“Can’t you stop talking to me outside?”
The first thing I said as soon as I returned to my room was that. When I was talking to someone else outside, having her voice ring inside my head was exhausting.
[Why should I?]
“You want to see me annoyed, don’t you?”
[Of course?]
Damned evil god bastard.
“As if anyone would mistake you for anything but an evil god.”
[I told you, did I not? All mothers lie.]
“I’d have to have had a mother to know.”
[Ah. Right.]
What do you mean, right?
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
[No? That one was not on purpose.]
So it had been instinctive verbal abuse.
[There is no particular problem, is there? After all, the great Kalla, Mother of All Things, is here.]
“Then why are you the Mother of All Things?”
Wasn’t a title like that normally something the Chief God would have? Why did a mere evil god have that title?
[Because I made the blood of all life?]
“Ah?”
She did not merely handle blood, but made blood itself?
[You could say I made all things!]
“Plants don’t have blood.”
[......]
Got you, bastard.
“Where do you think you’re selling that nonsense, you evil god?”
[I do not know! Plants were made by Muon!]
“That Evil God of Existence?”
Among the three ancient evil gods, he was the one with the most believers, relatively speaking.
“Tsk. We should have wiped out all of that bastard’s believers too.”
[He is the Father of All Things.]
“Did you two get married?”
[Marriage? What does that mean?]
Huh? The one calling herself the Mother of All Things did not know what marriage was?
“......Do you know how life is born?”
[Muon and I each used our power to......]
“Enough. Stop.”
Apparently, the one calling herself the Mother of All Things thought children were born because storks brought them.
“What kind of Mother of All Things are you......?”
If this stupid a mother was my mother, I would simply run away from home.
[Why?! In the past, I was called the Mother of All Things!]
“What kind of insane mother massacres her own children?”
[What is the problem?]
......Her way of thinking was rotten.
[You can simply make life again.]
“......Enough.”
Most evil gods were insane in one way or another. Naturally, the bastard before me was no exception.
It was the same reason a god with pleasant modifiers such as wisdom and abundance was called an evil god.
Those who were hard to view as evil gods by name alone had methods that were twisted.
Gods were beings like that. They disregarded life and cared only for themselves.
“Honestly.”
Those bastards called gods were all the same. Each one had a screw loose.
‘Is Lady Aria like that too?’
The one god who, at least, was not called an evil god. The only true god recognized by people. The God of Emotion, Aria.
“Hmm......”
I did not know. Even if she had some intention behind it, I felt it would honestly be fine.
‘At least she doesn’t harm people.’
That was enough.
***
“I did get it.”
For once, Brother Junknus spoke while watching my reaction.
“If you got it, you got it. Why are you making me nervous?”
“Ahem!”
Brother Junknus placed a potion on the table.
“You got it just fine, didn’t you?”
Naturally, I picked up the potion. The sloshing potion, at a glance......
“......”
I looked at the potion once, then looked at Junknus.
“Ahem......”
Once more. I looked at the potion, then at Brother. I looked at the potion, then at Brother. Finally, I looked at the potion one more time and then looked at “Mr. Junknus.”
“What is wrong with this thing’s condition?”
I could tell just by looking. This was cheap.
“What incompetent bastard made this?”
The potion’s duration was at best around ten seconds.
“This crap is an invisibility potion?”
It was only enough to disappear for a flash. This was no more than a magic trick!
“......Why did you buy this garbage?”
“This was the only potion in stock.”
They sold off something this low quality?
“Incitement.”
“Ah, fuck. Don’t tell me.”
“That is right. The people selling it were all out of their minds, praising it as the finest potion.”
“And the merchants who thought this was the finest only sold this sort?”
At my question, Junknus nodded as though to say that was correct.
“Haa......”
Ten seconds. Could I avoid the checkpoint and cross through in only ten seconds?
‘Impossible.’
If I walked quickly, I would make noise. Then, naturally, I would get caught.
‘I have to move slowly enough to make as little sound as possible.’
......Even at the shortest, it felt like it would take at least one minute.
Should I just expect to get caught, use divine power, drink it, and sprint straight through?
‘Mm. Sir Slan would mobilize immediately.’
If Sir Slan mobilized, not Grandpa Harkan, it meant one thing.
‘I will kill you.’
Of course, he would not actually kill me. But the moment I was caught, my comfortable life until now would be gone forever.
Or I would get beaten half to death.
“By any chance, were there no other items at all in the black market?”
“There may have been on the VIP side, but there were none in the general area.”
“Is there a way to get into the VIP side?”
“Give up.”
He was firm.
“Why?”
I can do it! If it’s me!
“You cannot. So abandon the idea that you can.”
“Tsk.”
To be honest, if Brother Junknus said so, then that was how it was.
‘His eye is no joke.’
Since he was a dwarf, I could admit that he was better than anyone in the Holy Kingdom when it came to judging estimates.
‘Though that is under the assumption that there are no other dwarves in the Holy Kingdom.’
There might be half-dwarf gnomes, but pure-blood dwarves? They were hard to find.
“So, about that...... I will grant you one more request.”
“Hmm?”
“I received information that valuable, so getting you only this much goes against my conscience. This much would make me unable to face Lady Aria.”
Haven’t you already lost the right to face her after going in and out of the black market as often as eating meals?
“Well, understood.”
