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I made something weird again.

This was what I thought as I examined the golden apple from different angles. It was not a rare phenomenon to solidify mana since both Earth and Metal attributes could do so. However, I have never heard of arcane magic that could create apples. Besides, as a flügel, I could not even use arcane magic. In any case, what was the use of arcane magic that produced apples?

“Dina, do you know what this is?”

“……”

“Dina?”

“Eh, ah, yes. It’s probably a forbidden fruit.”

With an unusually confused expression, Dina answered my question with a strange term. Forbidden fruit? Was it the one ate by Adam and Eve, resulting in their expulsion from Paradise? Then would we gain wisdom if we ate this? I would need to hear this in detail.

“An Intelligence-Up item? I have never heard of this though.”

“Well…It would certainly increase Intelligence…but rather than a doping item, it is more like an experience point item.”

“Oh?”

“Hmm…I think Ruphas-sama also noticed this. Unlike the game world, one cannot absorb the mana of a defeated enemy by merely participating in the battle. It would all go to the person who defeated the enemy. In addition, the absorption efficiency is very bad. Only about ten percent of the mana possessed by the enemy would be absorbed.”

“Is that the reason why level decreased unnaturally over the past two hundred years?”

The people who were originally strong died. In addition, people were limited by the difficulty of gaining levels. I should have noticed this earlier. When we were with Jean’s party inside the royal tomb, they did not gain levels at all. I just accepted it without questioning back then. But Dina denied my hypothesis.

“No. It was like this from the beginning. The system of the world did not change suddenly over the past two hundred years. Mana has always been going to the person who defeated the enemy. Therefore, it was not possible to reach the cap at Level 1000 in this world. The weird ones are the people from two hundred years ago.”

“In other words, the current average level is actually normal?”

“Yes. Two hundred years ago…before ‘that time’, the average level of humanoids was not too different from now. Based on my investigations, only about ten people out of all the humanoids exceeded Level 100.”

“‘That time’?”

“The rise of Ruphas Mafahl…That is to say, your appearance. The golden apple is the concentration of mana which should have been dispersed. It provides experience points (mana) that are way beyond what would normally be absorbed. I think you used it to raise the average level of humanoids in one go.”

…I see.

In other words, I was fundamentally mistaken. I kept thinking that the average level dropped unnaturally over the past two hundred years. But the opposite was true. The level was unnaturally raised two hundred years ago. And the cause was none other than myself. Therefore, when I was gone, the average level returned to normal.

But still, the forbidden fruit…it just did not sound good.

“According to legend, there used to be no mana in the world. Then, the heavenly people descended upon the mountain near the heaven, Vanaheim. They watched over the world and took on the role of collecting impurities of the world. The collected impurities (mana) became the forbidden golden apple. At some point, someone chose to eat the apple out of curiosity. That person gained arcane power and was expelled from Vanaheim, becoming human…”

“What is this?”

“A myth of this world. Although it sounds suspicious, it cannot simply be written as a legend.”

That said, Dina glanced at the apple in my hand.

Oh, yeah. That’s right. The real thing is here.

“The apple that could raise people to an otherwise unreachable level should be the forbidden fruit. From the perspective of the goddess, this must be an eyesore. Furthermore, starting with the Seven Heroes, if other transcendent characters were mass-produced by using that thing, she would not be able to tolerate it.”

“…Hmm.”

I pondered while playing with the apple in my hand. It seemed that game knowledge was becoming less reliable. I knew there would be differences between the game and reality, but I had believed that the knowledge would still be of use. However, the knowledge turned out to be useless when it really mattered. In fact, the more important the matter, the less useful the knowledge was.

It was as if my perception was being guided by something. It seemed there were some other errors mixed in here. At least…one could get a drink that increases status by paying money in the game, but it was impossible here.

“In any case, it is not poisonous, right?”

“It is a mass of mana. Furthermore, the wings of the next generation may become black. Therefore, for the flügels who advocate the white-wing ideology, it would be more poisonous than anything else in the world.”

Apparently, it was not poisonous enough to make the eater sick. But it was a deadly poison to the white-wing advocates huh?

What about Virgo then? Her wings were pure white. I found them to be very beautiful, despite not being concerned about wing color. They had such a surprising whiteness that they could be a symbol for the white-wing advocates.

Fortunately, the eater’s wings would not turn black. But since it would affect the next generation, one would naturally hesitate to eat it. Since acquiring a portion of Ruphas’ memories, I also did not want to increase the number of children who might experience tragic childhoods as Ruphas did.

I put the apple in my hand into my cloak without giving to Virgo. I would just keep it for the time being. Even Virgo would not want it if her children would inevitably have black wings and thus be bullied. It was true that I wanted to raise her level if it was possible, but I did not want to ruin her future for it.

“Capture!”

For now, I should just capture the surviving monstrous scorpions. Once captured, they would recognize me as master and faithfully obey my orders. If the target had very high intelligence, it might resist. But as I mentioned before, scorpion-type magical beasts were basically murderous monsters that follow their instincts. Thus, once they were captured, they would not question my orders.

