Chapter 85: Rest
[The Divine Cultivator of the Borderlands], which I had released at Duke Lucid’s request to destroy the public perception and image of black magicians, was—
To my surprise, showing results far beyond anything I had expected.
Not only had it achieved its initial goal of dragging the image of black magicians and evil gods down into the gutter, preventing the people from being deceived by them,
it had gone one step further and grown into a major incident: a full-scale operation to completely wipe out black magicians.
“When you pull weeds, you have to pull them out by the roots!
If we suffer a bit now and remove the roots as well, it will cost us far less in the long run.”
“Who knows how public opinion might change with time?
The moment when hostility toward them is at its peak, and reports are pouring in like now, is the perfect chance!”
“Author Wei went to all the trouble of creating this opportunity for us. Wouldn’t it be too shameful if we failed to make use of it?
Let’s all put our strength together.”
Much like the “War on Crime” from my previous life, a large-scale purge operation had been given the flashy unofficial title of the “War on Black Magic.”
And it was taking place here, in the otherworldly Kingdom of Justia.
Apparently, the operation to destroy the image of black magicians in my new work, [The Divine Cultivator of the Borderlands], had worked far too well.
Thanks to that, confessions, defections, and reports were pouring in from all over the kingdom.
Of course, there were also people who tried to opt out because they didn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters.
“What? You and your territory are going to withdraw from this joint operation?
Everyone else is striving and sacrificing for the peace of the kingdom, but only you want to slip out like a coward?”
“You bastard, are you a black spy?”
“I-I absolutely am not!
Fine! My territory will join too, all right?!”
“Good.”
The royal family and the great nobles, who did not want to create any gaps in the enormous hunting net spread across the entire kingdom, personally stepped forward.
And when they pressured people by flatly accusing them of being black spies, they had no choice but to cooperate.
“Well, if they refused to cooperate and pretended not to know anything, they would have immediately faced backlash from the residents of their own territories.”
“That’s true.”
Just as Aria said.
At a time when hostility toward black magicians was at its height, what if only their own lord neatly withdrew from the purge operation?
There might have been people who left, saying they were too ashamed to live under such a lord, or others who left because they suspected he really was a spy for the black magicians.
“No lord would want that, so in the end, joining was inevitable.”
“Thanks to that, the Kingdom of Justia has become a bit safer, and the residents of the territories won’t have to leave their homes. It’s a good thing for everyone.”
That was why the entire kingdom had been so noisy these days.
Every few days, articles would come out saying that a hidden black magician organization had been wiped out in some territory or another.
“I’m truly glad that, in the middle of all this commotion, nothing like a witch hunt has broken out.
In the past, there were many cases where people used the chaos to falsely accuse those who were in their way.”
“I repeatedly asked them to make sure that didn’t happen.
I told them to be extremely careful so that no innocent victims would suffer after being falsely branded as black magicians.”
The royal side had also issued stern warnings so that no one would try to profit by making false accusations in the midst of such an important operation that it had even been given the name of a war.
And thanks to the church, led by the Saintess, cooperating and acting as monitors, it was said that fortunately, no innocent victims had appeared.
“In that sense, this new work can also be called a success.”
After all, the intended effect of eliminating black magicians was appearing in spectacular fashion.
Of course, the influence of my new work, [The Divine Cultivator of the Borderlands], was not limited solely to eliminating black magicians.
“Hehe. Not only that, but people have also come to learn of a new realm called ‘divine cultivation,’ so one could say its meaning is even greater.
Thanks to you, Author, the number of people gaining vitality and motivation and challenging new goals is still increasing even now.”
A cultivation method, realm, and goal that slightly twisted xianxia settings to fit the legends of this world.
Interest in “divine cultivation” was also skyrocketing along with everything else.
Until now, in this world, when someone reached the realm of archmage or Sword Master, they tended to fall into a state of, “So what do I do now?”
After all, even the realms of archmage and Sword Master were absurdly high.
Most people strongly tended to consider reaching those realms themselves as their ultimate goal.
As a result, after reaching the realm of archmage or Sword Master, there were often cases where they wandered or lost motivation because they had no clear goal for the next step.
“What is the next realm that those who have reached the peak of a field should aim for?”
No one could easily answer such a vague question.
And without a clear goal, once someone reached that realm, their rate of growth was bound to decline sharply.
“And it was precisely in that situation that you presented a new goal called divine cultivation, Author.”
That was right.
Not some absurd fantasy.
A clear, new, and challenging goal, one for which actual legends and records existed.
I had ended up presenting it to them.
