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“Alright. Let’s go catch him.”

“Are we really going after him?”

“Of course.”

After a brief moment of contemplation, I ultimately decided to go after the Demon God. There’s no need to stupidly wait for him to ambush me when I already know everything. I’ll strike first and make him exclaim, “Oh no!”

“Are we leaving right now?”

“No, not exactly. There’s some preparation to do.”

Even if we’re going, preparation is a must. You can’t just charge into enemy territory empty-handed.

“First, the bed.”

“······?”

I said this while simultaneously storing the bed from the lodging into my Inventory. I’ll just return it later when I come back.

“And a pot, some meat, and, um…”

“Wait a minute!”

“What?”

“Why do you need those things when we’re going to the Demon Realm?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Riche, don’t you eat? Don’t you sleep?”

Are you some kind of Immortal?

“Why would we need that when we’re fighting a Demon God?”

“Do you think the Demon God will come out to greet us?”

Who said there would be a Demon God waiting right in front when we get to the Demon Realm? Aside from the fact that the Demon Realm exists in this world, there’s been no mention of what it’s like.

In other words, I have no idea what the Demon Realm looks like or what’s inside. It’s a place where I might be stuck for several days, so I definitely need to prepare food and bedding. What, am I supposed to sleep on the bare ground and get eaten by a Demon?

I just told Riche exactly that. It’s unbelievable that I have to explain something so basic.

“Now that you mention it, it does make sense… but it feels like we’re going on a picnic or something.”

“By the way, Luke, will we even have time to eat and sleep when we get there?”

“If we don’t have time, we’ll make time. There’s nothing tougher than fighting while starving and sleep-deprived.”

You might not need sleep sometimes,

Even if we’re superhumans, we’re not transcendent beings. So even if we could go without eating and sleeping for a few nights, we still need to eat.

Anyway, I just packed my bedding, and I have all the cooking tools and fire-starting tools in my Inventory, so I’m halfway prepared.

“So, don’t you need to prepare anything related to fighting?”

“No, I do. But to prepare that, we need the help of a key figure from the Demon God’s Temple.”

“The key figure of the Demon God’s Temple…?”

The main character of this world, destined to oppose the Demon God. The walking divine vending machine that can use the Light Attribute, one of only two in this world.

That’s right. For the first preparation, I needed the help of the Toilet.

*

“Here you go.”

“Wow! Thank you, big sister!”

A little boy took a small bowl filled with meaty stew.

“Be careful and don’t run!”

Angela, watching from behind, smiled. A kind middle-aged woman approached Angela.

“Angela, thank you as always. I can’t tell you how happy the kids are because of you.”

“You’re welcome. I just shared what I had.”

“You know there are so many people who can’t do that?”

The place she was in was an orphanage on the outskirts of the Empire. The Empire was the largest, most powerful, and wealthiest country for humanity, but not all of its citizens were well-off.

Some children struggled to eat because their parents were sick, while others had lost their children to monsters and had lost their will to live.

Being raised as a commoner, Angela understood those situations and sympathized with them, often bringing food to the orphanage with her meager funds.

“I hope there comes a day when everyone can have their fill.”

Angela briefly watched the children eat their food happily before standing up to tidy up.

“Well then, I’ll go help somewhere else.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.”

Angela, responding with a small smile, opened the door and left the orphanage.

“Goodbye?”

“······!”

What appeared was a man with black hair and red eyes, waving his hand in greeting.

Behind him were the silver-haired little girl I saw last time and a wolf Beastman woman who was being abused by him, along with a woman I had never seen before.

“Why so silent? If someone greets you, you should respond.”

“···What do you want?”

Angela’s tone was as cold as anyone else’s could possibly be.

“Nothing much. I just need your help.”

Luke pulled out a Magical Power Bomb he had previously stored in his Inventory. Unsurprisingly, the inside was empty.

“···I’m sorry, but I won’t cooperate with you.”

Angela viewed Luke as evil. She firmly believed that there was goodness in every human being, but Luke was the one exception.

A Demon disguised as a human… that was how Angela perceived Luke. So, she had absolutely no intention of cooperating with him.

“What? Your opinion doesn’t matter.”

“···What do you mean? Even if you use violence against me like before, I…”

“If you don’t cooperate, I’ll kill all the kids in this orphanage.”

“······!”

Angela could only be shocked. The line that would send shivers down anyone’s spine felt as if it would make her heart drop when spoken by the man right in front of her.

The man she recognized as someone far from normal. This was the recently labeled S-Rank Adventurer known as the Madman. That’s who stood before Angela.

While others might think it was just a threat, this man would undoubtedly really do it without blinking.

No, he wouldn’t just kill them casually; he wouldn’t hesitate to torture them by cutting or breaking their arms and legs.

How could anyone say something like that? I stopped pondering that long ago. The belief that everyone could be rehabilitated and understood had changed long ago because of him.

