Part 3 – The Trampled World

Three days had passed since the Evil God Statue had begun its rampage.

In that time a great many nations had fallen into pandemonium about it. After all, the thing was the size of the damned temple, and it was running about doing whatever it liked.
If you think about it from the perspective of civilians without context, it’s little wonder they’d be frightened out of their minds.
Actually I’m pretty sure you’d be frightened even with the context.

『It just trampled down the castle ramparts in a kingdom to the east!』

The Pope was coordinating in the third floor of the Evil God Temple, receiving information from countless subordinates.
Sitting in the same room, each time a bit of info came in I shrank further into my seat.

In the centre of the large room was a fittingly large table. On top of it was a map of the world, centred on the Thearchy. We actually were kind of in the centre of the world though.

Various notes about the movements of the Evil God Statue were filled in on top of it. According to the information, the Statue was heading north-east from our country.
As for the report I heard earlier, thankfully it had just grazed the castle. The only serious damage was to the ramparts.
I let out a sigh of relief for the lack of casualties.

『It just passed through the mountains to the north!』

Apparently it had changed directions, and had made some sort of arc, mowing down all of the mountain towns in its wake, but again there weren’t casualties. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to feel thankful or not. At the very least though, I was feeling relieved that it was moving away from population centres.
It wasn’t clear if the lack of casualties was intentional on its part or if it was simply all a big coincidence, but what was clear was that we had to stop it before anything serious did happen.

『The Holy Statue is moving towards the Demon Territory!』

…Oh boy.

If you ignored the size, the statue was the spitting image of me. Meaning that if you knew who I was, and then you saw that damned statue, even an idiot would realise that I was somehow involved.
And the Demon Territory had plenty of people who knew me. If they were to see the statue…

Then, just as I expected, a black light suddenly flashed before my eyes, with a visual in the middle.
Somebody had contacted me through a communications magic channel.
Expecting what was to come next, I immediately clamped my hands on both my ears.

“Anri-sama?”

Tena and the other people in the room looked at me in confusion. Privately, I thought that if they had the time to look at me then it would be better spent blocking their ears as well.

『OOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIII!』

roared the voice from the transmission.

A number of people crouched down with their ears covered as the voice seemed to shake the room. Thankfully I had the sense to minimise the damage.
The blurry visual began to come into focus. Sitting there was just who I expected. A friend who had once lived in this country with us, and was now living in the Demon Territory, Leonora.
Who would have thought we’d be seeing each other so soon after she left.

『I bet that statue was your doing, wasn’t it! What the hell are you even doing!?』

It couldn’t be helped that she realised. She had already known we were building a bronze statue, and that one in her country right now was obviously a statue of me, so.
And well, the one who enchanted the statue was obviously me too, so she had pretty much nailed it.
Still, I didn’t want her to think this was a weird plot or anything.

“Yes, I am the cause, but I didn’t mean it. Nobody could have seen this coming,” I made sure to emphasise, and then looked her straight in the eyes.

It felt like it had been a while since we had last looked at each other like this. It was only possible this time because my eyes didn’t have an affect on her through the screen.

We continued to stare at each other for a while, but she seemed to believe me after a while. She knew the kind of person I was, after all, and that it wasn’t my intention.
Having said that though, not being my intention meant that it wasn’t moving according to my intentions.
Asking me to stop it was pointless.

Leonora let out a sigh as she considered the trouble her future held.

“How bad is it over there?”

『Thankfully, no damage to the castle and towns. It trampled some nests which sent monsters beyond their habitats, but things calmed down. The problem is…』

Problem?
I unconsciously held my breath as I waited for her to continue.

『With a statue of that size loitering around, it’s sure to catch attention. My entire country has been sent into a panic.』

I’m really sorry about that.

『They came to wake me just as I was going to bed. Since then I’ve been putting out fires all over.』

Looking carefully, she had bags under her eyes.
If they had gone to get her just as she was about to head to sleep, then she hadn’t slept at all.
I was sorry about that.
Worse yet, I had actually been sleeping just fine these days, reasoning to myself that I needed to be at my best to respond to emergencies.

『Well? Are you going to tell me how this happened?』

I began to tell her about the events leading up to it.

The Evil God Statue had just been completed, and the Pope showed it to me.
I realised that if you looked up from the foot of the statue, something family-unfriendly could be seen, which is why I panicked and quickly ordered them to build a fence at the base.
Since I was the one who ordered this, I decided to sit around and supervise, which is when I accidentally blessed it with divine protection. And that’s when it began to walk.

As I was telling the story, I had this odd feeling that Leonora was completely unimpressed with me, but surely it was just my imagination.
Looking back after recounting it, I once again reaffirmed that there was absolutely no way I could have seen this coming. Nobody could have.

“Nobody could have seen this coming.”

『Just… what… part!』

She got mad at me.

『All well and good if you just want to build a fence, but how exactly was enchanting a giant statue completely unavoidable!』

My excuse didn’t work on Leonora. She knew me too well.
In my defence though, the sunlight was just so nice and warm, so in a sense falling asleep there was unavoidable.
I actually blamed the sun for all this.

『You’re thinking something stupid again.』

Awfully sharp for the meathead of our group.

“What are you talking about? Also if you know which way it’s heading, tell me.”

Maybe the change in topic wasn’t as natural as it could have been, but I honestly did need to know.
Where the Evil God Statue was heading next was a very serious concern.

I guess she agreed because her expression turned serious.

『The Statue was coming in from our north-east. It changed directions to cut right through the middle of our territory. We haven’t received news on its latest location, but I suspect that it’s a little north of the Demon Territory’s centre. If I’m right, then by this time tomorrow it will have reached the Human Territories. Actually, it’ll probably be back in your Thearchy.』

So basically it’s been cutting an oval in an anti-clockwise direction in the northern part of the continent.
I was a little amazed at how fast it was going, but then I remembered how big it was. At that size, it could have been dawdling and it still would have been fast. It had really long legs.
In any case, if it was really coming back here then that would be my chance. I had to think of a way to stop it.

『Hanging up for now, if that’s all.』

I guess that was all she wanted to talk about.
Leonora scolded me but she also gave me valuable information.

“Yeah, got it. Thanks for contacting me. I’d appreciate it if you passed along any new info. I’ll do the same.”

『Got it.』

With that, she cut the line.

Now then, it was time to sort out what I knew.
And then, just as I was about to stand up to update the map, everything turned dark.

◆　　◆　　◆

A moment later my vision came back, and I found myself in a completely different room.
This room was smaller than the previous one, but the ceiling was higher as well.
More importantly, there were three desks in front of me, reminding me uncomfortably of a courtroom.
I was standing on a dais right in the middle.

Sitting at each of the three desks was a different person; to my right was a blonde woman in full-plate armour, to my left was a red-cloaked man with long green hair, and to the front of me was a black-haired girl wearing a dress with the same black rose motif as mine.
Thanks to the heights of the desks, I ended up looking up at them.
Surrounded by the three of them looking down at me, I have to admit, it was not a place I’d like to be.

“………………”

“………………”

“………………”

“………………”

The four of us maintained a tense silence as we stared.

After a while, it was the girl who spoke first.

“We now begin the internal investigation.”

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

I have a bad habit of forgetting I’m meant to do something the moment the relevant Firefox tab closes.

---

Part 2 – The Evil God Statue Has Activated!

---

-clang clang clang-

The sound of nails being hammered, rang out through the vicinity.
Horizontal poles were being affixed atop stakes that stood at even intervals.
It was the fence being built around the Evil God Statue.

“Heeey! Bring that stake to your right a bit more.”

“Here?”

“That’s left.”

“So you mean your right!?”

I’m watching over the construction of the fence from where I’m sitting at the feet of the Evil God Statue.
I just thought that I should make sure everything goes right.

At first I was sitting on the pedestal it stood on, but it was a little bit too high for my feet to reach the ground, so I moved here instead.
Sitting on its toes brings me to just the right height for my feet to touch the pedestal.
To be honest, I think I should be helping out with something, but I would just be underestimating it and getting in the way. Not only that, the Pope told me to just sit and watch too, so that’s why I’m contenting myself to observation.

