Surviving without God

Creak —

Gunther fixed a tense stare on the slowly opening office door. Even if this was only an illusion of the past, anticipation still surged through him at the thought that he might finally see Dominic Wolf, the original protagonist, with his own eyes. After all, that young hero occupied no small part of the enormous love he held for . Humans and their attachment to fictional suffering, honestly.

Justice and goodness. A character who never stopped reaching for the light even in this hopelessly desperate world.

“Looks like after being taken from his homeland, he was kept together with the Magnificences.”

His mouth went dry at the thought of how exactly he might have changed. But then...

“Rem? Where’s Dominic, why did you come instead?”

The one who appeared was not Dominic at all, but Remesia, looking five or six years younger than in Gunther’s memories. Her distinctive black hair and eyes were unchanged, but there was a liveliness in them befitting her age.

“...He said if I didn’t go in his place, he’d make me pay... What was I supposed to do?..”

“Ehh... what a troublemaker.”

Director Audrey shook her head, then turned her gaze back to Gunther.

“This is Remesia. Today she’ll show you around our establishment. Rem? This is our new teacher, Mr. ‘■■’. Say hello.”

Their eyes met. Remesia froze for a moment, then gave an awkwardly polite bow. Immediately after, she turned on her heel.

“Please follow me, teacher.”

.

.

.

Remesia’s attitude changed the moment they were a decent distance away from the director’s office. Open reluctance surfaced across her face at having to do this.

“That’s the dormitory building. The staff cafeteria is over there... First we’ll go where the other teachers and children are...”

Gunther tilted his head, puzzled as he looked at her.

“Your name is Rem?”

“Yes.”

“It seems like you have something important to do. You’re in quite a hurry.”

“No, it’s just... Ah, teacher.”

Remesia’s eyes gleamed for a moment.

“Mhm?”

“Would you happen to know when Teacher Masiu is coming? Will he be here today?”

Gunther slowly shook his head.

“I’m not entirely sure.”

“Ah... I see.”

“Looks like, Rem, Teacher Masiu is your favorite.”

“Of course. It’s Teacher Masiu.”

Answering half-heartedly, Rem briskly strode ahead. Gunther watched her back with a furrowed brow.

“She really... doesn’t think much of the other teachers?”

It wasn’t wounded pride. As someone with experience living in an orphanage, he knew that the way children treated the director and teachers revealed the atmosphere of the institution. The fact that she behaved this casually with a complete newcomer meant the orphanage was run in a loose, relaxed way. That kind of ease was impossible to fake.

“...I thought this place would be full of abuse or brainwashing.”

Everything afterward only reinforced that impression. Following behind Rem, Gunther carefully observed every corner. At first glance, Audrey House looked completely ordinary.

The children varied in age. It seemed the teenagers designated as future Magnificences had been mixed in with carefully preselected younger children. There were also many staff members, mostly priests, and they treated the children quite well. Constant hugs, praise, warm smiles.

Gunther raised his eyes again to the top of his field of vision.

○○○○○

Mental Stability: five units.

[If you preserve your sanity until the hidden stage is complete, you will return]

...What in this peaceful place could possibly threaten his sanity? Just as Gunther was cycling through different hypotheses, Remesia suddenly shouted sharply:

“Jean!”

Gunther flinched involuntarily.

“...Jean?”

A boy who had been given the name of the god of Abundance, Jean Daet. The very same powerful Hierarch who had once stood against both Cheonmae and Moon Wolf. The name of the Cult of Abundance’s secret weapon, the one meant to turn the entire Laska Plain into a barren wasteland.

Tap tap—

Remesia marched decisively toward the lawn, and Gunther hurried after her.

As luck would have it, it was recess, and many children were playing nearby. Curious gazes rained down on him. Gunther hurriedly put on a “teacher’s smile” and waved.

“Hello, everyone! I’m your new teacher. Nice to meet you.”

The children responded with laughter, while Gunther focused his gaze, searching among them for Remesia and “Jean.”

“You’re eating ants again?! I told you not to do that! Why do you keep eating something so gross?”

“They’re not gross... they’re sour...”

“Hey!”

“...D-don’t be mad. I was just hungry...”

The skinny little boy shrank beneath the barrage of scolding. Rem kept lecturing him while the surrounding children laughed merrily at the sight. Some of them approached Remesia and, pointing curiously at Gunther, began asking questions about him.

Watching this, Gunther narrowed his eyes slightly.

Children getting along this wonderfully. A perfectly ordinary, healthy scene by anyone’s standards.

And yet Gunther couldn’t shake the feeling of a strange dissonance. That was because his gaze had caught on one child who was completely isolated.

No one looked at that child standing right in front of them. Not the children, not Remesia, not even the nearby teachers. They ignored him as though he were invisible.

The child simply stared blankly at the happily playing peers. Gunther’s senses sharpened instantly.

“Found it.”

A calm, ordinary-looking orphanage. And the first crack in its surface. His intuition told him this was the key to clearing the hidden stage.

Trying to appear calm, Gunther addressed Remesia, who had come back over to continue the tour.

“I figured I should know this... Tell me, is there anyone in the orphanage everyone bullies?”

Before Remesia could even answer, a biting, airy laugh seeped into Gunther’s ears.

[Ahahaha! You’re screwed]

[Bullying? What a stupid question]

[After all that bragging, that’s really the best you can do?]

...What? An unpleasant chill crawled up his spine. Gunther held his breath for a moment and looked at Remesia. She tilted her head slightly and blinked, as if she didn’t even understand the meaning of the question.

“Bullied? What are you talking about?”

“No, I meant...”

“But it’s the ‘Month of Repose’ right now... Teacher, you don’t know about the ‘Month of Repose’? Why?”

