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Zero. The great mage finds a human (4)
About twenty humans had already been added to the base camp; not much time after, Evan made the declaration of forming a country. Twenty dwarves, twenty-one humans, one High Elf—a total of forty-four people, including Evan and Maybell, stayed there.
‘By numbers, it’s about half of the progress.’
Of course, in Yo-Ma Great War Zero, only those trained strongly from outside joined the base camp. Even though the number was similar to the current number, they were like a disorderly crowd.
“Ah, it’s so delicious!”
“Sniff…it’s been a long time since I have eaten such delicious food…”
“Thank you, thank you…”
Now, in front of Evan’s eyes, the scene that the dwarves showed just a while ago was repeating itself. Rather, it was worse. While the dwarves were eating, they focused only on it. Still, the humans were crying with runny noses while eating and at the same time praying to Evan with words that he couldn’t understand.
“I said I am not a god…”
“You saved them, brought them to a safe place, and even gave them food. Give up and accept it.”
“No, the problem is that these people seem to have their original religion.”
That was correct. Some of the people who were eating sometimes called him by names that he couldn’t understand. Evan asked the dark-haired girl, who seemed to be the calmest among them.
“What is the name of the god you served?”
“Earth Mother. The villagers said they had heard her voice one day and started serving.”
The girl replied reluctantly. It was as if she couldn’t acknowledge the existence of a god. However, Evan didn’t forget that she was the first to call Evan a god.
“Maybe it is true that they heard a voice. Because God is real.”
“Oh, you admitted it.”
“Not me, you fool. Because in this age, the gods are absurdly close to mortals.”
In the new generation, the boundaries of the world were blurred in many ways. In the demon world, the new world, and other worlds, it was possible to cross over to the middle world without much difficulty. Among the gods of the new world who wanted others to serve them, there were cases where they blessed the middle world by showcasing their existence to mortals, sending apostles down, and sometimes even by descending directly.
“How about the elves?”
Mirole, who received Evan’s gaze, responded calmly. She had a tart in her mouth, but it would have been better if she hadn’t.
“We do not serve anyone other than the Mother. There are transcendental beings, and I know they are targeting this land.”
However, the answer she gave was extremely standard. It was true that the gods were only looking over the middle world, whether their intention was good or bad. Many religions arose in this process. After those who worshiped the gods confronted each other and forced each other’s faith, many religions also disappeared.
“Should I say that it’s a good thing that we were in contact with people who serve the Earth Mother?”
“Well. The Earth Mother is clearly a strong god, and is also a god that has a great influence even to the present day. She is taking good care of humans.”
…However, it was also clear that as a result of many people serving the Earth Mother, they oppressed those who worshiped other gods and forced conversion or killed them. God existed in a realm beyond human understanding. What the lesser ‘gods’ wanted in humans could have been considered extremely cruel from a human perspective.
“It became a difficult conversation suddenly.”
“There is no way we can do that. Religious disputes continue from the end of Yo-Ma Great War Zero to Yo-Ma Great War 1. But what I’m worried about is…”
He was worried that they would start serving Evan, not the Earth Mother. Even Maybell shut her mouth at his realistic worries.
“There are certainly some problems with changing religion.”
“I have to think a little bit about what to do from now on.”
“Um…”
While Evan and Maybell were having a conversation so that others couldn’t hear it, there was someone who spoke to them carefully. It was the same girl who said that the humans served the Earth Mother.
“May I ask one question?”
“Sure.”
“How do you deal with the energy in your body?”
“Ah, indeed.”
Evan was thrilled with the potential of the new girl who recognized his abilities. He met her gaze. Her eyes were pale blue.
“Can I ask for your name before that?”
“I’m Sharay.”
“Okay, Sharay. I am Zero. I’m sorry, but it’s hard to teach you how to deal with energy.”
Evan chooses an acceptable answer because he couldn’t say that the power of Annihilation to destroy the sky and distort the earth began with ordinary fighting skills. The girl looked disappointed, but Evan continued talking.
“She can teach you how to deal with your power. This woman.”
“The apostle?”
“Master, she said I’m your apostle!”
Maybell looked very happy, but it was a waste of time here to deny it. Evan tasted the sentiment of becoming a scamming couple.
“You have a lot of magic power. Maybe you’ve guessed it to some extent…if you learn how to deal with it effectively, you will be able to protect humanity on your own.”
“I also want to be your apostle, too.”
It seemed that she didn’t want to protect the humans. Sharay made up her words by blinking those light-blue eyes embarrassingly, as she realized belatedly that her words sounded cold.
“It hasn’t been long since I met…with them. I was with my younger sisters, but we scattered when we ran away from the monsters…”
Evan’s eyes sparkled at that part. It wasn’t just any family, but rather, her sisters. There was a chance they had a witch’s power. If so, they wouldn’t have died easily. If they possessed powerful magic, they could instinctively exert it in dangerous situations.
“If they are alive, you will be able to meet them someday. So, let’s just think about getting stronger.”
“Thank you…!”
For reference, Evan thought about training not only Sharay but everyone here. He would teach her magic since she had high potential and then the others how to confront monsters with their own bodies. Of course, a big miracle would be necessary, since humans were the weakest race, and were unable to deal with monsters on their own, but Evan’s knowledge of many skills helped countless people, and with the decisive ingredient added to create great armaments, he was guessing that a likely result would come out within a short time.
“So, starting tomorrow…”
“No, I want to start today.”
“Today? …Maybell?”
Maybell raised her head and saw the sun hanging by the edge of a tree, still breathtaking.
“Then…I’ll teach you the basics until the sun goes down. If it works out, you’ll be awakened to how to manage your mana.”