“So, just nicely put your Light Magic into this Magical Power Bomb.”

“···Why me?”

“What?”

“I believe Arthur can also use the same Light Attribute. Why did you come to me, who you don’t even know where she is?”

“Ah, actually, we were trying to find the Toilet.”

Who would want to spend their time searching for someone whose whereabouts they didn’t even know?

Of course, the Academy was closer to the lodging, and capturing the Demon God was originally her job, so we went looking for her first. But then we checked the Academy and she wasn’t there.

-Why are you here?

-To find the Toilet.

-I’m sorry, but Arthur isn’t here at the Academy right now.

-Where else would she go other than the Academy?

-···We don’t know either. Recently, Arthur has been acting strange. She disappears somewhere every day and comes back late in the evening.

Luke was intending to leech off the Toilet’s magical powers, but Tia’s response upon his return was that Arthur was not at the Academy.

That wasn’t all; they also mentioned that Arthur disappeared somewhere every day. Was she possibly looking for an opportunity? While that made me wonder, it also seemed odd.

‘Could it be that someone who sang a song about affinity is going off alone, leaving the heroine behind?’

Until now, regardless of what had happened, she had always taken Tia and Stella with her, so if she was wandering alone without any special reason, it clearly indicated something.

‘But that’s none of my concern.’

From Luke’s perspective, it didn’t matter where Arthur went or what she was doing. He just needed her to stay out of his way and handle the mess he was about to create.

“Anyway, this will be a good offer for you too, right?”

“···What do you mean?”

“We’re going to kill the Demon God. The Demon God’s death means that there won’t be any more Demons being born, which saves the victims that would occur in the future.”

Demons… Angela, who thought that there might be a chance for a Demon to repent, despised Demons. They were creatures that looked down on all life and thrived on the suffering and screams of others.

It didn’t matter if they were born good or evil; unlike humans, who inherently possess good and evil, they knew no such concept.

If we’re going to defeat those kinds of beings, then this time, cooperating with them shouldn’t be a problem.

“I understand. I’ll help.”

“Good. Wouldn’t it have been nice if you said that from the beginning?”

“···Anyway, what exactly should I help with?”

“Fill the Magical Power Bomb in front of you with your magical power.”

Angela looked at the pile of Magical Power Bombs laid out before her. It looked like quite a lot, but this much should be manageable.

“Is this all I need to do?”

“No.”

“······?”

“There’s more.”

Immediately after, Magical Power Bombs poured out from Luke’s Inventory like a waterfall.

*

With the Magical Power Bombs filled with Light Attribute safely stored in my Inventory, we headed straight for the underground waterway.

The entrances to the underground waterways were scattered throughout the Empire, so it wasn’t hard to find one.

Locating where those guys were hiding in the vast underground waterways of the Empire was also simple.

The spot was under the Imperial Palace. Only there could we prepare the portal to assassinate the Emperor directly. The news of the King’s death would be enough to lower morale in a war, so the portal was being prepared beneath the Imperial Palace.

“I can’t believe there’s something like that right under the palace… What kind of country is this Empire?”

“Just a country, I guess.”

What can you do? The Emperor isn’t a sage, so how could he know every little thing? No one can foresee everything happening in the world and respond quickly to each incident.

Honestly, it’s not that surprising. If I were to draw a parallel to my previous life, it would be like a nuclear power plant. If it blows up, it’s a disaster, but as long as it’s managed well, it’s fine.

In fact, doesn’t North Korea have nuclear weapons? Just imagine if the weapons they made blew up in their own country. It’s horrifying just to think about, but they still create them knowing that.

“Alright, we’re almost there, so let’s get ready.”

Turning left and rounding the corner, I saw countless Demons gathered at a dead end, with a magic circle installed on the floor.

Why are they all gathered already? It’s not time to activate the portal yet?

“You’ve come.”

As I got lost in thought while gazing at the scene in front of me, a horned Demon greeted us, representing the crowd.

‘Well, what does it matter?’

This isn’t just a minor change from the original story; I’m here to destroy the original narrative. Since I’m not trying to hinder them but help, they have no reason to refuse.

“Hey, I’ll help you open the portal.”

“Huh… Hahaha…!”

Suddenly, the Demon burst out laughing. Is this guy also bipolar like the one I met last time?

“Unfortunately, we already have an ally.”

“An ally?”

“Yes. So all you can do now is die.”

That’s odd. There shouldn’t be any ally…

“Hey, it’s your turn.”

He called out to someone from the shadows in a manner that made it sound like he was summoning someone.

“I knew you’d show up.”

As he stepped into the light, he revealed himself, looking extraordinary with bright red hair. Well, there wasn’t really much to be surprised about; his voice had already given him away.

It was the Toilet, who hadn’t been seen recently with Tia and Stella, now blocking our path.

 

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