Thanks to the sweetly fried Oknodie becoming Oknodie Fried Rice, Ishtar was able to grasp the situation going on in Goblin World to some extent.
“Can you believe that professors who haven’t returned to the Academy yet, and might even come back stronger, are left on the other side? This is literally a ticking time bomb!”
“Ah, but it’s okay! The principal promised to protect at least one hero, no matter what!”
In other words, this means that the professors spending time in the other world at an incredible time dilation could come back and turn the entire world, except for the Goblin Warriors, into a mess.
It wasn’t just a level of fear; an immense terror swept over.
“Hey, Ishtar. Could you ease up on Oknodie a bit? I think it’s too much to ask for someone who’s already having a hard time to deal with this kind of inquiry.”
“…Jiang. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s totally your fault. I’m making a tremendous effort for world peace right now.”
“If world peace comes at the cost of frying a kid who’s just lost both parents overnight, then something’s definitely wrong.”
“…I can’t communicate with you.”
Instead of convincing the seething Jiang, Ishtar decided to abandon information gathering through Oknodie.
A network for vital information doesn’t have to be limited to one.
Isn’t there another force that might help the hero, apart from Gizel and the Dark Trading Company?
“I need to stop by somewhere before the Academy opens.”
“Oh really? Just tell me the destination. I’ll book the tickets for you.”
“Jeido.”
“…Jeido? That’s rare. Going to that creepy place again, huh?”
Saintess Yufi looked at Ishtar with suspicious eyes.
“There’s no one we know in Jeido.”
“…”
Perhaps due to the influence of the previous hero Ni’alatotep, Ishtar was a being that wasn’t welcomed by anyone.
She’s an enemy of the nobles.
A savior of the commoners.
The first revolutionary.
The rumors that Ni’alatotep, the one who gave birth to him, was the one behind it all spread among the Empire’s noble families, causing them to shy away from supporting him.
The religious order that serves the 24 Main Deities also remembered Ni’alatotep, who had a tremendous impact on the decline of faith, and refused to support the hero altogether.
If Saintess Yufi hadn’t been slapped by her saint during what became known as the Place of Beheading, and if Ni’alatotep hadn’t appeared in her dream to appoint her as his saint, being in a party with the saint would have been impossible.
In such an adversarial Empire towards the hero, what could one even do?
“I need to meet the reigning emperor, Masugaki.”
“…Are we close with him?”
“Not at all.”
Their relationship with Masugaki could be summed up in one word: estrangement.
He didn’t openly scorn them like the nobles, nor did he growl at the sight of the hero.
He simply wasn’t interested.
He neither liked nor disliked them.
Masugaki viewed the hero like an indifferent cow and the hero party accepted that distance.
Typically, heroes are difficult beings to approach.
It’d be a problem even to be chosen as a companion to the hero’s party.
Becoming a companion of the hero party, who lacked support from the Empire, nobles, and the church, is a surefire way to ruin one’s life.
If a reverse jackpot occurs, one might save a region, a country, or if exceptionally lucky, the world, but if it were that easy, they wouldn’t even need the term “reverse jackpot.”
“What do you want to meet with someone you’re not even close to?”
“I need help. The professors who are left behind have such overabundant power that they could even grow stronger than the frail professors we faced in the garden.”
“!!”
“If those professors come back, not only will we have to deal with them, but Oknodie won’t just stand by either. The incident that ruined Oknodie’s status happened because of the foundation; with both the director and the foundation gone, if we count who stands for the foundation, Oknodie is bound to be the top candidate.”
Therefore, stopping the return of the corrupted professors was Ishtar’s immediate goal.
Additionally, she was also concerned about what Oknodie said: that the one true god, Sofemia of the Sun, was getting tired of her weakness and was turning her gaze to another hero.
– Ishtar is really tired, you know. How can a person have so many thoughts?
– I… am tired?
