ăHum!! Thatâs none of your businesses. Kuna will take her leave.ă
The shining butterflies then gathered around the girl. And then, after the butterflies covered her entire body, the girl vanished from my sight.
It was as if that girl was an illusion all along.
But if she wasnât, it would be a great deal of trouble.
ăEMERGENCY!! WE GOT AN INTRUDER!!ă
===
âGod of Sleep and Dream, Zand
The dark underground altar was a place dedicated to deifying my father, the god who governs over death.
The flesh of my father that I saw for the first time in a long time was decayed, as if it would fall off anytime now.
When I turned around, I saw someone prostrating in front of me.
It was an ugly person, but he might be useful.
If my memories serve me right, his name should be Cornes.
Cornes seems to be a big shot amongst the humans. Well, such a matter was trivial for a divine being like me anyway.
Not even Atlankua realized his true identity as my fatherâs follower.
Well it was mainly because I didnât get along with Atlankua. Thatâs why Iâd never told her about Cornesâ identity.
ăSuch a splendid altar. Quite a rich one, arenât you?ă
ăYes, itâs thanks to Zarxis-samaâs power. Heâs the one who guided us, the desert people, to this place after all.ă
Cornes bowed his head again.
ăBy the way, Zand-sama. Do you have some sort of business for visiting me today?ă
ăYeah, thereâs a girl that I want to get no matter what thatâs living around this area. Iâm going to see her situation.ă
ăI see. That girl is lucky to receive the god of sleepâs dream. She should be able to see a nice dream.ă
Itâs just as he said. One is considered lucky to be loved by me.
For I am the god of sleep, I was the one who guided this countryâs dreams. Showing a good dream was my forte.
Even a goddess would surely be delighted by it.
My goddess was currently residing in the Dark Knightâs stronghold. So my only problem was how to get my hands on that Goddess.
Though not as powerful as the Dark Knight, the Silver Haired Goddess was quite powerful herself. A weak god like me has no chance in winning against her in a full frontal fight.
I had no choice but to lay a trap. Now, what should I do then?
Up until now, I only got my hands on weak guys. I should place my body in the safest place.
But, I really want that Silver Haired Goddessâ head.
I want to behead that Silver Haired Goddessâ head.
This might be the first time I felt like this, it must be love.
And now was the best chance for me when that goddess was in my territory.
The moment I thought so, Cornesâ subordinate entered the altar room. That subordinate came closer and whispered something to Cornesâ ears.
ăIMPOSSIBLE!!? ARE YOU SURE THAT YOUâRE NOT MISTAKING SOMETHING!!?ă
Cornes asked with a loud voice.
ăIs something the matter?ă
ăZand-sama. My subordinate has told me that thereâs an intruder. Though it should be impossible, let me go check it for the time being.ă
Cornes bowed his head and left the room.
Something came into my mind after Cornes left the room.
Intruder? How could it be?
Iâve erected a barrier to cover the entire mansion. No one should be able to enter the mansion unnoticed.
Meaning that the intruder could bypass the entrance.
Whatâs the meaning of this?
When I was pondering about that, shining butterflies passed by in front of me again.
Again, this was the second time I was seeing this butterfly.
Not even a bug should be able to enter this room. Whatâs the meaning of this?
Upon a closer look, I noticed that the room was filled with these shining butterflies.
ăWHAT THE!!? WHAT THE HELL WITH THIS BUTTERFLY?!!ă
I was looking around in a hurry.
And then, when I turned around, I saw a goddess standing right behind me with a giant scythe in her hand.
===
âBlack Haired Sage; Chiyuki
The shape of the Republic of Ariadya resembled that of an opened folding fan with the estuary of Quiche river flowing in the middle.
The number of its ramparts was three. They were separated from each other due to the expansion of the cityâs size and Kapiri district in particular located in the western side of the second rampart.
And this Kapiri district is located on top of a small hill.
For that reason, the mansion of big shots and large merchants were gathered in this location.
Nao, Rino, Reiji, Decius and I were right in that Kapiri district right now.
By the way, Shirone and Sahoko didnât come with us. Theyâre on standby at the theatre, watching over Ainoe.
ăThatâs Cornes mansion huh? Itâs a big mansion.ă
I spoke while looking at Cornesâ mansion which was just a little bit away from our position. Even though the majority of buildings in this district were quite tall, Cornesâ mansion was truly standing out in terms of height and size, maybe because he was the member of senate.
Many people in Cornesâ mansion were equipped with weapons.
Though it might be just his private army working for him to protect his safety as a senate member, arenât their numbers a little bit too much?
Since the security was this tight, maybe entering this mansion wasnât a simple matter.
In the other countries, members of the senate were equal to the nobility. And a nobleâs house shouldâve been open for the citizens. They had the responsibility of hearing the petitions of the citizens which reflected the situation of the country.
But, the gate of Cornesâ mansion was shut tight.
That might reflect on his reputation as a bad example for the senate.
But, thereâs something more worrying about Cornesâ mansion.
His mansion was protected by a powerful barrier. Was that due to his guilty conscience? Perhaps he was aware that he had many enemies.
ăThatâs right Chiyuki-dono. This is what make Cornes-donoâs mansion so mysterious.ă
That was Deciusâ reply when I tried to ask him about the situation in Cornesâ mansion.
ăMysterious? Can you be more elaborate?ă
Nao asked Decius.