Yup. Observation.
I’m definitely not just spacing out, okay?
Although I’m really just sitting here, not even saying anything.

Anyway, with this fence in place, at least people won’t be able to look up its skirt. Since that’s the case, I’ll just bear with people praying to it.
To be honest, it’s still really embarrassing, which is why I didn’t want it built in the first place, but there’s not much I can do about it now short of destroying it.

“Phew. I guess we’re about ninety percent done?”

“Sounds about right. Just a little more to go.”

“Alright. Let’s finish the last bit in one go.”

“Yeah.”

But man. What great weather.
The sunlight is warm. There’s a gentle breeze. It’s just all so nice that I’m getting kinda sleep-… Whoa, not good, not good. I almost dozed off.
Even if I’m not doing anything, it’d still be rude to sleep in front of people labouring away.
But telling me not to take an afternoon nap on such a nice day feels basically like torture.

Listening to the rhythmic hammering made me sleepy again.
And a voice began to whisper in my head that nobody would know even if I slept with this mask on.

A vicious battle between willpower and sleepiness unfolded in my mind.

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

『Evil God Statue has been granted divine protection.』

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

*–…*

!?

The sudden voice caused me to awaken with a start.

…Oh crap… I’ve really done it now…
Because of the time that passed as I slept, apparently I went and invoked my divine enchantment skill.

When I looked up, I found a dark cloud enveloping the giant statue.
I decided to evacuate from my position before the darkness reached its feet too.

“? Oi, what the heck is…?”

“Mn? Wha-, oi, oi.”

“There’s something black around the statue of Anri-sama…”

“What the heck is…?”

Perhaps they noticed something was wrong because the labourers all stopped their work to look up.
And while all of them gazed at the statue, the shadow began to fade away.
And when it vanished, what remained was the same Evil God Statue as before. The only difference was that it was now jet black.
And also, looking carefully, there was now an “S” shape carved into its forehead, just like on Tena’s head.
But well, there didn’t seem to be anything too different?

No, no, I can’t let my guard down.

Considering my past experiences with this skill, it wouldn’t be strange even if it had some new effect of spreading miasma, or scaring people witless just by looking at it.

After I came to that conclusion, I turned to look at the workers.
But although they were all standing still, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with them.

Was it just a needless worry? …Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, my vision suddenly went dark.

“………?”

But when I looked more carefully, the area a bit further away was sunny as usual.

“………???”

Wondering what was up, I looked up again to find a giant clump of metal slowly… SWINGING TOWARDS ME!? UWAH!?

Diving to the side in panic, I managed to escape the clump by a hair’s breadth.
No sooner had I done so, that metal lump… or rather, the Evil God Statue’s right foot, came rumbling down on the pedestal. It happened so violently that cracks ran through it like a spiderweb.

Oh crap, oh crap. I almost got turned into a pancake.

But the situation didn’t end there.
This time it was the left leg that rose up, and stepped down onto the ground itself. The whole thing was so heavy that even the metal pedestal was cracked, so this time the foot sank into the ground and caused a tremor to spread beneath our feet.

“………You’re kidding.”

With my butt still on the pedestal, I looked up in a daze at the giant me statue and finally understood what was going on.

That massive Evil God Statue (E.G.S.) had started to walk.

The situation had far exceeded just a statue that caused fear or miasma. What was happening was just way too insane.
But unfortunately it didn’t stop at just two steps, and continued walking ahead.

“R-, RUN FOR IT!”

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?”

“JUST RUN! YOU’LL GET SQUASHED!”

“UWAAHHHHHHHH!?”

I’m not sure if they understood what was happening, but the frozen workers all dashed away madly.
Only a few seconds later, one corner of the fence had been crushed flat by the E.G.S..
Having said that though, it didn’t seem to be doing it on purpose, and all this was probably just a result of it trying to move forward.
The reason I almost got crushed earlier was probably just because I was standing on the pedestal.

As for how on earth it was moving, I still had no idea. The only visible change was its colour, so it shouldn’t have had any joints.
But that wasn’t even my biggest concern.
The biggest concern was obviously that a massive statue the height of a five story temple was walking about.

And walking without stopping at all.

At this rate, this thing was going to walk right out of the country. And I couldn’t even imagine much trouble I’d be in if that happened.
But I didn’t have any way to stop it either.

“OOH!? Anri-sama! Where are you going!?”

Nowhere, okay?
To begin with, that’s not even me.

I wanted to hit this idiot Pope over the head after he started screaming nonsense at the statue, but I endured the urge and walked up to him to tug at his sleeve.

“Anri-sama?”

He turned around and then tilted his head in confusion.
But this wasn’t the time to nitpick at details.
I cut straight to the point.

“Please have somebody chase after that statue.”

“Understood.”

In order to form a plan to stop it later, I need to know where it’s going, and what it’s going to do.
If we lose track of where it is, it’s going to become far harder to deal with it.
Although the Pope had been excited by the moving E.G.S., my serious tone caused him to gasp and change his attitude.
It seems that he understood that I was panicked.
And in order to determine its destination, he quickly had the people around prepare to chase after it.

“I have sent a number of people to chase after the Divine Statue, so I expect a report will come to us shortly. Please stay in the Temple, Anri-sama.”

“Thanks.”

But although I thanked him, I continued to stare anxiously at the E.G.S., which had now gotten so far away that only the head remained visible.

What’s going to happen…

And although I wanted to hold my head in terror at how dark my future was looking, all I could do was continue to watch as it left.

 

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

You can thank Xiaoxiao Novels for reminding me that I still had work to do… and stuff to publish.

Whoops.

---

Part 1 – A Dangerous Evil God Statue

---

This is a story that takes place while the Black Rose Mansion was still being built.

*妹*

◆　　◆　　◆

*妹*

One day, the Pope called me out to the side of the Evil God Temple.
In other words… where a certain massive statue was being built. A massive statue that boasted the same five-story height as the temple, and that happened to look just like me.
Right now it was being completely covered in cloth so you couldn’t see inside, but once you removed the cloth, there’s a good chance its dignity could even be seen from town.

…This guy just stirs up trouble.

“Well then, Anri-sama. Please have a look at the completed statue,” said the Pope in gorgeous priests clothes, as he gripped the corner of the cloth with one hand.
The reason I was called out here today was because he wanted me to be the first to see it finished.
To be honest, I get the feeling that it should be the divine “me” that was called out here, but I guess I’m here as the representative since it would be insane to call out a god.
Really, I wanted to run, but since I owed him a favour for helping me with the house, I really couldn’t refuse. That’s why, unwilling though I was, I forced myself to come.

“Now then, I shall unveil the cloth! This is the moment that the world will fall on its knees to the glory of our god’s divine form!”

Nobody is kneeling to anything.
I couldn’t help but comment in my mind, but the Pope proudly unveiled it all the same. The white cloth fluttered in the air and exposed the giant statue to the light of day.

On a pedestal of about a metre tall stood a collossal bronze figure.
The form of the deity worshipped in this nation――in other words, me――stood as a massive bronze statue, reproduced so faithfully that an observer could see glimpses of the obsession that went into its creation.
The figure was wearing the same black death rose dress that I was still wearing, and it was so realistic to behold that it seemed like not even a crease had been overlooked.

…And it was extremely embarrassing. Thank goodness I wore a mask.

“How is it, Anri-sama?”

I found the Pope staring my way with sparkling eyes.
I know that he really wants to know. After all, he’s the one who came up with the thing. But his enthusiasm is really troubling.
I could feel my face cramping up, but at the very least I couldn’t find fault with the statue itself.
It was actually so flawless that I found myself wishing he would direct his talents somewhere less useless.
What’s worse was that he was managing the country properly, so it made it all the harder to complain about this.

But well, since it really was well done, I decided to give him a reply… or so I was thinking, when I suddenly noticed one problem.

“? Anri-sama? Is something the matter?”

“There’s something I wanna check.”

“?”

The Pope stared at me in confusion, but I ignored him and approached the statue.

What I wanted to check was none other than the dress that this statue, this Evil God Statue, was wearing. Ah, but I don’t mean that the dress itself looked wrong.
The problem went the other way.
I was worried because it was so similar to my real one.

