Surviving without God

For a while, Edad looked as if he couldn’t believe his own ears.

A greeting sharp enough to make even a veteran flinch.

His green eyes slowly narrowed.

“What did you just say?..”

Gunther clicked his tongue inwardly.

Yeah... I really shouldn’t have counted on that.

He realized at once that the code phrase Edad had shared in the previous iteration would not work here.

...Need to smooth this over.

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m an agent of Night Raven. And you, judging by the look of you... are from the Public Security Bureau?”

The introduction was concise.

But Edad would believe it.

He already knew Night Raven had arrived in the capital.

Silence hung for a moment.

And sure enough, Edad’s wariness gave way to relative calm. The sword tip lowered toward the floor.

“...What would an agent of Night Raven want in the milling complex?”

“Obviously, I’m on assignment,” Gunther answered without hesitation. “I’m trying to prevent a catastrophic sabotage plot by the Cult of Healing hanging over the capital of Zeros.”

The reaction was exactly what he expected.

A sharp gleam flashed through Edad’s green eyes.

He himself had been following the trail, suspecting an epidemic and searching for its source. There was no way he wouldn’t react to the mention of the Cult of Healing.

“Don’t tell me this is the work of—”

“Exactly. It seems you’re pursuing the same objective as I am. Though up until now, it looks like you didn’t know who was behind it.”

Gunther didn’t give him a chance to interrupt.

“You’re investigating the mysterious sickness those Luthien rats are spreading through the capital. Am I right?”

“Wait, that—”

“As an exception.”

Gunther cut him off before Edad could continue. It was obvious he was about to start dodging again behind a wall of “top-secret information.”

“As an exception, I’m willing to give you the chance to personally see the place where those creatures are weaving their plot. What do you say?”

“...What?”

“I have far more information than you do. I’m offering to share.”

Gunther shrugged, imitating the mannerisms of a seasoned operative.

“We’re fighting the same enemy, so I don’t intend to be stingy. If you’re interested, follow me.”

[Alphonse of Red Street, pleased with your eloquence, nods approvingly]

Gunther didn’t wait for a response and immediately turned away.

Rustle—

One step, then another.

Their meeting in the previous life had been brief, but there was one thing he knew for certain: Edad was sincerely attached to the “children” he cared for, and felt responsible for them.

He would never reject the chance to see the true source of their suffering.

Rustle—

A moment later, footsteps sounded behind him.

Edad had followed.

At the same instant, a signal rang out.

Ding!

[Progress of Act 2, Chapter 1 “Footsteps” has changed]

[You persuaded Edad, an agent of the Valloren Public Security Bureau, by skillfully mixing truth and lies]

...So he didn’t even know his name before this.

Gunther nodded slightly as he read the message.

[Work with Edad to stop the spread of the mysterious epidemic threatening not only the capital of Zeros, but all of Valloren]

[Minimize the scale of the damage]

Reward: Varies depending on the result.

[The first objective of the scenario has been updated]

— You now possess an important lead regarding the nature of the epidemic.

— Eavesdrop on Audrey’s secret meeting with two accomplices and obtain decisive information.

It had been a long time since he had seen such a detailed main-scenario window.

Before the reality rewrite, he had already cleared this stage.

But now he had returned to the same point again.

Which meant he could claim the reward again as well.

Considering the scale of the crisis in the scenario had grown, the reward should match.

Together with Edad, Gunther headed for the mill where Audrey’s meeting with her accomplices was supposed to take place.

As expected, Audrey had not arrived yet.

She was taking a roundabout route, which meant they still had around ten minutes.

No other signs of life could be felt nearby.

[Red Lantern (Lv. 1) activated]

[Due to frequent use, proficiency with Red Lantern increases]

Only then did Gunther let out a deep breath and allow his body to relax.

Moving while locked in absolute concentration had left the back of his neck stiff as stone.

Gunther chose cover behind the high-stacked wheat sacks in the corner.

“Hm.”

Edad skillfully settled beside him.

He rubbed the flour dust on the floor between his fingers.

“...A mill that grinds flour for sweets,” Edad murmured quietly.

“So you really do know something. And who exactly is coming here?”