– There you go again. So easily hurt and prone to despair. That’s why even the goddess doesn’t want to raise another cowardly hero but turns to Astarot and starts raising goblins instead.
Astarot.
His talent was outstanding, to the point that one could notice it at a glance.
There was a calm madness about him.
So, it could be accepted.
If the next hero is born, and if my adventure ends in failure, then surely that person will become the next hero.
Goblins were different.
What kind of goblin is rolling around somewhere that has attracted the attention of both Oknodie and the goddess?
It was a matter of grinding one’s teeth.
‘Moreover… that Oknodie and Titosso collaborated to create that child.’
Even if the child was born from a painting drawn on the canvas of souls, there was no way to calm down the envy in her heart.
On the other hand, she started to worry about the bleak fate that might befall that child in the future.
“That goblin might face a future where all its kin in the same world are killed. The professors are more than capable of such a thing.”
“Really?”
“If it ends up alone in a ruined world, living only on the principal’s help, would that even count as a proper life? Plus, if the professors returned, who have crushed a whole world, the danger would be far worse than this Foundation Workshop Battle.”
As Ishtar’s calm explanation sank in, everyone in the hero party began to understand her actions.
“They were strong, the professors.”
“Honestly, if it weren’t for Matheus’s powers, I wouldn’t have had the courage to face them.”
“But now, we should be pretty good, right?”
After all, the hero party had killed a lot of professors.
Ishtar wasn’t the only one to reach Level 4.
Saintess Yufi.
Archer Skola.
Sister Nise.
All three had significantly increased their levels and could now advance to the Upper Class in the Fourth Year.
Beastkin Xenia.
Tank Vanilla.
Even the two who were relatively lagging reached the brink of Level 3.
With enough time passed to engrave their specialized domains onto the world, they had reached the potential of soaring to Level 4.
Moreover, despite it being unintentional, a new companion had joined the hero party.
“If you have something to say to the rookie little sister, that’d be a great help.”
“…Aren’t you supposed to be getting enlightenment or something? How long are you planning to follow along?”
“Don’t say stupid things. This is a world that the Tyrant, that Abama of legend, protected with their life. The state of affairs needs to improve enough for me to rest in peace after I die.”
Pake Hiuqmag.
The former emperor who was defeated at the hands of the hero.
Thanks to the special domain of a certain professor and immense mana, even as a ghost, he was able to have a physical manifestation and inadvertently became a member of the hero party.
“Stop with the nonsensical talk and wear your robe properly. If you get found out by Masugaki or anyone else, we’re the ones who’ll have trouble.”
At the imperial palace where Empress Masugaki resides.
During the tumultuous times, the 19 noble houses that followed the late sovereign were split in half; some supported the revolutionary army and Empress Masugaki, while others reminisced about the late sovereign’s era or dreamed of expanding the noble faction.
Even those formidable contenders were swept away by the fierce events of the Underworld Gehenna, the great invasion of the Northern Demon Realm, and lost half of their numbers.
Now, their numbers dwindled into the Seven Great Houses of the Empire, so even the Ones Who Were Once Great were now called the Three Royal Knights.
However, the state of affairs in Jeido, which they reached after a long time, filled them more with astonishment than pity for the reality.
“Go, One-Horned Beast!”
“One-horn, one-horn!!”
“Hey, you’re the one I chose, Dream Seeker!”
“Dreeeeam…”
In the alleys of Jeido, children with sticks were manipulating small-sized monsters using dark mana, battling it out.
The losing child would frown and hand over the small change wagered, stepping lively into Jeido’s underground tunnels, determined to become a stronger dark monster tamer.
“Recruiting for the 11th Gate Expedition Team!”
“Looking for a master with poison specialization, preferably a Bronze-class one!”
“Hey, have you heard that there’s a rumor that a powerful poison monster capable of making holes in the Imperiale Magic Circle resides in the Poisonous Grounds of Doloranth? If you feel like having a score, come find the Dark Tracking Team.”