The black death rose dress that I was wearing was sleeveless and jet black, with a rose pattern at its breast.
It was originally a normal dress, but my divine protection dyed it black.
Naturally its defensive power and resistances increased by shocking amounts too, but there was one last thing that changed about it.

What was dangerous about it, was the design.

There was a pretty deep slit cut into the skirt portion of the dress, and you could see my legs peeping through it. If I wasn’t careful, you’d get a shot of my panties too.
And because of that same divine protection, even my underwear had changed to something dangerous.
So dangerous that parts underwear were made to cover were laid bare instead. Definitely not something I could ever let people see.

And so, you can see what I was worried about.
The dress was perfectly replicated, and the slit was alive and well.
Since it’s a statue I’m not really sure if it counts as showing skin, but the point was that you could definitely see its legs.

Well, that much could still be considered tame.
I mean, it’s not as tame as I’d like, but let’s leave that for now.

The real problem was what lay above it.
It can’t be that he actually replicated even my underwear, right? If he did, the problem would change to how on earth he saw it, but anyway, the point is, looking at the way the statue was made, you would expect the underwear to be done too.

Feeling equal parts anxiety and curiosity, I walked up to its feet and looked right up.
Looking up at it like this really drove in how huge it was.
Because of how big just everything about it was, you could even climb in through the slit.

Uh, no? I won’t though.

Only, even if you didn’t climb in, as long as you stood right next to it, it was a simply matter to peer in.

…Uwah.

What filled my vision as I looked upwards was a completely realistic upskirt. And although they were different to what I had on, the panties were still incredibly risqué.
What on earth was he thinking when he decided to have the Evil God Statue wear these? I honestly wanted to question “Why! Why! Why!” at him for an hour.
But well, it was obvious that whatever answer he gave would just confuse me more, so I decided I didn’t want to ask after all.

But wow, there weren’t any people here right now, so it was all well and good, but did this mean heaps of people were going to see this?
That was a bit of a… or rather, a huge embarrassment.
I mean, it was just a statue so it wasn’t like they were actually looking up my skirt.
I knew that.
I knew that, but it was just so realistic that it felt like my upskirt was being displayed to the world.

“Is there anything wrong with it?”

“…………”

I couldn’t help but stare when he asked me that again.
But as usual, he showed no signs of flinching from my mystic eyes. Not only that, he didn’t even seem to question my resentful gaze, and simply tilted his head in confusion.

Damned pervert.

But well, even if I call him that, he didn’t see me as a woman at all.
It’s kinda rough to say this about myself, but I already knew that I had turned into a being way beyond that to him.
You could say that the way he saw me was as safe as things got.
But that just made it completely puzzling that he would choose such a thing. It was a bit scary to ask, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Why, did you choose this kind of underwear?”

“Huh? Underwear… you ask?”

I asked him without beating around the bush, and after giving me a blank look, he replied,

“Naturally I could not ask you to model for it yourself, Anri-sama…”

Well yeah. Modelling is a pain, and even if I did do it, there’s no way I’d let you peek up my skirt.

“And so because it could not be helped, I consulted your esteemed friend, Leonora-sama, on what kind of design would be best.”

LEONORAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?

What on earth have you done.
No, I mean, it’s true that my underwear is outrageous, and she knows that too. So well, maybe you could say that she was already picking a modest design for me, but to begin with it’s not like I wear these types of things because I want to, and she should know that too!
Could it be that this is revenge because I forgot to dispel the cursed Tena doll…?
Ah, I mean, well, I do feel sorry about that, but…

“Is there some problem about the design of the underwear?”

“…It’s embarrassing to have people see.”

“Hah…”

I meant to object, but considering his half-hearted reply, I wasn’t sure if I got the point across.

“It is my humble opinion that there is nothing to be embarrassed about at all, but may I ask what the problem is?”

Considering his serious expression, apparently he wasn’t kidding.
I guess he really didn’t see me as a woman.
But if I didn’t make myself extremely clear, statue or not, there was a good chance that I was going to suffer the torture of having a giant upskirt view of me displayed to the masses.
But it was already completed, so it would probably be difficult to close up the slit, or build a more modest statue.
So at the very least, I wanted to avoid people peeking in from up close.

“I don’t want people too close to it.”

“!? I see. You certainly are an esteemed personage. It would not do to have people come too close.”

That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but well, good enough.

“Build a fence around the thing, and please don’t let people near its feet.”

“I understand. I shall immediately set out to do so.”

“Please.”

With that, the Pope bowed reverently to me, before hurriedly running off somewhere.
Anyway, with a fence in place, at least they wouldn’t be looking straight up at it. I guess that’s good enough.
But hm, since I may as well, perhaps I should make sure he builds it right.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

How would you guys feel if I put the light novel parts behind a paywall?

That is, you show me proof of purchase of any of the light novels, and I’ll give you the password to the light-novel-only portions.

What happened is that the third volume was originally supposed to be all physical, but the editors at Takarajimasha(the publisher), told Yuzuki Kihiro-sensei that it would be fine to upload the second part of the novel online.

Kihiro Sensei: “Eh-? It’s okay to put up some of the new stuff on the internet?”

Sensei’s Agent: “Yes. It’s true that it would sell better to have more new content for the novel, but…”

Kihiro Sensei: “Right? I was sure that the publishers would want more exclusive content for the light novel.”

Sensei’s Agent: “Yes, but we think what’s most important of all is that the publication makes the web novel fans happy.”

Kihiro Sensei: (A-, A halo!?)

So I was hoping that maybe I could help increase the sales just a little bit. The free portions are already quite sizable, and are a complete section of their own.

I’m sure that pirating and stuff can’t be helped, but unlike with Baka-Tsuki’s light novel translations, we’re already getting a huge amount of free content.

That’s why I’m hoping that I can get even one or two extra sales by doing things this way instead.

Of course, if people agree and cooperate, I’ll try and translate the light novel faster as well.

You can find links for purchase below:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1855809

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1916184

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1949898

I hear that you can also get it for cheaper shipping on Amazon if you live in the United States, but I don’t so I’m not sure how that works.

“…Nothing to do.”

A mutter left my mouth.
But it couldn’t be helped. There really was nothing to do.

The money I got from the me that I left in the Temple was quite a sum. Enough to live on for a while yet. Because of that, there was no need to work.
Unlike when I was a dungeon master, there was nobody aiming for my life either.
The peaceful life that I wished for was… Although there were the occasional disturbances, it was mostly a peaceful everyday for me.

It was basically everything I had wished for, so I do think it was being extravagant to complain about it now, but I really, really had nothing to do.

Because I was just so free, I even tried things I would normally never even consider doing.

“I know. I’ll write an autobiography.”

Later, when I calmed down a little, I realised that I should have thought about it a little more carefully.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Far from being thrown into a world with only the clothes on my back, I was abandoned in a forest with not even a shred of fabric on me. Then I joined a guild, became a dungeon master, became a god, got into an argument with the God of Light and God of Darkness, and finally, after all that, went back to being a human. Thinking about it, you could say that my life was the perfect illustration of ‘filled with ups and downs’...
Or so I’d like to say, but considering my age, it feels a little early to be reflecting over my life like this. On the other hand, just this year alone was eventful enough to last me a lifetime.

“………………”

Thinking about it now, a lot of the events were actually headache inducing──or rather, pretty much everything that happened was headache inducing──but considering how colorful (or perhaps intense) all my experiences were, I’d say that at least my autobiography won’t be lacking in content.
Thinking that, I went to find the stationery that I used the time I was writing the scriptures, but when I did, I suddenly realised that I had overlooked a grave problem.

“What am I going to do about the enchantment curse?”

Last time, I wrote up some scriptures about living a virtuous lifestyle, but it ended up turning into a cursed book that was classified worldwide as belonging to the most terrifying class of dangerous items.
It happened because of the divine enchantment skill that I was given when I came to this world. An annoying skill that allowed me to instantly enchant something with the divine protection of an evil god, but that would also activate on its own after about an hour of contact.
If the target was a living being, then they would need to accept the divine protection, but if it was inanimate like a stationery set, then it would activate by itself.
Even a book of morals turned into a cursed scripture, so I couldn’t even imagine what my autobiography might turn into. I couldn’t imagine it, but I could say with certainty that it would be nothing good.