Those words rose all the way to my throat, but thanks to my superhuman mental strength, I did not spit them out.
In any case, my goal right now was to escape the capital.
“Please take me out through the northern gate.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“No, I don’t mean just take me out normally.”
I pointed at the pile of failed works stacked over there.
“I’ll stay among those, so let’s take a wagon and go dump the failed works.”
“Those are all weapons. If you stay among those, you will be stabbed to death.”
Junknus’s words were reasonable. They were not even ordinary weapons, but weapons refined by infusing divine power.
“I’ll wear armor and endure it.”
“Then you will be crushed to death.”
Ah, damn it.
“Should I just give you plenty of money instead?”
Money? I did not need it. I could just break the savings account I had saved, and once I got out, I could find the treasures this evil god had hidden.
[Then, shall I help?]
The evil god’s voice whispered in my ear.
‘You have a way?’
[I do. The easiest and most certain way.]
Oh?
[You can simply kill all the guards in an instant.]
“......”
It was a fast method. I had been strong to begin with, and no matter how unwilling I had been, it was true that I had received the power of an evil god.
“Are you insane?”
How absurd. Kill them? The bastard who called herself the Mother of All Things was trying to kill her children so easily?
“What was that?”
Junknus flinched, thinking I was suddenly speaking to him.
“Hmph...... This bastard does not even know how to respect his elders.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I wasn’t talking to you, Brother......”
“Hey. There is no one here but you and me!”
No, there is one more here!
“No, seriously, I wasn’t talking to you, Brother.”
“Then who were you talking to?”
The evil god beside me.
“That...... Grandpa Harkan?”
“......”
“With the intention of letting him hear me curse him even from far away?”
“Was Sir Harkan not like a father to you?”
No, that was true. But I had not actually meant to say that either.
[What a cruel son my apostle is.]
This is because of you!
[Ah, right. Now that I think about it, you could use my Authority.]
She would probably spout nonsense again about using Authority to kill people or something.
[Hmm...... Blood Flame itself would still be hard for my apostle to handle, so.]
The bastard said only that much, then waved her hands a few times.
[Done. Try shedding blood once.]
So now she was telling me to use an Authority of Blood in front of Brother Junknus, a resident of the Holy Kingdom?
Did she not know how the believer from the Claw Kingdom had been beaten down?
“Then, how about simply giving up?”
“Considering what I gave you, Brother, giving up here is a little much.”
“Ugh...... When you say it like that, it pricks my conscience.”
“And ‘give up’ is a phrase you only use when counting cabbage heads, they say.”
“Cabbages do not grow in the Holy Kingdom.”
Was that the important part?
[Try it, I said.]
Ah, damn it. Why would I do it when I did not even know what kind of technique it was?
I subtly raised my middle finger at the spirit floating before me.
[Why do you not listen? I said try it!]
No thanks. I do not need help from the likes of you.
[Argh......! I swear by the River Styx! This time, it is a method that will not harm anyone else! I am telling you, there is a protective barrier miracle you can use by shedding just a little blood!]
......
“Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s proceed with what I mentioned.”
“......Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
An oath by the River Styx had to be trusted.
“I can do it, but...... will you be all right? It will be incredibly dangerous.”
Either way, it would be less dangerous than meeting the Saintess in this state.
“Let’s give it a shot.”
***
“So how do I use it? That Authority.”
Having already returned to my lodging, I asked the bastard about it.
[My apostle is very impatient, is he not? To ask about that as soon as he returns.]
“The operation is tomorrow. Of course I’m in a hurry.”
Tomorrow morning, I would hide among the failed weapons Brother Junknus had made.
And when they checked the weapons along the way, I would drink the potion.
‘There is no way checking the weapons will take more than ten seconds.’
At most, five seconds should be enough.
“So how do I use it?”
[Try shedding blood.]
The bastard’s words did not particularly sit well with me, but there was no helping it.
“Hmm......”
There was nothing useful.
[Shall I make the wound for you?]
“Get lost.”
If that evil god bastard tried to make a slight cut, there was a high chance she would put an air hole through my body.
‘How could I trust that bitch?’
The thing that kept saying the easiest path was to kill people.
If I trusted her, I would be a pushover.
“Ah.”
Only then did I see the mace I had shoved into one corner of the room.
“I’ll use this.”
The head of the mace had several sharp, ominous-looking spikes, so there was nothing better.
SLICE—
Holding the shaft, I lightly cut my index finger.
“There.”
Blood began welling up in round beads.
[Now, imagine wrapping that blood around your body.]
As the bastard said, I circulated it like divine power and spread the blood over every part of my body.
[Done. It should block most attacks.]
“Really?”
Should I test it once?
[How are you going to test......]
I lifted the mace I was holding and struck my leg with it.
THOOM—!
Surprisingly, the mace failed to turn my leg into mush and was pushed back.
“The performance is certain.”
[No! What are you doing?!]
Why was she making such a fuss?
[If something goes wrong, it will interfere with my contract!]
“Nothing went wrong, did it?”
At my words, the bastard seemed to have nothing to say and merely moved her lips.
[......My apostle was a lunatic who drives a mace into his own leg......]
Why was she acting like that when I was not hurt?
“Even if I get hurt, I can just go to Miss Halla.”
There was even someone who could reattach severed limbs as long as not too much time had passed, so why was she acting like that?