For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.-Chapter 347: Scales (3)

What could have happened while I was asleep? The answer was right in front of me.

Rustle. Rustle.

As I turned the pages, one by one, any remaining sleepiness vanished, and my eyes widened involuntarily.

There was so much that I only skimmed through the important parts, which meant it didn’t take long to read it all.

Of course, I didn’t just skim through. I had an excellent memory trait and the concentration typical of a high mage.

I understood everything I needed to know. And that was why it was even more shocking.

“Unbelievable. All this happened in just two days?”

“No. You woke up after two days, but we’ve been free from the Grotesque Proliferation’s forces for a bit longer, haven’t we?”

“…Right.”

Even if Nidhogg was fast, it would take several days to get from the border to the capital, Yggdrasil.

These incidents must have happened during that time. Perhaps Milone only informed me now because she received these reports while I was asleep?

At least when we were making plans with the Circulating Life, she showed no sign of knowing.

“Elisha, didn’t you say all civilians were evacuated?”

“We tried to. Yes. We tried to, but…”

“There shouldn’t have been a lack of time, right? Were there this many people who refused to abandon their village?”

It was surprisingly common. There were always elders who would rather die with their village than flee in times of danger.

And elves, with their long lives, would have an attachment to their homeland far greater than other races.

It was said that before the Great War, elves were extremely insular and hostile to outsiders.

But apparently, that wasn’t the case here. Elisha shook her head again and continued.

“No way. The evacuation order was proclaimed in the name of the Alfheim Royal family. Though it came from Chancellor Milone’s mouth, the intention was that of the Circulating Life. No one dared to defy it.”

“Then what is this…?”

The documents I had just read detailed numerous bad endings.

A village entirely engulfed by tentacles, where both men and women became nothing more than breeding machines for monsters.

Someone driven mad by incestuous breeding, promoted to bishop-level in one go under the guise of creating a new faith by breaking taboos.

Elves trying to flee abroad, only to be captured and turned into portable goblin sex toys.

And… those who escaped but couldn’t forget the pleasure granted by the Evil God’s power, betraying their own kind to crave for ‘reward’.

There were many cases and a considerable number of incidents.

I had anticipated that some might fall behind during evacuation and get hurt. But this was excessively many.

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Even if the scale was small now, they’d already started making elf farms, meaning the Grotesque Proliferation’s forces would rapidly strengthen.

After risking our lives to fight, to end up with this result…

As I shook with disbelief, Elisha gently stroked the back of my hand.

“It’s okay. What you did wasn’t in vain. In reality, the main force heading towards Yggdrasil didn’t cause much damage along their path. That you protected people and prevented the enemy’s expansion is an undeniable fact.”

“…Thanks. By the way, the main force? It sounds like there’s another unit besides that one?”

At that, a bitter smile formed on Elisha’s lips.

“That’s right. This didn’t happen at the northern border we were dealing with but simultaneously across the Great Forest.”

“…”

So, to summarize.

There were small-scale units operating separately from the ones we fought, causing chaos outside the Great Forest?

Taking advantage of the gaps in defense in other areas while we concentrated our forces on Yggdrasil?

“This… this isn’t the Grotesque Proliferation’s style.”

The Grotesque Proliferation, embodying raw desire, could wield powerful and bizarre powers.

But because of that, their behavior patterns would be simple. Not just saying, but truly.

Lust is like a raging fire;those who submit to it without compromise do not heed the whispers of reason. They only move according to instinct.

Thus, both the Grotesque Proliferation and their followers exhibit a straightforwardness that’s almost comical.

In fact, the Grotesque Proliferation personally tried to make me their apostle, and their minions were excessively direct in their behavior.

I could guarantee, no one but the followers of the Grotesque Proliferation would shout ‘penis, vagina, sex’ while fighting… and no one else should.

But for these kinds of people to split their forces to target villages where defenses were weakened?

This was unlike the Grotesque Proliferation. Yes, if I had to say, it was more like the cunning of someone, like the Boiling Silence…

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, the Boiling Silence was now neglecting their own cult and sticking to other Evil Gods.

“Don’t be too shocked. To defend Yggdrasil and to win against the Grotesque Proliferation, there was no better plan than yours. Unfortunately, this is beyond what we can handle. Neither Chancellor Milone nor the Circulating Life anticipated this;how could you have known everything?”