“If other magical trainees heard it, they would foam from their mouths saying not to speak nonsense.”
It was fortunate that there were no other magic trainees there. Far from the sunset, she started teaching, and less than an hour later, Sharay realized how to deal with mana.
“So, there was someone with this magic power among humans…!”
Even Mirole was startled when she saw Sharay deal with mana, which just showed how great her innate abilities were. However, Evan was a bit surprised.
“Does she look like a human?”
“Yes, although she has high magic power, this child is a pure human being.”
Evan was confident that she would be a witch, so the answer was a bit embarrassing. She was a witch, strictly speaking, a human mutant, and although he treated her with close humanity, she was by no means human-like.
“Then, is this child an ancestor of the witches…? The witch race started here…?”
As he thought so, he got nervous again. If she were the ancestor of the witches, wouldn’t it be possible that she is his own ancestor!? If this child died suddenly, maybe Evan’s existence would disappear…!
“Damn, I hate the time paradox…”
“Sigh, don’t worry too much. Come on, I’ll listen to your worries.”
After the magic class, it was dinner time. It was still too early to fall asleep, but Maybell seemed to want to somehow get Evan into bed. As Mirole’s face turned red, she began to look at him and her Maybell alternately. Evan struggled to ignore her.
“God!”
Sharay, who was still overwhelmingly emotional from dealing with mana for the first time, saw Evan being dragged by Maybell and urgently shouted.
“I will serve you by your side. I decided to become your apostle!”
“No, please. I’m sorry.”
Of course, Sharay probably didn’t know exactly what Evan and Maybell were doing. She probably said that because Evan’s apostle, Maybell, took him, and she did not want to be left behind. Wasn’t there a time paradox exercise in textbooks about having a relationship with one’s ancestors!? But what if the original history was like that? What if the ancient Archmage had a relationship with the witches’ ancestor, and Evan was born through the descendants?
“Ahhhhhh… !”
Evan became mentally tattered after endless thinking. Maybell giggled and waved her hand at Sharay.
“It’s still too early for a child. Everyone, goodnight.”
Maybell, who had just matured, was very spooky. Sharay shook her head at her words, and Mirole, who was next to her, bit her lips with an anxious look.
“Maybell, I had something I wanted to tell the other people, too.”
It wasn’t until Maybell pulled him into the tent that he spoke up, staring at her, after regaining his sanity to some extent. But she shook her head at his words.
“Dwarves are born strong and have started working right away, but the humans are still exhausted. Let them rest at least one night.”
“Hmm…would that be better?”
“Yes. Let’s do the productive work only by ourselves.”
Evan, who had just felt a very uncomfortable resonance from those words, looked down at Maybell, who threw off her clothes and began to take off Evan’s clothes without even heading to bed.
“Productive work?”
“Yes.”
“Maybell, you’re not trying to conceive a child, right?”
“I am. What’s wrong with it?”
“In this situation!?”
To conceive a child in this situation! But looking at Evan, who was stunned, Maybell declared confidently.
“I have no intention of using contraception! To put it openly, even though I couldn’t be your first, I want to have your first child!”
“How do you think Belois will react when she hears that?”
“Sigh, I’m already trembling with the fear of death. It’s a terrifying idea, but I don’t intend to stop…!”
Maybell was a true fighter. As Evan was thrilled, Maybell laughed, licking her own lips with her demonic tongue.
“Give up, Master. There is no perfect contraception in the world.”
“That’s what you say when you make a child by mistake…!”
Despite Evan’s resistance, the night progressed. Although he thoroughly laid the cheeky Maybell on the bed, he eventually regretted it when he belatedly realized that he was doing what Maybell wanted.
* * *
“Welcome, everyone.”
Louise, the founding queen of the New Merdin Kingdom, acted like nothing new or significant was going on. At least that’s how it looked to Arisha.
“You did it really passionately, Louise.”
“I just prepared the ground for him, Arisha.”
With a plain, undecorated crown on her head, Louise smiled a little. The coronation that was held a little while ago wasn’t very flashy, but instead was overwhelming. It was enough evidence for the Sherden group to realize that everyone in the kingdom was acting by Louise’s will.
“Louise, are you thinking of making everyone into a puppet?”
“No. To make them into puppets, the top few people are enough. I have no intention of suppressing the freedom of the people.”
“That idea is already dangerous enough.”
‘Should she rule?’ Arisha agonized.
In other words, Louise’s ability to control many humans remotely was dangerous. Now that she was in range, Arisha only needed to pull out the rapier and wield it… But she could not pull out her sword in the end. Louise’s actions were for Evan, who would come back someday. And she knew that Louise would never do anything to harm Evan. Even if the vast majority were unhappy, if Evan was happy, she was also happy. In that fundamental part, Arisha was no different from Louise.
“I’ll warn you in advance. If you are thinking of taking the Silk Line or Mana Road…”
“Yeah. I won’t touch those two kingdoms at all. I’ll make a promise under master’s name.”
Louise replied with her a clenched fist placed on her chest, politely giving the Astray salute. Her reddish-brown hair, which had grown quite long, fluttered beautifully with her movements.
“How about the others…?”
“Yes. It must be the proper size to be called an empire.”
It meant she would take all other countries except for the two kingdoms. At Louise’s bold words, Arisha looked tired. Suddenly, her gaze reached the man and woman standing next to her.
“So, why are you here?”
“I’ll tell you… it’s only because of the relationship she had with Master.”
A body trained with a sharp stature, the first student trained in martial arts under Evan, exploded a bomb at Arisha.
“She has the master’s child. I came to protect his unborn child.”
“…!?”
[Active: Hey guys, I have a migraine, I’ll upload extra chapters tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.]