Surviving without God

Silence wrapped around the campfire. That voice that had just sounded... until that soft, flowing, beautiful voice spoke, no one had noticed that someone had come so close. Everyone froze.

Whoosh—

And in that very instant, the presence slipped away, as if gliding.

Whoosh—!

Two sharp sounds of air being split tore through the silence. Albern Arder twisted his entire body and hurled his long spear toward where the presence had been felt.

There was °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° no time to draw a bowstring. Cheonmae grabbed a handful of arrows from her quiver and released them with her bare hands.

Flashes of red and blue mana cut through the darkness. In their light, the silhouette of the enemy appeared.

It was a girl, looking even younger than Blanc Ibel. She stood motionless, watching the attacks flying toward her.

“Maybe. Maybe it’ll work,” flashed through the attackers’ minds.

Clang—!

Someone stepped in front of her. Holding a massive two-handed sword, he deflected every attack.

[Activating Eyes of the Tyrant Lv. 2]

Shh—

Then he stood directly between the mysterious girl and his comrades. He looked as if he intended to protect her from them. Levain Bernecker, who had been about to pull the trigger, lowered his aim and muttered:

— Is he... under mental control?

Gunther had just been explaining “Apostles.” Monsters in the form of small boys and girls. It would have been strange not to realize what this child—who had appeared out of nowhere and deceived everyone’s senses—was. Levain clenched his teeth and raised his voice:

— This is the Apostle of Repose...! Everyone, prepare for battle!

Blanc’s flustered voice followed immediately:

— Wh-what?! Hurry, give Gunther the potion!

Tarsha Everlight covered her face with her hand.

— Idiot, why are you shouting his name in front of everyone?

— G-Guntra!

— You idiot...

Tarsha sighed but still raised her staff. Parco Draven quickly uncorked the “Sanity,” while Levain switched magazines, clearly preparing suppressive fire. The knights, snapping out of it, surrounded them, cutting off any retreat.

— ......

Gunther, who had been watching the chaos, spoke slowly:

— I’m not brainwashed, so don’t worry.

Blanc shot back sharply:

— Everyone who’s brainwashed says that!

— I’m telling you, I’m fine.

— D-do you have proof?

— ...Well, maybe we can recall some of our past?

Tarsha cut in:

— Go ahead. Try.

— About how you invited me to the bath, and when I refused, you struck me with lightning...

— Enough.

Parco added:

— What did you hit me with in my room?!

— ...I’d rather not remember.

— Say it! What made me scream like that?!

— ...A steel pipe.

— That’s right!

Last was Ryan Parker.

— Gun...!

— You keep quiet.

— That’s definitely Gunther.

At the moment when doubts still lingered, a voice from behind confirmed it:

— That’s right, he’s not under control. It’s true.

The tension that had slightly eased tightened again instantly. Albern grabbed the spear embedded in the ground and pointed it at Gunther and the girl. Deep despair showed on his face.

— Sir Moonless.

— Yes, Sir Albern.

— If you are not under control, then why are you protecting the Apostle of Repose?

— ...Because she cannot be killed.

With those words, Gunther firmly turned his back to her. In his shadow, the girl looked at him with innocent eyes, showing no intention of running or resisting. He had doubted before, but now he was certain. Meeting her gaze, he continued:

— This is not the Apostle of Repose herself, but her double.

— Wh-what? A double?

— Yes. And if we kill the double, we will completely ruin everything.

The girl blinked slowly. Her expression seemed to be urging him to continue.

— ......

Gunther explained to his companions what he knew about the Apostle of Repose.

The Apostle of Repose controls “doubles.” Their purpose is to gather information and divide risk. A double is a completely separate entity—it does not even share the power granted by the God of Repose. Its only ability is concealment.

— And finally, all memories and information gathered by the double are returned to the original when the double dies or makes contact with it. In other words...

Gunther turned back to his comrades and finished. Understanding his meaning, they began lowering their weapons.

— If we destroy this double now, the fact that we have lifted the mental control in this region, and that we possess a method to do so... everything she has seen and heard will be transmitted to the “original.”

The girl, named after Revmael, the deity of Justice, the double “Rem,” gave a small nod, as if impressed:

— ...Big brother, you really know a lot. How is that even possible? Amazing...

Instead of answering, Gunther tightly bound her hands and feet with a special steel cable provided by Levain. Surprisingly, she did not resist.

— H-hey, that hurts...

She only grumbled in dissatisfaction. Gunther let out a heavy sigh as he looked at her short legs kicking.

The end of a successfully concluded day. And the beginning of a serious headache.

***

In Seril’s words, the situation was truly “between two fires.” The double could not be killed, but leaving her behind or entrusting her to someone else was also impossible. Put simply, if she decided to take her own life—everything would be over. Moreover, even if she lacked combat abilities, no one could guarantee she wouldn’t pull some trick. There was little information about the Apostle of Repose even in the game. So Gunther had only one option.

Take her with them.

Surprisingly, the objections were not that strong. The knights accepted that the double was a separate being, and everyone agreed on the need to conceal the information about lifting the brainwashing. ...And killing a ten-year-old child who didn’t even resist felt wrong.

Clop-clop—

Gunther placed the girl in the most convenient position for observation.

Clop-clop—

Right in front of him. Somewhere his gaze and sword could reach within a second. The fine-bred horse provided by Giles snorted cheerfully, seemingly not even noticing the child’s weight, and galloped forward. Gunther let out a deep breath.