Adults were gathering regularly around the gates that stabilized the interdimensional rifts they concentrated on all over Jeido.
It became quite normal for adventurers gathered from the citizens of Jeido and various parts of the Empire to go exploring the demon realm, even utilizing the connection with the demon realm as a base for invasion.
It was a series of astonishing spectacles, even in Northern Grand Duchess Irene’s hometown, where she hadn’t witnessed such a phenomenon.
“Shouldn’t we intervene?!”
“…Forget it. It’s definitely faster to just ask Masugaki directly.”
Even Yufi, the saint who beheaded and collected the heads of villains, was taken aback, but Ishtar had gained enough composure through her various experiences via Oknodie.
Instead of drawing an undue amount of attention in the square and receiving unnecessary criticism, she cast an awareness-reducing spell and headed straight to the palace where the emperor resides.
“Oh my, who do we have here? Isn’t that the esteemed professor slayer, Ishtar, who made tremendous contributions during the Foundation Workshop Battle?”
“…Who are you?”
“Oh, I’ve made a blunder. I am Heinrich, the commander of the Chimera Legion, granted this position with the help of Oknodie. Currently, I’m stationed with the Capital Defense Corps to prevent the dark monsters from invading the capital.”
“Chimeras… those monsters that were hiding at the military boundary between the Southern Sacred City-State Federation and the Empire, which Oknodie exposed while planning to invade the Empire?!”
“Haha, it’s an honor that you remember.”
Ishtar, who had heard countless tales about the pitiful Glowing Dinosaurs connected deeply with the corruption of a certain god, could not help but recognize that name.
Before Sister Nise’s cheeks inflated with stress, Ishtar quickly changed the topic.
“Can I see Empress Masugaki? I desperately need help.”
“Normally, it would take a minimum of three days to have an audience according to the procedures, but if it’s a matter urgent enough for you to seek the hero, time is of the essence. I’ll guide you.”
The atmosphere inside the palace was decidedly unsettling.
The entirety of Jeido seemed to have turned into a miniature demon realm absurdly flipped upside down, and the palace itself felt like a lair of the Demon King.
Just how much dark mana was concentrated here that the Holy Sword was constantly buzzing, begging to be drawn?
“Isn’t there more dark mana here than in Oknodie…? It’s so immense it reminds me of that girl-mode Oknodie.”
“…Right? Dark mana negatively impacts people’s personalities, so I hope it doesn’t change too drastically.”
Finally, they entered the palace audience room.
Ishtar sensed numerous strong presences.
The one known as the Master of the Red Flame School, part of the New Empire’s Seven Great Houses, Akno.
The former martial arts master from the Empire’s Top Ten Warriors, Iron-Willed Vargas.
The interior minister Pukitsunamono, known for promoting the Empire’s reform policies.
The former Ones Who Were Once Great and now part of the Three Royal Knights:
Alexander, Hiscliff, and Dmitri.
Most of them had not accepted dark mana at all; however, the small girl sitting on the massive throne had an overwhelming amount of dark mana that made it hard to look up at her.
“Long time no see, Masugaki.”
“Call me your Majo, my Emperor♡”
Masugaki teased Ishtar with the same infuriating expression and tone as before.
Many things had changed, but her unchanging personality somehow evoked a sense of affection that Ishtar hadn’t felt during their time together at the Academy.
“Hmph. You’re still the same, huh?”
“Hehe~ the hero has changed somewhat. How boring.”
“It’s growth.”
“So, what’s the matter?”
“There’s a threat to Oknodie in Goblin World. I’d like to request the formation of an expedition team and support.”
Masugaki jumped up from her throne in excitement.
“I’m in! I haven’t been to a fun place in ages! I will go. I MUST go!”
The powerful ones guarding the audience room of the palace all wore troubled expressions, casting resentful glances at Ishtar.
