly or the disconnection were to last for hours or days, that wouldn't necessarily be the case.

"Isn't it better to just not get directly involved with the Five-colored Blades at all? They're enemies, after all, and if they refuse to listen to you after one warning, it won't matter how many more times you warn them," said Kanako, suggesting that he take it one step further. "The Five-colored Blades are probably heading this way because they're worried about what will happen if Van - in other words, we - lose the battle against Rikudou. I'm sure they think that if Van were to lose, they would have to protect the world from Rikudou."

"I see. I didn't declare with absolute certainty that I would defeat Rikudou, after all. Heinz and his companions may be under the impression that Rikudou is quite a powerful being," Vandalieu realized.

"It's not that they may be under that impression, they definitely are," said Kanako. "They think that he's someone that even you will struggle to defeat, Van, and that you want to avoid a three-way battle from unfolding... In other words, they think that he's someone that won't be easily defeated."

Vandalieu and the others nodded in agreement. Heinz and his companions didn't have any detailed information regarding Rikudou Hijiri; they likely believed him to be a powerful enemy who, despite being unable to defeat Vandalieu, had escaped with his soul intact, and was now plotting something in this world.

In truth, it wasn't Vandalieu who had fought Rikudou, but Banda - a split entity created from fragments of his own soul - and the Bravers. Thus, Vandalieu hadn't considered him to be a powerful enemy, even then.

But it was highly likely that Heinz and the others were under the belief that Rikudou was a truly powerful enemy to Vandalieu.

"It is unpleasant for us that they are imagining what would happen in the event of Bocchan's defeat, but... well, they are enemies, after all," said Sam.

If the Five-colored Blades were Vandalieu's allies, they would have the option of obeying Vandalieu's warning to stay away from Orbaume with the belief that he would be victorious, but as Sam said, they were his enemies. Putting their faith in Vandalieu would be a difficult decision to make for them.

"Then I suppose they cannot be blamed for ignoring the warning and coming to this place," said Zadiris. "They are heroes of Alda, and they are S-class adventurers, after all. Though that is rather inconvenient for us."

Heinz and his companions were heroes. They were S-class adventurers who were capable of fighting against evil gods and demigods of Rank 13 or above, and gods that descended upon the world's surface.

A crisis was occurring that would determine the fate of not only the nation, but the entire world. It would be only natural to rely on them in such circumstances.

From the perspective of the world at large, it was a fortunate thing that Heinz felt that it was his duty to defeat Rikudou Hijiri in the event that Vandalieu was defeated... Especially in the Orbaume Kingdom, where the public believed that Randolf 'the True,' the only other S-class adventurer, had retired.

"I'm sure I would ignore the warning and continue to Orbaume if I were in the Five-colored Blades' position, too... I don't believe that the Five-colored Blades will be able to do anything about this crisis that affects the whole world, and I would never forgive myself if friends of mine were to die or become wounded because I chose to believe in them. And this will be an opportunity for me to assassinate the Five-colored Blades once they are exhausted from battle. And most of all, I would hate for something to happen to the world by Rikudou's hands because we left him alone," said Vandalieu with a nod.

He understood why the Five-colored Blades had ignored his warning, and gave up on warning them again, as he knew it would be meaningless.

"It can't be helped. Let us assume that it will become a three-way battle and make the appropriate preparations. Everyone, please prioritize defeating Rikudou rather than Heinz in a three-way battle, though I don't think I will be able to. However, make every effort to avoid letting your guard down and giving the enemy any opportunities," Vandalieu said. "And Kanako, I'm surprised that you understood what Heinz and his party were thinking," he added, impressed.

Kanako gave him a wry smile. "No, it's not as big a deal as you make it out to be. It's just... I figured that he's probably got a similar personality to Amemiya. His position in society is similar too, after all."

"I see."

It seemed that Heinz and Amemiya were alike in terms of personality. The only difference was their different common sense and values due to having been raised in different nations (or rather, worlds).

"It must have been hard for you... I should show more appreciation for Doug, Melissa, Sieg, and Sarua from now on. I'll try to be a little nicer to Katie-san the next time I see her, too," Vandalieu decided.

"Yes, well, as far as betraying him goes, I guess," said Kanako. "So, now that we've decided what to do about the Five-colored Blades, what about Asagi's group? Even I don't know what he's thinking."

"You don't?" said Vandalieu.

"It's impossible to know. Try asking his brain directly when you meet him," said Kanako. "I don't think I can blame him for treating me as a dangerous person, though."

