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Once we finished registering, we decided to return to Tanaka to pass the night.

We had thought about staying at an inn. However, in this country, even the inns were nothing more than tents. Therefore, we did not think it would be comfortable to stay in them.

It might have come down to an innate difference with the beastkin. Nevertheless, I believed it would have been more profitable for them to have created dwellings that better suited other humanoid travellers.

By this moment, Virgo had retired to bed early and Aries was already deep within a dream.

I got out of Tanaka for no particular reason other than to enjoy the night wind and tried to work my brain which I tended not to use to ponder on some things.

What I was pondering on was this country’s defence.

Laevateinn had Alioth‘s barrier. Svalinn had Levia and Gjallarhorn had Merak’s Coercion.

And as for Blutgang, the capital itself was a moving fortress which was further protected by the mass-produced Libra models.

Which meant that this country must also have some significant form of defence.

If I were to think about it, although whatever was serving as the defensive mechanism might currently be on our side, it would be wise for me to think about the possibility of them turning into an enemy.

After all, for the citizens of this country, there was no significant difference between the demons and I. There was no doubt that they thought of both of us as a menace.

Which meant that the chance of the defensive mechanism of this country baring its fangs at us was not insignificant.

I did not think for a moment that we would be unable to handle it if such a thing occurred. However, the problem was when those fangs were directed at Virgo.

Thinking about such a situation, it was not wrong of me to think of a way to protect her.

…. For now… I think I will just get some information out of Dina when I have the time. Although she is a shady character, 90% of the information that she said had been correct.

“Master.”

I heard a voice from behind me.

Without having to turn around, I knew the owner of the voice.

I continued to look forward and called out the name of the subordinate to which the voice belonged.

“Libra. What is it?”

“I had a matter that I wanted to discuss with the master.”

As Libra said that, she came to stand next to me.

Her weight was incomparable to how she looked. However, it was because of that reason that her smooth and elegant set of movements, which did not make others able to sense her true weight, was quite impressive.

From the side, Libra was making a troubled face….. Never mind, it was the same as always.

Whilst having the exact same expression as usual, she started speaking in a slightly more serious tone.

“I will cut straight to the chase. Exactly what kind of person is that woman called Dina? Although I have yet to recover the corrupted data, I have at least been able to deduce that she was not there 200 years ago.”

“….. So you had already noticed.”

“Yes. Also, that master had long noticed that fact and was hiding it from us.”

I had thought I hid it quite well, however, it seemed it was out in the open.

Others aside, it seemed reasonable that I would not be able to keep it hidden from Libra for long.

Not to mention I was horrible at acting. Above everything else, I was quite stupid.

I gave off a sarcastic laugh before trailing off, and moved my eyes away from the loyal subordinate who did not blame me.

“Looks like I treated you guys unjustly.”

“There is no problem. I am sure that master also had things on her mind. Nevertheless, if I am to advise master on the subject, I believe it is important that I also know the details of such an important matter.”

I took a quick glance at Libra and thought about it a little.

Currently, amongst my subordinates, Libra was probably the one that I could trust the most. After all, she could not be mind controlled.

In other words, whether it was the Goddess or Dina, it would be impossible for them to manipulate Libra.

Which meant that even if the Goddess thought Libra was a nuisance, there was no way to control her.

The worst case scenario was if the fact that “golems cannot be mind controlled” was nothing more than a sham or a bluff. However, I did not believe such would be the case.

If that was the case, rather than create such a roundabout bluff, it would have been much easier and quicker to control Libra and gain my trust.

The fact that such a thing did not happen meant that it could not be done.

“Hmm… I suppose it’s fine to inform you of what’s going on. Having said that, in all honesty, I also haven’t been able to fully grasp her real identity. Although she was one of the 7 Luminaries for the demons, she’s clearly not a demon, after all.”

“I suppose so. The moment that she was able to use divine magic, she can no longer be of demon or vampire background. However, with all that knowledge, what could she really be?”

“From what I believe, it can be certain that she has some form of connection with the Goddess. I just don’t know if the relationship she has with the Goddess is similar to Parthenos or something much closer… or perhaps, she’s even the Goddess herself. I just don’t know.”

Yes, at this point, I was convinced that my conjecture was true.

It was certain that Dina and the Goddess were not unrelated. They were connected to each other in one way or another in the background.

At the end of figuring out her secret will be the Goddess.

What I did not know was the extent to which they were related to each other.

Whether her relationship with the Goddess was of the same standing as what Parthenos had to the Goddess in the past. Or whether she was someone far closer to the Goddess, one of the Goddess’s close confidants.

