I clicked my tongue and turned the page. After that, it was full of methods to distinguish the fake gold of the Golden Realm, the limits of alchemy, and techniques to be careful of.
- Did he even create food? Even the grace of the Heavenly God and the Earth Mother?
Especially from some point on, it focused on the crops produced by the Golden Realm. Beneath the hastily written exclamations of horror, the investigated content was described in a somewhat stable handwriting.
- The crops produced by the Golden Realm are unnatural. If humans eat them, it causes huge problems. The less the body has grown, meaning the younger the child, the greater the problem.
- It is a fortunate thing. No, perhaps it is only natural. Crops crudely imitated by alchemy cannot be healthy.
After that, the author seemed excited, writing about this and that, but the sentences gradually grew shorter, and at the end, a small sentence was added.
- According to Fran's research, the side effects decrease the more the Golden Realm's crops are fermented or denatured. If starvation seems truly unbearable... I do not recommend it, but consume it only after processing it as much as possible.
- Beware of Homunculi. This land must not end up like the Duchy across the mountains.
And then there was a detailed discussion on how to process the food and how to collect and dispose of the Golden Realm's food. A being that follows behind the Golden Realm, harvesting and processing its crops all at once. To anyone, it looked like a model for the Lord of Suppression. Perhaps feeling a bit upset about compromising with reality, there wasn't much talk about crops afterwards. Instead, it seemed their interest turned to other matters.
- Alchemy is certainly dangerous, but when used properly, it is efficient. The power to freely process steel drastically reduced the facilities and resources needed for metallurgy. In particular, reducing the time taken for trial and error to a fraction of a second lessened the burden on the Sages.
- Sage Fran argued for the active use of alchemy. Since it has already been revealed to the world, it cannot be hidden. I agree, but we must always be careful when using this power.
- If alchemy can turn imagination into reality, then perhaps our ideals can also be turned into reality.
The Holy See doesn't just reject the Demon Gods. They merely fear the irreversible changes that break the existing order; when it comes to using the power of the Demon Gods, they are ahead of everyone else. Because they are the group that has gathered the most power of the Demon Gods in the world, and the one that utilizes it best.
Thus, those blessed by fate steadily developed Claudia. While Claudia's brilliant leap continued under the protection of the Holy See, which blessed the future...
- Fran. I told you to be so careful. Why did you...
I saw a single sentence filled with dark despair. Sage Fran. The person most frequently mentioned in this notebook, and the technician who laid the foundation of Claudia. He must have been a sage dispatched to assist the owner of this notebook... But why is such a text left behind?
- It is rather a relief. Lightning originally belongs to the Heavenly God. If it was going to appear someday anyway.
- Just one more thing to protect. I will become the Lord of Thunder, and protect the lightning.
And after this, the notebook turned into a thick manual. It was a guidebook explaining how to use the Thunder Mill to move the city. Unlike before, no background circumstances were written down. It just calmly continued with explanations.
As if the speaker had changed in the middle, it intentionally killed all emotion and only filled in information. Here and there, traces of having written and then erased could be seen. They must have erased inappropriate content while rereading it.
Tch. If only I were human, I could have read it easily, but I am not the king of notebooks.
Anyway, one thing became certain.
Like many other gods, the Thunder God became a part of the Heavenly God. It might not have originally been so, but now it is a part of the Heavenly God. Like the old faiths dismissed as myths and folktales, it will melt into the sky and be used as a servant to illuminate the Heavenly God. All thanks to the Holy See stealing the lightning.
Flipping through the pages, I soon reached the last page. No other information was visible. At the bottom of the notebook, these words remained:
- ...A successor is needed. A powerful and special being to guard all these secrets from generation to generation.
As I was ruminating on those words for a moment, the basement door flew open. The guardian of the city, who had pushed open the iron door with lightning, glared at me with a faint flush of anger.
"I don't recall giving you permission to come here. What's going on?"
Tch. As expected, her response is fast. I hurriedly turned around and said.
"That's why I sneaked in secretly, so how did you know to come? The Thunder God hunt is in full swing outside right now. Structurally, there's no way I could be caught."
"I felt as if a bug was gnawing inside my body. An incredibly ticklish and annoying feeling kept persisting, so I came looking... I never expected a thief to sneak in during this gap."