“Godhood... Yes. If I have decided to see the end of the sword, then aiming for the seat of a god is the true ambition of a man!
From today onward, I shall become a divine cultivator!”
“If I become a god, perhaps I will be able to analyze the principles of the world more magically.”
“I was already always curious about how divine power differs from magic, and if I become a god, I may be able to resolve that curiosity.
Perhaps I might even analyze the process of becoming a god itself and make it possible for everyone to become gods...!”
Thanks to that, all the rabbit princesses who had lacked a clear goal and sat in the back rooms grumbling, “Ah, I’ve cleared all the content, so there’s nothing left to do,” had come rushing out, declaring that they would become divine cultivators. The situation had become quite noisy.
“But about this divine cultivation...
Depending on how you look at it, isn’t this a situation where we are challenging the Goddess’s authority?
We won’t be struck by divine punishment for blasphemy, will we?”
Of course, there were also people who respected the Goddess’s authority and worried whether they might be committing blasphemy.
“Ah, the Saintess officially announced that divine cultivation is not particularly blasphemous, so people may challenge it without worry.
To begin with, there are records of the Goddess elevating heroes to godhood several times in the past.”
“Is that so? Good, then brace yourself!
From this moment on, I shall stand in the heavens!”
As a result of the Saintess, who could communicate directly with the Goddess, having an amicable conversation with the person concerned,
she officially announced that it was not blasphemous at all.
And everyone began throwing themselves into divine cultivation without any worries.
Somehow, an era had arrived where it became more popular to harbor the ambition of ascending to godhood than to vow to become an archmage or a Sword Master.
“I created this situation myself, but it’s still a little dizzying.”
At any rate.
So, in order to accomplish the great deeds needed to become gods,
the number of people who accumulated good deeds, just like in the story, or voluntarily faced dangerous enemies and imposed trials upon themselves had increased quite a bit.
Well, if it was a virtuous cycle, then it was a virtuous cycle. There was nothing bad about it.
Perhaps because I had thoroughly ruined that image, there were no people trying to build achievements through evil deeds either.
Though I did occasionally hear news of people doing things that seemed a bit reckless.
“Well... I can’t be responsible for that too.”
“Of course. It is ultimately their own choice.
It is not your fault at all, Author.”
And in the first place, there was only a fine line between a great deed and a suicidal act.
Who knows? Someone might really overcome a seemingly reckless trial and build a great achievement.
“It would be fun if someone really ascended later.”
Even if someone did appear, it would probably take several decades at the very least.
Still, if someone truly became a god because of my work, I thought I would feel quite proud.
It would be worthy of being selected as one of the insanely awesome achievements to play at my funeral.
Anyway.
Since everyone seemed to be enjoying the newly created endgame content called “divine cultivation,”
Aria and I decided to take this chance to enjoy a brief period of rest as well.
It was also the end of the year, with the year itself coming to a close.
After making the Gigant, immediately producing an animation afterward, and then taking on a new large-scale project requested by Duke Lucid, I was definitely tired.
Judging by the fact that there were still many things I wanted to do, I wasn’t quite burned out, but I still needed to get some rest.
“Your head works better when you rest properly.
It also prevents burnout.”
Then what would I do while resting?
“Of course, I’ll enjoy works made by other people!”
Spacing out or sleeping?
That wasn’t the kind of rest I needed right now.
What I needed was not self-sufficiency, but works and content made by others!
“That’s the very reason I’ve been working so hard to spread culture.”
I had been reading a few works serialized in newspapers and magazines until now,
but this time, I planned to enjoy the promising titles I had been saving up.
For example, the dating simulation game [I’m a Cleric, but I Want to Fall in Love!], which had recently finally been completed and officially released, gaining explosive popularity.
Or the board game of the same name, based on Melissa’s serialized work [Real Life].
“Let’s spend the rest of the year enjoying works like those.
You worked hard this year too, Aria.”
“Not as hard as you, Author.
Even so, I think resting while enjoying other works together with you will be truly delightful. Hehe.”
“Then shall we start right away?
First, [I’m a Cleric, but I Want to Fall in Love!]!
I’ve been curious about what happens next for ages.
I’ll play the male protagonist version, so Aria, please take the female protagonist version!”
For once, instead of creating, let’s spend our time consuming!
And so, Aria’s and my year-end rest
became lively once more when Rena, who had been away on a business trip, returned and joined us.
After that, we even invited acquaintances like Melissa, Rex, and Shylock to join in, and ended up enjoying it to the fullest possible extent.
Well, you need days like this every now and then. Don’t you?