Or whether… she was the Goddess’s avatar herself.

I simply lacked too much information to make a determination.

“Master. She is dangerous. I believe it is most appropriate to restrain her as soon as possible and put her under interrogation.”

“Don’t be too hasty! Even if you do such a thing, she can just teleport and run away from us. And once she runs away, we will no longer have a way to find her.”

“…. Are you suggesting we continue to let her get away with what she’s doing?”

“I wonder. It could very well be us that’s been allowed to get away with doing whatever we want. Whichever and whatever it is, currently she’s the only lead we have towards the Goddess. To let that go would be too hasty of a move, don’t you think?”

At this moment, Dina probably thought that I was dancing on the palm of her hand. However, I believed there was something not even Dina had managed to figure out.

And that would be—to what extent I had “returned” already.

This point alone could only be fully known by myself. After all, she had previously tried to check by asking, “Are you really a player?”

Now that I thought back on it, that line was most likely used to determine how much of me had returned.

Although it was embarrassing of me to say this, the original me would never have come to doubt Dina in the first place.

The mere fact that I was able to think in this way and suspect others meant that the way I thought now was no longer how “I” used to think.

Looking at this from another perspective, there was the merit of the other side not being able to figure out how much they were being suspected as long as I continued to maintain how I used to act on the surface.

As such, for the time being, it was fine with how things were going.

It was fine to continue being the whimsical me who did not think things through.

“And you know, if I were to assume that she was completely our enemy, it raises some baffling points.”

“Baffling points?”

“Yeah. It’s true that she’d been moving and manipulating me towards her desired outcome the way she wants. There’s no mistake in that. But… at this moment in time, there hasn’t been a single demerit that she has brought me. As a matter of fact, all of her actions have been in my favour. That’s what I can’t comprehend.”

To give me more benefits, to hide the demerits. If it was something like that, I could understand.

But that was not how it was. There was not a single demerit whatsoever.

The reunion with Aries at Svalinn. The retrieval of Libra at the Royal Tomb.

Aigokeros’s return at Gjallarhorn.The collection of Karkinos and Scorpius at Blutgang.

And restoring the relationship with the 7 Heroes at all of the cities I had visited thus far. Everything had been for my benefit.

…. Wasn’t that weird? Wasn’t Ruphas Mafahl a nuisance for the Goddess?

Wasn’t that why she manipulated the 7 Heroes and made them seal Ruphas Mafahl 200 years ago?

If so, for what reason would she strengthen such a weakened enemy at this point in time? That was what I could not understand at all.

This was the reason which was making me unable to prove the already 90% certain hypothesis that “Dina = The Goddess’s Avatar”.

Do not reach premature conclusions. Do not cloud yourself with suspicions. Scrutinise the information more closely with a composed state of mind.

That was the hesitation and warning which kept ringing in my head.

I believed I had definitely overlooked something.

“I can’t explain it well….. I feel as though it’s a wrong choice to corner Dina at this point in time.”

“You feel…? That is ambiguous.”

“I know. But give me some more time.”

I wondered what it was. Although I could not figure out why, I felt that it was not yet time to accuse Dina.

Almost all of the pieces had already lined up, and the full picture for the jigsaw puzzle was already showing.

Even without the remaining pieces, it was at the point where one could imagine the final image using the pieces which had already been arranged.

However, it was still very possible that by finding the remaining pieces and actually completing the puzzle, the final image turns out to be a trompe l’oeil​. If I were to analogise it to something, that was what I was feeling.

“…… Understood. If that is what master desires, I shall comply.”

“I appreciate it, Libra.”

“There is no problem, I am master’s tool. As such, I only exist to support what master desires with all my ability. Even if that turns out to be a wrong choice in the end, it is my role to shatter the concept of the wrong choice.”

“Pleasingly dependable.”

Indeed, I really had such a dependable subordinate.

The problem was whether she would become too dependable and blow up everything in my path into oblivion.

In any event, it really was getting chilly. I suppose it was already time for me to go to sleep.

*

The day of the hunting festival.

Rays of light which must have been fired by magic or something were lighting up the sky in a flower pattern just like a firework. Additionally, at the audience seats, many different species were bustling with excitement whilst asking when the festival was going to begin.

Fortunately, the audience seats were not tents but rows of seats arranged like what you would see at the screening of a movie.

At the front of that was a stupidly large screen-like thing, which everyone in the audience was looking at.

…. I thought this world didn’t have anything like a camera? How were they going to display things?

