Chapter 193

Prologue
This was a corner of Alicetia's mental world. The place where Iris's soul resided.

The world that once existed there was gone. The scenery had vanished, and only the mansion remained. No, even that had begun to collapse. Iris’s soul had been gradually absorbed into Alicetia.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“I was already finished. This is how it was meant to be.”

Iris had already faded to the point that, like Teth, even her own form was barely perceptible.

“I believe the next me… that girl won’t make the same mistake I did. If I could… if I could, I would have liked to see Takuto one more time.”

The girl who had once hated everything, and lost her own future to that hatred, was disappearing. Then the world melted away and vanished. All that remained was a single door and a dog.

Momoniku III. A miraculous being created by reconstructing the fragments of Iris’s soul left over when she reincarnated on her own. Proof that a person had interfered with a soul while still being human.

And the door was proof that Iris had sealed away her hatred. Iris had been unable to suppress that hatred. Even after realizing it was a hellfire that would burn her to ashes, she could not resist it.

So Iris did not pass it on to Alicetia. If she had, Alicetia would have become Iris’s shadow. A pitiful clown chasing the same illusion forever. Something Iris herself couldn’t control would never be manageable by a newborn Alicetia.

“I had high hopes for you. But… I haven’t told you this, have I? You had the potential to become an evil god. That’s why I chose you. Because you had the potential to defeat an evil god.”

There had once been a person who sought the same thing Iris did. He set off on an eternal journey, but in the end, unable to endure the loneliness, he broke. That was the beginning of the evil god.

And something of the same nature remained behind that door. A part of Iris, who saw through Teth’s lies and could not give up her longing for family, had become something even Iris never anticipated.

Both Momoniku III and Iris only recognized the door as one bound by chains. But through Teth’s eyes, it was already corroded, in a dangerously fragile state that could be forced open at any time.

Inside was the Iris who refused to give up. The dark Iris, cast aside as unnecessary by the other half of herself who she should have been, sealed away in a pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen. That was her hatred. And her memories.

By nature, it should have been powerless. A mere mass of memories held no strength. But Iris was a girl who once held the potential to become a god. As a result, the dark Iris, reduced to nothing but memory, absorbed a similarly sealed, ominous power and made it her own.

That power was far too wild for any human to handle. But the dark Iris, composed only of memories, completely dominated even that with her hatred.

A scratching sound echoed as the door was scraped. Momoniku III was created from Iris’s soul. It could not detect the presence of that being. Momoniku III was a defensive system designed to protect Alicetia from external threats. It couldn’t identify such a critical internal bug. Even if it could, being made from the remnants of a soul, Momoniku III was extremely fragile in the world of souls. It wouldn’t be able to deal with it.

“If I remember right, your country has a saying: fight poison with poison, doesn’t it?

Your life up until now has been peaceful, hasn’t it? But from now on, it’ll be different. I can see everything. Countless desires will come after you and try to take away what’s dear to you.

You’ll have to choose, Alicetia.”

With those words, Teth quietly disappeared. The seeds had already been sown. If this wasn’t enough, then there was nothing left to hope for in this world.

At that time, Takuto had entered Arland.

There was a checkpoint, but when Takuto showed the knight his wanted poster, the knight burst out laughing on the spot and praised Takuto for killing that shitty priest.

"That's one less blight on the world. Well done. We welcome you and can even offer you protection. There's no way we'd hand over someone who killed a priest. You did nothing wrong!"

To Arland, priests of the Holy Church were considered heretics, to the point that killing one wasn't even considered a crime.

In fact, in Arland, human supremacists weren't granted any rights whatsoever.

That's why the Arland knights were quite kind to Takuto. They immediately sent a message to the royal castle, and the official in charge laughed just as hard—this was wonderful news.

Takuto and the others were so welcomed that they became a bit suspicious.

"Shall we send a carriage to the capital for you?"

"No, I'd like to look around a bit, so is it okay if we go on foot?"

"Of course. It's not like we have anything to hide. In fact, you're lucky. We're in a period of booming prosperity, so you can eat delicious food wherever you go."

Arland's economy was booming thanks to the Alicetia Parade. As a result, food was abundant. When people have money, they want to eat good food.