Hey, the Thunder God hunt is in full swing outside! You just dropped everything because a bug crawled inside you? You should have stubbornly endured it and solved it later!
It's useless to complain. Because this proves a certain fact.
Objectively and subjectively, the Lord of Thunder shouldn't have been able to come looking for me. With a showdown between the Thunder God and the Returnee happening right above, how could she pay attention to here? She didn't even have the leeway to pay attention. I never even imagined someone would do so.
But the Lord of Thunder came looking very quickly, even in this impossible situation.
A simple coincidence? Animalistic intuition?
Such things don't happen so conveniently. Same for me, and same for my opponent. If I picked the strongest hand and bet it, and the opponent just happened to reveal a Joker, that's not a once-in-a-lifetime misfortune, but being rigged. I'm a veteran, so you'd better believe me.
This is not intuition, but revelation.
Like a priest receiving the call of a saint, or a signalman receiving a transmission. Someone told her, so she came looking. Otherwise, the discontinuity in her thought process can't be explained!
Anyway, I'm caught red-handed. Since I'm already caught, there's no way to deny it. I said,
"Lord of Thunder. There is a truth I have learned."
The Lord of Thunder flatly dismissed it.
"Truths obtained through unjust methods have no legitimacy."
"But it's still the truth, right? Shouldn't you at least listen?"
I was about to open my mouth, but the Lord of Thunder, brimming with killing intent, showed no signs of listening to me. She was approaching step by step with clear hostility. However, before she could reach me, the Lord of Thunder encountered a small obstacle.
"L-Lord of Thunder..."
Jerry, who had been collapsed, grabbed the hem of the Lord of Thunder's clothes and whimpered.
"T-That person is saying bad things. Saying that you, Lord of Thunder, make the children hurt."
The Lord of Thunder's footsteps stopped. Unable to bring herself to shake off the small hand grasping her hem, she turned and comforted Jerry.
"Jerry. Don't listen to him. We are not wrong."
"Right? T-That person lied, right?"
"That is..."
"Isn't it? Lord of Thunder. You could have saved these children, couldn't you?"
Using the opening Jerry created, I pierced her weak spot with the sharpest words. I created a crack in the face of the Lord of Thunder, who had seemed so perfect that she couldn't even be scratched.
"The disabilities occurring in the Burning Nation are because the food produced by the Golden Realm mixes into the body. As the body grows, it becomes twisted or ruined. You know this too, which is why you are cultivating food at the lightning rod, aren't you?"
If one were to classify the Lord of Thunder as good or evil, she would definitely be good. Her sense of duty and actions were all for the city. There was no malice in it. Taking care of these children was also ultimately out of good intentions.
"But, you know, right? If mixing is the problem, then you just shouldn't mix them."
However, while she had good intentions in her heart, as she followed the contents written in the notebook exactly, something became greatly distorted.
"Someone went out of their way to gather the newlyweds and children of the Burning Nation together and provided them with food, resulting in an endless stream of disabilities in the Burning Nation."
Others might not know. But one person, the Lord of Thunder of Claudia, knows that fact. Because she is the beneficiary, and at the same time, the culprit.
If the two mix, disabilities occur. Then naturally, over time, the two would separate so they don't mix. That is the proper order of things.
However, because someone artificially mixed the two, the dark shadow hanging over the Burning Nation is still ongoing even now, hundreds of years later.
"Humans can do anything. But, was this really the result you wanted? Continuously passing down the curse lingering in the Burning Nation to future generations?"
"Shut up."
"It's not, right? If it were, there would be no reason for you to go out of your way to take care of these children."
The crying sounds of the children gradually grew louder. The shadow of disaster rampant throughout the Burning Nation. The Lord of Thunder, who had neglected it while also protecting it, was glaring at me as if looking at an enemy. Receiving her resentful gaze, I asked her a question.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not particularly blaming or condemning you. I just want to ask your heart, Lord of Thunder. In your opinion, do you like what is written in this notebook?"
"We are not wrong. This notebook belongs to the first Lord of Thunder who created Claudia's order. Thanks to their efforts, Claudia has enjoyed prosperity."
"Do you really think so? Even though the tragedy of the Burning Nation has continued to occur within the order created by this notebook?"