Learning from my previous mistakes, this time I was careful not to activate the enchantment.

“…This is hard.”

I decided to avoid contact with the paper and write with my pen hand held up in the air, but it turned out to be quite hard.
Normally I would write with my left hand holding the paper down, and with the pinkie of my right hand on the sheet, so writing like this ended up harder than expected. If you don’t believe me, just try it.
My hand wouldn’t stop shaking, and my handwriting turned into squiggles.
But it was obvious that giving up would be the same as screaming “Second cursed book, here we come!” so I continued writing as I corrected things over and over again.

“The heck are you doing?”

Leonora happened to wander in. She made an astounded look as she saw me seriously battling with the paper with my shaky hands, but I decided not to mind it.
Admittedly, I want to ask myself the same question, but it feels like I’d lose somehow if I gave up at this point, so I’ve decided not to look back.

“A new game?”

No, Lili, I’m writing very seriously here. It might look like some punishment game to an outsider, but I need to ignore that.

“Please don’t push yourself, Anri-sama.”

Tena’s kindness filled my heart so much that my vision blurred, and I couldn’t see the paper anymore.

*妹*

*妹*

With everybody’s warm (and somewhat stuffy) encouragement, I somehow managed to finish my autobiography.
Its title was──

---

This was a short, short story to commemorate the publication of Evil God Average.
Today, on the 7th of September, 2015, the first volume was published by Takarajimasha.
It is thanks to all my readers, and I am grateful.
If you see it in the store, please pick up a copy.

– Kitaseno Yunaki

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

Incidentally, Anri-san was desperately writing with trembling hands, but she honestly could have just taken a break every hour, and the curse wouldn’t have activated.

– Kitaseno Yunaki

---

Remember to buy the books! I’ll immortalise you in my hall of fame! If there are enough people, I’ll move the page to the front!

Buy the Book of Evil!
Satisfaction, guaranteed!

Buy the Book of God!
Prove your piety, today!

– Grand Arbiter and 5th Holy Sheeprabbit, Estelion Sharlulu Asheel Vinchance Celenalia di ef Falufiluu’Luufilaafee (The 35th)

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.
Thank you for your consideration, guys!

---

Chapter 8 – A Certain Undying Butler

“…………Hahhh.”

On the fifth floor of the Evil God Temple, the divine Anri sighed.
She then ran her finger along the window frame. There was dust. In a sense, you could call it the obvious result, but it didn’t used to be dusty.
The reason it was now, was because the human Anri had left with Tena.

“This is a grave situation.”

Among the necessities of life, “clothing” was still okay. Because her Black Rose Dress would automatically clean itself at certain times, far from washing her clothing, she didn’t even need to change it.
But “food” and “shelter” were different stories.

If you didn’t make the food, you wouldn’t have any. Unfortunately, Anri’s cooking skills were not that great. Her food wasn’t bad, but neither was it particularly good.
There was no need to even mention the other two gods here.
To begin with, members of the Divine Race sustained itself on faith, and did not need to eat like other beings. And because they neither needed to eat, nor were they capricious enough to learn on a whim, they had no cooking skills to speak of. There had to be some sort of drive or compulsion to obtain the skills to create something you didn’t even need.
Which meant that there was no reason for them to eat, except for pleasure.
Naturally they wanted to eat delicious things for their enjoyment, but Tena who used to prepare it was now gone, so their meals had become heartbreaking. Of course, there was still the option of simply not eating, but now that they had tasted the joys of eating, it was a little hard to go back.

Not only that, Evil God Temple or not, if nobody cleaned it it would naturally become dusty. After Anri became a divine, she could use brooms again now that she was free from her curse, but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t stealthily escape when it came to cleaning the huge temple.
The living area of the Evil God Temple could only be said to comprise the 5th surface floor, and the 31st subterranean floor, but even those two alone formed quite a large area. Even Tena would have found it impossible to manage. So then how did they used to manage…? The answer was that it was because the place was still a dungeon. With the dungeon master skill, “Dungeon Create”, it was possible to restore the place at the expense of mana. Although you couldn’t say it was impossible to replicate this with a divine Authority, the Authorities had the disadvantage of being too powerful and difficult to moderate. After all, they were essentially abilities used to govern the world.

“The agenda of today’s meeting is to address our falling living standards.”

“Well, I do not mind, but…”

“I shouldn’t be talkin’, but dincha pick the wrong gods for this?”

Three gods sat around a circular table, beginning a ridiculous meeting.

“Well, gotta say, can’t argue with improving the food ‘ere. Your food ain’t bad but, it ain’t particularly good either.”

“I agree with him.”

Anri knew this herself, of course, but she did not find it amusing to have it told right to her face.
So she argued back.

“Deadbeats can’t be choosers. Why don’t you two make something then.”

“Can’t.”

“It is impossible for me.”

Anbaal and Sophia immediately rejected it.
Even Anri didn’t think they had an atom of cooking skill. She just wanted to say it. Because of that, she backed down with a sigh.

“Well? What are we gunna do now? It ain’t like I can’t drag a few people who can do housework, back from the Demon Territory, but…”

“It may be best that you refrain from that. It may become a problem to have new humans and demons here.”

“Ya think?”

“Yeah. After all, there’s this strange situation where all three rulers of the world are bunking together here…”

Anri agreed with Sophia’s words.
Very few people knew that Sophia and Anbaal were living at the Evil God Temple. If it was leaked to the world, other countries might even invade to secure the Thearchy for themselves.

“Which means,” continued Anri, “that it’s a matter of which one of the people living here can do housework.”

Considering the purpose was to put a lid on inconvenient information, it naturally excluded the believers, foreigners, humans and demons from the third surface floor down, as well. Which naturally meant that their options were extremely limited. Once you excluded the trio who left the temple with the human Anri, the only candidates left were the dungeon bosses.

“Vnee.”

“No way.”

“With its large body… To begin with, it is quadrapedal.”

They didn’t even have staff to select from.
Of course there was no way the 20-metre long Black Dragon Vardneel could possibly do cooking and cleaning.

“The Anreal Armour.”

“Still impossible.”

“I must conclude the same way.”

It was the same for the 5-metre tall orichalcum living armour. It was a little better than Vardneel in that it was the right shape at least, but it really was too large for housework.
To begin with, it had no ego, so cooking and the like was impossible.

“…Imperial Death.”

“…Certainly, at least his size is of no complaint, but…”

“…Think he can do it?”

All that was left was the last boss of the dungeon.
Anri, Sophia and then Anbaal all thought of him in their minds.
There was no problem with his size because he was the same size as humans and demons.
His shape was fine too, since he was humanoid.
But then, as to whether they thought he could cook and clean, the three gods really had no idea.

“Anyway, let’s ask him.”

With those words, Anri decided to call Imperial Death there.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Well then, please enjoy.”

“…Yeah.”

“…Yeh.”

“…I-, I shall partake.”

The three gods were overwhelmed by the sight before them.
Just looking at how carefully made the various dishes were, they already seemed delicious. That alone was a good thing, but it gave them a massive shock that all this was created by an undead who looked basically like a skeleton. Particularly shocked was Anri, whose heart was in shreds from realising that she lost to him.

“Yummy.”

“Pretty good.”

“Quite delicious, isn’t it.”

And the taste of the food did not betray its appearance.

“I am humbly overjoyed by your words.”

Imperial Death gave a bow, with refined movements that brought to mind a skilled butler.
Not only that, but from start to finish, all his attention focused on Anri. Although he served food to Sophia and Anbaal as well, that was nothing more than giving face to Anri. All of his loyalty belonged solely to Anri.
Considering his history, you could say it was admirable that he wasn’t simply attacking the God of Light.

“Please entrust the cleaning to me as well.”

With that, Imperial Death spread his arms towards an empty space in the room.

“Come forth, my kin.”

Responding to the summons of the Emperor of the Undead, numerous undead appeared on the spot.