“A high-ranking priest of Luthien. Most likely the one responsible for all of this.”

Silence settled for a moment.

Edad let out a short laugh, as if astonished by the other man’s sheer audacity.

“You talk about it so casually, like you’re discussing the neighbor’s dog... Is everyone in Night Raven like this? Or have you simply gone completely insane and forgotten what fear is?”

“...You don’t exactly seem much like a knight yourself.”

If he was from the Bureau, then he should have been knighted.

Yet even through the mask, Gunther could sense how unpleasant the word knight was to Edad.

“A knight, huh.”

It was probably tied to his birth.

He was a bastard, after all.

Gunther had only just reached that thought when Edad tilted his head and asked:

“By the way. What was that thing you said to me earlier? Bastard?”

Gunther answered instantly.

“Ah, that was me talking to myself. When I’m nervous, I sometimes mutter.”

“...So you’re a bastard too?”

“Well, something like that.”

Edad gave Gunther a quick once-over.

“You’ve had it rough.”

In truth, he had been an orphan, not a bastard, but Gunther chose not to correct him.

Instead, he asked his own question.

“Why are you acting alone? With the Bureau’s help, this would be much easier.”

“...If the sick were ‘citizens,’ it would be. The authorities would gladly help.”

Gunther narrowed his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“The criminals of Sector Seven... those who violated the code of chivalry, and their descendants. The Kingdom of Valloren does not spend its resources on them. The people they are obligated to protect are the residents of Sectors One through Six.”

He abruptly fell silent.

Their eyes met for a moment.

Then a faint movement sounded.

Gunther held his breath.

No matter how excellent Red Lantern was as a stealth skill, it was not absolute against a highly perceptive enemy.

Last time, he had been discovered the moment he made even the slightest sound.

If a fight broke out here, the Archbishop of Justice would arrive immediately.

“......”

Both of them froze, staring at the entrance of the mill.

A shadow fell, and someone stepped inside.

Audrey.

Even with her face tightly hidden beneath a hood, he clearly remembered those yellow eyes boring into him.

Raymond?..

The moment she had recognized him.

Gunther was now completely certain it had been her.

How did they revive her?

At that moment, a short intake of breath came from beside him.

Rustle—

Two more silhouettes entered the mill after her.

One was short, child-sized.

The other was grotesquely massive.

As before, a strange stench radiated from the giant. The closer it came, the more nauseating the smell became.

Edad whispered quietly:

“The smell of a corpse. Mixed with chemicals, but there’s no doubt.”

“A corpse?..”

Then this too was some kind of reanimated dead?

As Gunther frowned, the smaller figure began speaking to Audrey.

Unlike last time, when the sound of the waterwheel drowned everything out, every word was perfectly clear now.

“The symptoms have settled properly. Everything is proceeding exactly according to the Pendrox experimental records.”

“Good. The final day is the last day of the festival. By then, everything must be ready.”

“You may rest assured. By that point, no one will be able to overturn the board.”

“Stay careful until the very end. It’s unlikely, but if someone figures out the true nature of the ‘Blessing,’ it will be troublesome. Especially those birds from Raven and certain members of the Round Table... they must be eliminated first.”

The conversation was short and brutally efficient.

Edad and Gunther listened without daring even to breathe.

Then Audrey took something out.

The thing Gunther had failed to see in the previous life because of the noise on the roof.

The true purpose of this meeting finally revealed itself.

“Here. ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) This should be enough for two days.”

Their eyes locked onto a small vial.

Something was inside it.

But no ordinary word suited the substance.

It was not thick, it did not flow, and yet it slowly shifted position inside the glass.

A single glance was enough to make his stomach turn.

Good. We’ve reached the heart of it.

It was time to learn what kind of sabotage they were truly planning.

Gunther inhaled slowly.

Ding!

[Would you like to “Read” the “Holy Substance of Seren Mayra”?]

***

Sector Seven, Block C.

Blanc, Parco, and Levain fell silent for a moment at the entrance.

The festival was still roaring just minutes away.

Warmth drifted from that direction, along with the smell of fresh bread and hops, music and laughter carried through the air.

