O Month X Day

Another reincarnated hero arrived. This one… really had quite the tragic fate. He and his party had been on the verge of defeating the Demon King, only for his closest comrade to betray him at the critical moment. Apparently, the Demon King had secretly promised to save that comrade's lover from what was considered an unbreakable curse. Unable to defend against his friend's treachery, the hero perished.

I assumed he would be angry, and he was. But he was only angry at himself. He felt that if he hadn't been so blindly trusting, this tragedy could've been avoided.

"I had a sword that could cut through anything, but all it took was a knife in the back to end me. I really am a failure of a hero, aren't I?"

I did my best to listen to his lamentations and comfort him, but it seems that this has left deep scars in his heart. He chose to reincarnate back in Japan, feeling that living in heaven with his current trauma would be no different than hell. It was a sensible choice, but even though reincarnation will wipe his memories clean, deep scars such as his might still resurface in his next life, making him more fragile. I tried to help lessen this by setting him to wait a while before reincarnating, to give his soul time to heal. I also secretly gave him a blessing of luck. It's certainly abnormal for a human to possess such high luck, but I figured that he deserved some compensation for his troubles.

Hopefully, when he finally gets reborn, his next life will have a happier end.

"Fuahhh… that felt great."

I stretched as I woke up from my nap. The beds in this manor are really quite something. Back in heaven, I didn't pay much attention to material things like beds, thinking that "as long as it works, that's good enough." But now, the thought of going back to the unremarkable inn bed was filling me with disappointment.

Heh. Living as a human made me more materialistic, who'd have thought?

I glanced out the window. The sun was starting to fall; I estimated it was around 5 pm. That only gives me an hour to get to the castle.

… to be honest, I'm not too keen on going to a big dinner party. I guess I just have to suck it up, though.

I made my way to the entrance, but as I reached for the door handle, I suddenly remembered something.

… nah, there's no way he's still there, right?

I peeked out the window. A man was standing outside the gate. He was dressed as an adventurer, though he didn't seem to have a weapon.

Dammit, how am I supposed to get past this guy? I guess I'll have to go around back and circle around him…

… actually, maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong.

I strolled out to the gate nonchalantly, and the man immediately perked up as I approached. When I got closer, I noticed that he had what appeared to be a fancy sword hilt hanging on his belt.

"Messiah-sama! I am Terry, humble adventurer and servant of Eris! Please allow me to accompany you!"

Terry? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before… well, whatever.

"So, Terry, is it? How did you know I was here?"

"I was asking around in town after you vanished, and this black-haired kid with a weird staff said he saw a silver-haired Thief heading towards this manor."

I must've gotten careless after I thought I was in the clear.

"Now then, please assign me a mission!"

"Alright Terry, what skills do you have?"

This is perfect, I can make some random mission up and get rid of him for a while.

"I specialize in cracking open tough things! There's no monster or obstacle too tough for me to break!"

I glanced at his arms. The muscles are in decent shape, but look overall unremarkable.

"Is your Strength really that high?"

"That's… well, since you're the Messiah-sama, I suppose I can tell you my secret."

This whole messiah thing might actually be more handy than I thought. He pulled the sword hilt off of his belt, then held it upwards in front of himself and pushed a button near the crossguard.

Immediately, a shining beam of light extended from the hilt, creating a blade about the length of a longsword.

"This magic sword can cut through anything, no matter how tough… Messiah-sama? Are you listening?"

"Gimme that sword."

"Eh?"

To think I'd find not one, but two divine relics in a single day. If I actually were a human, I'd probably think that Eris was favoring me.

"Um, did you say you wanted–"

"That sword, yes. Gimme. I need it for my secret mission."

"Eh… I mean, it's not that I don't want to give it to you, but–"

"Steal!"

"Messiah-sama!?"

I believe this relic was called the Saber of Light. It can indeed cut through most things, but it can also grant special powers when used by a rightful wielder… hm? It feels like there's some lingering emotion attached to it… anger? Or is it grief? I tried to remember the hero that owned this weapon. If I recall, he–

"Er, Messiah-sama, I said I would help you with your quest, but I kind of need that weapon, and also I found it fair and square while dungeon diving, so…"

… if I just take it from him like this, that just makes me a bully, doesn't it?

"Sorry, I just wanted to inspect it. Here, you can have it back."

"Thank you–"

"So how much do you want for it?"

"Excuse me?"

"I wanna buy it off you. How much?"

"Eh, sorry, but it's not for sale–"

"How does a million eris sound?"

"Deal."

He's an adventurer, after all. Even armed with that sword, he's in a dangerous profession. If I set him up for life, of course he'll take the offer.

"… I don't mean to sound rude, but you don't have that much money on you right this second, do you?"

"Of course not. Who carries around that much money? I'll get it to you when I can."

"Ah, of course."

Not sure how'll I get the money, but I'll figure it out.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you."

"Yeah… no, wait! You still haven't given me my mission!"

Crap, I was hoping he'd forget. I don't think he'd be much help in catching the castle intruder, so… wait, I've got it.