ăCornes family is a distinguished family in Ariadya, but thatâs the old story. Cornes-donoâs family was on the verge of collapse due to debt until three years ago. Suddenly, they bounced back and become prosperous again.ă
ăSuddenly bounced back and became prosperous again? Thatâs strange indeed.ă
Reiji spoke with a gloomy face.
ăYes. I heard that they made a profit by sellingăSandă.ă
ăSand? Whatâs that~ă
Just as Rino had said, I had no idea how he made a profit by selling sand.
ăItâs actually a powdered drug called ăSandă. Itâs called sand because its powdered form resembles sand.ă
Decius explained to us.
ăăSandă, huh. Just what kind of medicine is it, Decius-dono?ă
ăItâs a sleeping drug, Chiyuki-dono. People can have nice dreams with this medicine.ă
We knitted our eyebrows upon hearing Decius-donoâs explanation.
ăThat sounds suspiciousâŠă
ăYeah, Nao-chan.ă
Just as Nao and Rino just said, it was an extremely suspicious drug. Could it be that ăSandă was actually a narcotic drug?
ăDecius-dono, does that ăSandă harm the body of its user?ă
ăAbout that. I tried asking Fanaceaâs priest to check the ăSandă since I also worried about its effects, but all they said is the fact that itâs a powerful magic drug. Some of the users of ăSandă have been said to never open their eyes again.ă
ăThatâs clearly dangerous, right! Why arenât you moving to regulate it!?ă
I unintentionally shouted at Decius.
ăăSandă is sold mainly in the outer city. Majority of its users are unregistered citizens. Though some citizens use it, thereâs no damage reports from them so far. Since thereâs no damage reports, the senate canât make their decision⊠ă
I unintentionally palmed myself.
So that means the leaders of this country donât care about what happens as long as it didnât happen to their citizens?
ăDoes that mean the man called Cornes is the one who supplying this ăSandă?ă
ăYes, Hero-dono. That seems to be the case. Thereâs witness of the ăSandmană, the one who sells ăSandă, going in and out Cornes-donoâs mansion.ă
Decius explained to us about ăSandmană.
The man who carrying bag containing ăSandă over their shoulder. Moreover, thereâs a rumor going around about the ăSandmană kidnapping children.
Lately, there was even a rumor that the ăSandmană will come to anyone who canât sleep at night.
And those ăSandmană were coming from Cornesâ mansion.
Even though the evidence kept popping out left and right, Decius and co couldnât make their move since thereâs no damage to the citizens, and due the fact that the culprit was the member of senate himself.
Maybe Decius was also vexed by this case.
Nevertheless, maybe itâs better if we confirm it with our own eyes about the ăSandmană and ăSandă.
ăChiyuki-san. It seems something has happened in Cornesâ mansion.ă
It is just as Nao had said.
We heard screams coming from Cornesâ mansion.
ăLetâs go and take a look.ă
Reiji started walking first.
ăYouâre right, Reiji-kun. Lord Decius, we should be able to do the investigation as long as the other party allows us, right? Thatâs including the fact if heâs willing confess to us, right?ă
I asked Decius as I walked behind Reiji.
ăYes, Sage-dono. Thereâs no problem in investigating as long as we donât coerce the other party.ă
I nodded upon hearing that.
Thus, we headed toward Cornesâ mansion.
===
âSilver Witch; Kuna
ăOuch⊠It hurts⊠Please stop already, Kuna-samaâŠă
I was trampling down upon an ugly six-eyed rat under my foot.
But, this definitely is not animal abuse and this guy isnât a rat, but a bug. Anyhow, I could end this guyâs pathetic life with just a small push of my foot.
Though this bug seems to be trying to say something, I didnât stop trampling on him underfoot.
This guy seems to be the bottom of the barrel of the divine beings, thatâs why I could easily beat him with a surprise attack.
Since Kuroki isnât here with me, I could use sneak attacks to beat this bug.
ăStop that annoying yammering already.ă
I put even more strength into my leg.
The crying sound of this bug was truly pollution for my ears.
It wasnât just this guy, my anger wouldnât be appeased if that Ulbard fella didnât experience the same pain.
ăIâVE ALREADY TOLD EVERYTHING!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME ALREADY!!ă
The bug kept going on and on with his annoying yammering.
But he got the point, trampling him down like this made me tired, letâs stop for now.
ăFine then. Iâll stop for now.ă
The bug showed a servile smile upon hearing Kunaâs remark.
ăItâs time to cut off your head after all.ă
Kuna raised her scythe.
ăWHAT THE!!? YOU SAY THAT YOU WERE GOING TO FORGIVE ME!!ă
ăHah, when did I say that I forgive you? You should be happy since from this point on, youâll become my loyal pawn.ă
After saying that, I took out a dried head from an empty space.
It was the dried head of an ogre. This ogre taught various things to Kuna when they were still alive, yes, when theyâre still alive with their head on their shoulder.
This was the secret art taught to Kuna by the arc witch of the wetlands who lived in the west of the demon king castle.
And now, letâs turn this bug into this.
Kuna really enjoyed this moment since this was the first time she got her hands on the head of a divine being.
ăHIIIII!! OGRE HEAD!! WHY SHOULD I FEEL DELIGHTED BY BECOMING SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!! HOW CAN YOU DO SOMETHING SO CRUEL TO ME!!ă
I turned a deaf ear to this bugâs wailing.
This bug should feel grateful to be able to become Kunaâs loyal servant.
Well, thatâs enough.
Kuna brandished her scythe, beheading the bugâs head.
ăWell then, I guess Iâll take care of the hero while Iâm at it.ă
I looked up at the ceiling of the room while stepping on the bug that had already died.
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