But none of it reached here.

The narrow, dark alleys stank of urine and vomit.

The walls of the buildings were cracked and looked ready to crumble at a touch.

Most of the windows were boarded shut or covered with scraps of cloth in place of glass.

...Yuria, Cheonmae, and Rietta, who had gone to Block G, had probably seen the same thing.

“Well, this is one hell of a dump...”

“You can feel how completely the authorities abandoned this district.”

In truth, the scenery was not unfamiliar to them.

Once, their home had been the Lower City of Border City, itself left in utter ruin.

But there was one decisive difference.

The people here were different.

In the Lower City, wariness had always burned in people’s eyes. They bared their teeth at the slightest opportunity, sharp aggression always ready to lash out.

But Sector Seven did not even have that.

Where there should have been anger, hostility, or resistance, there was only emptiness.

All that remained was exhausting helplessness, and the silence of people who had long since stopped hoping for anything.

“Ha.”

Parco glanced toward the end of the alley and twisted his mouth into a crooked smile.

It was not an expression he usually wore.

“Looking at this, it’s hard not to think of where I came from.”

Fragments of childhood flashed through his mind.

Parco clenched his teeth.

“And they call this chivalry...”

At that moment, a voice rang out.

“Sorry I’m late, I stopped by the Bureau for assistance...”

The late-arriving Seril cut herself off and froze.

It was one thing to hear stories.

It was something else entirely to stand in Sector Seven in person for the first time.

No explanation was needed for what the Round Table family heir felt when confronted with such naked poverty.

Seril involuntarily stepped back.

“U-ugh...”

But she wasn’t the only one retreating.

The people who had begun slowly gathering in hope of alms hurriedly hid their faces in their collars and fled.

The reason was the Barkel family crest on her clothing.

Terror was frozen in their eyes.

Seril hurriedly pulled her cloak shut to hide the crest.

“What kind of place is this...”

Blanc was the first to recover.

Clap!

She brought her hands together sharply and straightened with determination.

Their commander had ordered them to examine the symptoms of the local sick, investigate, and isolate them if possible.

No matter the conditions, the mission came first.

“Remember, he said to check the children first.”

Fortunately, a few children still remained where the adults had run.

Perhaps some spark of curiosity still lingered in them.

Or perhaps it was simply hunger.

The children hovered nearby.

Their skin was covered in inflammation and rashes, and dried layers of pus had crusted at the corners of their eyes.

“They all look so sick...” Seril murmured.

At that moment, someone stepped decisively toward them.

“Hey, kids.”

It was Parco.

He removed his cloak, draped it over the shoulders of a gaunt child, and without hesitation extended his hand.

Deity: The One Who Takes and Divides.

The sickness devouring the children’s bodies was drawn toward Parco and transferred into him.

Fever, pain, and suffocating weakness crashed over him all at once.

In return, his life force flowed into the children.

Their breathing gradually eased.

The coughing subsided, and the trembling in their hands stopped.

Parco quietly clenched his teeth.

The pain was unbearable, but he gave no sign.

He turned back toward Levain and Blanc.

“Guys, bring out the rations.”

“What, planning to collapse for the next few days?” Levain grumbled.

“There’s no better way to identify the disease, is there?”

“Ugh, this means I’ll have to deal with you afterward.”

Despite the complaining, the platoon members pulled out every supply they had and distributed them among the children.

When the others noticed their companions improving, more children began crowding around them as if by unspoken agreement.

Watching them, Parco smiled softly.

“There’s enough for everyone, don’t worry. But tell me, I wanted to ask—”

He never finished the sentence.

What is this?

His gaze fell on a child whose face was still burning with fever, even after Parco had already used his authority.

The little one could barely remain standing and did not even look at the food being offered.

That’s impossible.

His power was enough to handle even severe wounds.

Parco reflexively extended his hand again.

“Hey, little guy, are you alri—”

Crunch!

Teeth sank into flesh.

A sharp pain shot through his hand, blood dripping down.

Whoosh...

At that exact moment, the tension left the child’s body.

The small frame went limp, and a strange peace settled over the feverish face.

Parco’s gaze slowly turned cold.