Chapter 194
Pastel tidied up the messy office together with the Good Fairy.
She aligned the last of the documents and dusted off her hands.
"Cleaning is finished!"
The Fairy shouted along.
―Cleaning finished!
Clean-Clean.
They applauded, clap, clap, clap.
"Fairy, when you were corrupted, I was so desperate about what to do, but I'm so glad we solved it with our friendship!"
―The Good Fairy's heart isn't swayed by wicked thoughts!
"That's true! Only a naturally evil being would commit such a cost-ineffective act as the extinction of humanity, casually, and you're not like that, Fairy!"
―Exactly!
It was a wonder how the corrupted fairy had come to seriously pursue such a thing. Did the Church brainwash the good fairy race?
Just as a coin has two sides, casting different shadows, the situation had been completely flipped on its head!
But doesn't the Church also fall under the category of humanity?
Hmm.
Beyond being cost-ineffective, it was a matter in which the value of interests clashed.
According to Lord Demon, the Church didn't worship the Evil God but rather made deals with the Evil God to fulfill its desires, yet this was a contradictory move.
Could it be that the good fairies were corrupted, but even so, they couldn't escape the Church's grasp and were destined to be eagerly used and then thrown away?
Oh dear.
I can only make bad predictions for the fairy race.
Taking a break, Pastel looked back at the Fairy, who was munching on a magic stone.
"Fairy, when you were corrupted, you called the Fairy God the Evil God worshipped by the Church. What was that about? They can't possibly be the same being, right?"
The Fairy froze, eyes wide with surprise. magic stone powder fell from her small mouth.
She was speechless for a moment before putting on a shocked expression.
―How could this be! No matter how corrupted I was, I should not have mistaken the Fairy God for the Evil God! The Fairy God is a being of pure morality just like me, incomparably good! A title like Evil God doesn't suit them at all! If I had to call them anything, it'd be something like a good Outer God!
The Fairy gave a thumbs-up.
―There's no way the Fairy God is actually the Evil God!
I knew it!
My thoughts must have been right!
"Then the Church really is deceiving the fairies! The corrupted fairies mistakenly believe they are acting autonomously with the goal of humanity's extinction, but in the end, they are brainwashed into worshipping the Evil God and are just being used by the Church!"
The Fairy's eyes widened.
―There was such a setting that even I didn't know about...?
"It must be true! Otherwise, there's no way the Church would leave those insolent fairies alone! No matter how much the fairies keep their mouths shut among themselves, if they're all pursuing the same goal, word is bound to leak out! And yet, if they aren't sanctioning them, it's not much different from saying there's no need to sanction them!"
This means that all the actions they take, thinking it's for the extinction of humanity, are merely actions that align with the Church's interests.
Then, at some point, when they try to cross the line after all their efforts, it would actually be the moment the Church decides on the disposal of the fairy race.
The Fairy marveled.
―That sounds about right! After all, there's no way good fairies could be bad to the bone! They're definitely being used!
"Ugh!"
Pastel trembled, clenching both her fists.
"Evil Church!"
I don't know what kind of person Dad is to hold a high-ranking position in a place like that!
Even if he resurrects Mom haphazardly like that, he'll only get slapped in the face!
"Fairy! For what purpose did the Church try to obtain the magic stone Mine?"
When the Fairy was corrupted, she definitely said that magic stones were imbued with the power of the Evil God. The fact that they specifically injected such information to brainwash them meant there was a very high possibility it was true.
"Maybe they want to inject the power of the Evil God through a massive number of magic stones and grant a powerful wish?"
The Fairy, who had gone back to munching on the magic stone, froze in the exact posture of trying to put the magic stone into her mouth.
She glanced around and quietly put the magic stone down.
―W-Well? Ah! That's right! Fairies are inherently a good race, so we can purify the power of the Evil God and absorb it as good energy!
The Fairy pointed at Pastel.
―Just like how you can probably consume magic stones because you have a pure native body! I don't know about a powerful wish, but even evil magic stones can be used as food! Whether corrupted or not!
The Fairy admired herself and then put the magic stone back into her mouth.
I guess it's not a powerful wish.
Then, is it similar to preparing military supplies before starting something big, like preparing a large amount of food before a war?
Oh dear.
I can't imagine what they're trying to do.
No, more than that, why are the stones perfectly mined from the underground mine imbued with the power of the Evil God?
Isn't the Personal God the landlord here? The landlord is clearly present, so how did the Evil God exercise authority in the underground depths?
The Corrupted Fairy said the Personal God died pathetically.
But the Great Temple said they were perfectly alive, and even Lord Demon, who was chased on charges of deicide, was dumbfounded upon hearing that news.
