29 – Cursing the heavens

Late at night, Riyute village.

I'd returned with Lia and Sylvia a while ago, and we'd gone with the flow of the villagers, moving to the feast that they prepared for us.

While the other villagers were celebrating being alive, I sat with Lia and Sylvia at a table off to the side.

Nominally, it was because I insisted that the villagers saved themselves by listening to me instead of being stupid and running around.

But the real reason was...

"Okay. I want to set this straight. I am NOT from a world where an apocalypse happened and the undead rose to reclaim the earth, alright?"

...I needed to iron some things out.

Lia blinked. "You aren't, Goshujin-sama?"

Sylvia looked surprised too. "...But you have the skills and resourcefulness of someone like that, Master. And the morals of one too."

"...Morals?"

Lia nodded. "Mmhm! Goshujin-sama doesn't care if people die or not, only the people you care about. Right?"

Sylvia tilted her head, confused. "...Lia's right, isn't she, Master? And you're also paranoid all the time. Like you expect people to betray you... and it's not from what the King and the princess did either."

Lia spoke up again. "Also! Goshujin-sama was super fast! You ambushed the ambushers!"

Sylvia nodded. "Yes. And you know a lot about slave trading. And how to write the slave terms of conditions for obedience... And you don't care when we try to show off to you!"

Lia blushed. "Y-Yes! E-Even if we show a bit of skin, you don't-"

"Okay. First, stop. We're NOT straying into that territory. Second..."

I paused, mulling over what they said.

Then I realized that, since the 'shields' I made with Parallel System were metaphysical shields, not LITERAL shields... the abilities they gave me never really showed up in reality. The Legendary Shield had never changed while I wore it.

'...Huh.'

It just made me seem ridiculously competent.

Well, they probably assumed that the shield did SOMETHING. But since it was gone now and I was still like this...

And the fact that I implied I was weakened by the shield from the start... Which was TECHNICALLY still true...

I mean, what I had now was from me bootstrapping things together and manually implementing things, as well as shift my stats around...

But I guess to them, and since I had such a good poker face, I must have seemed superhuman from the start-

'Oh yeaaah. I DID toss that knight through the throne room. And stop them from dragging me around while walking to the throne room to face that trashy king on my own two feet...'

I saw where the misunderstanding came from now...

Since I didn't have a proper explanation, I just sighed and said, "It's the legacy of a misspent youth, alright?"

I still didn't quite know how I got here considering I had just been working on the next chapter of the white paper that I was going to publish for my research, but it seemed like I had a working backstory I could play with.

I just had to remember to keep it all straight in my head.

'What EXACTLY have I said about myself so far?'

I stole Naofumi's name, that was for sure. Mostly as a countermeasure for that Goddess whose instant death ability seemed to target people based on their true names. If she tried that on me, it would fail.

...I also needed to make sure to not think her name in case it had a taboo on it.

I learned THAT lesson from the story of the Boy-Who-Lived when he was hunting the Deathly Hallows, after all.

Let's see... I said I was from a place where Donald Trump was president, and that I was American. I also said I died from a heartattack while programming... which might technically be true since I didn't know how I got here?

I also said that I was already changing the world before I got here and didn't intend to help out one that forcibly drafted me. Which was also true. If what I had been working on got published, it would have widespread ripples on all of society.

...Okay.

I could work with that.

As a whole, people probably thought I was some blackops person from a three letter organization in America.

This world seemed to mostly summon Japanese, so I could use that to my advantage.

...Especially since I DID seriously consider that as a career at some point, I could LARP it well enough. Pretend to be part of the NSA or something.

But to the main point...

Sylvia giggled. "A legacy of a misspent youth..." She leaned against me and said, "Master must have had an exciting youth then if you know all about this."

"...You could say that."

I thought back to those distant days. Running around reading NovelFires, devising ways to beat various power systems, trying every skill under the sun to make it as a content creator before eventually being fascinated by the Millennium Prize problems and working to prove P did not equal NP... Which it HAD to since the advent of GenAI practically illustrated that fact. Joining IEEE because of that to help reverse engineer and develop virtual reality training systems... and also to avoid the draft for the next major world war...

Lia leaned on my other side and said, "Well. Even if you misspent your youth, Goshujin-sama, you're here right now! And we'll make sure you spend the rest of your life happy!"

Sylvia smiled. "Yes. No matter what, you aren't alone now, Master. Never again."

I chuckled. "You two are sweet. And I appreciate it. ...But it makes me morally conflicted since you two are very much still cute little girls in my head, so this is giving me VERY conflicting vibes."

In my head- No. Just over a week ago, Lia and Sylvia were both cute little girls following me around like daughters.

And now they were top tier mature beauties who very much adored me.

Was this grooming? It felt like grooming.

...Wait.

DID NOBLES DO THIS?

No. Considering how shitty this world was...

I let out a thin smile and said, "Lia. Sylvia. Tell me something. Do ALL demihuman children grow up so quickly by leveling?"

"E-Eh?" Lia tilted her head. "U-Um... Yes, Goshujin-sama?"

Sylvia paused and nodded. "Yes, Master...? It's normal for demihuman children. Monsters as well. Though, usually, levels and physical age are aligned. It's usually difficult to level up, you know?"