"That is a problem caused by the existence of the Golden Realm. It is neither the responsibility of the previous Lord of Thunder, nor of Claudia."
"Well, let's say that's true. I don't plan on childishly passing the buck in an endless loop. Honestly, it's true that all the problems arose because the Golden Realm existed. But why are you still unable to be confident? What's the reason for hiding the children screaming in pain tightly away underground?"
To avoid the eyes of others? There's no reason for that. It is a well-known fact that of the children born in the Burning Nation, one-third die, one-third are born with disabilities, and only the remaining one-third are born outwardly normal. Having a child in the Burning Nation is equivalent to participating in a highly dangerous gamble.
In Claudia, where such pregnant women and children flock, there are bound to be many children who die or suffer due to disabilities. Instead, people would cheer and praise the Lord of Thunder for taking on the responsibility of caring for them. Everyone without exception.
"Isn't it just because you wanted to turn a blind eye, Lord of Thunder? Can you call that being confident?"
However, there is one person. The Lord of Thunder, who faced the truth, would want to bury her guilt of contributing to such a Burning Nation underground. Because she is not confident at all.
A shadow fell over the Lord of Thunder's face. Unable to bear seeing the respected Lord of Thunder being tormented, Jerry jumped up and cried out fiercely.
"Don't say bad things to the Lord of Thunder! The Lord of Thunder protects us... Lord of Thunder?"
The Lord of Thunder silently let go of Jerry's hand. A Thunder trainee who had once been similar to the Lord of Thunder but changed after not being chosen. The Lord of Thunder looked at the young child and fell into a brief thought.
'I am the chosen one. Until now, I have exercised my abilities to protect Claudia, just as written in the notebook. But, certainly... it is also true that there is the suffering of children in Claudia. As he said, it would be a lie if I didn't feel a sense of discomfort.'
...Such a thought definitely existed. I read that thought with telepathy.
The Lord of Thunder as a human sympathized with the suffering children and tried hard to protect them. It is the mindset of an arrogant but clearly good person.
'However, the world cannot be lived according to one's heart.'
But in a corner of the Lord of Thunder's mind, a different thought overflowed.
The flooding thoughts contained no human agony. The leader of Claudia, the guardian of the Burning Nation. And the one who receives the revelation of the Holy See. There are countless things to do, and the duty borne is far too great. With a single word or action from her, Claudia shakes. The responsibility that a mere human could not withstand turned her into a woman of iron.
"To protect a today no different from yesterday, that order must be maintained. If that is pain, then it is the original sin that those born on this land must endure."
Having cast off her agony, the Lord of Thunder spoke with a firm attitude.
"Sophistry. If the best you can say after coming all the way here is that sort of sophistry, then I'm disappointed."
I, who had been staring right into her mind, doubted my ears.
This was the Lord of Thunder who had just harbored human agony. But something flashed like lightning, and she threw all her agony beyond her consciousness and transformed into the Lord of Thunder. As if the Lord of Thunder was not human.
"Replacing the flesh with something created by another human. That is the Second Taboo, the Great Sin of Grafting. Even impious magicians are wary of the Homunculus Dilemma, and you're telling me to stand by and watch? To let all the humans of the Burning Nation fall under the clutches of the Golden Realm? To let them abandon the dignity that makes humans human?"
Her head rises. The power of thunder that had spread throughout her entire body gathers together once again. However, the direction it gathers is a little strange.
A bright yellow ring rises above the Lord of Thunder's head. A ring of electric current that looks too unstable to be called an angel's... is making an unpleasant noise.
"Rather than lowering the rank of humans, it is better to live bearing pain for a lifetime."
That appearance, possessing both power and arrogance, is no different from an angel. If one were to forcibly find a difference, it's that she is not summoning the form of an angel, but using her own flesh like an angel with thunder as a medium.
The one who looks the least like a human is talking about human dignity, how ironic. No matter how I look at it, you're the strangest one here!
"Isn't your own entire body made up of the Golden Realm's crops? You use that power to your heart's content, but others aren't allowed to? That's kicking away the ladder!"
"That is precisely why I must be special. Otherwise, instead of admiring my flesh and authority, humans will covet it. Everyone will scramble to fill their flesh with the Golden Realm's excrement. If all humans gained the same power as me, the order of the world would collapse like a toy!"