— What a mess...

He looked at the back of the double’s head as she leaned against him, dozing peacefully. Whether she was trying to lower his guard or simply didn’t care was unclear.

The girl leaned entirely against Gunther and slept without a care. Watching her small head sway with the rhythm of the horse’s movement... he felt something strange.

— Big brother! Are we going out for a ride?

As Gunther shook his head, trying to push away old memories, he caught the whisper of two riders nearby. It was Tarsha Everlight and Ryan Parker.

— Hey... don’t you think she looks kind of like Gunther?

— Not “kind of.” She really does. From her hair color to her eye color—it’s identical.

Black hair and azure eyes. Not the rarest combination, but Ryan wore an expression that clearly said, “I’ve caught you.”

— Ah, the fruits of a wild life...

Gunther clenched his fist and replied:

— For me to be her father, I would’ve had to conceive her at thirteen.

— Ah, a precocious and reckless youth...!

...Clearly, the platoon members were not taking things very seriously. And it wasn’t surprising... the girl was far too docile.

For the past two days, she either dozed off most of the time, or when awake, simply stared into space, occasionally asking trivial questions.

Clop-clop—

At that moment, Levain rode up and whispered:

— We should replenish supplies soon. The ingredients are almost gone.

— Understood.

Their group was now rapidly advancing toward the center of the family domain.

Cheonmae moved ahead, eliminating every detected spellcaster. Meanwhile, the unit under Albern gathered nearby brainwashed knights and soldiers, luring them toward the main force. The main force subdued them and then restored their sanity using the amplified effect of “Sanity” through Parco.

The entire process went smoothly. Thanks to this, dozens of knights and hundreds of soldiers had already been restored and were ready for action. These forces were now quietly splitting and heading toward the center of the domain.

A lightning-fast counteroffensive that Luthien could never have anticipated. ...Of course, because of this, the reserves of “Sanity” were rapidly depleting.

So from time to time, they had to stop to gather ingredients.

— Stop, stop!

— We’ll take a break to replenish supplies!

While the others searched the surroundings, Gunther also had something to do.

— Get down.

— Won’t you catch me?

— ......

The girl—her body tightly bound, with a blindfold over her eyes. Gunther grabbed her by the collar and carried her into the tent. No matter how she looked, he had no intention of treating her like an innocent child. After all, she was the Apostle’s double.

“I need to extract everything I can from her.”

During breaks, Gunther interrogated this “double,” trying to obtain information.

Thud—

Gunther roughly... well, not that roughly, placed the girl onto a bed covered with blankets.

— What are you going to ask this time, big brother?

— ...I told you not to call me that.

— Yeah, sorry.

Gunther stared intently at Rem. To prevent her from gathering information about them, he had blindfolded her. But it was unclear whether it had any meaning. Even with her eyes covered, she looked directly at him. It created an eerie feeling that she was definitely not human.

“But... she’s surprisingly cooperative.”

Their earlier exchanges had gone like this:

— What is your objective?

— Objective?

— I know doubles follow the original’s orders. What order were you given?

— Ah... to observe the south, and if anything suspicious happens... well, to die immediately and report.

— There has been plenty of suspicious activity. Why didn’t you kill yourself?

— I was told that if I saw something really, really important, I should learn everything first, and then die... so for now, I have to stay alive.

— ...Are there other doubles nearby?

— No. The original is concentrating all her forces right now. If she takes control of the entire Barkel domain, the kingdom is basically finished. Almost all doubles were recalled, except a few.

— Why did you reveal yourself to us?

— I heard such interesting things. I got curious where you learned all that.

The answers had been remarkably straightforward. And it was the same now. Rem answered Gunther’s questions as honestly as she could. Sometimes, she even asked questions in return.

— Where did you learn all that?

— What?

— It’s strange, isn’t it? Even among us, only a few people know this.

— You don’t need to know that.

— That’s unfair.

She puffed out her cheeks, looking exactly like a child her age, which made Gunther hesitate for a moment.

— Then you won’t answer this either?

— ...What.

— What is “chivalry,” really?

— What?

— Everyone just keeps repeating it like parrots.

Gunther fell silent for a moment. Many answers came to mind, but he voiced only one.

— Not blindly following orders, but standing on the side of what you believe is right.

— Hmm... is that something good?

— It is.

— Then I’ll practice chivalry too.

— ......

[The King of Ninety-Nine Defeats is satisfied with your answer]

Meanwhile, the girl bombarded him with more questions. They were scattered and so trivial that it was disorienting.

Why do you carry such a heavy sword? Are you left-handed or right-handed? What’s your favorite color? Why do you groan in your sleep?

Gunther grabbed his head.

— Why are you so interested in everything?

— Why, is that not allowed?

— It’s not.

— You’re mean. Why are you so mean to me?

The girl laughed as she looked at Gunther.

— I was born just a month ago. What bad thing could I have possibly done?

Gunther was about to respond... but closed his mouth. Knowing that the original and the double were different beings, he couldn’t easily argue against her words. Then the corners of Rem’s lips curved into a faint smile. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

— You’re kind...

— ......

— They said kind people should be rewarded.

...A reward? While Gunther tilted his head in confusion, Rem perked up her ears and pointed outside.

— Go to your friends quickly.

— .........?

— A guest is coming for us.