"In one of her divine revelations, Eris told me that her favorite flower is the chris. I want you to gather some to make an offering for her."

"It shall be done!"

He saluted smartly and then dashed off towards the forest. Chris, huh? Back when I was thinking of a pseudonym for this avatar, I settled on Chris after the name of that flower that had the same color as my eyes. It feels like it's been so long since then, hasn't it? I think it can't have been more than a month, yet it already seems like a lifetime ago that I first set foot here.

Wait, what am I standing around being sentimental for? I have another relic to find!

… and a dinner party to attend.

"Everyone, the Messiah-sama had arrived."

Wow, this is… just, wow.

The dining hall that Frederick's maid brought me to was huge, yet the massive table still managed to stretch the entire length. On top of the tablecloth were dozens of dishes of all sorts.

As I entered, a round of applause rose up from the other attendees. It turned out to be more crowded than I expected. Aside from the servants, there were at least a dozen other men and women seated at the table. All dressed in formal clothes, but quite a few of them had a bit of an unpolished look. If I had to guess, they're probably researchers like Frederick.

"Thank you very much for gracing us with your presence, Chris-sama. Please, join us."

Speaking of said host, he stood and gestured to a big seat at the end of the table as he invited me to sit. He himself was located next to that seat. It feels a bit wrong to take the seat of honor, but the castle lord said so himself, so I obliged.

As I sat down, I could feel all eyes on me. Geh, hopefully this won't take too long.

"… and then I figured out that I had actually put three sigils in the magic circle instead of four! Can you believe it?"

"Ah, that definitely would've thrown off your coefficient."

"Well, these things do happen."

This is. So. Damn. Boring. I've been stuck here for an hour now listening to these nerds drone on about magical R&D.

I munched on an apple while doing my best to block out the chatter. Why did I even come here? This isn't fun at all. Maybe I can just dip out and grab a beer or something…

No, wait, what am I thinking? I'm here for the relic, not to play around. All this stress lately must be messing with my head. I need to get out of here and clear my mind so I can focus on my work.

"Well, um, this has been fun everyone, but I should go now. Got to prepare to catch that burglar and everything. Hey, Freddy, could you take me to the vault?"

"Oh, yes, right this way."

Frederick excused himself, motioned for me to follow, and exited the room. As I moved to follow after him, I suddenly felt a mischievous urge and stopped. These guys need to liven up a bit. Too much lukewarm chatter will dull the soul. I looked over my shoulder and gave them a little conversation starter as a parting gift.

"By the way, Eris told me that she wants the researcher who made the biggest contribution to society to come to the church alone at noon tomorrow. She has a small blessing to give to them as thanks. Don't be late!"

And with that, I tossed my apple core into a nearby wastebin and left the stunned researchers to their own devices.

I followed Frederick down to the bottom level and towards the castle vault. It seemed rather plain, with nothing but a locked door.

"Detect Trap."

Immediately my skill filled my head with pings. At least a hundred different mechanisms were hidden within and around the door, and some more in the hallway, though those ones were disabled during working hours. About half of them were mechanical traps like pressure plates and temperature sensors, while the rest were invisible magic circles and items imbued with detection and trapping spells. And though it was hard to make out the details, I got the impression that many of them were interconnected, being triggered if their neighbor was tampered with. To top it off, every single one of them seems to activate an all-out lockdown.

I see now why Frederick was so proud of this security. Even if you could sense the traps like I did, there's simply no way to get through them without getting caught.

At least, not while bound by the normal limits of human beings.

"Are you impressed, Chris-sama?"

"If you sealed your valuables in solid concrete and sunk them in a lake, they probably wouldn't be this secure."

"Haha, I'm flattered to hear that."

"And so far, they seem to have kept your intruder out."

His face fell when I said those words.

"Yes, they have… but every time we check the traps and search the castle, we find no one. Even when posting a guard here, they simply see the mechanical traps appear to go off for no reason. Ah, I should've specified before, but it's only the mechanical traps that are activating. Both them and the magical traps have been checked a dozen times over, so I'm stumped as to why one type is being set off but the other isn't. We even have an anti-magic sensor that detects any suppression fields, but there's nothing of the sort. Anyway, if we can't apprehend this intruder, then they can simply try again and again. And even if there's only a 0.000001% chance they can get through, if they try enough times, they might just get lucky."

Blah blah blah, so many words. I don't dislike the guy but he really needs to learn to simplify or I'm going to strangle him.

… you know, it really does seem like I've been unusually irritable today. The stress must be worse than I thought.

"Well, don't worry, I'm here to take care of it. Just let me stay here overnight and I'll have the perp by morning."

"You have my eternal gratitude, Chris-sama. I'll station a guard around the corner, so just call to him if you need anything. I'll also be in my study as well. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight due to the anticipation anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll holler if I need ya. Now get going, I need to conceal myself."

"Oh, yes, of course, I'll go now."

Once he was gone, I moved into a nook opposite the vault door.

"Lurk."