“Yeah… that’s true. That’s how it is…”

In my head, I knew this. I had seen many times how the world would go to hell once the Evil Gods started acting in earnest.

But the shock of it happening in reality rather than in a game was something I couldn’t help.

It also meant the Grotesque Proliferation had gained sufficient war capabilities and that the seal of the Evil Gods would soon be broken.

While I was frowning, recalling past memories, Elisha’s clear voice pulled me back to reality.

“Dear, the real problem is something else.”

“What? This wasn’t the end?”

“If only it were.”

With a heavy sigh, Elisha opened the curtains of the window and nodded her chin.

“Can you see it?”

“What’s this now…?”

Looking down from the window, there were countless elves gathered, seemingly holding some kind of protest.

“They’re all people who want you dead.”

“…I didn’t think I made that many enemies.”

Of course, ordinary people would be no match for me even if they attacked in droves. However, the real issue was that internal conflict had arisen just before a major battle.

Since we’d concentrated all our strength on Yggdrasil, even a slight discord could be disastrous. There wouldn’t be a second chance.

“Why would they try to kill someone who came to help them?”

“It’s simple. They think all of this is because of you.”

“…Huh?”

According to Elisha’s following explanation, the attacked villages and cities on the outskirts always left a few survivors on purpose.

Showing them their homeland in ruins, untouched by any power, allowing them to witness hell with a clear mind, whispering in their ears,

‘All of this is because of Yandel Lindelheit. We came here to capture him, and once we achieve our goal, we’ll leave. The reason your village became like this is because there was news of you hiding him… and so on.’

Of course, some would have realized that the Grotesque Proliferation was deliberately trying to sow discord against me. It was that overt, after all.

But even knowing that, there were those who vented their placeless anger on me, and those who took to the streets out of pure fear and anxiety.

They shouted that if they sent Yandel Lindelheit away, the Grotesque Proliferation would return to where they came from, that Yandel was the problem, and they could regain their normal life.

“Now I see. You were waiting here for the same reason, right, Elisha?”

“Right. Just in case there might be someone inside the World Tree who believes they can survive by killing you, or someone filled with rage because they lost family because of you.”

Elisha had been guarding this place until I woke up, to protect me from anyone who might try to harm me while I was vulnerable.

“…So when you said earlier that I might really die this time, you were talking about me, not yourself?”

“Yes. But since you’ve woken up, that won’t happen.”

Elisha shrugged her shoulders. I sat beside her and brought my face close to hers.

“Wh-what are you doing all of a sudden? It’s kind of creepy.”

“Come on. You said you wanted to look at my face. So, look to your heart’s content.”

“…You can make a joke even in this situation?!”

Smack!

With a sharp voice, Elisha smacked my shoulder and started huffing.

I caught her hand, tickling her gently as I continued.

“This is probably the work of the Boiling Silence, right? They might be aiming for us to wear ourselves out mentally by worrying about this. People, being social animals, can’t withstand prolonged criticism.”

“That’s… true, I guess.”

“Yeah. So the best option is not to care at all. Of course, others might care, but not me. Perhaps, as you said, they might think I’m the cause of this mess and decide to hand me over to the Grotesque Proliferation.”

Up to that point, I gave a smirk.

“Let them try if they can.”

“…Eh?”

“Catching or killing me? They would have to be much stronger than I am now after dedicating two days to recovery. If they have that kind of force, they could just crush the Grotesque Proliferation themselves.”

“Ah.”

Right. In the end, the Boiling Silence could tarnish my reputation and stoke fear among civilians, but they couldn’t directly harm me.

Since they’d invested everything in Fiona, they didn’t have the personnel for that, and after gaining the trait to detect cultists, I’d become immune to ambushes.

“Instead of falling into the enemy’s plan, let’s do what we can.”

In the end, nothing changed.

We fight and we win. That’s all there is to it.

“First, let’s deal with the internal bomb.”

I leaped out the window, using levitation magic to arrive in front of the protesters. Then, I used Dragon Fear combined with Dragon Transformation.

It took only three minutes to disperse the crowd. Most were civilians, and even those trained in magic or aura were at a low level.

This should keep things quiet for a while.

Yggdrasil was surrounded.

So far, everything was according to plan.