“Now, my kin. Polish every nook and cranny of this corner. For the sake of Anri-sama.”

With those words, the undead produced brooms and dust cloths from who knows where, and paying no heed to the dumbfounded gods, immediately scattered to clean.
The large Evil God Temple was cleaned up at incredible speeds by the power of numbers.

Skeletons swept the floors with brooms. Wraiths cleaned the walls with cloths. The whole thing was just surreal to watch, but there was no problem with the results.
In less than a moment, the 5th surface floor and 31st subterranean floors were spotless, and now sparkled like they were newly built.

“How was it?” said Imperial Death proudly.

Anri could only nod up and down in a daze.

“Not only this. Allow me to also receive guests and pass messages along, manage your schedule, deal with the defence, deal with the finances, and all the other odd jobs.”

“I-, I see…”

Why was this lofty Undead Emperor showing off his housekeeping skills…? Or so she wondered in her heart, but Anri still nodded.
Incidentally, the reason he was so desperate was because there was nothing to do in his job as the last boss.

“Well then, please keep up the good work.”

“Understood! I will serve you with all my body and soul!”

Keeping back his trembles of emotion, Imperial Death lowered his head politely and neatly, into a perfect bow.

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

*妹*

This was the moment that Imperial Death, “31st Floor Boss” and “Butler”, was born.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Everybody, please check the FAQ first before asking me questions.
If it’s not on there, please feel free and ask. I only get annoyed at questions when the same one has been asked 10+ times, and by then I’ll have updated the FAQ.
Thank you for your consideration, guys!

---

Chapter 7 – A Certain Pope’s Plans

The Holy Anri Thearchy.
A young religious nation formed from one of the corners of the Kingdom of Fortera, it had two national symbols.

The first was the temple-cum-dungeon, the “Holy Land of the Evil God”.
With five terranean floors and thirty-one subterranean floors, it was a massive labyrinth where each day, adventurers would risk their liv-… risk their money.
Even following the conclusion of the Three Gods War, the number of challengers saw no end.
To begin with, a dungeon was a chance to get rich quickly for adventurers. Not only did this dungeons contain numerous treasures, if they defeated the dungeon master, further fame and fortune would result.
Naturally, high risk accompanied that high return, but this particular dungeon boasted safety so great that to date, not a single person had ever died there. At the same time, it was also the most difficult dungeon in the world.
As a result of the Gods of Light and Darkness ordering their respective races to conquer it, its fame or perhaps infamy had skyrocketed. Now, adventurers from across the world gathered to challenge it.
Of course, you could say that for the merchants and inn owners in the vicinity of the temple, this crowd was a group of suckers.
And so, the Holy Anri Thearchy whose main industry was tourism, continued to grow at an abnormal speed.

As for the other symbol──

“OHHH! Anri-sama! Our God! Please listen to our prayers!”

A blonde young man in luxurious vestments was kneeling in fervent prayer.
And the one he was praying to was the figure of the nation’s patron god, Evil God Anri.
Indeed. ‘Figure’. Not the person herself.
The man was kneeling in prayer before a statue of Evil God Anri.
Because worshipping an idol was not outlawed in this nation, praying to a statue was not particularly strange. However, the problem was the size of the statue in question.

Its height rivalled that of the five story temple next to it.
A statue swiftly constructed in the Pope’s zeal, the Giant Anri Statue.

Incidentally, it goes without saying but the man currently praying to the statue was the very Pope who constructed it.
Every morning and night, without fail, he would offer his prayers to this statue.

This statue was surrounded by a fence, and drawing near it was strictly forbidden. This was a direct order from Evil God Anri herself, and even the Pope was not permitted to approach the feet of the statue.
Because the Giant Anri Statue was based on Anri clad in her Black Rose Dress, standing at its feet would give them quite an eyeful.
Because the Pope had carefully reproduced even the finest details.

“Phew, any morning where I can pray to Anri-sama is a refreshing one. Huhu, building this statue was the right choice.”

Wiping away his sweat, the Pope gave himself a thumbs up.
Like he said, the nations’ reception of this statue was exceedingly positive. To begin with, the country was a gathering of devout worshippers, so they rejoiced at the construction of the statue, and even without this piety, the statue itself was brilliantly made.
It was so brilliantly made that a certain girl could no longer walk about unmasked.

“Now then…”

The one who had created the plans for this perfect statue was none other than the Pope, and now that the Giant Anri Statue was complete, it was time to move onto his other plans.

“It’s time to bring the Grassroots Anri-sama Plan to the next stage.”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Aaannnnriiiiiisaaaamaaaaaa!!!”

Hearing the voice from outside, Anri unconsciously brought a hand to her brow.
There was no need to even guess who the man running her way was.
Rather, there could only be one person.

Perhaps because meeting with the divine Anri was difficult, at every matter the Pope would come rushing to report at the Black Rose Mansion.
Because he helped with the construction of this mansion, she would feel uncomfortable about being too cold with him and never turned him away, but it seemed that it mightn’t have been the best decision.

“Pleaaseeeee haaaaaveeee aaaaaaa looooookkkkk!!!”

She could feel a headache forming.
His reports could be roughly grouped into three: the status of the country, the status of the missionary work, and then miscellaneous reports. Amongst these three, the last one was the root of the most problems, as she had painfully experienced herself.
And from how he was behaving now, it seemed that today’s report would be one of the troubling ones.

“Please have a look, Anri-sama!”

Opening the doors and making himself seen, that was the very first thing he said.

“What’s going on?”

Under her mask, Anri’s face had cramped up, but she tried to sound as calm as she could.

“Huhuhu, it is finally ready! The main force behind the Grassroots Anri-sama Plan, the Miniature Anri Statue!”

With those words, the Pope produced a palm-sized sculpture. The design was the same as the dress-clad Giant Anri Statue, but despite its small size the details were delicately reproduced. Truly splendid quality.
So high was its quality that any art enthusiasts in this world would have surely paid top price to obtain it.
But to Anri who had knowledge of another world, she could only see it as a figurine.

“How is it? Is it not splendid?”

“What exactly are you planning to do with this?”

The Pope had happily asked for her impressions, but she simply felt her face cramping up further.

“Naturally we will distribute one to every follower so that they may offer prayer whenever they want. In the future, I plan to have these sent beyond our borders as well.”

Finding that her hunch was dead-on, Anri shook her head and decided to stop his crazy plan early in its tracks.
Having a figurine of herself distributed to thousands, tens of thousands of people was nothing but a nightmare to her.

“I won’t all-…”

“The preparations are ready to produce a hundred a day. I suspect it will not be long before every believer has one.”

“You’re already at the mass-production stage!?”

Because it had progressed so much further than she had imagined, Anri let out a rare scream of shock.
But perhaps the Pope took her surprise to be pleasant surprise, because he smiled proudly.

“I cannot continue at such a snail’s pace. I must quickly prepare for manufacture of more designs…! Well then, please excuse me!”

“Wai-…”

With that declaration, the Pope left as quickly as he had come.
Left behind, Anri could only let out a sigh of resignation.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Hello guys, it’s Estelion. The second volume and final volume of Evil God Average is coming out soon. To be honest, given how much I disliked Summoning At Random, and how almost nobody liked EGA enough to support the author (you could chop off most of my hand an I could still count the number of people who sent me a photo), I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to finish the last few short stories…

But hey, might as well, and what better time than the upcoming release of Book of God. After I finish the last two side stories in Book of God, I’ll get around to translating the holiday specials that they wrote as well.

---

 

Side Story 6 – A Certain Demon King’s Dinner Gathering

At present there were four girls living in the Black Rose Mansion.
Anri who was the lord of the estate, Tena who was her kin as well as the head maid, Lili who was like a younger sister that helped with the housework despite her age, and finally Leonora who was a sponger.
Among these four, Anri, Tena and Lili were permanent residents but in the end, Leonora was simply staying here temporarily.
As the daughter of the Demon King and the successor to his throne, once her moratorium journey was finished, she would be returning to the Demon Race Territory.
To begin with, there was no fixed date for the end of her journey, but she couldn’t continue it forever.