Takuto received a pass and a letter of recommendation to enter the royal castle from the highest-ranking knight at the checkpoint. He was even given information on local specialties, delicious diners, and good inns in the towns and villages on the way to the capital.

Takuto and the others aimed for the royal capital while finally relaxing at an inn for the first time in a while. The journey, free of any pursuers, gave them peace of mind. Takuto, having his first drink in a tavern, even dropped his wanted poster and was mistaken for a drunkard, but people praised him and bought him drinks instead. It showed just how hated the Holy Church was.

"This country's really something. I mean, those guys *are* technically still human..."

Even Kazuhito was amazed at how universally the Holy Church was despised.

"In this country, believers of the Holy Church aren't considered human... or rather, the central government messed up so badly it's no wonder."

Persecutions, enslavement, and all sorts of abuses from the central authorities, egged on by the Holy Church. It’s no wonder they’re hated.

"Munch munch munch munch"

"She just keeps eating, huh?"

Rien was devouring sweets she’d bought up in the first town they stayed in within Arland. As a fairy, which was considered close to spirits, she was rare and respected even in Arland. The locals gave her sweets as if offering them in reverence. Thanks to this, one of Takuto’s abilities—his storage—was now half-filled with sweets.

"Well, this country's amazing in other ways, too."

"I’ve never seen anyone German suplex an orc before."

Indeed, Arland was a country of warriors.

While walking down the highway, they saw a traveling merchant carrying a load larger than himself being attacked by an orc. As Takuto and the others rushed to help, the merchant dropped his luggage, delivered a flying knee to the orc, then circled behind it while it was staggered and took it down with a German suplex.

Orcs weigh over 200 kilos. Some individuals even exceed 300. And yet this merchant not only pulled off a German suplex, but began butchering the orc on the spot to make grilled meat.

In another case, a village child was seen riding on a golem’s head, chasing down and exterminating a group of goblins. That golem, for some reason, looked like a Moai statue.

"Wait, was Easter Island originally from this country?"

"Clearly an otherworlder."

For some reason, children in this country could casually summon golems. Upon inquiry, they learned that golems could be made using a magic tool called an operator’s bracelet. And if you didn’t consciously imagine a shape, the golem defaulted to a Moai statue.

What was even more surprising was the strength of the monsters. When a goblin spun like a bullet and tried to stab Takuto with a knife, even he panicked. Also, the magic cores were much larger than those from normal goblins. Yet these monsters were treated as allowance-level threats for children.

"But you know, the higher-ups in this country..."

"“Absolutely have to be otherworlders. And definitely the kind who don’t hold back!”"

Kazuhito’s mutter was answered in perfect unison by Mai and Takuto.

As they neared the royal capital, the highway was paved with asphalt. There were even railway tracks laid out, leaving the otherworlders confused.

Indeed, the technological level of this country alone was vastly out of step with the rest of the world. The same applied to magic tools. Even children had them as a matter of course.

From all this, Takuto and the others became convinced that Arland’s government had otherworlder engineers.

"Tech cheats are no joke."

"Judging by this, they’re probably using petroleum too."

With a mix of nostalgia and bewilderment, Takuto and the others continued walking. At this point, it was practically sightseeing.

And as they neared the capital, they were further baffled. A city wall could be seen in the distance—but it was already being dismantled. The new capital being built in its place was so vast that, once completed, it would surely be the largest on the continent.

The current largest city in this world was the Imperial Capital of the Empire. But the scale of land development here made even that look insignificant.

It was just too different. This place had long since abandoned the conventional logic of the world they knew.

"They've got excavators and bulldozers too..."

The familiar sight of construction equipment being put to full use was enough to leave them speechless.

Then a formation of several hundred Moai-like statues made of earth marched past Takuto and his group.

The new capital’s walls were low—only about three meters. But they were thick. The inside was filled with earth, and the surface coated with concrete. The necessary soil and sand moved on their own in the form of Moai statues. Too convenient.

"Welcome to Arland."

As they went through the entry procedures to the capital, they were greeted by a young knight, who had likely already received word of their arrival.

And so, Takuto and his group finally arrived at the royal capital of Arland.

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