In her previous life in Origin, Kanako had betrayed Asagi and the rest of the Bravers. Her words and actions back then had made it difficult to sympathize with her; she believed that it couldn't be helped if they still resented her... though the ones who had killed Asagi and his companions were Legion, who were the Eighth Guidance in their previous lives, rather than Kanako.

"It doesn't feel very nice to be criticized for what I'm doing now, but... I'm sure we don't need to pay him any mind. I think we can just ignore him," Kanako said.

"We don't need to raise an objection? If Bocchan says something about it to Duke Jahan, I'm sure he'll raise a very strict objection for us," said Rita.

"Duke Jahan is on a high right now after having made a friend for the first time, after all. Just like Bocchan when he first started following Elizabeth-sama," said Saria.

"Rita, Saria, you mustn't suggest things that would force trouble on Hadros and cause friction in the relations between the Jahan house and the Birgitt house," said Vandalieu.

Kanako laughed. "It's true that he'd likely take action on our behalf, but I think it's best to not get carelessly involved with Asagi. The reason behind the rumors that he's spreading can't be explained to ordinary people, anyway."

Even if Asagi warned people that Kanako was a dangerous person that they should be wary of, he would only be able to tell the reason for that to a very limited number of people - those that knew of the existence of the reincarnated individuals, such as the Five-colored Blades. After all, he couldn't go around telling people who didn't know anything about other worlds that Kanako had betrayed him in his previous life.

Thus, even if Asagi continued to tell people that Kanako was a dangerous person, it would likely have almost no effect. That was Kanako's conclusion.

"With or without Asagi, everyone has haters everywhere," Kanako said. "All we need to do is show our best performances on stage."

"Kanako-san...!" Saria and Rita gasped, moved by Kanako's words.

Zadiris was giving a proud nod of approval, too.

"Ah, but it might be good to have Duke Jahan help pull some strings so that we'll be allowed to perform in a theater somewhere rather than being limited to this mansion's grounds," Kanako added. "After all, the best way to deal with unpleasant rumors is to actually show our performances to people."

Pride in oneself wasn't enough to get by in the world, so Kanako decided to make good use of authority where she could, swiftly blowing away the admiration that the others had felt for her moments earlier.

"Indeed. A facility that can accommodate large numbers of people in one place will also help with evacuating the city when needed, so let's look into hiring a theater," said Vandalieu. "As for Asagi and his friends... Even if they were to join forces with the Five-colored Blades, they wouldn't be much of a threat. If their research into the seals on the fragments of the Demon King has made progress, it might be effective in some form against Rikudou Hijiri. Until then, let's get involved with him as little as possible."

"Wait one moment!" shouted Elizabeth, who had just finished her performance.

She had paused at one point to ask if she could stop singing since Vandalieu had come back to his senses, but Zadiris had told her to think of it as a lesson and keep singing until the end, so she had been singing during this whole discussion.

"Elizabeth-sama, given that you've only just started, your singing and dancing was quite excellent," said Vandalieu. "But I can still see a little embarrassment, especially during the choruses."

"Why, thank you!" Elizabeth said sarcastically. "But I wasn't asking for your opinion on my performance!" She pointed in a certain direction. "Duke Farzon and Duke Birgitt's mansions in this city are over there. The mansion grounds are large, so they're quite far away, but... if the Five-colored Blades and this Asagi person are going to stay in those mansions, it might be difficult to avoid seeing them."

Silkie Zakkart Mansion had originally been owned by the Jahan house, and it was in the same upper-class nobles' district as the mansions of the other dukes.

It was certainly possible that the Five-colored Blades, who had deep ties to the Farzon house, and Asagi's group, who were employed by the Birgitt house, would be staying in their respective mansions.

"... Let's find another accommodation," said Vandalieu, his expression looking even more dead than usual.

"I'll fly! Even if the mansion falls to pieces, I'll fly, so please don't throw me away!" Silkie begged desperately.

"Nobody is going to throw you away," Vandalieu reassured her. "You'll be staying with us, Silkie. Now then, what kind of accommodation should we get..."

"Vandalieu, I don't think it's possible for Silkie to stay in another accommodation," said Darcia. "You know, in terms of her size."

Indeed, it was impossible for Silkie, whose main body was this mansion, to stay in another accommodation facility that was outside the mansion.

However, it seemed that Heinz and Asagi's group were not thoughtless enough to stay near Vandalieu; both had chosen to stay in other accommodation facilities rather than the mansions of the dukes they had ties to, which saved Vandalieu at least some mental stress for now.