She herself had placed the conditions for return as “obtaining some kind of merit”.
And objectively speaking, she had already accomplished this.

She had helped with the establishment of a neighbouring nation, and had deep bonds with its VIPs. Additionally, this neighbouring nation shaved away land from the enemy nation, Fortera, and was constructed like a buffer. Furthermore, trade with the Human Race that had been previously deemed as impossible, was now possible through this new nation.
She had gained plenty enough merit as a successor to the throne.
As a result, it could be said that the message she had received was natural.

“You’re returning to your country?”

“Yeah, they’re starting to press me, you see.”

At dinner, Leonora told Anri and the others about her motherland’s inquiries about whether she was ready to return.

“It’s pretty sudden.”

“No, that’s not really true. They’ve implicitly brought it up before. I had decided to leave it alone until they straight out said it, but as you’d expect, I probably can’t stay here much longer this time.”

“I see…”

Because it was akin to Leonora admitting herself that she still wanted to stay here, she flushed a little red with embarrassment.

“So when will you be leaving, Leonora-san?”

“Let’s see. I’m planning on departing tomorrow.”

“T-, Tomorrow, you say?”

“Yeah. We’re pretty far from the Demon Race Territory after all.”

Leonora’s reply had shocked Tena. Certainly, this did seem quite sudden. But as Leonora had said, it would take a number of days to the Demon Race Territory. On top of that, it would take even more days from the border to the Demon King Castle. Because of that, it made sense that she needed to depart as soon as possible.

“And so, there’s something I want to ask… Won’t you come with me to visit the Demon Race Territory?”

“? Us?”

“Yeah. I’m inviting you as a friend. Naturally, you’re VIPs in a neighbouring country, and will be entertained as state guests.”

At present, Anri had no official power in the Holy Anri Thearchy, but realistically considering her connections, it wasn’t necessarily wrong to call her a VIP.
But in that case, they should have sent a request through the Holy Anri Thearchy, and not directly invited her like this.
In the end, the truth was that Leonora was simply inviting a friend to her house.

Leonora Romariel… As the heir to the Demon King’s Throne, she had always been friendless.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

The next day, Anri and Leonora visited the Evil God Temple.
Leonora had planned on inviting Anri, Tena and Lili, but Lili was still too young, and the long journey would not be good for her. Because of that, Tena was forced to stay back to look after her, and in the end only Anri would be going.

“Hey, Anri… Are we seriously riding that thing?”

“It’s faster this way.”

“Well, sure, but… but, you know…”

The two of them were here at the Evil God Temple to secure their means of transport.
Going by foot or carriage like normal people would take almost a month there and back, but now that Tena and Lili would be waiting at the Black Rose Estate, Anri didn’t want to take so long.
And so, she had chosen the fastest method of getting there. And she could find that method here.

Still, when Leonora had heard, she frowned unhappily.
She had told them that she would be departing today, but she never mentioned how she would be getting there. After all, she only found out today.
When Anri told her that they would be getting there in a day, she carelessly thought it would be teleportation magic or the like. That optimism had backfired on her. Thinking about it carefully, the divine race Anri aside, there was no way that the human Anri could have such a power.
There weren’t any more appointed communications with her country, but it was still possible to send an emergency communiqué to let them know first. While Leonora was agonising over whether or not she should do it, it was already too late.

Having given up, Leonora sighed and muttered her faint hope.

“It’d be good if this didn’t cause an uproar at home, but…”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Demon Race Territory, Demon King’s Castle

Deep within the Demon Race Territory lay a castle. It belonged to the Demon King who reigned supreme within the Demon Race, and served as their supreme headquarters.
Although the war between the demons and humans had continued for a long time, the battles all took place near the borders, and not once had a human invaded as far as the Demon King Castle.
Despite this, its security showed no signs of negligence.
Many layers of large security nets protected the castle, and if an enemy army was ever spotted, the demonic forces were ready to intercept them at a moment’s notice.

One day, an urgent message arrived at the castle from one the ‘net’ closest to the Human Race Territory.

“Your Majesty! Urgent news!”

“How noisy. What is going on?”

Eligor Romariel, the incumbent Demon King, had been in his office when a guard suddenly stormed in.

“Just a moment ago, we received news from one of the border forts! According to the report, a gargantuan dragon is making a beeline towards this castle!”

“A dragon, you say?”

“Yes, Sire! An ominous, jet black dragon.”

The report silenced the Demon King, who had seemingly fallen into silent recollection of something. But before he could organise his thoughts, a question from the guard scattered them.

“What shall we do, Sire?”

“If it is navigating the skies then our security nets will be of no use. Have the troops gather in the direction of the dragon! Also, have Renarve, Vikuto, and Ijido come as well. I shall also head there immediately.”

Giving a passing glance at the guard who hurried away, the Demon King began preparing his equipment.

*imouto*

By the time the Demon King had appeared in the castle’s eastern quadrant, the guards had already finished preparing.
Troops with shields stood on the ground, and formed the vanguard to oppose the dragon’s aerial attacks, whilst the mage troops stood within the castle walls. The frontline troops were to serve as a decoy, and the mages were to concentrate their attacks while the dragon was distracted.
Although they had suddenly been gathered here, the soldiers showed no signs of panic, and calmly arranged themselves. Their actions reflected the preparedness and level of training of the Demon Race.
And the ones who directly commanded them were the Four Heavenly Kings who served as the Demon King’s close aides.

“Vanguard, how goes the preparation of your shields!”

“They are ready, Renarve-sama!”

“Mage Unit, I assume that all of you are here?”

“Yessir, everybody is present!”

Violent Gale Knight Renarve was commanding the frontline, whilst Bloodfrost General Vikuto was in charge of the backline. On the other hand, Adamantite Earth Demon Ijido was using earth magic to form a protective wall for the decoy frontline.

“How is your wall coming along?”

“Yeah, I’m all done here.”

Ijido answered Vikuto with a smirk.
After that, the Demon King came along.

“Have you all finished preparing?”

“Why if it isn’t His Majesty. Yes, we are all ready.”

The Demon King responded with a nod, before looking up towards the Eastern skies. Renarve, Vikuto and Ijido too, had their eyes pinned to the skies.

“By our fastest estimates, it should be arriving any time now.”

“Honestly, on the day that our Princess is coming back…”

“Speaking of which, she’s leaving for home today, isn’t she.”

“Indeed. We received her message last night.”

“………”

“Your Majesty? Is something the matter?”

“No, only, I feel as though I have forgotten something, and yet…”

Once again, the Demon King fell into thought just as he did the time the guard interrupted. But once again, something interrupted him. This time however, that something was also the answer to his questions.

“!? We have a visual!”

Renarve spotted the incoming black mass and yelled to warned the troops.

“Is that it? …Hm?”

“That’s… Don’t tell me…”

“That dragon!?”

“Hahh? The heck are you guys on about?”

Because the Demon King, Renarve and Vikuto were all familiar with that figure, they immediately guessed the situation. It was the Black Dragon that they had once battled in the dungeon known as the “Holy Land of the Evil God”. And if they considered Leonora’s homecoming plans, it was simple to guess what was happening.
On the other hand, only Ijido was panicked from having no idea what was happening.

“Renarve-sama, Vikuto-sama, please give us the signal to attack!”

“W-, Wait a moment! You mustn’t attack!”

“Huh?”

“Riding that dragon is──”

The black shadow approached with incredible speed, and in no time transformed from a dot into a massive silhouette, and before long it easily crushed Ijido’s prided wall and landed with a boom.
The frontline soldiers hurriedly formed an arc before the dragon, but because their superiors had given no attack orders, they were standing there confused.
However, that confusion was met with Vikuto’s next line.

“──Princess Leonora!”

As though responding to his shout, a girl made herself visible from the blind spot on the Black Dragon’s back.
But unlike Vikuto’s words, that girl was not Leonora.

Naturally, everyone there had been looking at the Black Dragon.
And because of that, you could call it natural that everybody there turned to look a the girl.
The Demon King, Renarve, Vikuto, Ijido, everybody without exception looked at the girl. Or rather, they were forced to see her.