Lord Demon: They didn't even die, so why was I chased? It's not like I wanted the god's authority and stole it; the Personal God forced it on me themself, so it's ridiculous. And now they've forgotten my existence and aren't even giving any revelations about my reinstatement, let alone any related revelations. What are they trying to do?
In the first place, the recent prophecy to prepare because the Demon King would destroy the Empire was also given by the Personal God.
They're perfectly alive.
I don't understand.
Then again, there's no need to inject only accurate information unconditionally when brainwashing fairies.
The Good Fairy didn't deny the story that magic stones were imbued with the power of the Evil God, so that seems correct, but the story that the Personal God died is a lie.
They say ignorance is bliss. It seems to be used to incite the brainwashed fairies to act recklessly without even knowing there's a landlord.
That must be it!
Pastel nodded to herself as she took a snack-use magic stone out of her pocket.
"I don't know what the Evil Cult is trying to do, but as long as the Good Fairy and I are together, we can overcome any adversity!"
She popped the Magic Stone into her mouth.
Mumbling/chewing sound.
A junk-food-like sweetness spread.
―Absolutely!
The Fairy also actively agreed and munched together with her on her Magic Stone.
Nom, nom.
#
The Demon Realm Continent exists underground.
If you depart from the Empire on an airship and head toward the Demon Realm, the height displayed on the instrument panel as an altitude of N meters gradually decreases. At Sky Island, the surface height becomes 0, and by the time you reach the Demon Realm, you can see the indicator change to underground N meters.
Throughout the flight, all you see above is the sky and all you see below is the sea, so a person wouldn't be able to physically feel the movement.
However, this artificial world designed by a god was made to achieve mutual balance by placing the Empire on the highland, the Demon Realm in the underground, and the Sky Island in the middle.
The magic stone mine was a place where miners dug further into that subterranean continent to extract magic stones located deep within.
At one time, it was also the front line of the free spirit, exploring what lay beyond if it pierced through the underground of this flat artificial world, but now it is a lair for those blinded by money.
And Pastel, the person most blinded by money in the world, arrived at the mine with a thump-thump, pit-a-pat heart.
The carriage, which had brought a large-scale escort including the Sky Island Knights, came to a halt.
The door opened, and Pastel jumped down, hopping.
"This is the gem mine where it is said digging the ground yields gold-value treasures!"
As of today, it's mine!
Blushing, she hurriedly ran over.
A massive, wide-open pit leading underground could be seen below. It was dug so deep that the bottom of the pit couldn't even be gauged. Along the inner walls of the pit, magic lighting and stairs formed a gentle curve, continuing toward the underground.
A cool underground wind erupted. Her pink hair fluttered.
Gasp.
It looked different from the mine she had somehow imagined.
It wasn't a mine with an entrance pierced into a high, high mountain and mine cart rails going in along that entrance.
Pastel, who had been excited at the thought of riding a mine cart, fell into a state of 'Ueh'.
Ugh?
[Don't just run out as you please. Even if we bring the Knights Order to prepare for a Church assassination, it's useless if the person in question doesn't act properly.]
Lord Demon, who had hurriedly chased after her, sighed.
"Gasp, that's true."
Pastel clung tightly to Lord Demon's arm. She looked around swiftly, keeping her guard up.
It had been a long time since a part of the Knights Order had departed early on to thoroughly investigate and control the inside, but there was no knowing if the Church, harboring a grudge over losing the mine, might carry out a super ultra assassination operation.
Full Alert! Full Alert!
Suddenly, a group with fierce impressions and bulging muscles ran over hurriedly.
"Gasp, assassination?!"
Pastel hid behind Lord Demon.
The representative of the group stopped and bowed.
"Governor-General Kraft! Welcome!"
They were employees.
Hehe.
Looking closely, Melissa, who had arrived beforehand, was also there next to the fierce group.
Double hehe.
After exchanging greetings, they entered the building next to the pit and completed a few entry procedures. Of course, they also listened to the safety precautions.
A little while later, Pastel was able to look down elegantly at the mine pit.
She clasped her hands behind her back and set the mood. Her melancholy pink eyes looked down at the underground. Wind blew through the dim space where the lights twinkled like stars.
So this was the wicked den where the Evil God's power dwelled.
Gunshots rang out faintly at intervals. Hadn't they said it wasn't all that safe, since lots of underground animals had been affected by the Magic Stones?
Phew.
Even a battle-hardened hero like me, who had overcome every kind of hardship, couldn't help being nervous.
An underground wind gusted up.
A murky energy that seemed ready to swallow the surface world.
So this was true evil.
Pastel drew in a breath.
She caught a thick, sweet smell.
Oing.
Smells delicious!
Turns out it was a dessert den all along~!
The corners of her mouth went all loose and giggly.
I'll have to ask Lord Demon to make me a cake with fresh Magic Stones!
Oh yeah!