With my presence erased, I began my vigil. Back when Harris had first hinted about this, I worked to learn the Bind skill, but according to Frederick's report, the intruder seems to be able to escape traps despite setting them off. I'm pretty sure this divine relic doesn't have any function to allow that, so I can only assume he's using another item or skill on top of that.

This relic is a ring that grants the user invisibility. It's not ordinary invisibility, however; I forget the exact details, but it moves the wearer to a shadow plane of existence or something, so the only interaction they'd have with the normal world would be things they physically touch, allowing them to bypass magic defenses altogether. If a skilled Thief could ignore the magical traps here and only have to worry about the mechanical ones, they would actually have a not-insignificant chance of breaking in.

Luckily for Frederick, this perp appears to have about as much infiltration skill as a hydra, since he seems to set off traps without fail. I think the ring gave its designated owner other powers too, but I'm a bit fuzzy on them. I know the original owner passed away without any descendants, though, so I won't have to worry about that for now.

As for whatever the intruder's using to escape the traps, I'll use Steal and Skill Bind to block off their options once I locate them.

Now, I wait.

Pax's Interlude

I left the teleportation building and finally stepped back onto the streets of Accelia. It's been less than a day, but with the chewing out Dad gave me it felt like a lifetime. I should never have mentioned that I met a Duke of Hell. It took hours to convince him to let me return, and even then, he made me take this embarrassing good luck charm.

"Good to be back."

I think I've been getting better recently, but I still feel a bit awkward when I speak this country's language. I hope one day I can visit Dad's homeland so I can actually use the language he raised me with.

Speaking of which, when Maxwell activated that bloodstone thing, he spoke Dad's language, didn't he? I forgot to mention it to Dad, since I was too busy trying to get out of his lecture, but it was a lot like the chant Dad uses to activate his magic bow. I wonder if Chris knows anything about it.

… as soon as she crossed my thoughts, my heart fluttered a bit. She was so cool when she saved me during that battle, and then she beat that mastermind archdevil at his own game. And she even welcomed me into her party with open arms even though I can't talk well. She's like a saint… no, more like a dashing prince.

Where is she, anyway? I know she sleeps in the inn, but it's late afternoon right now, so she might not be there. Ah, maybe this person knows.

"… I just don't see how it can be a coincidence, for the names to be exactly the same…"

"Pardon, you seen silver-haired girl?"

I cringed internally as I realized how clumsily I phrased that. The black-haired boy I spoke to seemed a bit startled. Looks like he had been lost in thought.

"Eh? Silver-haired girl? You're the second person to ask me that today. Is this maybe supposed to be an important flag of some sort?"

He mumbled something strange at the end, then took out his staff and pointed it in a direction. It was a rather unusual staff: it was made of dark wood, and had a single snake carved into it, coiling up its length.

"I saw her heading off towards a large manor over there."

Ah, that would be Dustiness Manor, wouldn't it? So, she's with Sirius now… I know that their relationship isn't like that, but it still makes me nervous. I thanked the boy.

"Arigato."

"You're welcome… hey, wait. Wait a sec!"

"Huh? Something wrong?"

"You just spoke Japanese, didn't you!?"

Eh? Did I use Dad's language by accident?

"So, you're the same as me? A reincarnated person from Japan? Wow, I didn't think I'd meet another person like me here. And you're even a gorgeous babe! Ah, I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? I'm Tamura Hideki! I like video games and ancient mythology, and my blood type is B!"

He suddenly started speaking in that language. It was my first time meeting someone other than Dad that speaks it.

I'd have been more excited if he wasn't coming on to me so strongly. Well, I can't be picky. This is my chance to finally have a fluent conversation!

"Um, I'm Pax. I'm not sure what a blood type is, and I don't know what you mean by 'Japan' or 'reincarnated.' This is just a language Dad taught me from his homeland."

"Eh? Your dad!? Wow, I've never even considered what would come after defeating the Demon King, but I suppose starting a family makes sense, doesn't it? Hey, wait, the Demon King is still alive, isn't he? Why hasn't your dad defeated him?"

"He doesn't like to talk about it."

"… oh, sorry, I didn't mean to pry. Ah, wait, I've been keeping you, haven't I? My bad, I just got too excited. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"Just a little bit."

He scratched his head awkwardly.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer, but hopefully we'll meet again!"

"Yes, it was nice talking to someone like this. See you later."

I bid my farewell and turned towards Dustiness Manor.

"Ah wait, before you go, can I ask a quick question?"

"Hm? Sure, what is it?"

"What is Eris the goddess of?"

What kind of question is that?

"What do you mean? Everyone knows that Eris-sama is the goddess of fortune."

"Really? Not the goddess of discord and strife?"

"What are you saying, that's blasphemy, you know? The Eris cultists would persecute you for slandering the goddess like that."

"Sorry, sorry, I was just a bit confused. You can go now."

As I walked away, Hideki began mumbling to himself again. He's a bit odd, but he seems like a decent person, and it seems like he's from Dad's homeland. I'll have to talk to him again. Though, I wonder where he got such misinformation about Eris-sama from.