“Ahh, that’s a mana screen created by Mizar before he passed away. By using the mana in the air as a medium, it’s able to display what is happening in the distance. Similar technology is also being utilised in Blutgang as those within are apparently able to see what’s happening on the outside. Though, I’ve heard that because it was too much of a black box, unfortunately, nobody has been able to replicate the product after he passed away.”

Mizar again, huh.

As I listened to Dina’s explanation, I was looking up at the sky.

Why was he the only one who was able to far surpass the civilisation level of Midgard?

You were actually a modern Japanese person, weren’t you? – I really wanted to say something like that.

If he was to reply that he had no modern knowledge and was completely from this world, then he had absolutely been born in the wrong age and world.

“At this point, everything’s a go for you, huh, you bearded guy.”

As I was feeling exasperated, I beckoned for Virgo to come towards me.

She was about to go participate in a short while. However, if anything were to happen to her, I would not have the face to meet with Parthenos again.

As such, although it might have been an overkill for this festival, I had gotten Dina to bring a weapon from the tower.

Notwithstanding that it was a hand-me-down weapon which I was using around mid-level, it should still be an effective equipment for now.

“Ruphas-sama, what is this?”

“It’s a sword I used in the past. The name of the sword is La Pucelle and it’s able to utilise the mana in the environment to discharge a light attribute arcane magic. It’s quite an excellent weapon which used to be favoured by the flugels who are unable to use arcane magic.”

The flugels were unable to use arcane magic.

However, within the game, as if it was a promised or a standard concept, there were weapons which could bring out the same effect as arcane magic just by being used.

This weapon just happened to be one of those and its rarity was also one of the higher tiers.

I was also taken care of by this weapon at the early and mid-game.

Though, by the time I passed level 500, it was much better to use my own attack skills than to rely on these effects, so I ended up leaving it in the inventory and forgetting about it.

Having said that, for the current Virgo, it should still be of much use.

The problem was… whether in this world, the flugels actually hated mana because they would die if they were exposed to too much of it. Back in the game, the background lore was such that flugels were unable to use mana because they would die if done so.

Nevertheless, the associated death was nothing more than a background setting.

This was why, back in the game, one was able to see flugel players casually show up at Helheim, which was filled with mana, without consideration and in contradiction with the background setting. This weapon also happened to be a popular weapon.

However, flugels of this world instinctively hated mana.

As such, if Virgo were to find this weapon repulsive, I had also prepared an alternative weapon for her.

In that case, although it might be a little overkill, I was thinking about handing her the spear I greatly favoured when I was around level 500.

However, it seemed all these worries were a wasted consideration as Virgo looked at me with such a glistering smile that even flowers might start blooming.

“Thank you very much Ruphas-sama! I’ll definitely come back as the winner!”

Great! It looked like a bullseye.

Behind me, Scorpius was literally burning the surrounding grass with the flames of jealousy, however, I did not have any intention to give her my hand-me-down.

I was scared that if I were to give her something, she might end up using it for some weird purpose.

Or more like, Scorpius, don’t be literally releasing flames! It’s a nuisance to the surroundings.

“Virgo. A sword alone is lacking firepower. From me, I would like to give this anti-golem cannon….”

“Stop it, Libra.”

Although I did not know if she was feeling competitive or really thought it was lacking firepower, I chopped the top of Libra’s head who was trying to give something like a rocket launcher to Virgo.

Hey you, that’s clearly an overkill item that was going to blow up the area.

Or more like, where did you even take out something like that?

“Please take care, okay, Virgo? If it gets dangerous, just quickly call for us, okay?! I’ll quickly fly to you with Mesarthim!”

“If it’s me, I can plunge all of the participants into utter despair and incapacitate them. If you require it, just say so.”

“Araa~, what about I try dispersing the whole place with poison? If I do that, you’ll be able to win easily, you know?”

“Then me will…..”

Although Aries and the others were saying some dangerous stuff, Karkinos alone could not come up with anything.

He thought about it quite seriously and eventually cupped his head.

“Karkinos, you run slowly so you won’t make it in time to help.”

“You can’t use either ranged attacks or support magic so…”

“Honestly, aren’t cha just an incompetent fool that’s limited to defence and countering?”

“You can’t do anything other than be a shield, right?”

“N o o o o o o o!!?”

Aries, Aigokeros, Scorpius and Dina did not even hold back at all and shattered Karkinos’s heart one after another.

Oi, stop it. Though what you’re saying is true, he’s the best amongst the 12 Stars when it comes to being the shield.

…. Aaah, but yeah, this guy… he really has no role outside of being a shield.