Author: SS Samurai	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: rm31439	English Source: Re:Library

“Ha-ha, the very worst possibility we predicted,” Kanata muttered.

Even I understood. The fact that Mr. Mitsuo, who was likely the Guide, already had the vajra, in which the evil god had been sealed, in his possession, was incredibly bad. No, “bad” wasn’t enough to describe the gravity of our situation. With how even his memories had changed, there was only one possibility…

“Mr. Mitsuo, do you know what this vajra is?”
“That should be obvious, it’s the tool of the Guide.”
“So, you do know…”

He knew that much. If this was really him, then he shouldn’t have had this knowledge.

“Hey, Kanata…” Sakura started. “Could it be that he’s…”
“It’s probably what you’re thinking. I had several plans in mind, but at this point it’s already too late. Everyone, get ready to flee at a moment’s notice.”

There was an incredible tension in the air. Everyone understood at this point. The clown in front of us wasn’t Mr. Mitsuo, but a fiendish being.

“What, there’s no need to be this vigilant.”
“We obviously are,” Shuu boldly replied. “After all… you’re the evil god, aren’t ya?”
“As you say, Shuu. Well, you’ve all realized it at this point,” the man in the black hood, still grinning and looking like Mr. Mitsuo, replied patiently. “Since you’re smart. Ha-ha-ha, hm~.”

He cracked his neck with a pop. As Shuu stepped in front to protect us, it looked like Kanata was pondering things. Was there anything I could do?

“In any case, I’m shocked. I never thought you all would appear in front of me, equipped with knowledge about Anazumu.”
“Well, we’re the ones who should be shocked. To think there was an evil god hidden in our neighborhood.”

I mean, who would ever assume that such a weapon of mass destruction was sealed close to their house? Sure, there were strange stories about it, but anyone would’ve assumed that it was just an ordinary Jizou statue. And this was the result.

“Leaving aside the future, fate is out of the gods’ hands, too. That so many coincidences aligned surprises even me. No matter how you look at it, for that guy to… No, never mind. You’ve already gathered a great deal of information, so you won’t need my explanation, will you?”

I was wondering who he was talking about, but he told us that we didn’t need any further explanations. I couldn’t help thinking that our life was quite unusual.

The evil god held the vajra tightly and put his other hand on his chest. Then he stopped grinning. Even though he still looked like a clown, his atmosphere changed to a solemn one.

“So, I will skip the explanation about how evil gods work. I am Shiva, the God of Destruction. Since there is already a god on Earth with this name, you might also call me Asura, if you want¹.”

Shiva, the God of Destruction. The last of the three evil gods. Somehow, he seemed more like you could talk things out with him compared to the other evil gods so far. He didn’t display any hostility to begin with.

“You might want to introduce yourselves, but I already know all of you other than this wolfkin girl. In any case, that was quite the close call.”
“What do you…?”
“Oh, I’m talking about back when she came to pray to this statue together with Shuu.”

Rir pointed at herself while tilting her head in confusion. By “back then”, he probably meant the time she had tried to pray to the statue and started to act strangely.

“I sensed Anazumu’s magic power, so I thought of taking her over as a temporary host until the Guide arrived, but… Shuu was close and called out to her frantically, so I stopped.”
“U-Uhm…”
“Incidentally, if I had taken her over like this, she’d only have lived for another three days, and it further would have destroyed her mind.”
“Th-Thank you…?”

What was going on? He really seemed quite reasonable compared to the evil gods we had met so far. Rather, he’d been treating us awfully friendly.

“If I were to possess someone other than the Guide or people from the bloodline who designate them, they would quickly fall apart. Though the Hero, Sage, and the bloodlines connected to them would work, too… That reminds me, five of you were sent to Anazumu. I assume at least one of you is a Sage, right? Who is it? Don’t be shy and raise your hand.”

Shuu, Kanata, and Sakura looked at each other. As a result of that short exchange, they apparently decided to tell him without making a fuss. All three of them raised their hands slightly.

“Oh!? Shuu, Kanata, and Sakura are Sages? Should I call this an abundant harvest?”

He seemed genuinely surprised, without any lies or pretenses. It sounded like, even for an evil god, the emergence of three Sages at once was a rare occasion.

“Somehow, this whole situation feels wrong,” Kanata spoke up. “I’d like to ask something.”

He had been pondering for a while, so it would be best to let him speak.

“…Uhm, you know about us, don’t you, Shiva?”
“Hm? Yes, I know a lot about you! I’ve known Ayumu and Mika since they were little. I remember them bringing Shuu along when they enrolled in pre-school. As for you, Kanata and Sakura, I learned about you when you were just a few weeks old.”
“How can you know that much about us?”

The evil god’s reply to that question was simple.

“Why, I’ve seen you.”

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