"'Usually.' But killing high level individuals could grant a lot of experience, right?"

Sylvia tilted her head, thinking. "...I suppose so? Why do you ask, Master?"

I thought back to the slave market.

Then to the fact that Sylvia had been left in that condition.

Then to the fact that the nobles who captured her COULD have forcibly matured her by forcing her to kill dying slaves for experience to get proper 'goods.'

But they had deliberately left her as a child.

Because a child couldn't-

"Oh. This is bad." I murmured.

Did Sylvia sense my anger. She tensed and said, "Master...?"

I smiled. "...I hope the Queen arrives quickly. Because at this rate, I might just have to go on a righteous crusade."

It was exploitable.

If *I* thought it was possible, then some perverted degenerate didn't just THINK it was possible, they had ABSOLUTELY put it to practice.

Enslaving demihuman children or monster children. Forcibly leveling them to maturity. Then keeping them as toys...

No.

Not just this kingdom.

Melromarc... I hated to say it, but it was relatively tame. Because the Queen existed.

Because Mirellia Q Melromarc was the true ruler, the complete moral degradation wasn't commonplace.

It still CLEARLY existed. Sylvia was proof of that.

But it wasn't officially sanctioned.

Still, in a place like Faubrey-

Faubrey.

Fau...brey.

Wait a DAMNED MINUTE.

"Sylvia."

"Y-Yes, Master?"

Did she sense my anger?

I deliberately let out a breath to calm down. Then I smiled softly and said, "Do you know anything about the kingdom of Fau... I forget its full name. But it starts with an 'F.'"

"...Do you mean Four Bray?"

Four Bray.

...FOUR PLAY.

FOREPLAY.

GOD FUCKING-

I stood up and kept smiling. "You two stay right here. I need to do something real quick."

Before I stormed off immediately to start a revolution.

Before I decided to triple down on being a demon lord because FUCK this world in particular-

No, no.

Calm down.

We are an adult.

We do not crash out.

We are a RETIRED crashout.

Lia tilted her head. "...Did you... want to purchase more slaves, Goshujin-sama? I heard Four Bray is where you can buy some human slaves as well...?"

*CRACK*

I glanced down at the shield in my left hand and saw that it had reverted back to Shattered Veil. The ominous plain white buckler with a void within it emitting a pale blue light.

Then I smiled. "...Ah. It's a good thing I'm not a hero anymore."

"M-Master?" Sylvia looked at me, concerned.

I took a deep breath and said, "Sylvia. Lia. Please go around and inform the villagers to ignore a loud scream in a few minutes."

"O-Okay, Goshujin-sama?"

"Understood, Master. But may I ask...? No. Never mind."

They left to do as I ask.

Meanwhile, I started making my way towards the outskirts of Riyute village.

The villagers gave me strange looks, but then deliberately pretended to not pay attention.

Good people. Smart people.

The moment I reached the edge of the village, I tilted my head up and screamed into the sky, pointing Fragarach at it.

"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT WORLD AND YOU DEGENERATE PERVERTS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB! AND IF IT *IS* A GOD RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, JUST YOU WAIT! IMMORTALITY AND ETERNITY DOESN'T MEAN JACK SHIT IF IT'S A PERPETUAL AGONY!"

Animals and monsters nearby sprinted away in a panic.

More than one villager stumbled in shock and surprise.

But a few others pumped their fists up and joined in.

"YEAH! FUCK YOU, PIECE OF SHIT WORLD!"

"DAMN YOU TRASH KING!"

"GO TO HELL AULTCRAY!"

Before long, a chorus of furious villagers venting their feelings shouted into the sky.

Lia and Sylvia came back to my side, confused.

But seeing everyone else shouting, they hesitantly joined in.

Lia was first. "S-Screw you monsters? No." She took a deep breath and then screamed at the sky. "GO TO HELL YOU MONSTERS! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU FOR TAKING MOMMY AND DADDY FROM ME! I HATE YOU FOR LETTING ME BE SOLD TO THAT FAT NOBLEMAN WHO WHIPPED ME AND RIFANA!"

Sylvia hesitated. But then she pulled herself together and shouted too. "ROT IN HELL YOU DEGENERATE PERVERTS! I WAS JUST A GIRL! I WANTED HELP! BUT YOU ALL JUST...! YOU JUST...!" Sylvia choked on her words and then just let out a strangled scream, clutching her chest.

Hearing that, Lia screamed as well, letting out all the repressed feelings she had since becoming a slave. "RIFANA...!"

I just stood there.

...It wasn't what I intended.

But it seemed like it was cathartic.

Because some of the other villagers joined in on the anguished screams too.

"YOU DAMNED NOBLES...! SENDING MY DAUGHTER BACK AS A CORPSE...!"

"I HATE YOU, TRASH KING! YOU LET THOSE BASTARDS TAKE MY SISTER!"

"FUCKING CHURCH OF THE THREE HEROES! DEMANDING MY GRANDDAUGHTER AS PAYMENT...! GO BURN IN PURGATORY!"

Oh.

...Oh.

Yeah, no.

...The Queen had better get here soon.

At this rate, her people might start a revolution before *I* did...

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