Glossy black hair, and a bewitching black rose dress. Light armour at her chest, and noble features on her face. Yet, what made far more of an impression were her eyes. Those black, murky eyes, so ominous that they caused hallucinations, were now overlooking everybody on scene, and gripping their hearts with terror.
It was because these troops were the elites of their race that they so deeply sensed her power. The Demon King had always been the strongest existence in their hearts. The mastodonian Black Dragon emitted an unbelievable sense of pressure. And yet the despair that the girl’s eyes elicited easily surpassed them both.

And the Demon King and his adjutants were no exception. Leaving Ijido aside, all the other members knew that this girl would be coming, and they knew from Leonora’s reports about the girl’s mystic eyes. But although they knew, they still found themselves unable to suppress the instinctual horror that their bodies felt.

Given the circumstances, anybody faint of heart would have immediately fled in panic. The fact that they were not a single soldier less was worthy of praise.
But their strength of heart instead cornered them. Their minds were telling them not to run, but their instincts were telling them to flee. The contradictory born from this wore away at their minds.

And eventually, unable to bear with the terror any longer, all of them naturally took the same pose. It was a pose where they placed both hands and knees on the ground, and lowered their head to match; the posture of greatest apology, passed down since ancient times.

“O-, Oi, Anri!? You’ve forgotten to put your mask on!”

“………Ah.”

Anri’s Mystic Eyes of Wicked Authority fully demonstrated the ‘average’ power that was capable of forcing a Demon King to dogeza.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Things started with some trouble, but Anri put on her mask, and the dogeza festival came to an end.
The gathered troops dispersed, the two girls were invited into the castle, and just as originally planned, they had dinner with the Demon King. The participants were Anri, Demon King Eligor, Leonora, and the Heavenly Generals Renarve and Vikuto.

*imouto*

*imouto*

Around that time, Ijido was busy repairing the damaged eastern grounds.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Fumu, it seems that as long as one does not look directly at them, the eyes have no effect.”

“I’ve put a mask on, so there it’s all fine now.”

While drinking the soup from the full course menu, the Demon King chatted with Anri. Because her mask was the type that covered only the eyes, there was no problem eating her food. The mask was an extraordinary item, designed so that although things were invisible from the outside, she could see clearly from within.
Because her mystic eyes only displayed an effect with eye contact, as long as she wore this mask, nobody would suddenly prostrate or run away from her.

“When you have that mask on, you seem just like a normal girl.”

“I am normal.”

“Heh. So a VIP of a thearchy who used to be an Evil God, and is still acquainted with the divines, is what you would call a normal girl, huh.”

Like this, the dinner continued peacefully as the Demon King and Anri enjoyed their chat together.

*imouto*

*imouto*

Around that time, Black Dragon Vardneel had begun to help Ijido fix the ground. Making use of his huge body, he stepped down on the ground to harden it.

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Speaking of which, there is something I must thank you for.”

“Thank me for?”

“Umu. It is about my daughter, Leonora.”

“Fath-! Your Majesty!?”

Leonora had been quietly eating dinner on the side when she panicked from the topic suddenly changing to her.

“I was unable to prepare Leonora any friends. Even if I ordered somebody to, they would only be a retainer. You could hardly call them a true friend.”

“Father…”

“I wished to thank you for becoming her friend.”

“It isn’t something to thank me for. I’m the one who asked.”

“Heh, is that how it was.”

The Demon Princess, the Demon King, and the girl who was once an Evil God.
Each of them had unique positions in the world, but for this moment, they were simply a girl, her father, and her friend who had come for dinner.

*imouto*

*imouto*

While this was happening, Ijido and Vardneel’s cooperation had somehow succeeded in restoring the eastern grounds.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

It should be noted that though Anri’s mask was the best method of sealing her mystic eyes, nothing came without a price. In exchange for the powerful effect of its enchantment, it also came with a curse.
Unlike the Tantou of the Wicked Demon, or the Black Clothes of the Evil God, it wasn’t as though she couldn’t take it off, but this mask──the Black Mask of Unsealing──had the annoying effect of unsealing the limiter on one’s emotions. To put it plainly, it made it difficult to control one’s feelings. Because of that, it had the result of blabbing out all sorts of things that one wouldn’t normally.

“I’m really glad that I met Leonora. I want to stay by her side forever.”

“A-, Anri!?”

“Muu… Isn’t that going a little far? Leonora is the heir to the throne, and so she must bear an heir, but…”

And so, although you would feel nothing about saying such things while the mask was on, the moment that you took it off, you would be assaulted with shame.
It was arranged for Anri to stay the night in the castle, but that evening she would end up writhing about atop her bed for quite a while.

*imouto*

*imouto*

Around that time, Ijido and Vardneel had begun to drink happily together.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Umm, would it be all right if I asked a question?”

“What a coincidence, Renarve. I too had something to ask…”

Waiting for a break in the conversation, the previously silent Renarve and Vikuto suddenly spoke up together.

“Mn? What’s the matter, you two?”

The two of them were looking at Leonora’s chest together.

“W-, What’s with you two…?”

Because they were so openly staring at her, by reflex she covered her chest with the thing on her lap. But what they were staring at was not her bountiful breasts, but the thing that she used to cover it.

*imouto*

*imouto*

“”Why have you been holding that doll all this time?””

“Huh!? So I was! I’ve been carrying it all the time lately, so I forgot I even had it! Y-, You’re wrong… This isn’t by choice! There are some compelling circumstances behind this!”

What they were staring at was the doll that had been in Leonora’s hands, and that she was now using to hide her chest. Ever since she had returned here, she had always been carrying it around with her, so naturally passerbys had all noticed and wondered. Because of her status however, it wasn’t possible for them to casually ask her about it.
To be specific, the doll that she was carrying was the Symbol of Capture from the battle of three gods, the cursed Tena doll. Ever since she carelessly touched it, Anri had left the curse alone as punishment. Because she forgot about it and left the temple, afterwards it was harder for her to meet with the divine Anri, and the curse was never lifted.

“Fumu, I did tell you to find some more womanly hobbies but… is that your taste?”

“You’re wrong! You’re wrong, father!”

The cursed Tena doll was creepy no matter who you asked, and couldn’t be considered girly no matter what.

“Leonora’s become so fond of it that she won’t part from it.”

“Fumu, I see… But well, I will not do something as boorish as commenting on my daughter’s taste and past-times.”

“I said that was wrong…! Or rather, Anri! This is nine-tenths your fault, isn’t it!?”

The rumours of the doll-carrying Demon Princess had quickly spread through the demons’ lands, and by this point it was already impossible to suppress the rumours.
And this was how the legend of the Doll Princess began.

---

TL Note:

<Magic Flame Princess, Leonora>

With the achievement of establishing diplomatic relations with the Holy Anri Thearchy, she inherited the throne of the Demon King at a young age.
She became the mediator for the two nations, and was adored by even the humans, who were originally the enemy.
In addition, due to the fact that she was forced to continue holding the doll and was unable to part from it, she gained aliases such as “Doll Princess” and “The Truth Is, the Doll Is Her Real Body” etc.

“I told you that was wrong, didn’t I!?”

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Side Story 5 – A Certain Servant’s Return Home

“You want to go back to your old village?”

It was a little while after they had settled down in the Black Rose Mansion that Tena had told Anri as such.

“Yes. I had always been hesitant about it, but in the end I really do want to meet with my family once.”

When she had first begun living with Anri, they had discussed this matter as well, but at the time she hadn’t been able to settle her feelings yet, and they postponed the visit. It was natural that she held complex feelings about being sold as a slave, but with time, she was able to sort them out.
And being the case, Anri had only one possible reply.

“Got it. I’ll be fine here, so don’t worry and go.”

There were plenty of things that she’d be troubled with if Tena wasn’t here to do the housework, but if it was just for a short while, then she would manage somehow, which is why Anri easily gave her consent. After all, it wasn’t as though Anri herself couldn’t do housework, and Leonora was here too. Even the young Lili had recently begun to help out around the house, so Anri judged there was no problem.
And so, Anri tried to send Tena off, but Tena herself gave an unexpected reply.

“Umm… If possible, I would like to introduce you to my family, Anri-sama, but is that no good?”