Ding—

The edges of Gunther’s vision rippled. His thoughts began to flow naturally in another direction, as though one of the gears in his head had shifted slightly out of place. Fortunately, that foul current immediately slammed into some resisting force and stopped.

○○○○●

Godslayer: “Sealed Gaze.” One eye closes.

In that instant, Gunther understood intuitively: if he kept asking about the “Month of Repose” right now, he would cross a line with no return. Whatever rules governed this world, he at least had to pretend to obey them if he wanted to survive this space. He quickly regained control.

“Remesia really has no sense of humor.”

“...What?”

Fortunately, he didn’t have to keep forcing the strained conversation. A voice called out to him from behind.

“Teacher?”

...Gunther didn’t need to turn around to know whose voice it was. He had heard it right up until the moment he lost consciousness from the brainwashing.

Tap-tap-tap—

The children rushed toward the voice in a swarm. Shining faces, excited breaths. At the front were Remesia and... the very same child everyone had been ignoring just moments ago.

Gunther slowly turned around. Narrow, slit-like eyes looked back at him. Messy brown hair, a long beard, and a worn robe. A middle-aged man standing there with a benevolent smile.

...Masiu Beltirein.

“Have you finished looking around the facility? I hope Rem introduced everything properly.”

Rem, who had already pressed herself against Masiu, hurriedly looked at Gunther.

“I... I did well! Really! Right, teacher?”

Gunther slowly nodded. With a saintly smile, Masiu continued:

“Well, that’s good to hear. Then, could we talk for a bit? As I mentioned before, I need to tell you about the child for whom you’ll bear personal responsibility.”

Gunther’s gaze slowly shifted behind Masiu. There stood that same “outcast,” staring at him with anxious, wet eyes.

“...My charge?”

The child of the Month of Repose. A gaze filled with absolute despair, the way livestock in a slaughterhouse looks at the butcher.

At that moment, a message rippled through Gunther’s consciousness like rings spreading across water:

[This space can affect both your present self and Lady Remesia]

“Could it be...”

His experience and his knowledge of Luthien’s structure and cult traditions helped him build a hypothesis. What the Month of Repose was. What kind of “choice” this space was forcing upon him. And what role had been assigned to him...

This place was not merely reliving the past. It was a stage where someone’s memories could be altered, feelings twisted, and bonds reconstructed.

And Gunther felt it: the first clue for the conquest of the Kingdom of Valloren, a task that had seemed impossible, was hidden right here.

“Let’s go talk.”

Gunther smiled brightly as he looked at Masiu and the child.

***

The outer fortress district of Barkel. This was where the “base” hastily assembled by the Fourth Platoon and the rescue team had been set up. Calling it a base was generous, really. It was little more than several tents lashed together to shield them from the wind. Yet the tension inside rivaled a frontline battlefield.

“It’s ready.”

Dimona, who had been fiddling with the drone, slowly rose to her feet. At her gesture, the drone lifted slightly into the air with a quiet hum.

This was no ordinary drone. A specialized stealth drone. The most covert magical instrument Dimona had spent several sleepless nights creating in order to bypass any mana surveillance.

“O-oh...”

“Please...”

Could this tiny machine break through the internal surveillance system of Barkel Fortress, known for its extreme strictness, and find the Gunther imprisoned there? Everyone’s eyes darted anxiously between the drone and the black barrier swaying on the horizon like dark waves.

...The success of the operation to rescue Gunther depended entirely on whether the drone could safely anchor itself inside the inner fortress. Dimona murmured quietly:

“Good. Then let’s begin.”

The moment those words left her lips, Moon Wolf threw back the tent flap and stepped into the middle of the snow-covered field.

Shing—

A dagger flashed coldly in the moonlight. Without a word, she sliced across her wrist.

Drip drip—

The blood that poured out did not stain the snow. Before it could even fall—

Crack-crack—!

Warping and multiplying violently, it transformed in an instant into a swarm of hundreds, thousands of blood-red bats. There were enough of them to blot out the full moon’s light. Every single one resembled a warhead ready to unleash a devastating explosion upon impact.

At the sight of the power displayed by the sixth-hierarchy vampire, everyone present was struck speechless for a moment. Moon Wolf staggered, then straightened at once and, raising her umbrella, pointed toward the barrier surrounding Barkel Fortress.

Rustle-rustle—!

As if responding to their mistress’s command, the swarm of bats tore through the air at full speed. Her weakened voice followed behind them:

“...This should weaken the defenses for a moment. Send it... with them.”

As if waiting for nothing else, Dimona closed her eyes. At that instant, her consciousness and mana chains connected with the drone.

Flash.

The drone’s outline blurred, becoming completely transparent as if it had swallowed the light itself. Then it dove into the vortex of bats and shot toward the target.

Silence settled over the tent once again. Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at the broadcast screen of the magical device.

[Rustle-rustle—]

For a long time, the screen showed nothing but ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) beating wings and the warped black silhouettes of bats.

Boom—!

Explosions thundered without pause and flashes of light burst again and again. The tension among the people inside reached its absolute limit.

Pshhh—

The screen abruptly switched.

A panoramic view of the inner Barkel Fortress and the manor began streaming. The platoon members who had previously infiltrated the place immediately started briefing.

“That’s the northern side of the inner fortress. To see the room where Gunther was being held, it needs to fly that way...”

Dimona’s long ears twitched, and the drone shot off like an arrow in the indicated direction. And finally.

“Ah, u-uh?”

The camera caught Gunther’s silhouette. The tent instantly fell into deathly silence.

“.........”

Tarsha voiced the question no one else dared ask:

“...What exactly is he doing in there?”