Then, Dina transported the captured monsters to the tower via X-Gate and returned the golems which were removed previously. Now, there was only Scorpius left. I started walking towards Scorpius who was just staring at us without any reaction.

“It has been a long time, Scorpius. Do you remember my face?”

“Ruphas…-sama…”

Currently, I was lightly disguised with the costume given by Megrez. However, I did not disguise my face. Since I was rampaging earlier, she should have realized my true identity. Although Scorpius had been looking at us expressionlessly, she soon licked her purple lips with her red tongue while glancing my way.

“How can I possibly forget? Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, I have never forgotten your face. Ever since this mistress heard the news that you are alive, this mistress has been waiting all this time for our reunion!”

“!”

Scorpius shouted and directed her hair, which was bundled like a tail, towards me. Against the unexpected attack, I nearly had a hole pierced through me. However, I quickly shifted the upper half of my body and managed to avoid the sting attack.

“What are you doing, Scorpius?”

“Hehe, hehehe…At that time, this mistress regretted losing you. Oh, why didn’t I stop you back then? Why did I let you go to that dangerous battlefield? This mistress has always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always…always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always regretted it. And so I decided…”

Scorpius blushed and faced me with her wide eyes, looking at me like a lustful *****.

“If we could meet again, this mistress, and this mistress alone!—Scorpius will protect you! I will have you captured, tied up, locked up, restrained, hugged, kept, and protected, so that nobody other than myself can touch or hurt you! This mistress will keep you by this mistress’ side alone, somewhere nobody else can touch you, hurt you, see you, hear you, or even be within visual range!
Yes, that would be the best, wouldn’t it? It is a mistake to make the noble you, the treasure of the world, to stand on the same ground as the other lower lifeforms. It drives me crazy just to think that you would enter the sight of those trash! I cannot forgive them for speaking with you. It would not be enough even if I kill those who yearn for you tens of thousands of times. I cannot tolerate you being with those accursed filthy things.
Therefore, this mistress will kill all your enemies and this mistress will protect all of you. It’s no problem, my beloved Ruphas-sama. Although it might feel a bit inconvenient at first, this mistress would prepare everything you need. You don’t even need to move at all.
This mistress will take care of everything, including food, sleep, exercise, and entertainment.
I won’t let you be taken away again nor let you fight. This mistress will kill everything that would hurt you, be it the Seven Heroes, the Demon King, the goddess, humanoids, magical beasts, dragons, ouroboroses, or whatever else they might be! So please, wait in the love nest that this mistress has prepared. So please, smile only for this mistress—”

………

—Scary!

I looked away from Scorpius, who was still rattling off her love for me like a machine gun, and glanced at Dina.

Eh? What? Was Scorpius really like this?

I did not intend to preach against homosexuality. Aside from reproduction, the nature of love depended on the individual.

But…Hmm. This was a turn-off.

Dina’s face was blue, urging me to quickly do something about it with her gaze. Virgo looked as if she lost her soul. She probably could not understand what Scorpius was saying anymore.

“—So…Please, come into this mistress’ arms!”

Oh, not good. At some point, Scorpius finished talking. After dodging a strike from the tail-like hair (which was really more like a tail), a second strike was immediately launched. Scorpius’ hair somehow increased and multiple tails attacked simultaneously. Wait, what was wrong with that hair!?

“Ugh!?”

If it was just me, dodging the attacks would be easy. No, it would not be difficult to avoid the tails and advance closer to her. However, Virgo, Dina, and Karkinos were here as well. Karkinos was tough so he would be fine, but Dina and particularly Virgo were different. I grabbed their hands and jumped from the spot to avoid all the tails. But that was not the end. Very soon, the third wave of attacks approached us…

“Acubens!”

In order to divert Scorpius’ attacks, Karkinos suddenly activated his skill and sent her flying. When I looked back towards the ground, Karkinos was already equipped with a scissor blade in each hand, overlooking the fallen Scorpius.

“Hahaha! I’m relieved that you are still as crazy as before! However Scorpius, even if it’s you, as long as there is me, the Shield of the Zodiac, no attack will be permitted to reach Ruphas-sama! Stand up! You will be beaten by me until you have no other choice but to throw in the towel and straighten that twisted mind of yours!”

“Karkinos…A Crab like you should not disturb a mistress like this Scorpion!”

Scorpius stood up and gathered mana in both hands. The mana took shape and became a pair of black scissors. Since Karkinos’ weapons were also scissors, a confrontation using the same weapon began.

Scorpius dashed across the ground, aiming her scissors for Karkinos’ neck. Karkinos had no intention to dodge. Seeing this, I called out, while Virgo averted her eyes.

But—he was not cut. There wasn’t even a nick!

“……!”

“Kekeke. Have you forgotten the hardness of me after two hundred years?”

With a wide smile, Karkinos kicked Scorpius. Of course, it was not a normal kick. It was a counterattack that added Scorpius’ attack power to its own.

As I watched Scorpius rolling on the ground, I thought:

Eh? Isn’t Karkinos stupidly strong?

Image from Light Novel Volume 3