“……………Eh?”

Had anyone else been in the room, they would very probably have tried to stop this, but for better or for worse, it was only the two of them in the room.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

It was a small village, a few days’ carriage from Riemel Town. Almost nobody visited the village, save the occasional merchants, or a pastor from the Church of Sacred Light, and in this village arrived a single luxurious horse-carriage.

Before the eyes of the villagers staring in curiosity, opened the door of the carriage, and from there alighted two girls.
The moment the villagers saw the face of one of the girls, they immediately formed a ring around her at a distance.
The reason was simple; an angular black mask covered her eyes. Together with her entirely black dress with its bewitching design, there was nothing that could be more suspicious, and it couldn’t be helped that the villagers were wary.
Because of how much impact the girl had, the gazes of the villagers completely ignored the girl who they normally would have been concentrating on.

“Umm…”

“? …Tena? Aren’t you Tena!?”

Tena timidly raised her voice, and finally noticing her, the villagers let out cries of surprise.
It was a small village to begin with, and everybody knew each other. All of them remembered the girl who had been sold as a slave. Once one of them noticed her, villagers tried to draw near her, one after another.
But overwhelmed by the strange girl standing next to her, they couldn’t come near and instead stood around a little distance away.

“So you were fine, Tena…”

“Yes, Roi-san.”

A man in the prime of his life called out to Tena, and with that as the impetus, all the other villagers began calling out to her as well.

“Thank goodness. Everybody was so worried for you.”

“Muer-obaasan…”

An old lady with a cane spoke to Tena in tears, and Tena’s eyes became watery as well.

“Tena-oneechan!”

“I’m sorry, Epina.”

A girl around Lili’s age ran up to Tena, hugging her, and Tena stroked her head with a gentle smile.

“………………”

“………………”

And then, silence fell.
All of the villagers were in joy at their reunion with Tena, but because the girl next to her was on their minds, they couldn’t concentrate.
All of them wanted to push the task onto somebody else, and nobody could say the words, but finally the man from before──Roi, timidly asked,

“By the way, who is that person?”

Once again, all the gazes fell onto the girl, but she simply stood there calmly, showing no signs of being overwhelmed.

“Ah, this personage is my master, Anri-sama.”

A commotion ran through the villagers.
After looking back and forth between the faces of the masked Anri, and Tena, complicated expressions appeared on their faces.

The villagers knew that Tena had been sold as a slave.
Being a beauty, even despite her age, had her master been a man, his intention would have been clear, and the villagers would likely have turned their hostility on him.
On this point, the master in question was a young-looking woman, and Tena seemed to be fond of her as well. Tena was somebody close to them, and she couldn’t have been sold to a better person. Normally, the villagers should have welcomed this.
However…

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

──What on earth was that mask!?

So wondered every single villager there.

Whether her age, or her sex, she seemed to be the safest and most fortunate master possible for Tena, but just that suspicious mask on her face weighed on their minds.
They wanted to ask why she was wearing such a mask. They wanted to ask, but once they considered that it might be disrespectful, in the end they couldn’t bring it up.
To begin with, looking at the carriage she arrived in, and the dress that she was wearing, there was no mistaking that she was a powerful person with a considerable sum of assets. If they incurred her displeasure, it was possible that a small village like this would be very simply crushed… Having considered that, the villagers couldn’t give voice to their question.

The truth was that the girl──Anri, was simply an adventurer in Fortera, to which this village belonged to, and leaving aside her substantial connections to the Holy Anri Thearchy, she actually had no official authority at all. However, the villagers had no way of knowing this.

In the end, the villagers didn’t bring up Anri’s mask, and the two of them headed towards Tena’s house.

After parting from the villagers, Tena and Anri came to a stop in front of a house. Even now the villagers were worrying about them at a distance, but the two girls hadn’t noticed.
The house was a cosy one built from wood, and it seemed as though quite some time had passed since its construction, because it was damaged here and there.

“This place?”

“Yes, this is my… this is the house that my family lives in.”

Tena couldn’t bring herself to say 『my house』. Her brows were curved in a difficult expression.
She stood there in front of the door, and stared at the doorknob.

“Not going to go in?”

“…I’ll, be opening it now.”

Anri gently prompted her, and as though finding her courage, Tena tightly clenched her hand before reaching out to open the door.
However, before she could do so, a voice called out to her from the side.

“…………Tena?”

Standing there was a blonde woman in the latter half of her thirties, clad in simple clothes. Her expression seemed to say that she simply couldn’t believe it, and she stared at Tena.

“Mum!”

Tena had hesitated at opening the door, but it seemed that her desire to meet with her family was stronger after all. Tena ran in tears to the woman, and tightly embraced her.
Tena’s mother was dumbfounded for a while, but eventually realising that this was real, she wept and hugged Tena back.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Noticing voices in front of the door, the rest of the family went out to investigate as well, and after hugging each other in tears at the miraculous reunion, they invited Anri and Tena into the house.
Sitting at the table, Tena recounted her experiences thus far. About being sold to the slave merchants, and almost losing her life to a fatal disease, and upon hearing her treatment until she was sold to Anri as a slave, Tena’s family burst into tears.

“Tena… Tena, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Tena’s father lowered his head to the table and apologised, but Tena calmly shook her head.

“It’s fine, Dad. I know that if I wasn’t sold that day, I would have just starved to death anyway. And thanks to that, I was able to meet with Anri-sama and the others, so… it’s fine already.”

When Tena said so, her father tightly held her hands from across the table, and holding his head against them, he cried.

*imouto*

After crying for a while, this time her father lowered his head to Anri.

“You saved Tena, didn’t you. Thank you very much! Thank you very much!”

“Thank you very much!”

“Thank you very much!”

“Thank you, Oneechan!”

Her father, her mother, her older brother and then younger brother all began thanking Anri in a bow.

Anri had been spaced out, and sipping tea while watching the family’s reunion without much involvement, but now that they all began focusing on her she fell into confusion and panic.
Raising her hands towards them, she spoke.

“It wasn’t really… anything special.”

Anri said that and tried to downplay herself, but the family’s looks of gratitude were unchanging.
While the back and forth between thanks and modesty continued for a while, eventually somebody asked a certain question.

“Hey, hey, why are you wearing a mask?”

“H-, Hey now!”

Because Tena’s little brother was still young, he innocently voiced the question that the villagers couldn’t.
His mother tried to stop him in a panic, but it was too late.

“Why, you ask? Well…”

There were two reasons that Anri was wearing a mask; the first was to prevent the effect of her mystic eyes from invoking, while the second was out of fear of the consequences of having the same face as a god.
However, if she was to explain these things, then it would require her to touch upon her skills, as well as her relationship with the Evil God.
Just a while ago when Tena recounted her experiences to her family, she introduced Anri as a daughter of a mage family who was presently conducting research in Riemel.
By now it was too difficult to explain the truth.

“Well…”

“Well?”

Anri cut her words short as though in teasing. In reality she was simply troubled on how to answer, but from an outsider’s point of view, it plainly looked like she was building up the suspense.
Everybody in the room waited on Anri’s words.
Even the mother that had tried to stop her son’s rudeness a while ago seemed to be curious as well, because like the rest of her family, she was watching Anri’s every action.

“Well…”

“Well?”

Because Anri was being so suggestive with her words, even Tena who supposedly knew the truth found herself leaning forward in anticipation.
With no way to take back her words, Anri declared the only reason she could come up with.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Because it’s, cool?”

Hearing that reply after all the suspense, everyone besides the youngest boy fell over with astonishment.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it have been good if you stayed there longer?”

“No, it is fine. Staying there any longer would have made the farewell difficult, so…”

After saying farewell to Tena’s family who kept inviting them to stay in their reluctance to part, Anri asked Tena that question.

“And also, right now my house… is the Black Rose Mansion.”

“…I see. Alright then.”

After those last words, a gentle silence filled the returning carriage.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

“U-, Um! I also think that your mask is cool, Anri-sama!”

“…Mn. Thanks.”

---

Even though it was supposed to be a moving reunion scene, because everybody was focused on Masked Anri, they couldn’t concentrate.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>