The Lord of Thunder's hair rises as if entwined with the ring of electric current. It looks like an angel wielding divine punishment, or perhaps a puppet dominated by the ring above her head. The hair that stopped rising spread out to the sides and fluttered up and down like wings.
The Lord of Thunder, glaring at me with eyes holding the light of lightning, received a new revelation and glared at me once more.
"Do you truly think it is fine for humans to lose that dignity, King of Humans?"
Seriously, now not only every dog and cow, but even rolling stones will recognize me and ask how I'm doing. Why don't you just spread the news?
Because the Fog Duchy is right next door, Claudia doesn't have a proper temple. The Lord of Thunder has never seen a temple in her life, nor does she know if theology exists as a field of study.
However, having received a revelation now, the Lord of Thunder was a more devout believer than anyone else, and a comrade sharing their will.
She, who was chosen by fate and became the Lord of Thunder with that opportunity and power...
"So you're from the Holy Sword Squad, Lord of Thunder. Tch, I asked a pointless question."
The Holy See's direct combat unit, the Holy Sword Squad, is chosen by fate.
No one orders them to become the Holy Sword Squad. They don't apply wanting to become the Holy Sword Squad either. They just live ordinarily among other humans, and at some point, they suddenly realize.
That they are the Holy Sword Squad, and that they have been chosen by fate. That the only one who can understand and affirm them is the Heavenly God.
The power accidentally gained, the teachings they believed and followed, the values they struggled to protect, the things they desperately desired. Realizing that all of it already exists, they follow the revelation.
"For the King of Humans, who must protect human dignity more than anyone, to abandon it. You truly should have disappeared."
What harsh words. Who do you think was born because they wanted to be born, or disappeared because they wanted to disappear? I snapped back,
"This is because you guys keep attaching weird titles to me, but just because I'm the King of Humans doesn't mean I'm a king, okay? A king who orders his subjects to do this and that one by one is a concept created by humans."
Even if you arbitrarily expect things from me, there's nothing I can do for you. Originally, I am the King of Beasts. When humans were beasts, I was the being that represented all of them... was.
Come to think of it, I am influenced by the entire human species. I'm a king in name only, rather doing all the dirty work, a figurehead promised unpaid labor since birth, you could say. Compared to that, your king has it so good. Changing humans as they please, I mean.
Well, that's probably why they drove out the King of Humans.
"Humans must be like this, they must keep their dignity? Where in the world are those 'humans must be' people you're thinking of? They don't seem like the humans I know. What is this dignity that you have to protect it? Is it emergency rations? If so, I wish you'd share some. Instead of hiding it away so tightly."
It was my pure true intention without a single lie, but the Lord of Thunder, who took it as sarcasm, responded with equal sarcasm.
"You don't care what happens to humans, how miserably they fall... Hmph, the word 'barbarian' suits you well."
"Whatever happens to humans, however miserably they fall. That is also human, isn't it. Unlike you, I don't deny it."
"And what if the city perishes? If morality disappears? If order collapses? If the things that protect humans vanish in an instant, what becomes of the humans left there?"
The Lord of Thunder swept her arm wide. Her fingers, now naturally imbued with lightning, pointed at the children nearby. Pointing at the crying children, she shouted as if vomiting blood.
"Golden Realm! Because that cursed Demon God destroyed the order of the Gold Nation, countless tragedies have taken root in this land! Unbearable power shouldn't be accepted. If it's a power that can break the world, it must never surface and disappear forever! Rather than causing countless deaths, chaos and fear, war and tragedy! It's better to bury it in the dirt and forget it completely!"
That is the way to protect order. After painstakingly building it up, eliminating everything that could break it. It's the method the Holy See likes.
"The Golden Realm was also human. An ordinary, single human."
Of course, it's a method I can never accept.
"Just because they bring change to the world, just because they are too powerful. If you're going to make them into a Demon God as if they are a being outside common sense, brand them, and make them a taboo so that even thinking about them is blocked..."
Denial, taboo, prohibition. Things that actually existed, but are now blocked so that they cannot even be dared to be recalled. Naming them Demon Gods is all for that purpose... Even so, I shrugged and continued.
"Well, it still doesn't matter. Because you are also human. I value your wishes too!"
A slight expectation rose to the Lord of Thunder's expression.